Good morning, everyone! It’s T. Makeda and I are flashing back on our whirlwind adventure in Boston last weekend and I thought it would be a cool opportunity to share my thoughts on our dinner at the Bristol Restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel in Boston. After all, I am the foodie in our relationship. We needed a stiff drink after a terrible drive from Brooklyn to Boston due to the pesky rain fall that lasted the entire duration of our trip. It’s worth noting that it usually takes about 3.5 hours to get to Boston. But I digress.
First of all when I travel, my schedule doesn’t allow me to explore local cuisine because I’m usually working long hours during those trips. It’s a nice reprieve when I get to travel for leisure. As a foodie, the Bristol at the Four Seasons (200 Boylston Street, Boston, MA) had much more to offer than most of the hotels I usually stay in. First, the atmosphere was cozy and the lights over each table made us feel comfortable, with the back light of the bar proving that we were not the only late customers. The menu at the Bristol Restaurant is extensive with steakhouse classics but what we really enjoy is to explore the local, wonderfully curated cuisine whenever we travel.
We began our culinary journey with oysters. The selection was perfect, not too overwhelming but just enough to cover each palette. We enjoyed them with stiff drinks: a Vesper for me and the Midnight Marauder for her. Makeda’s cocktail was perfectly balanced and reminded me of a Boulevardier but with much more flavor. My vesper was executed with perfection and the best segue to our first appetizer: the Peruvian tuna tartare. What a treat. Perfectly cubed bits of tuna with a light seasoning, resting on a guacamole style purée and surrounded by a crispy sweet potato cracker.
A man can not stand with only one drink so I ordered a classic Gibson made with Plymouth gin. Never order a Gibson with any other gin in my opinion. Appetizer you ask? Grilled Octopus. Let me rephrase: perfectly grilled octopus. Tender, yet crispy on the outside, absolutely not over cooked. The Gibson with the pickled onion worked like magic with it.
Makeda opted for the Clam Chowder 2.0, a special dish we’re still raving about. The deconstructed chowder was clearly the winning dish of the evening. The light puree of seafood broth in the bottom of the plate holding each individual element was absolutely delightful. I rarely have the opportunity to taste anything so exquisite and right on point in a restaurant, mind you a hotel restaurant. This is exactly what deconstruction is all about!
As for our main dishes, we debated between a good ol’ fashion steak (and mind you truffle fries) and local cuisine. We were wise enough to go local. The plate of scallops I had was not only spot on with the flavors, the quickly butter sauteed clementine bites blew my mind. I have to admit I’ve been lucky enough to taste plenty of scallops during my travels in the Northeast and Europe. The explosion of soft acidity and sweetness of the clementines perfectly balanced the richness of the scallops. Instead of the usual lemon squeeze over the scallops, it made it the dish more subtle and elegant.
The lady smartly chose the braised pork with a Chinese twist on it. The baby Bok Choi had the right level of acidity while the coconut rice curry provided the comfort. Really a plate to remember.
What were we drinking you might ask? One of the most beautiful places I had the luck to enjoy seafood was Northern Spain with Cinque Terre in Italy being a front runner as well as Maine close third. I chose the Albariño, a fantastic white wine (lower hit on the wallet) full of fruits and minerality. This one was not aged in new oak and was an incredible pairing.
Desserts were safe choices, yet right on point. The sabayon on mine was extremely concentrated in lemon, the sweet balance and presentation felt like I was really enjoying my dessert, not indulging in unnecessary calories.
Finally, as much as the food was great, I have to give a tip of the hat to the staff, from the warm welcome from the hostess to Milton, our waiter, who provided us with impeccable service and really good recommendations on the menu.
Now, I still long for the Peruvian tartare and the scallops…
