[Ed note: This article was updated on January 9, 2019, to reflect new information given on the restaurant moving in.]
An award-winning Cambridge restaurant known in part for its French-influenced dishes--while also making the news over its wood-fired grill--is shutting down.
According to a source within the Friends of Boston's Hidden Restaurants Facebook group page, Shepard is closing its doors on December 31, with a post within the bostonchefs.com site confirming this as well. Both our source and bostonchefs.com indicate that a new restaurant will be opening in the Shepard Street space in January, and diners who have a Shepard gift card will be able to use them at the upcoming spot.
Shepard first opened in the spring of 2015, taking over the space between Porter Square and Harvard Square where Chez Henri had been. The eatery, which made it to Bon Appetit's list of top 50 new restaurants in 2016 along with Juliet in Somerville's Union Square, became embroiled in a controversy over its wood grill, with the Cambridge Health Department forcing the restaurant to switch over to gas cooking last year because of complaints from neighbors over smoke.
The address for Shepard is 2 Shepard Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138.
[January 9, 2019 update: A message sent by Leah Klein of City Living Boston states that Luce Restaurant and Bar will take over the former Shepard space in mid-January, with an OpenTable page for the upcoming spot saying that it will be "A neighborhood restaurant...with a focus on high quality, seasonal, and locally sourced ingredients."]
[January 10, 2019 update: A post within the jobs section of bostonchefs.com indicates that Luce will be an Italian restaurant with "a focus on seasonal ingredients, handmade pasta and an old world wine program."]
[January 14, 2019 update: Boston Magazine is reporting that Luce opens tomorrow (Tuesday, January 15).]
[Earlier Article]
Bon Appetit Includes Juliet, Shepard Among Nominees for Best New Restaurants of 2016
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[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]
