Dinner at Stephi’s on Tremont

I will be choosing a winner for both The Olive Press and Honest Tea giveaways tonight, and I will announce them tomorrow morning. If you haven’t entered, now’s the time!

Last night I had a blog-related dinner at Stephi’s on Tremont, the South End restaurant from the same owner and chef as the famed Stephanie’s on Newbury Street.

Stephi’s is a gorgeous open space with lots of natural light. Large windows open out on to the street and are open in the good weather (which we have NOT been having!). It had awesome lighting for food photography!

I started with a lovely Austrian wine, a Loimer Grüner Veltliner. I love Grüners! I tried this Grüner Veltliner at the Austrian wine event that I went to a few months ago, and I liked it as much this time around.

Stephi’s specializes in elegant comfort food that is seasonal, decadent, and delicious. We started with an appetizer of rock shrimp that was very lightly fried and tossed with avocado, pepper, and corn. The shrimp were sweet and crispy, and the whole combination was incredible.

We also shared ricotta gnocchi with a variety of mushrooms in a rich, savory brown sauce. Just a tiny bit salty, the broth provided a lovely contrast with the soft, creamy gnocchi and the meaty mushrooms.

Part of the purpose of the dinner was for me to learn a little more about Stephi’s and their use of Cabot cheese. As you probably remember, Cabot partnered with me for a fantastic giveaway a few weeks ago. Love them! Stephanie’s and Stephi’s use 150 pounds of Cabot cheese a week in dishes like their heavenly mac and cheese and signature burgers. After looking at all of the tempting menu items, I had to try the lobster macaroni and cheese. Topped with buttery breadcrumbs and made with 3 types of Cabot cheese, this dish was the perfect comfort food. It was also enough for several meals!

I loved how perfectly cooked the lobster was. Often lobster gets overcooked, but not in this dish. It was melt in your mouth delicious and made me think of summer in New England. The mac and cheese was so creamy and flavorful and included a generous portion of sweet peas.

My dining companion had the seared scallops which were huge! Doesn’t this look good?!

I love that Chef Stephanie Sokolove’s restaurants support great local businesses like Cabot Coop while they are making delicious dishes. I hear Stephi’s has a great brunch, so maybe if it ever gets warm out again you will see me brunching on their patio!

I am off to the Vino Voyage this evening, and I will be back tomorrow with a full recap plus the winners of the 2 giveaways.

I am also looking for future Friday Foodie Features, so if you would like to be featured, send me an email!

And since I seem to have a lot of new readers this week, a few links to my favorite posts:

http://traveleatlove.me/2010/02/an-afternoon-in-austria

http://traveleatlove.me/2010/04/what-a-day

http://traveleatlove.me/2010/03/afternoon-at-venge-vineyards

http://traveleatlove.me/2010/03/afternoon-at-venge-vineyards