Area Daily: Persephone, Restaurant in Achilles Project, Boston, MA

Persephone, the restaurant in the newly opened Achilles Project boutique, fits into a long history of cafés in retail stores, but its sensibility is more jazzy cocktails than tea sandwiches.

“The fundamental, underlying aesthetic of the food and the clothes is one and the same,” says executive chef Michael Leviton (of Lumière in Newton). “The idea of the food is simplicity with the best possible ingredients. The retail side is also doing the same thing with the best fabrics and designs.”

So far, customers seem partial to the oysters as well as the seared Stonington, Maine sea scallop with chestnut-celery root puree. Meat-lovers can try the roasted beef marrow bone with parsley and caper salad or the grilled skirt steak with fries.

The flash goes to the cocktails from Chris Graeff. The bright colors and bold ingredients like jasmine tea and blueberry syrup extend the fashion theme to the bar. Our favorite: the burgundy-hued Petal Punch which improbably but lusciously pairs chamomile tea with tequila, peach and pomegranate liquors, and pomegranate juice - playful enough to stand up to the Wii next to the bar.

“Like the great warrior Achilles, everyone has a weakness, and whether that weakness is clothes, art, food or drink, all can be indulged at the Achilles Project,” says co-owner Michael Krupp.

Read more about Persephone on Misstropolis, the online magazine for modern women.