Pear Oyster Bar

Still drawing crowds.  Eat early and avoid the mob.  Sit at the bar, if you can.  If you cannot, sit at the counter which runs along the left side of the restaurant.  If a place at the bar becomes available, before your food comes, the staff will move you without you having to ask.  Strayed away from the traditional  lobster roll served on an open-topped, New England style hot dog bun, and accompanied by shoestring fries, which were perfect last night.  The green leaf lettuce garnish, at first seemed like a frill, until I realized that it reminded me of all those lettuces you find at summer framers' markets.  Ah, summer.

The bouillabaisse was very good--a bowl of mussels, a few clams, a shrimp, a grilled sea scallop, a grilled piece of sea bass, and half a lobster tail swimming in a delicious broth.  While the broth was not the one you will find in the south of France, it was delicious.  A bit of toasted bread with a smear of aioli was a nice touch, even though I would have liked more aioli.  Fresh crsuty bread is served with a pot of butter to soak up that broth.  Too full for dessert, but the ice cream sundae looked yummy.

It was nice to see Rebecca Charles expediting the evening's meals.  Too often these days, the chef whose dream has come true is not present, and both the dream and the patrons suffer for this absence.