While it is one of Boston’s finest eateries, the acclaimed Beacon Hill Bistro (www.beaconhillhotel.com) may not be the first place you think of when it comes time to plan your next seder. And yet, under the watchful eye of Chef Josh Lewin, it may be more appropriate than you might think! After all, Chef Lewin’s 2013 Passover dinner was one of the highpoints of the gastronomic season, and this year is sure to be even better!
On April 14 and 15 from 5:30 to 11 PM, Lewin will take another brief break from his French-inspired Bistro creations to celebrate the season in a way that combines tradition and twists. Using recipes derived from Lewin’s beloved Bubbe combined with his an international inspiration and his usual cornucopia of organic and locally-sourced ingredients, the BHB Passover meals will begin with a matzo bread service (in place of the BHB’s famed fresh-made chametz) and feature such Pesadik-style options as matzo ball soup with chicken consommé, matzo brei with salmon roe and grilled ramps
braised beef brisket with melted red cabbage and sunchoke latke, and Turkish Passover cake with walnuts, orange and almond milk gelato and Sephard-friendly rice pudding with Egyptian charoset brittle and herbed figs.
“We just wanted to share some of the flavors of the holiday with Beacon Hill,” Lewin explains
Though he calls Boston home, Lewin traces his gastronomic roots far and wide. Introduced to the wonders of smoked meats and pickled herring by his great aunt in Montreal, Lewin began to tend his own garden around the time of his bar mitzvah, studying tomatoes with the same passion with which he studied Torah. “The flavors and ideas are childhood memories,” he explains, “but we’ve taken all that family tradition and put it through the process and attention to detail that we do here every day for any other cuisine.”
Taking ideas and ingredients from local farmers and far off lands, Lewin has served in the BHB kitchen since 2010. And while he enjoys every new recipe and meeting every new guest, Lewin can now hold a special place in his heart and on his menu for Passover,
“Passover is a fun holiday in terms of cuisine for a lot of reasons,” he observes, “but one of the really fun parts is that you are right here butting up against two seasons. All of that change is easily reflected in the traditional Passover meal.”
As so many other restaurants have added matzo-based menus, Lewin suggests that there may be a trend afoot.
“I guess we were on to something that people were missing.,” he says. “We have a full dining room every year!”