Let the Foodie Fest Begin!

This week begins Restaurant Week in Boston! Which has really become two work weeks, with no fun to be had for the working class with lunch specials because who can take off in the middle of the day for a three-course sit down meal? Therefore, the only people who can partake in the cheaper happenings of Restaurant Week are women who do not work and stay home all day, basically making them already rich and inevitably too good/cool/wealthy to be seen at a restaurant during these prix fixed weeks.

Moving on, Restaurant Week enters my life with mixed feelings and slight apprehension. I am obviously a major foodie, but have had the displeasure of horrible service and poor, cold, preplated food during RW. I know that the caliber of clientele during RW is notoriously lower then on the average night at most of the restaurants, but shouldn’t this be the time to showcase your talents? Bring in new clients? Become a person’s favorite special occasion spot? Well, for some restaurants this is exactly the case. Henrietta’s Table is phenomenal during RW. They keep most of their regular menu; offer a huge array of selections. Nothing is ever preplated, everything is made-to-order and if the chef is in the kitchen he will come out and sign your cookbook. The service is fantastic whether you are there for lunch or dinner and the light, airy space give the feeling of eating in someone’s home, rather than a busy restaurant. I have nothing but wonderful things to say about Henrietta’s Table.

And for others, they fail miserably. One little North End restaurant, Bacco, which I have heard very good reviews for when it is not RW, is one of those failures. The food was cold, bland and mostly inedible. To top it off, that dinner happen to be a special occasion and I had called ahead to specifically ask that a candle come in the dessert. Well, dessert came and went and surprise, surprise, no candle. I had even gone to the hostess before the dessert course to ensure that they knew we were the table. Nothing. They tried to make up for it with a dessert drink, but at that point, too little too late.

With all this being said, here we are another year and another RW and I am throwing myself out there yet again, in the hopes I will be impressed! This year I am venturing to Mistral and Sorellina. Interestingly enough after I made the reservations, I realized they were owned by the same people, who also own Mooo. I am excited, apprehensive and hungry. All this over a couple of restaurants? Sounds about right.



Delectably yours,
alc