Fire and Ice

Since we're on the subject of Boston area restaurants, let us discuss Fire and Ice.

Clay first took me to the Cambridge Fire and Ice last January, and we've gone back at least once since then. I really like it, which might surprise anyone who's been to a Fire and Ice and who knows me at all. As it turns out there is a more or less "trendy" social experience that won't kill me. But I think this may be the only one so don't get your hopes up.

The experience is all about food as improvisational entertainment. The stage is a hole in the wall filled with brightly colored industrial decor, dim lighting and dance music; the people are the actors. You move through the crowd to pile whatever combination of things you want cooked into your bowl- say udon, mahi-mahi, pineapple, mushrooms, and sprouts- and then taste some of the sauces and pick from them- maybe half sweet and sour and half fruit. You take it up to this huge grill surrounded by people and hand it off to a chef who has undoubtedly been hired for both cooking ability and outgoing personality. As you're waiting there you're surrounded by this crowd of other waiting people who end up talking and laughing with each other and with the chefs and wait staff. If you're bored it's pretty much your own fault.

Oh, and there's a bar. From the looks of it the bar is pretty capable, but since most people are eating as they drink they aren't getting trashed. Instead of the bar being the most important feature here it's all about the grill, which is why this place is frequented by both families and college students. Even as someone with a bar aversion, that suddenly makes me not mind the bar at all. In fact Fire and Ice is where I finally sampled my first alcoholic beverage, and though theirs is a bit heavy on the alcohol part, a Mudslide continues to be the only such drink I like.

So the entire experience is up to you. Your food is as good or bad as your choices. You talk to whoever you want, drink what you want- hell, if you could find space probably even dance if you want. If you get the chance to, go for dinner; if you want something quieter instead, go for lunch.