Menton {Snapshot}

I first wrote about this place when I visited for my 9th wedding anniversary. Since then, I've had the opportunity to go back several times: once for the Eleven Madison Park book tour (where Daniel Humm came and cooked from his book!), and once for the white alba truffle tasting for my birthday (one of the few nice things about having a birthday in November).

So what made me come back?

One of my friends loves watching Top Chef. He's a huge fan of Kristen Kish, the extremely talented chef/contestant who won Top Chef Seattle in 2012. Kristen was initially eliminated halfway through the show during an episode call "Restaurant Wars." She made her way back into the running by first winning "Last Chance Kitchen", and then winning the entire competition.

Kristen Kish has been working at Stir in Boston, Barbara Lynch's private dining space where one can watch cooking demonstrations and book private cooking classes with chefs.

Just recently, Kristen started working at Menton as the Chef de Cuisine.

The moment my friend found this out, he booked a reservation for six of us at Menton.

Turns out he was just a bit too hasty.

Sure, Kristen had officially started in early June, but we were soon told (after sitting down at the restaurant), that Kristen would be going through an 8-week rigorous training program to learn "how we do things at Menton." She'll rotate through every single "station" so she can really understand the inner workings of the restaurant. Perhaps in a few months she'll start designing certain dishes, and at some point (hopefully), her menus will start showing up

Ah bummer.

All was not lost, of course.

Menton has always had fabulous food, and I've never had a bad meal there. So, please enjoy this "snapshot" of the lovely tasting menu we did enjoy that warm, summer evening in June.

At Menton, they always start you off with their signature bite: Farro Salmon with sesame tuile topped with caviar. It's a delightful bite, a perfect way to whet the appetite.

On top of the pebbles are Sweet Cookie Macarons made with goat cheese. Though I don't typically love goat cheese, this bite was actually my favorite. I loved the sweet and savory combo.
Corn Madeleines topped with caviar were whimsically served on a bed of corn kernels.

Cheese Gougeres were the fourth little bite - tasty, though nothing particularly mind blowing.

And then the actual amuse bouche came. I loved it - a  chilled and creamy Ramp Vichyssoise topped with fried crispy ramps. It was intense, super garlicky, and absolutely delicious. I wished for more.

The bread is irresistible at Menton, and I quickly polished off this delicate little mini-croissant, which tasted oh-so-good with the butter.
 
The first course was Bluefin Tuna with royal white sturgeon caviar and sliced radishes. Compared to top sushi places, the quality of the fish was pretty average. However, the overall dish was decent, with grapefruit being the dominant flavor that bound everything together.
Next was Parsnip Risotto, which was served with Jonah crab, fried capers, and topped with a fried parsley chip. The risotto was intensely rich and buttery. Thankfully the tart capers along with the Trimball dry muscat with which it was paired cut the richness.

A gorgeously seared Striped Bass was next, served with mini potatoes, morel mushrooms, stinging nettle purée, and salad greens tossed in vinaigrette.

Then came a single Ravioli (filled with a sunny side up egg!) and topped with a speck crumble and fresh peas.

The waiter poured speck consommé tableside.

We didn't love this dish. The balance just was not quite right. There was too much egg yolk and not enough umami in the rest of the dish. Perhaps it was underseasoned? 
I opted out of this course, but everyone else at the table had the Seared Foie Gras which came with cherry gastrique, a bing cherry, and an almond-crusted brioche. Looking at their happy faces, I'm pretty sure it was really, really good.

Here's another view of it.

I asked for a foie gras substitute, and they gave me this phyllo-wrapped Langoustine served over pea purée and topped with pickled rhubarb. The langoustine was sweet and the dish was good, but it did not blow me away. I'm guessing the foie gras was a much more memorable dish.

The next course was the Duck, which was cooked absolutely perfectly, It came with huckleberry, liver purée, and duck tongue.

I opted out of duck, so for my last course they gave me Air-Chilled Poulet (chicken) which came with pan-fried French gnocchi and fava beans. The flavors were intense and very rich. The dark colored jus had a ton of umami. It was very flavorful and quite good, though a part of me looked longingly at Bryan's duck dish, which had bright elements like huckleberry to cut the umami.

The last course was Veal, which came with artichoke, creamy celeriac, mustarda, fried sweetbreads with some kind of fruit, and celery. The veal was ever-so-slightly cooked a bit more than we preferred. Otherwise, the flavors came together pretty well in this dish.

We cleansed our palates with a lovely Bing Cherry House Made Soda, which was topped with basil vanilla glacé (ice cream).

For dessert we had the most perfect little Sticky Bun, which was served with fromage blanc caramelized honey ice cream, oat whipped cream, oat crumble, and fresh apricot. I'm not usually a big fan of sticky buns, but all the components in this dessert came together so perfectly, I found myself quickly finishing this fantastic dessert.

Of course, one dessert is never enough. They then brought over several little candies, such as chocolate chip cookie dough truffles, salt water peppermint taffy, and strawberry rhubarb bars.

And finally - to close off the night - hibiscus, sassafras, and tarragon macarons.

Though we didn't get to taste  Kristen's creations, we still had a wonderful evening.

It was fun to sit by the window on a warm Sunday evening chilling with friends while eating great food. Looking back, I think my favorites bites this meal would be the Sweet Cookie Macarons, Ramp Vichyssoise (but then I do have a soft spot for ramps), and the Sticky Bun. Sort of an odd assortment, I guess. Perhaps that's what happens when you try to make substitutions to a tasting menu.

Lesson learned. I'll let them control the tasting menu from now on.

Can't wait to see what new dishes Kristen dreams up once she starts creating dishes and menus at Menton!

Menton
354 Congress St.
Boston, MA 02210