Reviewing Whatever

Finale
1306 Beacon Street
Brookline, MA 02446

You should know
I was visiting Chris in Boston, and we’d both spent the day working and stressing, so when Chris reached a stopping point, I declared, “We both need chocolate.”

He responded, “I know a place.”

We got there 15 minutes before closing time (11 PM on a Sunday – not bad), and determined that if they weren’t willing to seat us, we’d run across the street and buy some candy at Trader Joe’s. A supermarket is more likely to let you in ten minutes before closing than a restaurant, right?

We made it, though, and we weren’t even the last people seated for the evening.

So?
Our server was more gracious than she had to be, considering that had we and the following group not shown up, she probably could have gone home earlier. On the other hand, since we knew that, we tipped well, so of course she was gracious.

We were seated in a corner booth, which I loved – it was cozy, we both got to sit in booth seats instead of one of us in a booth seat and the other in a hard chair, and we were perpendicular to one another, which makes for excellent date seating.

I got the Manjari Mousse (“Bittersweet chocolate mousse layered with chocolate buttermilk cake and tart French apricots, served with a napoleon of blackberry cabernet sorbet and strudel dough, 11.95”), and a pot of chai tea, while Chris got the Molten Chocolate (“Baked-to-order warm chocolate cake with a gooey center, served with coffee gelato and milk chocolate covered almonds, $10.95”) and "some girly drink" that he doesn't remember. Both were excellent; each of us liked our own choice better than the other person’s.

The décor is lovely (there are pictures up on the website, linked in this entry’s title). The presentation of the desserts is also stunning – my food was decorated with what I can only describe as sugar-based-glass. Which I did, in fact, eat.

Rating
Go if your budget allows
This may seem contradictory given my last review, but the food here really seemed more luxurious. When you consider our individual desserts were only a few dollars cheaper than the dessert we split at Max Brenner, well… I haven’t compared them cheesecake-for-cheesecake, but that’s my experience. A great place for a splurge, though.

The rest of the Internet
A nice item at TAB Brookline.
Enthusiastic reviews at Virtual Tourist.
A business article on the restaurant, complete with a recipe, from Rensselaer Magazine.
An article on Finale, and dessert restaurants in general, at TheStreet.com.
The folks at Eat and Destroy prefer the chocolatey cocktails to the actual desserts.