Supper Club at Steel & Rye
I’ve been holding out on you guys. For more than a year, I’ve been eating out at some of the best restaurants in the city with some of my fabulous girl friends. But I never blogged about those dinners. I never told you about Supper Club.
Okay, so I did blog about it once. Whoops. Very discreetly, I mentioned that we have a monthly supper club – tucked neatly into one sentence in a blog post that focused more on Moroccan food and belly dancers. (Obviously, when belly dancers are involved, other details tend to get blurry.)
But I can’t keep Supper Club off the blog any longer. Not when we ate at a spectacular new restaurant…. in the burbs. Not when I ate one of the best restaurant desserts this year!
You know I don’t dole out praises like that easily. The last time I was so enamored with a restaurant dessert was nearly a year ago, when I tried the S’mores cup at West Bridge. I have a list of Top Five Restaurant Desserts in the Boston Area which I take pride in (I am easy to please but I know when to recognize a spectacular dessert); after one bite of Steel & Rye’s Chocolate Hazelnut Daquoise with Meyer Lemon, I fell hard and fast. It’s definitely going on my list.
Let’s back up a bit. Our March Supper Club took us to Milton, close to the Lower Mills neighborhood of Dorchester . I am the first to admit that I do not know a thing about Milton. Later on, I found out that it’s not that far from the city after all and our restaurant of choice, Steel & Rye, is even easily accessible by T. I also found out that the former Baker’s Chocolate factory in the area has actually been turned into apartments so I am now considering moving there. But I digress again.
Steel & Rye is the latest initiative of Chef Chris Parsons, who previously headed Catch and Parsons’ Table in Winchester, Mass. The cuisine is American, but one can detect small French influences. I’ve read many rave reviews from some of my blogger friends (like this, this, and this) so I was really excited to try it myself. When we got there, the restaurant offered free valet parking, so our dinner was already off to a good start. Inside, it was very spacious and chic, with both industrial and sweet rustic touches.
As we always do, my fellow Supper Club members and I ordered a bunch of appetizers to share with everyone, so I was able to try a little bit of everything, in addition to my main course and dessert (which honestly I was reluctant to share). Here are some* of the appetizers we ordered that night:
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chicken liver crostini, pickled quail eggs, the day’s cheese, potted foie gras with homemade brioche, and Colorado lamb meatballs
*The girls also ordered mussels and oysters but I did not partake. And yes, that’s a lot of appetizers. There were seven of us and we each picked one.
For me, some of the appetizers were much better than the others: my favorites were the pickled quail eggs (with sea salt and beets, which gave the eggs a bright pink hue) and the day’s cheese special, which was served with quince jam on black pepper bread. The quail eggs were $3 and the cheese was $4. The most expensive appetizers were the meatballs ($12) and the potted foie gras ($14). We’re definitely in the burbs.
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We were so happy with the snacks, appetizers, drinks, service, and overall vibe, that we knew the main courses were sure to please, too.
atlantic salmon, burger, risotto with Maine shrimp, and double cut pork chop
I was the one who ordered the pork chop; it was massive and yet perfectly cooked. It can be tricky to cook such a thick piece of pork – it tends to come out too dry or too bland – but this was really tender and flavorful. It was served with seared cabbage, grain mustard, guanciale, and fried bread. I really liked each component, and highly recommend this to hungry diners and pork fans.
AND I saved the best for last…
The best restaurant dessert I’ve eaten this year: Chocolate Hazelnut Daquoise with Meyer Lemon
Steel & Rye’s pastry chef, Meghan Thompson, must be some sort of genius dessert magician. The daquoise was silky and decadent, with the deep dark chocolate flavors offset nicely by the tartness of lemon and the crunch from the hazelnuts. And I was obsessed with the crunchy little pieces in one of the layers – those turned out to be broken pieces of crisped crepes, or basically a feuilletine. Pure perfection.
The other desserts were really good, too – we tried the affogato and a special dulce de leche cake – but for me, this chocolate beauty was the best and something I would order again (and again).
My friends and I had a lovely time at Steel & Rye. It was my favorite Supper Club to date!
Welcome, I’m Bianca Garcia. I love food, yoga, running, shopping, and writing. I'm an advertising professional, social media enthusiast, blogger, freelance writer, and obsessive list-maker. I think about dessert constantly. 
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Whoa! That dessert was not on the menu when I went. I need to go back for a lot of things but especially to try that!
Love the idea of a girls Supper Club. I totally understand why you wouldn’t want to blog about every dinner — but I’m glad you did with this one!
What a fun sounding supper club, and such delicious looking food!
We’ve been to Steel & Rye four times in the past couple of months. It is SO good!
if you lived in a converted chocolate factory do you think you could still smell the chocolate?
Bianca Garcia replied April 3rd, 2013 at 9:49 am
Ha it’s funny you ask that because that’s exactly what made me want to consider moving there. One of my friends said that during the summer the chocolate smell still wafts in the air!
I have heard so many great things about Steel and Rye – so happy you blogged this one. Agreed though, sometimes its nice to just go out and enjoy!
everyone is raving about this place. I must visit! I am so glad you shared supper club on the blog!!
That’s a really great idea to have a supper club with your girlfriends!
All that food looks delicious and comforting. That’s my type of food.
The club sounds so cool, and the restaurant looks great! Next time I’m in Boston (I try to get there at least once a year), I’ll stop in for a yummy supper too!
Chef Parsons has a great reputation, and I really want to check out Steel & Rye. And restaurants don’t offer dacquoise enough for dessert — how refreshing!
I love the idea of a supper club. It’s great to have food-loving friends.
I want to be your dining buddy! Love everything you eat my dear.
No joke – I never pass up on a dessert that’s “chocolate hazelnut dacquoise…” anything! It’s one of my favorite things and the feuilletine just make those restaurant desserts! The super thin crisp wafer were made for rich chocolate-hazelnut desserts! I am intrigued by the Meyer lemon combination…sounds so gooood!!!
I’ve also been hearing such great things about this place. I definitely need to check it out. Great to know it’s actually reasonably priced!
Wow! Who knew there was such good food outside of the city :P That dessert looks beyond amazing…I can definitely see why you were compelled to post!
I’ve heard so many good things about Steel & Rye. I need to check it out!
that pork chop looks AMAZING!
Bianca Garcia replied April 4th, 2013 at 11:47 am
I want to recreate it from the pork chops sold at Bee’s Knees!
I have GOT to join one of these…I’m drooling over here.
Everything looks amazing and I love the way they serve the burgers.
Sounds like so much fun! Looks incredible…
I think I am a little in love with all your photos :D
Cheers
CCU
i so love the idea of a supper club. a great way to connect with friends and eat great food. thanks for sharing. i visit Boston often and will definitely keep this restaurant in mind :-)