After years of talking about it, Matt and I finally made it to the Liberty hotel. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Boston, the Liberty is an old jail that was converted into a swanky hotel with some of the original structural features still intact.
And it exceeded all expectations. You must go if you’re ever in the area!
There was a short wait for a table at Scampo, one of the restaurants at the Liberty, so we ventured to the hotel bar for a drink.
Cocktails were pricy, so we decided to split the southern belle in honor of my roots: Knob Creek, Southern Comfort, Cointreau, Banana puree. It was perfect in every way. The bartender explained that the banana puree is made by caramelizing bananas and blending them with cinnamon and brown sugar.
Once seated at Scampo, bread sticks and some kind of cilantro pine nut hummus arrived.
To be honest, I don’t care for italian reds. But, there weren’t a lot of other options on the menu, so I ordered a cabernet franc after our waiter described it as very earthy. I was expecting something very thin and vinegary, so I was blown away by the boldness of this awesome glass. So happy I ordered it!
Dinner was a pizza topped with fresh Maine shrimp scampi and wild green garlic. The pizza was very rich and creamy…a shrimp + butter lover’s (aka, me) dream.
Matt had a risotto of amarena & fresh picked cherries with “brick style’ boneless squab and a touch of bitter chocolate jus. This was sooo unique! I wasn’t blown away by the flavor of the risotto, but the squab was cooked to perfection and the bitter chocolate with the sweet cherries tied all the flavors together.
When I saw that the dessert menu included a half order of the chef’s selection of cookies, I became officially obsessed with Scampo.
However, after being spoiled by the warm, oozing cookies from the cookie platter at Top of the Hub, I was a bit disappointed with these dry cookies. They definitely were not fresh out of the oven and I doubt that they were even baked in the last day or two. Oh well, dessert is always fun and the selection was good. The plate included chocolate chunk, molasses, cherry, a cocoanut macaroon, and a chocolate biscotti.
Needless to say, I’m already dying to go back to Scampo and have more pizza and wine! Don’t you just love a nice date night?
I’m babysitting this evening and I’m actually not really looking forward to it because it’s freezing out and it’s kind of a long commute. At least I think I’ve convinced Matt to join me. I think he’ll be fascinated by the new baby….
See you tomorrow.
Lacey @ Lake Life
January 22, 2011 at 5:45 pmAll that food looks amazing! Love the idea of the converted jail.
Kath
January 22, 2011 at 5:48 pmWOW – that drink!!!!!!
And the meal looked amazingly unique!