La Meridiana Restaurant, New Hampshire

I visit New Hampshire about twice a year to see my family, usually once in the summer to enjoy warm weather, and once in the winter for Christmas. On every visit, we try to go out to dinner somewhere with my sister near her house in Andover, NH.  This is an area even more rural than where my parents live, and the options are extremely limited.  My sister's favorite place is The Flying Goose, where I've never liked anything but the sweet potato fries.  I really didn't want to go back there again.

So this year, as always, my mom picked me up in Boston, and wanted to stop to meet my sister for dinner on the way home.  My sister of course proposed The Flying Goose, and I groaned.  There *had* to be other options, right?  I did some digging, and pretty much found nothing.  Then she sent me a link for La Meridiana Restaurant.  She'd never been there.  She didn't really know anyone else who had either.  But it was located literally 4 minutes down the road from her house, and she drives by all the time, and was curious.

I looked it up.  What I found was ... interesting.  La Meridiana has been around for nearly 30 years.  30 years!  With the same chef, Piero.  At one time, it seems to have been a full service, regular restaurant, with a staff.  Now ... it is Piero.  Only Piero.  He answers the phones to take reservations.  He greets you when you enter.  He waits on your table.  Once he gets you settled with drinks, he takes your order, and then he goes out back to cook your food.  He brings it out when ready, and clears your plates when you are done.  Just Piero.  His restaurant.

And, well, he makes the experience.  Was it amazing food?  Not really.  But he was an amazing host.  It felt like we were welcomed into someone's home.  Oh, and the part I didn't mention yet?  It is open by reservation only, and, well, doesn't exactly get a lot of business.  We were the only table for the night.  Literally.  So yes, he opened up his restaurant, just for us.  The "Daily Specials" menu that was printed out, with the day's date on the top, was just for us.  It was quiet (sans the Christmas music he had playing), and we were able to talk without any noise or distraction, which is exactly what we wanted, since I hadn't seen my sister since her wedding the previous summer, and had only seen my mom the past two hours on the drive.

La Meridiana and Piero provided a truly memorable meal, not for the food necessarily, but for the entire package.  I recommend it to anyone in the area, and would gladly return.  We had a long, satisfying meal, in a comfortable space, prepared by someone who was clearly doing it because he loves it.  Oh, and the prices?  Ridiculously reasonable.

The Space

We pulled up outside the restaurant, not quite sure what we were getting into.  It looked charming on the outside, all lit up with Christmas lights, but, there were no other cars around, and we were in the middle of no where.  What were we getting ourselves into?

Spacious Entry.

We walked in to find a very spacious entryway. We paused, unsure of where to go, or what to do. There was a hallway ahead, so we started down it.

Long Hallway.

The hallway was long, and we followed it ...

Dining Room.

At the end of the hall was the dining room.  A charming space, with wooden tables and chairs, exposed wooden beams, and cheery Christmas lights.  The windowsills had pine cones, and other seasonal items, as decorations.  There was a fireplace along one wall, but it was not on.

It wasn't a huge space, probably only 10-12 tables, but, as I said, we were the only table seated that night.  We were given a prime table, right near the window.

Bar.

At the front of the room is a wooden bar, stocked with hard alcohol, bottles of wine, and an espresso machine.

Did I mention this place has some serious charm?

Table Setting.

Tables were set with white tablecloths, red cloth napkins, classic, older style silverware, and bread plates.

We were handed menus, and settled in to read them.  This was quite the endeavor, given the length of the menu.  Pages and pages.  Antipasti.  Soups.  Salads.  Pasta.  Seafood.  Meats.  Specialties.  Daily Specials.  Yes, these were all different sections.

The Daily Specials were printed on a paper insert, dated with the day's date.  Just for us.  This was distinct from the "Specialities", a regular part of the menu, which carried the following disclaimer at the start:

"These dishes are specials in many ways; from people whom I respect and they are prepared in slow preparation/cooking, the old fashion manners! When, human beings enjoyed and savored their meal prepared specially for them, in gratitude. If you are not able to wait for the finish dish, please order something else. Thank You!"

I thought that was incredibly charming as well, and immediately set out to order at least one of the Specialties.

Drinks

On our tables was a menu with wines by the glass, half-carafe, or carafe.  Prices were ridiculously reasonable, and there were many options for each type of wine.  I believe there were beer options too.  The daily specials menu also included some alcohol free beverages, such as San Pellegrino (plain or flavored), flavored Vitamin Water, flavored Spindrift sodas, fresh apple cider, and strawberry lemon and limeade.

Chianti. $5.

My mother and I both opted for glasses of wine with our meal, I went for a red (Chianti), she went white (Riesling).  Both of us received ridiculously large pours.  Seriously, look at how full my glass was.  And, uh, it was $5.  $5!

Ok, a $5 glass of wine, at a restaurant where we were the only diners, no way this was going to be good, right?  Probably poured from a bottle opened days ago, the last time a diner decided to get some Chianti?  Probably not a quality bottle in the first place, right?

I was wrong.  It was good.  I really liked it.  Not too big, not too tannic, but fairly complex, and it went great with my meal.  Also, seriously, $5 for this pour?

Starters

The starters section of the menu has several sections: Antipasti, Soups, and Salads.  There are additional starter items on the Specialities section AND more on the Daily Specials menu.

So, lots of choices.  The Antipasti options included beef carpaccio, prosciutto, sautéed chicken livers, steamed mussels, and garlic butter snails.  Soups were classics: minestrone, chicken, or split pea.  Salads included several different mixes with house made dressing.  There were also options on the Specialities menu, such as steamed artichokes and Caesar salad.  The daily specials included more salads, steamed broccoli, sautéed mushrooms, polenta, and wild boar pate.

We opted for two salads, one from the daily specials and one from the Specialties.  My mom and sister wanted a beet salad, which I was happy to pass on, and we all wanted the Caesar.  My sister ordered, saying "We'll share a beet salad", and then she paused, looked at me, and asked, "and you want the Caesar then too, right?", since I was the one pushing for the Caesar.  I confirmed.

We thought we had ordered one beet salad and one Caesar salad, which would be placed in the center of the table, hopefully with some share plates.  Spoiler: that isn't quite what happened.

Assorted Bread Basket.

As our salads came out, a basket of bread arrived as well.  I generally skip bread baskets, but, I'm very glad I didn't skip this one.  It was a stunner.

I was blown away when I pushed aside the cloth napkin to reveal the contents.  There was not just one type of bread in there, nor two, nor even three.  There were 5 different types of bread, all hot and fresh!

On the table was a bottle of olive oil, and a basket with both butter and margarine packets, to use as we desired with our bread.

I started with an onion studded roll.  It was fantastic.  Dense, doughy, warm, and loaded with onion flavor.  It didn't need to be dunked in oil, nor slathered with butter, it was great just on its own.  We all enjoyed our chunks of this and agreed it was great.

Next I moved on to the dark roll you see in front.  It too was ridiculously light and fluffy, with a slightly crusty exterior.  It had a nice depth of flavor, and was excellent with the butter.

I skipped the next two options, both types of white rolls, crusty.  My mom and sister enjoyed these.

The final option was a sliced bread, that I also planned to skip.  We had pasta coming, why on earth would I fill up on bread?  But I still couldn't believe how good the other bread was, and my sister took one bite of the sliced bread, and proclaimed it the best, and broke off part of a piece for me.  It was a fluffy brioche, slightly sweet, shiny on top.  It was great.

The bread basket really was stunning.  This was no generic bread, it was all hot and fresh, and all quite delightful.  I'm not sure where the bread came from.  Piero clearly didn't freshly bake 5 types of bread, just for us.  But it also wasn't remotely stale, and couldn't have been baked less than a day before.  Regardless, this was a truly wonderful offering, and I don't understand how he manages to do this at such low volume.

After we finished our meal, we still had some bread left in the basket, including a few slices of the brioche.  My sister asked him to package it up for us, saying that I loved the bread.  I laughed, but said that I would indeed take it, to make a bread pudding.  When I opened the leftovers bag at home later that night, I had a wonderful discovery.  He didn't just give us our leftover bread ... he gave me an entire loaf of brioche!

(Side note: I did use that brioche, to make salted caramel french toast bread pudding served with mascarpone, from Smitten Kitchen .... it was the perfect bread for it!)

Daily Special: Beets Salad. $9.00. (1/3 portion)

"Fresh local beets baked & marinated with herbs, cold press olive oil, red wine vinegar, shallots, salt."

My mom and sister are crazy about beets, so they really wanted the beet salad.  I had no interest in having any, and told them that.  When my sister ordered, she said that "we'd like to split the beets", gesturing at my mother.  So we were a bit surprised when three beet salads were brought to the table, one placed in front of each of us.

The salad was a mix of greens, assorted baby greens, spinach, and frisee, all fresh and crispy.  There were large chunks of out-of-season tomato, and marinated beets, all drizzled with olive oil, and seasoned well with salt and pepper.

I had a few bites of the greens, but, besides being fresh, there wasn't much interesting there.  No one liked the tomatoes, but my mom and sister both really loved their beets, and gladly took the ones left on my plate.

The portion looked a bit small for $9, and we didn't think we ordered three of them, and it turns out, we didn't.  We were charged for only one, but he split it onto three plates for us.  That made this a $3 salad, and the regular size must be crazy huge for $9?  I think he must have given us more than usual, making this a tremendous value, and a dish my mom and sister were both quite thrilled with.

Specialties: Caesar Salad. $9.25.

"Prepared to order; Romaine, our homemade dressing, anchovies, mustard, canola oil, Worcestershire sauce, juice from fresh lemons, red wine vinegar, homemade croutons, Romano cheese, fresh garlic, Our version of the classic! Thanks’ to Mr. Waldemar New York 1973."

The other salad we ordered was the Caesar, from the Specialities section of the menu.  When she ordered this, my sister turned to me and said, "and you want that Caesar to come with the beets, right?"  I said yes.

After we were each brought a plate of beet salad, a single Caesar salad was placed in the middle of the table.  Why he choose not to split this one, I'm not sure, but it was fine, and what we had intended in the first place.

The salad was fine.  Basic romaine, including hearts and leaves, croutons, cheese, and dressing.  The dressing wasn't a creamy, thick style as I prefer, but instead was a tangy version, made with oil, red wine vinegar, lemon, garlic, mustard, and I think anchovies were in here too.  I didn't particularly taste anchovies, but, the menu description did say they were in there somewhere.  The mustard was a bit strong for me.  The cheese was grated cheese, rather than shredded or large flakes as I prefer.  The croutons weren't remarkable, but my sister commented on how great they were.

So overall, this was fine, but not really my style.  I want a creamier dressing, large shreds of cheese, and visible anchovies.  But that might just be me.  The $9.25 price was fine for a decent size salad.

Main Dishes

The main dish portion of the menu also has many sections.  The first is pasta, where my eyes immediately gravitated.  It had all the classics: tortellini, spaghetti (vegetarian or meaty bolognese), ravioli, gnocchi, agnolotti, and even crespelle (crepes).  The gnocchi in particular sounded great, made from Piero's mother's recipe.  Next came pesce (fish and seafood), with salmon baked in parchment paper, shrimp scampi, trout, and baked cod (another one made from his mother's recipe), with cream and shallots.  You can guess which of those called out to me.  Then came the meat, with veal scaloppine, beef tenderloin, chicken cacciatore, rack of lamb.  I easily looked past those.  Next, a set of "Specialties", again with warnings about preparation time, and included veal chops, stuffed beef, and risotto.  All fish and meat main courses come with vegetables and roasted potatoes.

Then there was the Daily Specials, which came printed on the dated separate menu featuring two more types of ravioli (5 cheese or lobster), pork scaloppine, and rib eye.  

We planned to share all our dishes, but no one else in the group wanted seafood, I didn't really want meat, so, we were mostly looking at pastas.  The carbonara was easily agreed on by everyone.  I pushed for the gnocchi, but my sister really wanted risotto, as did my mom.  Since I wasn't that hungry, I agreed with this plan, and told them I didn't really want risotto, and would mostly just have some carbonara.

My sister again ordered for the group, saying we'd all split the risotto and carbonara.  She finished her salad first, and her plate was cleared away.  My mom and I both still had salad plates in front of us.  The server/chef came out with a plate of risotto and placed it in front of my sister.  He also had a bowl of carbonara, which he also placed in front of her, slightly to the side.  The portions weren't tiny, but they didn't quite look sharable by 3 people.  We were a bit worried that we had miscommunicated our order, and this is all we were getting.  Then he returned ... with two more plates of risotto and two more bowls of carbonara, placing a set in front of both my  mother and I.  We really thought we'd just get a big bowl of pasta and a big bowl of risotto, with some share plates, and each take what we wanted (with me not really having the risotto).  Now I had a serving of risotto sitting in front of me, and a nice man watching expectantly as we dug in.  Guess I had to go for it.  We also figured at that point that we'd totally miscommunicated when ordering, and he thought we wanted 3 orders of everything.  But ... no.  He charged us for only one risotto, only one pasta.  He split it all onto separate plates, but there is no way that this was a single portion, split 3 ways.  What a generous man!

Specialties: Risotto Allo Zafferano e Funghi Porcini $20.00. (1/3 portion)

"Made with Italian rice, saffron, wild porcini mushrooms. olive oil, shallots, Romano cheese, homemade chicken stock, finished with butter (mantecato). My mother taught me to prepare it, at a very young age, ancora Imparo! (I’m still learning) I used to start the risotto, and my mother, coming home from the field she finished this delicious dish. AHHH Buon Appetito!"

So, the risotto, from the Specialities section.

Like I said, I didn't actually want the risotto, but, I was given this portion.  I tried a few bites.  I guess it was fine, but, well, it was flavored rice, just not my thing.  My mother and sister both liked it, my sister saying it was the highlight of the meal.

It was topped with fresh shaved cheese, had a few scattered mushrooms throughout, and was piping hot.  My mom said "it is creamy, and not mushy".  I guess that is a good review?

This portion might have been a bit small for $20, but, if you triple it, then the portion would have been insanely large.  3 plates this size for $20 was crazy cheap, and can't possibly be what he normally serves.  This had to at least been a double order?

Pasta: Fettuccine Carbonara. $17.95. (1/3 portion).

"Flat noodles boiled, finished and cooked with pancetta, garlic, egg, cream, Romano cheese, salt and pepper."

The fettuccine carbonara was my pick of pasta to order.

It came served in a bowl rather than a plate, with a spoon for twirling action, and fresh grated cheese on top.

It was ... fine.  The noodles were overcooked, rather mushy.  The sauce was ok, a bit creamy, decent flavor, nice pepper level.  My mom was impressed at how well integrated the sauce was, and how it didn't break.  She said it was her favorite.

I really did like the bits of pancetta, salty, crispy little bits of goodness and the nice seasoning job.

I felt the same way about this portion size as the risotto.  Many restaurants in San Francisco could give you this portion for $17.95 and it would be normal.  The portion would probably be seen as a bit small, but honestly, it was plenty.  And if you consider this only 1/3 of an order, then it is crazy.  I really have no idea what a normal portion size is, but, he only charged us for one, and we each had full small bowls of it.

Dolce - Gelato - Formaggio

And now, the moment I am always waiting for: dessert!  The entire desert menu is listed on the daily specials menu, so I saw it at the start of the meal.  In fact, I told the server/chef that I was saving room for dessert because I wanted it all, and he told me I was welcome to start with dessert if I wanted.  Believe me, I was tempted!

It was a cold winter night, so I ruled out all the frozen options, but there were three flavors of sorbetto (mango, blood orange, raspberry), five flavors of gelato (vanilla, pistachio, hazlenut-coffee, coconut, espresso), a single flavor of ice cream (pumpkin), two sundaes (a "Nutty Sundae" made with pistachio gelato, topped with walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, honey and whipped cream, and a "Espresso Sundae" with coffee ice cream, espresso syrup, chocolate beans, and whip), and a frozen White Chocolate Mousse Cake.

Yes, I ruled out a lot, but there were still plenty of other options.  I wanted the carrot cake, always a favorite of mine, but it was made with coconut, and my sister is allergic, so she wouldn't share that.  Cannoli came filled to order, but I don't like citrus flavors in my desserts.  Now we were down to three: ricotta pie, chocolate cookies cheesecake, and wild blueberry pie.  My mom voted out the ricotta pie, so, the other two it was.

My sister took charge of the ordering, saying "I'll have the cheesecake, and they'll share the blueberry pie".  Now, really, we had discussed all sharing both, with the understanding that she wanted more of the cheesecake, but I kinda laughed when she ordered it that way.  Of course, we didn't realize the implications of her order until the dessert came out a few minutes later.

Like other sections of the menu, I wondered how he could possibly have all these dessert freshly made and available.  Sure, the frozen items could keep in a freezer, but what about the rest?  I'm pretty sure that they actually are all frozen, and he just warms the pies and cakes up.  The cannoli are likely the only item freshly made, and I'm guessing the shells are frozen for those, just the filling is made to order.

Anyway, dessert didn't take long, and was a nice sweet finish to our meal.

Decaf Coffee. $2.

Of course, I like coffee to go along with my dessert.  There was no coffee nor tea on the menu, and no offer of any other beverages was made, but I asked anyway.  And, I wanted decaf.  I assume a restaurant this small wouldn't have decaf, but, hey, you never know.

Sure enough, he said he had decaf coffee and could brew me a pot.  He also had an espresso machine and could make whatever espresso drinks I wanted.  I opted for just the coffee, and, indeed, he did brew me an entire pot.  He kept my mug refilled the rest of the night.

The coffee was fine.  It was decaf, but wasn't funky or old tasting, and really had a nice, pure flavor to it.  Well, huh.  No idea what brand it was, but, really not bad.

It was served with assorted sweeteners and a pitcher of creamer.  My unlimited refills cup was only $2.

Dolce: Chocolate Cookies Cheesecake. $5.00.

"Cream cheese, sugar, wheat flour, chocolate & egg."

The first dessert was brought out, the cheesecake, and was set down directly in front of my sister.  It was for HER after all, per her order.

I wasn't that excited about it anyway, but did try a bite.  It wasn't great.

The graham cracker crust was soggy, which made me think it had been defrosted quickly for serving.  The cheesecake was a swirl of plain and chocolate cookie cheesecakes, and wasn't particularly creamy, nor cream cheesy.  It really just wasn't anything special at all.

It was garnished with a few squirts of whipped cream, clearly from a can.

The slice was very generous, a real "Parent family wedge", a ridiculous value for only $5.

Dolce: Wild Blueberry Pie. $5.00. (1/2 portion).

"Maine wild berries, flour, sugar, butter & spices."

My sister had said that my mom and I were sharing the blueberry pie.  We expected that we'd get a slice of the cheesecake and a slice of the pie, and three forks, and share was we wanted.  As you saw, my sister got her slice of cheesecake.  And then ... my mom and I both got our own slices of pie.  Full slices of pie.  It is a bit hard to see in this photo, as the slice actually looks rather narrow, but it really was massive, and in particular, seemed to have been cut from a pie with a really large diameter, as it was much longer than a normal slice.

Anyway, the pie.  It had a full crust on the bottom, lattice on top.  It was not a flaky pie crust.  It is a bit hard to describe the style of the crust actually, it wasn't bad, but it certainly wasn't a standard pie crust.  It did have a slight gumminess to it, it was somewhat doughy, and again I think this was due to being defrosted and heated up.

Oh, and it was served lukewarm.  At first, I thought it was hot, or at least warm, but it turned out that only the edge was.  Inside was stone cold.  Again, indicators that it was frozen and rapidly heated.  The filling was sweetened little Maine blueberries.  It was good.  It wasn't too sweet, it wasn't too tart, it wasn't too gooey.  Not remarkable, but not bad.

Which is how I felt about the pie in general.  Was it amazing?  No.  But it wasn't bad.  Like the cheesecake, it was served with canned whipped cream.  I easily finished my massive slice, and part of my mom's too.

The $5 price was fine for a slice, but, we also weren't charged for two slices.  I find it unfathomable that he'd normally serve a single slice that was twice this size, not only because of the price of only $5, but, really, that would just be an insane serving size.  He really must have just given us each a full size slice ... right?

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Legal Crossing, Boston

I visit the Boston area several times a year, since my family lives in New Hampshire, and Boston is the closest airport.  I'm always looking for places near the airport for an easy meal when I arrive, or, before I fly out.  On a recent visit, I had two great places picked out, both within 10 minutes of the airport.  My friends came pick us up from the airport, and we immediately started talking about the trials and tribulations we had endured over our past 7 hours.  And ... navigator Julie completely failed to pay any attention, missing our turn off.  We wound up on a limited access highway, in a tunnel sans GPS, going the wrong way.

Uh, oops.  I figured we could take the next exit and just turn around.  And then, Google Maps recalculated the travel time to the place I had picked out.  35 minutes!  But it was only 4 minutes away originally!  I looked up my second choice.  It was no better.  In fact, it was faster to just go all the way to our hotel, and eat somewhere around there instead.  Doh.

I had to make a quick decision for a fallback.  I wasn't planning to eat near the hotel, which was near Boston Common.  We obviously didn't have a reservation anywhere, we weren't dressed up, and didn't actually want a long, drawn out fancy meal.  Plus, it was only 3pm in our West-Coast minds.  I looked through my notes on restaurants near Boston Common, but none seemed fitting, all high-end, or focused on cocktails (my dining companions don't drink).  I had one note, near the end of my list, to check out Legal Crossing.  It was a 5 minute walk from hotel.  They had availability on OpenTable.  I quickly booked it from my phone, and we headed that way after dropping our bags at the hotel.

Legal Crossing is part of the Legal Seafood chain.  I've visited several different Legal Seafood establishments over the years, ranging from full scale restaurants to takeout at airport locations, and I've never been impressed.  It isn't ever bad exactly, but it really isn't great, and it is pricey.  I have no real intension of returning to a Legal Seafood at this point.

But they also have a few spin-off establishments, like Legal Test Kitchen (more innovative cuisine), Legal C Bar (with a great cocktail program ), and Legal Harborside (the big flagship), plus this one, Legal Crossing.  The concept is a mix of the crowd favorites from Legal Seafood and some of their more exploratory restaurants.  It is located in Downtown Crossing.  Thus, the name, Legal Crossing, is a reflection of both the neighborhood location, and the mixed concepts.  Reviews are positive, so, I figured I'd give the Legal brand one more chance.

This, this was the last.  Again, it wasn't *bad* but it wasn't good, and again, pricey.  Service was quite slow and inattentive, particularly annoying as we were a bit pressed for time, and the restaurant was not full at all.

The Space

The inside of the restaurant was definitely more stylish than the standard Legal locations.  It was also not nearly as massive as other Legal Seafood restaurants I have visited.

Corner Table.

It was very dark (er, swanky?), making taking photos quite hard.  The curtains were actually metal mesh, and all decor had dark tones.

But it wasn't overly fancy, the placemats were actually made of paper, just, patterned and nice paper.  Food was served on ceramics and other beautiful stoneware.

Bar Area.

There was also a bar area, which didn't really fit in with the slightly swanky atmosphere.

Well, that isn't entirely true.  The area that housed the bottles of alcohol was backlit in a really cool way, and the bar itself was wooden, so those aspects fit in, but the huge flatscreens with sports on really looked insanely tacky and out of place to me.  Was this a sports bar?  Is this just a Boston thing?

Menu

Menu.

The menu is broken into several confusing sections.  First are "small plates", which I took to be standard appetizers.  But then there are "Plates to share", further broken down into different sections (seafood, meats, veggies & grains), some of which also sound like appetizers (crab cakes, calamari, ribs, charcuterie, salads), while others don't at all (herb crusted lamb, risotto, sides of kale).  But then there is a section for mains too, and an additional section of "Simply LX" mains.

The others I was dining with were clearly confused.  I understand what the restaurant was trying to do, with two different sized appetizer sections, and a clearly defined "simple" offering section for mains, but, it doesn't really come across in an easily digestible way.

Drinks 

Rising Sun. $10.

Even though no one else was drinking, I really wanted a drink, and the cocktail menu looked excellent.  I asked the server about this one, and she said it was her favorite, so, I went for it.

I don't recall the exact description, but it was a yuzu and gin based drink.

It really was quite good, and in fact, the highlight of my meal.  It was very refreshing, not something I usually say about cocktails, but it really was.  Of course, this made it far too easy to drink quickly.   Being the only drinker in the group, I certainly didn't want to be a lush!

It was tangy and well balanced.  You could taste the gin, but it wasn't harsh or strong.  Really, a lovely drink and I'd gladly get it again.  The $10 price was very reasonable.

Appetizers

As I mentioned, the menu had several section of what I'd consider appetizers.  The first was "Small Plates" and the second "Plates to Share".

The "Small Plates" section has some Legal classics, like their clam chowder, plus seafood stables of shrimp cocktail and freshly shucked oysters or clams.  Most of the other items are slightly asian inspired, including a lobster rangoon, brussels sprouts with miso butter and soy pearls, and tempura salt and pepper shrimp.  And then there are others like crispy polenta and scotch eggs, which seem slightly odd on the menu, more like pub food.  All dishes in this section are generally less than $10.  We tried two dishes from here.

The "Plates to Share" seemed to be larger appetizers.  It is broken down into three sections - one with seafood (ranging from raw tuna sashimi to clam pizza and everything in between), the next for meat (all over the place again, from short ribs to charcuterie to asian inspired duck buns with hoisin), and the final was vegetables and grains (salads or things like risotto).  These are all in the $8-20 range, and we opted to try one.

Small Plate: New England Clam Chowder. $7.

"Our award-winning recipe is full of tender Cape Cod clams, cream and herbs. It has been served at every Presidential inauguration since 1981."

Our first Small Plate.

Legal Seafood is known for their clam chowder.  It is on the menu at every one of the restaurants, and you can even buy it online, or at Sam's Club.  Of course Legal Crossing had it on the menu.

My dining companion always gets the clam chowder whenever we go to Legal, or, really, to any seafood restaurant on the east coast (like Belle Isle, our frequent pre or post airport destination).  Creamy, New England style, chowder doesn't show up nearly as often on the west coast.

I'm not much of a soup eater, unless it is freezing cold, and I'm looking to warm up, but even then, I only go for creamy, decadent soups.  Which, chowder is.

I tried a bite.  It was ... not particularly interesting.  There were little cubes of potato, carrots, onion, and celery, all small and soft.  Not many clams actually (a comment I have made in the past as well).  It wasn't fishy.  It wasn't particularly seasoned.  Honestly, it tasted a lot like milk and flour, with a little salt and pepper thrown in for good measure.  I really wanted more depth, and more clams.  And ... some smoky bacon or something.

A small plastic bag of oyster crackers was served on the side.

The person who ordered it seemed happy enough with it though.

Small Plate: Crispy Salmon / Sake Marinate. $6.

Another Small Plate.

A fellow diner wanted a small salmon dish, but the main salmon dishes were all quite large.  She asked about what salmon options were available in smaller sizes, and the server told us there was smoked salmon or crispy salmon belly.

She immediately wasn't interested in the salmon belly, but it got the interest of my friend and I.  On many animals, belly is delicious, as, like with humans, it is where the fat is stored, and is usually more decadent and buttery (aka, pork belly.  Mmm, pork belly).

We still weren't quite sure what crispy salmon belly would be, but at $6 for a share plate, it didn't seem like a huge investment, and my friend really wanted the salmon-orderer to try it, so he ordered it anyways.

The serving was 2 skewers, each with 3 chunks of panko (?) crusted salmon belly, deep fried.  The salmon belly, as expected, was very soft, moist, and buttery inside, but the coating was not "crispy" as advertised.  It was really quite soggy, and incredibly oily.  The salmon tasted a bit fishy.  I didn't like it at all.

The sauce however, was quite tasty, like a sweet chili sauce.  The menu just said "sake marinade", which didn't indicate that it would be sweet, and my fellow diners don't like sweet, so they didn't like the dish because of the sauce.  I adored the sauce, and, if this had been properly fried, I see how it could be a great pairing.  Alas, poor execution ruined it.

The plate went unfinished, even though we were a group of 4, and had no other appetizers (beside's the chowder that was exclusively for one diner).  He was content with the chowder, I thought the fish was soggy and oily, and the others didn't want the sweet sticky sauce that covered it.  However, at $6, it was a decent value.  

Plates to Share: Crab Cake / Asparagus / Pancetta / Mustard Hollandaise. $17.

A "Plate to Share".

Since it was still only 3-4pm west coast time, and I'd been munching away during my entire flight, I wasn't ready for a full dinner.  When no one wanted to split things with me, I decided to just get another appetizer as my main dish, even though the menu had a number of entrees I was interested in.  I opted for crab cakes, another signature Legal dish, although this one was prepared differently from their standard offering.  I know they use Maryland crab, not west coast Dungeness, which is my favorite crab, but, still, I like all crab, and when in a cake the exact type of crab matters less anyway.

This came from the "Plates to Share" section, so I assumed it would be a bit bigger than the "Small Plates".  The serving was two crab cakes, stacked on top of each other, served over a mustard hollandaise, with thin slices of tiny bits of asparagus and crispy pancetta, plus one lone spring of frisee.

I appreciated the sauce on the bottom, as it wouldn't make the rest of the dish soggy, and allowed me to use as little or much of it as I liked.  In the end, I didn't use much of it, because I didn't like it.  I love hollandaise, and creamy sauces with seafood, but, this was too strong on the mustard for my taste, and too tangy.  Not balanced.

The asparagus was amusing to me, tiny, tiny pieces, and, it was the end of December, so it was totally not seasonal.  It seems like they could have adapted this dish to something more suitable to winter produce?   Perhaps I'm just used to San Francisco, where our menus change with the seasons?  Anyway, I can't comment much about that asparagus, as honestly I couldn't taste it in the dish.

The pancetta however was good, super crispy, super salty, flavorful little bursts, basically like bacon bits.  Exactly what I wanted in the chowder.

As for the crab cakes.  Wow.  So, the sauce wasn't there making them unnecessarily soggy, but, that doesn't mean they weren't insanely soggy.  These crab cakes were basically just piles of mush.  Not remotely crispy on the outside, although very black on top.  The cakes had tons of filler.  Seriously, just a pile of mush.

I offered my friend a taste.  His immediate response, "Do you want to send that back?  That really isn't good".  Well, at least I wasn't alone in feeling this way.  But given how poorly the other food had been executed, I didn't think sending it back would really have much effect, the kitchen clearly just didn't have the skill to execute basic techniques.

I soldiered on and ate my mush, not tasting any crab, not getting any enjoyment out of it.  Tragic.

$17 is on the low end for an entree at Legal, but, this wasn't an entree, it was an appetizer, so it wasn't really a good value.

Mains

Like the appetizers, the Mains section is also confusing.  There was a single non-seafood option of sirloin, served with fries and creamed kale.  No vegetarian mains.  The rest of the options were composed seafood dishes, all with different sides and sauces.  I eyed the cod from this section ($27), served with butternut squash gnocchi, butternut cream, and swiss chard, all things I really enjoy, but I just wasn't hungry enough for a full entree.  I also eyed the seared sea scallops with wild mushroom risotto, chanerelles, and sunchoke chips ($33), since I love wild mushrooms, scallops, and sunchokes, but again, it was just too much.

One diner went for the trout almondine, with haricot vert and crispy potatoes (also $27).  The other, who wanted salmon, could have picked the hoisin glazed salmon, asian inspired and served with pad thai noodles, veggies, and crushed peanuts, but she didn't want the glaze, thinking it would be sweet.  Other options included linguini with clams, butter poached lobster, and several other fish dishes.

The second section of mains is titled "Simply LX".  These are more basic, simple treatments of protein, served with "Chef selected seasonal sides".  The salmon-eater selected the grilled salmon from here, while my friend opted for the baked cod.  Non-seafood eaters had only a single option here too, pan seared chicken.

Mains ranged from $20-50, and our group ordered 3 (2 from the simple section, 1 from regular).

Simply LX: Baked Cod / Buttered Crumbs. $18. 

"Paired with chef selected seasonal sides"

Since we don't have Atlantic cod on the west coast, my freind took advantage of being in New England, and ordered cod, always a favorite of both of ours.  Of course, I planned to try it.

There were actually two cod dishes on the menu, but he opted for the one from the "Simply LX" section of the menu, topped with classic buttered crumbs and served with the chef's selection of sides.  I obviously would have chosen the one with butternut squash gnocchi and cream, but alas, this was his order.  On the plus side, the simple baked cod was only $18, as opposed to $27 for the roasted version I wanted.

His was served with two unknown sides.

The first was farro with pomegranate seeds and pistachios.  This was quite seasonal, and clearly pushes boundaries for some people, as neither of our dining companions were familiar with farro.  I tried a bite, and wasn't really impressed.  It was just farro, steamed, tossed with the nuts and fruit, and not really seasoned.  My friend gave his entire portion to another diner, since his dish had only crispy potatoes with it, no grains.

The other side was a selection of veggies: brussels, fennel, and carrots.  Again, at least this was seasonal, but they weren't particularly well cooked, rather mushy.

As for the cod itself, it was decent.  A large portion, flaky, tender, delicate, moist.  The crumbs on top were a classic touch.  Served with just lemon on the side to drizzle over it, per the "Simply LX" section of the menu.  Definitely not my thing, as I want at least some tartar sauce, but, the fish was decent.

$18 for a large piece of fish was actually a good value, particularly as all other seafood dishes were $27+.  If you want something simple, this was a nice option.

The grilled salmon was served with the exact same sides.  Hers was also just very simple, a grilled piece of fish, no sauce, nothing.  It seemed to be what she wanted though.

Dessert

You know me and dessert.  Who am I to say no, even when no one else wants dessert (I was with non-dessert eaters).  Who am I to say no, even when I'm pretty full (still on West Coast time, I'd only landed about 1.5 hours before, and wasn't even hungry for my meal).  Still, dessert!  I asked to see the menu.

The dessert menu was largely uninspiring, at least to me.  Pistachio cake with citrus (meh to pistachio, meh to citrus).  I wanted to share with my friend, and he can't have caffeine or alcohol, so out went the boozy "adult" profiteroles, the "sin free" chocolate mousse, and the very, very tempting sounding chocolate peanut butter pie (with peanut brittle!)

There was only one other option, but it did happen to be something I love: bread pudding!

Croissant Bread Pudding / Salted Caramel Ice Cream. $8.

So, I love bread pudding, it is no secret.  I love it sweet, I love it savory.

When sweet, I want it with whipped cream or ice cream.  The menu said it came with ice cream, so that was a big plus.

I want it warm.  I asked if it was served warm, my server said yes.  Another big plus.

I like the consistency of my bread pudding to be a certain way.  I want the top crispy, the inside moist.  I want distinct chunks of bread.  I asked about that too, and she told me that it was very moist, the top crispy.  All good signs.

Oh, and I want a fun choice of bread, like croissant or brioche.  Bonus points for some kind of caramel sauce, nuts, or other spicing.  I was told this was a mix of croissant and brioche.

Well, ok then.  The right type of bread, the right consistency, warm, and served with ice cream.  So, even though none of my fellow diners were willing to eat any, I decided to get it, knowing I was on my own.

It didn't take too long to arrive, no more than 10 minutes.  It did come hot, fresh out of the oven, in a large ramekin.  This was not a serving meant for just one person, which, I rather expected.

I stuck my spoon in.  Hmm, the top was not crispy.  Strike one.

It was moist, but, very dense, rather gummy.  All one consistency, exactly as I don't like.  I couldn't find distinct chunks of croissant, nor the promised brioche.  I would have never known there was croissant in here.  Strikes two and three.

It was however served hot.  And the salted caramel ice cream on top was tasty, and was indeed salted.  But it melted quickly, and left me with at least half the dessert with no ice cream to pair with it.  The ratio was just off, the bread pudding too big, the ice cream scoop too small.  It would have been much better with a smaller serve of the bread pudding, and a bigger scoop of ice cream.

There was some subtle flavor in the bread pudding, I still am not quite sure what it was, it tasted almost almond-like.

My friend tried one bite just to try it, said it was awful, and looked like he wanted to spit it out.  I didn't think it was THAT bad, but it was clearly not a winner.  That said, I did half-heartedly eat at least half the bread pudding, and all the ice cream.  The salted caramel was nice at least.

The $8 price was fine for a large dessert.

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Private Event Dining at Boulevard

Boulevard is a fairly classic San Francisco restaurant located just down the street from me.  I say classic because it has some staying power, as it has been in business since 1993.  It may not be Tadich Grill or Zuni, but, in the restaurant industry, this is still a pretty significant time.  The restaurant, and team behind it, have won many awards over the years, including James Beard Nominations and Michelin stars (although, they lost their star this past year!).

I've been to Boulevard a handful of times over the years, such as my full dinner in the main dining room, a full dinner at the Chef's Counter, and just appetizers and desserts.  I do love sitting at the Chef's Counter to watch all the action.  It is also a fantastic place for cocktails, although, the bar area is not large.  I often leave Boulevard a bit disappointed though ... because I love the atmosphere, the menu, the people, but I usually find the food a bit lackluster.  Not bad, but, just not amazing, and it is fairly pricey.

But I always want to like Boulevard more.  The chef and management team show up at events all over town (like the Meals on Wheels big gala I volunteer at).  I like them.  I want the restaurant to continue to do well.

I recently planned a multi-day event for my group at work, including members from all our other offices, about 35 people.  The majority of the time was spent in talks, meetings, discussion sessions, etc, but, the first night, we also wanted to do a group dinner.  And, as the planner, it was up to me to pick where we would go.

This was no easy feat.  We needed somewhere walking distance from the office.  And, while anywhere within about 3 miles is what I'd consider walking distance, I knew that wasn't true for all my colleagues.  We needed somewhere that could seat 35 people.  Most private rooms I found were could seat only 15-20.  Places that could accommodate a group our size tended to be too pricey.  I had a decent budget, but these places started at $150/head just for the food.  Ooph.

I nearly went with Alexander's, which you know I love.  It is walking distance.  However, even the basic private dining menu would certainly push our budget, but, it was doable.  They have a fantastic private dining room, the Wine Library, which I know as I've attended many events there (and held a big dinner for my work group before).  But the menu ... it just wasn't interesting.  A 3 course dinner with just a soup or salad to start, steak, fish, or veggie main, and a single dessert option.  I love Alexander's, but, this just wasn't very appealing.

I also really wanted to do something less formal.  I knew that we would be sitting all day long, for multiple days, and a long, formal, seated dinner just didn't sound great.  And I wanted the group to be able to mingle and socialize, after all, a big part of getting us all together in the space place was to form connection.  So, ideally, I wanted to do a cocktail reception, with heavy appetizers, wonderful cocktails, and of course, some sweet bites.  Finding somewhere that would do that was impossible.

Somewhere along the way, I remembered that Prospect (right across the street from my office, where I've also been many times) had a private dining room.  While not my favorite place, it clearly would be the most convenient (ok, actually Palomino would be, but, um, no.  Besides that killer Caramelized Cauliflower, there is no reason to go there).  Unfortunately, Prospect was booked, but thinking of Prospect reminded me of Boulevard (they are sister restaurants), so, I looked up Boulevard's private dining info.

As I read the private dining package, I breathed a huge sigh of relief.  Yes, the had a private room, and it could easily fit our group.  The restaurant is only two blocks away.  And the menu options?  Fantastic.  We had to do a three course dinner, but, I could choose one appetizer for the group from a decent list of choices, not just soup or salad.  For the main, I could offer two items, again, from a decent list.  And then, two dessert choices.  I've never seen a group dining menu where they offer up two desserts!  And finally, the icing on the cake for me, the group dining menu is mostly drawn from the regular menu.  The choices change weekly, just as the main restaurant dishes do.  It always makes me so sad when group dining menus are generic, designed to be crowd pleasers or dumbed down versions of dishes, and really don't accurately reflect the quality of the restaurant at all (ahem, Alexander's!)  At Boulevard, these were regular menu items, plated up just as nicely as in the main restaurant.

I immediately sent an inquiry in, fingers crossed, that my date was available.  It was.  Once I decided to go with Boulevard, everything happened easily.  The event planner was very responsive over e-mail, paperwork was handled quickly, and our space secured.  Phew.

I am very happy with my choice.  The space was beautiful, the service spot-on, and the food good.  Large group dining is never a restaurant's strongest point, but they handled it wonderfully, and I'd gladly host an event with them again.

The Space

The private dining room is located on another floor from the main restaurant, but, we had to walk through the entire dining room to reach the back where the stairs and elevator were.  It was a bit funny leading a group of 30 t-shirt and jeans clad engineers through the lovely dining room of Boulevard.

I was absolutely thrilled when I saw how nice the room looked.  Elegant yet comfortable, professional.  Perfect.  I'd host an event in this space again in an instant.

Private Dining Room and Bar.

The private dining room is really a beautiful space.  Elegant, classy, but not stuffy.  Lots of dark wood, red tones, gold accents, including long gold curtains.  Stunning light fixtures.

Near the entrance to the private room is a bar, which I choose to have fully operational.  As host, I could have chosen just to serve beer and wine, but I knew this group wouldn't be too crazy, particularly as we had an early schedule the next morning.

As we all entered, the friendly bartender welcomed us and asked if we'd like drinks as we got settled.  It was a bit of a bottleneck having 30 of us show up at once and line up at the bar, but, he handled us quickly.

I also was able to pre-select a red and white wine to offer to the group.  I somewhat randomly picked from the extensive wine list, opting for the varietals I liked at a reasonable price point.  For the white wine, I went with a sauvignon blanc, Lieu Dit, Santa Ynez 2014.  I sadly didn't like it at all, and found it way too harsh and acidic, but, my tablemate enjoyed it, and gladly took my glass off my hands.  For a red, I went with a pinot noir, Dutton-Goldfield, Dutton Ranch, Russian River Valley 2014, and I loved it.  Smooth, easy to drink, very low tannin, and able to pair with seafood, which is what I was going for.

Service throughout the night was great.  Servers were attentive but never in the way.  They kept everyone's glasses full and the wine flowing, without being pushy.  They cleared plates in a timely fashion.  Impressive service, and they are clearly accustomed to handling groups of our size.  We felt well taken care of the entire night.

Private Dining Room.

The room could have easily fit more than the 5 tables I asked to have set up, but 5 felt just right, nicely spaced out, easy to move around, but still filled the room.  Along the back wall was wooden furniture and more curtains, and along the side was a large painting.

It felt very comfortable and was fully private.

Place Setting.

Tables were set with white cloth table clothes and napkins, wine glasses, water goblets, shining silverware, bread plates and knives, and hand written name cards (my request, since I was orchestrating the seating).

Savory Food

There were several themes throughout the meal.  The seafood was shockingly well prepared, particularly for group dining.  Fruits and vegetables shone, all clearly fresh, seasonal.  Quality ingredients were evident throughout.  Plating was just as elaborate, and dishes just as complex, as when served in the main dining room.  And yet we were all served quickly, and our food was all hot.  I was really impressed with how they handled our group.

Custom Menu.

Our 3 course dinner was priced at $90 per person.  Since most dishes are available on the regular restaurant menu, I can tell you it would have been about ~$72 if we weren't dining privately.  There was a markup, obviously, but that is to be expected.

Since I planned the event, I also got to pick the menu.  Picking the menu was actually incredibly hard.  Unlike most private dining menus, they gave me a lot of choice, and I really wanted many dishes.

For the starter, I could offer only one for everyone, out of 7 choices.  This was actually a bit strange to me since they let me offer two for everything else, and starters seem the easiest.  I'm curious what the reasoning is.  Anyway, I could pick from a soup of the day, salads (little gem, various greens, beets with blue cheese, or Dungeness crab salad), or, the far more exciting options of ahi tuna tartare or scallops.  Ok, this choice was easy: scallops (although, I was a bit tempted by the Dungeness crab salad, and, I did really like the ahi tuna tartare once before ...).

Next, I could pick two entrees.  This was harder.  Again, 7 options, and I could pick 2, but, there were no easy to exclude dishes like salads in this category.  I decided to offer one seafood and one non-seafood.  I ruled out the roasted chicken, even though I knew it might be the safe crowd pleaser.  I also ruled out the pork chop, and settled on the kobe bavette as my non-seafood option (filet mignon was also an option, but, it carried a $15 surcharge).  Everyone likes steak right?  The seafood was the hardest choice.  I could offer wild halibut or king salmon, both available with multiple preparations.  I do like salmon, but, I adore halibut.  So, halibut it was, even though I thought salmon might have more wide appeal to the group.  From there, I had to pick the preparation, and went for the one with the sides I liked more (asparagus, corn, etc), although I would have been perfectly happy with the option that came with peas, pea shoots, watercress, and fresh horseradish too.

And finally, dessert.  Here I could also pick two to offer, from a list of 5.  I ruled out the cheese plate, although I realize perhaps that would have been a nice offering for those who don't like sweets.  But, when I could pick only two, I really didn't want to waste one on a cheese platter!  I also ruled out the two chocolate desserts, not entirely intentionally.  One was a pretty amazing sounding chocolate pudding with peanut butter powder and chocolate pop rocks (!!) and the other was a flourless chocolate cake with ice cream.  Wow, I sound like a jerk for eliminating those.  But I was totally intrigued by the red velvet layer cake with cheesecake and ice cream listed as components and the panna cotta trifle with seasonal strawberries and apricots.  I mean, really, I wanted them all, this was a very hard choice.

Once we were seated, servers came to take our full orders, desserts included, all at the beginning of the meal.  Vegetarians also had a custom menu, made up of fresh, seasonal picks.  My table had a mix of both regular entrees and desserts, so I was able to see, and taste, most of it.

Sourdough and Salted Butter.

After our orders were taken, we were brought bread and butter.

Ojan, clearly starving, dug into the bread.  It looked like sourdough to me, and, sadly, he confirmed that it was.  You may recall that I don't like sourdough.  But everyone else at the table loved the bread.  "It is the correct amount of chewy and crispy!", exclaimed one dinner.  "The butter is really, really good", said another.

I didn't try the bread, since I knew I wouldn't like it, but I did try the butter.  And, I'll admit, it was really fantastic butter.  Slightly sweet, full of cream flavor.  Oh, and on top of the butter?  Huge salt crystals.  I wished I liked sourdough, but, alas, I had to just wait.

The appetizers actually took a while to arrive, not until 45 minutes into our dining time, so, we quickly depleted the bread.  Servers were quick to bring us more.

Appetizer: Sea Scallops.

"Salsify, Smoked Shiitake Mushrooms, Buttered Buckwheat, & Nasturtium."

Our appetizers were worth the wait.  We were each presented with 2 huge seared scallops on a bed of grains.

The scallops were well seared, not mid-rare as I'd prefer, but solidly medium, not rubbery or over cooked.  My table mates remarked at how impressive it was to get scallops cooked well, particularly in such quantity.  I love scallops, so, these were a hit for me.

The buttered buckwheat reminded me of farro, in that it was a hearty grain.  It was fine I guess, but, not really my thing.  There were also small chunks of salsify mixed in with the buckwheat, and on top.

At the very base of the plate was a smooth puree, only a very small amount, but it was very good.  I think it may have been a puree of the same salsify?  I'm not sure where the smoked shiitake was though, perhaps that was in the puree too?

Anyway, this was a good dish, and impressive that someone seared 60 scallops, and served them hot, that well.

This dish is currently on the dinner menu for $25, perhaps a bit pricey for only two scallops, but it was everyone else at my table's favorite dish of the night.  I ranked it second, and it was certainly good, but the best was yet to come.

Main Dish: Northern Halibut.

"Green Asparagus, English Peas & Sweet Corn, Carrot Top & Garlic Scale Pesto, Wild Greens."

For my main, I obviously picked the halibut, on the menu because, well, I wanted it.

It was really well prepared.  The fish had a slight sear on the outside, and inside stayed moist and tender.  It was seasoned fairly simply with just the right amount of salt and pepper.  The quality of this mild, delicate fish was allowed to shine.  Again, impressive execution of cooking the protein at such scale.

As well prepared as the fish was however, it was not the star of this plate.  Shockingly, the sauteed peas and corn totally stole the show.  It was basically a succotash (and actually, the original  menu I was provided listed favas in place of peas).  I don't have words for how good this was.  Lightly cooked, not at all "mushy peas".  Beautiful vegetables, generously coated with butter, well seasoned.  Seriously amazingly delicious.  The diner sitting next to me also ordered this dish, and I was amused when I watched him just devour the vegetables, leaving the fish on the side for after.  I tried to compose balanced bites, mixing fish with the vegetables, but wow, it was so hard not to just devour the veggies immediately.  There was a generous amount of this succotash as well, although you can't see it in the photo very well, there was a sizable mound under the fish.  Still, it took literally all my willpower to save one bite for Ojan.  I felt like I *had* to, given how much I was proclaiming the deliciousness, and how clearly superior my dish was.

The asparagus spears were less successful.  Thin spears of asparagus, slightly too crisp, not particularly seasoned or flavorful.  But honestly, nothing could have compared to that succotash.

On top of the fish was another shockingly good element: carrot top and garlic scape pesto.  The simple, well seasoned fish didn't actually need an accent, but this pesto was fantastic.  I really couldn't believe how strong the carroty taste was to it, which messed with my head, since it was green, not orange.  A lovely compliment to the fish.

Finally, a pile of herbs on top, which I think were also carrot tops?  They added to the visual quality of the dish, but weren't really necessary.

This was hands down dish of the night for me.  Well prepared halibut, tasty pesto, and just totally amazeballs succotash.  I'd gladly get this again, and was impressed with the cook on the fish for such a large group.

The halibut option on the regular dinner menu is $36, which seems correct for a quality dish of this level.

Main Dish: American Wagyu Bavette Steak.

"Crushed Olive Oil Potatoes with Soft Fennel, Leeks & Arugula, Broccoli & Kale al Limone, Sauteed Broccolini, Mushroom Relish, Beef Jus."

Most of my table, Ojan included, went for the bavette.  Before the entrees were brought out, they were provided steak knives.

The bavette eaters were ... not very happy.  One commented on how chewy it was.  Another said that the fat wasn't properly rendered out.  Chewy and fatty?  Sadness.  The kitchen executed the other proteins so well that this surprised me.

I didn't try anything on this plate, but, all of the diners who got it said it was less good than the scallops, and Ojan, who tried my dish, said it was the weakest dish of all three.

The dinner menu has a very similar dish, but it is a filet rather than bavette, but has the exact same sides.  It is $49.

Dessert

And now, usually my favorite part of any meal, dessert!  The dessert options were the hardest for me to narrow down to only two choices, so I'm glad that Ojan was willing to split both with me.  And by split, I obviously mean, take a bite of each, and then just give them both to me.  #winning

Panna Cotta Trifle.

"Roasted Apricots, Dirty Girl Strawberries Sugar Cookie Crumble, White Velvet Cake."

Ok, so this was the dish I was really intrigued by.  Sure, I know what panna cotta is, it is a dish I love, and my blog has a label devoted to it.  But as a trifle?  And with "white velvet cake"?  What is white velvet cake, anyway?

This was an interesting layered creation.  I believe the panna cotta element was the firmer pudding at the base.  Above that was the sugar cookie crumble, which added a great crunchy element.  Above that, the roasted apricots and strawberries.  The fruit was really fantastic, soft, flavorful, clearly perfectly ripe and seasonal.  Above that was a generous amount of whipped cream.  And then?  A ring of cake, which I guess was the white velvet.  It tasted more like angel food cake to me.  And then, on the very top, apricot sorbet. The sorbet was wonderful, so intensely apricot flavored.

This was a pretty fascinating dish, with so many elements.  It was good, and I enjoyed creating bites out of all different combinations of the elements.  Creamy, fruity, crunchy, all in one bite?  Yes!  The cake I could have done without however.  It reminded me of all other desserts I've had at Boulevard though ... lots of thought clearly went into it, it was complex, but, just didn't blow me away, for no particular reason.

I was again impressed by the execution of the chefs, this time the pastry kitchen.  All our dessert had a frozen element (sorbet here, ice cream on the other), and they all arrived perfectly intact.  And again, I appreciated the restaurant not dumbing down the dessert selection for a large group, because assembling 30 of these to be ready all at once is too hard ...

Both Ojan and I agreed this was the better dessert of the two, but I wouldn't go running back for it.

Red Velvet Layer Cake.

"Cream Cheese Cheesecake, Malted Milk Ice Cream with English Toffee, Fudge Sauce, White Chocolate Curls."

We also went for the other option, which sounded nearly as intriguing.  Red velvet layer cake sounds boring, but, um, cheesecake was involved?  And ice cream?  I had no idea what to expect, but I knew it wouldn't be a standard red velvet cake, which I clearly wouldn't have ordered.

This one was a little more simple.  I thought that perhaps the ice cream would be a layer in the cake, but it was just a small scoop on the side.  It was fine, but, just ice cream with some bits of toffee in it.  Boulevard takes their ice cream seriously, as I believe every dessert has an ice cream component, and they also offer scoops of housemade ice cream as a more basic option.  I guess I expected more from the ice cream, as this wasn't remarkable in any way.  That said, it also wasn't store-bought, freezer burned, plain vanilla either, which far too many places serve ...

The layer cake had layers of classic red velvet cake with cheesecake in place of the standard cream cheese frosting layer.  The cheesecake layer was fantastic, rich, creamy, flavorful.  I loved it.  Why on earth would you use frosting when you could use cheesecake?  Genius idea here, and they have clearly improved upon red velvet cake.

The red velvet cake itself was just cake.  I never really like cake.  It wasn't particularly moist or flavorful.

On top was more crumbled english toffee bits and white chocolate curls.  They added a bit of crunch and sweetness, and, well, looked good.  The final element was the small line of fudge sauce on the bottom, a very rich chocolate fudge that I loved and wanted more of.

So, overall, this was ... ok.  Better than a regular red velvet cake, but, still, cake.  I enjoyed a few bites, particularly of just cheesecake with chocolate sauce and toffee from on top, but, I preferred the other dessert.

This is on the current dessert menu for $11.

Decaf Coffee.

After the desserts were served, servers came around with coffee.  I appreciated that they had both regular and decaf available, I so often need to ask for decaf and it comes much later.

That said, this decaf was horrible.  I'm sorry, but it was foul.  I really, really love having coffee with my desserts, and I tried a few sips of this, but I just couldn't handle it.  By far the worst coffee I've had in ... years, including on airplanes and in hotel breakfast buffets.  Seriously.

Coffee and tea service was included with our dining package.

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