What Happens When Food Bloggers Come Together For Restaurant Week?

Let me paint you the picture.  There's a lot of excitement.  There's a lot of laughing (we're a really fun bunch), lots of smiles (we genuinely enjoy good food and great company, after all) and a lot of anxious silence as the plates are presented in front of us.  Then it's a lot of subtle little "snapping" of cameras go off in unison.  Let's just say, there's a lot going on!

Last night, six food bloggers (Fiona, Lara, Alicia, Jessie, PeteyPumpkin and myself) all met up for Restaurant Week at Sportello, owned by famed Boston chef, and my personal favorite, Barbara Lynch.  This tiny little restaurant sits in a recently booming part of town, the Seaport District.  When you first walk into Sportello, it's got a whole retro 1950's diner vibe meets modern haute cuisine couture.  With a very clean bright feel, the emphasis is on the food and rightly so.

With it being restaurant week and all, we all took advantage of the special, a three course dinner for $33.10.  To start, we were warmed up with a hearty serving of soft and fresh bread that was accompanied by a little dish of whipped ricotta, drizzles of olive oil and fig.  It was a nice little twist to the average bread and butter.

Next, we were surprised by an amuse-bouche, which is a fancy word for a chef selected bite-sized appetizer that you get with your meal.  This consisted of salmon and red onions delicately piled onto a tiny little toast.  It was deliciously rich in oniony flavor.

Next up was, in my opinion, the star of the show, the corn soup.  This was no ordinary soup.  Oh no.  This was something magical.  It was so rich in corn flavor, I left wondering how she packed in so much corn flavor into one little bowl.  And the texture!  Oh the texture.  It was frothy and balanced on top of this fluffy foam of yum was a wild mushroom that appeared to be soaked in vinegar, providing a great contrast to the meal.  Simply put, this was what all corn soups should strive to be like, this was simply fantastic.

Once that was finished (it took a very good deal of strength to restrain myself from licking the bowl), I was presented with a beautiful steak slices that was complete with crunchy little flakes of sea salt.  The slices were resting on a small bed of thinly sliced potatoes and wild mushrooms along with bright green drizzles of pesto.  The steak was cooked perfectly, with a crispier exterior that had a soft and tender center.

And, if that weren't enough, a chocolate bread pudding square with a giant cloud of whipped cream and caramel sauce swirled around the plate were then placed in front of me.  Warm and densely rich, but not too sweet, it was a delightful little end to a supremely tasty meal.

This evening defines the word fantastic and I would certainly go back here (in fact, plans were made at the table to go back, and soon!)