Sweet Provençale soup ($9) at Miel (Intercontinental Hotel, 510 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, 617.217.5151)
Subtly subverting the standard definition of dessert, this socalled soup comes as close to a bowl of fresh berries
as it could without simply being one. The plump, glistening blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, and strawberry halves, of which it’s chockfull, are cooked with sugar just long enough to create some light syrup, but not long enough to reach cloying, compote-like levels. Better still, it’s sided by a scoop of honey-tinged lavender ice cream — a complex, sophisticated alternative to vanilla — that, as it melts, forms a whole new yummy gumbo. Best of all, though, is the garnish: candied olives. That’s right, three black olives, transformed into ripe sweetmeats with all the whimsy of sugarplums. I can’t prevent myself from wolfing them down pronto, wishing promptly for more; perhaps a bowl full would be too much of a good thing, but I doubt it.
— RUTH TOBIAS
PHOTO BY KELLY DAVIDSON