A movie and dinner. A perfect way to spend Christmas Eve with L and M.
The movie – Rust and Bone. A Belgian-French film. It’s a complex love story, tough but riveting. It left us sitting in our seats for a few minutes because we had to digest what we’d just seen. It’s not a kid’s movie. Marion Cotillard plays a woman who trains killer whales and is involved in an accident at a marineland in Antibes, France in which she loses both legs. She has to learn how to deal with her new reality. Enter a man she has previously met in a bar who’s a kick-boxer and struggling to find work and support a son. Together they seem to find a common ground and without giving anything away, this is the basic story. It is directed by Jacques Audiard who also directed The Prophet, another complex movie that if you haven’t seen, you should.
The dinner – West Bridge – luckily we found them not only open but they had a table for four and a great Christmas Eve buzz was going on. West Bridge is one of the bright stars in the Boston/Cambridge restaurant scene this year. And now having been, I can tell you why. Looking at the menu you feel you’re in an episode of Chopped. The chef is given a list of ingredients that seem not to work together but they do. You have to be daring and trust that what you order will be great and it is.
The restaurant is casual, a big loft like space. We settled in and ordered drinks; for me a delicious Muscadet.
The menu is divided between tastings, small, large and sharing orders.
To begin, the chef sent out an amuse bouche, a little glass of his take on vichyssoise. It was a good indication of what was to come.
First up on the table was a shared order of broccolini with cheese, fennel and anchovy. See what I mean? Would you prepare broccolini with those ingredients? Probably not but I can tell you that it worked and we devoured it.
L, M and I all had the monkfish with chorizo, turnip and baby brussel sprouts. The monkfish had a nice crust which gave it a good texture with the moist fish.
Roy had some small plates one of which was the crispy pig’s head with pickled rutabaga and a mustard aioli; yes, you read that right, pig’s head. I envisioned the head of the pig coming out and asked the waiter what the preparation was. The meat was formed into a patty and then pan fried, nice and crispy. I just couldn’t bring myself to taste it but Roy loved it.
Dessert, s’mores in a glass. Delicious, layered chocolate, marshmallow and graham crackers. Really yummy!
Oh, and a little take away for Christmas. A bag with homemade chocolate chip cookies. Nice touch!
I can tell you that West Bridge is worth the hype. Give it a try.
See you at the bar….
