Why I eat out

Consistency is an interesting word and I used it deliberately. I love going to the places that know me and offer the best homey service accompanying great, creative food. It feels comforting to build relationships with people at restaurants and to be a regular. It adds a level of consistency to a fast paced world and life. Not to worry, I still love trying new places but below is a recap of some of my favorite consistent spots around Boston highlighting some excellent dishes and service. 

During the month of March, once it stopped snowing, I ate at Strip T's at least once a week (maybe more if you ask my boyfriend) and had a bowl of their smoked miso ramen and a small Caesar salad each time. There was something comforting about both of those things and the perfect service. I even have a spot at the bar that I usually sit. They know my voice when I call. That miso ramen is one of the best dishes I have had and coupled with the perfectly cooked noodles it was a nice hearty, flavorful warm dish to get out of the snow zone. The Caesar salad is truly one of a kind. After I eat it, I sweat garlic for 24 hours but it's worth it. Consistently perfection. Also in the month of March and related to Strip T's, I went to the BTG Boston's first series of events where I got to enjoy Tim Maslow's fine Ribelle food paired with some of the best of Boston's sommeliers' wine choices. I loved that it felt like one big giant family style meal-- put together by two of my favorites, Theresa Paopao and Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli.

Smoked Miso Ramen at Strip T's

Over the winter, I went to Lineage for burgers at the bar about once a week. It was nice to go out, get a great glass of wine, a phenomenal burger and speak with Brad, Amy, Matt or even Jeremy, at the bar. Anything Jeremy Sewall does is perfection and I think Lineage is one of his less written about "famous" restaurants, but it is the original and that burger is my "best of Boston." I'm not a big fan of fries generally, so I usually sub out fries for a side salad when I have a burger. When I go to Lineage, I eat the hand cut fries. If I really feel like splurging, I go for dessert with a tea pairing. My favorite of the winter was a brulee'd banana split. What can I say, I'm a sucker for red meat and any dessert that has bananas. I am also a huge fan of Island Creek, Eastern Standard and Row34, but those were a bit more of a trek this winter.

Bruleed Banana Split and Tea at Lineage

Another spot or series of spots I think of when discussing good service is anything Barbara Lynch. I love all of her spots that I've tried. I still have to try B&G, but if I want excellent food with perfect service, I go to any of her spots. My favorite for special occasions is Menton because I feel like I'm at dinner and a show. It's perfect food with the right choreography. I haven't been in a while but after I went to a few Full Plate lunches, I felt that the staff at the whole restaurant group got to know me. As I mentioned in previous posts anything at Drink is a good time-- they take the decision making out of the equation for you and the cocktails are perfect. I feel like my soul is being fed at Sportello-- through tagliatelle and coconut cake and at The Butcher Shop with the charcuterie platter and wine. The service is friendly and consistent at each place. I love the ability to go from formal at Menton to more casual at the other spots in terms of look and feel but to have the same great quality of food and service.

Charcuterie and wine at Butcher Shop

Service and consistency matters as does creativity. Sometimes in a super fast paced world, knowing what you're going to get from a service and food quality is all you need for a slice or a plate of happiness.

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.

Mistral: You made my heart sing & stomach smile

It is my favorite time of the year and that's not just because the weather is getting nicer, but it's because Boston Restaurant Week is upon us. There are 12 beautifully delicious days of discounted feasting. I had heard rave reviews for Mistral in Back Bay and wanted to know if the rumors were true. In order to orchestrate the event, I booked a table months ago. This is the type of place that I would usually go to once or twice a year for a truly special special occasion. The regular menu is definitely in the fine dining price category, so being able to eat three courses for $33.12 was a steal. I'm not kidding here, the restaurant week menu was less than the cost of one entree usually. Sometimes I shy away from situations like this because part of the beauty of going to such a nice restaurant is the service. In the past I had bad experiences with service on restaurant week, but Mistral showcased excellence.

For the meal, we both ordered Caesar salads to start. I ordered the statler chicken with risotto, asparagus and mushrooms. My sister got a steak with red wine reduction, Gorgonzola butter and potatoes. For dessert I got a devils food cake with ice cream on top and caramel sauce decorating the plate, and she got profiteroles. Prior to our meals, we got to enjoy perfectly baked bread with butter and a garlicky homemade hummus. In order to keep a girlish figure, I am rationing my bread intake during restaurant week to one slice/roll per meal. This was hard to do because the spreads were so delicious. See below for the bread picture.

The Caesar salads were delicious. Last weekend I learned about how important it is to showcase really good cheese and Mistral clearly got the hint. The dressing was light with the perfect amount of seasoning and cheese. They put Parmesan cheese on top. The croutons were homemade and I did not want the salad to end. Luckily once it did, we were greeted with the most beautiful main courses.

For the main courses my sister was dead set on steak. She had been counting down to a good steak and boy was it delicious. The steak was perfectly cooked and the potatoes were a nice compliment to the hearty sirloin. I normally can't stand blue cheese, but I tasted her dish and loved it. One of my favorite things about dining with a close friend or family member is that we can order different dishes but experience them all together.

When it comes to ordering, I want to know the story and what the waiter or waitress thinks. I learned early that if they are enthusiastic, the dish is usually good. I was planning to order the salmon, but I asked Natalie, our waitress about the chicken or the salmon and her face lit up about the chicken, so I went with her recommendation and I am glad I did. Chicken was a staple in my house growing up, so I rarely would choose to have it out, but I have evolved. The chicken was outstanding. The skin was perfectly crisped and the inside was moist. The cut of the chicken was the Statler, so it was white meat. I always thought chicken was simple, but there have been countless times where I've had dry white meat. This chicken was moist and delicious on top of a risotto. The portions were perfectly sized. It was so tasty that I wish I could have eaten more, but I needed to save room for dessert.

I love dessert especially chocolate desserts with ice cream. We both had ice cream filled chocolate desserts. Between the profiteroles and the devils food cake, I think the profiteroles were slightly better than the devils food cake. I say slightly so that if you have to choose between the two you know which is best. I recommend that you order both and just share them. The devils food cake was a perfect chocolate cake with creamy vanilla ice cream and a lace cookie on top. I could not get enough. The profiterole was delicious. The pastry was flaky and the ice cream and chocolate sauce bountiful. We both concluded at the end or the dessert course that it was inappropriate to lick our plates because we were at a fancy restaurant. Had we been at home, the plates would have been licked.

Overall Mistral was outstanding. It deserves all of the praise it gets. The service and food were both outstanding. I feel lucky that we were able to eat like queens and not break the bank. I can't wait to go here again next year for restaurant week or for a celebration. Looking forward to trying brunch. If you are trying to figure out where to go for restaurant week, I would call daily to see if they get cancellations.

Photos all taken as the food was served.

Osaka is on fire

In a fun outing to Osaka, it was about the show! Hibachi holds a special place in my heart. Not only is it delicious but it's entertainment. For anyone who has not visited Osaka on Green St in Coolidge Corner, I recommend it. The place is modern and open with lots of light and beautiful stone walls. The menu is extensive with many options to have hibachi or just sushi. I say just because I think the big draw is watching people swirl utensils, make a rice heart beat and create an onion volcano.

They are extremely accommodating of food allergies and the food is tasty. The best part was the fried rice with half a container of soy sauce, a slab of butter and eggs. The chicken that I had was tasty with sake on top. My dining buddies enjoyed their scallops and shrimp. While the meal is not cheap, if you see it as dinner and entertainment, it is reasonably priced.

Next time I go, I will need to try a scorpion bowl. It looks like they have a great private space for a party below.

Fantastic Pho at LES Allston

My heart and soul became a little warmer at LES Allston after having some delicious chicken pho. Pho is a fancy name for Vietnamese chicken soup. LES is one of my absolute favorite neighborhood spots because sometimes all I want is some warm and relaxing chicken soup. My other half, always wants some hot and spicy flavor, so this is the perfect destination to feed both of our soupy needs.

The restaurant itself is very simple. There are two rooms of booths and a very extensive menu. It is very reasonably priced and the portions are huge (see half eaten above). I ordered a "medium" soup for $6.95, which was big enough to share or have for three meals. The service was outstanding. Our water glasses were always full and they did not rush us out while we sat and chatted. 

I wasn't too hungry, so I just ordered the soup and didn't snazz it up with any of the bazil, sprouts, sauces or lime. However, my partner in crime ordered the fresh rolls (which are delicious) with pork and veggies. He also added to his soup. Can you tell the difference? This is not just to show that opposites attract, but to show that anyone can go to LES and be happy. It's an interactive eating experience where no bowl of soup has to be the same. Some like it hot and others like it spicy, yet all can be happy here!

Can't wait to revisit for a deliciously reasonable treat. I mean how often can two people be served dinner for under $25 including tax and tip? In the meantime, I'm going to go reheat my leftovers.

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.

Boston Restaurant Week list is up

Just wanted to do a quick post to share what I found: the list of Boston restaurants for Restaurant Week are up! The menus are coming slowly but surely. Stop by restaurantweekboston.com to take a look. Restaurant week is from March 18-23 and March 25-30.

I made a few reservations including finally getting tables at Mistral and Meritage. I have had great experiences at Henrietta's Table, Lala Rokh and Grotto in the past (to name a few).

Any restaurants that you are hoping to go to? Please share in the comments section.

Count Down to Lamb Jam

Who out there likes lamb? I can tell you that I have been waiting all year for February 19th to come. The Lamb Jam is back and I'm hoping better than ever. Let's just say that last year, I had to do stair climbs in order to fit in the lamb from the 17 places I tried as well as the wineries and breweries. I will be wearing something with elastic and potentially fasting.

Looks like the event may be sold out but I will be posting about it. Hoping that Pain D'Avignon brings those amazing hot dogs and homemade buns again this year.

Ode to Eggs Benedict

Ever read the book The Tipping Point? It's one of my favorites because it talks about the various roles people play in life. I like to think that I'm a connector among my friends and that I'm a maven when it comes to restaurants. I love giving out restaurant recommendations especially when I get to go on and on about one of my favorite brunch places, Lineage. Recently at a party word got out that I wrote a piece on Lineage and their Eggs Benedict and bread basket. Let's start this blog off right! 

My favorite thing to do is to eat my way through life. I pride myself on finding the most interesting and delicious foods in all price ranges. My favorite Brookline restaurant is Lineage for its outstanding service, creative and consistently stellar menu and promise to provide fresh and local food. Jeremy Sewall, one of the co-founders and best known chefs in Boston, has his “Lineage” roots in Brookline, hence the restaurant’s name. There’s something magical about the bright and cheery atmosphere paired with the simple and fresh food.

The first time I went to Lineage was for a birthday brunch. Part of why I love brunch at Lineage is that I can afford it without thinking twice. Their dinners are for special occasions because they are expensive and exquisite. When you walk through the door, you’re greeted by a friendly host and a daily menu that reflects the freshest local ingredients available. The tables are in two rooms, one with a bar and a hearth oven and the other with a window to the outside. 

Chef Jeremy purchases local ingredients and will only put tomatoes on burgers if they are in season. Brunch starts with delicious fresh scones, muffins and breads paired with homemade maple butter and jam, which is like having dessert for an appetizer. The hot apple cider comes with an orange and a cinnamon stick. I am an Eggs Benedict connoisseur, and Lineage makes the best. The dish is surprisingly light, and full of flavor. The hollandaise sauce is a glaze, not the focus of the meal. The dish gets better before the knife hits the plate. Eggs Benedict, traditionally made on an English muffin, is instead atop an open brioche, which I have been known to dream about. The homemade brioche is warm, flaky, buttery and the perfect size for the eggs, ham and spinach on top.

The truth is that I have yet to order dessert at Lineage’s brunch because I always fill up on the well-worth-it bread basket and outstanding Eggs Benedict. When I go for dinner, I save room for dessert, with the most memorable being corn Crème brûlée. I applaud the use of a savory ingredient in dessert, since it is a creative use of what is freshest on the farm. Lineage is one of the best restaurants in Boston and is a leader of the “local food” movement, and I always feel happy and satisfied when I eat there.