<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="aligncenter" style="border: 0pt none;" src="http://www.remain-silent.com/cm/YumReview/sweetbasillayout.jpg" alt="sweet basil needham MA" width="452" height="645" /></p>

<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">images by paul r</span></p>

For some one who loves to eat and cook food as much as I do, I can be quite gastronomically ignorant sometimes. However, I am not ashamed to admit it as I am always eager to be instructed and to learn. My naivete recently reared it's head while taking a break in New England. My friends there kept buzzing about this <em>amazing</em> restaurant called Sweet Basil - "They only serve lunch and dinner", "The sandwiches are amazing, the pasta is amazing, scratch that - it's all amazing." So of course I had to try it. And all along i'm thinking that Sweet Basil is merely it's name, not realising that Sweet Basil is also the name of the type of herb that is typically used in Italian cooking. { All along I thought there was just 'plain basil' and 'lemon basil' - I now know there are actually SEVERAL types of Basil. }

But I digress. 

The fact that this restaurant shares the name with a herb, should've clued me in to what I could expect from the dishes. Well paired seasoning, a distinctly fresh and home made feel yet with an edge that is without a doubt good dining.

The first thing that struck me about the restaurant though was the entrance, for once you step inside Sweet Basil you are presented with a heavy floor to ceiling curtain - that once a theatrical entrance of sorts. 

The food

The thoughts on going back - 4 hours to lunch?  