Commune Kitchen to Bring 'Artisan Fast-Casual' to Arlington

Photo Credit: Arlington Board of Selectmen

ARLINGTON, MA—Word of a new pizza restaurant tends to roll eyes in Arlington, with the town already having 18 established pizza restaurants.

When word of Commune Kitchen came to Arlington, residents were concerned that yet another open restaurant space would be filled with your 'run-of-the-mill pizza joint.' While Commune Kitchen will be serving pizza, co-owner Justin Demers feels that his new eatery will be much more than that.

"What we're doing is creating the vessel for countless combinations of food and flavors," Demers told Patch."I see us focusing more on the earlier part of the day options when using pizza dough and bread as vessels versus the standard late-night normal pizzas that you can get with a beer."

The restaurant is set to seat up to 38 customers, and is set to open sometime in May. The restaurant is occupying a unit located at 203A Broadway, the former location of Zocalo.

Demers said the goal of the restaurant is to present an 'Artisan Fast-Casual' approach.

"The basis of artisan is everything done from scratch and by hand," Demers said."Everything will be treated with care, but the flow we hope to have is where it can be a cafe setting where you don' t have to have a waiter or waitress but you can get an incredible portion of food that you can enjoy fast."

Commune Kitchen's menu boasts artisan pizzas, pastries, breads and coffees, among other items. Demers also stated that all of the restaurant's bread will be prepared in house, in a high-heat stone oven. Demers also highlighted the eatery's house-made Porchetta, as well chicken liver mousse as some of the menu items that will set Commune Kitchen a part from Arlington's highly-competitive restaurant atmosphere.

"I hope it's a comfortable and casual but really well-done menu that people can really appreciate of all ages," Demers said.

Demers and his co-owner Richard Niedzwiecki joined forces while working at Bergamot Restaurant in Somerville, and Demers previously cut his culinary teeth at Clear Flour Bread in Brookline. This is the duo's first venture into owning their own eatery.

"I really see it as a communal kitchen for the town to come and enjoy and be very relaxed, but everything done the right way for a good value for the customer,"Demers said.