L'Espalier Restaurant luncheon

L’Espalier * 30 Gloucester Street, Boston, MA 02115 · 617 262 3023

* * *
Autumn Degustation
FORTY DOLLARS
Amuse Bouche
Duo of spiced pumpkin soup and Skip’s Island Creek oyster shooter;
aged sherry vinegar mignonette

First Course
Foie gras torchon with piccalilli and Sauternes gelée
or
House smoked salmon with white bean salsa and quail egg*

Main Course
Grilled tiger shrimp with fennel puree and roasted butternut squash
or
Braised short ribs with truffle pomme puree and autumn vegetables

Selection of Cheeses and Condiments

Dessert Tasting

__________________________________________________

This year L'Espalier's chef Frank McClelland won the well deserved James Beard Award-Best Chef Northeast. His lovely Back Bay Restaurant L'Espalier (which will be moving to a new location Summer 2008) is the place for special occasions and has been the place for many wedding proposals too. From the crisp white linens, attentive service, gorgeous dining rooms in their cozy Bay Bay location, this restaurant lives up to its accolades and awards.

Their regular dinner menu is a expensive, but if you want to have the excellent food for a fraction of the cost, go to L'Espalier during lunch time (Mondays-Fridays only) and check out their three course pre-fixe for $25 or five course degustation for the excellent price of $40! (You can get a lovely wine paring for an additional $30).

My dining partner and I started off our long leisurely lunch with two selections from the juice elixirs----Indian Chai and Oolong, Pear and Champagne concoction. Both were delicious but pricey for $8.75 each for your tiny drinks especially for the warm, fragrant Indian Chai. The Oolong drink was lovely and you barely taste the Champagne. We opted for the lunch degustation to try everything on the menu.

First up was the amuse bouche and both were excellent. The small cup of pumpkin spice soup light and smooth gave a lovely balance to the saltiness to the oyster shooter topped with North American Caviar. We also loved the bread having a few choices and I adored the black olive bread the best. Of course we got the small container of butter, after having sweet butter as my favorite I cannot go back to other butter. This one here did the job but was wowed by it.

Next course was the foie gras torchon and the house smoked salmon dish. My friend loved the foie gras torchon, she noted it was her first time having it cold. The enjoyed the flavors of the foie gras with the toast points, the small curry fruit salad, and the pomegranate seeds gave a nice burst of flavor with the foie gras torchon. While the smoked salmon salad with duck confit and topped with a quail egg was divine. The combination of the celery root salad coupled with the lovely and flavorful duck confit with the light dressing brought smiles to our faces. Plus the smoked salmon was flavorful without being too smokey.

Our main course was the grilled tiger shrimp grilled to perfection with slight undercookedness in the middle. A first for both of us to eat, but still delicious. The fennel puree reminded me a bit of hummus and the grilled butternut squash proved to contrast well with the shrimp. The braised short ribs were perfection! "This is how meat should be braised," said my dining companion. She loved the autumn vegetables and truffle pommes puree. She needed the her bread to get all the sauces from each plate because they were all so good.

L'Espalier is also famous for their wines and fromage. This course was a bit scary for the both of us as we are not fromage experts but we are willing to try. We were given a plate of four cheeses. The 5 year old aged gouda was our favorite. Described as nutty with a carmelized sweetness we were wondering if cheese could taste that way! It was excellent with the pine nuts and honey. The other condiments for the cheese were the carrot chutney and golden raisins. Then we had the Roquefort and very "ripe" goat cheese. Our favorite by far was the friendly gouda.

The last course was the lovely dessert tasting which has a marinated lotus root with ginger ice cream, chocolate decadence cake and a tea cream cake (bottom layer had green tea) with mango and raspberry coulis. The lotus root, something I have eaten growing up was different marinated for dessert was not memorable for me. I loved the port soaked red concord grapes atop the thick, dense chocolate decadence cake. The airy whipped tea cake was lovely. We are also served a small portion of a decadently sweet dessert wine Chateau Lyon which we loved! It complemented the dessert tasting very well.

The service was impeccable. We were always had attentive service. When we left, we got a little mini thank you. Our chairs were pulled out for us, every course was explained to us, and if we had any questions, they were always answered.

A 10 forks out of ten forks experience for us!