L'Espalier

L’Espalier is a French restaurant located in Boston, Massachusetts, in the Back Bay neighborhood, adjacent to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. The chef and owner of L'Espalier is Frank McClelland, who received a James Beard Foundation Award in 2007 for Best Northeast Chef.HistoryChef Moncef Meddeb opened L'Espalier on Boylston Street between Arlington and Berkeley in 1978. It moved to an 1880s-era brick townhouse on Gloucester Street in 1982 and was purchased by McClelland in 1988. The restaurant moved to its current location in the Mandarin Oriental complex in 2008. It was designed by Martin Vahtra of Projects Design in New York. L'Espalier is known locally as a popular place for marriage proposals and celebrity sightings.On March 27, 2013 McClelland celebrated their 35th anniversary with a specially designed six course tasting menu including Jonah crab bisque, branzino and rack of lamb.FoodL'Espalier serves locally grown produce prepared in classically French ways. Serving dinner nightly, lunch Mon.-Sun. and tea only on the weekends from 1:30-3:00. Patrons choose from three prix-fixe menu, the seasonal degustation (tasting) menu or the Chef's tasting journey. First courses have included almond-dusted veal sweetbreads with morels and wilted baby mustard greens, with main course options such as pan-roasted East Coast halibut and Vermont rabbit.