To be completely honest, I have never heard or been to Bistro 5 before. It is located in Medford, just outside of the city, which isn't always the easiest for me to venture to without a car. Luckily, Megan was also attending the dinner and offered to give a few of us a ride there.
We arrived at Bistro 5 a little after 7 PM and I was happy to see a lot of familiar faces from the food blogging community. I perused the menu and was ecstatic to discover that each course would not only feature local heirloom tomatoes from Kimball Farm but that each dish would also include some type of basil from Soluna Garden Farm. I think there is no better flavor combination than tomato with basil so this was a match made in heaven.
To begin the evening, Bistro 5's chef and owner, Vittorio Ettore, came out to tell us a little about his restaurant.
At Bistro 5, Chef Vittorio focuses on using seasonal ingredients for all of his Italian dishes. Even though Chef Vittorio has been using local and seasonal ingredients since the restaurant first opened in 1999, people have only really been taking notice of this recently as the locavore movement has really been gaining popularity.
While Chef Vittorio spoke to us, we could see the kitchen was hard at work for the evening's meal and I couldn't wait to dig in.
To start, we munched on some beautiful focaccia bread. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that everything on Bistro 5's menu is made in house, including this delicious focaccia bread!
This was accompanied by a delicious white bean spread and I seriously couldn't get enough of this puree.
Please pardon the photos. The lighting was a bit dim in the restaurant, which can be a bit tricky to work with. I started the evening out with my flash on but decided it was too harsh and switched to using just the restaurant's lighting.
Our first course was a Lobster Bisque, which using pineapple basil tomato to thicken up the lobster stock. The lobster bisque contained chunks of lobster meat, and was topped with a brioche, delightful saffron bubbles and a chiffonade of citrusy lemon basil. There was also a wine pairing with each dish and we started out with a sweet 2009 Domaine Felines Jourdan, Picpoul de Pinet, Languedoc.
The bisque had a nice mellow tomato flavor that I couldn't get enough of. I definitely used some of the focaccia to sop up every last drop from the bowl.
The second course used copia tomatoes for the EVOO Fried Green Tomatoes.
The panko-crusted fried green tomatoes were served with opal basil pesto and a thick slice of buffalo mozzarella was served "in carrozza" on top of the hot tomato. This helped the mozzarella melt ever so slightly for a tender texture contrast to the crispy tomato. This dish also had slivers of the fresh purple opal basil. I really loved the 2008 Larochette Manciat, Macon Les Morizovittes, which was served with this dish. Normally I don't enjoy chardonnay but this was unoaked and it went down so smoothly.
The third course was an Heirloom Tomato Risotto paired with a not-too-sweet 2008 Lancon, Domaine de la Solitude, Cotes du Rhone Rose.
The risotto used tomato juice from red brandywine tomatoes as a stock for the risotto. The risotto was sprinkled with Spanish Leonora goat cheese, lime basil and a thin slice of crispy jamon serrano. Chef Vittorio explained each course as it was served and I groaned aloud when he described the crispy jamon serrano. I was seriously embarrassed by my obvious gluttony.
Our fourth course was our main course - Duck Confit Strudel. This dish was definitely ambitious and I joked that this was the chef's "go big or go home" dish. The duck confit strudel was encased in puff pastry and served with pickled ginger and Thai basil. The strudel was served atop sweet and sour kuri squash, which had been tossed in both agave and sherry vinegar. On the side was a smoked speckled roman tomato brulee which was caramelized with both sugar and Sicilian sea salt and served with a port poached seckle pear.
Wow. Even though this dish had a lot of components, the tomato was the real star of the plate. The duck wasn't as tender as I'd like it to be and a tad oversalty but the warm brulee was unlike anything I've ever tasted before. The smokiness added such a depth to this dish and I was surprised that the brulee was successful as a savory dish, despite its sweet tomato ingredient. I would eat this brulee every day if I could. The duck confit strudel was paired with a 2008 Vignetti Zabu 'Il Passo', Nero d'Avola Blend, Sicily.
Our dessert course was an Organic Peach Tomato Napoleon layered with a tangy peach tomato yogurt gelato, cinnamon basil yogurt gelato, thin puff pastry, vanilla bean creme anglaise and pistachio-estevia pesto.
Just as successful as Chef Vittorio was in making the tomato brulee a savory dish, he was equally successful in translating the tomato into a dessert dish. The tomato yogurt gelato was just a bit too tangy for my taste but still I enjoyed this dish immensely. The dessert was perfectly paired with a sweet 2009 Sarocco, Moscato D'Asti, which was a perfect note to end the evening on.
I had such a wonderful evening and I am so glad that I got a chance to experience Chef Vittorio's truly creative vision in this tasting menu. I was also thrilled to enjoy this evening with some good friends, and I even remembered to take a photo with Megan and Robin.
Thanks again to Bistro 5 for inviting me to such a wonderful evening. I should mention that Bistro 5 will be offering a tomato tasting menu as an option every evening this month. The menu items, however, will frequently change based on the chef's whim that day. After September, Chef Vittorio will continue with his tasting menu but will use other local ingredients, such as winter's seasonal squash!
Bistro 5 is located at 5 Playstead Road, West Medford, MA.
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