Jeff Grossman
Jeff Grossman
My second visit to the famed disorderly Boston nexus, Journeyman Restaurant. I am again sitting at the counter, again with Bruce (and another friend).
The house style is small plates, all carefully planned, cooked, and plated.
But we start first with drinks at their hipster bar space next door, backbar. This is the kind of place that has a spice room as full of bottles as the wet bar. For example, my mocktail included fennel, saffron, and lemon (which do not collectively resemble chartreuse but so it goes).
The winning drink tonight is a reverse Manhattan:
Scarecrow
0.25 oz fernet
1.25 oz bourbon
1.5 oz amaro montenegro
dash orange bitters
serve with orange twist
On paper it's a lot of bourbon and I'd worry about the Fernet mintiness taking over but in the glass you really taste Montenegro with some murmured complexity and an orange boost. I like this.
Back to the resto: Of course, we don't disturb Tse and Diana while they're working but my friends can't resist some sotto voce banter with the guy doing the plating right in front of us:
"Those look like chestnuts!"
"No. It grows in the ground, away from sunlight."
"Jerusalem artichoke?"
Shakes head.
"White asparagus?"
Nods head.
Or
Plater opens a tray of baked phyllo, pulls a sheet and throws it out
"Hey! We'd eat that!"
Smile.
"There just to protect the layer underneath?"
A different smile.
And so on. We converse about work and beets and houses and noses and other people - all those things that keep one busy.
Rather than the wine pairings we choose to order a couple of bottles. The bottle of Puffeney 2011 Arbois Poulsard was its usual cheerful self, not particularly tweaky but pleasantly yellow-fruited and earthy. At Tse's recommendation we also choose an orange wine for our second bottle, Carlo Tanganelli 2008 IGT Bianco "Anatraso" - 90% trebbiano, 10% malvasia di chianti, 3 weeks on its skins, 18 months in second journey barrels. 14.5% alcohol but it does not show it. It, too, is discreet, only gently funky but with a rich texture and savory tang to go with the fruit.
Let the plates begin:
lagniappe
- juniper chips with beet powder
Just a howdy-do morsel: a bit of crunch, a whiff of beets, and it's gone.
lagniappe
- yuba and chickpea
Pulled from the vegetarian menu, this is another howdy-do morsel: a shred of yuba 'skin' and a sprinkle of green chickpeas over creme fraiche(?).
Clams
- peas & carrots
A tender steamed (brandied?) clam sitting atop a heap of duck neck confit and served with a dollop each of pureed carrot and pureed pea. The vegetable purees are a great match with the chewy but not particularly briny clam. The duck neck confit is a bit denser and tastier than usual. In my top three tonight.
Salmon Tartare
- grapefruit, cucumber & radish
Not to mention a few split favas. Three little heaps of tartare, fresh, brightened by just the right amount of grapefruit and texturally supported by the compressed cucumber and radish bits. In my top three.
White Asparagus
- bone marrow, ham & peas
A beautiful disk of marrow, surrounded by several rounds cut from a thick white asparagus, and served in a ham broth. (Actually, made mostly from prosciutto with a big old country ham bone added.) These flavors were also judged nicely, the rich marrow supporting the earthy root vegetable, and the not-too-salty broth really serving to wash them both in umami.
Spring Greens
- egg & mushrooms
You've been waiting for the poached egg... here it is. The aforementioned mushroom is morels. And there are various tiny greens here, too. A good and simple dish.
Bagel & Lox
- smoked creme fraiche, tomato & capers
Yes, and a big chunk of sous vide salmon sitting astride it all. Unctuous and pleasant but a little indistinct as none of the accompaniements brought enough acidity to play against all that gently-warmed fish fat.
Duck
- chicory & beet
My favorite of the evening: slices of very rare duck breast curled up near a little pile of chicory slurry. I think this one had rosemary snow on the beets. Just everything about this plate tantalized me from start to finish. My mouth is watering even now.
Rose Veal
- artichoke & black garlic
The most controversial dish, for me. Beautifully roasted teeny-tiny artichokes served with a spatter of black garlic puree -- good enough to serve as 'ketchup for adults'. Served along with beautiful chunks of pink sous-vide veal that have been dusted with black seaweed powder instead of a quick sear. I found the iodine and brine overwhelmed the delicate meat. The nearby sous-vide leek did not seem involved with the rest of the flavors.
Root Beer Panna Cotta
- vanilla & Pop Rocks
A cordial glass with a rather gelatinous, runny, rooty panna cotta, topped with a sprinkling of Pop Rocks, topped with a hefty layer of vanilla whipped cream. A cute idea marred by the mucilaginous mass: panna cotta is jiggly but it should be a solid.
Rhubarb
- rose water & ?
The menu says "Baklava - hazelnut & chocolate" and we've been watching the plating of this dish all night. But instead the chefs swap in another dish from the vegetarian menu. And we're not sorry (...OK, Bruce is sorry). A quenelle of rhubarb sorbet sits atop rhubarb cooked in rose water two different ways: as a chunk, delicately perfumed, and as a soft gravel, heavily scented. Spectacularly good.
Mignardises
marshmallow, salted caramels, cookies spread with lemon curd, and (one more)
The house style is small plates, all carefully planned, cooked, and plated.
But we start first with drinks at their hipster bar space next door, backbar. This is the kind of place that has a spice room as full of bottles as the wet bar. For example, my mocktail included fennel, saffron, and lemon (which do not collectively resemble chartreuse but so it goes).
The winning drink tonight is a reverse Manhattan:
Scarecrow
0.25 oz fernet
1.25 oz bourbon
1.5 oz amaro montenegro
dash orange bitters
serve with orange twist
On paper it's a lot of bourbon and I'd worry about the Fernet mintiness taking over but in the glass you really taste Montenegro with some murmured complexity and an orange boost. I like this.
Back to the resto: Of course, we don't disturb Tse and Diana while they're working but my friends can't resist some sotto voce banter with the guy doing the plating right in front of us:
"Those look like chestnuts!"
"No. It grows in the ground, away from sunlight."
"Jerusalem artichoke?"
Shakes head.
"White asparagus?"
Nods head.
Or
Plater opens a tray of baked phyllo, pulls a sheet and throws it out
"Hey! We'd eat that!"
Smile.
"There just to protect the layer underneath?"
A different smile.
And so on. We converse about work and beets and houses and noses and other people - all those things that keep one busy.
Rather than the wine pairings we choose to order a couple of bottles. The bottle of Puffeney 2011 Arbois Poulsard was its usual cheerful self, not particularly tweaky but pleasantly yellow-fruited and earthy. At Tse's recommendation we also choose an orange wine for our second bottle, Carlo Tanganelli 2008 IGT Bianco "Anatraso" - 90% trebbiano, 10% malvasia di chianti, 3 weeks on its skins, 18 months in second journey barrels. 14.5% alcohol but it does not show it. It, too, is discreet, only gently funky but with a rich texture and savory tang to go with the fruit.
Let the plates begin:
lagniappe
- juniper chips with beet powder
Just a howdy-do morsel: a bit of crunch, a whiff of beets, and it's gone.
lagniappe
- yuba and chickpea
Pulled from the vegetarian menu, this is another howdy-do morsel: a shred of yuba 'skin' and a sprinkle of green chickpeas over creme fraiche(?).
Clams
- peas & carrots
A tender steamed (brandied?) clam sitting atop a heap of duck neck confit and served with a dollop each of pureed carrot and pureed pea. The vegetable purees are a great match with the chewy but not particularly briny clam. The duck neck confit is a bit denser and tastier than usual. In my top three tonight.
Salmon Tartare
- grapefruit, cucumber & radish
Not to mention a few split favas. Three little heaps of tartare, fresh, brightened by just the right amount of grapefruit and texturally supported by the compressed cucumber and radish bits. In my top three.
White Asparagus
- bone marrow, ham & peas
A beautiful disk of marrow, surrounded by several rounds cut from a thick white asparagus, and served in a ham broth. (Actually, made mostly from prosciutto with a big old country ham bone added.) These flavors were also judged nicely, the rich marrow supporting the earthy root vegetable, and the not-too-salty broth really serving to wash them both in umami.
Spring Greens
- egg & mushrooms
You've been waiting for the poached egg... here it is. The aforementioned mushroom is morels. And there are various tiny greens here, too. A good and simple dish.
Bagel & Lox
- smoked creme fraiche, tomato & capers
Yes, and a big chunk of sous vide salmon sitting astride it all. Unctuous and pleasant but a little indistinct as none of the accompaniements brought enough acidity to play against all that gently-warmed fish fat.
Duck
- chicory & beet
My favorite of the evening: slices of very rare duck breast curled up near a little pile of chicory slurry. I think this one had rosemary snow on the beets. Just everything about this plate tantalized me from start to finish. My mouth is watering even now.
Rose Veal
- artichoke & black garlic
The most controversial dish, for me. Beautifully roasted teeny-tiny artichokes served with a spatter of black garlic puree -- good enough to serve as 'ketchup for adults'. Served along with beautiful chunks of pink sous-vide veal that have been dusted with black seaweed powder instead of a quick sear. I found the iodine and brine overwhelmed the delicate meat. The nearby sous-vide leek did not seem involved with the rest of the flavors.
Root Beer Panna Cotta
- vanilla & Pop Rocks
A cordial glass with a rather gelatinous, runny, rooty panna cotta, topped with a sprinkling of Pop Rocks, topped with a hefty layer of vanilla whipped cream. A cute idea marred by the mucilaginous mass: panna cotta is jiggly but it should be a solid.
Rhubarb
- rose water & ?
The menu says "Baklava - hazelnut & chocolate" and we've been watching the plating of this dish all night. But instead the chefs swap in another dish from the vegetarian menu. And we're not sorry (...OK, Bruce is sorry). A quenelle of rhubarb sorbet sits atop rhubarb cooked in rose water two different ways: as a chunk, delicately perfumed, and as a soft gravel, heavily scented. Spectacularly good.
Mignardises
marshmallow, salted caramels, cookies spread with lemon curd, and (one more)