Area Four: Pizza, Ice Cream and Salad oh my!

Area Four is one of my favorite new discoveries of 2012. It’s the second time I’ve been for dinner, and it is consistently tasty and well-priced. The restaurant is located in Kendall Square and is a bright space with beautiful exposed brick and many chalkboards around the restaurant.

We went on a Saturday night and arrived slightly before 7 after trying to go the Sunday before (they are closed for dinner). I was surprised that we had our pick of tables given how good it is. The highlight of my meal last time I went was the low fat soft-serve ice cream, so instead of ordering a drink to start, I asked about the ice cream flavors. Our server indulged me and brought me a taste of their berry ice cream. While it was good, it was more sherbet then it was ice cream and I didn't end up ordering it in the end. I was appreciative that they were willing to let me taste the sherbet even though I was acting out of order.

To start we ordered a watercress salad with farm fresh beets, feta and Greek yogurt dressing. Originally we were going to get the more simple salad with lemon vinaigrette, but after seeing the beauty of this salad at a table next to us, we ordered it. Given that the dressing was creamy, I was surprised at how light and perfect the salad was. There is something special about a colorful dish that makes the food that much more exciting. I appreciate knowing that whatever salad we ordered, it was all made with local ingredients.

Next, we ordered the summer vegetable and pancetta pizza. The pizza had a seasoned oil, cheese, pancetta, asparagus, peas and arugula salad on top. The combination was perfect. Coming from New York, I am extremely cautious when it comes to ordering pizza and this was some of the best pizza I’ve had in Boston. The crust was moist and flavorful, the peas that popped made the pizza that much more interesting. The pancetta added some extra flavor but not at the expense of added grease. The arugula salad on top had a bite the complimented the other ingredients well. The large is big enough to share!

I am a huge dessert fan and I love ice cream especially a banana split. Since my dining buddy and I were both going to order sundaes, we decided to up it a notch and share a vanilla banana split. This banana split was no plain vanilla dessert. The bananas came out caramelized with a crust like a perfect crème brule. There was hot fudge, candied nuts, fluff, whipped cream and liquor soaked cherries. The ice cream is dreamy and apparently is low fat!! This split was an adult version of my childhood favorites—creamy soft serve ice cream and cape cod banana splits—but better. I would say children beware because the cherries are soaked in some type of liquor and there was enough fudge to make a small child run around in circles for hours. It was my first ever fluff experience and I enjoyed the additional topping. I could go on and on about how much I love the ice cream at Area Four.

My advice to you—go to Area Four and run, this way you can eat more food because you burned the calories getting there. Just don’t run there for dinner on Sunday because you will find yourself sorely disappointed as they are closed. The food is delicious and affordable. The pizzas were low teens, ice cream sundaes priced comparably to ice cream stores and the salads are extremely sharable at under ten. The service was great, the manager friendly and I got to use Level Up to pay, which always makes me happy. I can’t wait to visit again soon and try what is supposed to be a delicious brunch. As long as I can get ice cream for dessert, I’m in!

Henrietta's Table was Fresh and Fantastic

Henrietta's Table is one of my favorite restaurant's in the Boston area. It's simple yet the food is outstanding. Their schtick is that the food is as local as possible and as fresh as possible. Their restaurant week menu is perfect, essentially for lunch you get to pick two or three courses for $15.12 or $20.12. Dinner is set up the same way, but this restaurant week, I went to lunch with my family. The restaurant is bright and airy and for the warmer months, there is an outside patio.

We were all famished when we walked in exactly on time for our 1:30pm reservation on Friday. We had beat the indoor lunch rush, but the patio was hopping. Before we ordered, the waitress brought over the most delicious bread. It was whole wheat, cranberry nut and a take on white bread with fresh butter. The bread was made in house or at Pain D'Avignon (one of my other favorites).

My dad and I both ordered the tomato soup which was as my dad put it "the best tomato soup of his life." The soup was vegan, which meant that it was vegetable based and did not have any cream. I will admit that I detest cream based soups, they are too heavy for me, so I agree with my dad when he says the soup was fantastic. It was zestier than a tomato sauce and had celery and other vegetables. I was trying to save room for the main course so I did not finish my soup, but it did not go to waste at the table.

My sister ordered the portobello mushroom on a bed of spinach with cheese on top. She loved it. I was glad I ordered the tomato soup because it was more unique. I however appreciated that the mushroom appetizer used local cheese on top. My mom opted out of the appetizer to save room for some chocolate sorbet.

For entrees, I ordered a chopped salad. It was perfect, with lettuce, avocado, bacon, tomato and house smoked turkey. I chose to get the lemon vinaigrette on it because I am not a blue cheese dressing fan. I loved how simple yet delicious the salad was. As I have mentioned before, I think salads taste so much better when they are chopped and this was great with a little bit of everything in each bite. When I come back for lunch another time, I will get this salad.

My sister and mom ordered the scrod. It was very fresh and encrusted in ritz crackers. There were also potatoes and lemon. The dish was again simple and tasty. There is something very satisfying about a fresh piece of fish.

My dad ordered a salad. He loves anything with chicken wherever he goes and likes nothing more than a good healthy salad for lunch, especially since this justifies a decadent dessert. My dad ordered the rotisserie chicken salad. It was a simple green salad with the same lemon vinaigrette dressing I had on mine. The chicken was flavorful and the salad was light and left enough room for dessert.

In case you have not guessed from the previous blog posts, I love dessert. I wait for it, I sometimes just seek it out. If it was appropriate, I would probably just live off of chocolate, but then I would not keep my girlish figure. Henrietta's Table has fantastic homemade dessert that leaves me wishing I had more room in my stomach. My mom was geared up for her chocolate sorbet which was good. Part of the decision to have sorbet was around avoidance of dairy. It was tasty but I think she would have preferred a dairy free fruit pie because that's her favorite and Henrietta's fruit tart, which my dad, sister and I shared was delicious.

It was a  small pie with apples and cranberry and vanilla ice cream (we swapped the two ice creams after the picture). I am extremely critical of fruit pies because I have an apple crisp recipe I often whip up which is simple and perfect. Henrietta's Table's fruit pie was to die for. The crust was flaky, the inside was still a little bit crunchy and it was not too sweet. Maybe I will have to get their cook book to learn their secret. We also got a chocolate bread pudding to share with coffee ice cream instead of vanilla because we wanted to try another kind of their homemade ice cream. The bread pudding was incredible. I think it was brioche drenched in chocolate baked with perfection. It came with a banana and caramel topping. My favorite dessert combination is banana and chocolate or banana and coffee and here, we had both! My suggestion to you is if you only have enough for one course at Henrietta's table that you run as fast as you can to get their bread pudding. Just think, while you are running, you are burning some calories.

Overall, Henrietta's Table was fantastic. I can't wait to come back again. I had never been for lunch before and I like that it is the same great food at a slightly lower price point. I enjoy that they treat restaurant week as an opportunity to showcase all that they can do. Their outstanding job with restaurant week leaves me hungry with anticipation for the next meal I will have there. In the meantime, I may stop by just for the bread pudding.

Boston Lamb Jam 2012

The Lamb Jam is one of my favorite foodie events. This year's Boston Lamb Jam took place on Sunday, February 19th at the Charles Hotel in Harvard Square. It was definitely more crowded than last year, so I'm happy we got there early. The event started at 3pm and we were in line at 2:15pm, eating by 3pm. My trick is to get there early for any food festivals to eat as much as possible as soon as possible. The event took place in the upstairs banquet area of the Charles Hotel. The room was split in half with some of the best restaurants in New England on the outer edges of the room. The center was a bar with local, exciting beers. As we entered the Lamb Jam, there was a room of lamb swag, a room of lamb, wine and beer. The best part? The event was a contest. I got to feel like a judge on top chef. There were entrants in each of four categories: leg, shank, shoulder and loin. The room was split up into quarters.

When we got into the room with the food. We went straight for the leg/shank half of the room and we were thrilled. My first taste was Brian Reyelt's lamb leg and bone marrow polpettone with Bourbon cherries. The dish was from Citizen and was presented in a bone. Please see the picture below. I was wowed by the creativity and tastiness. I did not know that I liked bone marrow but this was simple, delicious and flavorful. I had been hearing great things about Citizen and now I know the reviews must be spot on.

We lucked out because by the time other people started flooding in, we moved on to the "Shank" area. Here, below, my favorite dish was by Jim Solomon from The Fireplace. It was a Mayflower Porter braised lamb shank with sweet garlic yogurt and blood orange over cheesy grits. I enjoyed this dish and one of my friends loved it so much that she went back for seconds. It was a full mini-meal which made it a lot of fun to eat. It was flavorful and beautiful.

Last year my favorite two dishes were from Pain D'Avignon and Bistro du Midi. This year both were good but different, to be expected. Pain D'Avignon had lamb jelly donuts. They were beignets with lamb butter in the dough and lamb and jelly inside. I look forward to going back to Pain D'Avignon for their lamb hot dogs/hamburgers because they are my true favorite lamb dish that they make. Bistro du Midi had a really unique smoked lamb dish this year.

Once we finished the first half of the room, we traveled across to the very crowded shoulder/loin side. The shoulder winner overall (by the judges panel) was Brian Alberg's meatballs. They were lamb shoulder and kale with smoked tomato puree and Parmesan crustade. I enjoyed Tavolo's beer braised lamb shoulder with seared potato gnocchi and saffron pepper sauce. Both dishes were great and make me want to check out the restaurants. I've heard rumors that the Red Lion Inn is worth the drive to Stockbridge. Can't wait to try more by these chefs!

As for the loin, I already mentioned Bistro du Midi. My favorite in that category was also the judges' favorite. Matt Jennings from La Laiterie made a Korean lamb Reuben with lamb potato chips. It was really fun and tasty. This dish was a full meal and was a lot of fun to eat.

By the time we had finished all eighteen of the lamb dishes we were full and it was only 4pm. What to do? We drank some delicious wine, beer and coffee. There was a stand with Captain's cold pressed coffee in beer bottles.  This is photographed below. I was excited that these were bottled in beer bottles. What a delicious treat. By the time we made it to this stand, all they had back was the hazelnut flavored. It was smooth, cold and delicious.

Additionally, they had butchering demos. Originally, I did not think I'd go to this because I feared that I would see them break down a lamb from its full form and that I would not be able to justify all of the meat I consumed. Thank goodness it was just talking about different cuts. This session was led by my buddies at the Meat House. My only wish was that I had gotten some trivia right and taken home some fresh cut American Lamb.

All in all, this food event was one not to be missed. Lamb Jam should win a lamb trophy for a fantastically delicious event. My taste buds were alive with the taste of lamb. It was a fun event and a delicious way to sample many restaurants that I do not eat at regularly. The list of 18 restaurants at this event will fuel more food adventures. My countdown is starting for next year's Lamb Jam.

Are there any food festivals that you enjoy? I am always looking for additional ideas.

SWIM is a win!

Good thing this blog is labeled Food Friends 'N Fun because I want to share a fun experience that is connected more with leadership and inspiration than food. This Friday was the Sloan Women in Management Conference (SWIM) and it was a true success. Before I jump into inspiration, I will tell you that I knew we were off to a good start when I saw "Bakers Best Catering" stickers on everything because it meant the food would be delicious. I will share some highlights and inspiration I felt here. I could truly write a whole blog about each of the individual women that spoke, but for the sake of space, I highlighted a few. I encourage you to read the below and respond to some questions I have posed as well as to check out the hyperlinks to learn more...

The SWIM Conference was held in the Media Center on MIT and it was a beautiful campus.  This 8 hour conference was impressive and energizing. There were about 400 participants, many volunteers and about 210 people on the waiting list for this event. The event was great and filled with some of the finest women in business and media including VP of Google: Marissa Mayer, Founder of Gilt: Alexandra Wilkis Wilson, CEO of BJ's: Laura Sen and Founder and CEO of Vosges: Katrina Markoff. I was mesmerized and in awe of each woman I met and heard speak. My only wish is that men could have shared in the experience that I had.

Marissa Mayer, the morning keynote speaker, makes me feel good about being a bit of a dork, she used Tech Geek to describe herself but she reminded me that there is power in being smart and innovative. She was the first female engineer at Google and believes that "Passion has no Gender" and that we should all "Find our rhythm." My rhythm is to always have something good to eat, no matter how busy I get-- it's what keeps me going and energized. What's your rhythm?

Part of my inspiration to start this blog comes from an entrepreneurial place. Lunch was my dream come true. Alexandra Wilkis Wilson joined ten of us and told her the story of her life as well as how she founded Gilt and made it a huge success. She was perfectly accessorized and I would expect nothing less from a fashion guru! She works hard and over 4.5 years took Gilt from a tiny company with 13,000 people on the mailing list to a Billion Dollar company with over 5 million people world wide. WOW! Many of the restaurants I visit and neat things I do come through a Gilt City Voucher. I am curious to understand how daily deals and flash sales affect customers and businesses. She interviewed with 120 companies out of Harvard Business School and the connections she made through this process helped form her list of companies to work with on Gilt. Keeping the connection is key! Can't wait to read the book Alexandra and her partner are finishing up in May 2012 when it comes out!

Also at lunch, I was lucky enough to chat with Katrina Markoff of Vosges Haute Chocolate. She is also a foodie and has a creative imagination when it comes to chocolate. I know her as the one who created those innovative chocolate bars in Whole Foods including a bar with bacon in it. I had visited her store in SOHO a bunch of years ago and can't wait to go back to see the newly renovated space. It was great to meet a woman who has made it in the food industry. She just went with her gut and created awesome products! Travel and food inspire her, what inspires you?

Laura Sen was the closer, if we're looking at the conference as a baseball game, SWIM had pitched a perfect game and the BJ's CEO closed it out. Laura Sen is one of twelve female CEOs in a Fortune 500 Company. She embodies great leadership and believes that teamwork, hard work and kindness are keys to success. She goes to visit every one of the BJ's stores to thank people for their hard work. Also, for success, we need to promote ourselves and always stick with our core values. What are yours?

Now, I will start the count down for next year's SWIM conference! I guarantee that the team of women putting the conference together worked hard to find some of the most dynamic leaders in business and they hit it out of the park. It was empowering to listen to these women talk about how important it is to mentor and develop your teams while innovating.

Image for this post were from the SWIM website.

Thank you to Sloan Women In Management for highlighting this post on your site! What an honor.