January 16, 2007

Double Time

51 Lincoln Opens

For most of us, mastering one talent is challenge enough.

The perfect blow-dry? Down pat.

Doing it while cooking a five-course feast for twelve? That could take some training.

Then there’s always an overachiever, like former Met Club chef Jeff Fournier, whose new solo project, 51 Lincoln, showcases his two talents: cooking and art. (One on the plate; the other on the wall.)

Like any artist worth his brush, Fournier is near perfect at both. Pan-seared skirt steak is splashed with apple-garlic jam, blue potatoes, and arugula. His signature shrimp and grits gets a brushstroke of pickled vegetables and cherry peppers. The polenta fries? A masterpiece.

His brightly colored acrylic paintings and pencil sketches brighten the otherwise neutral room, bringing his work front and center.

A show-off? Yes, but in the best possible way.

51 Lincoln, 51 Lincoln Street, Newton Highlands (617-965-3100 or 51lincolnnewton.com).