Restaurant Week Lunch at the Melting Pot

Can I start by saying that it's really hard to take a picture of fondue? Maybe not as hard as soup, but pretty damn close.

Yesterday, my friend Ann and I acted like ladies who lunch and headed to the Melting Pot in downtown Boston to enjoy a leisurely meal, mostly because the Melting Pot was still running their $20 Restaurant Week promotion, and who can pass up that kind of deal? The RW lunch menu includes salad, entree, and dessert, and we added on a cheese course (how could you skip that?!) for only an additional $6 each. I know a lot of people bitch about how RW is a pretty bad deal at most places (I'm amongst that wall of sound), but this is one deal that is well worth it.



Like I said, we added a cheese course because it's sacrilegious (sacrilicious?) to go for fondue and not get cheese. We tried the special of the month, Fondue a la France, which included brie, fontina, gruyere, and raclette, plus bacon, onions, white tuffle butter, and a sprinkle of fresh chives. This was the best fondue I've had at the Melting Pot (and I've tried a number of them) hands down. Bacon! White truffle! Brie! This was serious not-messing-around fondue.

Our salads came just as we were finishing the last of the cheese. I had gone with the Caesar, and was greeted by a pleasant surprise of parmesan-encrusted pine nuts as a garnish. The pine nuts were on the sweet side and didn't quite work with the salad, but I would have liked a whole bowl of them for a snack.

For RW, the entree is cut down in size, but in reality, it's really all you need. We both chose the beef plate, which included six pieces of beef teriyaki and six artichoke and spinach ravioli, as well as a pile of fresh veggies. I probably ate my weight in broccoli, but I figured that was a good idea knowing there was more decadence to come. I love the leisurely pace that this course takes as you wait for your meat to cook in the boiling boullion.

Dessert was, of course, wonderful. What's not to love about dipping sweets in molten chocolate? We opted for dark chocolate with a shot of Bailey's (a favorite of both of us), and surprisingly, neither of us touched the cheesecake - we opted for more strawberries and rice krispy treats instead.

As I said, lunch at the Melting Pot is one of the rare occasions when Restaurant Week works well.

Restaurant Week Round Up

Alright, the past couple of weeks have been hectic with school and multiple Restaurant Week reservations - with each dinner out, I found myself falling further and further behind on the blogging. So instead of individual write-ups of each meal, here's a rundown of all the places I tried this Restaurant Week.

Dinner 1 - Marliave

I started my RW meal at Marliave with the rarebits - melted cheddar, lager, chunks of bacon, and toasted bread for dipping. This dish has been getting rave reviews over on Chowhound since the restaurant opened, so naturally, I wanted to give it a try. You really can't go wrong with the combination of cheese and bacon.

The beef Wellington was a huge disappointment. Because it was an individual Wellington and not slices from a larger roast, the pastry didn't have adequate time to cook, so it was dense and a little slimy on the bottom (but nicely browned on the top and coated in delicious fleur de sel). In addition to the typical duxelles, there was a slice of foie gras between the meat and the pastry. I'm not a huge fan of foie to begin with, but this was just wrong - it made the meat taste terrible. I'll grant the restaurant that I made a bad choice with my entree and say that there were a number of things on the menu I wanted to try, so this won't deter me from returning.

I ended the evening with tiramisu, and I ended up bringing half of it home for the next day. This is exactly how I like my tiramisu - not sticky and overly sweet and too soft from being soaked forever. Here, the ladyfingers still had some of their exterior crunch, and yet the flavors melded very well together.

Despite this meal having some issues, I would definitely return to Marliave, even if it's just at the bar for drinks and apps.



Lunch 1 - The Melting Pot

Cheese, meat, and chocolate for $20? Yes please! I'm a fan of the Melting Pot, despite it being a large chain. It's hard to find fondue around here, and the Melting Pot does it really well, so when I have a need for melted cheese and chocolate, this is where I head. This was an incredible value for 3 courses, and my friend Ann and I took over 2 hours, leisurely enjoying every bite. Cheddar fondue, with bread, green apple, carrots, celery, and cauliflower; Court bouillon for cooking steak and chicken, potatoes, broccoli, and mushrooms, with 5 different dipping sauces; and pure dark chocolate fondue, with cheesecake, brownies, marshmallows, rice krispie treats, banana, and strawberries. The nicest part was that our server paid attention to which things we were eating the most of and brought us little trays of additional broccoli (with the main course) and strawberries and rice krispie treats (with dessert) when we were getting low.



Dinner 2 - Locke-Ober

Have you read about the calculator? Yeah, the food was fine, but the entire night was overshadowed by the calculator.

Dinner 3 - Clink

Dinner at Clink was a big surprise. I've been wanting to try it out anyway, but part of the draw was the scenery. I've been in the lobby of the Liberty Hotel, which is the site of the former Charles Street Prison, and I expected the dark colors and (clean and new) prison bars to extend into the restaurant. Instead, it was light and bright inside, perfect to match the bright and delicious flavors in the food.

We all started with the pear and parsnip soup, topped with fried slices of elephant garlic. The soup was smooth, sweet, and savory, with the flavors perfectly balanced. The garlic really made the dish - it wasn't overly garlicky, but the crunchy chips introduced a bit of texture and just a touch of flavor.

For my main, I went with the handcut pasta with pine nuts, parmesan, and sage butter. It sounds simple, but the flavor was huge. The fried sage leaves on top were pretty and delicious. I wouldn't hesitate to order this dish again.

I finished with the peanut ice cream, topped with a florentine cookie - because I will eat ice cream whenever I'm presented with the chance. This, too, was fantastic, and it actually tasted like fresh-shelled peanuts, not peanut butter like I was expecting. I could have eaten this stuff all day. All three courses at Clink wowed me, and based on all the other things on the menu that sounded tasty, I'd definitely head back.



Dinner 4 - Radius

Our last RW dinner was at Radius. I've been once before and was amazed at the care and skill of each dish. This trip was no different. I was very happy to see that they didn't try to skimp or cook in something other than their usual style just to fit into Restaurant Week. They also offered most of their regular menu by putting supplemental charges on some dishes (although there were at least 3 dishes in each course that did not include a surcharge). The gnocchi with bacon, brussel sprouts, and pecorino combined some of my favorite ingredients, and it was melt-in-your-mouth delicious. The roast pork loin for my main was perfectly cooked, but the dijon vinaigrette to accompany was a little sharper than I had expected - by the end of the course, though, I was wanting more of the vinaigrette, so it obviously grew on me. And the dessert of the chocolate caramel tart with sage coconut ice cream was the perfect end to the meal. Service was impeccable, just like it would be on a non-RW night.

When NOT to Bring Out the Calculator

So, I've never been a waitress. I've worked at ice cream shops and coffee shops before, though, so I know a little about how to treat customers. One thing I would NEVER do if I were a waitress would be to bring a calculator over to a table who I thought had tipped me too low.

Somehow, though, my waiter at Locke-Ober last night thought this was perfectly acceptable behavior. True, we tipped on the Restaurant Week price and not typical menu prices (although we never even saw a regular menu, so I had nothing to base that on), but a calculator? And he kept saying "I'm sure you meant to tip me well, but..." like we were a bunch of children in school who had done our math homework wrong.

Thanks, but I deal with enough pretentiousness without it being fed to me with my dessert.

Restaurant Week: Rocca

I went to my last Restaurant Week dinner on Friday night with friends at Rocca in the South End. I arrived wicked early and ended up spending plenty of time in the bar, where my roommate and I spent about an hour discussing how there were too many shades of gold going on in the decor. The drinks, however, were much better than the clashing golds - the Scandalo al Sole is like a margarita with the sharp bite of ginger beer, and the Vino Francesca is a rose wine infused with sage, lemon, and honey, which all blend together to form a very unique flavor.


What grabbed me about the Rocca RW menu online was the farinata appetizer. I love farinata (and the similar socca), crispy pancakes made with chickpea flour that are popular in southern France and all of Italy, especially in Liguria (Rocca is focused on Ligurian cuisine). This version was delicious - thicker than I expected, but crispy on both sides and slightly creamy in the middle. And while I'm not a big mushroom fan, the mushrooms incorporated into the batter were tender and flavorful. The farinata was paired with spicy arugula tossed in a bright and lemony vinaigrette for a very well-rounded taste. Yum!


For my main meal, I really wanted beef, so the options were hanger steak or short ribs. Since I had also been craving tender and slow-cooked meat, I had to go with the ribs. They were just what I wanted - rich and tender and meaty and delicious. The dish was served with polenta, brussel sprouts, and a horseradish gremolata. The polenta was perfect - creamy with butter and just a bit of cheese. The gremolata was tasty, but there wasn't much horseradish flavor there. The brussel sprouts were a big loss for the dish; they were undercooked and rather forgettable. Overall, though, the dish was very satisfying and filling (and warm, perfect for a night with 50+ mph winds).


As with the rest of the menu, dessert included some unique and fresh ingredients that sounded delicious. I opted for the pine nut custard tart with fresh figs. The tart was very good, especially the custard. It was served with whip cream that I thought must have included some egg whites; it was too stiff to have been only cream. I really enjoyed the tart, but it was very rich - I could have used a smaller slice.

As a note, I've read a lot of complaints about the temperature of food in the second floor dining room after its trip from the basement kitchen. I had no issue with this and was quite happy with the temperature of my dishes.

Overall, the food at Rocca was very good. I would gladly go again, especially to try the handmade pasta. It is, unfortunately, very out of the way for me, but the free parking at the restaurant is a big help (so at least I can go with friends with cars).

Restaurant Week: Sage

My Restaurant Week meals continued last night with dinner at Sage in the South End. I had been meaning to try it forever, well before they moved from the North End last year. Luckily, my friends entrust RW reservations to me, so I put it on our short list.

I arrived well before my friends, so I took a seat at the bar for a drink and a little reading time. The Ruins is hard to read while perched on a bar stool in the middle of a room (although it does make T rides fly by), so I kept getting distracted by the Food Network on the TV. The bartender mixed me an excellent Tuscan Flare - gin, orange bitters, orange juice, and muddled rosemary. The rosemary paired beautifully with the gin, making it a little less pine-y and a lot more delicious. Mix me up another!


For my appetizer, I went with the gnocchi with sage and butternut squash. The gnocchi were soft and not at all gummy, but not quite melt-in-your-mouth either. At first, I was a little turned off by the slight crunchiness to the squash, but I began to appreciate the contrast in textures with the pasta. The seasoning was excellent, with the sage in a supporting role.


The Chicken Milanese was the weakest part of the meal, but still quite good. The fry on the crust was perfect - the crispy breadcrumbs sealed in the juiciness of the meat. The dish was topped with arugula and tomatoes and served with a gazpacho-like sauce, which added the right amount of enhancement for the dish. We also ordered a side of arancini, stuffed with braised beef - salty and so good.


I ordered the ricotta zeppole with berry compote for dessert. The little fritters had almost custard-like centers. They seemed small on the plate, but the taste was huge when paired with the warm and syrupy berries. I also snagged a few bites of the warm chocolate mousse and was pleasantly surprised by the orange undertones. We all thought that, had it been a slightly thinner consistancy, it would have made unbelievable hot chocolate (much like L.A. Burdick's). Of course, I'm always happy to see a chocolate dessert that is on the bitter side.

Regular prices at Sage would make a 3-course meal around $45 - higher than the $33 RW deal, but still pretty good for the caliber of food.

Another big plus about Sage? They were playing Morphine on the stereo when I went to the ladies' room. Definitely made me smile.

Cheap Eats: Restaurant Week

Restaurant Week should be considered more of a sport than a dining occasion. As The Food Monkey has already pointed out, different restaurants handle Restaurant Week in different ways. With some work (and, ok, a little dumb luck), Restaurant Week can be fun and exciting and even cheap... in context.

The full list of participants is available on the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau website about a month before Restaurant Week. Some restaurants list their menus on that site, while still more menus can be found at BostonChefs.com Unofficial Guide to Boston Restaurant Week. Take some time to peruse those menus, as well as the regular menus at any restaurants you are interested in trying. If nothing else, it will get you salivating. And of course, try Googling the restaurant's name, along with "RW" or "Restaurant Week" to see if you can find some reviews of past Restaurant Week experiences. You can get a good idea if a restaurant is putting any effort into the event or if they're just serving whatever they can as fast as possible.

Now, there are plenty of websites out there that bemoan Restaurant Week, saying that you can't judge a restaurant - especially a high end restaurant - by a $33 menu served to the hordes. This Bostonist, however, feels that this shouldn't be the case. There are plenty of restaurants that do a great job with the event, despite serving smaller portions or using cheaper ingredients.

Davio's is a prime example of a place doing Restaurant Week right. Although their offerings are not on their regular menu, the dishes are cooked and served with the same care that would go into a dinner on any other night of the year. The clams Casino, pictured above, are filled with savory clams, crabmeat, and chorizo. The gnocchi with tomato and mozzarella as a main dish is fantastic; the gnocchi are light and melt-in-your-mouth delicate, quite different from the leaden little balls that some restaurants try to pass off. If this is what they can do with potatoes, tomatoes, and cheese, what can they do with "better" ingredients?

Bostonist realizes that $33 may not seem like cheap eats, especially when this column has been focusing on $10-and-under places. This, again, is where some careful research comes into play. At some restaurants, the price of a Restaurant Week meal ordered a la carte may come out to roughly $33. Avoid the places where a regular meal would be less than $33. In the case of Davio's, a three-course meal would run about $50-$75 dollars, making the $33 Restaurant Week menu - and it's accompanying dose of attentive service - a steal.

We are currently in the middle of Spring Restauant Week. Reservations are still available at some restaurants, or you can put your name on a waitlist in case others cancel their reservations.

Originally posted at Bostonist.

Restaurant Week: Davio's

Restaurant Week is in full swing here in Boston. There are plenty of pros and cons to RW, and plenty of discussions over whether it's even worth eating out during this time period. Many restaurants do a miserable job, making bad impressions on diners who were using the $33 menu as a chance to experience a new place.

Some places, however, do an excellent job at showing what they can do. They either serve smaller portions of their regular dishes or make cheaper dishes in the style of their regular menu. Davio's goes off-menu with delicious and fresh ingredients, really showing off what they can do.


I started with the clams Casino were a great start to a great meal. The presentation was beautiful, with the clam shells perched on top of a little tangle of seaweed. The mixture of clams, chorizo, crabmeat, and breadcrumbs were savory and delicious. The smokiness and saltiness of the chorizo was well balanced by a squeeze of acidic lemon juice. The two clams were the perfect size to get me excited for the next dish.


For my entree, I chose the gnocchi alla Sorrentina. I have a hard time passing gnocchi up whenever it appears on a menu. The gnocchi were perfectly made little puffs of love. They literally melted in my mouth in little sighs of potato-y goodness. Mmmm. The tomato sauce was well-balanced, with plenty of oregano, and the fresh mozzarella was just stringy enough to serve as a chewy counterpart to the soft gnocchi. If this is what Davio's can do with tomatoes, I'd be curious to try their regular gnocchi dish with wild mushrooms and truffle oil. (Coincidentally, Davio's is the first place I really enjoyed mushrooms, so I know they do them well).


There was no choice for dessert on the RW menu, but instead, everyone received the same 3-piece sampler. I like this tactic, as it gives more of a chance to try the different offerings of the restaurant. My favorite of the bunch was a piece of puff pastry with custard, cream, and raspberries. The raspberries were very flavorful, not the crappy things you find in the supermarket at this time of year. Plus, I'm a sucker for anything with puff pastry. The carrot cake was also tasty and very moist. The "molten" chocolate cake, on the other hand, was no good. It was more like a dry mini-cupcake. Most likely, this was caused by scaling down the dish and serving it at room temperature - I'm sure a full-sized cake would be gooey and warm and much better. But then again, if there's puff pastry to be had, I won't be opting for the chocolate cake.

Overall, Davio's does an excellent job handling Restaurant Week. The chefs are able to prove their capabilities in the kitchen while the waitstaff shows exceptional courtesy to people dining below the price point of the restaurant. I definitely want to try Davio's regular menu sometime soon.

Sibling Rivalry, South End

For my final Restaurant Week meal, I headed to Sibling Rivalry. I've heard lots of mixed things about the restaurant and was excited to finally get to try it myself. Overall, I was very pleased by my meal (by the decor, less so). There were 11 choices each for appetizers and entrees, which, by RW standards, can be good or bad, depending on how the restaurant handles RW to begin with. Sometimes, that many offerings means the restaurant is just trying to cater to the wider range of patrons that RW will bring in. Other times, as in this case, the restaurant is proving what it can do with a full menu, just like any other night.


I have a hard time passing up calamari on a menu, and this Vietnamese version sounded more intriguing than the typical red sauce-accompanied fare. The squid itself was well-fried, but was not very flavorful. Or maybe it was just overshadowed by the Thai basil, cilantro and chilies. The batter was light and crispy, mirrored by still-crispy carrots, onions and jicama.


My entree was delicious, although I admit it's not much to look at here. The filet of beef was served with creamed onions, tomato jam, and black pepper gnocchi. The tomatoes and gnocchi were in limited supply. I needed more of the two little gnocchi after my first bite; they had a fantastic texture, and the black pepper flavor was powerful without being overwhelming. I've never had creamed onions before, but these made a perfect side dish to the steak, with the sweetness from the onions balancing out the richness of the meat.


For dessert, I chose the lemon tart with fresh berries. The lemon filling was perhaps a bit too stiff, but was at least flavorful. The berries sang with summer - I could have just had a bowl of them, topped with the accompanying hazelnut praline, and been perfectly happy.

Tremont 647 Earns a Hearty "Meh"

For my second Restaurant Week meal, I headed to Tremont 647 in the South End. I've been there before and had a pretty good meal. Their RW menu has lots of different and intriguing options.

The restaurant is small - long and narrow. The tiny open kitchen splits the room into front and back sections; with the kitchen being right in the center, there's a lot of noise in the room. The front bar and patio looked lovely, but we were seated in the darker back area.


I started with the Crab Gnocchi with Fresh Tomatoes and Caramelized Corn. Everything tasted good, but the flavors didn't necissarily mesh. The part I didn't like, though, was the gnocchi; the texture was just wrong. Is there something between dry and gummy? These gnocchi had an almost grainy texture that was off-putting.


For the entree, I chose the Lemon Roasted Half Chicken with Mashed Sweet Potatoes and Chili Spiced Corn. The chicken was very juicy (although I could only eat half of what I was given because it was a big bird). The mashed sweet potatoes were fantastic, with hints of chili peppers and cumin. The corn was also very tasty, but it's definitely not a dish to order on a date... Luckily, I was with friends who didn't care that I had the sauce all over my face. This was definitely the best of my three courses.

One friend ordered a steak dish and asked for his meat cooked medium. The waitress told him that, since they were so busy, they were only cooking to medium rare. It seemed a little strange, since only about a third of the dishes required the grill and everyone in our half of the restaurant was on their dessert course. When his meal came, though, his meat was cooked to his liking. When he told the waitress, she said "Well, you must have gotten lucky with that." Does that seem like the wrong response to anyone else?


And finally, for dessert, I had the Raspberry Cream Eclair. This just didn't work, in my opinion. The raspberry filling was too heavy with the delicate eclair, while the chocolate topping was didn't have much flavor. The part that really turned me off, though, was the over-whipped whipped cream; it seemed kind of sloppy to have that on top.

The service was also a bit hit or miss with this meal. Besides the meat miscommunication above, we had to repeat things too often. It was like pulling teeth. For about half of our meal, the room was only about half full, so I wasn't buying the "we're really busy" spiel. It was clear that the restaurant was trying to do RW right, but it failed in the details.

Excelsior takes Restaurant Week to a New Level

Walking into Excelsior is like entering a James Bond film, all glass and shiny metal. After checking in with the host, we were escorted into a glass elevator and sent to the second floor, travelling through the wine room on the way. Impressive.

We were quickly shown to our table overlooking the Public Garden. The dining room is a classy and modern room. There are a lot of tables, but it doesn't feel crowded. The service was very good considering how busy the restaurant was.


I started with the Native Corn Bisque, with Hot and Sweet Roasted Peppers and Smoked Shrimp. This was spicier than I expected, more of a slow burn in the back of the throat. The corn flavor was deep and rich, but not overly heavy. The best part of the dish, though, was the shrimp, with a smoky flavor that made it taste like bacon. I wished there had been more shrimp (there was only one, sliced in half), but it made me savor the flavor a little more.


Continuing with the seafood theme, I had the Peppered Linguini with Seared Sea Scallops and Crabmeat, Zucchini, Smoked Tomato, and Scallop Cream. This was a fantastic dish, with each component standing strong on its own but mixing with the rest to form a wonderful entree. The scallops were cooked perfectly, with a dark seared crust and a buttery soft center. The smoked tomato stood out, adding the same meaty quality that the shrimp had added to the bisque. There was a good deal of cream coating the pasta, but it wasn't overly heavy. There was an excellent ratio of pasta to meat and vegetables.



For dessert, I had the Dark Chocolate Cake with Coffee Chicory Ice Cream and Candied Orange Zest. This was a perfectly balanced dessert. Too often, a dense chocolate cake is cloying after a meal... a bite or two will suffice. This, on the other hand, was fantastic, and I loved every bite. The cake and the ice cream were well paired. The chicory really evened out the coffee flavor, making it a better accompaniment to the sweetened, creamy dark chocolate. The candied orange zest was more of a flavored simple syrup pooled on the plate, just hinting at its fruity origins. For textural contrast, the plate was scattered with cacao nibs, a very tasty garnish.

This meal at Excelsior was a prime example of what Restaurant Week should be (but often isn't at many restaurants). The portions weren't huge, but the food was carefully crafted. Maybe these weren't the most expensive ingredients, but they were handled with flair, and I was left wondering what else the kitchen could do. Excelsior has now be added to my list of "special occasion" restaurants, but if I had the money, I would eat there more regularly.