But It's Complimentary...

Tupelo - Cambridge, MA
http://tupelo02139.com/

Southern fried chicken with collard greens and jalapeno mac and cheese.

     Inman square is so full of restaurants I want to write about and places I want to do well. So many of them are small, have great food and inspiring stories. Tupelo is one of these places. They opened in 2009 and served southern food that has a New England influence. Their menu changes seasonally, and they locally source a lot of their products (yay!). Damon (one of my CREST REU kids I'm working with this summer) got a few people together one weekend and invited me along, which was pretty cool a) because they must think I'm ok and b) because I've been wanting to go to Tupelo forever. After a "45 minute wait" (that was more like 20 minutes) they were pouring our waters into mason jars. I drink out of mason jars not because it's hip nowadays, but because I have since I was little, so when it happens at restaurants it makes me feel all nice and fuzzy inside.

     Jackie (another REU student) is too cute because every restaurant she goes to she asks what their best seller is. That's a really great idea. I think I might start doing that. She asked and the waiter listed off all 4 things I was trying to choose from which was especially unhelpful because their menu is so small (not that that's a bad thing). I ended up going with the southern fried chicken because people at all the tables around me were eating it, and there really was no other option once I saw it. Great choice. Go me. It was incredible. I'm going to go ahead and make the bold statement that it may have been the best fried chicken I've ever had. For real. The breading was solid and crunchy but flaky at the same time, in that when it broke apart some would flake off like oatmeal or in oatmeal sized pieces (but I don't think there actually was oatmeal in it). The chicken was also super moist and hot. But it stayed hot, which isn't always the case. It was perfect, and I was upset that it had to come to an end.
     The chicken was served on top a pile of the best collard greens I've ever had too. Sometimes restaurants make collards too sweet perhaps because most people don't like them so adding sugar helps? I don't know. But Tupelo got them just slightly sweet with a little zing (which Austin and I decided was apple cider vinegar) without the vinegar punch. You know what I mean? They were so good and perfectly steamed. Sometimes collard greens are more limp and steamed to much making them stick together and be wilty, but these were more stiff and hung out around each other more like shaved parmesan cheese does sitting in a tub (don't hate on my analogies).
     The second best part of the meal though was the jalapeno mac and cheese. I like spicy sometimes, so I was a little worried this may be too much, but it wasn't at all. The mac and cheese had a jalapeno flavor throughout without the heat of jalapenos. Not to mention, they mastered the cheese sauce to noodle ratio meaning that it wasn't too runny or too gooey to the point that you're practically eating cheese noodle soup. Each noodle was coated in just enough cheese so that you could get all the flavors and ingredients on a fork without scooping.
     I highly recommend Tupelo for southern food in Boston, for a nice meal out, or for their free complimentary cornbread (which they gave us three servings of because Damon wouldn't stop asking). Sometimes southern food can leave me feeling fat, salty and in general relatively unhealthy but this didn't. Incredible food engineering.

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The Asgard - Cambridge, MA
http://www.classicirish.com/asgard-home.php

The world's saddest potato skins.

    So Jimmy and I set a date to go get sushi to use my birthday coupon. However, we realized that day that it was actually his birthday, and we should/could do something else for his actual celebration. The sushi place I had a coupon for was downtown, we were hungry and transportation down there just made me want to throw up, so we opted for some place with better parking. Plus Karl came along, and he doesn't like sushi.
    I walked into the Asguard a couple years ago while on a run because I wanted to check out the menu. It sounded so good with a bunch of different Irish foods and the interior was a big open, dark bar/restaurant. This had a different feel than most Irish pubs because of its size, and that was slightly intriguing. Jimmy went to Ireland once, so I thought this might be a great place to go.
     For a lack of better words, it was disappointing. Not awful, but just nothing exciting, and almost irritating. For example, the service was not good. The man seemed really rushed and tried to take our menus before we even ordered. It was confusing. What was also confusing was that they only offered their 25 cent wing deal if you ate inside verses on the patio. What? Why? Who thought that made sense? Either way, we ordered the wings anyways, and Jimmy asked for them to come naked with the sauce on the side. A pretty standard request I'd say. So how did they come? Not naked with the sauce on the side. Of course. And as far as the taste, they were just your standard wings. Nothing crazy.

Chicken Pot Pie

     For the other appetizer we had to have the potato skins which were stuffed with bacon, beef, lamb, melted cheddar jack cheese, and guiness gravy. There were 2 issues. One potato skin and the other. Yea ... 2 tiny potato skins made from the world's smallest potato to split between 3 people. They had minimal amounts of all those things in them, and I couldn't really taste the lamb. Lamb has a lot of flavor. What the heck? The gravy was good, but I don't want super delicious gravy to cover up my lack-luster potato half-skin. I want good potato skins. Oh... AND they came out cold. Clearly cold because the melted cheese had already started to solidify. The worst part? $10. Blew my mind.
     Finally for dinner, I ordered the chicken pot pie; Something I'm not going to make myself (especially in this heat). This was served like most chicken pot pies in restaurants in that it's a bowl with the pie ingredients and a puffy piece of dough on top. It wasn't bad, but I'd say it was 75% cream. There were not enough peas, carrots, celery or chicken. So (75% of the time) I found myself just taking scoops of cream as I worked my way through. Waste of time. I didn't order a cream pie. The puffy dough on top was great though. The only thing that really required no skill to cook. Congratulations.

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Haru Sushi - Boston, MA

http://www.harusushi.com/

     Two days later, we actually got sushi, and it was just what the doctor ordered. Haru Sushi is a swanky place downtown with a delightful waitstaff that doesn't laugh at me when I'm overwhelmed by sushi menus and terms I don't know. This place was very clean, crisp and dark, making their sushi chefs who were illuminated by bright lights seem like they were angels. I mean... they pretty much were angels because the food was delicious. 

Chicken dumplings (after we ate one).

     As an appetizer, Jimmy and I got the chicken dumplings. They had chicken and shredded veggies in them and were topped with thin green onions and served with a spicy soy sauce which was something new for me. I really liked it. They were so flavorful and salty. 

Spicy Tuna (front left), Kamikaze (front right) and the Lobster roll (back)

     For our rolls, we ordered a spicy tuna (you can never go wrong with a spicy tuna), the kamikaze, the Super Dynamite, and the Lobster roll. The kamikaze is similar to the spicy tuna except that it has yellowtail and tempura flakes in it and the little red roe on top. That's my favorite part. It was good and served as one of the simpler rolls that I like to have to help balance out the special rolls. The Lobster roll was something I had never heard of or tried before, and I thought it was fabulous. It had lobster, boston lettuce, spicy mayo, avocado, cucumber, mango and tobiko (the same red roe). My favorite combination was the mango, lobster and avocado together. The mango added an awesome sweetness. The whole concoction was a great idea. The Super Dynamite roll was my favorite. It had tempura style tuna, freshwater eel and asparagus with sriracha, spicy mayo and eel sauces. Any sushi I've ever had with eel I've loved. When looking at the sushi, however, I can never tell which fish is which, but it's all delicious. The asparagus was really good in the sushi too because it added a crunchy texture. Overall everything was delicious, fresh and quick. Plus... they give you a $20 coupon for your birthday if you sign up for their email list. It got me in the door!

The Super Dynamite roll

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Red Mango - Boston, MA

http://www.redmangousa.com/

     

Froyo from Red Mango

     After sushi, Jimmy and I naturally gravitate towards the nearest place with sugary treats. I wanted to try this froyo place I haven't been to before called Red Mango. They have locations all over the country, so I feel a little odd writing about them, but whatever. It's a sushi/smoothie place with a crepe bar (which is totally awesome) down on Mass Ave near Northeastern. I ordered their small cup which they charge you two something for, and then they charge you for each additional topping. I'm not about that because most of the time I just want a couple of each topping because I like variety. They didn't have as many options as Yogurtland or 16 Handles, so that was a bummer. But the froyo itself was good, if you like more ice-like froyo. My ideal consistency is a little bit more creamy.... ie more like ice cream. Yogurtland has this down pat, so whenever I try other froyos like this one from Red Mango, it turns me off. Especially when it comes to things like chocolate, which in my mind shouldn't be so icey. Their mango froyo, however, was really tasty and the texture/consistency fit the flavor. It was ok, but not worth the $$ I'd say. Why don't they have self serve ice cream bars with unlimited toppings? I mean... that's what most people go to froyo place for, right?

 CANDY

Burrito Tetris

Lulu's Restaurant and Bar - Allston, MA
http://lulusallston.com/

Lulu's Burger     

     This Head of the Charles was definitely my favorite to date for two main reasons. 1) The number
of old teammates in town and 2) the food. Because I wasn't racing lightweight (and honestly wasn't sure if I would be racing at all because I was a spare), I was able to partake in activities I normally wouldn't, like spending hours and hours walking around the course, getting dinner and drinks with friends and staying up until 4am. I just really enjoyed the relaxing weekend of endless and spontaneous fun. I could write a novel with all of the stories from this weekend, so I'll try to stick to just the food.

    The first new place I tried was a restaurant/bar called Lulu's here in Allston. Meagan and I had both heard this place was good, and it seemed like the perfect, relaxed atmosphere we were looking for. So Jim, Cory, Kevin, Courtney, Meagan and I walked over and happily took the table reserved for our man Dennis who failed to show up for his reservation. They sat us at their "VIP" table tucked away in a little corner with its own private tv. The dining area itself was a darker, open space that gave off a modern, hipster vibe. The table we were seated at was one irregular shaped, thick slice of a tree. Such a beautiful piece of work.

Mexican Cheetos

     I was really impressed with their menu too, as it was much more intricate and unique than I expected from an Allston bar. In a way, this restaurant seemed a little out of place (but in a good way). Dissecting the menu options was difficult and fun, and we tried many things. For an appetizer, I was debating between the curry, caramel popcorn with pumpkin seeds and the Mexican Cheetos. I ordered their Mexican Cheetos. Never have I ever heard of someone making their own homemade cheetos, let alone a restaurant offering them. To be truthful, they were definitely a little weird. They weren't as flavorful as regular cheetos (obviously because they weren't chocked full of chemicals), and while the texture was crispy and airy like a cheeto, they didn't taste like much more than a lightly powdered, cheese covered air. They came in the shape of pumpkins and were served with a spicy hot sauce called Tapatio. Definitely worth a try, but I wouldn't get them again. Upon further investigation, I just realized they were vegan. Perhaps that's why I was only slightly more than unimpressed. Hmm...

     I opted for the Lulu's burger. It just looked so good as I walked in. Natural beef with herbs and butter, local cheddar, secret sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions on a brioche roll. The burger was a little too well done for me, so I wanted some more juice to the whole ensemble, but it was still delicious. I loved the herb-y flavors, and I was also a huge fan of the brioche roll. It was really different in that the outer layer of the roll seemed almost separate from the insides of the roll. I compared it to a soccer ball being wrapped in wrapping paper and no one understood my analogy. It was a big, wide, warm roll, so it was nice to not fear of running out of bread. You know how sometimes the buns are so small and the insides get all pushed around? This was not the case here. The burger was served with their hand cut fries which were stellar. They reminded me of the fries from b.good, but were less crispy, and that was fine. Just very irregular shaped and sized and dusted with coarse grains of salt. So tasty.

     Friends who love food are great because they always let you try their food. So Jim let me try his herbed tots, which were super crisp on the outside and salty. I love love loved them! And I loved the garlic mayo they were served with. His short rib mac and cheese was tasty too. It was definitely a homemade cheese sauce, making the whole dish seem less gut busting.

     Lulu's had so many delicious looking and sounding dishes coming out of their kitchen that I'm definitely coming back. It helps that it's right down the street from me too. Can't wait!

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Totto Ramen - Allston, MA
http://tottoramen.com/

Look how happy and cute Jim is with his ramen.

     This New York ramen joint just recently moved to Boston, and I had never even heard of them until Jim suggested the place in response to an evening Asian craving. I've only had ramen once before in Portland, and I loved it. Jim and I both loved this experience at Totto Ramen so much that we came back two days later with seven more people :] Not only was the food delicious, but the wait staff was super friendly and the food came out quick.

Pork buns

     In contrast to a lot of other Asian food restaurants in Allston, this one is pretty modern and doesn't give you much of the Asian vibes you might get in a more traditional restaurant. Or maybe this is more representative of a younger and more modern Asian dining experience.

     Anyway, in our first trip, we ordered the pork buns as an appetizer. These are really simple. The put a thick slice of what I think is pork belly in a steamed flat, folded bun with some lettuce and tartar sauce. The pork had such a great, salty (and fatty) flavor, and the bun was soft and spongy. It seemed more like a dumpling texture. During our second visit, I ordered the congee which is basically rice cooked in chicken broth that had a texture similar to that of porridge or oatmeal. On top they cracked an partially fried egg and shredded scallions. When I cracked the yolk of the egg, however, I was really confused because the yolk itself was ice cold. I have no idea how they got the whites of the egg cooked and warm while keeping the yolk cold. Either way, using one of those big scoopy spoon things, you'd get the best bite when you got a little rice, egg and some scallions all together.

Congee

     For my meal on both trips, I order the Paitan Ramen, which included their long homemade

Mochi

noodles cooked al dente style in a whole chicken and soy sauce based soup. It was topped with scallion, onion and a nori (dried seaweed). The first time I added the Kikurage Mushrooms, which were actually harder than normal mushrooms and came in these short brown shreds. They were good, but didn't add much to the dish overall. I was much happier the second time when I added the fresh seaweed and the seasoned soft boiled egg. The seaweed was soft but chewy, and I really liked the soy flavor that permeated the white of the egg.

     For dessert, I tried many different mochi balls. If you're unfamiliar, mochi ice cream balls are a Japanese dessert that consist of a ball of ice cream covered in a soft, pounded rice layer. I love that rice layer. I could eat just a
ball of that. We tried the red bean (which was the sweetest of all), the black sesame (which tasted like sesame seeds... duh), vanilla (meh), mango (sweet but refreshing,) and the green tea (refreshing and light). Green tea and red bean were my favorite.

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Commonwealth Restaurant and Market - Cambridge, MA
http://commonwealthcambridge.com/

   
     Well... I've got to say that it's honestly been nearly 3 months since I blogged, and even since I touched this one post specifically. So I'm jumping in, head first, attempting to remember my food life.

     Zach and I went to Commonwealth forever
and a year ago, but that doesn't by any means mean that I don't remember it. Commonwealth is near Kendall square by MIT in cambridge. I found it unique because even though it's situated within a very modern, technology-centric area, walking in the front doors transports you to a more rustic, farm or marketplace atmosphere. With the mission to provide local produce and farm fresh eggs and dairy, Commonwealth's entrance boats a little market area with a bunch of fruits, vegetables, grains, and treats scattered among a bunch of beautiful antique stoves, chairs and desks. It's adorable.

     When we were led to our seat, we headed into a room where the walls and ceiling were made out of wooden pallets and had large-bulb incandescents hanging from them. It looked so cool and gave the room such a fun ambiance. The food was nothing short of spectacular either. To start, they brought out this tiny ramekin with fluffy pull apart bread. It was so soft and warm inside, and the sweet butter was delicious. I seem to recall they make their own butter. As an appetizer we ordered these pork short ribs that were to dieeeee for. They were probably my favorite part of the whole meal. It was one of those dishes were you can't possibly pinpoint all the flavors because so much is going on. They had some sort of spicy light brown sauce on them, but wasn't like a barbecue sauce at all. I want to say there was a chili taste, with lime and cilantro. But there was also some sort of caramelized sweetness to it, and they were dusted with a cashew dust. Weird, right? But so so good.

   
     For the entree, we got one and a bunch of sides to split because we wanted to try all the things. This place is a little pricey, so I was hesitant at first, but then I gave up. Zach was in the same boat. He was super pumped about the duck before we had even gotten there, so we ordered the half Long Island duck with cranberries. The meat was really tender and juicy, and I loved the complement of the cranberry and... mint? There was an herb in the cranberry mixture on the side and it was fabulous with the duck. We both agreed at the end that while it was delicious, it wasn't worth the $25, especially considering how small the portion was.

Duck Fat Fries (top left), Oyster Mushrooms (top right), Mac n' Cheese (bottom right), Long Island Duck (bottom left)

     For me, the mac n' cheese side was non-debatable. It was GREAT. It was definitely a homemade
mac n' cheese and boasted a unique blend of local New England cheeses. It was thicker too (which I like). You know... like velveeta thickness but actually cheese and delicious. (That comparison should be considered a sin. Shame on me.) Anyway, it was a very, very rich dish with a special touch of some sort of toasted cracker crumbs on top. I love that additional texture within creamy mac n' cheese.
   
     The duck fat fries though. My second favorite. If you're confused, what I mean by duck fat fries is that they cook these thick cut wedge fries in duck fat. Don't ask why... just know that they'll be some of the best fries you ever eat. They were very rich, heavy feeling, and salty. Oh so salty. It was lovely. They came piping hot and crispy on the outside, just as every fry should be. These could be a meal in themselves.

     The last side I ordered was their oyster mushrooms. I'm not sure I'd had that variety before, and they were awesome. They were soft and chewy, light and garlicy. A necessity, I think, after all the other super rich dishes.

     We weren't going to get dessert... but then we came to our senses. Their dessert menu is cool. You pick an ice cream, pair it with a building block of sorts, and add a sauce and/or another topping. We got the butter pecan ice cream with a blondie as the base, topped it with "notorious P.I.G. tracks" (chocolate peanut or chocolate almond clusters maybe?) and a peanut sauce. Health. It was stupid good. That blondie was so warm and a tad gooey still, the clusters added a nutty crunch, and that ice cream was probably some of the best butter pecan I've ever had. Smooth and simple, but rich. They make their own homemade ice cream here, and now that I think of it, that was the original reason I wanted to come here. Now I want their breakfast. I want it all.

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Cactus Grill - East Boston, MA
http://www.cactusgrillboston.com/

   

     Cactus is David's happy place. I've never met a man who loves burritos as much as he does, and it's endearing. I had a steak quesadilla from there once, but there was no photographic evidence, so I didn't write about it. Regardless... it was so juicy from the steak and so cheesy it pleased me (rhymes).  This time, David brought me home a burrito, and I'm proud to say I'm on the Cactus bandwagon. Easily the best burrito I think I've ever had in my life... not just in Boston. Look at the photo. You see how the rice and the vegetables are around the entire burrito and the steak is in the middle? I have no idea how they do that. But either way, it ensures that each bite gives you a little bit of everything so you're not stuck playing burrito tetris and strategizing your next bite. The steak inside was just like the steak from my quesadilla; all super juicy and flavorful. Oh... and the deal sealer... was the grilled tortilla outside. They don't just wrap it up and send you on your way. They press it, so the tortilla has a thin, browned exterior. This isn't only delicious, but it also seals in your burrito contents so the tortilla doesn't go exploding and releasing the tsunami of innards all over your pants. Props Cactus.

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Sushi Station - Mission Hill, MA
http://www.sushi-station.net/

     Writing about sushi is sometimes obnoxiously difficult. If you've ever eaten it, you can pretty
much assume why. Anyway... Meagan, Jimmy and I went to Sushi Station in Mission Hill a couple weeks back because I had this restaurant.com gift card, and I chose to take it there. Sushi Station is a mini restaurant with only a couple tables. We were the only people dining in there the whole time, but the waitstaff was super friendly and offered us complementary edamame! Bonus! I love seaweed salad (mainly because of the texture), so I got that and shared it. I love its sweet and sour flavors. Reminds me of my grandpa's three bean salad he used to make with vinegar and sugar. We ordered a bunch of different rolls to hit out $25 minimum. Honestly, I'm not all that sure which rolls we got, but they were all great. We got a range of spicy and mild rolls, a few with shrimp, crab, and tuna. I don't think they were as fresh as they could be, probably because of a slower stream of customers in the door, but it was still delicious, cheap and we left stuffed, satisfied, and it didn't break the bank. Definitely worth it if you're looking for a good bang for your buck!


Spike's Junkyard Dogs - Allston, MA
http://www.spikesjunkyarddogs.com/

Spike's Junkyard Dog

     Spike's was (admittedly) one of the first restaurants I wanted to go to when I got to Boston. A restaurant that sold mainly hot dogs was different, and I could only imagine how good they had to be if that was basically all they sold. After the Relient K concert down at Paradise Rock Club, David and I were walking home hungry. We kept walking and walking and he was getting impatient, but I assured him I had a place in mind (I always have a place in mind).  I didn't realize that Spike's sold more than hot dogs though! Apparently they have burgers, chicken fingers (which we got and are pretty good) and a few other things. I had to get the dog though. I ordered the junkyard dog, which is their main act. It came with Spike's mustard, tomato, hot pepper rings, and chopped scallions. Wowiezowie. This was goooooood AND huge. The hot dog itself was really thick and plump with juicy (got ahead... laugh), and the bun was like a soft baguette with little grits of cornmeal dusted around the bottom. It was like a real bun, not the standard one ounce white hot dog bun you normally get. The hearty bun and thick dog made just one hot dog pretty filling. That didn't mean we didn't get chicken fingers too. It felt so good. It felt amazing to be able to just want to eat something late at night and do it without remorse (<<< reflections on my lightweight days).

I Wish Every Week Was Restaurant Week

Osaka - Brookline, MA

http://brooklineosaka.com/

    

The Money Bag

     I wish every week was restaurant week. What does that mean? During restaurant week (or technically “Dine out Boston,” various restaurants around Boston offer a price fixe menu where you get a specific number of courses and options. I’ve never participated in restaurant week before, so this trip to Osaka with Jimmy and Coree was a new one. Osaka is a Japanese sushi / hibachi style restaurant in Brookline. For restaurant week they offered you one appetizer, a choice of an entree, and a dessert for $23 dollars or something. Not too shabby! 

     We all ordered a different appetizer so we could sample each others. Coree ordered what seemed like deconstructed sushi. It was a bed of ice topped with various raw fishes. It was interesting to sample the flavors of these fish minus all the other ingredients of sushi. Jimmy ordered these raw tuna sacks. They were literally raw tuna slabs wrapping up avocado and surrounded by swirls of various spicy, sweet, and herb-y sauces. 

    My appetizer was my favorite. It was called the Money Bag. Instead of triangular shaped rangoon, they were crab meat and cheese wrapped up in a wonton wrapper, fried and tied. Kind of like a little baggie. They were incredible. The crab cream cheese mix inside was slightly sweet and was served with plum sauce.  

    For my meal I ordered the sushi plate. The first sushi was called the Hot Lover roll and was served in the shape of a heart. It was very unique in that each piece was in the shape of a tear drop and was wrapped in a pink soybean paper. Inside was shredded spicy tuna, shrimp tempura and avocado. This sushi roll was light and a good contrast to the other roll. I don't remember the name, but the second roll was stunningly gorgeous and was served on a big leaf. Inside there were tempura flakes, grilled avocado, all wrapped in seaweed, tuna, and topped with roe (my favorite), a couple different types of sauces, sprouts, and some sort of little white balls. With 10,000 components, it was hard to identify all the flavors, so I found myself taking little bites to find them all. All the flavors. I know this is a sushi faux pas, but I do not care. It was incredible. I loved the flavor of the slightly charred, grilled avocado. That was a new experience for me. 

    

    For dessert, they served vanilla mocchi balls with smears of chocolate sauce on a larger than life plate. There wasn’t anything outrageously delicious in the mocchi dish, but I do love that gooey, chewy rice coating that the balls are coated with. I’d like just a dish of that goop please and thank you.

     A lot about this place was about presentation. From the food to the modernistic and artistic decor, these really aren’t the kinds of places I frequent often, so it was fun to experiment with all the tiny flavors hidden on each plate.

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Trina’s Starlight Lounge - Somerville, MA

http://www.trinastarlitelounge.com/

My dog of the day!

     It was my last day at Gentle Giant (tear :’[) and Frances and I decided we were going to head out to Trina’s Starlight Lounge because I’ve been talking about wanting to go forever. Trina’s is Rob’s favorite bar, so it wasn’t hard to convince him to come. And it was a bar so… Victor was in (haha). David and his sister, Rachel, showed up too along with a couple other GG fellas. It was a small but casual get together/send off, and I was just so grateful to spend the last couple months with this family. 

     From the website, Trina’s seems like a colorful but “riskay” 1920s kind of bar, but I was still confused as to what it might look like. In all actuality though, Trina’s seems like quite a few other bars. It’s nothing like your standard dark wooden Irish bar, but isn’t quite the modern douchey downtown bar. It’s got a relaxed and casual yet refined feel to it. 

     Trina’s does a “dog of the day” so… being the adventurous soul that I am… I went with it. I applauded myself later for this decision. So they must’ve taken the hot dog itself and split it down the center… hot dog style… and grilled it. I’ve never had a dog cooked this way and initially I would’ve guessed I wouldn’t enjoy it as much because it doesn’t allow for the dog to explode from all the hot juices inside. But I was delightfully surprised by this splitting action because it made for 4 different surfaces all with a crisp outer texture. The toppings on this bad boy were fried chunks of ham, melted white cheddar cheese, sour cream and chives. It was like a loaded baked potato on steroids. Obviously minus the potato and plus meat. In my opinion, 100 times better. I could’ve eaten 10. Frances agreed. Hands down one of the best hot dogs I’ve ever eaten… ever. Must try more hot dogs of the day. 

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Midwest Grill - Somerville, MA

http://www.midwestgrillrestaurant.com/

     Karl eats very few things. I don’t know how he survives. One thing he does eat is meat. So

naturally, we opted for a meat filled birthday dinner for him. Jimmy, Meagan, Dave, Karl, Kate, Ellis and I headed to Saloon in Davis Square for some drinks (AND INCREDIBLE PRETZELS AND QUESO) before heading to Midwest for Brazilian BBQ. The moment you walk in you’re overcome with the mind-numbing smell of roasting animals over a fire. That’s what it is. Don’t hate the verbage. The place wasn’t fancy, but made me feel Brazilian. The live bossa-nova-esque music set the mood (even though the woman playing the tambourine was texting at the same time), along with the Brazilian flags scattered among every foot of the building.

     So if you’ve never been to a Brazilian barbecue place before, how it works is you pay a flat fee and you have access to a full “salad bar” and waiters come around to your table with meat on big long sticks. You can either accept or decline the meat, and they’ll move on. I’ll start with the salad bar. I didn’t touch the salad. How could I? There were a ton of other delicious options like a pork hock stew and a bunch of other types of meat + beans + rice concoctions/stews. It was tough not to load up on those things though when you knew what was coming on the long sticks. My favorite part of the bar was the scoop your own ice cream. 

    The first meat to the table was a well done sirloin. I was hoping a medium or a more rare sirloin was coming, but it never showed. Regardless, I got one of the crispy edges of the hunk of meat which takes on that sought after grilled and partially charred flavor around the marbled fat,

     My favorite meat by far was the lamb (no surprise here). Roasting lamb over a fire is the number

So much birthday hatred

one way to prepare it. It’s just the best. It’s simple and the fire gives it a primal flavor. I just love it. Their garlicy buttered rolls were cooked over the fire too and came out piping hot and crisp. The bacon wrapped chicken was mediocre, the pork loin was a little dry, the chicken hearts were tasty little nuggets but a little over cooked. The kielbasa was nothing to write home about and the Portuguese sausage was delicious but super salty. The beef and lamb stole the show for sure for me. 

     Since I was at a Brazilian place, I had to order my favorite drink: the caipirinha. This is the same one I raved about from Muay Queca when I went with Zack. I think I liked the previous one better than this one because it was less sweet and tasted a little bit more fresh and less sweet. These were cool though because they had a glowing green ice cube in them. So fancy. 

     The second best part of the night was when a large portion of the staff came out signing happy birthday to Karl, the lights flickered along with the music, and the band switched over to happy birthday and played 2 variations of the song. If you know Karl, you know that he HATED every second of it and made sure to tell us all how much he hated us after it was over. It was one of the finer moments of my life:]

     

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Tilt’n Diner - Tilton, NH

http://www.thecman.com/restaurants-and-menus/tilt-n-diner.aspx

Liver and Onions

     Nature is my favorite. Food is my second favorite. So the appropriate reward after summiting a 4,135ft mountain is a delicious meal. Zack mentioned that this diner had some great home-cooked soul food. He had me at home-cooked… and soul food. Tilt’n Diner has the look of your standard diner. Lots of silver, lots of pink and teal. Lots of great long-term waitstaff and a home-y feel. 

     I don’t know if I have ever seen liver and onions on a menu at a restaurant before, so I was all about it. This dish is always reminiscent for me of afternoons spent at my grandpa’s house. He always had a wheel/roll (or whatever you call it) of liver and I loved it. We didn’t have the full liver and onions meal often, but I knew I loved liver, so it was worth a shot. The liver came (probably) lightly grilled and in thin sheets/shavings and was topped with bacon and onions. It’s really hard to describe the flavor of liver. It’s not like anything else. It’s not like any other meat, and the texture turns almost pasty once you start chewing it. This had the same flavor I remember from my childhood (and from the stellar liver patte my Aunt Joanne makes every year for Chirstmas Eve). The sautéed onions and the homemade mashed potatoes WITH THE SKINS STILL ON made for a delicious, savory, rustic home-cooked meal. There were no frills. It was just simple, hearty flavors. 

    To compliment this masterpiece, Zack and I split a side of sweet potato fries and he introduced me to the magic that is sweet potato fries and maple syrup. Holy mother of mercy I don’t know how I’ve gone 26 years before dipping my sweet potato fries in this sensual syrup. You might think that’d be too sweet, but you’d be wrong. Gotta give it a try. 

Sweet potato fries

    To end it all, we split a black and white milkshake which was just magical. Food and sugar comas ensued on the drive back. Struggle city. For me at least. Zack was an all-star alert driver. 

Wing It - Allston, MA

http://wing-it.com/

Honey bbq chicken tenders

     After eating our weight in froyo, Ian and I decided to walk it out… and found ourselves walking in to Wing It off Comm Ave. I’m helpless when someone asks me if I want to get additional food. There's always an empty pocket in my stomach where I can fit something else. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve run by Wing It and been overwhelmed by the sensual aromas. It was finally time. We got 6 regular honey bbq chicken tenders to split. After sweet froyo, it hit the spot. Absolutely nailed it. The chicken was so moist and lean. 

    Ok so here's my moronic analogy...You know how each individual orange slice is made up of small, fleshy, juice-filled capsules? I want to say polyps, but that’s not it. Either way, this chicken broke apart into thick, moist fibers that reminded me of each one of those little pockets of juice that comprise an orange slice. I really like the honey barbecue sauce because it was only lightly sweet. Oftentimes I think honey barbecue can be too sweet for me and takes away from the savory experience of the wings. I also really enjoyed the breading because it was thick and meaty. By that I mean that it stuck heartily to the chicken and wasn’t uniform all around the strip, so there were thicker crispy corners (just like when you get an apple fritter donut).Those are my fave. That’s my kind of night cap. 

The Ice Creamsmith - Dorchester, MA

http://theicecreamsmith.com/

     I have found my new favorite ice cream shop in Boston. After a short but sweaty hike, David and I went on the hunt for some ice creams… of course. Since we were down by the Blue Hills, I had no idea where anything was so we headed straight for the first ice cream shop that came up on google maps. The Ice Creamsmith is this tiny little shop on the border of Dorchester and Mattapan. They opened their doors in 1976 and have been serving up their homemade ice cream on hot days ever since. I loved the feel of this place. They had antiques hung on the wall and everything was simple, as ice cream shops should be. They were the hometown version of a Coldstone Creamery if you’ve been to one of those before. 

     For my two scoops, I went with chocolate and chocolate chip. Deciding on a mix-in was proving to be quite challenging. The the woman behind the counter heard me murmur that I wanted a cookie too, and she said the magic works “I can mix the cookie in if you’d like.” The glow of my smile started to melt all the ice creams. So… in went a big chocolate chip cookie all mixed up and mashing into my ice cream. It. Was. Amazing. And not only because it was a super hot day. The ice cream was delicious and simple, and the addition of the cookie pieces was 10x better than cookie dough ice cream (crazy, right?). Way better than Coldstone and way better than Ben & Jerry’s Cookies and Milk. Definitely the best ice cream experience I’ve had here in Boston. 

Chocolate and chocolate chip with a cookie :]

But Now I Only Have Two Meats...

S&S Restaurant – Cambridge, MA

http://www.sandsrestaurant.com/

3 cuties

Griffin told me about S&S a long time ago when I asked him what his favorite brunch places were. After reviewing the menus of all the places he named, this one topped my list of places I wanted to go for brunch. It was my destination of choice after my weigh in for HOCR. After Meagan’s race, Karl, Kevin, Meagan and I drove up to S&S in Inman Square. Finally. This place is huge! When you walk in, there is an enormous bakery counter with everything and anything I’d ever want to eat. Then they have at least 4 huge rooms with tons of seating. It was packed and there were a ton of families and old people. I know it’s weird to say, but it was kind of refreshing. I feel like I live in an area with a ton of younger people, so it’s nice to see old couples out to brunch on a Saturday.

Parisian French toast and Corned beef hash

Anyway, their menu is absolutely outrageous. Every dish seems so intricately designed. Like the sushi of the brunch world. Their egg dishes sounded so good with things like salmon, cucumber, and canadian bacon, but I had my heart set on their stuffed French toasts. I finally went with the Parisian French toast. Oh my goodness. This was thick cut bread stuffed with warm, gooey brie and fig preserves, and sprinkled with a little powdered sugar. The subtly of the soft brie and the super flavorful and sweet fig preserves was amazing. The combination of the different textures was fabulous too. Crispy edges on the French toast, the gooey cheese, and the soft bread. At first I wished there was more, but once I started eating it, I knew it was going to be plenty because it was all so rich. The little fruit salad it was served with was the perfect way to cleanse the palette.

I kept seeing multiple people being served this bowl looking thing that was overflowing with some meaty concoction and knew I needed it. Turns out it was their corned beef hash and it was superb. I love corned beef, and I had truthfully never really corned beef hash in my life…at least I don’t think I had. I'm sure it had 4 years worth of fat in it, but it was so worth it.

Chocolate Lava Divine

I was so pleased with everything. THEN we had to go and get the Chocolate Lava Divine that I eyed on the way in. Had to. Such a great choice. It was a chocolate cake filled with dark chocolate truffle lava and topped with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. The warm gooey chocolate lava that poured in when you cut into it. Definitely not the first time I’ve had it, but it was incredible and gone in seconds.

The Neighborhood Restaurant – Somerville, MA

http://www.theneighborhoodrestaurant.com/

Eggs, homefries, grilled banana and linguica

When Jim and Audrey were in town, they raved about this one place they went to called the Neighborhood Restaurant up in Somerville. I had heard about this place before and they supposedly served up some great Portuguese food, including blood sausage. That was my goal. I wanted the blood sausage. The morning after the Charles party (I think) Jimmy, Meagan and I decided to check it out. It’s a very simple place. They have a nice open outdoor seating area, but it was too cold so we just sat inside. It was very small inside, the tables were simple, the chairs plastic, and the “art” hung on the walls was pretty standard for a rural hometown diner run my grandma and grandpa. It didn’t really look Portuguese, and only a few items on the menu looked Portuguese. Unfortunately they didn’t have any blood sausage that day. Apparently it’s one of those secret-not-on-the-menu things. I was real bummed. Guess I’ll have to go back. Anyway… I got the #15 which came with 3 eggs, half of a big grilled banana, awesome homefries, and a couple slices of this really good Portuguese sausage called Linguica. It was way different than any standard sausage we’re used to. It was very coarsely ground. You could see all the different hunks of things (the meat, fat, and who knows what else). Either way, it had a great almost smoky flavor. They also served a small fruit salad, a plate with toast and corn bread and a glass of OJ with your meal, which was an added bonus. Generosity. I like it.

Quebrada Bakery – Arlington, MA

http://www.quebradabakingco.com/

Bran muffin

So there’s this bakery in Arlington that Nina loves. She has brought in banana bread, cookies, croissants, and other pastries from this place and they have all been exceptional. I decided to get a birthday cake from there in my final days at Bluetrain, and it was a standard chocolate cake with vanilla frosting. It had these awesome fudgy layers in between each layer of cake and the frosting was a sweet buttercream. BUT… I’m not here to talk about the cake. I’m here to talk about the miniature bran muffin I got for myself while I was there. I absolutely couldn’t walk away without something. I love bran muffins. I love that I feel like I’m eating Earth and that it’s semi-healthy. This muffin was small enough to fit in the palm of my hand. Perfect lightweight size. I loved how coarse the bran pieces were and the raisins inside were plump. Sometimes bakeries really screw up bran muffins and they’re too dry, but not Quebrada.

Spanish Chickpea Salad – My Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

So one of our recent SSC meetings had a Spanish theme, so I stuck with my own personal theme of making the salad for the evening. I found this awesome authentic Spanish salad recipe on the Spanish food section of About.com that was delicious, refreshing, and a great way to finish off the meal after some of Nonna’s fabulous paella. This salad was very simple. Cucumbers, pomegranate seeds, chic peas, red wine vinegar and salt and pepper. I cut everything up pretty small so that it was uniform in shape. It was super crunchy and so refreshing. I already said that… but it was. Totally something you could make on the weekend and eat all week.

Spanish Chickpea Salad

2 pomegranates
2 large cucumbers
1 1/2 - 2 cans (15 oz each) of garbanzo beans
2 Large cloves garlic
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
Red wine vinegar for dressing
Extra virgin  olive oil for dressing

1) Peel the cucumbers and cut into small pieces. Remove the seeds from the pomegranate. 

Nonna's Paella

2) Drain the garbanzo beans and add to the bowl. 

3) Peel and finely chop the two cloves of garlic and place in bowl with vegetables. Remove stems from basil leaves and chop basil. Add to the bowl of vegetables and mix.
4) Sprinkle red wine vinegar over the chopped vegetables. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil. Mix thoroughly. Generally, use 1 part vinegar to 2 parts oil. Taste and adjust vinegar and oil.

Blueberry Flan Pie – My Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

In addition to my chickpea salad, Meagan and I collaborated on a blueberry flan pie for SSC - Spanish edition. I was pretty excited to find this recipe on this random website called Amazing Mexican Recipes. Even though the picture looks kind of funky, it turned out pretty good. It was a little sweet for me and I doubt I’d make it again, but everyone loved it. I’d say the insides were kind of a mesh between a custard and a blueberry pie.

Blueberry Flan Pie

5 cups blueberries (use fresh if possible, frozen if not)
1 tbsp lemon zest
Juice of 2 lemons
1 ½ cups plain yogurt
3 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
½ cup sugar
1 pie crust (premade or your own recipe)

1) Mix the blueberries with lemon juice and sugar in a large bowl and mash with a potato masher until about ½ of the blueberries are mashed. In another bowl, beat the eggs, and then beat in the condensed milk, lemon zest, and yogurt, followed by the mashed blueberries.

2) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees while you get your crust ready and in your pie pan. Pour in the flan mixture and bake for about an hour and fifteen minutes or until the flan is set and the crust is crisp and golden brown – you can check for doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center of the pie. Allow the pie to cool and chill for a few hours. Serve cold.

Parmesan and Prosciutto Asparagus – My Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

I’m a super big fan of this cheesy asparagus dish I made for our Italian themed dinner. I struggled to

find an interesting Italian salad, so I took a base recipe I discovered on the Food and Wine website and tweaked it a little to make it my own. The original recipe called for raw, ribboned asparagus tossed in zesty sauce made with coarsely shredded parmesan cheese, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. I made a similar cheese sauce except I used finely grated parmesan romano cheese, half of the olive oil, and omitted the salt. I felt as though the cheese provided enough salt. Also, using a vegetable peeler to turn 2 pounds of asparagus into a ton of ribbons was WAY too labor intensive for my tastes. These asparagus went through multiple phases. First I tried shredding them. Then I decided I didn’t want them raw, so I steamed them whole. Then I thought that with all the other things that I was going to add, eating a whole asparagus could be difficult, so I chopped them up into smaller pieces. Some weren’t fully cooked enough, so I had to sort through them and re-steam some. It sure was a process. ANYWAY… I definitely recommend cutting them up into 1-2 inch long pieces and then steaming them.

At this point, I threw together the cheese sauce, cut up some dried apricots, and threw in some smaller pieces of thinly sliced procioutto. The combination of all these things was incredible. Woah. The cheese sauce had a zesty, lemony flavor, the apricots provided a burst of sweetness, and the procioutto added some saltyness. Great flavors all around.

The second big dilemma of the evening was whether to serve it hot or cold. It sure was delicious warm, but the original recipe said cold. Meagan and I decided to go cold, and it was a great choice because it served as a refreshing veggie dish after Jimmy’s hot soup. Good contrast. Very proud of that whole thing.

Parmesan and Prosciutto Asparagus

2 pounds large asparagus
1 cup coarsely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (3 ounces)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons warm water
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

1) Cut up/cook asparagus however you wish. Whole, raw, shredded, chopped, whatever. 
2) In a small bowl, mix the Parmigiano-Reggiano with the lemon juice, water and olive oil. Add to the asparagus and toss to coat. Season the salad with salt and pepper and serve at once.

Cinnamon Roll Waffles – Mary’s Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

There’s a photo floating around Pinterest that I’m sure everyone and their mother has pinned. Cinnamon Roll waffles. It’s simple. Open up a can of the premade cinnamon rolls, stick them in a waffle maker, cook as you would a normal waffle, drizzle icing on top and enjoy. Mary and decided to make these one day after a Saturday workout and it was one of the best choices of my life. We used the Immaculate brand of cinnamon rolls from Whole Foods. It was interesting because they didn’t really taste like cinnamon rolls, but they didn’t taste like waffles. It was a beautiful beautiful blend of the two. The outside was slightly crisp and the inside was soft and moist. We tried them with syrup, but they were best with the icing.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies – My Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

I had a period of time a while back where I went a little nuts with all the Pinterest recipes. I wanted

to try making these cookies I found on Averie Cooks that had very few ingredients: peanut butter, brown sugar, an egg, vanilla, baking soda and chocolate chips. I didn’t realize it at the time, but they’re a gluten free recipe. I was so skeptical because they had NO flour or butter. That’s basically not even a cookie. However, they were absolutely exceptional! They split and formed cracks kind of like a cheesecake or those chocolate crinkle cookies. Fresh from the oven, the chocolate was perfectly melty and the cookie itself had a hard time staying together. I was fine with that. Meagan was fine with that. We had an epiphany. Since we couldn’t hold them and dunk them in milk, we put parts of them onto a spoon and dipped them in milk. I must say… we thought we were geniuses.

Once they cooled they were just as delicious, but in a different way. I felt as though I got more of the peanut butter flavor when they were cool, and more chocolate when they were warm. Either way, they were just superb. I totally recommend trying to make them if you’re interested in gluten free recipes or just a different kind of cookie.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies 

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon baking soda
6 ounces semi-sweet, dark, or bittersweet chocolate, chopped (1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips may be substituted)

Peanut butter cookie overloaded with chocolate chips

1) Combine peanut butter, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, and beat on medium-high speed until well-combined and the sugar is fully incorporated. Add the baking soda and beat to incorporate. Add the chocolate and beat slightly to mix. 

2) Form two-tablespoon mounds of dough, place on a large plate or cookie sheet, flatten slightly and refridgerate at least 2 hours. If chocolate is falling out of dough since there is an abundance, roll ball between palms to encourage it to stay in the dough.
3) Preheat oven to 350F, line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with cooking spray. Place mounds on baking sheet, spaced at least 2 inches apart and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until edges are set and tops are barely set, even if slightly underbaked in the center. Do not bake them longer than 10 minutes, as the cookies firm up as they cool.
4) Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 to 10 minutes before removing and transferring to a rack to finish cooling. 

Pumpkin Granola - My Kitchen, Cambridge, MA

Pumpkin granola

Yea... another Pinterest recipe. I had been meaning to make some granola for a while, and since it was fall, pumpkin granola sounded like a real winner. Normally I try to avoid things like oil and extra sugar in granola, and as a result, it has never turned out all that great. But this time I just wanted to follow a recipe almost exactly. I did not care about calorie content. I found this recipe for pumpkin granola on a blog called Foodess and was so so so pleased. This granola had achieved both the crispness, the chunkiness and the sweetness that I have been striving for in my last couple batches of granola. It was perfect, and you could really taste the pumpkin in it. Not to mention, it made the apartment smell delectable. I'm going to share her recipe, but I halved the recipe and it worked out fine. I get too scared of screwing up and I don't want to have a million trays of wasted granola. As far as the nuts/seeds/berries go, I used cashews, cranberries, and chocolate chips. 

Pumpkin Granola 

1 cup pumpkin puree
1½ tbsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground ginger (I didn't use this because I couldn't find mine)
⅓ cup vegetable oil
½ cup brown sugar
⅓ cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp salt
5 cups old fashioned large flake oats
2 cups raw cashews

3/4 cup chocolate chips
2 cups dried cranberries

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2) In a mixing bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, oil, brown sugar, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Stir in the oats and cashews.
3) Divide mixture between two large baking sheets and bake 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally and checking frequently, until the cashews are golden and toasty and the granola is dry.
4) Let cool completely on baking sheets if larger clumps are preferred. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in cranberries and chocolate chips. Transfer to airtight containers.

Fedora Café – Lawrenceville, NJ
http://fedoracafe.webs.com/

I HAVE to write about Fedora Café. Princeton never ceases to impress, with PJ’s Pancakes, Hoagie Haven and now Fedora Café. Leigh recommended we go to Fedora Café for dinner on Saturday after our erg piece at Speed Order. THANK YOU LEIGH! Fedora Café is this cute little café. I’d say it’s my ideal café. Everything about it is unique. The art, the furniture, the tapestries hanging on the wall, and the dishes. No two things were the same. Leigh originally brought us because they offer an endless pasta bowl. You pick your noodle, sauce, and any toppings you want. If you finish your first bowl, they’ll refill it for free. It was so … much… pasta. I could’ve done it, but my shrunken stomach knew that I’d regret it, especially with a race the next day. I refrained, but OH MAN. It was some of the best pasta I’ve ever had at a restaurant. I got bow ties, blush sauce (a mix of marinara and a cream sauce I believe), portobella mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, peas, broccoli, spinach, artichoke hearts, peppers, and onions. The deal sealer was the sun dried tomatoes. The flavor of sun dried tomatoes is so powerful. I love it. The mushrooms were key in this dish too. They were big and thickly sliced. I loved how the broccoli soaked up a bunch of the sauce in the bushy part of each piece. There was just so much going on. So many delicious things. The sauce brought it all together in sweet harmony.  

The Ginger Exchange – Cambridge, MA

http://www.gingerexchange.com/cambridge/index.html

Prettiest little crab rangoons

I swear we’ve been talking about sushi for months. And I mean months and months and months. We’ll do it after trials! We’ll do it after the Charles! We’ll do it after Speed Order! Yea… whatever. So finally… we did it. After some pretty intense research, Mary, Meagan, Brandon and I headed to The Ginger Exchange up in Inman Square. I love going to Inman Square because there are so many interesting places there that I want to eat. It’s like traveling to another country. I had spotted crab rangoons on the menu during our research… and well… you can’t just not get crab rangoons. They were amazing. They came piping hot to our table like pretty little flowers arranged around the dipping sauce. The cream cheese and crab mix inside wasn’t too crabby or overly airy. Sometimes I think they whip up the mix that they put inside and it’s all airy, like whipped cream cheese you buy at the store. Know what I mean? Well… it wasn’t like that. It was much better. It was warm and creamy and smooth and had this great sweet dipping sauce (that Mary and I hoarded to dip other things in later in the evening).

Bo Bos

Mary also wanted to get the Bo Bo’s. Yea, I had never heard of them before, but they were described as some sort of dumpling stuffed with hunks of meat. We chose the beef. Three of them came to the table looking like tacos (as Meldrim put it) but I thought they looked like clams. A big puffy white dumpling was split in half and filled with the shredded beef. The flavor of the beef was amazing. It was kind of like an asian version of bbq if I had to guess. With hints of ginger and soy. So great. These came with French fries which, at the time, were like god’s gift to humanity. First fried food I had eaten in FOREVER and it was incredible. I mean… the fries were good, but I’m guessing they wouldn’t be super exceptional to the average person. Mary and I just thought they were like cake.

I was so happy with our choice in rolls. The Christmas was delicious. My optimal choice. It had shrimp tempura, tempura flakes, tuna, avocado, spicy mayo and eel sauce. We also chose the Mt. Fuji (spicy scallop, tobiko, crab stick, avocado, cucumber), Spider (soft shell crab tempura, avocado, cucumber, tobiko, eel sauce), Serendipity (seared scallops, tempura flakes, crab stick, spicy mayo, secret sauce, seared homachi, black tobiko) and the Farmer's Market (avocado, cucumber, yamagobo, sweet tofu, dried seaweed). The Mt. Fuji came piled high with this delicious shredded crab on top in some sort of mildly spicy sauce. The dried seaweed draped over top of the Farmer's Market was something new for me but I really liked it. The seared homachi (a type of fish) on top of the Serendipity had a really unique smoky flavor that I surprisingly liked. They all had something unique about them and that was really cool. 

Christina’s – Cambridge, MA

http://christinasicecream.com/

Peanut butter cup and cookie dough ice cream

As we polished off our last couple pieces of sushi at The Ginger Exchange, I asked if we wanted to order more. We all made the great decision that instead of ordering more, we would go get ice cream instead. We had passed Christina’s on the way in, and we had all heard at one point that it was apparently as good as Toscanini’s. We had to test it out. I’ll say, they had a decent number of flavors, but they weren’t as unique as Toscanini’s Browned Butter Pumpkin Sage or the B cubed. However, Christina’s had some incredible ice cream. Woah, so I got the peanut butter cup (duh) and the cookie dough. I love cookie dough. This was probably the best cookie dough I’ve ever had because not only were there delicious hunks of dough in the ice cream, but the ice cream itself tasted like cookie dough. Somehow they had infused the cookie dough flavor into the creamy part and ohhhh was it creamy. The peanut butter cup was delicious too. Sometimes peanut butter ice creams can have too much peanut butter, and it can be overwhelming, but this was far from. It was the perfect creamy balance of chocolate and peanut butter bliss. This is tough. Real tough. I’d still say Toscanini’s has the #1 spot, but Christina’s is definitely a close second.

Tatté – Cambridge, MA

http://tattebakery.com/

Beautiful Hazelnut Rose

After an unsuccessful attempt to sell clothing at Garment District, Meagan and I decided to slip into Tatté across the street. I had never seen this little café before, but I definitely loved the feel inside. It was very rustic feeling. It was very small and there was one long, battered, antique wooden table running through the middle. People sat munching on the most delicious looking breakfast sandwiches bursting with fresh greens. They had a BEAUTIFUL assortment of pastries and tarts. I opted for the Hazelnut Rose, which was sort of like a cinnamon roll with a great hazelnut flavor. It was tall, wrapped in paper, and split into two rolls at the top. Each one displayed on the platter was unique and had risen and grown in the oven in their own different direction. It was a bit more dry than your standard cinnamon roll (which was ok), and the cinnamon-y substance wrapped between each layer had what I think may have been ground up hazelnuts along with hunks of hazelnuts. It  was delicious. I ate it in the car, but I can only imagine how amazing it would be fresh from the oven.