Ten Tables

Ten Tables
597 Centre Street
Jamaica Plain, MA 02130
www.tentables.net/main.html

Note: This dinner took place on November 19, 2007.

Vichu's View:
To celebrate Char’s Birthday, a group of us went to Ten Tables, a restaurant in Jamaica Plain that reminds me of Bistros in France; an intimate place where friends can find a good meal, a nice glass of wine, and interesting conversation. On that note I’d like to first of all extend my apologies to all of Char’s friends, for having to witness what is mostly a two person ritual of food blogging. We do shamelessly eat off each other’s plates, and we (or at least try not to) talk about the food at the table so as to not affect each other’s opinions.

The first thing you notice when you enter Ten Tables is how small the restaurant is! It has exactly enough space for 10 tables with very little room to spare. When you’ve gotten over the slightly claustrophobic feel of the place it’s very much like dining in your friend’s living room, it has a great mix of friendly and eclectic chic. The space is also dominated by the open kitchen in the back of the restaurant where two chefs are working in a symphony of food production. The waiters are super friendly and work with the competency of a well-oiled machine. The water was refilled with regularity we only had to ask for water once, and our waiter took our orders without having to write it down (that’s a pretty nifty skill for a person to develop, it doesn’t break up the flow of people ordering; adds to the dining experience without people actually noticing).

Once the orders were taken they brought us a complimentary shot of almond gazpacho as an amuse. I took a sip expecting to be delighted by an almondy concoction but ended up being quite shocked! All I could taste was a garlicky yogurt concoction, not what I was expecting at all. The gazpacho reminded me of a thin Tzatziki sauce for gyros, which is a good thing because I love gyros, but I’m sure about the idea of drinking just the sauce. Overall I liked the amuse but I think it could have been a lot subtler, rather than a “I’m going to kick the living daylights out of your taste buds” concoction, especially as a first course.

We ordered two appetizers: the Charcuterie Plate du Jour and the Housemade Orecchiette with Rock Shrimp, Pancetta and Black Pepper (actually a main but what the heck). The Charcuterie was a plate of sliced sausage that resembled pepperoni, and was excellent. It was a mix of salty, smokey and spicy with the right amount of porkyness. The candied walnuts were also a nice touch. The Orecchiette however was a different story; it wasn’t bad it was just odd. The pasta itself was a bit gummy, and the dish was topped with what I think was fine bread crumbs that had a really sandy consistency, a couple mouthful had me wondering; wow how did they get Pop Rocks to be savoury… The rock shrimp was cooked perfectly, nice and tender and had an excellent mouth feel. Overall the dish was over seasoned and really overwhelmed the ingredients.

We both had the Coulotte Steak with Celery Root, Radicchio, Marrow Bone and Salsa Verde for dinner. What sold us was the marrow bone, you’ll have to read what Char has to say about the marrow bone though, it was her birthday so I gave her mine (Happy Birthday). The steak itself was an odd combination of being cooked perfectly and overcooked. The center of the meat was cooked to a perfect medium rare, but the crust was overcooked. The center was really enjoyable but the crust was a bit too crusty and on the chewy side. The steak was overwhelmed by both the celery root and salsa verde, and seasoned very unevenly. Some bites had a perfect amount of salty and acid and others were completely bland. Overall I did enjoy the dish despite its oddities.

For dessert we ordered the Hot Chocolate with Shortbread Cookies and the Bay Leaf Infused Flan. The Flan was quite good, but I didn’t really notice the bay leaf, probably overwhelmed by the caramel. The texture of the flan was a bit tight, not quite as silky as I like it but overall I would order this dessert again. The hot chocolate dessert was an interesting mix of an excellent cookie combined with a hot chocolate was an assault on the palette. Maybe they were trying to recreate the original Aztec chocolate drink served to Montezuma… The concoction was too bitter and salty for my taste, however, it did have a very interesting citrus note; but that was nowhere near enough to save the awful tasting drink.

I like this place and would definitely eat here again. The menu items were a bit hit and miss but overall on the good side.

Char's View:
For my 26th Birthday, I decided that I wanted to have a nice, sit-down dinner with a small group of close friends. I'd been to Ten Tables once before and had a nice meal the first time so I thought I would try them again for this occasion. The restaurant offers a changing menu with the season and they cook with ingredients that are local to the area. I've dealt with Krista Kranyak (owner of Ten Tables) before over the phone and e-mail and found her to be quite abrasive and not all that accommodating. I suppose you don't really have to be accommodating when you own your own small and acclaimed restaurant, but it would have been a little nice. But once you step in, the front of the house and the waitstaff are perfectly pleasurable.

Once my party arrived and we were seated, we were treated to an amuse bouche of almond gazpacho. It had a very nice consistency and reminded me of Chinese almond milk, but once you took the shot of it, it tasted more like garlic soup. Many of the guests at my table ended up dunking their bread in it which I would say was a more appropriate use of that amuse.

Vichu and I of course shared our appetizers of charcuterie and the housemade orecchiette with rock shrimp, pancetta and black pepper. The charcuterie was heavenly! They chose some very good meats to put on and complimented it with candied walnuts. One of the meats tasted a lot like Chinese sausage. The portion was a little small for two to share though and next time I would definitely throw down for a plate of my own. The orecchiette was the first thing on the menu to catch my eye and once it hit my tongue I was a little underwhelmed. I don't remember much pancetta in the dish and the black pepper was overwhelming. Had they seasoned it right, I think the dish would have been a great marriage of flavors. I mean, who doesn't love orecchiette, rock shrimp, and pancetta?

For the entree, we both ordered our own coulotte steak with celery root, radicchio, marrow bone, and salsa verde. I LOVE bone marrow. Of course when your Asian parents cook it at home, it's always in soup and not as tasty. I was surprised to see it on an American menu. The plate arrived with a bone marrow to the side of our steak and small little spoon for the marrow. Yum! Who knew they made spoons small enough to scrape out all the goodness of the marrow. It was super hot and burned my tongue so once I let it cool off, I attempted another taste. If you've ever had bone marrow, it does taste a little fatty, but this version tasted like straight up fat with no flavor. I tried to pair it with the steak (which was a bit hard to swallow because of the overcooked outer shell) and it didn't really help.

Every Birthday needs dessert and since I was (secretly blogging) with Vichu, I got two! We ordered the hot chocolate with shortbread cookies and the bay leaf infused flan. The plating of the hot chocolate was as it should be, a small espresso cup with a thick, dark, hot chocolate and short bread discs on the side. When I took my first sip of hot chocolate, it was dark, bitter, thick, and slightly grainy. It had an awful after taste and I could not bear to swallow any more of it. I thought maybe dunking the shortbread cookies in it would even out the flavors. I ended up just eating the shortbread plain. I'm not a big cookie person but I will have to say the discs of shortbread were good. Crisp, but light and buttery. The flan was more like panna cotta. It wasn't as rich as I would have liked it.

Overall, I was a little underwhelmed by my second visit to Ten Tables. The food all sounded great but didn't wow me. It's a good thing I had such GREAT company to help me celebrate. The staff was wonderful, the food and wine decent, and all in all, a happy experience for turning 26!