Last year the neighborhood was abuzz when rumors started to circulate that celebrated local Chef Matt McPherson of South End Buttery, Porto, Menton and Craigie on Main fame was set to take over the former 303 Cafe on Sumner Street and transform the empty restaurant into a noodle house.
McPherson was spotted on several occasions checking out the neighborhood, sipping drinks at local bars and sampling the food at local restaurants all while getting a feel for the neighborhood and its culinary scene.
Sadly, plans to open the noodle house concept at the former 303 Cafe fell through, but McPherson was persistent in his desire to open something in Eastie.
It was announced that McPherson will now be bringing his new concept, Café Iterum, to the Eastie waterfront via a café space at the Clippership Wharf development.
Lendlease, who built the mixed-use development on Eastie’s waterfront that opened last year, announced that it has leased the Clippership Wharf café space to McPherson.
According to Landlease, the café will serve morning commuters, telecommuters, Eastie residents and visitors alike, with refined coffee and food inspired from around the world.
Lendlease General Manger Nicholas Iselin said Café Iterum aligns with both the site’s global sensibility and sustainability goals.
Iselin said as a climate resilient property, with a living shoreline and system of flood barriers, Clippership Wharf was an ideal home for Café Iterum’s zero-waste, sustainable café that is focused on responsible sourcing and improving the food system. The café is set to open in early spring 2021.
“Café Iterum is the culmination of my life’s work as a chef in Boston and around the world,” said McPherson. “Having spent the last year refining the concept of sustainable classic comfort food based around a fusion of world cuisine, through private dinners, in-home catering and food waste management consulting, I’m thrilled to finally bring this vision to life in my own neighborhood of East Boston.”
Occupancy began at Clippership Wharf in August 2019, with over 100 units taking occupancy in the first month alone. Slip65 were the first condos of scale on the waterfront in East Boston, and sold out in just eight weeks, with 40 of the 80 units selling out in less than two days. Slip45 sales began last year and are already more than 90 percent sold. Clippership Wharf has also enabled new construction of 22 affordable housing units and 30 mixed-income condominiums at the neighboring site of the Boston Housing Authority’s Heritage Apartments public housing community. The site offers a mix of amenities available to the public, including a 1,400-foot stretch of Boston’s 40-mile Harborwalk, outdoor events, on-site sculptural work and the ClipArt Gallery.
“Clippership Wharf came to life for the first time this summer, and we saw the incredible opportunity the site created for the East Boston community to come together over stunning waterfront views and event programming that served not just residents but the broader public,” said Iselin. “Chef Matt’s Café Iterum will complete a major piece of the puzzle here at Clippership, and we’re thrilled to introduce his unique cafe and sustainable practices to the East Boston community.”