Sign up for The Dish
Stay up to date on the latest food and drink news from Boston.com.
Here’s your first look at Shy Bird Fenway, the all-day café’s largest location yet
An ambitious dinner menu and creative cocktails fit right in at the cozy restaurant and patio.
It’s hard to beat a meal of SB Dunks (buttermilk-brined bites of fried chicken) and a classic Caesar salad, but Shy Bird is making an enticing case for trying something new at its latest location. Opening Tuesday, March 4, at 11 a.m., Shy Bird in the Fenway neighborhood showcases the team’s “culinary ambition” in a homey yet elegant setting.
“We’ve spent the better part of two years investing in making the dinner menu in particular a little more destination-ready,” says Shy Bird founder Andrew Holden. Overseen by culinary director Trevor Kunk, an alum of New York’s lauded Blue Hill At Stone Barns, the menu has seasonal choices such as char siu pork belly lettuce wraps, seared Atlantic cod atop a briny stew of capers and tomatoes, rotisserie-roasted cauliflower with cheddar fondue, and more. Check out the dinner menu below.
An all-day café and rotisserie concept, Shy Bird debuted in Kendall Square in 2019 and expanded to South Boston in 2022. The Fenway outpost — the brand’s largest location yet — is a bit of a homecoming for Holden, who previously helmed Eastern Standard in Kenmore Square for 10 years as its general manager. The Fenway location encompasses the 9-to-5 workday vibe of the Cambridge original as well as the nights-and-weekends atmosphere Southie has developed, while also poised to bring in more visitors and tourists, Holden says.
Advertisement:
The design reflects that dynamic with a large, 15-seat bar in the center of the space; a smaller counter for to-go ordering; high-top booths and a quieter area of café-style seating; and communal tables for groups. Three garage-style doors will open onto a spacious patio on Brookline Avenue once the weather warms up, giving the space a seamless, indoor-outdoor setting for about 130 people. There are outlets accessible from tables and the bar, as well as an antique cabinet full of books and recent New York Times food sections for guests to borrow while relaxing in the space.
Like the other two locations, Washington, D.C. architecture firm HapstakDemetriou+ led the Shy Bird buildout. This location also tapped designer Room Service by Ash, who gave Fenway antique-like elements, such as reddish leather banquettes, mahogany furniture, and vintage artwork.
Advertisement:
Later this week, breakfast will start at Shy Bird Fenway. Counter Culture Coffee and MEM Teas fuel the café menu. For drinks as the day goes on, Eastern Standard beverage director Jackson Cannon consulted on cocktails. Matcha, My Dude, is a green White Russian available on the spring menu, while Holden is also excited about Polite Company, a dirty martini served with a Lillet spritz sidecar.
“If you want to sit down with a laptop and cortado and do some work, that’s great. If you want to have a leisurely meal with bottles of Beaujolais and great cocktails, that works too,” Holden says. “The idea for Shy Bird was just a modern neighborhood restaurant that was approachable, accessible, affordable, and — in the right ways — a little aspirational.”
Shy Bird is located at 201 Brookline Ave., just a couple blocks from Fenway Park. After Tuesday, it will be open 8 a.m.–10 p.m. daily and beginning this weekend, it will also serve brunch until 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Reservations are available.
Shy Bird dinner menu
To comment, please create a screen name in your profile
To comment, please verify your email address
Conversation
This discussion has ended. Please join elsewhere on Boston.com