The 50 Best Restaurants 2012: A Closer Look
For six of the restaurants on our 2012 list, we go a step further by showing you what makes them outstanding. Check out all of our 50 Best Restaurants 2012 coverage.
L’ESPALIER
Back Bay
Fromager extraordinaire Louis Risoli has overseen L’Espalier’s storied cheese cart for more than three decades, and being guided through his 30 or so hand-selected offerings remains one of this city’s decadent pleasures. You can enjoy them off the custom-crafted $6,000 cart, of course, but also during the Cheese Tuesday tastings that are held in the restaurant’s salon.
Louis Risoli Selects Five Great New England Cheeses
 | 1. Ada’s Honor: A tangy goat’s milk from Ruggles Hill Creamery in Hardwick |
 | 2. Coupole: A creamy, dense goat’s milk from Vermont Butter & Cheese Creamery in Websterville, Vermont |
 | 3. Lake’s Edge: A soft, ash-rubbed goat’s milk from Blue Ledge Farm in Salisbury, Vermont |
 | 4. Harbison: A tree-bark-wrapped herbal cow’s milk from Jasper Hill Farm in Greensboro, Vermont |
 | 5. Timberdoodle: A semisoft, raw cow’s milk from Woodcock Farm in Weston, Vermont |