• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Tiny Urban Kitchen
  • About Me
  • Travel
  • Recipes
  • Michelin
  • Subscribe
  • Taiwanese
menu icon
go to homepage
  • About Me
  • Travel
  • Recipes
  • Michelin
  • Subscribe
  • Taiwanese
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • About Me
    • Travel
    • Recipes
    • Michelin
    • Subscribe
    • Taiwanese
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » US Travel » Boston » Greater Boston

    Lumiere

    Published: May 1, 2013 · Modified: Oct 12, 2017 by Jennifer Che

    Lumiere1
    We'll take a short break from the Thailand! series to focus on a couple Boston restaurants. Newton is a town right outside of Boston adjacent to Watertown, where all those crazy things happened the week following the Boston Marathon Bombings. Newton was under lockdown as well during this time.

    I don't go out to Newton much.

    Sure, I'll make the occasional special trip to visit one of our favorite chefs who used to work in Cambridge. But it's a trek. Public transportation out there from Cambridge is cumbersome, and traffic can be pretty bad right around mealtimes.

    But then last Christmas, Bryan received a really thoughtful gift from one of his co-workers. I guess their family knew Bryan likes eating out, and gave him a gift certificate to Lumiere.

    I can't believe we waited this long, but we finally made a reservation to visit this popular restaurant on a Friday night just a few weeks ago.
    _DSC1795
    Lumiere means "light" in French. Indeed, the lights at this restaurant are both whimsical and fun (see first photo on top).

    The moment I walked in, I immediately liked the friendly vibe of the restaurant. Though it's an elegant and sophisticated space, the environment is also warm and cozy - not the least bit stuffy. In fact, the dress code listed on the restaurant website is "casual" and conversations are open and relaxed.

    Chef-owner Michael Leviton, who is also the co-owner of one of my favorite restaurants in Cambridge, started Lumiere in 1999 and it has been going strong since, often showing up on "best of" lists for the greater Boston area. Lumiere applies both classic French and modern cooking techniques to local, sustainable, and seasonal ingredients. They source a lot of their produce form Verrill Farm in Concord, MA, Kimball Fruit Farm in Pepperell, MA, and the Northeast Family Farms Cooperative.

    The Lumiere menu is divided up into "first courses" ($12-$18), "main courses" ($29-$32), and "sides" ($8-$11). You can also choose the chef's tasting menu, which costs $70 (additional $30 for wine pairing) and includes five total courses (three savory courses, cheese, and dessert).
    _DSC1773
    Not everyone has to get the tasting menu, a philosophy I really, really like. I always feel constrained by that requirement, though I understand why restaurants do it. We decided Bryan would get the tasting menu but I would order some other dishes off of the a la carte menu.

    Instead of getting the wine pairing that goes with the tasting, we opted for a half bottle of white to start off the meal and then a bottle of red to finish. Though we were not particularly familiar with their wine list, they did a fantastic job of helping us select out wines.

    It's nice when the servers try to recommend bottles that they personally think are great values and not necessarily always the most expensive ones.
    _DSC1776
    We started with a tiny amuse of smoked sablefish pate and cucumber. I loved how the light and crunchy cucumber balanced out the smoky and creamy sablefish.
    _DSC1777
    For my starter, I enjoyed the first bounty from spring! Roasted Asparagus and Spring Onions were topped with a perfectly poached Chip-In farm egg and served together with Romesco sauce, chopped almonds, and hazelnuts. The egg "popped" when I broke it open, and the runny yolk became a sauce covering the whole dish. Yum.
    _DSC1778
    Bryan's first course in his tasting menu was a Fish Tartare topped with avocado cream and served alongside a spicy soy-sesame vinaigrette. The flavors were fine, reminiscent of tried-and-true Japanese-inspired combinations.
    _DSC1779
    Bryan's second course was Barnegat Light Sea Scallops served over a carrot purée and topped with carrot-fennel salad. The entire dish was then dressed with a gorgeously fragrant citrus vinaigrette and fennel oil. Though I typically don't love orange flavored savory dishes, I was so surprised how well it worked in this application. This dish was fantastic and easily my favorite dish of the evening.

    I had ordered the entree sized portion (not pictured), which comes with a generous five scallops. You can also get the appetizer portion, which comes with three scallops. The version pictured above is the tasting menu portion.
    _DSC1784 The main dish was a simple Grilled Steak, which came with Shitake mushrooms, cipollini onions, and beef jus. Bryan ordered it "as rare as you're willing to cook it." When the steak came, although it was *just* a bit over (maybe on the way to medium rare), Bryan thought it was fine and started cutting it and eating it.

    A few moments later our server stopped by and remarked, "that does not look like a true rare steak. Let me get the kitchen to make you a new one."

    "But I've already started eating a significant portion of it."

    "That's quite alright. You should get a properly cooked steak."

    She whisked that one away, and moments later, a new, absolutely perfectly cooked piece of rare steak came out.

    Now that's really good service.
    _DSC1785
    Although the steak typically comes with fries, the tasting menu portion did not include French Fries, so we ordered a side of it ($8). These fries were only OK, being just a bit soft and not super crispy. Nevertheless, they were tasty enough that we still demolished most of that basket!
    _DSC1789
    The tasting came with a cheese course. We had the Von Trapp Farmstead“Oma” Cheese, which was served with apple mostarda, Aquidneck honeycomb, hazelnuts, and a cider reduction. The cheese was pretty mild but definitely enjoyable. Bryan typically prefers stronger cheeses but he was still perfectly happy to finish this one.
    _DSC1792
    Finally for dessert, we shared Bryan's final course, a tiny homemade Apple Galette topped with Greek yogurt ice cream. It was very good - simple and satisfying.

    General Thoughts
    I was not sure what to expect here, but I really enjoyed my dinner at Lumiere. I shouldn't be surprised, considering that it's like the "parent" of one of my Cambridge favorites. The food was excellent, and everything was prepared with care. The ambiance was warm, cozy, and relaxed, and the service was superb.

    If it were not so far away, I could see myself quickly becoming a regular here. In fact, we met a couple sitting next to us who had been coming almost every other week for the past fourteen years. That's dedication.

    We're so thankful to Bryan's co-worker for giving us this gift certificate. Otherwise, I'm not sure how long it would have taken before I went out to Newton to try this place on my own.

    Lumiere
    1293 Washington St
    Newton, MA 02465
    Lumière on Urbanspoon

    ©2009-2014 Tiny Urban Kitchen
    All Rights Reserved

    More Greater Boston

    • Little Big Diner Newton - a first look!
    • Tasting Counter Somerville
    • La Brasa Somerville
    • Beijing Chinese Dining Lexington

    Recent Posts

    • La Salita Valencia Spain January 16, 2023
    • El Poblet Valencia Spain -2 Michelin Stars December 29, 2022
    • MercatBar by Quique Dacosta - Valencia December 9, 2022
    • La Pepica Waterfront Paella - Valencia December 5, 2022
    • Llisa Negra Valencia Spain December 1, 2022
    • Central Bar by Ricard Camarena - Valencia Spain November 29, 2022
    • Casa Ripoll Valencia - Beachside Paella November 27, 2022
    • Valencia Spain Trip Report - Itinerary November 23, 2022

    Primary Sidebar

    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen
    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen

    Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am an expat who moved from Boston to Hong Kong 5 years ago. Born and raised in Ohio to Taiwanese immigrant parents, I am a chemistry nerd, patent attorney by day, blogger by night, church musician on weekends, and food enthusiast always. Feel free to explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!

    More about me →

    Explore

    • Recipe
    • Restaurant
    • US Travel
    • World Travel

    Popular Posts

    • La Salita Valencia Spain
    • El Poblet Valencia Spain -2 Michelin Stars
    • MercatBar by Quique Dacosta - Valencia
    • La Pepica Waterfront Paella - Valencia

    Recipes

    • Appetizer
    • Snacks
    • Meat
    • Vegetables
    • Soup
    • Salad
    • Seafood
    • Noodles

    Recently Traveled

    • Hong Kong
    • France
    • Belgium
    • Boston
    • California
    • United Kingdom
    • Germany
    • Spain

    Support Us

    Recognition


    Featured on the front page
    of the FOOD Section: 2015

    Best Food Blog Awards:
    Restaurant & Dining 2012

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About Me
    • My Equipment
    • In the Press
    • Project Food Blog
    • Privacy Policy

    Eating Guides!

    Eating & Travel Guides
    Trip Reports
    "Kawaii" (Cute Foods)
    Around the World

    • Pinterest
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    • YouTube
    • Mail
    • RSS Feed

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Shop at Amazon

    Copyright © 2022 Tiny Urban Kitchen