Also, if you live in the Boston area and are still looking for a special Mother’s Day gift, I’m now offering gift certificates for private cooking lessons. Maybe you can even join your mom for the class? I think that would be crazy fun!

Ook, now that we got that stuff out of the way, can I tell you about my favorite foodie event of the year? Yup, it’s that time again – Taste of the Nation recap time that is!

[Yup, this was an ice sculpture.  I definitely thought it was the coolest thing since sliced bread.]

I rave about how much I love this charitable event (see 2010 and 2011 recaps here in case you’re bored) but this year given my involvement with Cooking Matters which is part of Share Our Strength, I was even more excited to attend! Btw, before I forget – I did receive press tickets but I am always honest (just ask all of the friends that we convinced to purchase tickets this year and join us!) – it is a fantastic time, every time, and is such a great way to raise money for a fantastic cause!

Sliders galore

Compared to previous years there were definitely fewer tables (although still plenty; it’s still pretty much impossible to try every single thing) and the theme of the evening appeared to be sliders – meat + pickled veggie type combos and straight up slowly braised meat between soft little buns. Pretty much all were delicious although it got a bit tiresome at the end, especially when nearly identical dishes were presented. I felt a little bad for the restaurants because on a stand-alone basis, they were all stars.

Lucky’s Lounge pork belly sliders with pickled vegetables, diakon sprouts, and kung-pao sauce

Del Frisco’s steak sliders

Myers + Chang korean bbq sloppy jo

Whole Foods smoked pork hum bao

Cambridge School of Culinary Arts – least favorite of the bunch

Favorite restaurants I’m now even more in love with

Trina’s Starlite Lounge tomato soup with grilled cheese – so simple yet so perfect!

Trina’s was on my 30 by 30 list so I already had the pleasure of checking out the restaurant (love the decor, the service and the fabulous cocktails). This made me really want to go back!

The Franklin Café crispy pig ear chicharrones – were a fun change from all the sliders

Flour Bakery milky way tartes. I’m obsessed with these guys- they are sweet, light and creamy!! The recipe is in the Flour bakery cookbook (Bridget was actually the one to get me hooked on this stuff when she made it for Megan’s party one day).

Places I really need to make sure I visit now!

Meatball on crouton from Jodie Adam’s of Rialto & Trade

The crouton was super crunchy which shocked me but this was playful and delicious!

Slow cooked beef over corn bread from Gargoyles

Scooped to order whoopie pie ice cream sandwiches

To die. For.

For some reason I can’t find them online now

Thirsty Thursday

Some booze was consumed. It’s open bar so we had to do “a little” tasting  We won’t name any names but someone (not me) was a bit slow the next morning. We didn’t get to NY until 7:30pm the next day, despite all the original plans to leave early in the AM and spend the day in the city (my sister was getting married the following day).

Local hard cider. A little dry with a hint of honey. Yum!

Like I said, there was a bit of drinking

Randomness

Made by Mr. Hamersley himself

Everyone loved this mac & cheese. I’ll stick to their usual leek free kind though (Church is pretty awesome!)

Bianca and Meghan

There were so many other blog friends at the event. I loved seeing familiar faces and of course comparing notes on the dishes not to be missed!

Katie – the pastry chef at Tremont 647 (we volunteered together with Cooking Matters!)

I think they served a deconstructed caesar salad sandwich with house cured bacon. Does this look right to you? I was in a food coma by about this time…

Shady Oaks Organics sells locally cultivated specialty mushrooms (sold at local farmers markets and online). The founders also happen to be from Newburyport where Adam is from

Meh

Tavolo lobster cream lasagna – pretty bland for such a promising dish

Jason made a passive aggressive remark about everyone being a food blogger these days. Way to make me feel special, Jason!

Craigie on Main made hob knobs again! They are crazy delicious but they’ve served them at every food fest I’ve been to. Can we see something else, please?

Surprise

Brasserie Jo pork belly pate with pickled carrots was actually surprisingly delicious, despite the fact that I don’t love the place (I’ve been there several times since it’s one of the closets places to my condo, and found their brunch to be great but dinner a waste!). I liked the mustard bite of these little babies!

And there you have it. Despite a bit less variety this year, we still had a really fantastic time. I hope you check out the SOS website to find a Taste of the Nation event near you!

Which dish would you want to try first?

Wasabi is newish kaiten dining sushi restaurant located inside the Natick mall. There is a conveyor belt that runs through the entire space with plates of sushi (and other Japanese dishes) on it. You watch them pass by and grab what you like. At the end of the meal, the waitress adds up your bill based on the empty plates. Fun and fast!

Oh and the plates are color-coded, with each color representing a price category. The most expensive plate as you see below is $5, so you really can try a whole bunch of dishes. Love it!

[There are a few other dishes you can order straight off the menu, including soups, salads and some hot appetizers.]

I’ve seen this conveyor belt concept in airports in London. I’m glad they finally brought it to the U.S. (or should I say… Boston area since Wasabi appears to be a chain).

Which one is it gonnna be?

Adam and I tried a few plates as a light lunch. This guy was my favorite:

Tyson’s Roll

It was sort of like a deconstructed California roll (with the crab on the outside) topped with seaweed salad and wasabi cream. It tasted super fresh and delicious.

The seared salmon with red pepper coulis was pretty boring.

Adam got the crunchy salmon. It was pretty fun dipping the maki in the panko mixture for some extra crunch

These two rolls were sort of forgettable. Solid but nothing special.

Eel cucumber maki

Lucky roll – mango, salmon, green and red tobiko (and wasabi cream)

Our bill was about $20 for all of this. Definitely the perfect spot to refuel at during your next shopping spree in the Natick mall.

Have you ever been to a kaitan sushi place?

Standing in front of the bakery counter, watching happy brunchers enjoying their meals, reminded me that I never actually blogged about our experience at Sportello back in July.

 Photo by Boston Photojournalist Erik Jacobs

Our wedding anniversary happens to be on the same day as my dad’s birthday and also the weekend of 4th of July. Needless to say, there is a lot of eating happening during those few days. Since we went to Italy for our honeymoon, we also have a tradition of celebrating somewhere Italian. Keeping all of this in mind, this year we decided to keep things relatively casual (read: not too pricey) and Barbara Lynch’s Sportello seemed to fit the bill perfectly. [Last thing going for it is that it happens to be on my 30 by 30 list ]

On a Tuesday night, around 7:30pm, the restaurant was pretty deserted. I’ve seen pictures of the space before but in real life (possibly partially because it was empty), it seemed like we just came to a bakery to celebrate our anniversary dinner (there is in fact a bakery section to the right of the above picture). The large windows flooded the space with light, which made the space seem that much more casual. I did say we wanted things relatively casual. Casual we got.

It’s all right, I had high expectations for the food and was excited to finally try it. We hopped on the bar stools right by the open kitchen and made our beverage selections.

Whipped ricotta and stewed fruit with Italian bread

The whipped ricotta was rich and creamy but the bread did not excite me. I felt like I could get that at a supermarket. I saved room for what I hoped would be better things to come.

Salumi plate – robiola, peperonata, olives

A simple plate of fantastic salami and what I thought at the time was the best brie of my life. Looking at the description now I see it was in fact robiola, which wikipedia tells me is a softened Italian cheese (of course!) made with varying proportions of cow’s, goat’s milk and sheep milk. I loved how soft and creamy it was without any stink that I’ve experienced with stronger brie. Even the little breadsticks (grissini) seemed more flavorful that usual (house-made?).

Adam ordered the spicy tomato soup with caraway grilled cheese

He enjoyed the flavorful soup (I tried it, good stuff) but the cracker on top does not grilled cheese-make. I’m all for creativity but that’s just false advertising

For my entrée, choosing the ricotta gnudi with tomato, basil, black olives croutons was a non-brainer.

I’ve only had gnudi at Pazzo (which has since closed, tear) and was shocked at how fluffy and airy those pillows of ricotta-goodness were. The gnudi at Sportello did not resemble those at all. They were a lot smaller in size and in fact seemed pretty firm – a lot heavier than even my homemade gnocchi which I made just days prior (too much flour?). I’m going to cut to the chase here – I wasn’t that impressed. My favorite part of the dish was the tiny olive croutons you may be able to spot in the pictures. I picked every one out and thought it was a really fun and creative twist on an otherwise very classic dish.

Adam pretty much licked his plate clean (he got the polenta bolognese of sorts – sorry I don’t remember the details, it’s obviously been a while) but I once again thought this was too classic and unexciting for a Barbara Lynch spot (with prices to match!).

Ice cream sandwich – chocolate gelato, chewy chocolate cookie

Classic. Solid.

Overall we left the dinner pretty disappointed. I think a very large part of it was the ambiance, which just did not match what we need for an anniversary night (totally our fault although most online pictures make the space look cozier than it is) and then high expectations for a hyped up spot further just lead to unmet expectations. I loved the open kitchen concept and think that on a busier night the space could be buzzing with more excitement and perhaps take a life of its own (like at Barbara Lynch’s B&G Oysters). What we experienced was more fitting for a brunch/lunch spot. Simple food with quality ingredients in a modern space. Don’t expect anything beyond that.

Ever been to a place that was just wrong for the occasion? Have you been to Sportello? Any other Barbara Lynch restaurant? Thoughts?

PS – Adam and I are going to New Orleans this coming weekend. Any not-to-be missed dining spots or any other suggestions for us?

Luckily, Boston has a lot of foodies with the same love for eating out… and brunching. We even have a Boston Brunchers group, which meets monthly for… you guessed it, brunch. Since it’s inception less than a year ago it grew to over 300 bloggers. And this is why it’s the very first time I got to finally join them. Clearly, the seats at these brunches go fast!

This past Sunday, The Cottage in Chestnut Hill hosted 16 of us bloggers to an amazing brunch. If you’re familiar with Chestnut Hill, the Cottage is located right in the strip mall by the newly renovated Shaw’s, the movie theater and Macy’s (which used to be a Bloomingdales… also known as my mom’s second home ).

The restaurant space is absolutely gorgeous. It has gigantic windows which just shower the rooms with natural light. Everything is so clean, fresh and inviting. It definitely had a very modern cottage feel (the original location in La Jolla was in fact a cottage, that’s how the name came about).

I just loved the little details like flowers on each table and little knickknacks throughout (see the shelving units in the next picture).

Bloggers chatting it up… we never run out of food related topics! [I also spy my Bloody Mary there. It was solid.]

Chef Todd (below) and the owner John came out for a bit to say hello and welcome us to brunch. They talked about their other locations in La Jolla, CA and (surprisingly close to the Chestnut Hill location) Wellesley, MA. All are in affluent cities with demand for high quality restaurants.

Chef Todd shared a story about the executive team’s semi-yearly trips to California where they stuff themselves silly doing “research” for future menu planning. He admitted it actually gets painful towards the end, but it’s absolutely the biggest inspiration for the restaurant’s ever-changing menu (hey guys, I wasn’t joking when I said I’m willing to endure the pain. Call me!). The focus is always on freshest ingredients, and as often as possible – local (you can see from the menu it’s definitely seasonally appropriate!). I was also happy to hear that they work with local and sustainable meat suppliers (I noticed in their dinner menu duck from Crescent Farms and Brandt Farms beef – both committed to humaine treatment of their animals).

Since the restaurant hosted us bloggers for brunch and everything was taken care of (except for tax and tip), obviously I can’t review “normal” service. We were all treated like queens! I can, however, tell you about the food. I’m sure you’d get the same quality even without camera in tow.

Truffled tater tots

Need I say more? They were mentioned as a side to bbq tenderloin tips and caught our attention right away. Luckily, the server was happy to bring us a few plates to share sans the beef (and was even kind enough to swap the fries for tots for a few ladies). Under a wonderfully crispy layer, were creamy truffled mashed potatoes. I admit that truffle oil can feel like cheating but man oh man, that’s my kind of cheating. These were incredible and got 2 thumbs up (or something less geeky ) from everyone at the table!

For my entrée, I was *thisclose* to ordering stuffed French Toast with strawberry compote + marscapone cheese (Liz did – smart girl!). Doesn’t it look and sound incredible?!!

I sort of OD’ed on sweets the day before so I went with a savory option instead.

Maine Lobster Cobb – mixed greens, applewood bacon, egg, spring beans, tomato, great hill blue cheese, hass avocado, tarragon vinaigrette

[sans the blue cheese]

This salad was fantastic. Every ingredient on its own was super fresh and I just loved the citrusy tarragon dressing covering the greens. And what is better than fresh Maine lobster on a beautiful summer day? Nothing! If (correction: when) I come back to The Cottage, I will make sure someone at my table orders this salad so I can steal a few bites (there is no way I’m not ordering the stuffed french toast twice in a row – let’s get real!).

Some other gorgeous eats a few other ladies ordered…

Quiche of the day with broccoli and caramelized onions

Maine Lobster BLT+A with hass avocado, applewood bacon, lemon aioli, butter lettuce, tomato, toasted brioche bread

Um, I think I need this Lobster BLTA  in my life right now!

Every single plate was licked clean when we were done. It’s safe to say this brunch was a great success (say it like Borat!).

It was really fun to catch up with a few of my blog friends and meet some new ones! Thanks again to Renee for organizing this event and to The Cottage for hosting us! I am certain I’ll be back again.

Prior to my long weekend break (during which, in case you’re wondering… Adam and I hosted a bbq gathering for all of our friends, and then spent a full day lounging around the house – watching tv and eating leftovers, not bad… not bad at all), I did do something blog related and very fun. I took a crepe making class at the local pop-up creperie in Boston.

Dore Creperie was founded by Greg just a few months ago and will be at its current location downtown for the next 5 months… until they move and pop up at another spot. I don’t frequent Boston’s downtown often but I have heard buzz about Dore and was very excited to be invited to a crepe making class there, especially since I just learned how to make Russian crepes. Wanna see what making crepes entales? Come, come!!

Elizabeth organized the whole thing and Megan and Lindsey also attended the class with me. We started the class with a quick history of crepes, while tasting historically inspired combos like honey and figs…

… and fried egg and tomatoes

We also tried the very early crepe batter from buckwheat flour and water. I actually thought it was interesting in its own way (earthy for sure!) but the more modern buckwheat crepe (which has eggs and butter) I am sure is a lot tastier and less “crunchy granola.”

We fast-fowarded to the current classic dessert crepe with nutella and strawberrries.

Drooooooool

Oh yeah, while listening to Greg talk, we sipped on banana and nutella milk shakes. So indulgent. So incredible.

Let’s just say I wasn’t hating this. At all.

Time to get our hands dirty!

Megan felt way too comfortable with a gigantic bag of flour. Lindsey was a little more apprehensive…

Oh, Megan also taught me how to crack eggs with one hand. Very exciting. I put those skillzzzzzzz to use already and feel like a pro every time (I’m going to get to 3 at once at some point, Megan, just give me time!)

Here is how you make a basic crepe batter:

 1. Whisk eggs, then slowly add milk

This was 10 eggs + 10 cups of milk… in summary: a lot!

2. Add the egg/flour mixture to all-purpose flour (1 cup of flour to each egg and a cup of milk)

3. Whisk it all together, then add melted butter (2 T/egg)

Let rest for 30 minutes.

Basically the proportions are 1 egg to 1 cup of milk, 1 cup of flour, 2 tablespoons of melted butter. This would make a few crepes. Definitely make at least 2 or 3 times that!

Ok, time to use the fancy crepe pans… pour some dough in the middle of the pan, then spread around the pan.

I failed at life at this step miserably. Look at attempt #1:

Attempt #2 (you can actually patch up the whole with a few more drops of batter – much needed in my case)

… there are a few more undocumented ones. Luckily I had help (and making them at home is waaaaay easier - see my picture tutorial here).

Much better! [That means I didn't make it, ha!]

Filling them with every imaginable combo was definitely the best part!

Brie, fig spread and prosciutto

Egg, feta and sundried tomato

Chocolate, graham crackers and stawberries…

We made dozens of combos – these are just a few!

I could really get used to this job

Before going home, we got some of our batter to-go. I had dozens of crepe filling combos in my brain but decided to finally try the mushroom crepe cake Shannon blogged about a few months ago (I made 1/2 a cake as you can see).

Cheesy mushrooms between layers of herbed crepes… buttery, rich. Delicious!

I had such a fun time learning about the evolution of crepes and trying my hand at using those crazy crepe pans. What should I use my sweet batter for? I’m thinking of sauteed peaches and salted caramel. How does that sound??

How did you spend your long weekend? Did you have a chance to unplug?

PS – Just noticed that LivingSocial has discounted crepe classes at Dore. Funny coincidence – if you’re local, I’d recommend it!

When I’m out – whether it’s going out with friends to a new restaurant or traveling, most of my pictures are of food. It’s happened more than once that I even forget to take pictures of people around me. I guess I have a one track mind at this point, after blogging for nearly 3 years and having 2 blogs. The thing is – there is a life outside of food. So much beauty surrounds me, all of us, every day. Wouldn’t it be amazing to capture some of it on camera?

A little while back I saw a Groupon for Boston Photo Walking Tours and I thought it was the perfect opportunity to become a tourist in my own city and finally take the time to notice the beautiful details all around Boston. There are 5 different tours offered. This past Saturday I chose to attend the Beacon Hill tour because in my view it is the most picturesque area of Boston. What can I say… I wanted pretty pictures!

Saba – the founder of BPWT, walked us through the area and gave historic commentary as well as random bits about certain places and then suggested certain pictures with instructions on how to execute them.

It was such a blast!!! I never noticed so many fun details… like this boot scraper!

See… cool, no?

I also loved her suggestions on taking pictures from untraditional angles. What a blast!

See the face? Cute, right?!!

I have never been more excited about living in Boston. I actually plan on taking future tours with Saba and Boston Photo Walking Tours, as well as go out on my own on occasion and see if I can find my own treasures around town to photograph.

Have you ever tried pretending like a tourist in your own city? If not, I highly recommend it :)

Erbaluce has been on my “to try” list for quite some time now (and yes, is in fact on my 30 by 30 list!). It is an Italian restaurant in the adorable Bay Village neighborhood, with a menu focusing on local and organic produce and sustainable meats and seafood. The menu changes nightly based on availability of ingredients, which is why it’s hand written. I just love love love this concept and was even more excited about this dinner after reading the menu offerings the night we visited. It was inventive and fresh… I honestly wanted every single item (thankfully I got to try quite a few of them, since I went with a group of 6!). Once we had a chance to review the written menu (both a la carte and restaurant week menus were available), the super knowledgeable waiter then told us in detail a few extra specials (btw, why do you need specials if the menu was created just today anyway??) and made us all drool just a bit more. I was giddy with excitement. I had high expectations. I just felt like this was going to be the most perfect dinner (note to self: having super high expectations may be a way to set yourself up for failure).

The bread was served with a creamy dip, which I hear was delicious but my bread (which was an end piece) was so hard that I feared of breaking a tooth, so I quickly surrendered (Adam looved the dip so he ended up eating my bread just to scoop a bit more of the dip).  Out of the 6 of us, 4 had end pieces which we all found to be waaay too hard. After the dinner, as we were talking about our meal, I was sort of annoyed with myself for not saying anything. This little issue could have been easily remedied (rock hard bread is still not ok though for a restaurant of this caliber – I blame restaurant week for this lack of attention to detail!)

The sunflower appetizer was one I knew I needed to try the moment the waiter told us about it (we ordered it for the table to share). It’s basically the sunflower head (with the tough area with the seeds scooped out), sautéed in white wine, stuffed with ricotta and served with sunflower petals, sunflower stems, raisins and capers. How creative does that sound?? 

I LOVED this! The sunflower head tasted sort of like a giant artichoke heart and was perfectly complemented by the creamy ricotta, the acidity of the capers and the sweetness of plump raisins. The waiter told us the sunflower petals tasted like carrots but they honestly tasted like flowers to me. Maybe my palate isn’t refined enough. Regardless, this won serious brownie points for creativity and ended up being my favorite dish of the night!

It was a tough choice but I ended up ordering off the restaurant week menu for the rest of my meal – I figured this was my chance to take advantage of this amazing price point (a lot of the entrees at Erbaluce are actually over $33 so it was like getting 2 dishes for free!). I started with the chilled melon soup with lemon basil and sesame.

The sesame oil gave a decisively Asian flair to this refreshing soup. Very unique. My taste buds were confused and delighted at the same time. I enjoyed it at first but after a few spoonfuls found it to be a little too intense. I think a piece of bread would have been a great accompaniment, but I was not going to put my teeth at jeopardy again

I typically order meat at restaurants that have organic options, but the sweet corn and sunflower risotto with basil was too delicious sounding to pass up (I’ve been obsessed with corn this summer so it’s no surprise!)

More flowery petals!

Once again, this was unlike any risotto I’ve tried before. It was not creamy at all! The rice granules were completely separate… I suppose you can say it was a very loose risotto. The fresh corn kernels popped with every bite which at first put me off, but then it all started to make sense as I kept going back for more. The broth/sauce was fantastic and the dish quickly became addictive. The shredded (Asiago?) cheese finish brought a really nice sharpness, rounding out the sweet corn. I can tell you that weeks later as I think of this meal, I start craving this risotto again.

Adam ordered the chef’s specialty (off the a la carte menu) – rack of wild boar with wild concord grape mosto and braised greens (the greens are tops of the vegetables served that day, like beets – nothing goes to waste!)

He enjoyed this dish but thought it was too small for $36. I’m not normally impressed with large portions so it’s hard for me to really penalize a dish for its size, although $36 is a little steep. With that, I’m personally ok for paying extra for sustainable options. After a small discussion, Adam said he would have been a happy camper if just one more slice of meat would have been included… I guess 2 pieces does not make a “rack.”

Some stewed local peaches with honeyed ricotta and chocolate ganache were an appropriate summer dessert…

… although the girls were thrilled to see some complementary chocolates with local blackberries to finish the meal. Apparently I’m not the only one that needs loves seriously intense chocolate desserts!  

I’ve heard mixed reviews of the place during restaurant week. The place did get very busy and placing drink orders mid-dinner proved to be a slightly frustrating task. With that said, I thought the food was well executed and the menu (especially the a la carte items!) was extremely imaginative. While exciting in theory, this honestly took a few moment to warm up to since our taste buds were not used the unique flavor combinations. Upon further reflection, I appreciated the inventive use of the local produce and, as stated above, have even been craving some of the dishes since! I would definitely recommend Erbaluce to adventurous foodies! I thought restaurant week was a great value at this place as well!

We did a lot of sight seeing…

Capitol building

Smithsonian National Air and Space museum

I have no pictures from the Smithsonian National Museum of American History but it was incredibly impressive!!

Arlington National cemetery

Washington monument

Lincoln memorial

The White House

Michelle Obama’s garden

We saw the cutest animals at the Smithsonian National Zoo

This little bird was so fuzzy and adorable!

Janetha, I thought of you every time I saw an owl

They were gorgeous!

I can’t believe this color exists in real life. Incredible!!

This elephant was walking around it’s exercise track. I want an exercise track

Hi birdie

I’m pretty sure this monkey was eating soap. Oops.

The lion cubs were actually pretty grown already. I was sort of disappointed.

This baby monkey made up for it a little.

All the animals seemed so comfortable and happy. I was really impressed with their facilities. Some of them weren’t seen because it was so hot they were in the shade or indoors. I actually liked that they weren’t made to stew in the sun for our viewing pleasure although I would have loved to see the cheetahs and pandas.

We rode the metro…

[Union Station]

… to new neighborhoods…

Georgetown was seriously the most picturesque area I’ve seen in this country. I was almost ready to move there

We skipped the line at Georgetown Cupcakes

and instead tried a few from Baked & Wired (thanks Kara for this suggestion!)

It hurt to choose just 2 (actually I was going to get just 1, but yeah… 2 were ordered to share)!

Lemon blueberry and red velvet cupcakes

Honestly, too sweet for my tasting. I had the red velvet cupcake from the Red Velvet Cupcakery and it was just right. Smooth and soft cream cheese, moist cake. Perfection!

And well, this just brings me to food. We ate like kings (and queens?) during this vacation. It was our third wedding anniversary trip and we lived it up for sure. I didn’t take pictures of everything, like the vegetarian platter at Etete (<—my very first Ethiopian meal out and definitely one of the best meals this trip! Must find a place in Boston asap!!)

The other culinary highlight was Jaleo. Incredible tapas. Fantastic sangria. I will be recreating this meal at home!!

These were just 2 dishes from Jaleo… we also tried pan de recapte con anchoa (twice! best bites of the trip!!), gambas al ajillo, and rossejat. Basically Jose Andres is genius.

Despite great reviews on Yelp, the food at the National Museum of the American Indian was unique but overall overpriced (my sweet potato burrito was quite good but the wild rice salad and pickled veggies were thrown away)

Goat cheese and mushroom stuffed organic chicken at Proof

Spicy bloody mary at Matchbox (awesome!!)

Banana bread fresh toast (genius!!!) at Matchbox [the creole fritatta special was even better!]

This is what salt foam looks like. Tastes like salty… um, foam [It's messy. Go for the classic margarita at Oyamel instead... better yet, go to Jaleo for sangrias!)

[Table-side guac]

[Goat cheese-stuffed zucchini blossoms]

Founding Farmers got me excited with their concept of sustainable produce, humanely raised meats and creative menu items… but the taste was just average (and they were out of half the things I ordered!).

[Pickled veggies]

[Fried green tomatoes]

[Cheeseburger sliders]

We left last night with very happy bellies (and a buzz…from several rounds of sangria at Jaleo). The flight to DC is just a little over an hour from Boston. It’s a shame we waited this long to go!

Where did you travel last? Do you remember your favorite bite?

I’m slowly but surely going through the restaurants on my 30 by 30 list. This time was extra fun because Adam and I were joined by our friends Kyle, Tiffany, Jim and Liz. We’re trying to have a monthly dinner going and this was our second outing (the first one was at Bistro du Midi… yeah, I’ve put myself in charge of organizing future dinners so we don’t actually have 11 months passing between each “monthly” dinner again). We even left the comfort of the Back Bay/South End area and traveled to Jamaica Plain. I know… so ambitious!

Canary Square is bar and restaurant specializing in American comfort foods with a twist. Local ingredients are often used in many dishes, which is always a welcome sign for me because aside from the sustainability side of it (which is complicated in my opinion), I think it forces creativity in the kitchen and as well as makes the menu more seasonally appropriate.

The décor is modern meets warm with exposed brick walls and ceiling beams with funky lights. I was actually imagining a tiny spot similar to Coda in Boston and was very surprised to walk into a large space filled with dozens of tables. It was already buzzing with excitement (around 7pm) but I wanted to take advantage of the warm weather and asked to be seated on their patio instead!

A hot day calls for a cold drink! I went back and forth between the basil grape or spicy watermelon mojito (don’t they both sound amazing?!!) but at the end was told that they ran out of mint. Yikes! Instead the sangarita (lunazul silver, red wine, lime, triple sec, sour mix and lime) quenched my thirst just fine! [It was stronger than I anticipated but after a few sips I was really into it.)

Lebanese hummus and pita chips was a lovely starter for the table! I loved the rustic preparation of the hummus (slightly chunky) and the super thick and crispy chips.

Adam also ordered the The Salty Pig – chef’s choice of salty pig parts, house made mustard, pickled vegetables, baguette. The “salty pig parts” that night were represented by a deliciously garlicky pate. I would order this again in a heartbeat!

Most of the entrees were surprisingly heavy (think mac & cheese, pasta carbonara <—with fresh local peas, nice addition! and roasted chicken with mashed potatoes). Comfort food for sure!

I found the lightest thing there and ordered the wood grilled skirt steak with truffled blue cheese tater tots, local zucchini and radish salad

That’s a perfect summer item if you ask me!

The steak was tender and very well cooked but I wasn’t crazy about the spice rub (I think they went a little heavy on the rosemary… I felt like I was eating pine trees) but the zucchini salad was super refreshing and perfectly balanced by the bites of creamy tater tots. I am not a fan of blue cheese but these were really divine!

A few bites of Adam’s wood roasted half chicken with local summer beans, bacon and mashed potatoes…

… and Jim’s baked mac and cheese with grafton cheddar and north country ham…

…made me want to come back to this place in the middle of winter and stuff myself silly with fantastic comfort food. Or maybe I’ll just eat inside with AC blasting (I guess it does have its benefits!).

Red sangria

We were all very happy campers but dessert was yet to be consumed… for completeness of this review of course!

Butterscotch bread pudding with vanilla ice cream

Incredibly rich and remarkably reminiscent of pancakes doused with maple syrup.

Chocolate cheesecake with cranberry jam

This was not your typical chocolate cheesecake! Tiffany was not a fan because “it wasn’t chocolaty enough” and I agree – this had much stronger caramel undertones than chocolate and the cranberry jam added additional quirky bitterness -  but I loved it for it! It was unique and delicious in its own right. Comfort food with a twist.

The check came with a little book for comments, notes, songs, whatever.

Haha, courtesy of Tiffany. My kind of challenge

Canary Square is a fantastic place for good drinks and great food with friends. We’ll be back for sure!

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I’m sure that all of you locals know it’s a new-ish spot by the Hynes Convention center established with Lydia Shire and Jasper White’s creative direction. I happen to live a few blocks away and have been eager to try the place for many months. Well, hesitantly eager actually.

The place has very mixed reviews. One of these reviews came from my friends Katie and Mike, whose opinions I trust. They are foodies from the South End (well Katie is a foodie and Mike just likes more traditional good food) and our conversations often turn to the latest and greatest (and worst, overhyped, etc.) dining spots around Boston. Mike and Katie weren’t impressed. So I put it off and off… until I figured I gave the place enough time to work out its “new restaurant” kinks (they didn’t used to have a lunch menu for example which is just silly being right next to several high rise buildings full of hungry business folks – they do now).

So last Thursday Adam and I were hungry for a dinner out. The restaurant was rightthere and also happened to be on my 30 by 30 list so we decided to go for it! [Not so coincidently, I read Daisy’s super positive review that very afternoon… I’m sure that had a lot to do with why Towne was on my brain.] We were there early since we just wanted to grab a bite to eat after work, and it was sort of dead in the dining room area. I wasn’t particularly impressed with the décor – I found it to be too close to something a chain restaurant would try to pull off – dark leather booths with quirky images on walls (I’ve read that the second floor is a little more impressive). Like I said we were mostly there to just grab a bite to eat so I wasn’t necessarily looking for a good “atmosphere” anyway.

The bread basket with an eggplant dip, butter and something unrecognizable arrived soon enough (the runner mumbled what the dibs were so apologies for not really knowing). The bread was cold and sweet and did not work with the dips provided.

The sangria was awesome though! I think the bread basket is an easy and cheap way to impress the guests from the start but good drinks can certainly score some extra points if needed. I loved that the sangria wasn’t very sweet. Very refreshing on a hot summer day!

Time to peruse the menu… whoa, expensive!! The fish entrees are all in the low $30’s with some meat items priced into the $40’s. That’s extremely expensive for a place of this caliber in my opinion. After being completely shocked by the prices (seriously, nothing about this place says high end except for the prices!) we made our choices.

I wanted to try their lobster roll since I haven’t had one this summer at all! It wasn’t actually on the menu (despite being on the menu online) so I got scared for a moment when I didn’t see it but the waitress informed us that they just brought it back today. Yay!

Lobster roll with sherry butter in a brioche bun, served with house-made chips

The moment of truth. The place is expensive and isn’t particularly inviting, the service is average at best… but how is the food?

The brioche bun was tiny (the size of a regular hot dog bun I suppose), overflowing with big chunks of lobster meat, which was delicious. It was warm, rich and buttery, slightly sweet – very flavorful (one of the best lobster roll fillings I’ve ever had!). BUT, the bun was not only small, it got soggy in seconds so a sandwich that was difficult to hold from the start, got impossible to pick up after the first bite. The bun seriously was inedible after a minute so I was picking at the lobster meat with a fork. For $27, just a few forkfuls of lobster meat were not satisfying enough. [For full disclosure, the waitress did ask how things were and I told her about the bun. She asked if I wanted the chef to make me another one but I was just over it at that point so I declined.]

Adam got the half order of fried clams ($21) which were no better than the stuff you’d get anywhere. Absolutely NOTHING special about them at all.

It’s safe to say this was a complete bust. We both felt cheated. The restaurant is in a great location and has very talented names behind it but the concept (or maybe just the price point) makes absolutely no sense… and even execution was clearly lacking. This was the most disappointing meal we’ve had this year and we eat out several times a week! I absolutely would not recommend this spot for dinner. The brunch seems to get better scores from the yelpers but it’s unlikely I’ll get to find out for myself.

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For other restaurant reviews, check out my restaurant reviews page.