Exactly a month ago I published a review of Smith and Wollensky in this blog. It was based on a single visit, and it was definitely not a 5-star review. More like a 3.5, and that was apparently not satisfactory to the management. Like many Weston students, they clearly think that anything less than an A is a failure. So they did the right thing and invited us to try them again. We did so for dinner last night.

The verdict is that this time it was worthy of five stars, both for the food and for the service. Price is another matter (see below). We started with an unexpected amuse-bouche of a small piece of rare filet mignon with chimichurri sauce and onion strings. It was excellent in all respects. Then Barbara had a shrimp cocktail of three truly jumbo shrimp (there actually were five, but she gave one to me and took one home), cooked and served perfectly. That was followed by two lobster tails, truffled french fries with grated parmesan, and creamed spinach. She reports that the fries were good and the spinach was first-rate.

I started with a gigantic Caesar salad, crisp and fresh, with a parmesan frico, otherwise traditional (meaning no anchovies, unfortunately, but it was just fine and I had to take half of it home). That was followed by a filet mignon, prepared exactly as ordered, i.e. rare, with a lobster tail on the side. I had to take approximately 37% of the filet home.

The server was attentive, efficient, and solicitous.

If we had had to pay full price, we would have said that it was too expensive; dropping it by 40% would have made it reasonable by our standards. Excellent though it was, it’s just not our type of restaurant. We can get an equally satisfying meal for half the price at Tavolo.

Categories: Dorchester/Boston, Food & Restaurants