Bergamot Restaurant Week Spring 2011

vegetarian amuse bouche

cod amuse bouche-small bites of crispyness

Bergamot Boston
118 Beacon St
Somerville, MA 02143-4304
(617) 576-7700

Food (4.1/5.0)
Service (4.3/5.0)

Note: I have a tendency to procrastinate on writing time-sensitive posts which end up being irrelevant after the time window passes, so this upcoming Boston Restaurant Week presents a good opportunity to revive expired posts from the back burner! I'll start this revival by sharing what I ate for spring RW 2011.

The first time I was at Bergamot we celebrated B's birthday and the food was mind-blowing (see here). The second time, spring RW coincided with Eve's birthday so it was a no-brainer for us to celebrate at Bergamot's as well. For my meal, the breakout highlight of my night was that GRAPEFRUIT dessert that everyone on Yelp was raving about. I hope they keep it permanently on the menu because it's so insanely terrific. Also, I also booked a reservation to Bergamot for next week. :)

Goat cheese salad with marinated shitake mushrooms, frisée, oranges, and toasted hazelnuts-well-dressed salad and creamy nobs of goat cheese added punches of tangy flavor

Split Pea Soup with Chicharron and Barley-Creamy, earthy and soo satisfying

Romaine salad-herbed handpicked rocotta, sweet tomato jam, marinated haricots verts-this one was the least exciting for me

Duck Confit with Tarbais Beans, Garlic Sausage, Confit Fennel, and Rutabega-this was basically a cassoulet and boasted of layers of flavor from the slow poached duck, sausage and fennel which I found very decadent and hearty at the same time 

Chervil Crusted mahi mahi-salt roasted golden beets, oyster mushrooms, spring onion soubise-If I were a fish and had to sacrifice myself so mankind wouldn't go hungry, this was probably how I wanted to be cooked. Meat was tender and flaky and perfectly-seasoned

Plantain gnocchi-black bean, avocado, roasted red pepper, portobello mushroom confit, shishito pepper, cilantro sprouts-soft and pillow-y with a thin crispy crust, this was really interesting to savor.

Chocolate Crémeux with Avocado Sauce, Olive Oil Dust, and Orange Zest-This was well-rounded and the chocolate went well with the delicate taste of avocado. Orange zest added a pop of brightness to the dessert

That Grapefruit Thing. Warm madeleine cake topped with wedges of grapefruit and a toasted white wine sabayon-OMG. It was hard to settle on something non-chocolate-y, but this sounded too interesting to pass up.  I'm a fan of grapefruit but I've never had it done this way and it tasted out of this world. It wasn't just a slice of bittersweet citrus and some sweet sauce. I kept taking bites and trying to break the flavor down into individual layers because I was so surprised that three ingredients were all it took to give this dessert such an intriguing taste profile.  

Profiteroles with Cardamom-Orange Blossom Pastry Cream and Chocolate Ganache-this was good but the chocolate overpowered the orange blossom and cardamom.
There are some desserts I almost never order in restaurants for lack of effort and interest and the list includes panna cotta, creme brulee and profiteroles because they are desserts I find I can recreate easily at home. Unless the flavors are totally unique. Then maybe.