It was a beautiful 70+ degree early evening in Boston...IN MARCH no less! I'd planned a third date rendezvous at Tico, anticipating delving into the Chef's Tasting Menu. A bit early (with the staff still in their pre-dinner meeting), the hostess offered and I took a seat at the bar and ordered a cold flute of Cava. The bar tender was polite and very friendly.
Besides its fun, yet professional staff, I love Tico for it's dark, rich colors, beautiful and comfy lounge furniture, and display of interesting artwork, which after a little research, I realized was the work of Christian Boyd ( christianboyd.com ). Very nice!
Once my dining companion joined me at the dinner table, we began to dissect the menu and point out tacos, la plancha, and tapas of interest! To our much appreciated surprise, the Chef's tasting featured the dishes we most wanted to sample!
Our server DJ was fantastic. He was efficient, attentive, and had a sense of humor that tolerated my quirky mood such as asking him to box up the table scraps he was attempting to clear from our tabletop!
First course:
The salad that puts ALL other salads to shame!
I found this dish to be really intriguing yet simple...the kind of dish that is so unexpectedly layered in flavor, it's shocking. I was not surprised to learn later on that it was a staff favorite!
Shredded cabbage salad mixed with chopped and snapped haricot vert, mint, cilantro?, spicy salsa verde vinaigrette, topped with crushed toasted almonds. I also believed I picked up on purple onion with its spicy kick every now and again? Tico serves this amazing dish in huge, healthy serving portions! Two hungry adults barely put a dent in the dish. I wonder how it would hold up if refrigerated overnight? I was very sad to see it finally leave the table at the end of our meal. What a beautiful dish...especially on a warm day! I hope it is a staple throughout the spring and summer!
Second Course:
Tacos! The Bacon, Green Tomato, and Cabbage taco was splendid. A hearty portion of smoked, crisp but not over cooked bacon, topped with shredded cabbage, a chipotle aioli, and what I would describe as a spicy green tomato coulis. THE best taco I've had in ages!
Third Course:
Deep fried Manchego cheese which I believe was either Curado or Viejo...beautiful texture and rich almost-honey color, perfect when hot and oozing from its light crisp coating. They were served with a "spicy" pomegranate honey dipping sauce which was a great contrast to the cheese, though I was not able to pick up on the spice.
Fourth Course:
Singularly-skewed grilled beef petits atop green chile sauce. The meat was tender and smoky...just perfect! And the chile sauce, simple, flavorful...fantastic!
Fifth Course:
Tico's Mac n' Cheese with serrano ham, topped with bread crumbs. This was a pretty tasty mac n' cheese. I am hard on restaurant spawn mac n' cheese, but was pretty happy about this production. The pasta was cooked perfectly. The ham made for a more salty dish than I expected, but overall, I was pleased.
Sixth Course:
Pan and Oven-roasted cauliflower! Any one who follows me, knows about my love of creative cauliflower dishes. This dish was beautiful! The cauliflower was perfectly roasted, very smoky, moist, and tender! Dried fava beans were added to this beauty for extra crunch and it certainly did its job! The chipotle aioli added a nice touch...creamy, rich, with a bit of spice. I loved this dish!!!
We had no space for dessert...
I'm looking forward to returning to sample many more tapas!
http://ticoboston.com/
Tico accepts reservations through www.opentable.com
