A Taste of Back Bay Social Club

Last night I had the opportunity to finally try out Back Bay Social Club courtesy of Citysearch Boston.

When I arrived at the restaurant, I was surprised at how open the place looked compared to its predecessor, Vinny T's.  The decor was simple but it definitely had the vibe of a 1960s social club.

I started out with a cocktail at the bar.  There were a lot to choose from but I went with the mai tai, one of my favorite cocktails when it is done right.  Back Bay Social Club started the evening off on the right note because my mai tai was delicious.

Over the course of three hours, we managed to indulge in many different tastings of Back Bay Social Club's menu.  To start, we snacked on the house garlic sausages wrapped in pretzel with a hoppy ale mustard.

The sausage bites were a big hit.  I was soon done with my mai tai and I wasn't sure what to order next.  But as the restaurant's beer offerings were listed right in front of me, it was easy to veer towards beer.

Ever since I first tried it at Stone Hearth Pizza, I've been in love with Pretty Things beer so I ordered the Jack D'or.

As we began our next course, we were served a complimentary tasting of the house white Russian. 

Although it was definitely a more mature version of the cocktail, we all thought it was a bit odd that they served it after the first course.  It didn't stop us from enjoying it though.

The gorgeous Lingbo enjoying her white Russian.

Let's just say that I had quite a few drinks in front of me!

And then we were onto the next course - the meat "candy".  This retro dish involved smoked kielbasa and pineapple roasted in a brandy brown sugar coating. 

We were told that the chef put this on the menu because his mother used to make this dish for him when he was growing up.  The young chef loved candy so his mother called this "meat candy" and hence the dish.  This dish reminded me of something I'd eat at a block party or cocktail party growing up...skewers and all.  It was familiar and nostalgic...and gosh darn good.

Our next course was a grilled crostini topped with country ham, Pop's pepper relish, arugula, olive oil and lemon juice.  This was not one of my favorite bites.  While all of the flavors went well together, there was just too much ham.  I think dish would have been best served with a thinner slice of meat (and less of it).

For the vegetarians and pescatarians of the group, there was also a cheese board, which included some delightful cheddar, a tangy Great Hill blue cheese, and Capri goat cheese.  The Tupelo honey served with this cheese board was really wonderful.

After a conversation with the staff about our favorite cocktails, a few of us were brought a tasting of some very sweet and smooth vermouth.  It was a tad too sweet for me, but Brian was more than happy to indulge. 

On a sidenote - can I say how happy I was to finally meet Brian? If you haven't read his blog, check it out - his writing and photographs are truly inspiring.

Our last savory course included a mushroom and pork terrine head cheese.  I'm not a huge fan of head cheese so I didn't really jump in but the presentation was beautiful.

Before the dessert course came, I managed to snag a photo with Lingbo before she jetted off back to her studies.

And then we dug into the desserts, which we all shared bites of:

Phyllo-wrapped apples with a caramel sauce

Peanut butter and jelly chocolate ganache cake

Beignet with chocolate fudge sauce - these were a bit too doughy for me.

The sticky toffee pudding was by far my favorite!

With one final photo, we called it a night.

Brian, Katie and I.

This was a great introduction to the Back Bay Social Club.  With a kitchen open until 1:30 AM every night, I know I'll definitely be grabbing one of these bites with some cocktails soon.

Back Bay Social Club is located at 867 Boylston Street, Boston, MA.  Thanks to Citysearch Boston and Back Bay Social Club for this evening of complimentary tastings.