Recently Cheri and I were at Patriot Place, and we stopped in at Tastings. This restaurant and wine bar is located right across from CBS Scene at the top of the giant stairs. We’ve looked at the menu before, and were a bit apprehensive as it sounded very nouveau cuisine, which is not something we always like. Still, we were armed with a Restaurant.com gift certificate, and how bad could it be? Fortunately for us it was anything but, and we thoroughly enjoyed the restaurant, the wine and the surroundings.
When you walk through the entrance to Tastings you enter a warm atmosphere with lots of wood and a surprisingly larger footprint than you might think. There is an ample bar area as well. Throw in the patio that can be exposed to the outside in nice weather, or wrapped
Looking out from our table
in a heavy clear plastic walls with heaters in colder times, and there are a variety of places and settings within the single space. We sat right on the edge of the inside space, looking out at the stadium through the open patio. This was, needless to say, a very nice day and the patio was open and popular by the time we finished our meal. Overall we really enjoyed our location though, as it was a bit more detached from the people going by while still enjoying the outside feel. I don’t really think you can go wrong here.
An inside view
Now for the menus, as both the food and the wine menu offer a variety of choices. Since this was a wine bar we thought we would sample a variety and both of us chose a wine flight. I ordered the Big Boys flight and Cheri had the Spanish Armada. While mine had the more unusual offerings Cheri’s was by far the better of the two, especially if you like bold reds.
For food we ordered and shared the Calamari, a Market Salad and the Steak Frittes. There was some excellent foccacia bread as well as an amuse bouche. The amuse bouche was a raw fig slice with summer squash,
Th amuse bouche
creme fraiche and chervil. This was really good and extremely creative. The Calamari was unlike any I have ever tried before. It was breaded and quick fried before
The calamari (left) and salad (right)
being finished in a saute pan with pesto and pistachio, then served over a sauce that was essentially a very upscale egg salad. It all worked wondrously and I loved it.
The Market Salad had a champagne vinigrette, greens, some small peach chunks and hot pepper slices. I’m not a huge fan of fruit in dishes, but Cheri really liked it. Finally, the Steak Frittes was tasty and perfectly cooked, which is all you can ask for in steak frittes.
All in all this was an excellent meal. We will definitely try Tastings again, and recommend it. We’ll put some wine tasting notes up on the Tasting Notes page, and this review will be up on our Food page as well. Here are a few spoilers:
2010 Volver Tempranillo (La Mancha, Spain) – 15% alcohol and a little hot for me, but Cheri loves these high alcohol big boys and this was no exception. It was excellent with the steak.
2011 Zerran Garnacha (Catalonia, Spain) – the best of the night. This is big and lush with deep, dark fruits and some pepper on the finish. Long and full bodied, Cheri had requested I buy her some of this!
2010 Domaine Skouras “St. George Nemea” Agiorgitiko (say that 3 times fast!). This is from Argos, Greece and is very unusual. There is a candied fruit quality to it but it is not over the top. It’s vibrant ruby red with medium body and a long, complex finish. You haven’t likely had anything exactly like this before.
A votre sante!
The particulars:
Tastings Wine Bar and Bistro
201 Patriot Place • Foxboro, MA 02035 • 508.203.WINE(9463)
Website: http://tastingswinebarandbistro.com/home/
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