Journeyman: Our Tasting Menu Experience

On Friday night, to celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary, Hubby and I went to Journeyman restaurant in Somerville, literally just a stone's throw from where I grew up.  I remember when all you could find down this sometimes creepy alleyway was a couple of mechanics' garages, a greasy pizza/sub joint, and an abandoned lot (in which as kids we used to play before it was rebuilt it into a proper playground).  Nowadays, there is without a doubt a food find in this up and coming and, well....yuppie area of what was once a veritable working class section of the city.

Hubby had picked out seven possible restaurants (7th anniversary) and told me to chose a number.  What came out of the proverbial hat was this wonderful tasting menu experience.  You can read all about the philosophy of this restaurant at the link above....but basically they are very much into locally sourced ingredients, working with whatever's in season, and supporting smaller-scale vendors.

There are a lot of pictures in this post, so rather than bore you with paragraphs of text in between, I will let them speak for themselves via their captions (the only problem being that we can't remember everything that was on each plate -- so I will just do my best to re-cap).  Needless to say, it was all fantastic -- there was not one item that wasn't awesome and of which we didn't lap up every morsel.

On with it....

  

We decided to get the seven course dinner (fitting for the anniversary).  He got the "meat eater" version, and I got the vegetarian version, so that we could try as many dishes as possible.

Here you can see basically the entire restaurant (except for the open kitchen which is off to the right of this shot), and in the background is the greenhouse window in which grow many of the greens and herbs that are used in the cooking.

The amuse-bouche: Egg Foam with Shiitake mushrooms and some herbage.

Homemade bread, and (I'd be willing to bet churned in-house) butter with (hard to see in this photo) a sprinkle of sea salt on top.

Locally brewed beer infused with flavor from a local chocolate company.  OMG yes!

Salad course: There were so many things on this plate that I had never eaten before.  But the most notable was that little yellowish flower near the top.  I don't remember what the waitress said it was, but it had so much flavor (similar to arugula).

My soup course: Cold Pea Soup with a Milk Foam, Mint, and some sort of cookie-ish thing on top.

Hubby's soup course: Razor Clams, Pea Puree, Fennel, Bluefish Roe.

Mine: Asparagus Two Ways (steamed, raw), with some Century Egg, Soft Tofu and two sauces (a garlicky one, and a soy one).

Hubby's: Salmon, Peas, Rhubarb.



Mine: Five-Minute Egg, Smoke, Spring Vegetables, Shortbread crumble, Lavender Flowers, and an incredibly delicious creamy sauce (this was my favorite dish all night).

Hubby's: Bluefish, Black Bean, Rhubarb.

Hubby's: Smoked Foie Gras, Brioche Waffles, and a rhubarb sauce.

Mine: Risotto with Ramps and Morel Mushrooms.

Hubby's: Veal, Sweetbreads fried in Amaranth Flour, Polenta, Onion, Leeks, Almonds.

Mine: Chevre Ravioli, Spinach, Leeks.

A surprise cheese course that they offered to us before dessert.  We chose the sheep's milk one from Italy.  It came with honeycomb and pickled rhubarb.

Another pre-official-dessert surprise: Almond crema with rhubarb sorbet.

Hubby's Dessert: Baba Au Rhum (rum soaked pound cake) with milk chocolate ice cream, dark chocolate tobacco infused ganache, chocolate sorbet, and taza/almond crumbles.

My dessert: The same Baba Au Rhum, except this time on a caramel bed with grapefruit absinthe almond sorbet, coffee infused cream, and taza/almond crumbles.

Surprise finale: Rhubarb Jellies, Salted Caramels, Shortbread Cookies with Almonds, and Lime-something Macarons (all homemade, of course)

  

Who would have thought that down this little alleyway, where all you used to be able to find was the back doors and trash bins of restaurants and other businesses, could be such an incredible place to eat!  Mmmmmm.

Technique (Cambridge, MA)

Last week, we went to Technique, the signature restaurant of Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Cambridge, MA.  The attraction here, other than pure foodventuring, is that you can get a three-course dinner for $12 per person (yes, twelve dollars, that's not a typo)....the catch being only that the meal is prepared by the students.  As it says on their website, they present "simple, elegant menus inspired by the classic techniques of fine cookery and prepared with the finest ingredients culled from high quality, sustainable sources."  Due to the quality-to-price ratio, reservations for this venue are hard to come by, and must be booked well in advance.  In fact, we made our reservation well over two months ago.  This is how our experience went....

First off, a few shots of the how the place looks:

Cool metal-bound menus.

We started off with the requisite rolls and butter (rolls that were being freshly baked right in sight of the dining room):

Next, we ordered our dinner, including a nice glass of Merlot for me (only $6) and a good Porter for Hubby (only $4).

Here is what we ate:

Hubby's appetizer - Shrimp Risotto using fine herb salad and preserved lemon.

My appetizer - Grilled Fruits & Arugula Salad with crispy prosciutto, shaved parmesan
cheese, served with a champagne vinaigrette dressing.

Hubby's entrée - Filet Mignon, Tomato Hollandaise served with housemade fries,
roasted zucchini and tomato salad.

My entrée - Lamb Loin served with english pea puree, baby seasonal vegetables,
asparagus, mint chimichurri sauce.

Hubby's dessert - Salted Caramel Pot De Crème with chantilly cream and almond sable cookie.

My dessert - Classic Creamy Cheesecake with strawberry-rhubarb compote and cocoa sauce.

This was a good meal.

The service wasn't "all that."  The waiters and waitresses were just culinary students who would, quite frankly, rather be in the kitchen over serving customers.  Some of them were professional and confident (obviously showing that they had waited before), and others were awkward and forgetful.  This isn't to say the waiters and waitresses were bad, just amusingly as can be expected in this environment.  It actually annoyed me to hear other diners being rude to them and overly demanding of them.

As for the food, my initial impression (particularly of the main course) was that the portions were too small.  But when you consider the entirety of the meal as a whole, it all turned out to be just the right size.  Added up, it left you feeling completely satisfied, but not stuffed like you would feel departing any other typical American restaurant.  And the flavors were clean and well-balanced.

This restaurant's goal is to show off what they have taught these young aspiring chefs, and they did so quite well.  For $12.00, the equivalent of what most downtown Boston workers pay for a quick lunch every day, one certainly can't go wrong with this borderline gourmet fare.  We will certainly hit this place up again, and suggest that you check it out, too.

Les Zygomates Wine Bar & Bistro (Boston, MA)

Today, many thanks to my friend Jen at EcoScribe, I was treated to a lovely meal at Les Zygomates.  Because I ate two dishes for the first time in my life at this business lunch, I thought I'd write about it.

We started out with some nice French bread with butter that was better than you'd get at the average American restaurant.

Next, was a Scallop Ceviche.  I have never been a huge fan of scallops.  It's not that I dislike them, or that I wouldn't keep trying them, but I have only ever had them prepared in various cooked fashions....and I always just felt "meh" about it.  Perhaps I've never had them cooked correctly, I don't know.  But this ceviche was pretty darn good.  It was made with red onions, cilantro, garlic and I think lime (or maybe lemon) juice.  I only tried one piece, but it was good and I definitely plan to explore this are of food more.  I should have taken a picture of it.  My bad.

Next up was the main course....my first ever Cassoulet.  Frankly, seeing this dish on the menu was why I chose this restaurant from the few that Jen suggested.  I wanted to try it that much.

Photo credit goes to Jen, whose cell phone camera took a better shot than mine did.

Doesn't that look great?  The description on the menu said "Coco Tarbais Beans, Pork Belly, Garlic Sausage, Duck Confit, Braised Pork."  How could one resist that combination of meats!  As you can see, there were some seasoned croutons thrown on top, too.  It was served in a cute little Le Creuset pot, and it was delicious.  Now I am going to have to find a recipe and try to make my own sometime.  Mmmmmm.