A MOST UNLIKELY NEW YEAR'S EVE

Despite regularly extolling the advantages of cooking at home, I enjoyed an unexpected and utterly fabulous restaurant dinner for New Year's Eve.

The Bancroft in Burlington, MA-- it beat the hell out of spending New Year's Eve in a freaking truckstop.

Happy New Year to all!

On the morning of 12/31, my New Year's Eve was looking pretty bleak. Due to a massive Lake Effect snowstorm in upstate New York, I couldn't go home to Rochester as usual between my four-night workweeks, so I "stayed out," as we truckers say, and picked up two extra driving shifts. However, I was still stranded for a legally-mandated 34-hour driving clock re-set in Burlington, Massachusetts as the rest of the world prepared to watch balls drop and ring in the new year. It could have been so much worse-- not only was I parked at a Wegmans store for my break, it was also just a short walk to a fancy-looking restaurant called The Bancroft. -- a swank and modern take on the classic American steakhouse.

I cleaned up as best a trucker could and took a seat at the bar. A plate of a half-dozen shimmering-fresh Wellfleet oysters ($22) got me started, accompanied by the most perfect mignonette sauce I've ever tasted and a glass of 2023 Tyler Chardonnay ($16.) I would normally opt for a French white beside the king of bivalves, but the Tyler was perfectly minerally and crisp, two oyster-friendly qualities not normally associated with Golden State Chardonnays. (See (RE)CONSIDER THE OYSTER and THE ROYAL SISTERHOOD for our full-length takes on oysters and Chardonnay.)

Mignonette Sauce has a deceptively simple recipe-- Vinegar, Shallots, and Black Pepper. The vinegar is the only variable; most recipes call for red wine vinegar, while some recommend sherry vinegar and still others use rice vinegar. I'll be experimenting with different blends thereof, perhaps enhanced with a drop of Asian fish sauce and a few grains of sugar to round off the acidity.

Halfway through my oysters, the dialogue between the happy-looking couple to my left caught my ear. If I had never learned how to initiate conversations with total strangers during my decades in the hospitality industry, I would have been essentially mute for a full month at a time during my years as a solo over-the-road trucker. Dennis and Jen were both math teachers who have known each other for more than a decade, and yet this was their first real date. The conversation naturally turned to wine, and Jen mentioned Malbec as one of her favorite varieties. With that particularly feminine, spectrograph-like sensitivity to involuntary facial reactions, she instantly registered my disagreement and playfully called me out for it. In response I called for the wine list and ordered us a bottle of 2022 Mariflor Malbec ($68) to split three ways. I had Jen do the honors of trying the first taste, and she declared, "This is the kind of wine that in ten minutes people will say, 'Wow! This has gotten SO much better in the last ten minutes.'" She was spot-on-- with just a little air it opened up like a big, fluffy parachute. She asked why that happens, and I reined in my tendency to man-splain in agonizing detail, giving instead the briefest possible outline of the biochemistry involved.

This Argentine Malbec was absolutely perfect with my perfectly medium-rare "Bancroft Burger," a $22 gourmet stack of grilled prime beef, aged cheddar, crispy onions, and brioche. A side of French fries kissed with sea salt and rosemary ($10) made the experience complete. I eventually said goodnight to Dennis and Jen, wishing them well and thanking them for their delightful company.

Then I walked back to my truck, turned the heat on, and fell asleep well before midnight.

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Those who follow the essays on Danny's Table know that I live for finding fantastic bargains when shopping for great wine and superior ingredients, and then "beating the system" by making better and cheaper meals at home than restaurants typically serve. (See HOW TO MAKE A FANCY STEAKHOUSE DINNER AT HOME (For WAY Less Money).) I am nonetheless delighted (and accordingly chagrined) to report that THE BANCROFT reminded me just how wonderful a restaurant can be when it is well-conceived, well-executed, and staffed by talented and hard-working employees who clearly take pride in their work. I don't anticipate running up a tab like that very often, but it made for a great evening and an even better start to The Year of our Lord 2026.

NOTES:

Although the Malbec grape originally hails from southwestern France, it has found the happiest of new homes in Argentina, where the Andes range creates a sunny, dry desert on its eastern slopes while providing plenty of water for irrigation with run-off from its white-capped ridges. This combination of relentless sunshine, ample moisture, and lofty altitude-- pretty much unknown elsewhere in the wine universe-- slowly and steadily nurtures Malbec to lush ripeness and world-class structure.