Whole Lobster Pop-up (July 2016)
/There we were... wandering through the VIP section at A Taste of Cambridge when we came upon a booth carrying a tasty lobster bite. Tara can't refuse a lobster snack and so... was drawn right in. In our brief discussion with the folks at the table we were told of the Pop Ups they do and pointed to a note pad that would be used to gather reservations for these small and personal events... I'm certain you're all shocked that we signed up.
Pre-dinner Cocktails
More pictures we didn't take... As Nick and I arrived early, there were beverages to be tried. I, myself, am not a whiskey drinker and so... I settled on some wine. Nick and Synda tried some of their signature beverages and then we were all served with a complimentary drink which was called a Milk Punch (clarified). I was particularly surprised at this beverage as not only was it made from milk product but also contained gin.... might I just say, it tasted of neither and had a nice, smooth sort of flavor that would have been palatable with most of the dishes that we were yet to know were coming!
Dinner Time
Some people were... late... in fact, even though we waited more than a half hour to start while waiting for them, they never showed. Don't BE these people... it's rude to the establishment and the handful of other folks that participate! We got sat at a table with two other pretty awesome people and quickly struck up foodie conversation especially as we were reviewing the menu and the appetizers spread around the table.
Lobster butter and sourdough bread... lobster and truffle popcorn...charred shishito and lobster aoli made for a really nice start to the meal... we tried to get more popcorn but were thwarted by receiving only PLAIN popcorn... oh well... it was good while it lasted!
Lobster salad on a house-made herbed cracker and green goddess dressing. This was especially good and a nice balance of herbs and fresh lobster flavor. The cracker received mixed reviews at the table but I liked it just fine :)
Heirloom Tomato Lobster Gazpacho with Cucumber
Generally we all felt as if this needed a little more "lobster". In and effort to utilize the entire creature they had ground up the shells and made the broth for the gazpacho from the lobster broth. It didn't create a very notable "lobster" taste but the soup itself was good as it were.
Squash Blossom, Lobster Mousse garnished with Summer Truffle and Fried Egg Yolk
This was a stunning dish that held surprises for all of us. The mousse was very well executed and presented in the squash blossom was a great presentation and flavor. The truffle slices were both gorgeous and tasty but the star of the plate seemed to be the fried egg yolk (seen above at the top of my plate) which was FAR more tasty than I would have expected for a simple egg yolk lightly battered and flash fried.
Summer Beans, Lobster Tortellini and Wild Flowers
This was a super star dish and I believe one of the favorites of the night. The stuffing on the tortellini was nearly all lobster which made for a heart bite. The pasta was all made on-site (Chef noted that he loves making rolled pastas!) and the bean salad beneath was fresh and really tasty even though I'm not typically a fan of beans. We all felt like the bean salad was a strange pairing. It worked but it felt a little awkward and the beans just lost when it came to the competition between them and the tortellini. People have to have priorities!
Apricot & Summer Squash, Lobster Claws & Knuckle with Geranium
There's little doubt that the claw shown on the plate was a piece of art in itself. It was an unusual presentation as typically it's difficult to get the claw and knuckles out in one piece. Mine was perhaps the messiest of them (mine is shown here) but still beautiful. General consensus seemed to be that the claw should have "had something" as a flavor profile of its own as it was completely untreated. I personally enjoyed the cleanness of the claw meat and used the rest of my plate to sort of flavor it up in a manner that was appealing to me.
Heirloom Carrots, Grilled tail, Vaduovan Currry, Coconut and Wild Rice
Tail is nearly always the highlight of any meal for a lobster lover and this dish did not fail to deliver. While I was not a fan of the rice on this dish (it was crisped a little too much to the 'burnt flavor' side for me personally) the rest of the dish was a really great combination of things with the curry just adding an amazing quality to the already great flavor of lobster tail. And... who can go wrong with a purple carrot?!
White Chocolate, Cremeux, Short Cake and Lobster Candy
Blow this picture up and make sure you take a good look at it. Although I didn't eat all of mine (it was just sweeter than I could handle at this point in the meal) I can't say enough good things about "lobster candy" which, prior to this, might not have ever sounded particularly appealing. It's combination with white chocolate in this manner and mixed with those sweet clover leaves that you see there (that got ZERO billing... such a shame!) was simply one of the best things I've had in a while. A very nice end to this experience!
The Wrap-Up
As the plates were cleared and we all sat chatting and filling out the comment cards provided we bantered about the feedback each of us was providing. Hops Test Kitchen does the pop up dinners to help change and update the menu for both the Cambridge and Brookline locations. We all provided our individual commentary on our meals which, as usual, varied a little but the consensus was that nearly all of the dishes were delicious if not just slightly off an expected mark when compared one to the other. Some were strong, some were less so.
The night ended with a visit from (and a length conversation with) Chef Brian Miller who we thanked profusely for his and the remainder of the kitchen's work and told him we look forward to participating again in the future!
We would highly recommend trying out Hops Test Kitchen or even HopsNScotch but definitely... DEFINITELY try to find out when the next Pop Up dinner is and get yourself signed up!