Honestly, by the end of January, I am ready for winter to be over. It is such a long month that it feels like it will never end. My husband on the other hand is just getting excited about the season as he plans his ski days until the end of March. So, while he does that…I will be planning our nights out as we continue to work through the top 50. January has been a very busy month. Long days at work and many family obligations have left little time to go out for dinner, but we did manage to squeeze in 2 of the top 50.

1/15/2023: #47

I was really excited to try #47: Deuxave since French cuisine is one of my favorites. Paris is one of my favorite cities in the world and I could imagine myself living there for a period of time once retirement sets in. My husband and I often dream about what we will do once our children have moved out and we are retired. He has this grand plan to spend 6 months or so in different parts of the world through home exchange. I can easily get on board with this.

When you think of French Cuisine, you may think of staples that include duck, foie gras, steak frites, and of course wine. The cuisine at Deuxave is rather unfussy…yet perfectly french. This meal was especially wonderful because I shared it with my husband and my best friend, who also shares a love of food, wine and travel with us. The atmosphere at Deuxave is subtle, with it’s tones of gray and browns. The perfect place for a late-night dinner.

The wine list is a little overwhelming and pricey…we had some help choosing a bottle from the staff, but we could not have dinner at a French bistro without a bottle of Burgundy. We started with cocktails and the Foie Gras set atop a miso cake with Asian pear. A pleasant surprise was the amuse-bouche of leek and parsnip soup that arrived to the table…so very French. The wine made a perfect pairing for the herb-crusted cod with potato-crab coquettes, mussels, turnip and bok-choy; the pumpkin ravioli with apple, mushroom and Swiss-chard and the macadamia-crusted tuna served with rainbow carrots atop a red chili coconut potage. There was no rush through dinner as we drank wine, ate and talked about life and the future. It was a glorious Sunday evening.

We tried almost every dessert on the menu. The coconut panna cotta with kumquat chips and a coconut sorbet; the chocolate ganache with blood orange & passion fruit sorbet and my personal favorite, the cranberry tarte.

All in all, I highly recommend Deuxave for a night out. I actually would have ranked it higher than 47 on the top 50!

1/27/2023: #28

There is nothing I love more than an impromptu night out for dinner so I was thrilled with our last minute decision to try #28: Sycamore. My husband has been traveling so much, I actually had to make a dinner reservation just so we had some uninterrupted time to coordinate our busy calendars for February!

Sycamore is a cozy little bistro in Newton Centre. It was warm and inviting with it’s bench seating and view of the kitchen. The menu is small and I am guessing changes regularly because none of the items described in the magazine were on the menu. That being said, we were not disappointed. I had more trouble picking a cocktail than dinner. I ended up choosing a cranberry Collins.

We started with chorizo croquettas which was the perfect appetizer. I opted for toasted barley and mushroom soup and winter citrus salad for dinner while my husband had the Atlantic cod cakes which were crispy and served with a chorizo salsa verde and fingerling potatoes. We ended the evening with marcona almond cake which had blood orange compote and mascarpone on the side.

I would definitely come here again. It was easy to get to and there was ample street parking, so this is a place that would also make a great mid-week after work date night!