ctseawa: me, in profile (Default)
ctseawa ([personal profile] ctseawa) wrote2008-06-23 10:59 pm
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O.M.G. dinner!

I'm in Boston for the Usenix Annual Technical Conference. This evening I joined Ted T'so and a few others for dinner at an amazing place called clio.

It weren't cheap, $120, but it were worth every dime, nickel, and penny. Oh wow.

I started with the Stinging Nettle Soup with surf clams, chive flowers, and crispy potato. I also sampled someone's "LN2" Gazpacho with avocado, strawberry, ventresca and sicilian pistachio (yes, the "soup" was in fact frozen at the table using liquid nitrogen). Both were amazing but the nettle soup was amazing++.

My main course was the lamb special. It was a tenderloin done to perfection served with a pistachio purée, chamomile flowers and several other things. This was quite possibly the best lamb preparation I've ever had (and I've had some amazing lamb dishes). I tried Dan Klein's Black Licorice Roasted Muscovy Duck with fennel bulb, rutabaga and candied pomelo and it was transcendental. I had a taste of Ted's Braised Kobe Beef Brisket and Glazed Unagi with fiddlehead ferns, coffee and aromatic shiso and his lady's Sweet Butter Basted Maine Lobster with mousserons mushrooms, fava beans and "vin jaune d'Arbois". They all delighted the senses and danced on the tongue.

I don't have a copy of the desert menu so I can't tell you the name of the dish I had. It was a bread-puddling like thing with a simple ice cream and again, it was fantastic. None of the things I sampled was less than sublime.

The servings appeared small, the plates had a lot of visible blank space, but the portion sizes were spot on. I could have eaten a lot more lamb but I didn't need to. I definitely got my money's worth.

They do a tasting menu. Chef's choice. 9 courses is $115, 14 courses is $135. I'm seriously considering going back tomorrow night to try the 9 course menu. I'll be done teaching then and might just want to reward myself.

That's how good this was.

[identity profile] clocktor.livejournal.com 2008-06-24 03:31 am (UTC)(link)
D00d, yer in BOSTON again?

What's worse, yer in Boston EATING?

Why dincha CAWL me?

[identity profile] ctseawa.livejournal.com 2008-06-24 03:36 am (UTC)(link)
It's a fly-by visit. I posted about it a few months ago but you were pretty busy. I'm at the conference for just a few days and then back to Seattle. Sorry.

[identity profile] elka-woof.livejournal.com 2008-06-24 04:11 am (UTC)(link)
That sounds amazingly delicious. I looked at their web site... does all of their food look like some kind of alien life form?

[identity profile] ctseawa.livejournal.com 2008-06-24 12:29 pm (UTC)(link)
not all of it but...ya. :)

[identity profile] fjorlief.livejournal.com 2008-06-24 04:37 am (UTC)(link)
That food sounds incredibly wonderful. I'd waaay rather have just the right amount of something that memorable, than any all you can eat boredom. And perfectly delicious lamb...(sigh) It was a fun surprise to run into you this weekend

[identity profile] ctseawa.livejournal.com 2008-06-24 12:36 pm (UTC)(link)
It was amusingly fun bumping into you. It was even more amusing since I'd been thinking of contacting you about that commission just the day before.
jss: Me (Default)

[personal profile] jss 2008-06-24 11:18 am (UTC)(link)
I'm delighted it lived up to its billing. (Formatting errors: Your "purée" is missing the first "e" and its accent; your last end-italics tag is missing its "i.")

The pictures I saw did make it look like the chef is rather fond of foams, which don't really do much for me, but c'est la vie.

[identity profile] ctseawa.livejournal.com 2008-06-24 12:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Two 0f the dishes had foams. Ya, he's part of the food-as-chemistry school. Good stuff. :)

Thanks for the format notes. Fixed.
ext_86356: (Default)

[identity profile] qwrrty.livejournal.com 2008-06-24 12:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Boston! And this is the week I'm busy moving. :-(

[identity profile] ctseawa.livejournal.com 2008-06-24 12:33 pm (UTC)(link)
Ya :( And I'm leaving tomorrow morning.