About 6 months ago I started to see a new name coming up in a number of food-related articles and "best of" lists: Asta. I had never heard of Asta before, nor had I heard of the chef/owner Alex Crabb. After seeing that Asta was a James Beard semifinalist for Best New Restaurant in 2014 and that the Boston Globe had awarded Chef Crabb the honor of "best new chef", I decided to add it to my long list of restaurants to try.
And here's what really drew me in, and what ultimately made me decide to book Tom's surprise birthday dinner at Asta:
"Right now, Asta might be the city’s best chef showcase. The bar faces directly onto the kitchen, offering an up-close view of Crabb and his team at work. The former L’Espalier sous chef serves nothing but tasting menus, which range from beautifully homey (three courses) to wonderfully creative (five courses) to all-out adventuresome (eight courses). Each illuminates Crabb’s talent from a different angle."
I made us a reservation at 7 o'clock on Saturday night and requested the chef's counter for our seats. I was a little nervous about this, as I sometimes find chef's counters can be a little invasive/awkward and stools make me uncomfortable in general. I was so excited when we arrived on Saturday and were taken to Asta's chef's counter. Instead of a bar right on top of the chefs, starting a few feet away two counters were angled toward the kitchen. There were four seats to a counter and we had a spectacular view of the all of the action and especially the plating area. It was so incredibly cool.
As soon as we sat down we were given some complimentary sparkling wine. Such a nice touch! Asta only offers tasting menus -- either 3, 5 or 8-courses with pescetarian and vegetarian options for the 5-course. What is unique to Asta is that diners in the same party can choose whatever option they'd like. With every tasting menu Tom and I have done we've had to order the same option -- not a terrible thing when the food is so delicious, but I can see how Asta's options would be really appealing to a lot of different people. After all, not everyone wants 8 courses (I can't imagine why)! We decided to order both the 5-course and 8-course options since they featured entirely different menus. We also, of course, opted in for the additional foie gras course. Who can say no to foie gras??
Our meal started with an amuse bouche: house made ritz cracker with jam and lardo. It was a perfect, decadent first bite.
While we waited for our courses to arrive, we ordered some beers. I was happy that Asta had a nice beer list and went with the Rochefort Trappist. Tom ordered the Orval.
The kitchen did a fantastic job timing our meal. I was unsure of how they would handle bringing out our meal since we had mixed the two tasting options, but they really did a perfect job! I'm going to describe the dishes as we ate them, but oftentimes two of the plates came out together.
First plate: Warm oyster with turnip and peppers. I always love a good oyster, but I definitely prefer raw, cold oysters over warm ones. While I enjoyed this in the moment, looking back this was probably the most forgettable course of the evening.
Second plate: Cauliflower, trout roe, mushrooms, lemon sauce, fried capers. I didn't expect to love a dish centered around cauliflower, so I was shocked out how much I enjoyed this. It was flavorful and the fried capers gave the dish a fun, crunchy, salty pop.
Third plate: Salt cod on a toasted crostini with carrot slaw, mustard seed, micro greens and olive oil. Since our trip to Iceland Tom has been just a bit obsessed with salt cod. I think this dish may have given Iceland a real run for its money! I also really enjoyed this dish, but it totally stole the show for Tom. One might even say the cod was so good it was tear-inducing!
Fourth plate: Monk fish in a bacon broth with brussels sprouts and pickled mustard seed. This was one of my favorite courses of the night. The bacon broth was amazing -- I was literally spooning it into my mouth! The fish was perfectly cooked and I even really enjoyed the pickled mustard seeds!
Fifth plate: Beef heart, bitter greens, pickled pumpkin, sunflower butter and seeds. Probably the most creative combination of the evening, the beef heart was delicious. I would never dream to pair it with pumpkin, sunflower, and greens, but that's why I'm not a professional chef! The bitter greens were just a little too bitter for my palette, but overall this was an enjoyable, surprising dish.
Sixth plate: Braised celery, chicken skin, black gnochi, duck confit. Ladies and gents, let me introduce you to the star of the meal. This signature dish is like a deconstructed chicken soup. Chef Crabb came over to our seats right as we were given this plate and I noticed that our black gnocchi were missing! He immediately went back to the kitchen and whipped us up a little plate with the gnocchi plus some extra chicken skin (that's why you see two separate plates below). But seriously, this dish was heaven. I'd go back to Asta just for this plate!
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| Photo taken after we cut it up, it looked much prettier! |
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| Doesn't look very appetizing but this is a plate of serious goodness! |
We were also served some doughy bread with butter during this course. We each got our own little plate
Eighth plate: Seared foie gras, huckleberry, gingerbread and citrus. As expected, I loved the foie gras course. Having foie is such a treat, and it goes perfectly well with fruit and citrus. I had to be careful with my bites because the gingerbread could easily overtake the flavor of the foie gras if it was too large of a piece. This cinnamon and citrus notes on this dish almost made it feel like dessert!
Ninth plate: Crispy duck with lentils and fermented rutebaga. The duck was another excellent plate. The lentils had just enough spice, and the duck skin was so incredibly crispy (while watching the chefs cook we were shocked at how long the duck was on the grill on one side). The duck was definitely one of Tom's favorites of the night.
Tenth plate: beef with kale and kale foam. Although the picture is dark, this dish tasted as bright as it looked. The beef was cooked perfectly, and I absolutely loved the kale foam. Tom wasn't overly impressed by this dish, but it was one of my favorites.
Eleventh Plate: Roasted sunchoke, black mushroom puree, thyme oil. This dish was small but packed a huge punch of flavor. I'm pretty sure I've never eaten sunchoke before, so I was impressed out how delicious it was.
Twelfth Plate: Carrot soup with coconut. We were both skeptical when we saw this on the menu. Carrot soup with coconut? Yuck. Once again, we were blindsided by how delicious this little dessert was. We both happily slurped it down.
Thirteenth Plate: Black sesame cream puff with smoke maple syrup. It was so fun to break open this cream puff! The cream was delicious, and the flavor reminded me a bit of the dessert I had at Kitchen Kibitz last month. Tom favored this dessert, while I favored the next one...
Fourteenth Plate: Pavlova with passion fruit, blood orange and olive oil. Yum! This was such a refreshing way to end the meal. The citrus was delicious and paired perfectly with the pavlova. Loved it!!
Which the check, we were given some signature sweet treats. How cute is that little rabbit cracker?
Besides the incredible food, what I really loved most about Asta was sitting at the chef's counter. I truly felt like we were a part of the team. The front of house lady and our server (who also is a co-owner), the sommelier, and all of the chefs were constantly interacting with us. While the service didn't compare to the likes of Menton or Clio, I really felt like the experience was a unique one.
Case in point: as we finished up Chef Crabb came over to me and Tom to ask how we enjoyed the meal, say goodbye, etc. He asked us if we wanted something (I couldn't hear what) and ran back into the kitchen. I had no idea what was going on, and was surprised when he came back with 3 glasses and a bottle of Fernet. As he poured us shots, he told us people often end a meal with a minty gulp of Fernet. I had no choice but to take it. We clinked glasses and cheersed to an excellent meal. It was such a treat to share that moment with the chef, one I'll never forget!
