A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

Liquid Art house is set to open next month, I was lucky enough to get a first look last week. The 220 seat restaurant, located in the landmark building The Arlington (100 Arlington St) will be the first restaurant of its kind – a gallery/restaurant hybrid. The space boasts tall marble columns, dark wood accents, honeycomb floor tiles that mirror the decorative molding on the ceiling, and that’s not even the art. Ruta Laukien, the founder, is a native Lithuanian and a former investment banker. Laukien has brought Ana Katarina Vinkler Petrovic on as LAH’s curator. There will be a fluid exhibition of 1800 sq feet of hanging space, 2 curator’s lounges that will be dedicated to installations of furniture, ceramics and sculpture, and 220 sq feet of digital and video art. You will be able to purchase the art, and if you love the Lu Murano chandelier, master glassmaker Fabio Fornasier can make one custom for you. Love the communal table? You can have one made by John Househmand Design. The inaugural exhibit will debut street artists from around the world, with works by artists from Iran, Lebanon, France, Spain, Brazil, Argentina and the US. Exhibits will rotate every 6-8 weeks.

The kitchen has a custom designed Vulcan suite where executive chef Rachel Klein will be at the helm. Klein will be joined in the kitchen by her chef de cuisine, Ensan Wong, sous chefs Kylee Anderson, Caroline Curtin, Johan Ramirez and pastry chef Giselle Miller. They will have an in house bread baker, Maurizio Odermatt. Klein was the executive chef at XO Cafe and Lot 401 in Providence and when she came to Boston, she was the executive chef at Om, Aura and most recently, the Mandarin Oriental. Born in Boston Massachussets with Chinese and Nicaraguan origins, chef Ensan Wong is a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu Paris and freshly hails from 3 Michelin starred Le Meurice in Paris (you may remember him from the Good Ones dumpling battle). Kylee Anderson joins the LAH team with over 12 years of experience in both the front and back of the house. Giselle Miller was most recently at Deauxave where she received some great press for her creative desserts.

Meet “Lulu”the rotisserie. Klein’s menu will debut D’Artagnan green circle chickens and later move on to other meats. Green circle chickens are raised in Pennsylvania and fed the vegetable peelings and day old bread from some of Manhattan’s most acclaimed restaurants. Can scraps from acclaimed restaurants, where only the best ingredients are used, create better tasting chickens? Here is a preview of what will be on the menu:

Lounge Dining

Small Plates

Crisp Langoustines basil, sweet & sour sauce

Sea Bass Crudo coconut, lime, chamomil, aleppo

Point Judith Calamari smoked aioli

Soft Shell Crab Tacos LAH tortilla, avocado marble, pickled cabbage, chinese sausage

Mangalista Hungarian cured ham, Meredith dairy goat’s milk spread, arugula, LAH baguette

Mici Skewers lamb, LAH puffy pita, Turkish salad, mint chermoula, sheeps milk yougurt

Chicken Feet sweet & sour flavors, shishito peppers

Crepes duck confit, gruyere, shallot jam

Falmmkuchen bacon, wild mushroom, carmelized onion, sherry reduction

Yucca & Chicharrones pico de gallo

LAH Burger comte cheese, crispy onion, tomato confit, LAH milk bun, fries

Rotisserie Sliders chicken, egg, bacon, savora mayo, lettuce, tomato, baguete

Handmade Dumplings

Sour cherry dumplings foie gras, pine nuts, sour cream, rose

Corn & honey dumplings duck cracklings, Brussels sprouts, aged Gouda, Asian pear

Wild mushroom dumplings caramelized onion, sour cream

Cheese Selections

Lake’s Edge (Salisbury, VT) Goat’s milk , apricot lavender jam, Marcona almonds

Weston Wheel (Weston, VT) Sheep’s milk, pickled walnuts, red currant mostarda

Challerhockers (St. Gallen, Switzerland) Cow’s milk, pine nuts, jicama, sherry reduction

Miranda (Walton, NY) Raw cow’s milk, watermelon radish, green grapes, panforte, baby arugula

Bayrischer Blauschimmelkase (Allgau, Germany) Cow’s milk, blue cheese, acacia honey, picked peaches, vanilla infused asian pear

Desserts

Rhubarb-rosewater custard olive oil Sicilian lemon cake, raspberry, confit lemon, lychee, pink peppercorn labne yogurt sorbet

Thai young coconut semmifreddo sweet tamarind, tres leches cake, black sugar young coconut sherbert, chartreuse, lemon balm

Tainori dark chocolate bark chocolate miso ganache, shattered frozen bourbon cream, smoked black walnuts, dark coffee bean walnut ice cream

Apricot vol au vent muscovado marcona almond butter, caramel rum yellow raisins, tonka bean, cannele ice cream

Ricotta cheesecake aerated manzano banana emulsion, rice puff, passionfruit, brown butter banana wafer, buckwheat ice cream

Cherry bread pudding bitter almond ice cream, burnt vanilla creme, caramelized white chocolate, black sesame

Hazelnut praline orange souffle orange marmalade, Grand Marnier anglaise

Dark chocolate & mint coulant cocoa nib peppermint ice cream, dark cocoa fernet sauce

Ice creams Mexican vanilla bean, creamy chocolate, salted caramel

Dinner

Starters

Young greens sherry vinaigrette, herbs, shallot (vegan)

Spring radish salad drunken tofu, pickled mushrooms, tatsoi (vegan)

Asparagus Pecorino romano, truffle emulsion, tarragon, chicken egg

Carrots little carrots & turnips, Vadouvan spice, carrot emulsion, coconut, lime, kale crisps (vegan)

Sweet pea veloute Salchichon iberico crouton, petite vegetables

Smoked sable beet borscht, sour cream, pickled pearl onion, potatoes, dill, rye crisps

Sea Bass Crudo Green papaya, black garlic, smokey lemon, ginger, cilantro

Soft shell crab Chinese sausage, golden sprouts, creamy milk garlic custard, baby celery

Duck Confit Medjool dates, rocket, Urfa pepper, Spanish blue cheese

Main Course

Roasted scallops Gigantes beans, leeks, passion fruit, chorizo & cilantro

Maple planked arctic char baby potatoes, quail eggs, dill pickles, sour cream & roe

Roasted tilefish clams, baby romaine, fennel cream, black garlic, yuzu

Lamb loin potato puree, mixed olives, Muscat grapes, Parmigiano Romano, lamb jus

Grilled Steaks

NY Strip

Filet Mignon

Bone in Rib Eye

Skirt Steak

From Lulu the rotisserie

Green circle chicken half chicken – chicken jus

Whole communal roasts served at the exclusive rotisserie table/family style

Ozark mountain baby pig shallot jam, red wine jus, choice of three sides

Green circle chicken chicken jus, roasted olives & grapes, choice of three sides

Sauces: Bernaise, chimichurri (vegan), Liquid red pepper (vegan), chicken jus, LAH steak sauce, port wine demi glace

On the side

Local baby vegetables

Asparagus, lemon zest, sea salt

Sardinian fregola, Parmesan, herbs

Wild mushrooms, sallots, herbs

Young greens shallot, herbs, sherry vinaigrette

Jack’s Mamalgia honey, brunza cheese, sour cream

Rotisserie potatoes

Persian rice

Potato puree

A sneak peak into the back of the house. The restaurant’s architecture is simple and elegant, playing off the historic features of the building, Dartagnan Brown has done a wonderful job with the space. Looking forward to the opening next month to see the finished product.

Liquid Art House

100 Arlington Street, Boston, MA

https://www.facebook.com/liquidarthouse

Tags: back bay, restaurant