It was glorious

Who doesn't love date night? M and I do not seem to do this sort of thing enough. Why, I don't know. But, I told M that I would take him out anywhere he wanted for his birthday present. This was also a sneaky way by me to get a date night happening. We do love to go out to eat. Don't get me wrong - I love to cook but sometimes you need a night off and have a professional do it for you. There are so many new flavors, textures, and methods of cooking that I have yet to taste and I love discovering these out at a restaurant. M and I have joked that we have become food snobs. I don't know if this is necessarily true; we just love food and love it when it tastes good. Last night was no exception.

M was out one day and noticed this restaurant. He called me up and said hey, there's this new restaurant, we should check it out. So, I looked it up on the internet and took a look at the menu. Looked very nice so M decided this is where he wanted to go for his birthday dinner. This restaurant has only been open six weeks so we found out last night while chatting with the waiter. It is the first and only restaurant as we actually weren't sure if it was a chain. We were glad to find out it wasn't. It is called Beacon Grille and it is in the new Trade Center in Woburn. I must also apologize that there are no pictures. I forgot my camera but also didn't want to be that annoying person taking pictures in the middle of dinner. Forgive me? You will just need to go there yourself. And you should.

We weren't sure if we would get seated right away as it was after 6pm on a Saturday night. But we were lucky and got to our table right away. It was kind of in the middle of the restaurant near the waiter's station but surprisingly, it was pleasant. We were also in line to get a full view into the open kitchen which is always cool. Sometimes I feel better about an open kitchen because even though there is a standard of cleanliness required in a restaurant kitchen, I feel like an open one enforces it more. Anyway, the ambiance of the whole restaurant was very soothing and the acoustics were fabulous. You know how some restaurants are just so loud and you can hear everything and feel the need to shout to the person next to you? Yeah, this place was not like that. It was pretty quiet considering there was an open kitchen.

The waiter was very attentive and explained the menu and also their special menu with different entrees and wine pairings. Oh, yes, there is wine. We were brought a basket of flatbread crackers and these oatmeal-cranberry rolls. Those were very tasty and tender. The menu was mostly American fare and it all sounded delicious. I ordered a glass of Bodega Septima cabernet sauvignon from Argentina. It was lovely. Very smooth. M likes to sample the clam chowder at pretty much everywhere he goes but last night, he went with the crock of french onion soup. It was all cheesey and bubbly. It was a classic intrepretation with melty grueyere all over the top. It was tasty. M wasn't sure it was the best he ever had but he enjoyed it all the same. I opted out of getting a soup. I wanted to make sure I had room for the actual meal and I was very glad I held out.

We did order the calamari appetizer though. It was marinated in buttermilk and lightly breaded and fried to crispy perfection. It was served with a Thai chili dipping sauce and it was heavenly. We ate the whole darn platter. But, my main entree was the star of my dinner. On the special menu, there was an entree of jumbalaya which M chose. It came over rice and was loaded with shrimp, chicken, and andouille sausage. There was also a pile of fried okra and it was all smothered in a smokey, spicy sauce. It was declicious and M loved it. He said he was in the mood for something spicy and he certainly got it. Me, I was in the mood for lamb and they had something that sounded amazing. It was a bleu cheese crusted rack of New Zealand lamb and it was cooked to perfection. I ordered medium; I got medium. There was a bourbon demi glace with some wild mushrooms that was served with the lamb and there were the best darn au gratin potatoes I have ever eaten. It was all topped off with some crispy onion strings. It was glorious. The lamb was melt in your mouth tender and the potatoes were creamy and sinful. I mentioned also that I could have swam in the bourbon demi glace. It was the best lamb dish I have ever had - no joke. M said that while he loved his, I certainly out ordered him. We skipped dessert because our stomachs were busting but there were some tasty sounding dishes on their dessert menu. Maybe next time. Because there will be a next time, and a next time, and a next time.