Meat Butter

Meat butter.

Does that phrase leave you with an icky feeling in your brain? Does it make your lips pucker and your forehead wrinkle? Then get out of here. Move your little fingers to the previous button and go back to where you came from.

Are you intrigued? Curious? Salivating? Then welcome, welcome, welcome! There's more where that came from - think rarebits, beef wellington with foie gras, and rich wild mushroom risotto. I'm talking about the food at the Marliave (Boston, Mass.).

Ever had rarebits? Do you like beer, cheese, bacon, and bread? Are you human? If you've answered "yes" to one or more of those questions, then you need to go into the Marliave and order yourself up a portion of their rarebits.

Served hot in a cast iron pan with perfectly toasted bread slices, the Marliave's rarebits appetizer is every man's dream, every woman's fantasy, and every dieter's nightmare. The thick center-cut bacon is chopped and cooked to perfection, artfully dancing the line between too soft and too hard while it floats in a spa of cheese and beer. Scoop it out of the pan fast because the cheese loses its meltyness as it comes to room temperature. And order extra toast.

Take a break between your rarebits and your entree because whatever you order is going to be hearty, rich, and so delicious you will clean your plate. I have three suggestions for you...

1.) Shrimp Scampi - Giant shrimp so fresh that they taste like crisp sea air with fresh fresh fresh pasta and a perfectly garlicky and lemony white wine sauce.

2.) Yankee Pot Roast - Meet your friend Meat Butter. The short rib in this pot roast is slow cooked to perfection in a red wine reduction along side tasty little vegetables. No teeth necessary for this dish, the meat literally melts in your mouth. Butter wishes it could be this soft. A knife is required simply for stability while you pull bits of meat off of the short rib with your fork. Don't leave out the fingerling potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, pearl onions, and little button mushrooms. They're wading in reduction just ready for the taking.

3.) Beef Wellington - Don't judge! Beef Wellington may seem like an odd choice, and a bit of an antiquated dish, but those who think they are better than Beef Wellington are just silly and foolish. Wrapped in a flakey, buttery pastry crust is a medium rare beef wonder with a special surprise on top - decident fois gras. Don't be disappointed by the seemingly small portion of food on your plate - your Beef Wellington is resting in its red wine reduction waiting to quell all your hunger fears.

Feel the need for a side? Get the wild mushroom risotto. Or anything else. Yes, literally order any of the sides, you won't be disappointed - and they're big enough for two.