fancy with zebras
We used new year's, as we usually do, as an excuse to go out to eat. We dined in Cambridge, at Upstairs on the Square. It's a cute place, deceptively large on the inside compared to its plain, smallish entry way on a side street near Harvard Square. My friend Jenn had recommended it as unique and kinda whimsical, which it was. We were seated in the Zebra room, which had zebra-print carpet, red walls, neat lamps, and a view of the snow falling outside. The room filled up as the evening progressed, but never seemed too cramped or noisy.
We started with an amuse bouche, which was an amazing creamy parsnip soup with a hint of meyer lemon. Tim's first course was roasted red pepper soup with parmesan tuile, and I had cornmeal blinis with smoked salmon, crème fraiche and caviar. I have a recent love affair with smoked salmon, and this was a pretty tasty mix of texture, flavor and temperature. The salad was bitter greens with yummy candied walnuts, grapefruit, and duck prosciutto, with a dressing that I didn't recognize but really liked. For the entree, Tim had (I'm quoting from the menu here) Grilled Loin Lamb Chops with Cauliflower-Watercress Bechamella and Fried Parsley and I chose the Giannone Farm-Raised Chicken with Brioche Cornbread Pecan Stuffing, Heirloom Cranberry Conserve, Braised Onions & Cider Pan Sauce. Both of us liked the food, but we particularly enjoyed sopping up the juices/gravies with bread. I have to work on my ability to make tasty pan sauces -- they add so much to the dish. The desserts were okay -- Buche de Noel with Meringue Mushroom for me and Chocolate Éclair with Peppermint Stick Ice Cream and Fudge Sauce -- nothing superlative, but tasty nonetheless. On our ranking of fancy restaurants where we've eaten recently, it fell below Jean Georges but above 1789, and Tim liked it more than Ten Penh, and I liked it a bit less.
We also managed (barely) to stay up til midnight, and had the traditional Japanese good luck snack of soba noodles and oranges. No reason to mess with tradition, I suppose.
Sadly, today the typhoid that has plagued the rest of my family has caught up with Tim, so he's lying in bed. I've been feeling better than I have in days, and managed laundry, dishes, priming half the bedroom, unpacking more boxes, organizing a bit of the basement shelving, and putting VHS tapes up on craigslist. The fresh snowfall is motivating me, I think, with the pretty views.
We started with an amuse bouche, which was an amazing creamy parsnip soup with a hint of meyer lemon. Tim's first course was roasted red pepper soup with parmesan tuile, and I had cornmeal blinis with smoked salmon, crème fraiche and caviar. I have a recent love affair with smoked salmon, and this was a pretty tasty mix of texture, flavor and temperature. The salad was bitter greens with yummy candied walnuts, grapefruit, and duck prosciutto, with a dressing that I didn't recognize but really liked. For the entree, Tim had (I'm quoting from the menu here) Grilled Loin Lamb Chops with Cauliflower-Watercress Bechamella and Fried Parsley and I chose the Giannone Farm-Raised Chicken with Brioche Cornbread Pecan Stuffing, Heirloom Cranberry Conserve, Braised Onions & Cider Pan Sauce. Both of us liked the food, but we particularly enjoyed sopping up the juices/gravies with bread. I have to work on my ability to make tasty pan sauces -- they add so much to the dish. The desserts were okay -- Buche de Noel with Meringue Mushroom for me and Chocolate Éclair with Peppermint Stick Ice Cream and Fudge Sauce -- nothing superlative, but tasty nonetheless. On our ranking of fancy restaurants where we've eaten recently, it fell below Jean Georges but above 1789, and Tim liked it more than Ten Penh, and I liked it a bit less.
We also managed (barely) to stay up til midnight, and had the traditional Japanese good luck snack of soba noodles and oranges. No reason to mess with tradition, I suppose.
Sadly, today the typhoid that has plagued the rest of my family has caught up with Tim, so he's lying in bed. I've been feeling better than I have in days, and managed laundry, dishes, priming half the bedroom, unpacking more boxes, organizing a bit of the basement shelving, and putting VHS tapes up on craigslist. The fresh snowfall is motivating me, I think, with the pretty views.