Eating art at Bergamot

I love the fact that, at least in Boston, Restaurant Week is as much a week as Happy Hour is 60 minutes long. (Not that actual "Happy Hour" exists in Boston, but that's another story.)

So the 2011 Summer Restaurant Week happens over two weeks, which is a good thing, as a)there are so many restaurants to try and b)most of the time it takes me at least a week to get around to booking anything.

This week, as is often the case, we relied on the initiative of friends. DJ Huge was in town after a European tour, so we started with G&Ts on his patio and then went to dinner at Bergamot.

I've only been to Bergamot once before — also for Restaurant Week — and both times, I've come away thinking, "Why the heck don't we do this more often?"

Here's a sense of how awesome Bergamot is: While we were looking over the menu, our server brought out tiny amuse-gueles of cod and sriracha. Unfortunately, Huge is vegetarian and I, as you may recall, have the tastebuds of a newborn, so can't handle anything hotter than a scallion.

We both passed our plates to The Boy, who was, of course, delighted to take on the burden.

Our server, with genuine concern, asked what was wrong; when we explained, she went to the kitchen (against our protests that we were perfectly fine) and came out with a vegetarian version for Huge (with cucumber and garbanzos) and both the veggie version and a not-spicy cod version for me. How sweet is that?

My one (tiny) issue with Bergamot is that it's atmospheric; in other words, the lights are low. Which means it's hard to take good photos. Which is sad, because the food is so lovely that it deserves to be captured.

So this time I'm trying something a little different: I've 'Shopped the images with artistic filters, hiding the flaws in the photography while (I hope) retaining the beauty of the plates.

And so here's my impression of the cod amuse:



And the cucumber version:



And then appetizers; both Huge and I chose the heirloom tomato and peach salad with fennel and Thai basil. Every mouthful was summer. And the colors were stunning.



The Boy went for a simpler salad with kohlrabi, radish, and purslane, a vivid combination of bitter and sharp and bright — quite a contrast to the sweet fruitiness of the tomatoes and peaches.

And then entrées. For me, local cod with summer squash and fresh cranberry beans:



For The Boy, pork with escarole, about which he noted that it was the second time recently that he'd had pork and greens that were better than Redbones (the previous time was at Henrietta's):



And Huge went for potato gnocchi with tomatoes; as it was so Mediterranean, and as attempts to photograph it did not go well, I present it here in mosaic tile form:



And then dessert: stone fruit crisp with an oatmeal tuile and a goat-cheese crème:



and a moist and delicious carrot cake garnished with cream cheese and fresh carrot. So on average, it was healthy.



In all, a lovely evening. Now I just have to remember that Bergamot does exist between Restaurant Weeks.

Also, what do you think about the photos? Should I do more like this?