L'Espalier - A Little Bit About a Lot of Things A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

January 24, 2014 L’Espalier

We had a lovely dinner with old friends at L’Espalier. Located on Boylston Street, if you aren’t specifically looking for the restaurant, you might walk right by it. The restaurant was originally located on Boylston when in opened in 1978, it moved to a townhouse in the Back Bay in 1982, only to return to Boylston in 2008.

A host greets us at the door and we take an elevator up to the main dining room. There is a good smattering of people in the restaurant, and we are all grouped mainly in the Crystal room. From the minute you walk into the front door, the service is impeccable.

When we are seated, we are presented with a few amuse bouches.

The presentation is lovely – simple, precise, and delicate.

The scallop tartare.

We were going to do the tasting menu, but we had just had a rich meal on Friday, so we opted for the a la carte instead. Our server brings out each course and announces in detail what is on our plates. I had the Georges Bank scallops with crispy sweetbreads, hay roasted cauliflower, green cabbage and caper vinaigrette. The plating here is like a work of art. The scallops were cooked perfectly and the mustard seed added a sharp bite to the dish.

We also had the Apple Street Farm Autumn greens with walnut and fennel, Satsuma oranges in young ginger, faux yogurt gnocchi, and orange blossom sherbet. This was a great salad with bright flavors – I loved the play on the dish with the faux yogurt gnocchi.

Grilled Maine lobster in the style of Brandade provençal, littleneck clams, parsley root and artichoke. This dish reminds me of the one we had at Seasons. This dish was a close second. The dish has been plated beautifully and the lobster meat is tender and sweet.

Maine beef tenderloin with beef heart, confit potato, Côtes du Rhône-shallot relish and onion- bone marrow powder. There is a lot going on on this plate. The dish was delicious, the meat was tender and all of the components on the plate blended well with each other.

I love the playful desserts from Chef Jared Bacheller. “Cowboys and Indians”: Warm Indian pudding with chocolate barley bullets and bourbon ice cream.