Aura Restaurant
1 Seaport Lane
Boston, MA 02210
617-385-4300
Aura restaurant, located at the Seaport Hotel in Boston's up-and-coming waterfront district, leapt onto the Boston restaurant scene in 1998 when it was named one of America's Best New Restaurants by Esquire's John Mariani.
Served in the welcoming open-air ambiance of Aura's dining room, chef Rachel Klein's creative American menu showcases her distinctive style and particular culinary perspective with dishes that are locally-sourced and seasonally-influenced. Book a table in the dining room to enjoy a uniquely Bostonian dining experience.
Mad Men-Inspired Cocktails from the Seaport
In anticipation of the return of AMC's Mad Men, the Seaport Hotel has unveiled some 60s inspired specialty cocktails.
A New Way to Gather at the Seaport Hotel
Corporate get-togethers and big family gatherings can get a little tired after a while.
Family Friendly BBQ at Aura on Friday
This month, Aura's family friendly dining series heads outdoors.
Rachel Klein
Chef at Aura Restaurant
At the tender age of nine, chef Rachel Klein began to fantasize about becoming a chef. While her contemporaries watched after-school specials, Klein was glued to Julia Child and The Frugal Gourmet. Once, she even dug her own version of an underground bread oven after watching it done on PBS.
Her love of food and culture was further fueled by early and extensive travel with her family throughout Europe and within the United States. This multi-cultural exposure reinforced by her Eastern European roots - her mother is Russian, her father Romanian - made her a natural in the kitchen. She developed a serious work ethic by watching her grandmother, who used to cook for prominent families in Eastern Europe and drew a healthy respect for food from her mother, who shunned all preservatives, shopping only for organics at New York City's food co-ops and farmer's markets. Today, these influences converge in Klein's philosophy as a chef. Klein respects the classics, often deconstructing them to their simplest state, and adding her own fun twist. She is equally conscientious about sustainable agriculture when she plans her menus. Finally, her strong female role models have inspired her practice to seek out women-owned companies whenever possible.
After graduating from the Art Institute of New York City, Klein started to hone her talents for aesthetic beauty using food as her canvas. "Food is the purest form of art because it appeals to all the senses," she says. While living in Manhattan, she enjoyed stints with the city's top chefs, for whom she maintains immense respect and to whom she attributes much of her cooking philosophy. Those mentors are Peter Hoffman of Savoy, Mark Spangenthal of The Screening Room and Anita Lo of Anissa.
Klein was wooed away from Manhattan and onto the thriving Providence culinary scene in 2001. She made a name for herself as Executive Chef at X.O. Café, where she was named one of the country's top chefs by Southwest Airlines' Spirit Magazine and received recognition from Sante, Bistro and Wine & Spirits magazines. In 2004, Klein was hired as Executive Chef of the ultra hip, Lot 401. By the end of that first year, Klein led the restaurant to national acclaim when it was named one of America's Best New Restaurants (2004) by John Mariani of Esquire.
Klein brought the lessons and skills of her early career in New York and her highly acclaimed run in Providence, to Harvard Square, with the opening of Om Restaurant | Lounge and then to the Seaport Hotel where she revamped the menus for the recently refurbished Aura and the Tamo Bar.
Klein maintains her passion for art and surrounds herself with free thinkers, hard workers and creative artists. She appreciates their qualities and continuously draws upon them for inspiration on cooking and living. "Deep down, I know there's an inner rock star waiting to come out, but right now, I know I am born for this stuff."
- Aïoli
- 1. noun A blend of ail (garlic) and oli (oil) in the parlance of the Provence region of southern France. Around here, we'd call it a garlic mayonnaise.
- Brioche
- 1. noun A soft, yeasty French bread enriched with butter and eggs.
- Charcuterie
- 1. noun The French term for delicatessen-style items.
- Chimichurri
- 1. noun A condiment made of olive oil, vinegar, parsley, oregano, onion, garlic, salt, cayenne and black pepper.
- Compote
- 1. noun Slow-cooked fruit in syrup.
- Confit
- 1. noun Meat (usually goose, duck or pork) that is slowly cooked in its own fat and preserved with the fat packed around it as a seal.
- Crème fraîche
- 1. noun Cream that is allowed to set and thicken to a velvety rich texture.
- Foie gras
- 1. noun Expensive, silk-textured goose or duck liver that has been enlarged by a process you don't want to read about if you're going to eat this dish.
- Fumé
- 1. noun French for "smoked."
- Galette
- 1. noun A round, flat cake or tart.
- Gratin
- 1. noun Any dish covered with cheese or buttered breadcrumbs and baked or broiled.
- Jus
- 1. noun French for juice, jus also refers to the unthickened juices from a piece of roasted meat.
- Niçoise
- 1. noun Dishes typical of cuisine from the Nice, France, region, where garlic, black olives, anchovies and tomatoes are nearly always part of the mix.
- Pancetta
- 1. noun Cured Italian bacon.
- Pâté
- 1. noun Ground meat, fish or vegetables blended with fat and seasonings; can be smooth or chunky, served cold or hot.
- Pâte
- 1. noun French for dough, paste or batter.
- Poivre
- 1. noun French for "pepper."
- Polenta
- 1. noun A slow-cooked cornmeal porridge popular in northern Italy; can be served soupy or firm, sometimes fried.
- Ragu
- 1. noun Tomato and meat sauce from Bologna.
- Rocket
- 1. noun See "Arugula."
- Romesco
- 1. noun Catalonian sauce of finely ground tomatoes, red bell peppers, onion, garlic, almonds and olive oil.
- Salsify
- 1. noun A root vegetable with oyster-flavored flesh.
- Semolina
- 1. noun Very coarse flour used to make pizza and bread. Also refers to rounded parts of wheat used to make a pudding of the same name.
- Spaetzle
- 1. noun Tiny flour-and-egg noodles or dumplings.
- Terrine
- 1. noun An earthenware container, or the dish cooked therein.
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