Boston's Outlook Kitchen + Bar: Good For A Burger And Much More
One of the newcomers to hit Boston's Fort Point neighborhood this summer was Envoy Hotel and their bumping rooftop bar, the Lookout. As busy as it was in the summer, this rooftop with a view is now closed for the season. However, there is still much to enjoy in terms of food and drink at the Envoy with their newly opened Outlook Kitchen + Bar.
Like many restaurants in Boston's hotels, Outlook boasts a solid culinary team led by executive chef David Verdo and a creative cocktail bar led by Michael Ray. The bar is set in the center of the room; high top tables face the windows on one side while booths and other tables line the walls behind the bar. The whole restaurant gives off a chic but unique feel with thick ropes contouring the booths and a "private" dining area made entirely of glass — enough to make anyone jealous of what's going on inside!
Their bar menu features inventive cocktails; classics with a twist and local spirits and ingredients. Start your experience off with a Vim and Vigor (Bully Boy whiskey, lemon, crème de peche, peach bitters) or a Go Go Bordello (Berkshire Mt. Ethereal gin, lemon, hibiscus, Champagne). Wines are served generously in elegant glassware and hail from California, to Italy, to France, and Argentina.
Outlook thrives whether you are going in for a casual burger and a beer or a fuller, multi-dish experience. With two options of burgers, the Envoy burger is their classic with dry-aged beef and hickory bacon and Cheddar is perhaps one of the best burgers I have had in a while. Go bigger with the Outlook burger that adds avocado and a fried egg to the above.
Delightful appetizers include their tuna and salmon sashimi, steak tartare with a quail egg and smoked gouda and their excellently seared scallops with saffron, shiso, bright green edamame, and lentils.
Of the heartier dishes, Halibut comes served with elegant enoki mushrooms, bok choy, and smoked almonds; an Aspen Ridge strip steak with seasonal fixings and a popular rotating pasta dish.
Of course, amid all of these tantalizing dishes, you must save room for their dessert, most notably, the campfire torte. A decadent slab of dark chocolate atop salty graham cracker, the pastry chef manages to capture the nostalgia of roasting marshmallows in a jar which comes with torched, homemade mallows and aromas that'll make your head spin.
It's always exciting to have a fresh face in the neighborhood, especially when it promises to be a perfect spot for a quick and casual burger, or a fuller dining experience. One thing is for sure, this hotel bar will be full of locals on the daily.