W. Chan, I didn't forget that I'm calling you back - I will!!!
I came home for winter break and I've been hanging out at home w/ my parents, watching movies, doing puzzles, interviewing, etc. We've done a couple puzzles now, including a giant sailboat puzzle and this killer goldfish puzzle which is borderless and has just hundreds of copies of this one goldfish against an all blue background.
The highlight of my break, though, was that Raghu drove up from Baltimore to Andover to hang out for New Years! We went into Boston for the day - window shopped at Copley, got some coffee, went to see Slumdog Milli(o)nare (the movie about winning 20 million ruPEEEEE.......s), and most importantly went to Clio for dinner, then Drink for, well, drinks.
CLIO: 5 birds
I give Clio 5 birds! The rating system is 0-5 birds, with 0 birds meaning I'm actually offended by the eating experience and 5 birds meaning the best! It's a smallish restaurant that is part of the Eliot Hotel in Boston, which is also connected to a sushi bar called Uni (less $$$). The food is modern American/seafood, with a touch of "molecular gastronomy" (foam, those flavor pearls, etc.) The ambiance is cozy while classy and modern - they have a bar and then a larger seating area. The waitstaff were extremely attentive - filling water immediately, replacing a dropped fork right away, explaining each course in great detail, and were in general very alert and courteous. My only complaint was that I am a slow eater and got asked a few times if I was finished with my plate before I actually was. I didn't pay attention much to the winelist (was saving room for later that evening), but they had a few interesting cocktails and martinis. I had a mojito was good, but not anything to write home about. It was pretty strong though, in a good way. Raghu loved what he got (I forgot). They had a few "liquid nitrogen" martinis, which I assume steam and bubble, but I think I have played with liquid nitrogen enough in the lab for it to not be all that exciting/appetizing. The new year's prix fixe menu was 5 or 7 courses, with a choice or two within those. Raghu chose lamb from the 5 course menu and I chose lobster. I'll load pics from his iPhone when he sends them to me, but the meal was brilliant! The sashimi from the appetizer was SO GOOD, like eating butter. It came with a wasabi foam and some pickled pear and caviar. There were oysters out of the shell with caviar and a little piece of tempura vegetable, fois gras with star anise jam, and lobster with coconut powder and risotto. Dessert was a deconstructed s'more on a vanilla bean, and after that we had espresso. With the check, there was melon cotton candy. Everything was so delicious! I need to post pictures because the presentation was excellent as well.
DRINK: 5 birds
After Clio, we headed over to Fort Point, to a new bar called Drink, which, I am told is much like Bourbon and Branch in SF. Basically, they have this long winding bar (lots of surface area) so that lots of people can sit, you get a bartender for the night, and they make you drinks. This all sounds like what a normal bar is like, but here, you tell them what you are in the mood for, and they create something. It's a lot more about experimenting than anything else. It was very sleek and modern, yet casual, and the crowd and bartenders were great - not pretentious, the dress was upscale casual, and very friendly. Coming in from the cold, we started out with hot drinks - Raghu had a mulled port (I was jealous) and I got this thing called a Tom and Jerry, which is kind of what egg nog wishes it could be. Eggs are separated, sugar is added to the yolk, both parts are whipped, folded back in together, and then milk, brandy, rum, cinnamon, allspice, are all combined, and nutmeg is sprinkled over the froth on top. The Tom and Jerry was really strong at first, so I worked on it really slowly, but over time it got better and better. I like rum, so I asked for something with rum in it, and the bartender and I decided on a "Dark and Stormy", which was rum and their homemade ginger beer, which was VERY gingery, so most of that went to Raghu. We asked for "something on fire" next, and got some flaming bourbon/graprefruity thing for Raghu (I forget what it was called), but it was really good. We got to try some 110 proof liquor called "Chartreuse" (tasty!) for free and had 2 glasses of champagne for midnight. The bartender, Scott, was very friendly, creative, and knowledgeable. We obviously couldn't try every drink we wanted, but we saw some pretty creative stuff made by some of the other bartenders too. One woman was not trained originally as a bartender, but did research on cocktails and drinks and she made one party this drink whose recipe she discovered from some ship in the 1800s. Ha! All in all, a very fun, laid back night.
That's all for now! Pictures will be coming..
