Menton

They are giddy. Drunk on knowledge. High on the conceit of what they are trying to do. Finest dining, here in Fort Point — modern yet lavish, refined and formal and beyond expensive. You are in their sights, and Menton’s minions are coming for you. From the right! A woman armed with more information about the wine she will pour than anyone would ever need to know. She is grinning. She is talking perfume and acid and soil and philosophy. She is pouring liquid, golden, into your glass.

The proprietor of a number of high-end Boston eateries - and a lab-like cocktail lounge in Fort Point Channel - learned last week that her restaurant Menton had been accepted for membership into Relais & Chateaux, a fine dining and accommodations association whose approval of restaurants and hotels is considered a luxury step-up from the vaunted Michelin red guide. "It's been 15 years since I opened my first restaurant," said Barbara Lynch last week, who pronounces her establishment mawhn-TAWHN; a four-course prix-fixe menu there costs $95. "I don't mind saying I'm proud of what...

The proprietor of a number of high-end Boston eateries - and a lab-like cocktail lounge in Fort Point Channel - learned last week that her restaurant Menton had been accepted for membership into Relais & Chateaux, a fine dining and accommodations association whose approval of restaurants and hotels is considered a luxury step-up from the vaunted Michelin red guide. "It's been 15 years since I opened my first restaurant," said Barbara Lynch last week, who pronounces her establishment mawhn-TAWHN; a four-course prix-fixe menu there costs $95. "I don't mind saying I'm proud of what...

NOTE: The person on this chat purporting to be Barbara Lynch is (no surprise) not actually Barbara Lynch. Please do not head to Menton expecting a free tasting. Thank you. Restaurant critic Devra First chats about dining out -- Weds., Aug. 10, at 11 a.m.

NOTE: The person on this chat purporting to be Barbara Lynch is (no surprise) not actually Barbara Lynch. Please do not head to Menton expecting a free tasting. Thank you. Restaurant critic Devra First chats about dining out -- Weds., Aug. 10, at 11 a.m.

Extraordinary | Excellent Good | Fair | (No stars) Poor MENTON 354 Congress St., Boston. 617-737-0099. Chef Barbara Lynch brings finest dining to Fort Point. Menton is modern yet lavish, refined and formal and beyond expensive. The food is not night-and-day different from that at Lynch’s No. 9 Park — it is lovelier and lighter, turned a few degrees more toward the sea. It’s the show you’re paying for, as an army of servers skillfully builds the illusion that any wish you make can be granted.

Ora M: Last week’s review of Menton reads as if you were inebriated by the food, and I mean that in a good way. How often do you give out four stars? Devra First: It’s the first time I’ve given 4 stars. I strongly felt, when I took this job, that I wouldn’t give out 4 stars for a restaurant that wouldn’t get the same in a city like New York. Not to say I’m sure Menton would. But it’s certainly as good as, say, Jean Georges, which had 4 last I checked. Marc H: Have you ever given out zero stars, or half a star?

 To see a whole lot of waterfront — and waterfront attractions — meander along Boston's HarborWalk, which right now includes almost 40 miles of pedestrian- and bike-friendly public access at the water's edge. (Remember, it's not all continuous.)  617-482-1722, bostonharborwalk.com The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway runs from Chinatown to the North End — about a 30-minute walk if you don't stop to play in Rings Fountain or ride the carousel (which, by the way, has an opening party on May 17 from 6 to 8 p.m.)

DEUXAVE Expense accounters and Back Bay residents mingle at the marble bar in this stylish restaurant, decorated in dark gray with outsize chandeliers and, much of the year, a merrily blazing gas fireplace. Chef Chris Coombs made his name locally at dbar in Dorchester, as well as on the Food Network’s Chopped. Here, he serves elegant, complex dishes like Scituate lobster with gnocchi, grapes, curried walnuts, and citrus or spiced duck breast with honey-glazed baby turnips, lentils du Puy, and port-soaked prunes stuffed with foie gras.

Chef and TV personality Giada De Laurentiis will be at the Williams-Sonoma in Copley Place on March 30 at 11 a.m. where she'll be signing copies of her new cookbook "Weeknights With Giada" . . . Noted Boston chef Barbara Lynch last week received two AAA awards : four diamonds for No. 9 Park and five diamonds for Menton. Menton is now the only AAA Five Diamond, Forbes Five-Star, Relais & Chateaux restaurant in Boston.

Extraordinary Excellent Good Fair (No stars) Poor ROCCA 500 Harrison Ave., Boston. 617-451-5151. Let’s stop calling her “Tiffani from ‘Top Chef.’ ’’ Tiffani Faison, now heading the kitchen at Rocca, deserves simply to be known as the killer cook she is. She has created an incredibly beguiling menu that makes you want to eat everything on it. Her flavors are bold, unusual, and strikingly combined.

Ora M: Last week’s review of Menton reads as if you were inebriated by the food, and I mean that in a good way. How often do you give out four stars? Devra First: It’s the first time I’ve given 4 stars. I strongly felt, when I took this job, that I wouldn’t give out 4 stars for a restaurant that wouldn’t get the same in a city like New York. Not to say I’m sure Menton would. But it’s certainly as good as, say, Jean Georges, which had 4 last I checked. Marc H: Have you ever given out zero stars, or half a star?

They are giddy. Drunk on knowledge. High on the conceit of what they are trying to do. Finest dining, here in Fort Point — modern yet lavish, refined and formal and beyond expensive. You are in their sights, and Menton’s minions are coming for you. From the right! A woman armed with more information about the wine she will pour than anyone would ever need to know. She is grinning. She is talking perfume and acid and soil and philosophy. She is pouring liquid, golden, into your glass.

Photo/Michele McDonald for The Boston Globe Bergamot, which serves the pea green and egg salad pictured, knocked out offal-happy Coppa. And so the field narrows. Past champions Hungry Mother and East Coast Grill are still in it, having defeated Menton and Myers + Chang, respectively. Our Blue period is over, with Ribbon trumping Room. Bondir won out over Journeyman (my bet), and Bergamot over Coppa (not my bet). Voting for the current round ends tonight.