A few blocks off the beaten path in a garden level location that makes it perfect for a quiet dinner or a “secret” rendezvous is the warm glow of Gaslight. Helmed by Chef Christopher Robins, this subtly glamorous bistro mixes warm woods with cool marble, high ceilings and low murmurs, monochromatic staff uniforms with colorful personalities and some of the most complementary cuisine combinations in town.
Taking a turn off Harrison Avenue down a brick tunnel that was apparently imported from Chicago (the address of 218 Wabash Avenue was apparently the showroom for the building’s former tenant- a piano factory), guests pass through a red velvet curtain that serves not as a barrier but rather as a welcome to a stylish place that hearkens back to other times and places while remaining totally of the moment. The front area offers numbered wine cellars and even a pre-smoking ban shoppe tabac behind the well-stocked, gently gleaming bar at which Boston’s savvy soiree-ers make their own scene. The dining area offers patina-streaked mirrors and gleaming white tiles that, along with the shelves of beautiful bottles of Continental cocktail creators, reflects the angular street lights and sets off the distressed floors and wood and riveted leather seats as ceiling fans keep the fragrances and the conversation circulating.
The beverage menu includes both an impressive standard and reserve wine list, as well as an international offering of draught and bottled beers. Before or after your meal, enjoy
An appropriately-served glass of Cognac and Armagnac, Eaux de Vie, Calvados, or any of the creative Cocktails de la Maison, including the Pierrot, the Fleur de Lis or a seasonal sangria.
To begin your meal, the hearty crock of French onion soup with truffled beef short rib is always a good bet, as is the simple and refreshing mixed lettuces or even a first-course fondue with pork sausage and fontina cheese. Gaslight also offers a full raw bar that ranges from fried mussels and escargots to littlenecks and other fruits de mer. In addition to the de rigeur (but so much more!) Streak frites, the list of plats principaux includes a short rib tagliatelle, a “bar steak”, a Berkshire pork chop with braised cabbage and apple pan drippings, luscious sweet potato and sage agnolotti and a fennel crusted tuna that explodes with flavors, each of which enhances the others (as is so often the case with Robins’ work). In addition to a rotisserie of daily specials that ranges from Monday’s steak au poivre to Friday’s roasted and braised lamb, Chef Robins also reveals his Franco-American flair with occasional offerings that include a sweetly complex and creamy sweet potato bisque that is often offered as a special starter (and that is worthy of being sopped clean with Gaslights’ fresh baguette) and a popcorn-savory saddle of sole that is just this side of a religious experience!
As you linger with friends, colleagues, or people you hope to be friends (and NOT just in the artificial facebook sense), enjoy one of Gaslight’s variety of flavored cafés or a chocolate chaud that is made with love (and has the heart-shaped dollop of fresh and cool whipped cream to prove it!) Or another glass of wine, port, or sherry. And what better to wash down with these delicious digestifs than
A plate of hand-made rich chocolate beignets, a ramekin of crème brulée, a lemon soufflé or one of the acclaimed plates of artisan cheeses with all the fixins?
Though it may be far from France and a ways from Wabash Avenue, Gaslight combines the panache of French bistro with the cosmopolitan charm of the city in a place where it is nice to take on one while getting a bit away from the other. So the next time you want to turn the lights down low and enjoy the warmth of hand-crafted food, head on down to Gaslight.
Gaslight
560 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA
617 422 0224