About three weeks ago I started keeping a list in the "Notes" app in my iPhone of all the restaurants I want to try. This way, when I make a dinner date and the person says, "Where have you been dying to go?" I can actually answer! This was a genius move.
A few weeks ago when I set a date with one of my favorite girls, she asked me that excellent question, "Where have you been dying to go?" and from the handy iPhone list we decided on Bin 26 Enoteca.
Bin 26 Enoteca is located on Charles Street in Beacon Hill. There is something about walking around Beacon Hill that reminds me why I love Boston. It's gorgeous and classic.
The restaurant is located at 26 Charles Street and their website explains the origin of their name:
"En-oh-TECK-a, a common term used mostly in Italy, refers to a place where one can find simple foods to accompany the wines served there. At Bin 26 Enoteca, we offer a menu designed for snacking and sharing, or a full meal. And oh boy, do we have a wine list too. 'Bin', followed by a number, is a wine term for the physical location of where the bottle is located in the wine cellar. In this case, 26 Charles Street is the Bin in which our restaurant is located."
I arrived a few minutes before my dinner date, giving me ample time to look around and take some pictures! I was immediately struck by the number of wine bottles on display! The restaurant also has wine themed decor.
When you first walk in, the coat rack is made of wine corks! How cool is this?
The entire back wall of the restaurant is a collage of wine labels. I want to do this in my future kitchen!
There are even wine bottle hanging upside down from the ceiling in the ladies room!
For dinner we were seated at a table right in the front window overlooking Charles Street and the beautiful Beacon Hill Hotel.
We spent the first ten minutes just looking over the extensive wine menu. The menu has detailed descriptions of each type of wine, the region it comes from and even maps! You can order wine in four sizes: a sip, a half a glass, a full glass and a whole bottle. How fun!
We decided to order a bottle of Prosecco. Bubbly is always appropriate.
To start, our waitress brought us a bowl of bread with olive oil. The olive oil was so incredibly delicious! We had to stop ourselves from filling up on just that.
We were having trouble deciding what to order and our waitress was very patient and helpful. She gave us detailed descriptions of the dishes we were considering and even helped make a few game-time decisions.
We started with the saffron risotto balls. There were two in a serving (perfect) and we inhaled them! The saffron flavor was strong and complimented the cheesy center and the crispy outside. We could have each eaten at least two more!
Then I had the arugula salad which came with tomatoes and parmesan cheese. It was lightly dressed in a creamy balsamic and was super yummy.
My date tried the mozzarella wrapped in speck with grilled vegetables. The mozzarella was so tightly wrapped in the meat we found ourselves examining it trying to figure out how they cooked it without all the cheese oozing out. No matter how, she loved it!
For dinner I ordered the cocoa tagliatelle with mushroom ragout. Yes, friends, chocolate pasta! The portion was the perfect size and was dusted with just the right amount of shredded parmesan. The dish was very rich.
My date ordered the mussels (which is actually an appetizer) but came in a huge portion. She said the sauce was tomato based and she is usually used to a wine based sauce with mussels so it took a few bites to adjust. She said the best part was the piece of bread on the bottom that was soaked with sauce and mussel goodness!
We were way too full for dessert, but they do offer a nice selection of treats as well as coffee, tea and dessert wines.
Bin 26 Enoteca was a beautiful restaurant with fantastic food, friendly service and an unbeatable Boston view. I am considering this location for birthday dinner 2011. Now that's an endorsement!
