A Canadian Foodie Meets Todd English in Boston at Olives!
Here’s the evidence! He won’t remember me. Good thing. I even looked worse that night than in this photograph, if that is possible!
“What’s your name?” he asked intently, with interest. “Valerie,” I answered with confident pride. “Just give me a minute,” he replied. A minute? No problem. After a phone call, a chat with a couple of people, he did generously find his way over to me waiting patiently. “What’s your name?” he asked again. “Valerie,” I mumbled somewhat incoherently this time. I remember a time in my life when my name was worth remembering the first time. Gosh. He probably didn’t even remember he had asked me my name less than five minutes before, but visiting his restaurant and finding him actually there was a highlight of my trip!
Can you tell I am more than a little stunned?
We had reserved for three our last evening in Boston and his original restaurant, Olives, was top on my list of things to do in Boston. Equal to the Freedom Trail, the MFA and the Isabella Stuart Gardner. Lauren was to meet us there and when we arrived he was actually there taping a show for a TV program he will be airing on Public Television. It was a raining and cold early spring evening the last day of March and I felt the sun shine on me! I immediately snuck up behind the crew and watched the interaction between he and one of his chefs in an intimate corner of the kitchen bar. My dear husband found his way to our table on his own enjoying watching my little moment of joy from a distance, I have no doubt.
The hostess at the restaurant was so gracious. After the taping of the Thai Episode, she asked him if I could take his photo which I was thrilled about. I was even more pleased when he said he would come around so I could have a photo with him. He is a substantial man. That did surprise me. He is very tall, and solid. I truly was interested in talking with him for a moment about his food and the experience I have had with some of his recipes. How naive of me. He was actually very gracious, but clearly not at all interested in having any kind of discussion with me. If only he knew who he was actually talking to and what I had to offer him! (big grin) In any case, I left him to his work and his crew and stumbled through the restaurant to our table by the window – but not before asking him if I could take a photo of just him. I was actually shaking at this point which honestly surprised me.
Yes, he looks like he has posed a few times before, but who cares? This time it was for me!
Lauren was arriving just as I sat down so I took some photos of her just so I could catch him floating around in the background. “Mom!” Isn’t she cute? The restaurant was fairly empty as we booked at 6 pm on a Monday evening as we were meeting Lauren’s friend at Finale’s later. When we left, it was a full house.
Isn’t she sweet?
The focaccia laden with caramelized onions was to die for and paired with the tepanades and the olives was absolute heaven. My husband, Vanja, does not care for olives at all, but was liberallly slathering the green mixture onto his bread and enjoyed that one immensely. (I eventually told him what he was eating.)The wait staff was superb and clearly enjoyed our apparent pleasure as we lapped up every flavourful morsel with gusto. We were not quiet about our pleasure.
Then, the oven roasted octopus and squid arrived. We did not expect this soupy presentation, but it was brilliant. The smokey charred flavour could only be created from the wood buring fire in the back of the kitchen and the broth and tidbits swimming in it were absolutely sumptuous. I have never been to a restaurant where I wasn’t confident that I could go home and prepare the same meal. Here, I was clearly out of my element, and the mystery and intrigue were compelling. My husband ordered this dish.
And I ordered the oysters for each of us to try one. I absolutely love them fresh and couldn’t resist ordering to try the homemade seafood sauce and have my daughter and my husband experience the freshness of the Atlantic. Lauren dug in, and did enjoy hers. Vanja wouldn’t even consider a wiff of one, so lucky me. I had two.
One straight up in its perfect simplicity. So clean. So fresh. And the other blanketed in the restaurant’s homemade sauce. We sampled all three and there was no comparison to theirs… but it was fun to sample. The greens on the plate are apparently seaweed. I had our server check twice. Obviously, it is a special kind of seaweed, but I wasn’t able to determine what it is called. It is beautiful… and tasty, too! (Of course I sampled a bud of it!)
Lauren got the Caesar Salad even though I tried to encourage her to order something else – anything else. What can be exciting about a Caesar? But, the salad had salty anchovies hidden within it and grilled radichio accompanied with an oven roasted tomato on it , all of which did add interest. I am not sure why it is on the menu, though. Everything else was completley unique. Maybe for the Lauren’s in the world.
My sweet husband, Vanja, and myself enjoying a moment between courses.
At this point, I am so satisfied, and so happy, and enjoying the flavours, the atmosphere, and the company so much nothing else is necessary. The sun has gone down, so my camera can no longer take photos that will do justice to the chef’s food, but I carry on. The moment must last, and I have to record it anyway I can. Lauren had the roasted chicken with some amazingly delicious potatoes. Vanja’s steak frites was so memorable he still talks about it.
I can’t eat meat, and it was a difficult choice for me, but had to taste the handcrafted pasta. There were three on the menu. The deconstructed lasagna was not a possibility, but I was able to have a half portion of the other two dishes and by the time I tasted each I was just about bouncing out of my seat. The brown butter with the butternut squash ravioli on the left was again indescribable. The pea tendrils with the tagatele pasta were singing summer. Oh my gosh. I actually ate it all! Happy, happy, happy, and so much fun to have such a pleasing and satisfying meal. These last photos do not do these dishes justice.
I had to take photos on the way out so I could come back to them time and time again to revisit my one evening at Olives during my trip to Boston in March 2009. Not pretentious.
One perfect night in my life. Thank you Todd English, and thank you, Vanja! XO
Tags: restaurant
oh and SUCH a good picture of you two! xo
this was such a wonderful dinner. thank you for including me. i could definitely go back here. and lucky for you to have met the real live todd english. awesome!
Valerie, it’s 9:30 a.m. and after reading your blog, all I want to do is eat. Preferably at Todd English’s restaurant. London is a bit far, but Vegas is only a short plane ride away. Yes…I think a trip to Vegas just might be the ticket! Looks like you guys had a blast and what a treat to get to meet T.E. himself. Good for you! Twyla