Sensing, Fairmont Hotel @ Battery Wharf, Boston

I highly recommend Sensing to anyone who likes a healthy dose of the absurd. From the seating by the hostess to the dessert menus, the extremely friendly (but extremely poorly trained) waitstaff and the long-on-promise, short-on-delivery kitchen at Sensing never miss an opportunity to violate every expectation you might have for dining in an establishment that is a recent recipient of AAA’s Four-Diamond rating. Our experience single-handedly rendered that distinction meaningless to me. Or, at the least, demonstrated the extent to which Guy Martin’s name rings out amongst the circles of people who dole out these awards. Speaking of Guy Martin’s name, I am confident he’d roll over in his bed at the Ritz if he were to eat at the current incarnation of his Boston namesake.

We arrived at 6pm for dinner expecting to find an empty dining room. We did. But that’s no big deal – the somewhat removed location,  the not so great reviews, and what I imagine to be the difficulty of selling the $825,000 – $5 million units at the Battery Wharf have all contributed to the low foot-traffic. We were greeted and seated promptly by the friendly hostess, but given two different dinner menus. A problem which our equally friendly but equally confused waiter had to consult the kitchen to resolve. We immediately ordered the snacking platter which is either one each of 6 different amuse bouches, or 6 of one. To go with our snacks we decided to order a glass each of sparkling wine. Sensing’s wine list is unimpressive – neither varied nor interesting.  With so few offerings, you would think the waitstaff would be able to say something coherent about each wine. Liz and I ordered 2 of the 3 possible glasses of sparkling wine – a prosecco and a scharffenberger – and were met with a blank stare and a request to point to what we wanted.  This is not the waiter’s fault. To me, failures of knowledge like that demonstrate a restaurant’s rotting infrastructure and total managerial indifference. Whoever is steering the ship at Sensing has seriously failed in their responsibilities to train the waitstaff, and has their sights set on a Fall ‘09 closing.

Things did not get any better when the food arrived:

snacking platter

From the  bottom right going clockwise we have an oyster with shallots and vinegar (this was quite tasty), some kind of fried cheese with a tomato, a clam, a ball of cantaloupe with prosciutto and a wine jelly, a lobster roll, and in the middle a glass of tomato water. Apart from the oyster, all these were disappointing. The cheese was cold, the “sixty-second clam” earned its name for the amount of time it took to chew through it, the jelly with the cantaloupe and melon had an off-putting mealy texture, the lobster roll was fine, and the tomato water was overwhelmingly infused with vanilla foreshadowing a meal with flavor combinations that  I think Devra Frist at the Globe accurately described as “strange, but not delightful”.

seared tuna salad

I enjoyed my salad, it was certainly the highlight of the night. The tuna was nicely cooked, the lemon dressing was subtle but tasty, and the flavor combination with the anchovy, quail eggs, and cucumber worked well. There’s nothing new about this dish, but it was still a solid version.

heirloom tomato salad

Liz’s tomato salad with basil ginger dressing and candied pine nuts didn’t impress. The tomatoes weren’t very good, and when you’re serving a dish this simple, they had better be.

At this point in the evening Liz and I decided to order a half bottle of red to go with our meat courses. As I perused the short list I came across an oddity: under the red wines they had listed a wine called Innocent Bystander, Moscato, 2008.  A red moscato? Not listed under dessert or aperitif? I was curious. Maybe this wine list wasn’t so bad after all. I’d only seen a non-desserty moscato once, and certainly never a moscato that had qualities akin to a wine you might reasonably categorize as “red”. But I assumed it was there for good reason and decided to order it. Big mistake. What arrived was a very ordinary incarnation of sweet sparkling rose. Just the thing you want to go with steak and lamb. The waiter commented he had never seen a wine like this before. What I had never seen is a frickin’ sweet sparkling rose listed under red wines, at least not in a restaurant that gave a damn about the quality of its service.

olive encrusted lamb loin

Ordered it rare. It came medium well with pink ends.

beef strip loin, chick pea fries, mizuna, thai curry and anchovy sauce

Ordered it rare, 1/3 of it actually was (presumably, the 1/3 that was not sitting directly under a heat lamp for 10 minutes), the rest was medium well. And the chick pea fries were soggy, inedible cubes of warm flour. If you want a real chick pea fry go to Garden at the Cellar.

mystery asparagus

Along with our meat came this plate of mystery asparagus. We didn’t order it, and the waiters didn’t mention it when they brought it over.It was actually pretty good. Wish we knew what the heck it was.

Wanting to get the full Sensing experience, we decided to order a dessert. The waiter, again, brought two different menus, one brunch and one dessert.  Upon joking to Liz that the Coast Guard Omelet looked really good, the moment got the best of us and we could not stop laughing at the absurdity of this dinner. The chuckles would have quickly turned into sobs if we thought about the money we were about to spend on it. We waited about 20 minutes for the waiter to return to take our order, ate a mediocre piece of cheesecake, and split.

I am viscerally repulsed that we spent $220 on this experience. This is not a matter of disliking the food. Any kitchen can have a bad night, or a bad table on a good night. But I get the feeling that the people in charge at Sensing know its not going to last and they just don’t care.  Such horrible attention to detail shows a lack of pride that surely starts at the top and only then trickles down to the kitchen and waitstaff.  If you find yourself  near Battery Wharf you’d be better off buying a burger at the nearby Sail Loft and spending your remaining $210 on something other than lining an absentee chef’s  pockets.

 

French Laundry, Yountville CA

Welcome to French Laundry. May we hang your soiled-from-anticipation pants up to dry in the garden?

Liz and I went out to Napa Valley with Liz’s brother and sister-in-law this past weekend to drink some wine and eat some food. We secured a reservation for 4 exactly 2 months ago from  Saturday, May 16th. If you google “french laundry reservation” you will be met with a slew of websites and blog posts devoted to the difficulties inherent in getting a reservation. First of all, you need to call at 10am pacific time (when the restaurant opens) exactly two months before the day that you would like to go. The websites will tell you that even doing this probably won’t be enough as the line will be busy. Some suggest you need to go there in person. There is even a service for which you can pay to have a particular individual get the reservation for you! Such is the desire and perceived difficulty of getting a seat at what is widely considered the best restaurant in the country. I say “perceived” because I am not so sure how much to buy into this.  Liz and I started calling with two phones the moment the clock struck 10am, got through after about a minute,  and had the option of several seatings. I feel like if you do that and you have a window of a couple of days that you are willing to go, you should have no problem. Especially now since it’s star is starting to fade a bit and other US restaurants are considered as good if not better.

To the meal. Everything was delicious, with the standouts being the Oysters and Pearls (Liz said it was her all time favorite bite of food), the Butter-Poached Lobster, the Black Bass, and the Yogurt Sherbet. The service was amazing – the courses were paced well, and our server was fun and informative. The environment in the restaurant was a little stuffy. No music playing so it was a little awkward at first with lots of tables whispering. But it loosened up after a while, presumably as a function of drunkenness. There were two menu options, the Chef’s Tasting or the vegetarian tasting. The waiter strongly urged us to go with the Chef’s Tasting absent any strict vegetarians, and I think that’s a wise move. For the same price ($240) you better have some strong philosophical aversion to meat to go with the vegetarian menu. The menu was 9 courses with four of those courses having two options to choose from. The Foie Gras and the Kuroge Beef courses carried supplemental charges.

Amuse bouche of salmon tartare with some kind of whipped cheese hiding in the nether-regions of a chive cornet.

“Oysters and Pearls”:  Sabayon of pearl tapioca with Island Creek Oysters and California Sturgeon Caviar

Salad of Hawaiian Hearts of Peach Palm: French Laundry Garden Radish, Cucumber, Perilla and Navel Orange

Moulard Duck Foie Gras in Terrine: Green Grapes, Cutting Celery, Compressed Endive and Black Truffle

Sauteed Fillet of Atlantic Black Bass: Garlic Scapes, Carrots, Artichokes and Barigoule Emulsion

Tartare of Japanese Bluefin Tuna: Beech Mushrooms, Gengko Nuts, Broccollini and Bonito

Sweet Butter-Poached Maine Lobster “Mitts”: Potato “Mille Feuille”, Golden Corn, Fava Beans, and Pickled Ramps

Fricassee of Salmon Creek Farms Pork Belly: “Garnitures de Petit Pois a la Francaise”

Sirloin of Kuroge Beef from Shiga: White Asparagus, Pine Nuts, Tulare Cherries, Mizuna and Ginger Sauce

Manchester: Cauliflower, Pumpkin Seeds, Zante Currants and Parsley Shoots

Andante Dairy Yogurt Sherbet: Oatmeal “Sable” and Royal Blenheim Apricot

“Gateau au Chocolat Avec Bavarois Praline”: Caramelized Gros Michel Bananas and Hazelnut Sorbet

“Parfait au Cintron”: Candied Lemon, Biscotti Tuile and Lemon Snow

So, what do I think? French Laundry is definitely one of the best restaurants we’ve been to, probably top 5. Was it worth the price? No, I don’t think so. Not considering what you could get elsewhere for the same price or less. Eating there reminded me of what Ezra Klein wrote about Per Se over at the IFA. “It wasn’t going far enough. It wasn’t inventing anything, or surprising you.” There were no duds at French Laundry. Every dish was delicious and beautiful. But there were no jaw-dropping moments either, except of course when the bill showed up. There was nothing playful about the experience. No whimsy. And dammit, if I’m going to plan a trip around a restaurant and pay that much to eat there, I want some f’ing whimsy. The difference between an incredibly fresh ingredient prepared perfectly and a really incredibly fresh ingredient prepared super-duper perfectly does not merit tacking hundreds of dollars onto the bill. There are other places I could go. Eating the Tour at Alinea in Chicago is like French Laundry meets Cirque du Soleil. And cheaper.

That said, it was a great experience. Yountville and the surrounding wine country is a beautiful setting and must be taken into account if you like to travel for restaurants. While Alinea is a better restuarant, I’d rather take a trip to Napa than Chicago.

 

Ten Tables (Craigie St, Cambridge)

Though our last visit to Ten Tables was sort of a bummer, we have not given up on it and were excited about trying the new location in the former Craigie Street Bistro.  The quarters are tight even in Ten Tables’ new establishment, but there is enough space not to feel like you’re going to knock wine and people over as you walk to the bathroom.  Ten Tables has done a nice job with the decor; it’s both sleeker and more inviting than Craigie Street was with better (lower) lighting and leather banquettes.

Feeling celebratory, we started the meal with cocktails.  I got the KK, named after TT’s proprietor Krista Kranyak, and made with passion fruit juice, ginger, and champagne, an unfortunate choice for a preprandial drink.  It was all passion fruit and ginger and no champagne, which was the opposite of what I was hoping for.  It wasn’t bad; it was just meant for brunch.  Carlo’s drink, the Gaston 76 made with White Lillet, Cucumber and Tarragon on the rocks, was the perfect summer late afternoon cocktail, cold and refreshing and only a little sweet.  And while we’re discussing pre-dinner fare, the bread was also really good, chewy and soft and reminiscent of the best of Iggy’s bread.  The only downside  of the bread course was that we didn’t get much oil and no matter how clean we licked its plate, no one brought us more.

Onto wine…we made a bad choice.  Okay, I made a bad choice.  As a small, easily-intoxicated person, I am trying to push for more half bottles and carafes in Boston restaurants.  And by “trying to push”, I mean I like to order them.  Ten Tables offered a house wine, which is something I frequently and successfully order when traveling, as well as a few half bottles.  Carlo was adamantly opposed to the half bottle on account of it being a rip off.  Since we can usually only drink a half bottle anyway, I don’t see the problem in paying $23 for a decent but overpriced bottle.  I still get what I want and so it’s a win if it’s even marginally cheaper than the whole bottle we may have ordered.  Carlo wouldn’t hear of it so we compromised on the horrible barely palatable half carafe of house wine for $14, which tasted like it came out of a box of Franzia or possibly a jug.   Carlo pointed out (after we ordered) that the reason house wine is good when we travel in Europe is that we are drinking in the vicinity of a vineyard.  We should have asked what it was before we paid for it.  We didn’t.  You get what you pay for.

Onto the food.  A lot of it was good. Some of it wasn’t.

For our appetizers:

Spicy Steak Tartare: Pickled hon Shimenji Mushrooms and Watercress

Carlo ordered Spicy Steak Tartare.  This was the loser of the appetizers from my perspective. Though Carlo thought it was tasty on the whole and liked it better than what I ordered, to me, the flavor of the pickledness was overwhelming and came across as almost sweet.  It wasn’t bad; just not re-orderable.

Fluke Crudo with chives, olive oil, sea salt and citrus

My appetizer was fresh and well-seasoned and overall tasty.  This is not an original combination but it was done with fresh and flavorful ingredients and was exactly what I wanted. The picture makes it look really busy, but flavorwise it did not come across that way. Carlo thought the grapefruit dominated everything else on the plate, though I chalk this up to him not liking grapefruit.

Entrees:

Portuguese Monkfish Stew with Wellfleet Littleneck Clams, Fine Herbs, Garlic Aioli and Piment D'Espelette

Meh.  The broth and poached Monkfish were flavorless and there was a big gob of aioli in the middle of the bowl that did not stir in well.  The only good part of this was the clams.  They were good and were basically all I ate.

Housemade Boudin Blanc with Hudson Valley Duck Confit, Mustard Cream Lentils, Endive and Apple

Best dish of the night.  I did not try all of the components, but the Boudin Blanc itself was flavorful and unique and something I would order over and over.

Desserts: Carlo and I both thought our own dessert was better than the other, which I guess is a good sign. I had the chocolate terrine with Thai basil ice cream and sea salt -  the perfect complement of rich creamy chocolate, salt and sweet basil.

Warm Sticky Toffee Pudding with Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

To me, this was a sickly sweet mess, but Carlo liked it so much he couldn’t keep his hands still for the picture.  It tasted good and I would have been happy with it had it been mine, but it had none of the balance of the chocolate dessert.  To each his own.

Overall, Ten Tables delivers with just a few mis-hits.  Unfortunately it’s out of the way for Bostonians, a bit of a walk from Harvard Square T and has only four parking spots, making a visit difficult.  It’s a place I would happily go to if in the neighborhood, but I am not sure it is good enough to merit a special trip, especially considering it requires risking a parking ticket.

 

Craigie on Main (Main St. Central Sq. Cambridge)

I was very much looking forward to our meal at Craigie on Main last weekend. I have a weakness for all things pork, and I have come to know Craigie as an institution cut from that same mold. What incarnation of piggy delights would be on the menu this time around? Trotter? Cracklins? Jowel? Definitely some sort of belly. Will it be confit? Braised? Maybe it will be something I’ve never heard of before! Well, imagine my distress and disappointment when I opened the menu to see (gasp) one measly little pork option on the menu. A trio of charcuterie (boudin noir appeared on the menu as well, but not as the main component of the dish). I got it, of course, but I was none too pleased with my lack of options. It was a Sunday night, sure, but if you’re going to have a pig as the emblem of your restaurant then make sure it’s well-represented on the menu. I mean, I understand the whole “we print the menu at 5:09″ thing, and you dare not throw some piggy parts in the freezer to ensure strong supply, but tell you what: print the menu two weeks before and make sure there’s a damn pig on it.  Feeling good about my local eating habits isn’t going to make up for the lack of pig in my mouth. F.

homemade rabbit sausage, boudin noir, cock's combs, mushroom, farm egg

Tempura fried dayboat cod cheeks w/ pickled peppers and squid ink anchoiade

These two dishes were my favorites of the night. A farm fresh egg will make virtually anything taste good in my opinion, but this light stew of sausage, boudin noir, cock’s combs and mushrooms  was the perfect compliment. The dish could have used a bit more in terms of different textures as everything was on the soft side, but the taste was money. The cod cheeks were crispy without being greasy and the squid ink had some serious depth of flavor. Other appetizers at the table included the Grilled Spanish Octopus which got rave reviews from the Globe, but was by far the worst dish of the night. This octopus did not taste grilled as it was neither chewy nor charred. It was completely mushy which, characteristic of octopus that was boiled too long for its own good, and came in a far too salty chorizo sauce.

side of bone marrow

side of roasted potatoes

I love restaurants that have tasty side dishes. It’s like a little bonus when I look at the menu -  a nice addition to the traditional appetizer-entree-dessert sections. These were both solid versions of marrow and potatoes. Though I don’t know how I feel about all that marrow without any accompaniments. It’s the type of dish that needs a little something with it to really get me going.

Hangar steak w/ bone marrow, beef tongue, walnut foie gras puree

crispy yelow corn polenta w/ winter vegetables, forest mushrooms, carrot jus

I had the hangar steak and Liz had the polenta. The steak was well-cooked but I really got the dish because of the walnut foie gras puree, and it didn’t totally deliver on my expectations. It was a bit bland relative to the other flavors on the plate, like the tongue. Liz liked her polenta, particularly the flavor of cinnamon in the carrot jus.

gingerbread pain perdu w/quince ginger ice cream, cranberries

The pain perdu for dessert tasted very good, but I wish it was a bit more interesting. The white corn grits with dried fruit compote were a mushy mess that resembled a hot breakfast dish more than a dessert. Liz actually ordered something else and was brought the grits by mistake. I’m sure had we said something about it they would have acted swiftly and courteously to correct the problem, but at that point we didn’t particularly care.

Over all the meal was good, but by no means the best meal I’ve had at a Craigie establishment. I hope it’s not an indication of the new location. I don’t think it is. And for the love of god, Craigie on Main, take a cue from the many pigs you have adorning the dining room and put some mother loving pork on the menu.

white corn grits w/ dried fruit and cinnamon ice cream

 

Beacon Hill Bistro (Charles Street)

Beacon Hill Bistro

Carlo and I were pleasantly surprised by our dinner at Beacon Hill Bistro over the weekend.  We needed a table for 7 without much notice, and so BHB was selected out of convenience more than out of a desire to go there.  I’ve been there several times for brunch, which is not bad and certainly the best weekend breakfast in Beacon Hill (sorry Paramount).  I’ve been there a couple times for dinner, which was fine, but certainly not memorable.  After a very satisfying meal there this weekend, BHB might move up my list of go-to neighborhood places for a meal with parents or to catch up with friends, particularly since there wasn’t really anything on that list before.

For those who have not been, BHB has a relaxed neighborhood bistro feel–the dress is casual (the waiters wear black black button-up shirts and pony tails), everyone is friendly, people talk loud if they feel like it.  I’m probably not the best judge of this, but I find it to be very unpretentious, though not cheap (entrees run from low to high $20’s).  The food is bistro-style, but not as heavy as the food at a typical Parisian bistro.  The wine list was varied in price and varietal.  We have been trying to go a little cheaper on the wines lately, and I’m finding that I like bottles in the $30’s as much as I liked those in the $60’s.  We ordered a 2007 Alois Lageder Pinot Grigio from Alto Adige.  Nothing special, but very quaffable and the table unanimously agreed to get a second bottle rather than order a red.

On this particular evening, I ordered my meal very recklessly, and it could have gone badly.  You see, Carlo has started this new [annoying] thing where we [actually he] “call” things on menus, sort of like how one calls shotgun.  But we all know people that call shotgun two hours before you actually get in the car; Carlo is that kind of person.  He looks at the menu before we go out to eat and decides what he wants.  Then he quickly peruses the specials list before I’ve had a chance to set my purse down, decides whether or not to change his initial decision, and then he “calls” what he’s getting, which means that I can’t get it.  And unfortunately, 80% of the time, I would have ordered what he ordered.  So, when we got to BHB, I went sort of crazy and tried to read the menu and the specials in under 20 seconds, basically just reading for key words [ie, bacon, truffle, crispy pork belly, etc] and screamed out what I wanted as quickly as I could.

Luckily I did not injure anyone during this process, but I did order two specials without thinking, picking my appetizer because it contained the words egg and truffle and my entree because it contained the words chestnut and parsnip.  I ended up with a farm egg on sourdough toast with shaved black truffle and chestnut crusted veal chop with baked apples and parsnip on the side.  The farm egg was good, not spectacular, but good.  I am not a huge fan of shaved black truffle; cooks get a little heavy-handed with it and it starts to taste like dirt to me.  But this was pretty good, satisfying, if a little cliche.  But my entree was delicious.  There was a lot of stuff on the plate, as there was a huge portion of veal, tons of little parsnip discs, and an entire baked apple.  Nonetheless, it looked very pretty with whole red berries and shredded greens garnishing the plate, and the veal was perfectly cooked medium rare and the flavors all went together beautifully.  I enjoyed every bite of it.  Others were equally satisifed with their dishes, though I was too busy eating mine to try them, which included French-style gnocchi and a duck confit for appetizers and scallops with wild mushrooms and an herb broth and lightly fried skate wing for entrees.  It says a lot that Carlo enjoyed  his meal since earlier in the day he had decided to go on a “wings crawl” (as opposed to a pub crawl) and wasn’t feeling so hot.  My dessert was also great.  It was a play on s’mores, which included a molten marshmallow chocolate cake with banana ice cream and graham crackers on the side. The graham crackers were pointless, but the marshmallow melting into the chocolate fondant was decadent and delicious.

I hesitate to recommend BHB unconditionally.  As I said, I’ve had forgettable meals there in the past.  Either we hit it on a good night or the food is genuinely getting better and more interesting.  This meal probably took me from “skip it” to “worth a try” and hopefully after a few more visits I’ll be able to recommend it without caveat.

 

Rendezous, Central Square, Cambridge

Liz convinced me and a friend of hers to try Rendezvous last night before a concert in Central Square. It was convenient to where we were going and someone told her it was good. I don’t totally regret it…

We have seen and heard some good things about Rendezvous recently, particularly in Gourmet and Boston Magazine, but for some reason I just could not get myself excited to go, and the menu didn’t help. Of the appetizers the gnocchi and the chicken livers looked good, but nothing else stood out. Of the entrees, the duck and the meatballs, I suppose – but restaurant meatballs? What was I thinking? We started with a charcuterie plate that was actually quite good. A chicken liver pate, some housemade lardo, and a pork and veal terrine. For appetizers I was forced into getting the scallops, since Liz wanted the chicken livers, and then the gnocchi as a main course. The sauce for my scallops had “Moroccan spices”. Apparently, Moroccans go wild for tons of cumin. After scraping that off, the scallop tasted fine. Liz’s chicken livers were overcooked – they had turned the tender and fatty texture of a well-cooked liver into the grainy and mealy texture of an icky one.Things didn’t get much better with the entrees. The meatballs were served over toasted orecchiette, kale, and piave cheese. The toasted orecchiette were nice – I enjoyed the contrast between the chewiness of the pasta and the crispiness of the crust. It’s too bad they were served with totally lame meatballs. There was just nothing interesting to these balls of ground meat. The only seasoning I could detect was garlic – and poorly chopped garlic at that. I bit into at least 3 significant chunks, and I was not the only one to suffer the consequences. Let’s just say that Liz wasn’t giving me much affection for the 24 hour period following our meal. Liz’s gnocchi were the real train wreck though. They were homemade, so I guess you have to applaud the effort, but they were very mushy and contributing to the mushiness was the fact that they were served in essentially a soup of oily mushroom-water. The gnocchi were submerged in liquid, which is something I have never seen before and don’t recommend. I’m fairly sure that if they sat in that broth for a little while longer they would have dissolved into a potato porridge. The dessert we had was excellent – a lemon-buttermilk pudding with huckleberry sauce. Definitely try it. My overall impression of Rendezvous was negative, but I think we ordered poorly. The overcooked liver was their mistake, the gnocchi and the meatballs ours. It’s just hard to make these well, and my expectations should have been low. I’m confident that sticking to more traditional bistro items like duck and fish would have been the better call and the more satisfying meal.

 

L’Espalier Monday Wine Night (Gloucester St, Back Bay)

After having two bad experiences at L’Espalier, I had assumed I’d never go back, but Monday night I found myself there for L’Espalier’s weekly wine night. The other two bad experiences involved their parallel weekly cheese night in early 2007 and then a birthday tasting menu dinner in late 2007. I don’t remember anything about the food and wine at Cheese Night; all I remember is being forced to pretend to sing and Carlo leaning over and whispering, “Which of our tablemates is most likely to be a serial killer?” We couldn’t decide; it seemed that they all had potential. After having time to recover from that, Carlo and I decided to go there for a tasting menu for our shared birthday in December. We had just done the same at No. 9 Park two weeks earlier so it was hard not to compare. No. 9 had better food, better wine, and better service. We thought the food at L’Espalier was boring and dry, and to top it off our cheese plate, which they selected for us, to our chagrin, had been sitting so long that all of it had congealed to the plate and hardened.

So like I said, I was surprised to find myself back there. This time, it was for a work event. Despite my misgivings about L’Espalier it is not so bad that I would pass up a free visit. Plus, I knew I would know everyone at the table and they don’t sing on Wine Night, so it didn’t seem that it could be that bad. It wasn’t. It wasn’t that good either, but I had fun and didn’t pay for it so all was not lost. The $60 menu, which was called “Summer Sippers” was as follows:

2007 Fairhall Downs, Sauvingnon Blanc, Marlborough, NZ paired with Chilled Melon Soup with Duck Confit

2007 Gai’a, “14-18H”, Rose, Agiorgitiko, Greece paired with Squash tagliatelle salad with feta, almonds and tahini dressing

2006 Montinore, Pinot Noir, Williamette, Oregon paired with Raspberry barbequed chicken with collard greens and potato salad

2006 Burgaud, “Vieilles Vignes”, Morgon, Beaujoulais pair with L’Espalier’s cheese course: Manchego, Taleggio and Bayley Hazen Blue Cheese from Vermont

The best thing I can say about this menu is that the pairings were done well. All of the wine and food together were more than the sum of the parts. That said, the parts weren’t all that good. The Sauvignon Blanc was the best stand alone wine and it was nicely chilled and probably would be good with any sort of light food in the summer. Still, it was not very complex or interesting. It was a little grassy, a lot of tropical fruit and citrus, etc–everything you’d expect in a decent NZ Sauvignon Blanc. It went well with the soup, though the soup was just so-so. I don’t know why: the mix of the duck and the melon just didn’t work. It didn’t even look that good.

Next, we had the tagliatelle, which for the record, was not tagliatelle. It was shredded squash with a pretty good dressing. And as for the rose, it was like sickly sweet candy. And I’m not saying that because I’m a rose-hater. In fact, I tend to like roses and I’m always excited to try Greek wines. This just wasn’t good. Maybe it was meant for food and again, together the squash and wine were pretty good. I was still mad about the tagliatelle though. I thought I was getting pasta with squash, not squash unsuccessfully mimicking pasta.

Next, the barbequed chicken was good, moist, but maybe not something I’d expect to get at L’Espalier. I know they are trying to show they are versatile and can do barbeque just as well as they can do duck confit, but they didn’t really impress me. Throwing raspberry on barbeque doesn’t make it clever.  The wine was okay. I normally love Oregonian Pinots, but this one was just okay. I can’t really remember much about it, and my distaste for it might have been caused by having three wines in quick succession. Together though, the food and wine blended well.

Finally, the cheese was good. But I love cheese and I would think it was good in almost any form. The thing I didn’t like was that the portion sizes varied considerably. I probably only noticed this because mine was considerably smaller than everyone else’s, but whatever, it wasn’t fair. The Beaujoulais was like the perfect table wine: quaffable, nothing challenging or sharp. Pleasant plain red wine.

And finally, we had some petits fours to send us off, for those who didn’t stick around for dessert. I ate two chocolate ones. One was okay, a sort of tiramisu cake with a hint of raspberry. It was kind of soggy but tasted good. The mini chocolate cake I ate was dry and flavorless. I didn’t try the others, an orange thing and a madeleine, but one of my colleagues said jokingly that the orange thing ruined what had been a great night. So there you have it. L’Espalier is overrated despite their charming quintessential Boston townhouse location, which they are soon leaving for the “grander” Mandarin Oriental. Don’t waste your money. Go to No. 9 if you want to drop your paycheck on a fancy meal.

 

Sel de la Terre – 255 State Street, Boston

This review of my recent lunch at Sel de la Terre should probably be taken with a grain of salt. I would give it a B/B-, but my vote is skewed for two reasons. First, it is only based on what I ordered. I was with colleagues, and I felt a little odd asking to try their food or surveying how they felt about it. Second, I can’t actually remember everything that I ordered. I remember what I ate, but my appetizer was a “daily” charcuterie plate and I’m not entirely sure what was on it. That said, I did eat there, and I ordered as much as I could (three courses) without raising suspicion that I was planning on “rating” the food.

To begin, the decor and service are both nice. The decor is pretty basic, and it’s not very romantic, but I think it’s the ideal place for lunch. It’s bright and sunny and bustling without being loud. I have been there a couple times, and the service has always been extremely friendly, reliable, and unobsequious. Next, the menu is varied without being overburdensome. They offer little tastes you can order as a pre-appetizer to go alongside the complimentary rustic bread and butter. They have nice salads (e.g. I once ordered a nicoise that I remember thinking was good). They have good-sounding sandwiches.

I went awry when I ordered one of the main courses. And I went further awry when I ordered the pasta main course. What was I thinking?? I go to a rustic French/New England lunch spot and I order gnocchi . I guess I was still dreaming about Carlo’s gnocchi the other night, and thought this would compare. I was sucked in by the words “foraged” and “hazelnuts” all in the same menu option. I have no idea, but that’s what I ordered, and I lived to regret it. The gnocchi themselves were actually okay; not spectacular, but had the sauce been good, I might have given it a B. Instead I’m forced to give it a D-. It was drenched with red pepperness. It was drenched in cream sauce. It did not taste like truffles and there were no hazelnuts to be found. I took a few bites when it first arrived and then made the mistake of taking a minute break from eating. By the time I was ready to start again, I was so disgusted that I couldn’t take another bite. I blame myself for misordering, but then again, I do expect restaurants to make well anything they put on their menu. Everyone seemed to like the salmon they ordered so maybe that would have been a better bet.

The charcuterie plate merits a B+/A-. It was basically three pates. One of them had a fig paste in it; one had some nuts in it; and one was like a creamy foie gras paste. The latter was really good and the others were decent–very rustic. The little brioche and apple compote and cornichons were all good. It was what I expected and have no complaints.

The dessert was delicious and saved the meal from a much lower grade. I didn’t actually get what I ordered but I didn’t care. There was some sort of peach, berry something or other bread pudding on the fixed price menu and I asked if I could have that instead of the regular bread pudding. The waiter said that it was no problem at all and then brought me the regular bread pudding: “warm brioche bread pudding with black currants, spiced anglaise and pineapple compote”. Either way, it was fantastic, perfectly cooked: moist without being soupy. The pineapple compote was so good that I had to apportion a little bit to each bite of bread pudding or else I would have eaten it at all at once missing out on the harmony between the compote and the pudding. The spiced anglais had no flavor, but it didn’t matter. I would go back just for this dish.

So in sum, Sel de la Terre has great desserts (everyone else got watermelon sorbet and loved it), good salads and good-sounding sandwiches, and terrible entrees (I am writing them all off because that sauce was so bad). I will have to go again and try more stuff before making a judgment, but at this point, I recommend going there for a salad and burger and bread pudding.

 

TW Food

Liz and I have been wanting to try TW Food in Cambridge for several months and finally got the chance this past weekend. The chef and proprietress duo of Tim and Bronwyn Weichmann who run the place had immediate cred with us having previously worked at Ten Tables in Jamaica Plain. TW Food gives off the same vibe as Ten Tables – casual and fun but sophisticated and tasteful. 12-15 or so tables, a nice view of the the chef in the kitchen, and decorations characterized by elegant simplicity. The night started off on a stressful note as we were running 10-15 minutes late for our 6pm reservation. We called on the way over to make sure this wouldn’t be a problem and they kindly explained that the table would be ours but that they had another seating at 8:30. A very reasonable reply – as accomodating as they could be within the practical limitations of their restaurant. We arrived in a frenzy and immediately ordered the tasting menu with wine pairings before even glancing at the menu. It is as follows:

The “Joy of Spring” Tasting ($69, $95 with wine pairing)

AMUSE BOUCHE littleneck clams on brioche, beet mousse on puff pastry over creme fraiche

SHOOTER local duxbury oyster with essence of fennel: chenin Blanc, “Les Amandiers”, 2005, Saumur, Loire Valley, France

SPRING BEET soup with atlantic sea scallop and wild morels: Melville Chardonnay, 2006, Santa Rita Hills, Santa Barbara, California

SMOKED SOFTSHELL CRAB kohlrabi salad and mascarpone vinaigrette: Sybille Kunitz Riesling, “Gold-Quadrat”, 2005, Bernkastel-Lieser, Mosel, Germany

CURED FARM BEEF “en gelee” with mango and rutabaga, horseradish cream: Matteo Corregia Barbera d’ Alba, 2003, Canale, Piedmont, Italy

PIG IN HAY vermont “yorkshire ham” slow roast leg with sorrel, ramps and asparagus, kentucky bourbon mint jus: Domaine Digiia-Royer Pinot Noir, 2005, Bourgogne, France

CHEESE roquefort, (aquitaine france) twig farm fuzzy wheel (west cornwall VT) comte vieux, (jura france): L’eCole No.41 Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot Blend, 2004, Columbia Valley, Washington

PROFITEROLES soft pate a choux pastry filled “a la minute” with vanilla ice cream, sauce caramel: Rasteau vin doux naturel 2005

PETITS FOURS

First of all, $69 for a 7 course tasting menu is about as reasonable as it’s going to get, even if it were 7 courses at Chili’s, let alone a meal as good as this. And while your foot is in the door with the $69, may as well step on in for the wine pairing as well. Of everything we ate and drank, there were only two flaws that I can come up with. The seasoning was a bit off in the beet soup. The soup itself needed a touch more salt, and the morels a touch less. Though this was overshadowed by the best pairing I’ve had in a while with the Melville Chardonnay. Second, I didn’t care much for the beef “en gelee”. As opposed to a terrine, which is typically lined with a layer of gelatin, the beef ‘en gelee’ was essentially chunks of beef set in a gelatin mold. It provided a nice texture contrast with the beef but did not contribute significantly to the flavor of the dish. In fact, it just took away from the taste of the meat itself. The horseradish cream was excellent with the few pieces of beef on my plate, but highlighted that this was at heart a jello dish.

Despite these minor issues, TW Food impressed us. The attention and care paid to each dish showed that cooking this food was a very personal expression for the chef. His close proximity, tendency to serve the dishes himself, and anxious stolen glances from the kitchen to the dining room revealed a sincere concern for the experiences of his customers. But the effort devoted to selecting the ingredients and the delicious wines also showed that this concern was balanced by a principled approach to the construction of the meal itself. TW Food cares deeply not only about the satisfaction of the eaters but also about adhering to a particular philosophy of cooking (i.e. fresh and local, artisanal). And they pull this off without coming across as pompous or inaccessible, a feat which a lot of restaurants haven’t yet mastered (you try saying “soft pate a choux filled ‘a la minute’” without sounding like a prick. it’s tough.) Overall, a very genuine restaurant with delicious and reasonably-priced food. Highly recommended.