Boston - August 28, 2007

Patio on the Back

Dbar Patio Opens

Diagnosis: late-summer doldrums. (A state of high anxiety spurred by the waning days of August.)

Symptoms include dangerous, post-dusk barbecuing; excessive gin and tonic consumption; and incoherent babbling about how you’re finally moving west this winter.

Treatment: full-blown denial by way of patio dining at Dbar. The Dot Ave. culinary mainstay has added alfresco to its options by opening its long-anticipated back patio. Sure, it’s in a parking lot next to a Dunkin’ Donuts, but you’d never know it thanks to high walls, luxurious lounge chairs, and lush plantings.

Chef Christopher Coombs has revamped the menu just for the occasion, offering palate-rousing fare such as a melange of summer ham and melon and a chilled lobster “martini.” And in a bit of horticultural ingenuity, he’s planted a rooftop garden, which produces nightly specials like an heirloom tomato gazpacho, the ingredients of which are so fresh they share your CO2.

Prognosis? Miraculous turnaround.

Dbar, 1236 Dorchester Avenue, Dorchester (617-265-4490 or dbarboston.com).