Mandarin Oriental | 776 Boylston St | Back Bay
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TheBostonBoy
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Ya it definitely is concrete, but i still think they will use some limestone too
L'Espalier set for entree on Boylston
By Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff | May 17, 2007
L'Espalier, the epitome of formal fine dining in Boston, will move out of its cramped Back Bay brownstone in summer 2008 and into the new Mandarin Oriental complex, doubling in size and taking aim at becoming one of the country's contemporary culinary destinations.
While L'Espalier chef and owner Frank McClelland is relocating his signature restaurant only around the corner to Boylston Street, the move reflects the changing landscape for Boston restaurateurs. McClelland follows in the footsteps of celebrity chef Todd English, No. 9 Park owner Barbara Lynch, and others who are taking advantage of new real estate opportunities and their popularity to create high-profile tributes to cuisine.
L'Espalier -- the site of many a marriage proposal and celebrity sighting -- will have 5,500 square feet in its new space, which features a private glass elevator, modern lounge with butler service, and floor-to-ceiling windows throughout the dining rooms on the second floor.
"We want to take L'Espalier to another dimension, to give it more of a world stage and a world-class facility," said McClelland, who earlier this month won the James Beard Award for "Best Chef Northeast," the Oscars of fine dining. "The city of Boston has become much more international and much more of a destination for restaurants. The public is looking for it."
The new digs, set to open next summer as part of the $300 million-plus Mandarin Oriental hotel project, will be a far cry from the historic Back Bay townhouse L'Espalier currently occupies, where diners must walk up a flight of stairs, sometimes two, to get to small dining rooms with intricate molding, taupe chairs, and white tablecloths. But the new quarters will pay homage to the traditions of its current 30 Gloucester St. location, including a replica of L'Espalier's signature wrought-iron gate.
Built in 1880, the brick townhouse on Gloucester was a private home through the mid 1900s, and briefly an apartment building in the 1960s, notorious for wild and extravagant parties, before becoming a restaurant space. L'Espalier was opened by chef Moncef Meddeb in 1978 on Boylston Street between Arlington and Berkeley. The restaurant, which moved into the townhouse in 1982, is often cited as the first independently owned restaurant to bring haute cuisine to Boston. McClelland purchased the restaurant in 1988.
Over the years, L'Espalier has racked up repeated culinary awards for its New England-French cuisine, offering dishes like butter-poached lobster, seared Hudson Valley foie gras, and a renowned cheese course. L'Espalier has become a favorite among A-listers, from Mick Jagger to Patriots superstar Tom Brady and ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan. And when former Boston University president John Silber was running for governor, he hosted strategic planning meetings at Table 20.
For everyone else, the restaurant is about special occasions. There are more than 1,000 birthdays and anniversaries celebrated at the 65-seat restaurant a month -- and usually at least one marriage proposal a month, according to Louis Risoli , L'Espalier's maitre d' for the past 25 years. (The restaurant's name comes from the French word, espalier, which refers to a way of pruning trees to grow on a trellis.)
At the Mandarin complex, which will include a five-star hotel, high-end retail shops, and luxury condominiums, L'Espalier expects to attract a broader crowd of tourists and business travelers, said Robin Brown , one of the developers of the Mandarin.
"This is a bull's-eye location -- the center of the universe in Boston," Brown said. "We trust Frank and believe in what he does and what he's capable of doing here."
McClelland's other restaurant, Sel de la Terre , will open its second Boston location next to L'Espalier in the Mandarin complex. Both are leasing spaces there. McClelland operates Sel de la Terre, which serves rustic French cuisine, with partner Geoff Gardner, and a third location is planned for Natick.
The new L'Espalier will have about 85 to 90 seats, and enough room for a dedicated pastry department with a chocolate room in the spacious kitchen that can be viewed by passersby on the street.
John Bogle , owner of Bogle Investment Management in Newton, who dines at L'Espalier with his wife about four times a year and hosts his company holiday party there, says the most striking part of the current restaurant is its warm and romantic setting.
"It's an ambience you just can't find anywhere in Boston," Bogle said. "If you were to take that same experience and put it into any other building, it's going to be different but that does not necessarily mean not as good.
"I just hope," he added, "it won't be harder for me to get a table if they get more business."
Link
By Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff | May 17, 2007
L'Espalier, the epitome of formal fine dining in Boston, will move out of its cramped Back Bay brownstone in summer 2008 and into the new Mandarin Oriental complex, doubling in size and taking aim at becoming one of the country's contemporary culinary destinations.
While L'Espalier chef and owner Frank McClelland is relocating his signature restaurant only around the corner to Boylston Street, the move reflects the changing landscape for Boston restaurateurs. McClelland follows in the footsteps of celebrity chef Todd English, No. 9 Park owner Barbara Lynch, and others who are taking advantage of new real estate opportunities and their popularity to create high-profile tributes to cuisine.
L'Espalier -- the site of many a marriage proposal and celebrity sighting -- will have 5,500 square feet in its new space, which features a private glass elevator, modern lounge with butler service, and floor-to-ceiling windows throughout the dining rooms on the second floor.
"We want to take L'Espalier to another dimension, to give it more of a world stage and a world-class facility," said McClelland, who earlier this month won the James Beard Award for "Best Chef Northeast," the Oscars of fine dining. "The city of Boston has become much more international and much more of a destination for restaurants. The public is looking for it."
The new digs, set to open next summer as part of the $300 million-plus Mandarin Oriental hotel project, will be a far cry from the historic Back Bay townhouse L'Espalier currently occupies, where diners must walk up a flight of stairs, sometimes two, to get to small dining rooms with intricate molding, taupe chairs, and white tablecloths. But the new quarters will pay homage to the traditions of its current 30 Gloucester St. location, including a replica of L'Espalier's signature wrought-iron gate.
Built in 1880, the brick townhouse on Gloucester was a private home through the mid 1900s, and briefly an apartment building in the 1960s, notorious for wild and extravagant parties, before becoming a restaurant space. L'Espalier was opened by chef Moncef Meddeb in 1978 on Boylston Street between Arlington and Berkeley. The restaurant, which moved into the townhouse in 1982, is often cited as the first independently owned restaurant to bring haute cuisine to Boston. McClelland purchased the restaurant in 1988.
Over the years, L'Espalier has racked up repeated culinary awards for its New England-French cuisine, offering dishes like butter-poached lobster, seared Hudson Valley foie gras, and a renowned cheese course. L'Espalier has become a favorite among A-listers, from Mick Jagger to Patriots superstar Tom Brady and ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan. And when former Boston University president John Silber was running for governor, he hosted strategic planning meetings at Table 20.
For everyone else, the restaurant is about special occasions. There are more than 1,000 birthdays and anniversaries celebrated at the 65-seat restaurant a month -- and usually at least one marriage proposal a month, according to Louis Risoli , L'Espalier's maitre d' for the past 25 years. (The restaurant's name comes from the French word, espalier, which refers to a way of pruning trees to grow on a trellis.)
At the Mandarin complex, which will include a five-star hotel, high-end retail shops, and luxury condominiums, L'Espalier expects to attract a broader crowd of tourists and business travelers, said Robin Brown , one of the developers of the Mandarin.
"This is a bull's-eye location -- the center of the universe in Boston," Brown said. "We trust Frank and believe in what he does and what he's capable of doing here."
McClelland's other restaurant, Sel de la Terre , will open its second Boston location next to L'Espalier in the Mandarin complex. Both are leasing spaces there. McClelland operates Sel de la Terre, which serves rustic French cuisine, with partner Geoff Gardner, and a third location is planned for Natick.
The new L'Espalier will have about 85 to 90 seats, and enough room for a dedicated pastry department with a chocolate room in the spacious kitchen that can be viewed by passersby on the street.
John Bogle , owner of Bogle Investment Management in Newton, who dines at L'Espalier with his wife about four times a year and hosts his company holiday party there, says the most striking part of the current restaurant is its warm and romantic setting.
"It's an ambience you just can't find anywhere in Boston," Bogle said. "If you were to take that same experience and put it into any other building, it's going to be different but that does not necessarily mean not as good.
"I just hope," he added, "it won't be harder for me to get a table if they get more business."
Link
I took a peak at the brick behind the covering and agree that it looks very similar to that of North Point.
I wonder why the Mandarin renderings on their website haven't been updated to show the brick? And to think we were so very close to getting an elegant piece of architecture added to our city.
I wonder why the Mandarin renderings on their website haven't been updated to show the brick? And to think we were so very close to getting an elegant piece of architecture added to our city.
Bobby Digital
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at what point do we just say 'welcome to the 21st century'. its the era of precast/ prefab buildings. its just cheaper that way. construction costs are so high nowadays.... from what i hear... that i think you gotta expect this most of the time....
curiosity makes me wonder why construction costs are so high these days.... Obviously Katrina is still having an effect, gas prices are too.... but more damand from other markets.... India and Asia come to mind i think as reasons why we will continue to see crap precast materials. more demand.
I wonder when the day is coming when Asia pulls its money out of US markets... what's gonna happen to us then....its all good as long as we have a good return and we keep buying chinese, korean and vietnamese products, but sooner or later they're gonna pull their money out. Where we gonna borrow from after that? Then we won't be building shit.
curiosity makes me wonder why construction costs are so high these days.... Obviously Katrina is still having an effect, gas prices are too.... but more damand from other markets.... India and Asia come to mind i think as reasons why we will continue to see crap precast materials. more demand.
I wonder when the day is coming when Asia pulls its money out of US markets... what's gonna happen to us then....its all good as long as we have a good return and we keep buying chinese, korean and vietnamese products, but sooner or later they're gonna pull their money out. Where we gonna borrow from after that? Then we won't be building shit.
To dispel a misconception here - except for the precast concrete panels at the retail arcade at the back of the Mandarin, all of the masonry on the project that looks like limestone truly is bonafide quarried limestone, including window sills and headers. You will begin to see significantly more of it once the ground floor and top floors are clad.
The reason for the precast at the arcade: Prudential Center design standards.
The reason for the precast at the arcade: Prudential Center design standards.
Bobby Digital
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if there could be something said for uniformity...
but im having trouble seeing how this matches the pru or the hotel next to it ( cant remember its name... Marriott?) maybe it matches the outside of the pru mall/arcade whatever u call it.
but im having trouble seeing how this matches the pru or the hotel next to it ( cant remember its name... Marriott?) maybe it matches the outside of the pru mall/arcade whatever u call it.
Ron Newman
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the hotel next to the Pru is the Sheraton-Boston.
The arcade, which is essentially tacked onto the back of the Mandarin, will become an extension of the current retail mall, connecting the existing mall with new retail within the Mandarin (L'espalier being the first tenant to come out) and ultimately leading to Lord and Taylor. Because the arcade is technically an "addition" to the existing retail mall, the materials and detailing are required to match the existing mall construction...hence the precast exterior.
kz1000ps
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I go by the site almost every day, so you can be sure that I'll take a picture of anything worth showing. Problem is, there's that black netting up that makes it hard to detect any visible progress.
So in other words, it essentially looks the same as it did in the photos I posted a week ago.
So in other words, it essentially looks the same as it did in the photos I posted a week ago.
TheBostonBoy
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Oh ok thanks!
kz you still haven't told anyone your job :shock:
Tell me...I was in the thread for all your pictures (you get the best!)
kz you still haven't told anyone your job :shock:
Tell me...I was in the thread for all your pictures (you get the best!)
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This is my candidate for Boston's most changed stretch of streetscape in recent years.kz1000ps said:
Boylston Boulevard is finally arriving. Too bad the new Apple store won't make much of a contribution to it.
Could Boston's cabs all be white as New York's are yellow?
kz1000ps
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ablarc said:
..Let another five years pass and "upper" Boylston will probably be the next leading candidate for this nod. After that, I can only image that my block of Boylston (in between Hynes and the Fens) will be the next to see major investment, be it from Berklee and/or private investors.
In 16 pages somewhere are a few hilarious comments about the Mandarin's unique writing style. I wrote to them about it a while back, and forgot to post the response:
This subtopic has been surprising/funny to me. When I visited Hong Kong, I found the natives to speak better English than I did (they're still taught Queen's English, I believe).
The website has been updated though, by a professional group. Interesting that the cultural gulf still remains to a degree; the website brags about the, "ability to accommodate different types of heating and cooling preferences."
That crazy invention, the thermostat. Amazing!
In addition, the site states
This subtopic has been surprising/funny to me. When I visited Hong Kong, I found the natives to speak better English than I did (they're still taught Queen's English, I believe).
The website has been updated though, by a professional group. Interesting that the cultural gulf still remains to a degree; the website brags about the, "ability to accommodate different types of heating and cooling preferences."
That crazy invention, the thermostat. Amazing!
In addition, the site states
kz1000ps
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This was taken from the 4th floor of the newish building with Fidelity on the ground floor on Tuesday the 5th
Wednesday the 6th
And from yesterday - I got to go to CBT's site offices, located in the old Star Market's space
Wednesday the 6th
And from yesterday - I got to go to CBT's site offices, located in the old Star Market's space