Thursday Sips & Nibbles

I am back again with a new edition of Thursday Sips & Nibbles, my regular column where I briefly highlight some interesting wine and food items that I have encountered recently.
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1) Ring in 2011 with an Italian feast at Buca di Beppo.  On December 31, in addition to celebrating with Buca di Beppo’s regular menu offerings, Buca di Beppo will offer a five-course menu that includes your choice of an Antipasti, Insalate, Pasta, Entrée and Dessert along with a champagne toast and party favors. Price per person is $45, and since Buca di Beppo is family friendly, children aged 10 and under may dine for a special price of $20. This New Year’s Eve, Buca di Beppo’s Massachusetts locations will also feature live entertainment for the evening in the form of top-40 DJ’s spinning at the Lexington, Seekonk and Shrewsbury locations from 9 pm until 1 am. Buca di Beppo’s Dedham location will feature a very special strolling accordion player serenading guests from 9 pm until 1 am.

2) Join Towne Stove and Spirits to ring in their first New Year’s Eve this season. Co-Culinary Director Lydia Shire has specially created three dishes to be enjoyed on December 31 while toasting your loved ones.

The specials include:
--Picasso’s Plate of “Estate” Osetra Caviar 1 oz. on Delicate Rice .. Hot Buttered .. Potato Tart .. w/ many garnishes  ($65)
--Sole “Star” Raviolini w/ Fresh Pickled Florida Stone Crab .. Spoon of Crab Broth + Tangerine Oil ($30)
--Wood Roasted Long Bone Veal Chop w/ Chestnut Crepes .. Parmesan + Truffle Fonduta ($50)

3) Lolita Cocina & Tequila Bar has recently opened, located in a subterranean spot on Dartmouth Street between Boylston and Newbury. “We’re excited to create an upscale, decadent experience with the rock ‘n roll atmosphere usually associated with tequila and Mexican food,” say owners and siblings Christopher and Stephanie Jamison, who bring the Lolita concept from its roots in Greenwich, CT to Boston with Jody Pennette of the cb5 Restaurant Group. “Lolita Cocina & Tequila Bar is our way of tapping into that fun, sexy and spicy mystique while staying true to Boston’s refined sensibilities.”

Mexican food and tequila go hand in hand, so more than 200 tequilas make up the tequila menu, which is designed to educate and entertain everyone from the tequila novice to the connoisseur. Lolita’s tequila selection is served up, on the rocks or in six varieties of margarita mixed with wild agave and fresh citrus juices, available by the glass or pitcher. Lolita’s margarita selection includes the classic Lolita ($12/$44; Sauza ‘100 Years,’ Patron Citronage, fresh lime & grapefruit and pure cane syrup), the Broken Heart ($13/$48; Gran Centenario Rosangel, St. Germain, Patron Citronage, white grapes and fresh raspberries) and the Liquid Gold ($100; Patron Gran Platinum and Gran Patron Burdeos). The finest of Lolita’s tequilas, including the Cuervo Familia 250 Aniversario ($450/shot), are meant to be savored as one would a fine spirit, and are stored in the Tequila Cabinet, an oversized wooden armoire and focal point dividing the main bar and dining room.

There is also the Tequila Lounge, a "modern den of decadence" nestled into the back corner of the restaurant. A party atmosphere throbs from the tequila-sipping revelers setting up residence on the leather couches, banquettes and settees, or taking in the scene from the walk-up tequila bar, which is inlaid with black alligator skin tile and framed by elaborate, antique wrought-iron doors. Silent black & white Mexican films are projected onto the Lounge’s brick wall, lending an authentic visual to the tequila experience.

Lolita’s menu is a playful take on Mexican-inspired cuisine, interpreted using New England ingredients. Signature dishes include Crispy Masa Oysters ($11) featuring lightly fried East Coast oysters dusted with red chile masa & chipotle crema; Sangrita Ceviche ($12) of local lobster & scallops with fresh tomato, orange avocado and chile oil; Ancho-Orange Glazed Spiny Lobster Enchiladas ($MK) with fire-roasted corn, chipotle chiles and Monterey jack; and a Charred 18-oz Bone-in Rib Eye ($29) with charred pepper salad and caballero toothpicks.

For the last nine months, Chris and Stephanie Jamison scoured flea markets, antique shops and shows for the majority of Lolita’s interiors, including mid-19th century bricks salvaged from a North Carolina mansion that cover some of the walls and columns, and more than 150 feet of wrought-iron fencing used as handrails to delineate between the restaurant’s different spaces. Juxtaposing the mismatched wooden chairs and antique light fixtures of the dining room and bar sit the Tequila Lounge’s sleek banquettes in black and red leather, etched glass tables and a glossy tiled bar against a background of red velvet flocked wallpaper.

4) Join BiNA osteria for New Year's Eve and you can stop by the bar for two stuzzicare (appetizers) of your choice and a glass of bubbly or specialty warm cocktail for $20.10. Or, make a night of it with a three-course tasting menu ($65, 5-8PM) or six-course tasting menu ($105, 8-10PM). Call (617) 956-0888 for reservations.


3 Course Menu:
--Stuzzicare
Chilled winterpoint oyster, limoncello sorbetto, pickled sea bean
--Antipasto
Homemade cotecchino, with umbrian lentils, poached organic egg
--Secondi
Bone-in sirloin, hen of the woods mushrooms, roasted fingerlings, truffle zabaglione, bone marrow gremolata

Olive oil poached cod, celery root crema, pepperonata, cockles, citrus & almond salad
--Dolce
Semolina budino, hazelnut mousse, cocoa meringue & crystalized mint

6 Course Menu:.

--Stuzzicare
Chilled winterpoint oyster, limoncello sorbetto, pickled sea bean
--Crudo
Hiramasa, grapefruit, lardo & shaved horseradish
--Antipasto
Homemade cotecchino, with umbrian lentils, poached organic egg
--Primo
Crushed root vegetable tortelli, truffled parmigiano, chicken liver sauce
--Risotto
Milanese style risotto, saffron, lobster & foie gras of the sea
--Secondi
Bone-in sirloin, hen of the woods mushrooms, roasted fingerlings, truffle zabaglione, bone marrow gremolata

Olive oil poached cod, celery root crema, pepperonata, cockles, citrus & almond salad
--Dolce
Semolina budino, hazelnut mousse, cocoa meringue & crystalized mint
--Caffe
Frozen cappuccino, espresso granite, anise-infused zabaglione & malted milk foam