Dining Chef's Table at THE L'Espalier

Boyfriend is visiting Boston for Labor Day weekend so I want to show him a bit of our foodieness… and yes I ended up taking him to Oishii Too :] (BEST sushi!!!).. and I took him to Taiwan Cafe for their amazing Xiao Long Baos and Duck Tongues…. but I needed that extra little oomph…

Chitown is amazing and has so much delicious foods… but we, Boston, got a little something something as well… so I decided to take him to my favorite restaurant… L’Espalier… :] I’d only been there for tea time and lunch and I’ve always wanted to go with someone special for their dinners…. finally, someone worthy (well I’d take Jaime as well but she’s a regular as well hehe) :]

And since it IS Boyfriend.. might as well go all out :] He’s the only other person I know that could truly appreciate dining Chef’s Table :] (altho after that night it was a little less “French”-y than I remember.. also I miss the old light classic fancy decor.. now it looks so black and modern lounge-y…

We rode the elevator up a few floors and got out. We sat in a cute lounge and then got taken to the back of the kitchen to eat the experience (and probably one of the most expensive ones) of a lifetime :]

Dine in the heart of the L’Espalier kitchen and enjoy the spectacular Chef’s Tasting Journey at our exclusive chef’s table. Book your party of one or two and experience our most exciting and elaborate dinner on any night of the week, excluding Sunday. One reservation per night accepted.

Photo Credit: L’Espalier

US :D

Chef and Proprietor: Frank McClelland
Chef de Cuisine: James Hackney
Pastry Chef: Jiho Kim

Soon after we sat down we were greeted a nice tall full glass of champagne (see below for description and picture) and then it was followed by a little Smoked Salmon Napoleon bite ;] Scrumptious… I love bite sized things like this… :]

Amuse Bouche Fish Cake on Kimchi… SO sorry but I completely forgot what was in this.. but it was REALLY delicious and I ate it all in one bite. The Kimchi was great.. a lot of times places will just place any sort of pickled veggies and call it kimchi (LAME) but this was GREAT!!! The zucchinni = perfection

Olive Bread, Focaccia and Fig/Anise Bread

LOOOOOOOOOOOVE the fig/anise bread :] Jaime agrees with me :] I could eat this stuff forever… the anise, sometimes overpowering, was perfect in this.. and I loved how abundant (but not overly so) the dried figs were spread thru-out the bread.

Alloucherry-Perseval, “Tradition,” Brut Champagne
Skip’s Island Creek oyster with North American Caviar

Delicious, fresh but a bit too salty for me. Probably from the extra caviar (they could do without it since oysters are amazing on their own)… I loved the end taste of blueberry… :]

2007 Abbazia Di Novacella, Kerner, Alto Adige
Butter poached Maine lobster with grilled watermelon and sweet corn

Very good… I was scared.. butter poached always sounds scary to me.. but it was great.. my watermelon was warm, which was interesting.. not sure if that was intentional or not.. maybe it was just cuz the plate was hot.

2007 Delille Cellars, “Doyenne”, Roussane, Columbia Valley, WA
Halibut collar with grilled octopus salad and red Fresno chili vinaigrette

He split the collar for us but there was some left. I was SOOOO sad that the rest of it was wasted.. I was so tempted to just ask for the bone to gnaw on :] I’m asian, deal with it, we gnaw on bones, NO SHAME!

More caviar, I had some of it but not all of it.. it’s a lot of caviar.. !!! The collar was very good.. not as tender as I thought.. but the octopus, OMG, SOOO good, I’ve been on a roll lately with having tender tasty octopus dishes. I remember getting octopus once at Mare and being completely turned off by it for awhile. But boyfriend & I have had nothing but amazing octo together :]

Pretzel Roll

1989 Lopez De Heredia, “Viña Tondonia Reserva” Rioja, Spain
Beef bone marrow with baguette crostini and whole grain mustard

NOM!!!!! This was my most favorite dish of the nite.. and one ever I think :] SOOO decadent. I don’t usually gush about savory either but this was orgasmic. Literally, I was eating it slowly and was orgasmic. ORGASMIC… they even topped it off with a drizzle of EVOO to make it EVEN MORE LUSH!!!! *stomach growl* I could die after eating this :]

A cucumber liquor shot…. with caviar and then this ice cream with raspberry, butterscotch, blueberry sauces…

Creamy and delicious.. the cake was really good too, I remember tea and coffee flavors…. I also remember hearing some sort of beer but I could be wrong… hahaha… oh wine…

Cucumber-y and strong….. I don’t remember what the caviars were.. melon??!?!?!

______________ touring the walkin ____________

by the way (boyfriend’s twitter)

2006 Jorge Ordoñez, “Seleccion Especial No. 1″ Moscatel, Malaga
Seared Hudson valley foie gras with Lillet braised pluot, bacon Madeleine and barrel aged maple syrup

You can’t have french without a little seared foie.. soooo yummy… SOOOO yummy… second favorite thing of the nite (to this day I’m STILL daydreaming about that bone marrow!!)

2005 Château de Puligny-Montrachet, Monthelie, Burgandy
Ragout of Escargot de Bourgogne, Miitake and Lacterius mushrooms

It doesn’t look very pretty but it was SO good… along with the crouton.. the mushrooms.. I was SUCH a fan of.. and the escargot was delicious.. sometimes some places make it and it’s too buttery or rich tasting but this was perfectly balanced.. and didn’t have that… snail-y taste.. haha

More views from our table:

The oven was near me.. omg it was hot in there…

It was so fun watching them work.. I kinda wanted to hear them scream and shout and be frantic but they were very calm… they chatted with us a bit (like when they told us we could go into the walk-in fridge… and even pointed out the foods to us)

Heheh I felt bad, he had to walk around the window for every course… giving it to us, pouring the wines, taking plates and glasses away… he was super nice tho and even posed the wine bottles for me to take pictures of…

2006 Bell, “Claret” Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa
Muscovy Duck with summer succotash and braised fennel

Look at that beauty :] No French meal is complete without duck either :] First their livers and then their meat ;] NOM!

Tender and delicious, everything a duck should be :] The fennel was a quite tasty touch…

2003 Reserve de la Comtesse, Paulliac, Bordeaux
Herb crusted lamb loin with grilled eggplant and ratatouille

It was tender and pretty good… loved the eggplant… but since I’m not a HUUUUGE fan of lamb after two bites, I gave boyfriend some of the extra meat :] He needs more meat than I do anyways… haha

1999 Warre’s, Late Bottle Vintage, Port
Selection of Cheeses and Condiments

Dried apricots and honey with pinenuts

Starting this 7 o clock… and going Clockwise: (the *’d are my favorites)

1. Organic Champlain Triple, Champlain Valley Creamery Vergennes, Vermont:  Cream-added cheese that is lush and buttery with a smooth and creamy interior and a bit of a tangy bite. Hand-made by Carleton Yoder since 2003.

2. Constant Bliss, Jasper Hill Farm, Greensboro, VT: Named after Contant Bliss, a Revolutionary War hero… it’s softly ripened and made from raw milk. Made and aged by the brothers Mateo and Andy Kehler. It’s soft, slightly chewy with a “mild yet complex flavor”.

3. Dunnemore, Blue Ledge Farm, VT: Goat cheese

4. Pecorino Ginepro, Emilia-Romagna, Italy: Tradtionally made, well aged sheep milk cheese from Northern Italt. The rind is rubbed with juniper berry and balsamic, while the interior paste is light and flaky with a robust, buttery flavor.

5. Pleasant Ridge Reserve, Uplands Cheese, Dodgeville, WI: Sesaonlly made from milk of seven breeds of cows. It’s a semi-firm cheese with a spicy flavor mixed with caramel and nutty flavors. A.C.S. “Best of show in 2001 and 2004″

6. Cabot Clothbound Cheddar, Cabot Creamery/Jasper Hill Farm, VT: It’s a collabo from VT’s largest cheesemaker and Kehler brothers’ small artisan operation which has born a traditional cheddar of “incomporable quality” and a winner of the American Cheese Society’s “Best of Show” in 2007.

* 7. Gouda, aged five years, Holland: Crunchy with a sweet caramel flavor that can be eaten like candy.

* 8. Colorouge, Mouco Creamery, Fort Collins, CO: Reminiscent of Espoisses, this washed rind cheese has a bright orange exterior and a soft, creamy paste. Unctuous and mildly assertive.

* 9. Langres, Champagne Regiono, France: Assertive washed rind cheese with a concave top… traditionally filled with champagne or strong liquoe before consumption.

10.Fourme d’Ambert, AOC, France: Dense full flavored Blue cheese. “France’s answer to the Stilton”

Colorouge with honey and pinenuts.. delicious!!!!

OMG and I was licking the cheesy ooey gooey spoons clean.. SOOO good :]

2007 Banfi, “Rosa Regale” Brachetto D’Aqui, Piedmont
Grand Desserts

Delicious!! :] A great ending to a variety of yummy wines!!!

That’s hardened angel food cake… it was.. interesting?!

FOAMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!! (Foam will forever remind me of Marcel on Top Chef)

Boyfriend’s twitter, once again hehe

Oh noessss…

It’s Jiho, he was super nice :] He made little spoons of sorbets right by us

He made the yummy ice cream beforehand too, NOM! (The one with the cucumber shot)

I wish I could give you better descriptions of these.. but have you noticed how much wine we’ve had?!?!?!.. At this point it was just yum yum yum booze, yum yum yum ;P

More sweets and yummies :]

VERYYYYYY Good GREAT times with my Boy ♥

We later went back and got a cheeseburger ;] hahahaha… yummy food doesn’t always mean filling….

OH but they did give us yummy little macarons to bring back home for dessert, hehe.. a very caviar filled dinner.. which I’m not used to… I usually only eat this much when I get sushi :] Hehehe… but hey it’s better than the overrrrthetop goat cheese lately. Seriously, I think ppl are overdoing the goatcheese… (like at Chef’s bbq, I feel like every dish had goat cheese in it)

I DO have to mention tho, everytime I’ve had wine pairings here they’ve been impeccable and worked beautifully with the dishes… always delicious.. I actually drank every drop of my wine.. I’m such a lush ;] I was surprised that there was so many whites tho… altho there was a lot of seafood… OMG just reading this entry over again makes me want some champagne or some white wine :] I like how I’m slowly helping Boyfriend turn into a wino. That could be a good thing or a bad thing.. but I’m def helping him grow his wine collection…. or wait would it count as our wine collection now?!?!? :] *grin*

BTW… if you follow my twitter and was curious about our Fig/Black Cherry Cobbler with a Garam Masala Walnut Crust we made last night, you can read about it here on the boyfriend’s blog :]