Providence

Last night I took my husband, Big N, to Providence for his birthday.

The two-starred Michelin restaurant occupies the old Patina space on Melrose. Warm and spacious inside, with high ceilings decorated with artsy barnacle looking thingees (the restaurant specializes in seafood).

So, we splurged by ordering the 9 course tasting menu with wine pairings, and since that wasn't exactly enough food for our foodie palates, we simply had to order the wagyu beef too.

I have to tell you, I never thought I'd be so pleased dropping so much dough on a meal, but hot damn that food was good. I wouldn't want to spoil it for you by giving you a complete list of the dishes we had, which are simply too numerous to mention, but I can tell you that I was amazed by the amuse bouche (above, please forgive the iphone picture), which had, starting from left, a gin and tonic gelee, a mojito bubble, which burst in your mouth with minty goodness, and a fennel saffron shot. What a bonus- my mouth was truly amused. Highlights also included the scallop with a generous portion of shaved truffles, the cheese plate course (we chose 4 from about 25 cheeses offered), the veal tenderloin tournedos sous-vide with chanterelles and celery root puree, and of course, the wagyu ribeye. The wine pairings were atypical and surprising. Gems included the Sean Thackery vxi blend of petit sirah and syrah and the Casa Rivas 2006 carmenierre from Argentina that was served with our wagyu ribeye.

My husband and I had to hunker down to make it through our 10 lovely courses, but I'm happy to report that nothing went uneaten. Even the dessert (coconut tapioca with kfir lime and shiso lichi sorbet) and the petit fours were gobbled up.

This restaurant ranks up there with my favorites, and I cannot wait to have an excuse splurge there again!

Kudos to Providence. I'm a fan.

And thanks to our friends at lickity list for the recommendation.