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Do they offer any explanation as to why they chose to call their restaurant,
"House, House" ?
Linda
> From: Stephen Z Stein
> Organization: Magic Mac Software
> Newsgroups: ne.food
> Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 22:13:12 -0500
> Subject: Maison Maison in Acton
>
> For a long time there were two very good French restaurants on 2A Acton,
> Le Lyonnais and Chez Claude. Then a couple of years ago, Claude closed
> and the location became home to a new French restaurant, Maison Maison.
> We chose to celebrate a friend's birthday last night, our first visit
> after the change of ownership.
>
> It was one of the best meals I've had in a long time.
>
> I had French onion soup gratinee to start. I love French onion soup,
> and I've made a hobby of "rating" every bowl I've had for the past 30
> years. The gruyere cheese, the crouton, and the soup itself have to
> come together in just the right way for an outstanding dish. For a
> time, the best I had had was in a restaurant called "Versailles" on Mt
> Auburn street west of Harvard Square. (It's gone now.) Then a few
> years later I found a better offering, at the "Old Heidelberg" in New
> Haven. (That place may be gone as well.) I had an opportunity to visit
> this dish's birthplace, "Au Pied du Cochon" in Paris, but I was
> disappointed in their version. (The broth was surprisingly tasteless.)
>
> Maison Maison is my new standard for this dish. Served in a 4" tall, 4"
> wide cup rather than a bowl, with a thick covering of perfectly melted
> gruyere, with a crouton of french bread the diameter of the cup
> retaining some of its crispness but saturated with the broth, which was
> flavorful beef with lots of onions. Not very oily either (which seems
> to be a common failing of this dish and sometimes causes me severe
> digestion problems).
>
> My choice for main dish was Filet Mignon au Poivre. The steak was
> unbelievably tender and the sauce was wonderful - perfectly prepared,
> accompanied by broccoli and potatoes with a garlic au gratin sauce,
> which were very good but went largely ignored - I didn't come hungry
> enough.
>
> My dining companions were also extremely satisfied with their choices:
> Boulliabaisse, Rack of Lamb, and Fin of Skate in black truffle sauce.
> Everyone was wowwed - I almost regretted my selection when I looked at
> the Bouliabaisse (mussels, shrimp, scallops, and a split lobster tail in
> a saffron base) - until I took another bite of steak :-).
>
> The portions were quite ample - everyone had difficulty finishing their
> main course. I've found this to be unusual for French restaurants.
>
> The wine list looked pretty good - it wasn't huge, but it had some
> excellent selections (along with a ridiculous late 90s Petrus). The
> moderately expensive bottles I'm familiar with seemed very well-priced
> for a restaurant ($69 for a 97 Beaucastel CdP - $49 in the store I
> think). The cheaper bottles had a big markup ($20 for a 98 Guigal CdR,
> $7 in the stores - a great wine at this price), but that's par for the
> course.
>
> No one got desserts, and the bill was $130 for food and $70 for wine for
> the four of us. This is pricey, but well worth it for this quality.
>
> I'll be back as often as my budget permits. :-)
>
> - Steve Stein
>
>Boston, MA