Fleming's Steakhouse

Sliced fillet with risotto.

We were invited to dine at Fleming's Prime Steak House and Wine Bar this week. Michael Edwards has gone all out to source some fine wine and create small plates that are rich. 100 wines by the glass! Although steak places abound here, this is the new place to try.


Lobster tempura. What is better than a huge chunk of lobster with a fine white wine?

Fleming's
217 Stuart Street
Boston, MA 02116-5401
Telephone: 617.292.0808

Happy Halloween Weekend!

Test Baking

We spent the whole day yesterday test-baking cookie mixes. It was a nasty weather day in Boston so the timing was right. We discovered that Kerry Gold butter makes a huge difference when baking. Always go for the best.


Part of baking is waiting, so we passed the time perusing the latest winter fashion trends and listening to music on BBC1, reading through catalogs, dreaming of ski trips with M Miller, drawing in notebooks and all that.

So, oatmeal, raw sugar, organic egg fresh cookies for breakfast tomorrow with cappucino and, for me, a pile of fresh ricotta on a plate.

Bivalves And Bubbly At Legal Harborside

What is better than enjoying champagne and oysters at Legal Harborside on a crisp, sunny Fall afternoon? Not much.


We sipped glasses of Gosset Brut "Excellence" Champagne and Laurent Perrier Brut Champagne.


We recently joined up with friends and, well, at least one interesting new character, at Legal Harborside for fun afternoon on their all-weather roof deck as guests for the Bivalves and Bubbly event, a hedonistic afternoon of half-shells.


With Bianca Garcia, food blogger of Confessions Of A Chocoholic.


We had raw oysters...


With Bianca and Jennifer Che of tinyurbankitchen.com.

We had stuffed oysters...


Mikal even squeezed the event into his busy social schedule.


Fried oyster with aoili were one of our fave tastes of the afternoon.


Fried oyster sushi cones were also excellent.


Fried oyster sliders!


And, of course, what would an event be with the comic relief, in this case The Naked Cowboy, who made it all the way in from Times Square just to pose for awkward pictures with us. Bianca made me do it! Seriously, this was a very fun spot to hang out with friends and have lots of laughs on a weekend afternoon. Thank you Legal Harborside.

Legal Harborside
270 Northern Avenue
Boston, MA 02210
Telephone: 617.477.2900

Six Courses At Brasserie JO

We were recently feted like French Kings at a six course feast at Brasserie JO at The Colonnade in Boston, complete with wine pairings. Our hosts could not have been more gracious for this very special evening and meal that began with passed plates of appetizers including Croque Monsieur, Chicken With Honey and Peanut Butter and Jam Biscuit, which was my favorite.


Upon arrival, we were invited to sample some of the new Autumn Martini Recipes. This is the Cranberry Cobbler. I enjoyed the Spiced Apple Cider. Other mixes included a Pumpkin Pie and Vanilla Carrot renditions.


TBF (it was a windy night) with David Colella, V. P., and Managing Director of The Colonnade and Chairman of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association. I had spoken on a panel on Social Media at the annual M.R.A. Summit last year. We had a very interesting conversation about the power of Social Media in the food and hospitality industries and casino gambling in Massachusetts, which the organization is against.


We began with an Amuse Bouche of Pressed Lamb with Housemade Relish and a very dramatic presentation. Nice start.


Not only did Executive Chef Nicholas Calias visit each table to introduce and talk about every dish but Sommelier David Cicciarella also introduced each wine. Very nice, personal touch.


Our First Course was Pan Seared Diver Scallop with Vanilla Beurre Monté, Butternut Squash and Confit Fennel. I loved the vanilla undertones. That was new to me. Wine Pairing: Francois Villard Viogner.


A Frisee Salad was our Second Course with Poached Quail Egg, Brioche and Banyuls Glazed Lardon. Any salad that includes a poached quail egg and those amazingly rich lardons hits all the chords. I loved this dish. Wine Pairing: Louis Boillot Cremant de Bourgogne Rose.


Our Third Course: Sablefish with Saffron Fumet, Mussels and Pommes Boulangére. Wine pairing: Domaine Ferret Pouilly-Fuisse. Great dish and great French pairing.


Fourth Course: Beef Tenderloin En Croute included Wild Mushroom, Parsnip, Fondant Potato, Mustard Greens and Thyme Jus. This is a difficult dish to carry off. The crust on the tenderloin is usually gummy. I wish they could find a way to make it crispier. Wine pairing: Chateau Greysac.


The Cheese Course included Pear, Bleu d'Auvergne Pot de Créme and Tomato Marmalade. According to Chef, those tiny pear balls took hours to prepare. The Pot de Créme was excellent. Wine Pairing: Pierre Sparr Riesling. Very nice choice here.


Detail of the Tomato Marmalade.


Dessert was Carmelized Pumpkin Tart, Salted Caramel Ice Cream and Almond Brittle. Flaky, creamy, sweet and a touch of salt. The wine pairing was especially nice here, Redwood Orange Muscat.



This often-overlooked destination for French cuisine reminded us that their fresh, new takes on dishes deserve a fresh visit. We'll definitely be back.

Brasserie JO
120 Huntington Avenue
Boston, MA 02116
Telephone: 617.425.3251

Lunch At L'Espalier

We enjoyed a very elegant luncheon recently in the private library at L'Espalier as the guests of Pasternak Wine. The wines featured were all from Chateau La Nerth, a French winery which operates 3 properties and is long on tradition. On hand to speak in-depth about the wine was Export Manager Christophe Bristiel (seen here, left).


For an Aperitif, we enjoyed a 2010 de Montezargues Tavel Rose made with 8 grapes. This was a very nice wine, indeed, to begin with. I should say that all of the wine pairings were excellent and a great introduction to La Nerthe although I did like some a few better than others.


Our first course was the Fisherman's Daughter shrimp with Apple Street Farm heirloom tomatoes, cucumber ice and basil seed "caviar". This course was matched with a 2010 Chateau La Nerth Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc and a 2009 du Pape Blanc "Clos de Beauvenir". The shrimp was nice and my favorite sip was the Clos.


Our main course was this succulent Colorado rack of lamb, herbes de Provence, black garlic, fennel purée and Apple Street Farm baby carrot. Apple Street Farm is the farm about 30 miles outside the city owned by L'Espalier Chef Frank McLelland.


The lamb was paired with a 1982, 1986 and 2001 Chateau La Nerthe Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge. My favorite was the 1982.


The Grand Fromage cheese plate was exactly what one would expect from L'Espalier, the perfect blend of cheeses, dried fruit and nuts to end the meal. Again, 3 wines were paired here: 1999, 2000 and 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge Cuvee des Cadettes. My favorite was the 2000.




The highlight of the luncheon may have been this 1995 Fin de La Nerthe. Over 15 years old, it has never been imported to the U.S.A. before. We were the very first to experience it and was was sheer heaven.

Chefs Nandu Jubany and Carles Gaig

Harvard hosted legendary Spanish Chefs Nandu Jubany (Can Jubany) and Carles Gaig (Fonda Gaig) last week for their Science and Cooking lecture. What I loved about this presentation was that it was a mix of an older Chef with a younger one, utilizing techniques that are hundreds of years old and traditional with those that push the limits of modern gastronomy. The lecture title was: Mixing The Unmixable.


It was a night of sauces and the entire lecture hall was even treated to a taste of an amazingly simple yet flavorful sauce by Chef Gaig.


The other first was that we got to take a look at the sauces under a microscope! It was so interesting to see what was going on at this level, the size of the bubbles and the agents required to allow oil and water to be mixed.


Tonight's lecture will be from Wylie Dufresne so if you're heading over I would highly suggest that you arrive early. These lectures draw hundreds of people and this will be quite the popular lecture.

Charles Regatta 2011 Pictorial