Dueling Chefs With Cocktails To Match

While visiting Boston one February greeting-card-holiday weekend, I was urged by a friend to try Sibling Rivalry. She said that it was all kinds of fantastic and that if I didn't like a dish one way, there was always another option.

Cue the oddity that is this South End restaurant: Two brother chefs dueling over one ingredient. Chefs Bob and David Kinkead go head-to-head, beginning with the appetizers and ending with dessert, as they give their version of a dish — very original. With a changing, seasonal menu, the ideas are constantly flowing between the competitive twosome. Some of their jump-off-the-pagers include the Moroccan lamb brick, truffled poached eggs, and to-die-for brisket.

Though that lamb brick will be forever embedded in my mind, a really great cocktail stands out as well. The Belissimma, a super-lush blend of crushed raspberries, white peach nectar, and prosecco. That and the tangerine martini made for a lovely palate cleanser.

For more of a weighty option, my boyfriend, a fan of mojitos, found solace in the Old Cuban. Muddled mint, a dash of bitters, rum, and sparkling wine filled his fix. A selection of local beers, hard ciders, and a thorough wine selection rounds out the eclectic list.

Sibling Rivalry is something of a crowd-pleaser — definitely passing as a date-night spot, but there is also a pretty well-endowed bar area, not to mention the Chef's Bar, where you have a front-row seat to the hustle in the kitchen. I have since returned, found new favorites, and realized that my taste buds really do not favor one brother over the other, but it doesn't matter. It's all relative, isn't it?