I went to Stir in Boston, last week. Stir is Barbara Lynch’s “kitchen” eatery… it is a particpatory dining experience where you sit (all 12 at the most) around the kitchen island and the chefs cook in front of you explaining as they go. I suppose that this kind of casual interaction would not appeal to everyone, but I had a blast. The menu that night was from a cookbook called ‘Urban Italian’ by Andrew Carmellini.
We had a Calamari Salad to start, Meatballs (not at all typical they have foie gras in them), Ligurian Bass which was nice but not outstanding, and gnocchi with Lamb Ragu. The deal with the Gnocchi is that Andrew makes his with a baked potato and Barbara makes hers with the traditional boiled potato. We had both for a taste test and I think everyone acknowledged that the boiled potato was lighter, and better flavored.
Here is the link to Stir- if you are interested. I recommend it to those who are into casual evenings where you do in fact think a bit with your dinner.
