Back in December, Sah and I went to Clio to celebrate my promotion. Clio is one of the finest restaurants in Boston. It’s hard to characterize the cuisine… partly French with a heavy Japanese influence… and it’s ridiculously expensive. We had been there once before, a year or two earlier, and had phenomenal meals. Having been so impressed, I vowed the next time I went there to try the chef’s tasting menu. So when we went last month, I ordered exactly that. The waitress then politely informed us that it’s forbidden for only one person in a party to order a tasting menu. This was very disappointing to hear because, while I love to try new foods, Sarah… um… not so much. A chef’s tasting menu is Sarah’s kryptonite. You often don’t know what you’re getting before it arrives in front of you, and in a place like Clio, there’s a good probability of urchin, fois gras, etc.. So I said, OK give me a menu and I’ll order off of that. But Sarah, very selflessly, insisted that we both get tasting menus knowing full well that she wasn’t going to like much of what was being served.

I was not happy about that situation, so I had the maitre d’ over for a chat. Politely and profesionally, he said that the reason for this policy is that the chef’s tasting menu is a 3 hour, 12 course meal. If I were to order that and Sah did not, she would spend 30 minutes eating with me, and the remaining two and a half hours she would be watching me eat. In retrospect, I can understand the policy, but at the time, I wasn’t having it. I explained to him that it was problematic because my wife has, let’s say, a limited palette, we’re here to celebrate a special occasion, we’re about to spend a bajillion dollars (paraphrasing), and we’d appreciate anything that could be done to acommodate our circumstance.

So the maitre d’ tried to get a handle on Sarah’s likes and, far more numerous, dislikes. I won’t go into the details of all the food preference questions he asked of Sah, but her answer to 90% of his questions was, “No, sorry, I don’t like that either.” At several points, Sah said, “Really, don’t worry about it. We’ll both just order the tasting menu.” But this guy was undaunted. At no point did he show even the slightest trace of frustration. He kept asking until he had enough to work with, at which point he politely withdrew to the kitchen.

Some minutes later he exited the kitchen and turned to Sah. “We have a solution. I explained everything to the chef, and he has agreed to make you a personalized tasting menu of 12 courses.” He mentioned what a handful of the courses would consist of and the rest would be surprises. Sarah, in a philanthropic effort to ensure that I could have the tasting menu that I had been looking forward to, agreed to this special arrangement. If you’re at all familiar with Sarah’s narrow food preferences and general dread of things unknown, you’ll understand the depth of her sacrifice.

As it turned out, it was all fantastic. Sarah liked or loved pretty much everything she had. I’m sure she’ll have some specific comments below. The food was sublime and the service was stellar. We couldn’t thank the maitre d’ and chef enough. Easily one of the best meals I’ve ever had.

Thank you, Sarah!

I wrote down everything we had that night and it’s been pinned to our bulletin board since. Now I’ve listed it all on the next page if you want to see the insane number and complexity of dishes we enjoyed.

Keep in mind that as a tasting menu the portions are very small. It took us just under three hours to complete the meal.

Course 1: Apertif
Homemade sodas served in tiny glasses shaped like bud vases flavored with
Sah: Spruce (tastes like a Christmas tree smells).
Me: Hibiscus.

Course 2
Both: Tomato water martini (no alcohol) with caper berry, basil oil, and jicama.

Course 3
Sah: Beet puree salad and feta emulsion with quail egg, wasabi, pistachios, apple, and shallots.
Me: Oyster with Japanese mountain peach over ice.

Course 4
Each: Hearts of palm salad with tamarind sauce, avocado, and lamb’s tongue (aka: mache – a salad green, not meat).

Course 5
Sah: Herb salad with feta coulis and herb emulsion.
Me: Sea urchin and lobster soup with foam and chive.

Course 6
Each: Chestnut soup with foam and toasted chestnuts.

Course 7
Sah: Miso risotto with shaved white truffle and white truffle foam.
Me: Diver scallop pan-seared with calamari, pea tendrils, black truffle, foam, and parmesan touille.

Course 8
Sah: Tagliatelle with scallions and parmigiano reggiano.
Me: Laquered fois gras with exotic lentils and quince puree.

Course 9
Sah: Breast of chicken poached in olive oil, crisped skin, chanterelles, sage and fois gras tempura on a bed of barley and kuri squash.
Me: Venison loin, fois gras foam, fingerling potato puree, sprinkled with dark chocolate and broccoli leaves.

Course 10: Cheeses
Shared: Goat’s milk cheese with sage emulsion, cow’s milk cheese washed in walnut liquor, and a fig in lily liquor.

Course 11
Each: Chicory egg nog served in an eggshell.

Course 12
Shared: Caramelized brioche, chocolate sorbet, hazelnut praline, rose foam, with dark chocolate lollipops sprinkled with fleur de sel.