Lineage, Brookline

It’s Monday again! I happen to be out of the office for most of this week at off site meetings, so it’s going to be a hectic one, even more so than last week. in anticipation of a busy week and to unwind from the last one, my husband and I met after work on Friday at Lineage in Brookline. We had never been, but I heard about their 1/2 price wine sale for the month of July, and we decided to check it out.

When we arrived, we were given the best seat in the house, a big, spacious booth just for the two of us! It also had some great food photo lighting!

Lineage has a clean, upscale beachy feel to it. I loved all of the little details like the salt and pepper in these seashells.

We ordered our 1/2 price bottle of Domaine Ste Michelle Blanc de blancs, a beautifully citrusy sparkling wine with lots of festive, tiny bubbles. 

I was starving and so happy when we were brought these rolls topped with a bit of sea salt and served with butter. I usually skip the bread, but this was so good, and I was ready to eat!

When I was looking at the menu prior to arriving at Lineage, I kept coming back to the seafood tasting menu, and that’s what I ordered. The first course was two delicately battered squash blossoms stuffed with lobster and lightly friend, served with a basil oil and a creamy corn fondue. Each bite was perfect, filled with sweet lobster and corn, so many different textures and flavors all together, a plate full of all thing summer.

My husband’s starter was the shrimp tacos with avocado cream and mango salsa. The corn tortilla shells were hot and fresh, the difference of being homemade quite evident. This was another perfect dish. I tried one but could easily have eaten a whole plate myself 🙂

My second course was a bluefish with gnocchi atop a glorious pesto sauce. The bluefish was tender and meaty, the gnocchi some of the best I have ever had, and every so often there were sweet grape tomatoes just popping with flavor.

My final course was buttery delicious Dijon and brioche crusted haddock with carrots, fava beans, and oyster sauce. The fish was melt in your mouth good, and the mustard and oyster sauce added a slightly pungent, slightly salty flavor that really went well with the fish. The sweet carrots and fava beans balanced it all out well.

The husband’s burger was juicy and topped with caramelized onions and blue cheese, served with some of the best fries I have had in a long time. The whole time he was eating the burger, all he could say was “yum” and “Mmm”. I guess it was good. 🙂

I often don’t have room for dessert or don’t see anything I want on a dessert menu, but since every other course was stellar, we had to give it a try. After some debate, we decided to share the salted chocolate shortbread with vanilla ice milk.

Another perfect dish, this dessert combined rich chocolate and sea salt to create a crumbly, buttery, chocolate-y shortbread. The ice milk tasted like real vanilla and was so cold and simple that it was a refreshing accompaniment for the shortbread.

I haven’t had a meal this good from start to finish in a long time. The service was spot on, our wine glasses and water glasses always full. The atmosphere is casual elegance, a comfy place for a nice dinner date or a great place to go with a group of friends.

Lineage is so named because of Chef Jeremy Sewall’s own ancestry, people who first stepped foot in Boston in 1705. For generations, fishing has been a livelihood of the family, to this day. Chef Sewall’s cousin supplies the local lobsters himself. The whole concept behind Lineage is farm to table, the freshest and best local ingredients. As a result, the menu changes frequently, and I truly look forward to seeing what they make next.