L'Espalier

Kim's 50th Birthday
Kim and I went to the restaurant L'Espalier on Boylston St in Boston for her 50th birthday last night. The food and service was exceptional. Kim and I have been to many of the supposedly best restaurants in Boston and I have to say that with both service and food L'Espalier was the best.

Beginning our Night
Once we had our car valet parked we went inside. I provided my name to the woman immediately inside and she opened the elevator for us and pushed the button to the 3rd floor for us. Once the elevator door was opened we were greeted by three people; one of which was the maître d'. He immediately looked at me and said "Welcome Mr. Notarangelo" then looked at Kim and wished her a happy birthday. We were early so after checking our coats we were escorted to the Salon, which is their lounge, by our "butler".

The Salon
In the Salon we had two glasses of wine and an appetizer. Our first glasses of wine were sparkling whites. I had a sparkling white from Westport, Mass. Kim had a Champagne. The appetizer, as expected at a French restaurant, was miniscule but absolutely delicious. It was Nantucket scallops in a wonderful New England style sauce that was based with squash. For our second glasses of wine Kim got a Barolo and I got a Marguax. All of the wines thus far were good though I wouldn't' say great.

Dinner in the Corner Room
At 6:30 we were escorted to our table by our head waiter. I'm sure there was a name for him but I didn't catch it. He too wished Kim a happy birthday. Our table was beside a window in the Corner Room overlooking Boylston St.

We selected the seven course degustation, which is seven courses of tasting size portions with pre-selected wine pairings. The serving of every dish was a choreographed event. The servers, one for each of us, would stand on either side of the head waiter and together they would walk to our table. The would, in a synchronized fashion, lower the dish in front of us and remove the stainless steel cover to display the food. All the while the head waiter is describing the dish. When finished with a course our fourth server would come by and replace our used silverware and prepare our place settings for the next course with the appropriate siliverware and wine glasses.

First Course
To start us off we were served a single marble size mashed potato thing that sort of looked deep fried but wasn't. It was sitting on a delicious sauce. That bite sized thing that I had low expectations for was packed with flavor.

Second Course
Our second course was butter poached Maine lobster with risotto cake and butternut squash nage that was paired with a Sancerre. The crispness of the Sancerre with the lobster was perfect.

Third Course
The third course was torchon of foie gras with pickled chanterelles and Concord grape foam paired with a muscat. The wine and food was a surprising combination but it paired perfectly.

Fourth Course
The fourth course was a seared Hawaiian fish that I can't remember the name of with artichokes barigoule, pearl barley and candied lemon. This course was paired with

Fifth Course
The sixth course was port poached beef tenderloin with braised short ribs; bone marrow ravioli and beef shin consommé . The meat was so tender that I thought I was cutting into a mushroom. This dish was paired with a Cabernet Sauvignon from Alexander Valley. This was by far my personal favorite dish and wine combination.

Palette Cleanser
To cleanse our palette we were were served cranberry sorbet with a cranberry foam.

Sixth Course
The sixth course was a set of cheeses from mild to robust - a brie style cheese, a crumbly sharp cheddar, goat cheese, a candied cheese, and a blue cheese. This was served with a Tawny Port. The name of which escapes me. I wasn't very interested in the Port but that's because in general I'm not a big fan of Port. Kim liked it however so I took the rest of her Cab and I gave her my Port.

Seventh Course
The seventh course was a dessert of what I remember to be many different types of sweet fare such as a long thin strip of chocolate that snaked down the middle of the plate with various bite sized candied type of things on either side. None of which I remember now.

Cappuccino
I ended my night with a cappuccino. Even the cappuccino was perfect. The foam was incredibly thick and the espresso was piping hot. Kim was so full she couldn't have another mouthful of anything.

End of our Night
When we paid for the dinner, which was $500 including the tip ($600 total when adding in the wine and appetizer from the Salon), our head waiter thanked us and said to Kim that he hopes she enjoyed her birthday.

Conclusion
This was an exception night in both experience and expense. However, if affordable it is special and both Kim and I would recommend it to anyone who wants their dinner to be entertaining, pampering, delicious, and an intellectual wine/food experience.