restaurant week boston: rialto

My friend Laura and I decided to try out Rialto's restaurant week menu last Friday (sorry for posting so late). Rialto is Chef Jody Adams' restaurant in the Charles Hotel in Cambridge.

Of course, because I'm posting this after Restaurant Week has ended, I don't have access to the menu to get the exact details of our dishes. I'll have to rely on our bellies to remember! Thanks to an email from Rebecca at Rialto! She emailed me the Restaurant Week menu to use as a reference. :)

We shared a bottle of the Elk Cove Vineyards Pinot Blanc white wine which was absolutely delicious and refreshing. It went really well with the salad I had, which was made with simple local lettuces, radishes, flowers, and a champagne chardonnay vinaigrette. (Note to self: if trip out to Oregon this fall actually happens, try to visit this winery.)

The dressing was really nice and light, and the flowers and radishes were very good. Laura had a dish that I want to say was a corn polenta (again, sorry I don't have the exact details to go by)had the corn risotto dish which was made with mushrooms, Parmigiano Reggiano, and chervil which she said was quite delicious.

We both had the whole roasted trout dish as an entree and both opted to have the chef remove the head and tail for us. It's funny because I have never actually ordered a whole fish at a restaurant before, so we giggled when the waitress asked us about that option. I wouldn't know how to handle those parts on a plate so I thought it would be safer to ask for someone professional do it for me.


(Sorry about the blurry photos!) The fish was served on top of a nice mix of potatoes and bacon a warm potato salad, bacon, and horseradish and was topped with a lemony creamy sauce. It was cooked absolutely perfectly: so tender and light with a great texture. It makes me wish I was brave enough to try something like this at home. But that's one of the pleasures of dining out, right? Eating things that you would probably be better off not attempting in your own kitchen.

We also both ordered the chocolate cake chocolate torta dessert, except I asked them to leave the berries off of my plate. It is served with raspberries, honey, and prosecco as photographed here. It was divine. And such a wonderful way to end such a pleasant dining experience.

I would highly recommend Rialto for anyone looking for a beautiful dinner outing with someone special. It's larger than I thought it would be and each part of the restaurant is tastefully decorated (we loved the orange chairs in our room against the darker walls). Our waitress, Nicole, was very attentive and very accomodating when it came to my allergies. I'm so glad we went there!