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

mother's day

since my mom passed away I usually like to do something a little non traditional for mother's day - basically anything that doesn't remind me of it! This year my very long time friend Jess (who also lost her mom to breast cancer years before I did) decided to spend the day in Manhattan. 

Bolognese at dell'anima

Big Gay Ice Cream

These two pups meeting for the first time!

I love greenwhich village

Had to stop to bring home a cookie!

ny weekend - part 2 eating

obviously one of my favorite parts of spending any time in Manhattan is eating! I mentioned a while back that while in Napa for Pigs & Pinot, the chef/owner from Crispo made one of the best pasta dishes I've ever had. And Aly remembered me mentioning that and got us reservations when I went to visit her.

The food was great, very classic, and the atmosphere was stellar.  We sat in an area in the very back that almost seemed like you were outside - maybe they open it up for summer I am not sure. It was very very cool and delicious. 

Proscuitto

Ricotta gnocchi with duck sausage, ramps and roasted tomatoes

Classic - spaghetti and meatballs.

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

So-So Dinner, Cheese & Dog Cookies

I really hate to write my opinion about a restaurant if it's not a good one...And before I start off with anything bad I want to say I used to live across from The Franklin Southie and dined there many times and always had excellent meals.  But Laura wanted to go to the original Franklin Cafe for her long delayed birthday dinner and I figured it would pretty much be the same thing, but it was not.  Franklin Cafe is on an interesting little street in the South End with fun things like cheese shops (more later), A Dog Bakery a human bakery, coppa and so on.  When I found out south end formaggio was near the restaurant I was super excited.  I love love love cheese.  We are really early diners so we went into Formaggio first (right next door) and stared at an overwhelming display of cheese for a long time before we both decided on something.  I also got some proscuitto di parma. 

We made our way next door and were the first diners there.  But there was a camera crew there as well taping (what I assume was the owner) eating.  The camera crew was there all night taping food.  We were trying to scope it out the entire time.  We started with a glass of wine, both very good and I asked if they had any specials.  They said "not yet" which actually really annoyed me.  Those sort of things should be decided right when a chef comes into work and does their prepping  I really had high hopes for a tuna special they run a lot.  The menu is kind of a mix of things.  I started with seafood bisque soup and Laura a bibb salad.  Okay so my soup, well it tasted really good, but the consistency it was strange and that was because it was made from pureed seafood.  I don't think I've ever dreamed of pureeing seafood unless I wanted to feed a baby seafood.   It would have been much better if the scallops and fish were whole in the broth, but I asked what it was and ordered it anyway so it's my fault.  The flavor was good though.  Laura was not impressed with her salad.  We both got pasta for entrees.  I got gnocchi with a Gorgonzola sauce and prunes.  It was delicious, the gnocchi was a little tougher than I would normally think it should be but it was great.  The only thing, I guess I ordered an appetizer because I only had like 5 little gnocchi.  The menu didn't really seem to be separated into appetizers and entrees, I wish that had been pointed out to me, I would have asked for like a double order! Laura got a pasta with shrimp and it looked really tasty, she seemed pretty pleased with it.  We were left alone for awhile before I finally asked if we could see a dessert menu and guess what, they didn't have any dessert! Say What! I mean, at least get some cupcakes from the south end buttery and serve those up people! I want something sweet at the end of a meal!

So, our dinner was just so-so.  It's not like I wouldn't go back, but because they don't have dessert I actually probably wouldn't - not when there are so many other places to go.  And the Southie branch I think has better food.

On our way back to the car we stopped at the Polka Dot Dog Bakery which was oh so cute!

On a better note, when I got home I devoured some of my prosciutto and that my friends was AMAZING.  (Oh I also stopped for a McFlurry haha)

Here is Laura's review
here

The Gallows

So I guess I must be living under a rock because I only heard of The Gallows in the South End like a little while ago and usually I am really up on new south end openings.  They are in the spot that Sage used to be in.  Well, Laura and I went last week and we were really excited about their menu.  They have a nice little space, and we love the valet parking.  We are early birds so we were some of the first diners to arrive.  I got a Tar & Feather drink which was really good, I didn't drink most of it because I had some heartburn from taking lots of Tylenol, but it was really refreshing! I fear my server thought I didn't like it, but I swear I did.  We were a little upset that french onion soup was no longer on their menu.  You know if you read this blog we are french onion soup groupies! But they had a lot of things that sounded interesting to us! We started with the Scotch Egg and poutine (hand cut fries with gravy and cheese curd)

Oh my God the fries were awesome.  The gravy was really really good.  I couldn't stop eating them seriously! They have different kinds but we just had the simple ones.  And I've never had a Scotch Egg before (a soft boiled egg wrapped in house made pork sausage and rolled in bread crumbs and fried)  The consistency of the yoke was perfect.  And the combination of the egg and the crunchy layer was really great.

I had two appetizers, roman gnocchi and little neck clams, instead of an entree and Laura had the Hudson Valley duck with pineapple chutney, sticky black rice, and brussel sprouts..

   

The duck seemed a little overcooked to me (I like it pinker) but other than that it looked good.  Laura said it was "good" I think.  The black sticky rice intrigued me.  My clams were done in blood orange, pink navels and fennel which sounded like a great combination to me.  And it was! I loved it, it all worked together really well, I could have drank the leftover "sauce."  (Sorry for the bad quality photo here!) My other appetizer was interesting.  I thought it was going to be gnocchi but it was not.  The beef bolognese on it was really good though!

We don't usually have room for dessert but they had a dessert that we couldn't say no to! It was a layer of bananas, peanut butter, chocolate and torched fluff and it was amazing! The taste of torched fluff is so good, I might even do this at home!

We were really happy with our experience here and we will come back again for the fries for sure and maybe some more torched fluff!

The End of Rocca

Rocca is a restuarant in the South End of Boston that will always hold a very dear place in my heart.  It was one of the first big places to set foot on a street where there was nothing - and that took guts! My mom and I would frequent it, and it was one of her favorites (she was a successful restauranter) And it was in fact that last place I dined with my before before she died.  I will never forget where we sat and what we ate, and what she wore and what we talked about.  She died Dec 17th, and somehow after that I made a big group of her and my friends take me back to the scene of our last dinner for my birthday (which is December 29th) it was bitter sweet.  I often got Rigattoni in a bowl as take out (I used to live right down the street) and I loved it.  It was ooey and gooey and filled with love.  Interestingly enough last week a friend of mine was visiting from LA and I said we have to go to Rocca! We were also so excited that one of our favorite top chefs was now running the kitchen.  To my amazement they sat us where my mom and I last sat.  We had great food.  I started with the Tuna and Eggplant for apps:

We had steak and lobster for our entrees:

 

And we had butterscotch pudding for dessert:

Everything was really fabulous and I am so sorry to see Rocca closed just two days after we were there.  It will always hold a really special place in my heart and I wish it had been able to make it through whatever financial issues they were having.  It really was a fabulous atmosphere with well thought about food....

A secret dark dinner....

The Island Creek Oyster Bar

Loved it.  We will be back!

(Pictured: oysters, clam chowder, tuna carpaccio.
my dinner of lobster roe noodles is missing but was delish!)

Towne

My foodie friend and I decided to try out Towne because everyone seems to be raving about it....It's in kind of a random location to me, but I bet it's good for the after work crowd.  And they have a really good spot for valet! When I walked in I wasn't really sure how to get to the dining room - it's super confusing - and I wandered around for a while and no one cared to ask me if I needed help, which annoyed me a lot I must say.  If you don't want to bother to ask it should probably be more clear how to get there.  Finally I asked someone and they directed me in the back to another bar and the dining area.  Both the bars were really packed.  Someone sat me and while I waited for Laura (this is shocking, she is always early, haha) they poured me some water in this interesting science beaker.   Warning: All of these pictures were taken with my IPhone in bad lighting.

I looked over the drink list and they had some really great sounding martinis, but seriously the mocktails made me salivate.  I got a drink that had orange juice, pineapple juice, coconut milk, and grenadine and it was AMAZING.  If I could have added some vodka to this it would have been the perfect mixed drink

They had a lot of starters and I really wanted to get the tare tare but I love risotto so I got the grape risotto with foie gras which I hate, but I wanted the risotto that badly.  I should have gotten the tare tare, there was nothing grape about this risotto besides 3 grapes on top of it.  Maybe the duck liver would have been amazing but for what I was looking for this was not worth it.

Laura got the pizza, which was photographed really badly, but it was really really good! I suggest the pizza!

For my entree I got the duck, which I expected to be sweeter because it was supposed to be covered in cane sugar, but it was really good.  It was no better than any other duck I've had at a good restaurant, but it was really good.  

Laura got the chicken, and I think she felt the same way, it was no better than any other chicken she's ever had, but it was good. 

The scene of the restaurant is really cool, it was really full by the time we got our entrees and the bar was beyond packed.  The wait staff was really great too.  If I went back it would probably be for some cocktails or mocktails and the pizza...

Soup in the City

My friend Laura and I are really big french onion soup connoisseurs.  We are serious about our french onion! We have been to almost every place in Boston that serves it.  And we have also called every place in Boston that doesn't serve it.  We had big plans to go to Bouchee on Newbury St last week.  We love their french onion! It's like a 8/10 french onion soup.  And guess what, to our horror it had become a Pappa Razzi! WTF! Our plan had totally been ruined and we didn't know where to go, because we had plans to go to MiniLuxe after so we had to stay close by.  We called every place on Newbury basically and no one served french onion, also people were still serving clam chowder this is not okay with me clams are for summer! So we reluctantly went to Abe and Louis, because their soup is like a 6/10 kind of french onion soup.  I'm not sure why, it has A LOT of cheese on it, and it's really big, but just something is lacking with it.  But I did enjoy my glass of wine and crab cocktail! After our soup let down we headed over to MiniLuxe and they were @@sholes to us.  I'm just going to be honest.  They let us stand there for a few minutes while four people working were huddled around doing nothing, when finally the receptionist asked us if she could help us and then at 7:15 told us they didn't have time to do two manicures.  Really? I then tweeted about it to I believe the MiniLuxe owner and got no response and this infuriates me.  My mother owned and ran three very successful restaurants so I grew up with business in my blood and let me tell you not acknowledging someone that had a bad experience is really bad business.  That is like business 101 MiniLuxe owner! We ventured down the street and got perfectly good manicures (also at a place that closed at 8 but oddly enough had time for us.) I'm pretty sure we won't be back to MiniLuxe anytime soon.   Or Bouchee :-(

What is your favorite place for french onion soup?

Here is my list:
The Harvest, Putnam CT
Balthazar, NYC
Chop House 111, Worcester MA
Bouchee, Boston MA
Gaslight, Boston MA
Abe and Louis, Boston MA

I can't think of any other places right now but I know there are some.....

The MET Review

After spending a few hours at Ikea, there is nothing more that I want than a nice burger.  (I love burgers) And I've been wanting to go to a MET Restaurant for awhile.  I mean I go by two of them a lot and I just have never been before.  But I knew there was one in Dedham on our way home so I persuaded my shopping partner to stop.  I think they are really known for their burgers.  I follow them on Twitter though and I they also seem to have a good lobster deal and a tacos and chicken special.  But I was fixed on the burger menu.  You pick your meat, size, toppings, etc to create your own burger, unless you choose one of their special burgers already made.  I was torn I have to tell you, I kind of wanted to have a burger with avacado and a fried egg on it.  And I kind of wanted to have one with swiss and mushrooms.  I should have gotten mini burgers and had both of these, but I went with something I would usually order and had cheddar and mushrooms on two mini burgers.  (Remember I love mini!) And my friend is on a new all natural diet sort of thing, so she had a huge giant cobb salad with shrimp.

I loved the presentation of the burger.  And they were really good.  They were cooked really perfectly, and the bun had a little sweetness to it.  I don't really like french fries so I can't give you a real review of these, but when I do like french fries I like the shoe string crispy kind.  My friend ate her entire salad and I stole a shrimp which was really good and fresh tasting.  The presentation of the salad was nice too, I liked how they stacked it.  The service was really good.  And the restaurant was nice.  A little fancier than I think I would have thought.  But probably what you envision an upscale burger place to be like: leather & dark.

I'll be back.  Maybe next time for lobsters.