Text 24626, 75 rader
Skriven 2007-12-27 16:54:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: supper with Judy 606
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Supper with Judy, my ex from the 1970s

It was the season to be jolly, and I haven't seen Judy in
months and months, so we decided to have a nice blowout
dinner at Sel de la Terre, a Mediterraneanish restaurant
of great repute on Long Wharf in Boston. It's also where
Alex Feldman, the son of my friends Ronnie and Elizabeth,
worked after he did his training at Cibreo in Florence
(Alex has since moved on to a restaurant in Vail).

Judy had to get home at a decent hour, so we made a
reservation for 6. At which time the place was mostly
empty but with a lively bar scene. I actually got there
a hair early and was seated at a table that had the
advantage of being next to a barrier and the disadvantage
of the barrier being next to a server station. Not a
problem as it turns out, as the place filled up later and
was noisy enough so that one didn't end up noticing the
server station. I ordered a glass of Syrah and waited;
Judy showed up right on time (her wrist in a cast - fell
on black ice and busted it) but the Syrah did not. That's
fine, drinking alone isn't the greatest thing to do.

We asked for a dish of garlic and shallot confit: garlic
stewed in olive oil and shallots stewed in balsamic. Quite
good, a biggish portion. Also a plate of assorted olives -
a mix of little purple ones, medium green ones that tasted
of cumin, and big green ones that were kind of vulgar.

At some restaurants such things come free, but as this place
manages to pack them in seven nights a week, the little
snacks cost a fiver a plate.

They come with a dense but moist olive nut bread of which I
actually ate two slices.

Judy, having learned well from me, ordered her grilled salmon
"very rare" - it came what I'd call medium rare, with a garnish
of lightly cooked onions and cherry tomatoes and green pea sauce
- a quite spring-like dish, considering that there was plenty
of snow on the ground and a bit more coming.

My boneless short ribs were delicious, a large portion
of probably roast beef cap meat, braised in beef broth
with maybe mushrooms and a touch of tomato. On the side
olive oil mashed potatoes, which I discovered one bite too
late were loaded with cream, and diced carrots and parsnips.

The HdV Eclipse Syrah, when it finally came, was acidy and
assertive, a bit harsh for an aperitif but quite nice actually
with the short ribs, which benefited from a herbal aspect as well. 

Not enough veggies, so I flagged someone down and asked for
an order of Brussels sprouts with pancetta in Parmesan cream
(exactly as expected, only cheesier).

For later I had the Grant Burge Miamba Shiraz, sweetish,
raisiny, uncomplicated, also good with the short ribs.

Judy is very skinny and slight, but her eyes lit up when she
saw bete noire with Port wine reduction ice cream on the
menu. Bete noire, made famous by Lora Brody, is a flourless
chocolate thing, halfway between a cake and a pudding; this
one tasted pretty nice but had a preternaturally smooth,
almost blended texture. The ice cream bore no trace of Port
wine but tasted pleasantly vanillary. There was a reduced
sour cherry juice drizzled around the plate. We asked for
this with two spoons, and the portion size was perfect.

We staggered out into the night, well warmed by the food
and the company, the snow gathering.

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