My one criticism is that the service was a little slow at first.
First impression: The beer selection seems lifted from a connoisseur's wish list. Very well selected but I wish I had been given a recommendation to pair with my meal and more of the selection was on tap. Most of the selection was bottled.
My wife had the fried a chicken with escargot and I had the grilled chicken with yogurt.
The fried chicken was by far the superior dish, but the grilled chicken satisfied me as well.
We had the tomatoes with ricotta, garlic, and balsamic vinaigrette as well as the carrots with molé. The molé was slightly bland compared to the mole I have had at home but I may be a little spoiled, being married to a native of Sonora and part Yaqui. I have the original recipe for molé from a woman who is full Yaqui (I will try to share this recipe with the chef of La Brasa only).
Making an authentic molé is a matter of mixing fresh versions of a certain specific mix of spices and is not readily shared usually. It was good but not even as flavorful as the mole available in a Mexican restaurant located at Powder House Square.
The tomato dish was nice mostly because it was evident that the tomatoes were absolutely organic/farm grown and weren't the genetically engineered monstrosities that we get at Stop & Shop. I wanted more basil on the dish overall, though. I imagine that Basil is kind of difficult to have on hand at all times in a restaurant setting because of how quickly it loses freshness. You essentially have to grow it on site to get the right flavor from it.
The chicken entrees we ordered were cooked to an astounding level of perfection. The grilled chicken was the most tender chicken I've ever had without an undercooked center. I wasn't that into the flavor of the grilled chicken (3.7/5) but could appreciate the skill that went into making it so tender.
The fried chicken with escargot had that salty sweet flavor known by the culinary scientists as the mailliard reaction" which results in an amazing, smokey aftertaste and sweet initial mouthfeel. Almost an orgasmic feeling as it washes through your mouth. I'm glad that we didn't forgo the escargot because I think they may have added a complexity to the flavor to the sauce.
Wikpedia:
"The Maillard reaction is a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars that gives browned foods their desirable flavor. Seared steaks, pan-fried dumplings, breads, and many other foods make use of the effect. It is named after French chemist Louis-Camille Maillard, who first described it in 1912 while attempting to reproduce biological protein synthesis.
The reaction is a form of nonenzymatic browning which typically proceeds rapidly from around 140 to 165 °C (284 to 329 °F). At higher temperatures, caramelization and subsequently pyrolysis become more pronounced.
The reactive carbonyl group of the sugar reacts with the nucleophilic amino group of the amino acid, and forms a complex mixture of poorly characterized molecules responsible for a range of odors and flavors. This process is accelerated in an alkaline environment (e.g., lye applied to darken pretzels), as the amino groups (RNH3+) are deprotonated and, hence, have an increased nucleophilicity. The type of the amino acid determines the resulting flavor. This reaction is the basis of the flavoring industry. At high temperatures, acrylamide can be formed.
In the process, hundreds of different flavor compounds are created. These compounds, in turn, break down to form yet more new flavor compounds, and so on. Each type of food has a very distinctive set of flavor compounds that are formed during the Maillard reaction. It is these same compounds that flavor scientists have used over the years to make reaction flavors."
For dessert, we both had afogatto's, expertly made by the house barista, Judson, who is just as much a world class expert on refined flavors as the chef here. Judson could run his own world class coffee shop, but he had brought his expertise here as part of the team and his restaurant. It's rare that you can have world class espresso along with a world class meal, but it's all available together here.
Tonight was one of the more enjoyable, decadent, and exotic meals my wife and I have had in a long, long time. We were utterly satisfied with the every part of the experience. I'm glad to have been introduced to such an original and refined fine dining spot on the other side of the Charles river other than Hungry Mother. I'll be back for the beef, pork, coffee, and fresh, farm grown ingredients. The staff really takes pride in providing their customers with quality and it is evident in every way right down to the care taken in designing an interesting, intimate space.
A+ even with my small molé quibble. I have no regrets other than not ordering a the same fried chicken my wife had, pork, or beef brisket for myself. La Brasa is DELICIOUS on a whole new level. read more