Tuesday, June 26, 7:00 P.M.
Members $85, guests $110

Mistral may be inspired by the chill northerly wind that sweeps through southern France, but it’s a hot breeze—red-hot—on Boston’s dining scene. "Mistral," as The Boston Globe wrote, "is definitely the Blockbuster Hit in Town." Concurred Boston Magazine: "Mistral is major." Chef/co-owner Jamie Mammano’s four-year-old eatery has been packing in a well-heeled crowd since day one. And no wonder. Fortune called it the "hottest table in Boston"; Nation’s Restaurant News voted it one of Beantown’s five hottest restaurants; and Food & Wine pronounced it 1998’s Sexiest Bar. But while the hipsters may come and go, co-owner Seth Greenberg’s track record as a nightclub impresario, Mistral’s groovy setting, and Mammano’s assured cooking prove that style and substance can go hand in hand. His eclectic French/Italian-inflected cooking, his "consistently excellent food that often borders on the sublime," as The Improper Bostonian put it, can take a large measure of credit for the restaurant’s staying power. Mistral, in other words, is not merely a place to be seen, but rather a place to be seen eating.

That this highly hyped and exceedingly elegant eatery has lasted is no real surprise. Mammano built a rock-solid culinary reputation over ten years with the Four Seasons Hotel group as one of the most talented executive chefs among a high-powered bunch. His last Four Seasons post was running the highly regarded Aujourd’hui in Boston’s Four Seasons. But Mammano understands the kitchen from the ground up. He started, at age 15, as a dishwasher. He felt immediately at home in the kitchen, and a few years later, enrolled in the CIA for formal training. After graduation, he worked in the Washington, D.C., restaurants, The Jockey Club and Le Pavillion, before relocating to Madrid to serve as chef to the U.S. ambassador to Spain. When Mammano returned to the States, he signed on with Four Seasons. And ten years later, he stepped out on his own.

"Mammano is one of Boston’s most talented chefs," sidewalk.com wrote not long after Mistral opened. "Mistral gives him the opportunity to strut his stuff. Discerning diners will reap the rewards."
Beardies—come reap.