A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

As it worked out, I happened to go to Deuxave (pronounced doo-ave) twice in two weeks. Deauxave, which opened at the end of the summer of 2010 is run by executive chef Chris Coombs, who you might know from his other restaurant in Dorchester, Dbar. The name Deuxave pays homage to it’s location, the intersection of two major streets, Commonwealth Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue.

The decor is modern and chic, with no bad seat in the house. You can sit by the fireplace or you can sit by the large windows and people watch. The restaurant definitely has a neighborhood feel to it. Both times we felt that the scene was geared towards an older crowd. There is a quiet hum to the restaurant-and privacy between tables…a really nice ambiance.

We start off with a glass of Riondo Prosecco ($10) that comes served in a cute individual sized bottle-a really nice prosecco-really crisp. We have the duck confit ($14) as an appetizer. It comes with White Bean Garbure, Cranberry Coulis, and a Fine Herb Salad. The white beans were like butter. The coulis adds just the right amount of sweetness to balance the dish-it’s excellent. The duck itself is perfectly cooked, and the skin, which I normally refrain from eating, just melts in your mouth.

My dining companion gets the potato gnocchi with crispy farm egg ($23). It comes with roasted brussel sprouts, cauliflower & wild mushrooms with heirloom squash broth, and sage brown butter emulsion. Really nice earthy flavors. The brussel sprouts were cooked perfectly (and they can be tricky). I love the how the egg was presented!!

Of course, I had the bolognaise ($21). Housemade pasta, veal, beef, pancetta & foie gras, creamy tomato sauce, aromatic vegetables, mozzarella, and  basil. Excellent-some of the best bolognaise I’ve had. The portion doesn’t look like enough, but it is quite filling. The sauce is superb, I love the combination of meats. The pasta is perfectly al dente and pretty light as far as pasta goes.

We end the night with some tiramisu ($13) Marsala Mascarpone Cream, Dark Chocolate Cylinders, Espresso Daquoise, Mocha Glaze. Basically a deconstructed tiramisu. I have to say that the first time we came to Deuxave we skipped dessert because none of them seemed appealing to me. The tiramisu was our waiters recommendation (he had some pretty good ones for our other courses so we tried it out). I could have just gone with the ice cream and the cookie crumbs as my dessert.

The service was better the second visit, our waiter was knowledgeable and gave great suggestions. The first visit our water glasses stood empty for the majority of the meal and there were times when the waiter was no where to be found. Overall, we really liked Deuxave (obviously…since I was there twice in two weeks).

Deuxave

371 Commonwealth Ave Boston MA 02115

www.deuxave.com

617-517-5915

Tags: back bay, restaurant