Listen up foodies. The culinary style of Chef Caleb Graber-Smith has taken over The Boxer Hotel’s signature restaurant, Finch, serving up a fresh twist on your typical New England cuisine. The restaurant’s ambience is chic yet eclectic with a social and entertaining vibe. And, if you’re unsure of whether you’ve heard of Finch, that’s okay—the hotel and restaurant are new on the scene, debuting just this past spring.

But the restaurant’s newest Executive Chef, Graber-Smith, is no stranger to the kitchen. The edgy 28-year-old admits that the decision to become a chef wasn’t deliberate. “I’ve been cooking since as long as I can remember… as my ‘obsession’ with cooking increased, it seemed like a logical move to pursue a career in the culinary arts.”

What Makes Boston’s Culinary Scene So Unique

After spending part of his career in Connecticut, the chef packed up his knives and headed to Boston’s South End to help launch the Aquitane Group’s venture, Cinquecento Roman Trattoria. He describes Boston as having “so much flavor packed into one small area,” which he quickly discovered while developing his contemporary yet simplistic dishes with locally sourced ingredients.

When asked what it’s like to be a young chef on the Boston scene, Chef Graber-Smith claims that despite the competition, “The Boston culinary scene is more approachable than Manhattan’s.”

“I love being here” he continues, “because it’s so close-knit… I’ve had the opportunity to meet many of the star chefs and restaurateurs who put Boston on the culinary map.”

Judging by the Chef’s words, I’d venture to say that Boston’s big city restaurant network is indeed uniquely unpretentious, emphasizing shared culinary connections and inspiration. Becoming familiar with fellow Boston culinary captains and their cooking styles, only serves as inspiration to Graber-Smith. The young chef even considers one Boston chef, Jamie Bisonnette of Toro, as a “bookend to a culinary style” that he “strives to achieve” with “a lot of hard work and perhaps, a little luck.”

“Finch” Offers Bostonians Unique Selling Point

With less than 2 months under his belt at Finch, Chef Graber-Smith is already revamping the menu this fall. “We are not doing anything that is overly complicated,” he explains, “there is beauty in simplicity and letting our ingredients and components shine on their own is a testament of this.”

Just like his self-professed “favorite dish to prepare off the clock,” a classic grilled cheese with a not-so-classic pairing of bourbon and “whiskey stones,” Chef Graber-Smith won’t use any of those complicated “culinary terms.” Instead, the menu will be serving up “accessible, modern takes on classics with some twists and surprises mixed in.”

Here’s to hoping that grilled-cheese-and-bourbon pairing finds itself on the menu. Sign me up.