Lego Exhibit!

IVs are done for now (we are leaving my picc line in) so I got out to see The Art of the Brick in Boston. It was SO very awesome! Here are some pictures. All of these things are made out of Legos. Some of them needed up to 20,000+ legos to complete. The dinosaur took an entire summer.

the future of junk food pop up

There is a pop up series going on called: The Future of Junk Food with chefs Samuel Monsour and Mark O'Leary. I didn't happen to catch the first one, but was able to make it to the second (at East by Northeast). The concept is to take the idea of junk food and elevate it with eclectic, local, better for you ingredients. 

Flamin' Hot Cheetos - Pig Ears, Uni, Lardo

Cheese Sticks - Robiola, English Peas, Morels

Uncrustables - Pancetta, Sicilian Pistachio, Rhubarb

Rangoons - Soft Shell Crab, Apricot, Mascarpone

Chalupa - Beef Cheeks, Radish, Ramps

Fried Chicken Dinner - Favas, Black Truffle, Marjoram

Chipwich - Fois Gras, Black Garlic, Cocoa Nib

pastoral

I have been itching to try pastoral since they opened up a few weeks ago. I'm a pizza freak! 

I was really impressed with their menu. There were so many things that sounded so good that I wanted to try! Way more than just pizza! All of their pasta dishes sounded amazing. We ended up ordering the prosciutto pizza because our waiter highly recommended it (and we were struggling to choose!) Along with a lobster carbonara special. And fried olives. 

Everything honestly was amazing. I find a lot of times people tend to make this type of pizza too thin and it won't stand up to the toppings, but this pizza had the optimal thickness for me, it was just chewy enough and cooked exactly right. The pasta was handmade and just a fantastic combination of ingredients--lobster, pancetta, peas, egg.  The fried olives had such a great flavor and just enough breading.

The only thing I was not crazy about was the wine on tap. I had both the cabernet and the pinot grigio. I would imagine a lot of people complain that they serve the wine in a drink glass and not a wine glass. I get trying to be trendy, but wine should be served in a wine glass even if it's stemless. 

Can't wait to go back and try more things!

Fried Olives

This glass for wine?

Prosciutto Pizza

Lobster Carbonara

row 34

I used to live in Fort Point, before it become the hip foodie destination it is today—so when anything new opens there I get really excited. My mom heavily looked into the building that is now Dragon 8, before she died, to open a dining establishment. I went and scoped out the building with her several times with its property managers. This area holds a place in my heart and I love to see it flourishing. The vibe of the culture, food, drinks, atmosphere speak to me.

I’ve been trying to get into Row 34 for weeks! They got some really good press really fast; I think that made it hard! But finally I was able to score a reservation for their first ever brunch with our foodie friends Laura and Abe. I was particularly excited to eat here with Abe because he can eat like I can and we don’t disgust one another with our habits—like ordering A LOT of food.

The restaurant is an atmosphere that I like a lot—very lofty and contemporary, minimalist almost, with concrete floors and metal but doesn’t overwhelm with that sterile feeling that can sometimes happen. This was the first time they were doing brunch and they had a lot of great options. We each ordered an appetizer and meal. Abe couldn’t decide between their two lobster rolls—he ordered both, which is why I LOVE to eat out with him.

Abe and I started with the obvious—oysters, this is after all something they are famous for. Their namesake was my favorite! 

 

We continued with tuna crudo, which was good. It was fresh and had a nice taste to it. The addition of the avocado was great, as usually citrus is presented with such a dish. I'll admit I had the best tuno crudo of my life a week prior at Tarry Lodge so anything would be hard to measure up after that. 

 

Laura ventured more into brunch territory and ordered the scones! They were plentiful and had a nice texture--not too hard or dry, as scones tend to be. The jam and butter that came with it was obviously homemade and very yummy.

 

I ventured out from lobster roll terrain--shocking because lobster is my favorite, and ordered shrimp and grits with a poached egg. It seemed different to me, and I love all of those components separately so I thought it should be good! It was a nice flavor combination, and great textures mixed together--a little gooey, a little grainy.

They had two different lobster rolls. One was creamy and cold, while the other was buttered and warm. We were all torn. Abe did the right thing by ordering both, but we did agree the buttered was the way to go! Not that you can ever go wrong with lobster, really.

 

I will be thrilled when I get a chance to return to try some of their other sea creature dishes.  Grab a reservation if you can!

One note: they do not have a full liquor license here and are more into craft beer. 

        

Local 149

A few weeks ago I got to try a new restaurant in Southie that I've wanted to try for awhile called Local 149.  I had read a lot of good reviews and I thought from pictures the atmosphere looked cool.  The outside is very cool looking and it looked like the surrounding area was being revitalized:

 

The atmosphere inside is very cool and hip.  We ordered drinks right away and our waitress was very friendly.  Laura and I ordered peach sangria which was delish, and Becca got a watermelon beer. We were pretty excited about the "bar snacks" and ordered fried pickles and fried cheese, both were really great

I ordered a crab cake for my entree (I am sort of a crab cake expert if I must say.)  I was pretty excited about it, but I must say it lacked flavor, like any flavor at all and this is where I say (and I can because my mom was a restauranter and I'm not just being snobby here) chefs need to taste their cooking before they send it out! You can't just assume it's good.  So that was a big let down.  Laura had brisket and Becca had tuna, neither were jumping up and down about it, but some things were good enough that I think we would give it another chance.  I hope the flavors get a little better and they are a success in an area that is craving new food choices.  

Then I took the girls over to Castle Island for some ice cream and I think we were highly entertained. 

Speaking of food and life I have a thoughtful read for you guys

here