As a history buff and food lover, chef Will Gilson’s Puritan & Company in Cambridge is my new happy place. First off, it’s located in a building that housed the Puritan Cake Company‘s bakery from the 1930s to the 1950s. So, it feeds into my need to honor the past. And Puritan’s eclectic menu pays homage to our New England culinary heritage.

See? Happy place.

Maybe it was also the Gilson family’s restored 1920s Glenwood stove used as a hostess stand that I homed in on when our party of four arrived. Or the warm house-made Parker House rolls. Or the peach-vinegar-rosemary shrub I was offered as a mocktail…

The old New England summer drink was delicious, but I don’t know what I liked more – the taste of the shrub or the enthusiasm radiating off the sommelier/cocktail dude who not only gave me a recipe, he brought over a duo of demitasse spoons that had dabs of the sauce he made with the leftover macerated fruit and chilis. Whoa.

The amuse bouche was a Macomber turnip soup with a sheep’s yogurt and fish roe. (Bonus points given to chef for using Westport turnip.) My husband and I both ordered the swordfish pastrami (with a quenelle of mustard ice cream!) for an appetizer, and we were still talking about it over coffee the next morning. That rarely happens.

For the main event, Steve got the Muscovy duck and I went with Gilson’s nod to his eatery’s Inman Square ‘hood: pan-roasted monkfish in a broth with kale and cubes of chorizo and potatoes. Considering chef’s ancestors came over on the Mayflower – he’s a 13th generation American – this 3rd generation squatter was impressed with his take on the typical Portuguese dish.

Chef Will Gilson

The desserts, however, fell short. My hubby’s brownie sundae served in a plastic Red Sox cap won points for presentation and led me to wonder how many trips to Fenway did Gilson make to collect enough caps. (My guess is Will’s buddy, Steve “Nookie” Postal, the former executive chef at the EMC Club and fellow Cambridge restaurateur, had a few dozen hanging around.)

I chose the composed plate of spiced apples. I realize it was a riff on traditional apple pie a la mode but I’d just rather eat apple pie a la mode. I’m old school that way, I guess.

Our friend, Margaret, ordered milk chocolate pot de crème (served in a coffee cup) and her hubby, Rob, chose a lemon curd dessert. When asked by his wife about his curd, he said, “Well, it’s tart.” Ouch.

When the bill arrived, tucked into a card printed with a recipe for Indian pudding on the back, it was accompanied by a plate with four cubes of vanilla cake. And here’s where I totally fell in love with the place.

Apparently, the vanilla cake recipe was from the Puritan Cake Company. Our server told us the recipe was discovered in an old newspaper clipping by one of Gilson’s relatives.

The Puritan Cake Company back in the day

I thought it was a sweet way — pun intended — to honor the old tenant of 1166 Cambridge St. Moreover, it was damn tasty! Next time, maybe I’ll order the Puritan Cake for dessert…

Puritan & Company, 1166 Cambridge St., Cambridge, MA (617) 615-6195. www.puritancambridge.com/@PuritanCo on Twitter.