26th Birthday - Part 2! (No.9 Park)

Awesome restaurant experiences (hello, tasting menus!) have become an integral part of me and Tom's birthday gifts to each other. Going to a new restaurant and trying lots of different items is really one of my favorite things to do, and sometimes it is almost embarrassing how much joy it brings me!!

This year, Tom surprised me with a dinner reservation at No.9 Park, the last of the restaurants in the Barbara Lynch Gruppo for us. Sad! Here are links to some of our other Barbara Lynch experiences:

Stir
B&G Oysters

Sportello
Menton

No. 9 Park is Barbara's flagship restaurant, so it's kind of funny that it's the last one we tried. Located downtown right next to the Boston Common, the restaurant looks and feels much like it did when it opened over 15 years ago. The interior feels a bit like an upscale steak house -- white tablecloths cover the tables like Menton, but it's slightly more casual. We were sat quickly at a corner table in the back room, which held only about seven or eight tables and had a staff of seven or eight solely for the small space. I knew immediately we were in for some great service!

As it's a birthday tradition, we decided to go all out and have the tasting experience. Only way to go in my opinion! :) We started with a few cocktails, some incredible homemade bread, and some obligatory birthday oysters:

After only a few minutes, the courses started rolling out!

First course: Roasted cauliflower with peekytoe crab, caviar and avocado

Second course: Grilled swordfish, tagglasca olives, tomato, bottarga

Third course: Tagliatelle, burgandy escargot, artichoke, pancetta

Fourth course (supplemental, me and Tom shared this): Prune-stuffed gnocchi, foie gras, almond, vin santo

Fifth course (supplemental, me and Tom shared this): Seared foie gras de canard, baklava, pine nut, rhubarb

Sixth course: Bekrshire pork two ways, green tomato, English pea, horseradish

Seventh course: Sirloin of beef, pommes rubochon, spruce, procini

Palette cleanser: cucumber "pimm's cup"

Eighth course: Apricot tarte tatin, ginger, thyme, almond

They even put my name on it!

Final sweet bites with the check: chocolate fudge and pistachio macaroons

As expected, No. 9 Park did not disappoint! From start to finish, the food and service were top of the line and well worth the wait! Like Menton, the No. 9 Park tasting menu should be reserved for more special occasions (for us regular folk at least), but they do have a more affordable price fixe menu and a regular menu that sounded great.

Food wise, I really loved all of the dishes and it was hard to do my usual immediate rankings! My favorites were the first cauliflower course, the foie gras course, the tagliatelle and escargot (surprise, I like escargot!) and the beef course. I also really liked the palette cleanser and the dessert! The pork and the gnocchi were my least favorite -- pork is just not my thing and Tom and I agreed the gnocchi was a little overcooked. Overall, everything was executed and presented so well!

If you have never done a tasting menu, No. 9 Park could be the right one for you. It was the perfect combination of comfort, variety and creativity. 

Thank you TKO for being the best! <3