Finally Finale
Location: 1306 Beacon Street, Brookline (Map)
Opened: July 2006
Cuisine: Dessert
Expect to spend: $20+
Dress: Casual
Setting: Trendy, rich, low lit and comfortable
Bar/lounge: Yes
Parking: Street
Restaurant's Web site: Finale.com
Foodie Chick Review
Date dined: Tuesday, July 17
Occasion: Miscellaneous
Highlights: Chocolate rice krispie treats.
Lowlights: Not being able to choose just one.
Overall: You won't find big, gooey desserts or 12-scoop sundaes at Finale, but everything you order will be sweet, savory and adorn your table like mini works of art.
I've been meaning, planning, wanting and hoping to go to Finale for ages. No meal is over until dessert is had, and this place is known for its gourmet desserts. What chocolate lover wouldn't want to go?
I did sample some of Finale's fine desserts at Taste of the Nation, but I didn't actually make it to one of the three Boston area locations until last week, when I went with a friend and now former coworker for a very-belated-birthday celebration and farewell to my old job. It really was a finale night.
I decided to skip dinner entirely, so I avoided the last page of the menu where the "preludes" are located, including salads, pizzas and cheese plates. Then, not being able to settle on what dessert I wanted -- a real shocking turn of events -- I took the easy way out and ordered the three-course tasting menu. This may have been a mistake because so many options on that menu looked appealing, particularly the Pineapple Upside Down Cake that I would order without hesitation next time, if only because I love some pineapple.
First, I'd like to recommend that you do have some sort of dinner before trying to tackle one of these desserts. They are tasty but unbelievably rich, and almost too much to handle with nothing else to buffer. My Cappuccino Martini combined with all the bittersweet chocolate just succeeded in making me lightheaded... and left me craving a slice of Sicilian.
Course one of my sampler include a napoleon of blackberry cabernet sorbet layered between small disks of strudel dough, a coconut cake and a blueberry tart. Each of these is no more than two bites or so. Of course I savored the flavors, and I was talking while I ate, so it took me a while to finish. Of the three the sorbet was most refreshing, the blueberry was a nice light cake, probably my favorite because of the fresh blueberries, but the coconut was nothing that exciting. I would have preferred it be heavier coconut custard rather than a light cake. The blueberry cake already filled that need on the plate.
Course two arrived promptly after I finished the last bite of blueberry tart, before I could take a sip of my frothy martini. This would be considered the entree portion of the sampler, as it was a full-plate serving of the Molten Chocolate cake. (See picture, but please excuse the quality as I'm in between cameras and had to resort to my camera phone. The dessert photos on Finale's site are an excellent representation.) I could have also chosen the creme brulee or cheesecake, but I can never say no to oozing chocolate. It was an excellent molten chocolate cake: The cake crust was fairly thin and easy to break through to the thoroughly melted chocolate. I do personally prefer a cakier version (like the version at Morton's), but I've never seen such smooth-running fudge. The molten cakes I make at home would be put to shame next to this. Beside this cake was a generous dollop of cappuccino ice cream sprinkled with nuts and topped with large chocolate triangles. I didn't realize the cake would be served with cappuccino flavor ice cream or I may have ordered vanilla or even the sorbet with it instead; too much coffee flavor for me for one evening. I wasn't able to finish the entire dessert it was so heavy.
Course three was the fudgy, chocolate rice krispies with nuts. These little classic bites of perfection seemed the simplest, yet they were the one thing I wish I could have for a snack every day at 3:00. They were super chocolaty, almost like a brownie version of a rice krispie treat. Nice ending to my dessert meal.
The only thing I would like to see from Finale is a "make-your-own" sampler. I'm sure this would require a good deal of additional time to prep the correct serving sizes and such, but I would have loved to try some other desserts on the menu -- and I probably would not have ordered any of the desserts in the current sampler on their own, save the Molten Chocolate.
Really, I'm still just pining for that pineapple.
Opened: July 2006
Cuisine: Dessert
Expect to spend: $20+
Dress: Casual
Setting: Trendy, rich, low lit and comfortable
Bar/lounge: Yes
Parking: Street
Restaurant's Web site: Finale.com
Foodie Chick Review
Date dined: Tuesday, July 17
Occasion: Miscellaneous
Highlights: Chocolate rice krispie treats.
Lowlights: Not being able to choose just one.
Overall: You won't find big, gooey desserts or 12-scoop sundaes at Finale, but everything you order will be sweet, savory and adorn your table like mini works of art.
I've been meaning, planning, wanting and hoping to go to Finale for ages. No meal is over until dessert is had, and this place is known for its gourmet desserts. What chocolate lover wouldn't want to go?
I did sample some of Finale's fine desserts at Taste of the Nation, but I didn't actually make it to one of the three Boston area locations until last week, when I went with a friend and now former coworker for a very-belated-birthday celebration and farewell to my old job. It really was a finale night.
I decided to skip dinner entirely, so I avoided the last page of the menu where the "preludes" are located, including salads, pizzas and cheese plates. Then, not being able to settle on what dessert I wanted -- a real shocking turn of events -- I took the easy way out and ordered the three-course tasting menu. This may have been a mistake because so many options on that menu looked appealing, particularly the Pineapple Upside Down Cake that I would order without hesitation next time, if only because I love some pineapple.
First, I'd like to recommend that you do have some sort of dinner before trying to tackle one of these desserts. They are tasty but unbelievably rich, and almost too much to handle with nothing else to buffer. My Cappuccino Martini combined with all the bittersweet chocolate just succeeded in making me lightheaded... and left me craving a slice of Sicilian.
Course one of my sampler include a napoleon of blackberry cabernet sorbet layered between small disks of strudel dough, a coconut cake and a blueberry tart. Each of these is no more than two bites or so. Of course I savored the flavors, and I was talking while I ate, so it took me a while to finish. Of the three the sorbet was most refreshing, the blueberry was a nice light cake, probably my favorite because of the fresh blueberries, but the coconut was nothing that exciting. I would have preferred it be heavier coconut custard rather than a light cake. The blueberry cake already filled that need on the plate.Course two arrived promptly after I finished the last bite of blueberry tart, before I could take a sip of my frothy martini. This would be considered the entree portion of the sampler, as it was a full-plate serving of the Molten Chocolate cake. (See picture, but please excuse the quality as I'm in between cameras and had to resort to my camera phone. The dessert photos on Finale's site are an excellent representation.) I could have also chosen the creme brulee or cheesecake, but I can never say no to oozing chocolate. It was an excellent molten chocolate cake: The cake crust was fairly thin and easy to break through to the thoroughly melted chocolate. I do personally prefer a cakier version (like the version at Morton's), but I've never seen such smooth-running fudge. The molten cakes I make at home would be put to shame next to this. Beside this cake was a generous dollop of cappuccino ice cream sprinkled with nuts and topped with large chocolate triangles. I didn't realize the cake would be served with cappuccino flavor ice cream or I may have ordered vanilla or even the sorbet with it instead; too much coffee flavor for me for one evening. I wasn't able to finish the entire dessert it was so heavy.
Course three was the fudgy, chocolate rice krispies with nuts. These little classic bites of perfection seemed the simplest, yet they were the one thing I wish I could have for a snack every day at 3:00. They were super chocolaty, almost like a brownie version of a rice krispie treat. Nice ending to my dessert meal.
The only thing I would like to see from Finale is a "make-your-own" sampler. I'm sure this would require a good deal of additional time to prep the correct serving sizes and such, but I would have loved to try some other desserts on the menu -- and I probably would not have ordered any of the desserts in the current sampler on their own, save the Molten Chocolate.
Really, I'm still just pining for that pineapple.
Gourmet desserts are really wonderful and very very tasty...
cheers,
suma valluru
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http://www.gourmet-chocolates.org/
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