We visited a hidden gem recently, a small space quietly tucked away in an often-overlooked area of the city, Flatiron at the Bulfinch Hotel, a boutique beauty within easy walking distance of both historic sites and event venues. My first impression when I walked into the space was: this would be the perfect place to have a party. One end has a lounge feel, with comfortable seats and an open floor.
The other half of the room is the dining area, small tables, quiet, cozy, like your own, private dining club.
The bar is exactly what you would expect a comfortable, intimate little bar to be and this is where we decided to sit and enjoy some drinks and tapas after our tour of the hotel and rooms.
Bulfinch Hotel is spearheading an effort to develop the West End (wait...Boston has a west end?) by encouraging the burgeoning arts community there. Long in the shadow of "The Garden" this area of Boston is often overlooked for its many other assets. In that vein, Massachusetts College Of Art And Design was brought in to outfit the hotel with all new, original works of art. The old idea of the West End is already giving way to the new idea of the SoCA (south of canal street) movement.
Arancini Tequila: Fried risotto balls made with mushroom and fontina cheese. I would recommend a change to a finely chopped parsley, for presentation purposes, as strips wilt more easily, as they did here. This was served with a tomato sauce rather than the tequila-orange reduction shown on the menu. I like that idea. It was still my favorite taste.
Gambas Flat Iron: Sauteed shrimp in a white wine, cilantro and thai chili reduction served with freshly toasted garlic crostini. Loved the cilantro.
We tried both the white and red sangria. I preferred the white but the red was still nice.
Chuletillas: Grilled lamb chops with sweet soy chipotle, served with a corn and black bean compote. Nice!
Chevron "Chocolate" Johnson and Jimmy Guzmán, GM of Bulfinch Hotel.
After the tour and tapas we dragged GM Jimmy Guzmán over to the STUFF Magazine party at North26 to visit and catch up with the usual suspects. We'll have more on SoCA and the developing arts community in the West End in future posts.
Bulfinch Hotel
107 Merrimac Street
Boston, MA 02114
Telephone: 617.624.0202
No comments:
Post a Comment