Another fallout of Boston's ascendancy in the culinary
world is that talented folks are coming here to make
their careers.

Mantra, Temple Place, Boston
Present: Michael, girlfriend from 1970s
Wines: Dom. Drouhin Pinot Noir 99 - Rich very
Burgundian wine, extremely smooth, flowers, earth,
stone fruit, mushrooms. Worth the premium over
normal American Pinot Noir.
Turckheim Tokay Pinot Gris 01 - somewhat flowery,
citrusy, good acid balancing mild sweetness. I found
it a tad grapy toward the end, cloying by itself but
quite nice with food.

As I've perhaps said before, this joint is probably
one of the two best in Boston; when the glitterati
of tomorrow talk about Tommy John, they won't
be reminiscing about the baseball pitcher and his
bionic resurrection in the 1970s but about Thomas
John, the Kerala cook who left the Meridien in Pune
to make his career in Boston.

It's a dimly lit, rather fashionable room, with a
duo of beautiful young women of mixed ethnicity
at the door. It exudes class and expensiveness.

At this visit, our waiter was a rather overearnest
young gentleman who insisted on describing each dish
in excruciating detail, defining such difficult
terms as "ganache" and "reduction," and I was not
sure whether to be annoyed or amused. Until I heard
someone at a nearby table ask him what a "morel" was.
I guess the clientele isn't at this moment as sexy
as it thinks it is.

Amuses:
Mine was a single raw oyster topped with watermelon
mignonette - the effect was to make a perfectly lovely
New England oyster taste like a Pacific oyster. An
odd tour de force, and I appreciated it for that.

Judy was given a seared duck breast preparation that
disappeared down the hatch with utmost rapidity, fast
enough that its exact contents didn't register with
me. I did notice that it seemed just slightly pink,
i.e., overcooked.

I ordered the $38 pre-theater three-course prix fixe,
which is an amazing deal (well, considering the normal
prices of the place); Judy just had a main dish and
dessert, plus we split an appetizer between main
course and dessert.

I started with "golden lentil" soup with morels and
coconut - I believe that "golden lentils" are mung
beans. A pleasant, delicate puree, fugitive Indian
flavors. Abundant morels floating in the middle. Our
ever-eager waiter informed me that there was a bit of
shaved fennel in it as well, but when I found a
shaving or two of vegetable, I determined that they
were garlic! No worries; I love garlic.

Then the sirloin strip (about 10 oz), wild mushrooms,
Port, Pinot Noir, veal reduction, broccoli rabe,
Indian-spiced potatoes - splendid, the meat extremely
tender and tasty although trimmed of all fat; the
mushrooms were an odd mixture of unidentifiable flat
things plus some small button mushroom pieces, all
stewed in a black inky liquid, the flavor of both
quite submerged by the slightly sweet and rather
assertive wine and stock sauce. Broccoli rabe added
a piquant touch. The potatoes were a very mild version
of the potatoes you might find in an Indian dive.

The rack of lamb over mustard greens and eggplant
puree was four chops of extremely delicate meat in a
dish dominated by the delicious vegetables. Also some
subtle Asian spicings. Judy was particularly
enthralled with the eggplant; when I tasted it, I
thought "I could do this." But of course, I haven't.

After our main courses, as it was a special occasion,
we had an appetizer - a pair of giant, just-done
seared scallops over wild mushroom ragout (slightly
bitter black trumpet of death mushrooms), a drizzle
of mild Thai-spiced red curry sauce, and a topping of
radish sprouts tossed with the elusive shaved fennel.
Delicious. The Tokay-Pinot Gris went perfectly, and
for this suggestion I have to thank our waiter.

The two prix fixe desserts are a tropical fruit salad
or white peach creme brulee. Though I love tropical
fruits, it's dubious what sort of tropical fruits you
can get in Boston, and further I love white peaches
even more. This was a creamy creme brulee packed with
thin slices of peaches, slightly tart, superb. over a
rather oversweet strawberry compote.

Judy's birthday dessert was the usual custard-cup-size
water-bathed chocolate cake, just set on the outside,
with a rich chocolate ganache, sided by a delicate
fenugreek ice cream.

A plate of not oversize mignardises came with the not
oversize bill: white chocolate truffle, guava paste, a
tiny shortbread sandwich with chocolate filling, and
a sugary but delicious pecan square, this in order
from utterly banal to ordinary to fine to yummy.

I wondered about the sirloin strip on the $38 prix
fixe as opposed to that served a la carte at $33. The
latter is about 2 oz bigger; otherwise identical (I
peeked).
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
* Origin: Fido Since 1991 | QWK by Web | BBS.FIDOSYSOP.ORG (1:123/140)