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.