Cuisine:

• French
• Diner
• Fine Dining
• Contemporary
• Others

L'Espalier Description:
A fine dining establishment, owned by chef Frank McClelland, L'Espalier was previously located in a townhouse in the Back Bay. In late 2008, L'Espalier moved to the newly-opened Mandarin Oriental hotel. The cuisine is contemporary French with some New England influences.
Dining is prix fixe, with the option of the regular menu or a degustation menu.
Moving around the corner to the Mandarin Oriental, Boston, hasn't changed much: Frank McClelland's French-inspired New American cuisine is still exquisitely built from impeccable local ingredients. Patrons still choose from prix-fixe and multi-course lunches and dinners at eye-popping prices, though few would challenge their value given the parade of topnotch local game, fish, shellfish and produce embellished with luxury flourishes like foie gras, all beautifully plated. (Vegetarian gourmands can dine exceptionally well here.) First courses may include chicken consommé with root vegetable chartreuse and black trumpet mushrooms while mains pair rack of Colorado lamb with brown butter gnocchi and parsnip purée, and whole Maine lobster with roasted red potatoes, chorizo and braised greens. Anything from the cheese cart, meanwhile, is sure to delight---overseen as it is by expert fromager Louis Risoli. Stylishly spare dining areas in austere gray and taupe tones dominate the space, while the book-lined back room provides a library-like oasis. The subtle, highly-polished service doesn't miss a beat, and a superb wine list rounds out the kind of experience most patrons reserve for big-number birthdays, anniversaries or business deals. But compared to its intimately scaled former home in a baronial Back Bay townhouse, the space looks luxe-hotel-generic, and the special-occasion atmosphere is marred by hotel guests in artfully distressed jeans and cashmere hoodies.


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