Monday, July 27, 2015

The Tasting Room at 51 Lincoln Opens with 5-Course Menu (Newton, MA)

51 Lincoln in Newton will be opening their Tasting Room on July 29, where they will offer a 5-course prix fixe menu on Tuesdays-Saturdays. The Tasting Room will be located downstairs of 51 Lincoln.and can seat up to 20 people.

The Tasting Room
Before dinner started, we got some cocktails from 51 Lincoln's bar menu. I had the Barkeep's Julep with bourbon, sarsaparilla reduction, Leopold fernet, and mint ($12). The fernet's bitterness added a nice depth to this classic cocktail. 
The Tasting Room

The first course of our dinner was a light, refreshing scallop crudo with grapefruit segments, evoo, opal basil sauce. As you'll see throughout the dinner and in this course, the chef pays a lot of attention to the dishes and bowls used.
The Tasting Room
This was paired with a glass of Pinon sparkling Vouvray. It's a creamier sparkling and it's a lovely pairing with scallops.
The Tasting Room


Second course: Mayan Jaguar lettuce, beets, salted pinenut brittle, fennel puree
2013 Emmerich Knoll Gruner Veltliner
The Tasting Room
This is the first time seeing this lettuce variety and I liked it! Here, the lettuce was very fresh and crisp. The beet was tender and sweet while the pinenut brittle gives it the saltiness and crunch. There's a nice balance of flavors and textures in this salad.

Coddled egg, polenta, nora spice, roasted tomato vinaigrette, Hannah's flowers
The Tasting Room
The lovely bowl inspired the chef to make this dish, which was probably my favorite of the night. Just the nora spice (the chile typically used to make paprika) and the tomato vinaigrette were enough to give the creamy polenta a lot of flavors.

Rabbit and truffle roulade, sorrel, jus, baby vegetables, purslane
The Tasting Room
The roulade was paired with a 2013 Calnite Saint Pourcain rouge from Loire, France.
The Tasting Room
One of the more interesting and better rabbit dishes I've had, the roulade's wrapped around a chewier skin.

We ended with a dessert of Coconut cake, currant sauce, mascarpone ice cream, currant dust, gooseberries. This was paired with a tiki drink, Living on the Midnight, a riff on Painkiller. The cocktail consisted of housemade coconut liqueur, Diplomatico Reserva rum, muddled basil, pineapple juice, lime juice, nutmeg
The Tasting Room
The currant dust is made by drying it overnight and pulsing with salt, giving the dish a nice crunchy component. I have to say I'm partial to desserts being paired with cocktails!

Overall the dinner at The Tasting Room was great. They will launch on July 29 with a special wine dinner for $85 (5 courses including wines), but normally the tasting menu will run $65 for 5 courses and $25 for the wine pairing. The menu rotates every 2 weeks, and be sure to reserve early as there are only 20 seats.

51 Lincoln
51 Lincoln St
Newton, MA 02461
(617) 965-3100
http://thetastingroomat51lincoln.com/
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