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."
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