If you've been in the Boston area for a few years, you probably remember a forgettable Todd English place called Bonfire. It was located on the Boston Park plaza hotel. Well, apparently the location has some special kind of cursed vibe, because now there's a wine bar called Pairings, and it's almost as disappointing as Bonfire...
My wife and I heard about the place and were very excited. Finally! A proper wine bar in Boston! After checking out some great places in New York and California, we felt that finally Boston was getting its due. But alas, we were disappointed :( There's more variety and ambiance at the local wine shop's evening tasting than at this place!
The place is for all intents and purposes a wine bar, but with a name like pairings, you'd expect at the very least-well-pairings! If you consider a general-purpose listing of average American wines, a sprinkle of usual Napa names and a smidgen of other wines on two pages, followed by a tiny menu of bar bites "Pairings", then you've arrive at the correct place! I expected a proper wine bar and what I got was more akin to a wine expo: No character, just a pile of average wines to sample with a few recognizable names here and there.
We asked the bartender if there were any pairings with the wines, he replied: "no". Strike one. We then asked: "Do you offer wine flights?" and he replied "Flights? What's that?" (Strike two) We explained and then he retorted: "No". Strike three... Even after all that, we still decided to look over the wine list by the glass. We sighed, then walked out.
It's sad to see a business with so much unrealized potential go untapped. With a better rounded list, a quasi-knowledgeable staff, and actual pairings and other proper wine bar features besides a pretend cellar room, the place could be so much more. I am sure that the competition from restaurants doing their own feature wine nights offer options (and competition) for those of us that actually want to experience wine, so maybe I'm missing the point. Maybe what they're trying to do is to take the pub experience and apply it to wine: Provide some selection, keep margins high and get the average muck that sells cheap but rakes in a good profit.
All that ranting notwithstanding, maybe you like the place as-is, or we walked in on a bad day where the good staff was at home. Maybe, but I am certain that their chance for a first impression is long gone, and I will not make any effort to return there.
Later,
Showing posts with label Boston. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boston. Show all posts
Friday, May 7, 2010
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
A visit to Bina Osteria
My lady and I have been meaning to check the place out for quite some time now. We have been to another of the owner's places (Bin26 Enoteca) a few years back and enjoyed the experience. The place has a similar vibe, but on a larger scale since Bin26 is located on a very small place along Charles street in Boston. The choice was made even easier by the return of Restaurant week.
We started by Moseying over to the bar and having a drink. We had an interesting drink made with a bitter liqueur called Amaro. It was refreshing but it seemed a little pricey at $10 a drink.
We finally sat down for dinner, and as it is usually the case, one of us orders from the RW menu, and one orders a la carte. They had 3-course menus for both options, and the price difference was minimal between the two (an oddity in most other times we've done RW). I chose a chicken wing appetizer and the lady chose the Carne Cruda (Beef Tartar). The Carne cruda was excellent. The celery pesto was a bit strong but still paired well with the beef. The wings were a little bland. they sat in what looked like a celery puree, but I really could not tell. It in fact seemed to "suck" the flavor out of the wings making them taste even less of them. It seems odd, but I can't describe it any other way.
For the main dish, the lady selected the Bistecca (steak) with the creamed cauliflower, peppers and spinach, medium. I chose the Agnello (lamb), medium-rare with the vegetable caponata and grilled polenta with herbs. For wine, we chose their featured nebbiolo (can't remember the label).
For some reason, the kitchen messed up both preparations by at least two levels. Her steak was well done and my lamb was medium well. Neither dish was "destroyed", but they certainly missed the mark. It could be that they could not properly control the final rest temperature of the meats because of their small size. Mind you: I'm not complaining about the dish sizes-which were small but fine-but rather about the lack of attention to the resting temperature. The only saving grace was that somehow the dishes still tasted good enough to eat. I must have had the laziest lamb ever because it had none of the characteristic "gamey" taste associated with lamb cooked past medium doneness. The Polenta was excellent, and it helped in overlooking the meat faux-pas.
The Lady's dish suffered from the same ailment, sans the goodness of the polenta. The cauliflower was like a buffer between the caponata and the beef. It really brought nothing of note to the dish. If you've ever made cauliflower puree, you know that it needs a lot of help (especially when used as a replacement for mashed potatoes, which are nothing more than a delivery mechanism for butter, cream and whatever else tasty-but-bad you want to put in them), but alas, these had none :( Her steak was still quite good despite being overcooked for her taste, so that helped.
The dessert was the highlight of the meal. It was a simple dark chocolate gelato that tasted like it was made just before serving. The flavors were bright and fresh along with a great, intense dark chocolate flavor.
Meal preparation notwithstanding, the entire staff were extremely nice and our waiter was excellent. I only wished that the meal matched their enthusiasm.
Would I recommend Bina to a friend? I'm not sure. I guess I'd say the staff was great and the place is very nice, but I'd be wary of at least ordering meats there, since (based on my experience) they tend to overcook them. Considering their usual (high) dinner prices, I'd say go there for a nice drink and maybe an appetizer, but that's about it.
I do recall the waiter telling us that they usually carry two menus (inside/outside tables), so maybe the outside menu is executed better?
Later,
We started by Moseying over to the bar and having a drink. We had an interesting drink made with a bitter liqueur called Amaro. It was refreshing but it seemed a little pricey at $10 a drink.
We finally sat down for dinner, and as it is usually the case, one of us orders from the RW menu, and one orders a la carte. They had 3-course menus for both options, and the price difference was minimal between the two (an oddity in most other times we've done RW). I chose a chicken wing appetizer and the lady chose the Carne Cruda (Beef Tartar). The Carne cruda was excellent. The celery pesto was a bit strong but still paired well with the beef. The wings were a little bland. they sat in what looked like a celery puree, but I really could not tell. It in fact seemed to "suck" the flavor out of the wings making them taste even less of them. It seems odd, but I can't describe it any other way.
For the main dish, the lady selected the Bistecca (steak) with the creamed cauliflower, peppers and spinach, medium. I chose the Agnello (lamb), medium-rare with the vegetable caponata and grilled polenta with herbs. For wine, we chose their featured nebbiolo (can't remember the label).
For some reason, the kitchen messed up both preparations by at least two levels. Her steak was well done and my lamb was medium well. Neither dish was "destroyed", but they certainly missed the mark. It could be that they could not properly control the final rest temperature of the meats because of their small size. Mind you: I'm not complaining about the dish sizes-which were small but fine-but rather about the lack of attention to the resting temperature. The only saving grace was that somehow the dishes still tasted good enough to eat. I must have had the laziest lamb ever because it had none of the characteristic "gamey" taste associated with lamb cooked past medium doneness. The Polenta was excellent, and it helped in overlooking the meat faux-pas.
The Lady's dish suffered from the same ailment, sans the goodness of the polenta. The cauliflower was like a buffer between the caponata and the beef. It really brought nothing of note to the dish. If you've ever made cauliflower puree, you know that it needs a lot of help (especially when used as a replacement for mashed potatoes, which are nothing more than a delivery mechanism for butter, cream and whatever else tasty-but-bad you want to put in them), but alas, these had none :( Her steak was still quite good despite being overcooked for her taste, so that helped.
The dessert was the highlight of the meal. It was a simple dark chocolate gelato that tasted like it was made just before serving. The flavors were bright and fresh along with a great, intense dark chocolate flavor.
Meal preparation notwithstanding, the entire staff were extremely nice and our waiter was excellent. I only wished that the meal matched their enthusiasm.
Would I recommend Bina to a friend? I'm not sure. I guess I'd say the staff was great and the place is very nice, but I'd be wary of at least ordering meats there, since (based on my experience) they tend to overcook them. Considering their usual (high) dinner prices, I'd say go there for a nice drink and maybe an appetizer, but that's about it.
I do recall the waiter telling us that they usually carry two menus (inside/outside tables), so maybe the outside menu is executed better?
Later,
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