in britannia

So Boston's restaurant week is rolling through, and my family has decided to take full advantage. It's seriously good business for the restauranteurs, but it's even better for the residents. I mean, $30.04 for a three course dinner where a few appetizers and drinks could run you more than that is a fantastic deal. Tonight's sampling: Fleming's, a self-proclaimed "prime steakhouse & wine bar".

So as we're seated, we get both the restaurant week menu and the regularly priced menu. And the reserve wine list, from which I can get a bottle for as low as $87 or as much as $395. We tried everything on the restaurant week menu. It was truly very very good. Their house salad was fresh and flavorful, with bright hits of bitter greens and sweet candied walnuts. Unfortunately, the caesar was not up to par: it was over-dressed, and the dressing was so heavy on the anchovies that I had a hard time tasting the romaine. As for entrees: the Filet Mignon was buttery tender, though, like most filets, it lacked real flavor. The" Salmon Oscar" topped with crabmeat was outstanding, though honestly, the salmon seemed a bit overcooked. The double thick pork chop was served with a delicious julienne of apples and celery root. Unfortunately, it was overcooked in the center - what was very tender and juicy on the outside had become a tightly packed and rather dry mass of protein on the inside. The chicken breast had been marinated in fresh herbs and was servied in a white wine, mushroom, shallot and thyme sauce. The herbage and wine gave the dish a real kick - overall it was excellent. These were accompanied by side-dishes served family-style. The house potato gratin benefitted from a delicious hit of jalapeno, the creamed spinach, a steakhouse staple, was rich and, well, creamy. With added parmesan cheese, this could have been a dip for pita or corn chips. Finally, asparagus served with hollandaise sauce was delicious - I love asparagus, and this was wonderful.

For dessert, we were treated to a Chocolate Lave (sic) Cake with vanilla ice cream sprinkled with caramel sauce and pistacio nuts. Heavenly. This was truly a wonderful meal, but we're definitely not done yet.

By the way, for those out there who are just tuning in and aren't going to read back as far as the genesis of the blog, this little experiment in self-expression began as a medium for communication with my P. school students. I'd heard enough "please email us to let us know what you're up to" to know that I'd be sending out mass emails for the next few years. So I started this to communicate with my friends and students. It's grown somewhat, to include my friends from Princeton or elsewhere. Please feel free to email me or comment.