Gigi Gelateria

The other night I had a craving for Gelati and since the weather was so perfect, I decided to walk to the North End with Bryan and Adam to get some Italian ice cream. On our way to Hanover Street we took a side road and stumbled across a street festival! Street festivals are always a big surprise to us South Enders since the closest thing we have to one is our rinky-dink Pride parade. For a foodie, this was the festival to be at. The festival was called the "Fisherman's Feast" and the smell of "Italian" carnival food filled the air. Alongside the carnival games were fried arrancini balls (the size of a tennis balls, no exaggeration), cannoli made by the "Original Cannoli Girl", fried dough, Italian Ice, and even meat on a stick. We resisted all of these wonderful delights (well, Adam did get freshly squeezed lemonade that a nice Italian girl made him) and made our way up Hanover street to get some, now, much needed gelati. I had remembered there was a gelateria close to the beginning of Hanover and so that's the way we were going when were we stopped dead in our tracks by a marching band holding up a Madonna statue in a little gazebo-shaped thing. Attached to the Madonna were strands of dollar bills. The band played, then stopped, shook the Madonna, spun Her around, and marched on to the next block. It was the most bizarre religious procession I'd ever seen. The Madonna made a sharp right down another side road and we were finally able to make our way to the gelateria uninterrupted.

Gigi Gelateria was right where I remembered it to be. There is a small serving station facing the street so you don't even have to go in if you don't want to. However, your choices on the street are minimal...maybe four or five flavors to choose from at best. Inside is where the goodies are. The shop is small but friendly and thankfully there was no line (most people were still following that Madonna covered in money!). We were greeted by three young women who offered us free samples of the MANY flavors before us. Bryan had a sample but Adam and I just went off the name. Together the flavors we tried were:

Peter: Watermelon, Green Apple

Adam: Chocolate Chip Mint

Bryan: Lemon, Grapefruit, Amarena (Cherry)

All of it was delicious. My favorite was the Green Apple, followed by the Watermelon and Grapefruit. What I loved about all the flavors (and about Gelati in general) was that they were light and totally natural tasting, none of this artificial watermelon taste. It was the real deal. Gigi Gelateria gets high marks from me, not only for their wide selection of flavors but for the quality of the product. If you are in the North End, this is definitely a stop worth making.

Experience a bit of North Africa with Tangierino...

Before having gone to Morocco for five days during my junior year abroad, I never really had experienced the great things Moroccan cuisine has to offer. Since then I have tried a number of Moroccan restaurants, the latest being Charlestown's 'Tangierino' for dinner last night.

Our experience had a rough start since apparently I had made my reservation for Sunday night, and not Monday night. The maître d' was nonetheless kind enough to accommodate us and made sure to tell us she could get in trouble for doing so.

Soon we were whisked away into a truly awesome recreation of a restaurant in North Africa. Arabic music filled the small, almost cavernous dining space where we were seated somewhat low to the ground on thick cushioned chairs, bathed in candlelight. The walls were lined with tapestries, paintings, and even a recreated spout from a communal fountain, something I became familiar with in Morocco. Dark, somewhat see-through curtains separated groups of tables from one another, golden lamps hung from the ceiling, and some of the female staff were even adorned with what looked like belly-dancing attire.


Once seated we were offered the opportunity to wash our hands over a metal basin, with warm, rose-scented water being poured our from a large kettle. Even though I knew what I was getting, I still browsed the restaurant week menu and noticed that there were a couple of changes from online, namely the addition of a shrimp appetizer. The cocktail list looked very fun, so both of us ended up feeling obligated to order something. I started with a North African Devil - unfortunately, I don't recall the exact constituents, but it had Patrón, a spicy olive garnish, and flakes of what looked like mild red pepper floating in it. It was ok, though the olives were absolutely delicious. Chris had a Gimlet, which was nice, but pretty standard.

I started my meal with the Harira, a soup of plum tomato base, chickpeas, lentils, celery, cilantro. I don't know why I expected this to be served cold, but it wasn't. Flavor-wise it was reminiscent of something Mexican, to be honest - perhaps it was the cilantro. Either way I enjoyed the hearty soup. Christopher had a garlic shrimp cooked in a tagine - very good and nicely flavored with garlic, but it struck me as more Mediterranean than North African.

For my main course I chose the Sultan's Kadra - "Za'atar" (زعتر) spiced tender filet of lamb, cheese filled eggplant, shitake mushroom, poached figs, and caramelized apricot in a rosemary reduction. It came nicely presented with the pieces of lamb served over a cross-section of eggplant filled with the cheese and topped with the shitakes. On either side was a poached fig. This was really delicious, especially the stuffed-eggplant, which I included as part of every bite.

Christopher opted for the Couscous royale - tender lamb shank, grilled spiced merguez wrapped in phyllo over seven vegetables couscous. I want to say that on the menu the lamb was described as being a "filet", whereas online it said shank. Well, it was certainly a nice-sized shank served over a ton of couscous laden with vegetables, all served in an earthenware dish. He was also given a vegetable broth on the side to pour over the couscous. The lamb was quite good - I very much enjoyed the subtle phyllo-taste in every bite, giving it a slight crunch on the outside, but keeping the meat on the inside moist and flavorful. His couscous was very good, but it had nothing on the couscous we both had at Red Fez.

After waiting some time between this course and dessert, our selections finally arrived. I decided on something on the lighter side, the "exotic" sorbet of lemon, watermelon, and tangerine served with a dollop of whipped cream. Each scoop had tremendous flavor and was a great finish to the meal. Christopher ate his triple chocolate mousse torte too quickly enough for me to even try it, but I know he very much enjoyed it.

Overall, I was very happy with my experience at Tangierino. The atmosphere cannot be beat, and I would very much recommend the restaurant for a romantic dinner or even for a larger celebratory occasion, as they have a room that can be sectioned off for larger groups. There is so much more to the menu than the restaurant week selections, so I will definitely plan on making a return trip!

photo courtesy of southsmoke.com

Guten Appetit!

Kathy: Reporting back from Germany!

Well I have returned from Germany, the Land of Perfect as my fiancé calls it! Although I can not confirm that, I will say the food in Germany is outstanding! And I did my fair share of eating! I was very impressed with the numerous outdoor markets! The olives were to die for!


















We spent most of our dining experiences in the Northern Rheine region. In Moers we had curry sausage called, Currywurst with pommes frites (AKA French Fries). The key to this dish, is the sauce. The sausage itself is usually a simple fine bratwurst.





We also traveled to Munich and enjoyed some traditional Bavarian food, and beer! Perhaps the most famous beer gardens in the world is in Munich, the Hofbräuhaus! They brew their own beer and serve a very traditional Bavarian dish, White Sausage, or Weisswurst. Although this sausage does look a bit strange, it is delicious. It is boiled and therefore does not turn brown. They serve it with a sweet mustard that I was just crazy about! I smuggled some back to the States! The skin of the sausage is very hard and therefore not eaten. Most Germans suck the Weisswurst out from the skin. My stomach was a bit too weak for that, so I carefully cut the skin off and enjoyed!
You wash the Weisswurst down with about one liter of HB beer!






And of course, no trip to Germany would be complete without a pretzel! I was skeptical that the German Pretzel could really be that much better than an American one. I was proved wrong! I don't know what type of dough they use or how they cook them, but the German Pretzel is truly superior!




Well what about breakfast?
This is a traditional German Breakfast.
It consists of an egg (usually hardboiled), a slice of ham, slice of
cucumber, slice of tomatoe, slice of cheese
(usually Gouda), and a croissant and/ or roll.







If all of this looks a bit too heavy for your taste, there were salads to choose. The vegetables in Germany are very fresh and make for an incredible salad. I enjoyed a Fried Goat Cheese salad.








After being in Germany for so long, we decided to make some food items to remind us of home. Michael smoked some pork ribs and made a homemade BBQ sauce.
Ingredients included:
Spicy Ketchup as base, olive oil, sherry vinegar, pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika powder, garlic, chilli, honey and brown sugar, and maybe a spit of tequila.
He smoked the ribs for 6 hours at about 250 degrees F.
During those 6 hours we drank a 5 liters of Becks! Yum! Oddly, the beer in Germany does not provide you with a hangover the following day. I'll have to look into why that is.


















I then used the Lemon Square recipe on this blog from Adrienne. It was a nice treat!

Home-made Butter

One of my favorite things about going out to eat is the fresh butter that many restaurants serve with their bread. Try as it might, there's just no way that store bought butter compares. Making butter at home is very simple if you have a KitchenAid Mixer. Below, I've listed out the steps:


1. Pour room temperature (if it's cold, it will take a lot longer) heavy whipping cream into your KitchenAid mixer bowl.

2. Using the cake batter paddle (do not use the wisk unless you want whipped cream instead), beat on the highest setting you can use without splashing everywhere. You should use the splash guard for this.

3. After about 10 minutes (you can increase the speed as it gets thicker) the cream will begin to thicken, then whip, then firm up and turn yellow.

4. Make sure once the cream has firmed up and looks like butter that you do not stop the mixer. After a few seconds of being firm, the butter will begin to release a liquid (buttermilk).

5. After the buttermilk has been released, drain the buttermilk from the rest of the butter. You can save this buttermilk and make biscuits or yogurt from it if you are adventurous!

6. Next, add salt to the mixture. The amount of salt is totally up to you (a little salt goes a long way). I prefer my fresh butter to be lightly salted since fresh butter is pretty tasty on its own. It's at this stage that you can also whip in chives or other flavorings.


7. Once the salt is mixed in, you can turn off the mixer and scoop out the butter into pre-chilled containers. The fresh butter tastes the best the first few days and especially the day of so if you're having a fancy dinner party or awesome breakfast, whip it a few hours before.

A pint of whipping cream fills about 3 butter dishes like the one pictured below:

A Cut Above

When I was in high school, I spent two weeks with a family in Draguignan, a town in the south of France. While there, I was lucky enough to taste southern French home cooking. At every meal a fresh baguette was waiting to be chopped up and devoured. My host family had a special contraption that always was on the table. I'm not sure what the exact word for it is but I like to call it a "coupe baguette". Quite like a paper-cutter, this "coupe baguette" consisted of a long serrated knife with a handle attached to a wooden base. One would put the baguette on the base, press the handle down, and "coupe" the bread into whatever size slice they preferred.

I remember my host family taking me all around the area, to wonderful traditional pottery shops and oil shops, asking if I wanted anything to bring home to my family in America. I told them, the only thing I wanted was a "coupe baguette" like the one they had at home. Well, we searched and searched and couldn't find one, I was very disappointed. On the day I left, my host family presented me with their family's "coupe baguette". I was thrilled and honored! I wrapped it up in my carry-on, brought it on the plane (something you could never do now....look at the size of that blade!), and continue to enjoy it today.

I am still searching for another "coupe baguette" but have yet to find one. The company who makes mine is called Au Nain (they also make expensive cutlery) but they do not list it on their website. If you ever come across one of these, snatch it up. It's a tool that is forever useful, fun to display, and a joy to use.

Laurel

It was raining when we headed out to Laurel: Grill & Bar for their restaurant week menu. Adam had looked at the menu online and some items jumped out at him so he was very much looking forward to visiting this Back Bay establishment.

Please note: Although Adam is dying of an incurable ulcer (or so he thinks) it's his solemn duty to "take on restaurant week" he informs me as he is recovering from dinner on my couch.

Adam says: I spent a lot of time weeding through restaurant week menus. A lot of them had crap on them, and I didn't want to go to those places. But the tenderloin at Laurel did catch my eye and never having been there, I thought that this was a perfect opportunity. We arrived at Laurel, after braving the weather, and were immediately seated by the colorful maître d' and were happy to note that the menu presented to us was the same menu online. The entire time we ate at Laurel, the atmosphere was comfortable. The soothing colors on the wall promoted this as well as the tentative and friendly service.

I immediately knew I wanted the tomato and mozzarella salad, the beef tenderloin encrusted with Gorgonzola and the mud pie. There was no thinking. I didn't even look at the rest of the menu. Lina (or as I call her: Lima Bean) our waitress, seemed to be in tuned to the fact that I already knew what I wanted and shouted out "Beef tenderloin!" at me. I'm not sure if she was suggesting the beef tenderloin or calling me a beef tenderloin but either way, it sounded delicious.

Bryan ordered the shrimp and lobster risotto for his appetizer, the beef tenderloin for his entree and the mud pie for dessert.

I ordered the corn and tomato gazpacho, the grilled sausage and onion grilled pork, and of course, the mud pie.

The gazpacho was fine. Nothing too intense or special but a nice combination of flavors.

I had never had gazpacho before, and for those of you who never have either, I was happy to find that it tasted a bit like salsa (if salsa was to be pureed and made into a cold soup).

The salad was straight-forward. Two tomatoes, two slices of mozzarella, a medley of greens and very little dressing but it was good. Adam wouldn't have minded a little bit more. Bryan thought that the risotto was fine. The rice was a little overcooked and the dish relied more on shrimp then lobster.

Adam says: I was not allowed to order my tenderloin rare to medium rare. I'm not sure if this was Lima Bean's own preference coming through or if they didn't have any in the back that were cooked that way, so I settled for medium rare (and got medium). The meat was still very flavorful and tender. Despite being advertised as being encrusted in Gorgonzola the piece of meat was covered in breadcrumbs (Bryan and I found two pieces of Gorgonzola in the breadcrumb mix) the meat however, didn't need it. The dish wasn't lacking with the absence of the Gorgonzola. It was served with mashed potatoes and asparagus, both were fine. Strangely, the rest of the plate was consumed by a cold red wine demi and even though it provided some flavor to the potato, Bryan and I found it odd that it was served at a cold temperature.

The pork fell flat. The chef had overcooked the meat and burnt both sides. This resulted in a very dry piece of pork that was hard to cut into. The filling was still moist but there was hardly

any filling inside. The top of the pork was

smothered (too much so) in mustard and then bread crumbs were applied on top of that adding even more dryness to the dish. The sweet potatoes were fine but the pork was so badly cooked that it was the only thing I could concentrate on.

Both Adam and I were expecting the mud pie to be almost like a ice cream pie with a crumble crust (like we've had at other restaurants) but Laurel serves a more traditional mud pie (being from the South, Bryan expected the Laurel-type of mud pie). Laurel's more traditional mud pie was a bit like a very very moist brownie with coffee ice cream on top and chocolate sauce. We all enjoyed the mud pie. Bryan thought it was wonderful and decadent.

Adam: Laurel is a perfect example of a restaurant I would consider during restaurant week: a place I didn't have very high expectations for, a place I wouldn't normally go to, and therefore, I had a pleasant experience. Not sure if I would go back but thanks to restaurant week I know what to expect if ever I go there again: An incredibly loud bartender, a comfortable dining room, friendly service, and pretty good food.

Adam gives Laurel a B.

Anchovies

Welcome to my review. Peter asked me to write my inaugural (and possibly only) blog about Anchovies, a cute SE bar/restaurant on Columbus Ave. Well, it’s not so much cute as it is dark, but that’s better anyway.

What I like most about Anchovies is the atmosphere. I really like little homey, neighborhoody places. They are often more relaxed, delightfully quirky, and far more interesting than most chains. They sort of give you a feel that you know something special about where you live that not every tourist or weekend trendster ever could. That’s pretty much Anchovies.

Tucked away next to the much larger and more open Giacomo’s restaurant, Anchovies is the closest thing to a dive bar you can find in the South End. It’s dark, often crowded with locals, and usually loud with conversation or commentary on whatever game is on the flat screen TV’s. But unlike a true dive, the people are friendly, it’s clean, and you don’t have to worry about getting shanked by a disgruntled customer.

Anchovies is perfect for a host of occasions. You can meet up with a friend for a drink at the bar, grab a quick bite on your way home after a long night of drinking (it’s been a lifesaver), and it also makes a nice casual place for a first date (seriously) or just a hot meal with friends. When I go, I usually go for the food and drink option because I like to sit and relax and chat. If you don’t order food though, you can’t sit at a table. If you are eating, you may have to wait to be seated as Anchovies is small and there are only a handful of booths and tables.

Anchovies has a pretty full Italian menu and nightly specials with three options: a pasta dish, usually a meat or fish dish, and the lasagna of the day. Now, living here in Boston and growing up on Italian food, I know how it can vary significantly from place to place, restaurant to restaurant. So let me say in advance, this is the hearty but greasy variety. It’s also what I would call more classic Italian: sauce, cheeses, pasta, meat, and chicken. No fancy sauces or creative takes on old favorites. If you want something more upscale, go next door to Giacomo’s. Personally, I like this better. It’s as close to home cooking as you can get.

My favorite is the lasagna. I almost always get it so I really can’t comment on much else. If I am feeling like I should be good and maybe have more protein than pasta, I will get the chicken parm. It’s good but nothing different from the norm, except that there is enough for two meals. They do not skimp on portions. Back to the lasagna. As I said before, it’s the lasagna of the day so it’s always new and usually a good combo (sausage and spinach comes to mind). And when it comes, as with the chicken, it’s huge. And covered with cheese. I mean like drowning covered. That would be my only complaint really. There is often so much cheese I end up feeling greasy and remorseful after, which is probably why I usually only finish about 2/3 of the slab I’m served. But the part I do it is amazing. Fresh from the oven, meaty, solid and not runny, and a perfect ratio of noodles, cheese (ricotta and parmesan), and meat. Filling and delicious. Oh, and you also get a salad with your dinner, but it’s pretty basic, nothing to write home about, and often has too much dressing. Tip of the day: get the dressing on the side.

So that’s it in a nutshell. A fun, friendly, neighborhood bar with good food, and reasonable prices. It may not be to everyone’s liking, but it’s certainly worth a trip to find out first hand. Enjoy!

Review by Mike

Anchovies
433 Columbus Ave
Boston, MA 02116

Open for lunch and dinner

(photos via flickr.com)

Flour Bakery + Cafe

Bryan and I were lucky enough to both have the day off. It doesn't happen very often so we decided to venture out for a quick morning bite. We had heard a lot about Flour so we made our way down to Washington Street to check it out.

Flour is an upscale bakery with a light-relaxed atmosphere. The staff is friendly, the walls are covered in blackboard scrawling and there is a jovial buzz to the place. It feels like the local neighborhood joint and that's exactly what it is.

Upon arriving, Bryan went in to order for us (I told him to surprise me) while I secured a seat outside. There was already a fast moving line inside and tables seemed to be a rare commodity. I snatched one up besides two women who were discussing the faux-pas of not bringing gifts to a party. After a bit, Bryan joined me carrying two wicker baskets, a huge cup filled with parfait, and a large latte.

In the first basket was a cinnamon cream brioche ($2.95). It was awesome. Somewhat similar to a cheese danish, the brioche was light but not at all as greasy as a danish can be. The cinnamon sugar around the edges added just the right touch.

In the second basket was an egg sandwich ($5.95). The egg sandwich was made of eggs and bacon mixed together and then baked (which resulted in very delicious and fluffy eggs), lettuce and tomato, on a scrumptious focaccia roll.

The yogurt parfait was perfect as well. There were fresh raspberries mixed in with dried cranberries and granola. It was plenty of food for two, but I ate it all by myself since it was so good.

Flour was a great find for us. I'm sure we will go back very soon. After all, they do serve lunch!

Flour is located at 1595 Washington Street, in the South End. It serves breakfast and lunch daily.

Pigalle

Effectivement, au début, c'était un peu le bordel. It was strange. We had reservations, and there were plenty of empty tables; but, we still had to wait for about ten minutes to be seated. The restaurant was surprisingly small, and the first thing we noticed when we sat down was how cramped it was. (This having been our first time, we aren't sure whether it's always like this or whether this was in response to a large Restaurant Week crowd.) Then, it took our waiter another ten minutes to come to our table and bring us the menus. We were perplexed--and hungry!

Anyway, we finally get menus and ordered. We were really impressed with the amount of selections on Pigalle's Restaurant Week menu. We chose as follows:

B
Entrée: Arugula Salad with Crispy Bacon, Parmesan Cheese, and Fingerling Potato Chips. My salad was good. The arugula and its dressing were really nice. The Parmesan was shaved in nice-sized pieces and were a nice addition. The most fun part were the fingerling potato chips, which were house-made and shaved paper thin before being fried. The "crispy bacon" was not crispy. Plus it was on the bottom, which made it difficult to reach without making a mess. I think the bacon would have worked more nicely as lardons. In all, though, this was a very nice starter.

Main: Double Thick Grilled Pork Chop with Mustard Sauce, Herb Spätzle, Peas, and Carrots. The pork chop was very tasty. The tarragon spätzle was mixed together with the peas, and carrots, and this served as a bed for the pork. I thought the dish was successful. Nothing too fancy, but it was novel, delicious, and comforting.

Dessert: Stone Fruit and Rhubarb Cobbler with Vanilla Ice Cream. Yummy! I'm from the South, and I love peach cobbler. I haven't been home during peach season this year, so it was nice to finally get some. As the name indicates, peaches were not the only fruit in the cobbler. There were--at least--also nectarines, which don't cook down as quickly as the peaches, and therefore were more firm and still in intact. I don't know whether there were any other stone fruits in there, though. Of course the rhubarb was a nice addition. Now I know what I'm gonna do with some of that rhubarb in my garden that's calling to me! Oh...this was topped with some vanilla ice cream that was also delicious.


P
Entrée: Shortrib Arancini (not on the aforementioned menu, as it has changed slightly since publication). You already know how much we love arancini. These were really interesting. They were filled with shortrib meat, which was amazingly flavorful. There was a spice we weren't quite sure of--and it tasted . I thought it might have been Chinese Five Spice, but that's merely a guess.

Main: Pigalle's Steak Frites with Creamed Spinach.
I think they must have bought a tarragon farm because it was everywhere.

Dessert: Stone Fruit and Rhubarb Cobbler with Vanilla Ice Cream. See above. We got the same dessert. P liked his too...especially the ice cream.

Once again, we didn't feel comfortable taking pictures of the food due to the close quarters; and, it was dark, anyway, so they wouldn't have turned out.

We are happy to have finally gone to Pigalle. While the food lived up to our expectations, the service and atmosphere did not. Next time, we'll try to sit outside.

The Upper Crust

Growing up in New Jersey, I always had a lot of pizza options that I found Boston was lacking in (at least at the time). In High School, my friends and I would always hit up a local pizza joint that served Neapolitan pizza and go crazy over it. Needless to say, when I first saw an Upper Crust on Charles street, in Beacon Hill, I was very excited. It took me awhile to muster the courage to go into the Beacon Hill branch. The prices on the menu seemed too high for a college student and the place was always crowded with only one big table to accommodate everyone (eating with strangers? Talk about intimidation for an 18 year old!).

After college, I eventually mustered up the courage (and cash) to eat at the Upper Crust. The Upper Crust uses, "only the best ingredients to create an authentic, thin Neapolitan style pizza." My first trip in, I was not very adventurous and although I thought many of the pies on the menu sounded mouth watering, the "slice of the day" in my mind, did not. Since The Upper Crust's specialty pies can only be ordered by the whole pie and not just the slice (the "slice of the day" is the exception), I opted for the pepperoni. It was good. Not $3 good but good.

Over the years, I've found myself at the Upper Crust on Charles more often then not. A friend lived across the way so if we wanted a quick bite, that was the place to go. After my many trips there (and now in the South End location), I have realized that it's not the simple pizza (plain/pepperoni) that The Upper Crust excels at. It's the specialty pies. Just tonight, I feasted on the "Slightly Pesto". It was perfect. The crust was thin and just a bit crunchy and slightly burnt on the bottom (the way it should be!). The pesto mixed well with the cheese and chunks of tomato and by the end I realized I could have ordered another slice.

Other specialties include:
Pedro's Steak & Gorgonzola
Margherita pizza topped with marinated steak and gorgonzola cheese
Chicken Fajita Pizza
Grilled white meat chicken, chopped olives and onion (jalapeno peppers optional)
Charles Street
portabella mushroom, sundried tomatoes and freshly chopped garlic

While the prices at TUC are pretty high (a slice goes for 3 bucks, a small pie at 14" for about $15, and a large at 18" for about $20) if you get the specialty slices or pies it's worth it. Plus, it's one of the few places, outside of the North End, that you can get a Neapolitan pizza.

The Upper Crust has four locations in Boston Proper (Newbury St, Tremont St, Charles St, and Summer St.)

Mistral

Headlined as a sumptuous French-Mediterranean restaurant, we find Mistral teetering on the edge of Columbus overlooking the Mass Pike. For those interested in trivia, “Mistral” is a type of cold wind that blows from the Mediterranean into France, so I kind of expected a hint of French influence when I walked into the restaurant. But what I found was a typical urban Boston restaurant, with the occasional large terra cotta pot, and iron grates hanging on the walls. The décor surprised me a bit, because it almost reminded me of a Mexican restaurant, albeit a nice one. But it was a subtle décor--the nicely set tables and settings taking the main vantage. Smooth down-tempo, jazzy, lounge music played at a reasonable level throughout the night. Enough to remind you you’re in Boston, but not too in-your-face, like at 28 degrees.

Our table was ready exactly at 8:30 (our reservation), and an extremely well dressed and handsome host lead us to our table, a 5-person round top with a curved banquet for 3 and two chairs. My chair, unfortunately, was almost directly in the path of traffic for the rows of tables on either side, so I did have to deal with waiters, old women in hats (!), and two woman I could only assume were prostitutes by the leopard-print clothing moving past me all night. But the conversation for my friend’s 30th birthday did a good job of distracting me from the traffic behind me. The acoustics where a bit lacking, as everyone noted that it did get a little loud. Understandable, as the ceilings were easily 20 feet high.

All of us ordered from the Restaurant Week menu. I got the Native Tomato & Mozzarella Salad, Basil, and Vincotto. I found it light, tasty, and just the right portion. Tim got the Chilled Corn Soup with Crab & Avocado, Jalapeno Oil. He loved it. I though it tasted like someone drained a can of creamed corn into a bowl and added light cream, but that was just my taste. The other two people who got the soup also raved about it. No one got the Caesar salad…but I imagine it tasted like a Caesar Salad.

For our main courses, I got the Skillet Roasted Hanger Steak, Maître d’Hôtel Butter with Pomme Frites. It presented very well. The steak was perfect. The pomme frites were spaghetti-thin and served in a bird’s nest presentation. A lot of it. When seeing the dish from across the room, all you could see was the nest of frites. But practically, it was hard to eat. You could only eat a few strands at a time, and they fused together and got your fingers greasy and spilled on the plate. I really enjoyed the presentation, but did not actually enjoy the frites themselves or the process of eating them. The first bite of the steak was amazing. The butter sauce really heightened the taste, and I said to myself “Wow, one of the best steaks I’ve ever had.” But half way through the meal, I realized the butter was a little overpowering, and it tasted like I was eating hot buttered popcorn steak. Almost as if someone went to a movie theatre, put my steak under the butter pump, and went to town on it.

Tim had the Roasted Statler Breast of Chicken with Peach Barbeque, Roasted Summer Fruits & Cornbread Panzanella. In his own words: "The roast chicken breast was sensationally basted to perfection. Slow cooked, the initial aroma brought me back to my childhood home. Sunday afternoons and home from church, mom would have a chicken roast already cooking in the oven, its juices sizzling and sputtering while its skin became toastedly browned. This chicken breast brought back those pleasant memories of family.  The accompanied risotto was made with fresh ingredients and flavored close to excellence, being a bit salty for my taste. Underneath the risotto I found a vegetable of some kind, decidedly spinach--I think. Though physically present, it was absent in shape and flavor."

Dessert for me was a chocolate mousse. Very chocolaty. Tim got a blueberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream. My bite of his cobbler tasted like a mint leaf--but not in a good way. The staff served John his dessert with a candle, wrote “Happy Birthday” in ganache, and someone ordered a bottle of Tattinger so we could all toast.

The service should be noted as one of the most accommodating and accomplished in Boston. Not only was the wait staff attentive and attractive, but they worked seamlessly together to provide a surprising intimate experience. As if in-tune through ESP, the team developed a sixth sense about when to remove plates and precisely replace silverware associated with the particular dish ordered--all while filling waters and wine while clocking removals and placements to exact increments of time. The great thing was that it wasn't determined by their schedule, but rather tuned to our tempo of consumption and conversation. As an added bonus, when Tim left the table he came back to his chair with a tucked-in napkin neatly folded.

My overall impression of the restaurant was good. I did not love the food to the point where I would spend the average $44 an entree off Restaurant Week, but the service was amazing, the people where nice, and I felt like this was what a typical fancy Boston restaurant should be. I have been there before and got one of their signature tuna tartar appetizers, and loved it. So, I would recommend going there, sitting at the bar, having a drink and getting a few appetizers.

Tim White contributed in large to this review.