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quick bite

Fresh on the chalkboard in West Concord

JOANNE RATHE/GLOBE STAFF

Where to West Concord’s Saltbox Kitchen.

What for Breakfast, lunch, and prepared meals using produce from chef Ben Elliott’s nearby Saltbox Farm. (Before heading west, Elliott worked at Barbara Lynch’s No. 9 Park.)

The scene A gleaming cottage fit for a J.Crew photo shoot, with flowers and bowls of fruit on driftwood tables. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlook Commonwealth Avenue, while a five-seat counter fronts the busy kitchen. There’s a cash register tended by perky teens, as well as a little retail area with the staff’s favorite products (apple cider vinegar from Carlson Orchards in Harvard, gluten-free Felicia pasta.) All that’s missing are tables: The hardwood-floored space is vast — and crowded — but there are only a few places to spread out.

What you’re eating Whatever the chalkboard says is farm-fresh. Starting at 7 a.m., find an egg sandwich with caramelized onions and kale ($6) or savory sourdough toast with goat cheese, prosciutto, and olive oil ($3). From 11 a.m. until 7 p.m., there’s a daily selection of salumi and cheese ($14), beef tacos with red and green chile sauce ($12), Giannone chicken salad with Thai vinaigrette ($14, pictured), and Japanese pork curry ragu over basmati rice, topped with a soft-boiled egg ($14). Order at the counter, and a server will find you. For those in a rush, grab premade pleasures like Moroccan chicken ($16 per pound) or tubs of organic chicken bone broth with ginger ($7).

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Care for a drink? There are Spindrift sodas, hot and cold coffee or tea, and organic wine by the full or half-pour (the half-pour is popular with the lunchtime crowd), plus a chalkboard list of New England beers. In the retail area, there’s a spa-style cooler of water with lemon.

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Overheard Desire for carbohydrates; familial anguish. “All I want is more bread!” a jaunty gent tells a server, who nods sympathetically. “How many half-pours of wine can I have today?” another fellow hee-hees his wife, who rolls her eyes and fishes for money in a Tory Burch bag. A tan woman in tight-fitting capris bounds to the counter. “Do you have menus?” The young cashier looks crestfallen. “No, but you can take pictures of our chalkboards!” she offers. In a corner, a woman lectures her sulky young companion. “If I were you, I’d be on my knees, begging forgiveness,” she hisses. Outside, a guy in Nantucket reds explains the restaurant’s origins. “It’s brand-new! And everything is from a farm!” 84 Commonwealth Ave., West Concord, 978-212-3585, www.saltboxkitchen.com


Kara Baskin can be reached at kcbaskin@gmail
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