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

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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!

Shiki Restaurant----a lovely dinner

Shiki Restaurant, 9 Babcock Street, Brookline, MA
*Near Coolidge Corner "T" Stop and off Bus route #66

What can I say? I have gone to this place many times and I am not disappointed! The misses are minor in comparison to their home runs! Do note the service is SLOW but the food is great and it overcomes this handicap plus with surprisingly prices we keep going back for more! The four of us ordered an dizzying amount of food and we came satiated and happy! Plus we felt that the food was healthy and not overly oily or unhealthy plus the portions were just right. (This place is not for you if you favor BIG portions to get full! Or if you are not into real "authentic" Japanese food. If you are not an adventurous eater I do not recommend coming here!)

If you have never had Japanese Tapas and you are in the Boston area, you must check out this place. If you have a car, parking can be a bit tricky but try the many meter parking lots. Or take public transportation there such as the Green line -"C" to Coolidge Corner stop or take the #66 Bus.

This time we had the ankimo (monkfish liver), foil yaki (fish and veggies baked in foil), soba salad, seaweed salad, tsukemono (Japanese pickles), chowan mushi, kurobota pork (marinated in teriyaki sauce), grilled eggplant topped with miso, tuna yamaimo tartar special, sea eel mile feuille, grilled sanma (mackerel) (they were all out of my fave codfish dish), grilled ika (squid), spicy tuna (specially ordered) and unagi makis finished off the main meal portion.

I love the ankimo because of the rich flavor with a creamy and smooth texture (reminds me of foie gras) and I love it! One big disappointment was the foil yaki, the veggies and fish were fresh but we were wanted a bit more oomph to the flavoring (which we found to be lacking). The soba salad had a lovely light peanut dressing that surprised us to no end. The seaweed salad unlike other places had the right amount of vinegar and sweetness. The grilled eggplant special with miso was delicious even thought it was difficult to divide up to share. The tuna tartare special had sashimi grade tuna that was excellent! The sea eel mille feuille comes out to you and is too pretty to eat. It is more of a cold dish and you break open the runny egg all over the eel and veggies. It was delightful and the lightly flavored sauce and egg only enhanced the experience. The grilled sanma is great for mackerel lovers as this fish has a stronger fish taste. The grilled kurobuta pork belly marinated in teriyaki sauce was scrumptious! We ate up the grilled veggies and the mushroom were earthy and meatlike in taste! The chowan mushi is always a hit and this time was no different with the light delicate broth with seafood in a beautiful simmered egg custard. The grilled ika (squid), one person commented that she rarely eats squid due to the lack of high quality freshness. She marveled that the price we paid for it was great for the excellent degree of freshness of the squid! Since spicy tuna maki was not on the menu, we ordered it and unagi maki. We loved that the spicy tuna maki had the heat but lacked the usual tons of mayo and the unagi maki was simple.

Despite all this food, we still had room for dessert. We had the sweet potato pie and raspberry yogurt mousse as they were out of the green tea chiffon cake. (I guess we have to go back another time to have it!). We love the presentation of the food and the dessert was no different. The mini sweet potato was light and sweet. The raspberry yogurt mousse had a nice creaminess and foil to the sweet potato.

Service--very slow 7

Food---9

Atmosphere---9

Overall 8.5 forks out of 10 forks

Shiki Restaurant --lunch

Shiki Restaurant, 9 Babcock Street, Brookline, MA
*Near Coolidge Corner "T" Stop and off Bus route #66

Shiki since it has opened earlier this fall has been my "it" Japanese restaurant to go to! I love this place! I think of Japan whenever I come to this restaurant. Note that they are closed on Tuesdays and lunch is only served from Monday to Saturday 12-3pm. They close a few hours in the afternoon to prep for dinner service opening at 5:30pm.

This Japanese restaurant gem is housed in the former Firenze Italian Restaurant basement space. If you blink, you will miss it. It is next to a nail salon and across the street from Citizen's Bank. Once you enter, you are enter a nice calm space with fall colors. Shiki means "autumn" in Japanese so it is befitting the theme and decor of the place. I loved their place mats too.

From some media I read, the chefs were trained and hail from Japan. This meal I wanted to try their kaiseki lunches. Kaiseki means "stone in the stomach" and you wonder why I want to try it? This refers to the Zen monk practice to stave off their hunger using warmed stones and placed in their obi to alleviate their hunger pangs. (wikipedia) In Japanese cuisine I feel it is one of the "must trys" if you do not know what it is and if you are adventurous. It is the chef's selection of food in season cooked in various ways to enhance the natural flavors. A regular kaiseki meal can be very elaborate and comprise of many components.

For our lunch purposes our kaiseki was much simpler. First we got a delightful salad with a refreshing ginger dressing which we loved. All the Asian restaurants have ginger salad dressing but not like this one! It was not overly heavy on the ginger or oil/mayo as other places. The miso soup was fine with the fine cubes of silk tofu and wakame seaweed mixed in the lovely broth. Next came our big plates of food I got the Kiku (Japanese Chrysanthemum) kaiseki which was an astounding $14 (when you consider the quality, skill, flavors it was a steal)! The menu notes that the kaiseki includes "appetizer, sashimi (can be exchanged for a cooked item if you are squeamish), tidbits, broiled, sauced, fried and steamed" items on the plate. I could not identify everything but I enjoyed it all! The broiled fish, excellent melt in your mouth sashimi included salmon, tuna, mackerel and whitefish. The steamed item was a lovely chowan mushi. It was a delicate egg custard in a broth with bits of seafood cooked to perfection! There was a layered omelet (requires lots of skill), grilled eggplant piece with miso, a refreshing vinegary salad with white fish proved a nice contrast to everything. The veggies, spicy bamboo strips and grilled fish were nice touches. The tempura shrimp and veggies were fried to a great crispy texture and not overly greasy. Of course, the accompanying dipping sauce was mild and light to enhance and not take away from the chef's adept skills. We had a choice of veggie rice or white rice. The veggie rice was flavorful and had bits of seaweed in it.

Only complaint would be the slow service. There was only one server during the lunch time. We did not mind as we were lingering over our delicious lunch and enjoying everything! To my knowledge, I do not know of another Japanese tapas place with affordable prices, high quality food and standards, hidden in Coolidge Corner! The word is out to the local Japanese transplants too! Everytime I go, I always hear a whirlwind of Japanese around me! I feel as if I am in Japan whenever I have a meal here except English is spoken and you can read the menu.

9 forks out of 10 forks.

Gourmet Dumpling House in Chinatown-new addition

Gourmet Dumpling House (in the former Quality Cafe space)

52 Beach Street

Boston, MA

This newly opened Gourmet Dumpling House in Chinatown had alot of customers the two times I visited this past week and weekend.

There is an extensive menu consisting of a hodge podge of dishes seafood dishes, Taiwanese (lots of stuff similar to Taiwan Cafe's menu actually) alongside with dumplings (made to order give extra 15 minutes) and tons of noodle, rice and other dishes.

The first day we got the Xiao Lung Bao (pork and crab). They were alright and I am not a XLB purist but the better ones were had at Joe Shanghai's in NYC for my mom. Of course I had some amazing ones in Shanghai. They were made to order and had a nifty hole on top to get the broth out. The dough was on the thicker side with a decent ginger, soy and vinegar dipping sauce. Then we got the eel stir fried ee noodles. They were delicious with a slightly spicy kick from Jalapeno pepper slivers in this noodle dish. The eel was not abundant but the dish was good.

Service was ok and the waitstaff did their best the first time to be pleasant, fast and good. The second time at lunch on a busy Sunday, we had three errors (thought we got a certain dish not once but three times) brought accidently to our town too. They have to work out the kinks here and there.

Third time, I got the Pork Chop Rice (Taiwanese style) with lots of crispy fried pork served with pickled cabbage, tea egg and a meatsauce over a bed of rice. UMMMM it was delicious and it is not on a loud kids sectioned off plate as they serve at Taiwan Cafe. I felt there portion was more generous and it was great fun and good. Then my friend got the seafood noodle with ee noodles (very good and simple with bits of seafood mainly shrimp and squid and no veggies). Her husband got the beef with noodles stir fried with egg noodles in a sa chay sauce. I love sa cha sauce and I loved it! My other dining pal got the mini chicken dumplings in a noodle soup opting for the thick fat Japanese Udon Noodles. The mini chicken dumplings were plentiful and good in a very simple clean broth (not laden with MSG).

This restaurant tries to cram alot of tables and chairs into this very small and humble space. Since it is new, the business has been brisk.

8 forks out of 10 forks

Kingston Station in Downtown Crossing

Kingston Station (former Peking Toms space)

25 Kingston Street, Boston, MA (between Summer and Bedford Streets)

(617) 482-6224

Recently went with some friends to the pretty new business in the Downtown Area (closer to Chinatown) to Kingston Station. I was greeted with the busy afterwork bar scene on a Friday night. I was lead to the back to a quieter dining room area off to the side. It was nice. I was very comfortable. Our server for the night was very affable, polite, friendly but at times forgot a few minor details (to even make the diner's experience even better).

While I waited for my friend, I tried the grapefruit martini (comes in two sizes and I got the larger size) and it was refreshingly delicious with a nice kick that I need to end my work week. By the time my friends arrived, we all agreed to forego the entrees and just subsist on the appetizer menu. One friend recommended alot of dishes as she has come over many times as it is conveniently located near her apartment.

Tuna Tartare avocado, prickly pear $13.00
Pork Ribs Ah-so with asian slaw $10.00
Chili Glazed Chicken Wings $8.00

Crispy Calamari cilantro, garlic and red chilli $10.00
Seared Scallops ginger-braised apple, lemon risotto $11.00
Truffle Frites* warm gruyere, and sliced scallion $7.00

Mussels* smoked chorizo, roasted jalapeno, tomato confit $ 11.00

Overall I had a lovely experience at Kingston Station. The appetizers varied in quantity in terms of the Tuna Tartare or the Seared Scallops but the Truffle Frites, Mussels, Calamari, Wings and Pork Ribs we had generous portions.

Other than everything more on the heavy side (being fried) the food was great. I loved the seared scallop over the delectable and divine lemon risotto (I couldn't get enough of the slightly tart and edgy risotto). The Truffle Frites were fabulous (who wouldn't love food with truffle oil on it!) and the mussels were good in a good broth. The tuna tartare had high grade sashimi grade tuna but I could care less for the rice base. The avocado slices were nice (as I love avocado) but the prickly pear was alright here. The ribs were good slightly sweet bbq sauce and the chili wings were not that spicy but good.

The bread pudding was excellent, good mix of rich and cream made an excellent ending for three spoons to finish off the dessert!

Service overall was good. Some minor things and kinks need to be addressed such as not clearing off dishes when people are not done eating, clearing off crumbs, etc. Our water glasses were always filled and we did get service with a smile from everyone including the bus people too.

Great afterwork hangout with good food!

9 forks out of 10 forks.

Craigie Street Bistrot-lovely hidden gem in Cambridge

5 Craigie Street Circle

Cambridge, MA

Craigie Street Bistrot is a cute but hidden away French Bistrot jewel with award winning chef at its helm Tony Maw.

Roasted Bone Marrow appetizer special $8

Trois Foies with traditional accompaniements $14

Haddock Main dish (sorry no description)

Chocolate coffee meuille-feuille

Apple, Pear and Huckleberry Crumble

Cranberry Soup with Yogurt Sorbet (surprise)

After my 10-15 minute walk from Harvard Square "T" stop I was ready to eat. It was a hot and humid autumn night. My friend had gotten their earlier as she decided to drive. She was able to have a parking spot and we were on time. (The website cautions reservations are not held longer than 15 minutes).

We were immediately seated and were treated very well all night. We got our utensils replaced after each course, our water glass was always filled which was nice. Since it was Thursday night, the neighborhood special three course pre fixe was available for $38. We both got the pre-fixe special with an addition of the special of the night appetizer of roasted bone marrow!

The bread we were served was crusty on the outside and deliciously chewy and soft on the inside. The pat of butter we were given was perfect not overly sweet or salty. Once our first course came, we devoured our trois foie very quickly. All the accompaniments were marvelous from the pepper, salt, pickled shallots, mustard and pickles we were in heaven. The foie was decadently smooth and perfect to spread on the big and delicious toast points.

Next came our perfectly piece of haddock of a fresh fava bean and baby shanghai bok choy with Asian inspired sauce. It was lovely.

The desserts were sensationaly with the exquisitely fresh and delectable apple, pear and huckleberry crumble which sang in our mouth. The chocolate coffee meuille-feuille with a little bit of saffron peach coulis was out of this world. (I wish I had more!) The coffee refreshed the chocolate from being boring but having a bolder taste.

After our rich meal we both got a pot of tea ($4) and I opted for the Sevan blend "crafted blend of oregano, St. John's Wort, lemon balm, chamomile, hawthorne berry, linden, Armenian basil and bean core" and amazingly had no caffeine in it. It was a lovely ending with a light but multi nuanced taste of herbs and essence of the forest.

I give this meal a 9.5 forks out of 10.