Atlantic Fish Co. a Second Chance

My regular hang out is a place called Cigar Masters in Boston's Back Bay on Boylston St. There are a few of us that are regulars there and I recently met this one guy who works at Atlantic Fish Co. as a bartender. I went on my usual rant about the mediocre time I had at Atlantic Fish when I last dined there. So the guy, his name is Joe (but I don't think it is spelled that way but that's irrelevant to this) tells me I should come in a give it another try, especially because he claims to make a killer Manhattan which is my mixed drink of choice. He also informed me that they were running a skate wing special, which has turned out to be one of my favorite fish. So I decided to give the place a second shot and the results were very different from my last trip.

I sat at the bar, unlike last time where I sat at a table in the back of the dining room. Some of you may recall me commenting on the ridiculous floppy touqes that all the cooks wear in the kitchen and sitting at the bar avoided me having to look at what ends up looking like a kitchen full of culinary students, but I digress. The bar is a great place to sit at and have a meal, especially when you have great service. Both Joe and his female compatriot are the epitome of what bartenders should be, friendly, skilled knowledgeable and great sales people for the menu.

As it is a seafood restaurant and I really wanted oysters, I had to go for a half dozen oysters. Last time I went for the fried oysters and they came in this down folded paper bag which was greasy and very informal for such a formal restaurant. I hope someone from the restaurant reads this and gets the hint, the bags are absurd in a restaurant like this. The fresh oysters I got this time were great, fresh one of them wasn't the best looking oyster I ever had, I feel they shouldn't of served it in its torn up condition but it was fine nonetheless.

I then went with the shrimp saute. About 4-5 shrimp sauteed with sun dried tomatoes, olives and topped with shaved ricotta salata. One of the best shrimp dishes I have eaten. Very simple, but properly cooked and nice clean simple flavors that went well together and the dish was seasoned well.

For an entree, I went with the skate wing which is what I had come in for. Really, really, really good. The skate wing was sauteed with a nice lemon butter sauce and topped with a thinly julienned salad of raw sugar snap peas. Evidence of someone with pretty good knife skills in the kitchen. It was served with a very tasty celeriac and potato puree which one rarely finds when dining out.

For dessert I went with the peanut butter pie, very simple ice cream with a chocolate crumb crust and some peanut butter in it. Honestly this was the only thing I wasn't excited about. Too simplistic, but this may be what the patrons go for here. The Grand Marnier at the end was much more important as was the perfect espresso, which when it come out of a machine like they have there I would hope it would be perfect The machine must've cost them a fortune.

The wine list is a bit limited, in that it features mostly American wines with some Old World wines tossed in for when guys like me show up and don't want a New World wine all the time. The list does have a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, but for those of you that don't know, you pretty much get the first level by mailing in the processing fee and having a wine list, perhaps you need to have a restaurant as well, not sure if that is necessary (I'm kidding). There was a Guy Saget Sancerre at 8.00/glass and a Puilly Fume at 8.75/glass which is UNHEARD of in Boston. Getting a glass of wine for $8.00 in Boston is like hitting the lotto, and a good glass at that. So this is one of the hidden secrets I feel at Atlantic Fish Co., if you want to go out and have a few drinks without even having dinner, you have to go here because it is a bargain.

So after this trip obviously I am a reformed man. All of my friends at Cigar Masters were telling me I must of had a bad experience the prior visit and I am convinced that they were correct. The menu is not cheap, but the portions are worth the expense as you are getting what you pay for. I suggest going for some of the inventive dishes on the right side of the menu, I would stay away from what I had last time which was the Chilean Sea Bass with lobster ravioli. The fish was great, but the raviolis are mediocre at best, tough, little flavor and obviously purchased frozen. All in all though I would say I will be returning here again soon.

Pizza by the slice in Boston

A short little blog today, but an inspired one. I've started a campaign which will last the next 30 days in the Boston area, in an attempt to try 30 different pizzerias. My idea is to walk in each day, at about noon time, order two slices of pizza, one plain and the other with peperonni. I have created a scale which adds up to 100 points. Within that scale there are multiple ten point scales. For example there is a 10 point scale for the dough, a ten point scale for the cheese, etc.

After 30 days I will give you all a full report of how the escapade went. Once a week until then I'll also give you an update on the progress, without giving you specifics on the whole scheme of things. I'll admit that I am not a normal daily pizza eater. I actually probably normally eat pizza less than a dozen times a year, so this should be fun. If you have any pizza shops in Boston you would like to suggest, please do so.

The Butcher Shop

The Butcher Shop in Boston is one of Barbara Lynch's smaller project restaurants which features French and Italian styles of cookery. For those of you unfamiliar with Barbara Lynch, she is of No. 9 Park fame. In addition to these restaurants she also owns B&G Oysters LTD., Plum Produce, as-well-as a specialty bookstore named Stir. The chef de cuisine for The Butcher Shop is Greg Reeves, a graduate of the University of New Hampshire and The Cambridge School of Culinary Arts..

The Butcher Shop is located at 552 Tremont st. in Boston in the historic South End of Boston. The restaurant accepts reservations, but the reservations are limited only to groups of six or more. Much of the reason behind this limited reservation policy is the size of the restaurant. Seating is limited to a handful of high-top table, perhaps six or maybe a couple more, that seat four or more when pushed together. The black soap-stone bar is a great place to sit as well, extremely comfortable and service is just as comfortable at a table or at the bar. Late night drinkers can also stand around the large butcher table with their drinks. There is no dress code as the restaurant is very informal, with the feeling of a small brassarie.

The dining room is decorated to feel like an actual butcher shop, which it actually is during the day toward the back of the dining room. The room is somewhat narrow, but spacious enough for people to walk back and forth as needed. The outside wall is a wall of windows which traverse the length of the wall as-well-as its height which matches the high ceiling of the room. The other walls are chalk-boards which are used for the butcher in back and behind the bar which illustrates new wine specials. The far back wall is a bank of reach-in coolers that hold the wares of the on-site butcher. Service is impeccable no matter where you sit or what time of day you go. The servers all know the menu well and know the wine list just as well. They can help with suggestions and are more than happy to assist the diner with any questions without making you feel inferior.

The menu which changes daily features many classical French items such as charcuterie, steak tartare, Antipasti della Casa, home-made hot dog and other traditional items. The rest of the menu changes often and features seasonal ingredients. One of the many nights I have dined there they featured an heirloom tomato salad with shaved onions and parmigiano reggiano which is hard to go wrong with, I have also had a salad of thin white French asparagus dressed with truffle oil and spring onions which was wonderful. I have probably had their charcuterie at least half a dozen times and each time it is completely different and each time it is one of the best I have ever had.

The steak tartare is made very traditionally and served with some of the best toasted brioche I have ever had. The only dish I have had here that I was not one hundred percent satisfied with was the cassoulet. I was excited to see that it was made with the traditional Tarbais beans and the items added to it were appropriate, but the flavors were not melded from the meats and beans and the beans were a bit under-done. Someday I'll find a restaurant who gets that dish correct. I would have to say that any choice off the menu normally is without a doubt made close to perfection.

The wine list is extremely eclectic with many choices that you won't find at other restaurants or even in your local wine shop. Buying power from the multiple restaurants surely helps the wine directors for Barbaba Lynch's restaurants. In addition the restaurant's cheese program is increadible. They feature a large selection of cheeses to choose from and the selection changes often as to what is available. Most of their cheese comes from Formaggio Kitchen which is one of the top purveyors of cheese in the country.

During the day there is a full-service butcher available on premise. Meats that I have observed have been strip loin, rib-eye, hanger steak, foie gras, rabbit and others. In addition they sell many different in-house made charcuterie items such as mortadella, soppresatta, rillettes, terrine and many other items by the lb. or less or even more if desired. They also offer some pre-cooked items, depending on the season. In addition they sell many specialty items such as quail eggs and other items. You can also pick up fresh baked bread here daily in addition to many pickled items, oils and vinegars. The butcher is very knowledgeable and can help you make any decisions on your purchases and can also make suggestions on what to do with items.

Lunch is available 11am - 3:30pm each day with a slightly smaller menu than at night.
Dinner is available sunday & monday from 4:30 pm - 10 pm. and available tuesday - saturday from 4:30 pm - 11 pm.
Brunch is available on Saturday & Sunday from 11am - 3:30pm
The Butcher is available Monday-Saturday from 11am - 8pm / Sunday until 5 pm.
Wine Bar open daily until 12am / Sunday and Monday until 11 pm.

Average meal price $40.00+/person including glass of wine

Address: 552 Tremont St. Boston, MA

Phone: tel: 617.423.4800

email: info@thebutchershopboston.com

Valet parking available after 5pm for $16 per car.