A great place to celebrate great things

I finally got my notes back from Delaware, where my notebook had been left in August! So, here's a belated (per the usual schedule) post...

After finishing the marathon that was the July Bar exam, and to celebrate our 3 year wedding anniversary, there was no better place to celebrate than Clio! DELICIOUS.

Of course, for such an occasion, we opted for the tasting menu. FANTASTIC.

Rather than do the wine pairing, which can land one in a ditch after just a few courses, we opted for a bottle of a really excellent 2005 Burgundy-- Chambolle Musigny Conrtolee Jaboulet-Vercherre. We had asked the waiter to recommend a good bottle that would take us all the way through the main course, and he did not disappoint. Excellent service, indeed.

The Amuse Bouche was a tomato-water martini. What is that, you ask? Tomatoes strained through cheesecloth, so that you get all of the flavor and no color, served cold with a big, pickled caperberry. It was dazzling, and defintely whetted the appetite for the gastronomic success that was about to ensue.

Next, onto the yellowfin sashimi w/ garlic oil, then smoked salmon (best ever) with mustard and scallion. Both were delicious dishes, but the salmon stuck out as really amazing in my book. The very next course was the most creative-- a "shades of red" dish that was made up of many different textures of beets and huckleberry. It looked like a sweet dessert, but was actually savory and wonderful. The beet foam was my favorite-- a surprising taste from what looked like a raspberry sorbet.

Yet another dish before the main course followed - butternut squash soup with creme freshe, cranberries, and some kind of toasted nut. As it was August, I enjoyed this so much because it reminded me that fall was coming -- and it would be, thankfully, my first fall without law school stress hanging over my head! The soup was followed by slow cooked cod with saffron broth, then by seabass with eel and crispy blue honey and mushrooms. The crispy honey added a very creative touch. Next, of course, no tasting menu should go without, fois grois. This time served with whikey foam and a poached peach. I loved it, tasted like a fireplace-- in a good way.

Finally, we had braised shortrib with quince and apple puree. I am not a fan of shortrib, but this was good, though my favorite parts of the meal were the fish courses. Oh, and not to be forgotten were the perfectly warm and yummy dinner rolls - I have a note here that "M liked them real bad."

All in all, this tasting menu was fantastic. It may be even our top tasting menu experience in Boston thus far.