June RC – Scampo

Happy July! I have been sitting on this post for a few weeks because I just did not know how to adequately describe our June RC experience at Scampo. This was the deal…when Lydia Shire says she wants to cook a meat-inspired menu for your Restaurant Club, you say “yes please” and “sign me up!” While I did not know what to expect (besides a fabulous meal, of course), this was an experience beyond fabulous. It is an experience she creates for people like Doc Rivers, Larry David, and Julie Spanos.

We walked in to Scampo to a gorgeously set table, from gorgeous wine glasses (no water!) to knives with mother-of-pearl handles, all from her personal collection. And the staff was forewarned that none of it was to go in the dishwasher. The place settings were so decadent. I loved the colorful wine glasses and the “meat” plates.

Our table at Scampo

We did a really good job putting all of those wine glasses to work!

Wine pairings

Bread: Breadsticks and an “Italian quesadilla” with fontina, robiola, an truffle oil

Breadsticks

Italian quesadilla

Course One: She crab soup with Irish butter, tiny new potato gnocchetti & maple croutons
This was a beautiful soup, both rich and light at the same time. Lydia described this as a simple, light soup that has real essence of crab from both the female crabs and their roe. “Lydia would be fine if you wanted to lick the bowl,” said Giam-Piero, our fabulous server. Oh Giam-Piero, you read our minds.

She crab soup

Course Two: Flash grilled Korean shortrib with sweet & spicy coriander crust, spaghetti cooked in beet juice, and horseradish crema
This is the course where we got to use the knives with mother-of-pearl handles. “They’re from my house,” said Lydia. I think it was pretty unanimous that we were all in love with this shortrib. We even were picking up the bones to get every last perfectly seasoned morsel. And who knew you could cook spaghetti in beet juice?

Korean shortrib on the animal plates

Course Three: Trio of pasta
Handmade bowties with lobster knuckle, hazelnuts, brown butter, and dandelion pesto (on the left in the photo)
Fresh pea ravioli, carbonara style with pancetta and peas (in the middle in the photo)
Crackling spaghetti with salt pork crackling, and jalapeno (on the right in the photo)

I was on team spaghetti (she warned us that it was addicting), but there were a couple of people on team ravioli.

Pasta trio

Course Four: Miso glazed Chilean sea bass with gold leaf saffron risotto and Okinawa purple yam

Check out the gorgeous plates Lydia used to serve this course. Can you spot the Andy Warhol? And no, I was not lucky enough to be back in the kitchen to capture this photo. Giam-Piero did the honors.

Plates!

He also took a couple of selfies…

Giam-Piero

The fish was cooked perfectly. She made it pretty easy for us to want to clean our plates to discover what plate we each got. My favorite quotes about this course were:

“I’ve never had fish like this before.”

 “I don’t know what this sauce is, but it’s to die for.”

Perfectly cooked fish

Course Five: Scampo fruit sorbet with fresh seasonal berries and creme fraiche
By the end of the fourth class we were all so full, we didn’t think we could fit in another bite. Until dessert arrived. This was a five-flavor sorbet that included apple, apricot, pear, lemon, and orange. There was a splash of cassis liqueur, along with strawberries and creme fraiche. This was a little tart and a little sweet and a perfectly refreshing end to the meal.

Dessert!

I think it is safe to say that we all loved this meal, and that Spanos really upped the RC game with this pick!

Group photo with Lydia!

The damage
$201

The rundown
Scampo
215 Charles Street, Boston
Twitter: @scampoliberty
Instagram: @scampoboston