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Progressive North End Dinner

February 22, 2012 in cocktail, Cocktails, Food, Restaurants by traveleatlove | 10 comments

Saturday night was one spent eating and drinking my way through Boston’s North End with three fabulous friends. I have been down about work and a few other things, not feeling great about training (until my 18 miler on Sunday which was awesome!) and in general just wiped out, and a night out with Daisy, Megan, and Michelle was exactly what I needed.

For Michelle’s 30 While 30 list, she wanted to go on a progressive dinner, with five different stops: cocktails, appetizers, entrees, desserts, and cocktails again. Over a month ago when we were trying to set a date to catch up, we started on the idea of dinner in the North End which turned into a progressive dinner. If you have an occasion where you need many restaurants close together, the North End is definitely it.

We ate, drank, and a laughed a LOT over the course of the evening. Like I said, it was exactly what I needed.

We kicked off the North End crawl with cocktails at Ristorante Fiore. I grabbed this photo to illustrate that when we met at 5:30, it was this bright out. Yay.

Fiore makes great cocktails and has a fabulous roof deck that is open in warmer weather, a great place to grab a drink and some oysters. On our progressive dinner agenda, we had time for a drink, and I had a cocktail made with gin and basil. It was delicious, herbaceous, and very strong. It definitely kicked off the night on a fun note and got me chatting away.

Next up was a stop at the recently reopened Mare Oyster Bar. We are all oyster fans, so we ordered two each and enjoyed the briny goodness.

Oysters and bubbly go perfectly together, so we ordered a bottle of Schramsberg Mirabelle Brut. I became a fan of Schramsberg on our cave tour, and it was the perfect choice to go with oysters. What I love about this wine is how many layers of flavor it exhibits, starting with the yeasty brioche and moving on to more acidic green apple and lemon. I thought it was divine.

Since we felt like we needed a little more food to add to our drinks, we also split the mussels at Mare and the polenta and clams. The polenta was so creamy and comforting. I tried to make some the next day, and it was gritty and not-so-great. If only I could make polenta this amazing!

I think we were all very happy with Mare Oyster Bar, and I am looking forward to returning for a date night.

With dinner on our minds, we moved on to Mamma Maria, one of my North End favorites. We have celebrated my birthday in their room for two, the Piccolo room, and we also celebrated our first anniversary there. The food is fantastic, and the interior is a quaint old house.

We moved on to red for dinner, Umani Ronchi Cùmaro, a wine made with 100% Montepulciano grapes. This wine packed a spicy punch! It also had a velvety mouth feel and a long finish and went so well with our Italian feast.

My photos don’t do it justice, but Mamma Maria’s pesto is bright, fresh, and bursting with flavor. A little of that on some bread, with a few olives on the side, is the perfect thing to curb hunger while waiting for dinner.

By the time my beautiful Bolognese arrived, I was starting to get full, but I carried on because it was just so good. Is there anything better than homemade pasta?

Prezza was our dessert stop. I had forgotten that I went to Prezza for marathon weekend dinner 2010 and thoroughly enjoyed it. The girls ordered Bailey’s on the rocks while I stuck with bubbles, a glass of Bouillot Cremant. Sparking wines from Burgundy are quickly becoming a favorite for me, and this copper hued beauty definitely went will with dessert. It had a creamy mouth feel but was also bright and fruity. It was love at first sip.

I don’t know how we ate more, but somehow we shared white chocolate bread pudding and fig and chocolate turnovers.

The turnovers had a slightly burnt taste to them, but I actually kind of liked it. It went well with the fig and chocolate and my Cremant. Smile

Completely full, we made our way to our final stop, Bricco (with a stop at Stanza di Sigari, only to find it too crowded and just too smoky for us) for an after dinner drink. Bubbly was my choice there too; a Prosecco that was okay but not as memorable for me as either the Mirabelle or the Cremant. Prosecco just has too much of a pear flavor for me sometimes.

What a night. There was some out-loud singing of Whitney Houston songs as we tried to use social media to find karaoke bars in the neighborhood without luck. At least our fellow North End goers were treated to our beautiful song. I have to say that everything I ate and drank was really pretty great. Girls nights out are an absolute must in life, and I am so lucky to have such fun friends!

What’s your favorite way to spend a night out with friends?

Technorati Tags: Boston, cocktails, dessert, Dining out, dinner, North End, oysters, prosecco, sparkling wine, wine

Tags: Boston, cocktails, dessert, Dining out, dinner, North End, oysters, prosecco, sparkling wine, wine

American Whiskey Cocktail Class at ArtBar

February 17, 2012 in cocktail, Food, Restaurants by traveleatlove | 13 comments

A Thursday night after a very long and trying week calls for a good cocktail. ArtBar at the Royal Sonesta is making Thursday’s once- a-month even better with a chance to taste, mix, and learn from an expert in their new cocktail classes. Director of Food and Beverage Troy Clarke is sharing his love for cocktails, his expertise, and the innovation happening at ArtBar, and last night we participated in a class on American whiskey. Classes fill up, but luckily Jon made sure we had a space. We joined Jon, Lindsey, and Adam to become whiskey experts. . . well we learned a lot! And had some delicious cocktails.

The scene was set with whiskey: Bully Boy White Whiskey, which is made right here in Boston, Prichard’s Rye Whiskey, and Woodford Bourbon Whiskey.

And the night kicked off with, what else, but a cocktail! We sampled house-aged Bully Boy White Whiskey in this Manhattan. Yum.

Troy walked us through tasting spirits (Hint: It’s different than wine. Stick your nose in the glass, and breathe deep, you might just ruin your sense of smell for the night.) and he gave us a good amount of background information on the whiskeys we were tasting before we launched into making out own cocktails.

Tasted on their own, I liked the Prichard’s Rye Whiskey the best for its vanilla caramel notes. The color and the different notes in the whiskeys come from the barrels in which they age. The white whiskey skips the barrel and heads straight into the bottle.

Tables were set with all of the ingredients we needed to make two cocktails, an Old Fashioned and a Sazerac.

We each had a recipe card at our place, along with a bunch of glasses, and we got right to mixing. I may not have been paying 100% attention during the instruction part, so things were a little silly during the cocktail-making. The end result, my “Old Fashioned Old Fashioned” (called that because like the original Old Fashioned, it’s missing fruit), was quite good. And we have all of the ingredients, whiskey, sugar, bitters, soda water, and lemon peel at home so I can practice a bit more.

The second cocktail we made was a Sazerac. Featuring Peychaud’s Bitters, Rye Whiskey, and Herbsaint, the Sazerac was a little bitter for me, and since we strained out the ice, a little strong, but I still enjoyed it and had fun making it.

The class ended with lots of questions for Troy about all sorts of things like stirring cocktails vs. shaking them, complete with a demonstration.

Next up is a Brandy class. We get back from Sonoma (!!!!!!!) just a few days before, so I may have to give it a miss, but if you love cocktails, check it out.

Of course, there was also food involved throughout the evening. When we arrived, my husband and I took advantage of the happy hour food menu and shared some delicious pulled pork tacos.

During the class, we were treated to some bites to keep us fueled as we mixed up our cocktails. I’m not sure what was in the spoons, but it was very good.

And, as I tend to do, I ended the night with fries. ArtBar’s menu features baskets of fries and sweet potato tots with spicy banana ketchup, pesto crème fraiche, and roasted garlic parmesan. These fries and tots and sauces, and in particular the garlic parmesan, were amazing. Add this to my post-long run cravings list.

We closed out the night with one of the best Irish coffees I have ever had on either side of the Atlantic. Troy makes a very good Irish coffee that integrates the flavors of the coffee, whiskey, and sugar perfectly without any one overwhelming the others. With St. Patrick’s Day around the corner, you should get yourself to ArtBar for one of these.

All in all, it was a really fun night. The cocktail classes at ArtBar are well worth the $20 cover. You end up with several cocktails, some great cocktail and spirit education, and a taste of ArtBar’s creative menu, quite the deal!

And if you dine at ArtBar before or after the class, you get 10% off your food. The Royal Sonesta’s Web Media Manager did also treat us to cocktails and a warm welcome. It was great to chat with her to hear about upcoming events at ArtBar. They have pretty much one of the best views in Boston, and are really doing a lot of cool, quality things food and drink wise.

I stayed out way too late, am exhausted and pretty much still have a whole week of work to do. I have not been able to catch up this week, my training runs have felt awful, and other than an enjoyable time at ArtBar, I am completely cranky this week.

I might go to bed at 7:00 tonight.

What are you most looking forward to this weekend?

Technorati Tags: bloggers, bourbon, cambridge, cocktails, events, Food, Restaurants, whiskey

Tags: bloggers, bourbon, cambridge, cocktails, events, Food, Restaurants, whiskey

A Nine-Course Brunch to Remember

February 16, 2012 in Food, Restaurants by traveleatlove | 10 comments

A few weeks ago when we were celebrating my friend Raija’s birthday at Trade, she told us about an amazing brunch that she had on her birthday visit to NYC. The nine-course brunch, complete with great conversation, sounded like the perfect way to spend a few weekend hours, and luckily, her cousin’s husband caught the event on his iPhone, which takes better pictures than my camera, apparently. . .

Raija had perfect timing in delivering the below guest post. My weekend away, followed by a totally manic work week, complete with terribly ache-y training runs has made blogging impossible and eating less-than-interesting.

So, while I wait for the weekend to arrive, work the day away, and attend a cocktail class at Art Bar tonight, I leave you in Raija’s capable hands to brunch vicariously through her.

Enjoy!

For the past several years, I’ve enjoyed what has become a tradition of visiting my family in Brooklyn, NY to celebrate my birthday. This celebration includes the typical fun of hanging out with my nephew and cousins and enjoying their Carroll Garden neighborhood, but most importantly a dinner at a fun new restaurant. A few years ago, we had one of the best meals I’ve ever had at Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich’s restaurant, Babbo.

This year, we really overdid ourselves – eating-wise that is. An opportunity arose to go to unique pop-up like event. M. Wells, restaurateurs from Quebec, were doing a brunch at a nearby Italian restaurant, Manducatis Rustica in Long Island City, Queens. They closed their diner last summer and have not yet opened their new place. My cousin’s husband works nearby and had experienced the delicious and unique vibe at M. Wells’ diner before they had closed. He told a story of going in for lunch and watching a whole swordfish being prepped on the diner counter across from his booth. This is creative cooking in a city where space is at a premium!

The brunch was $50 per person, and one flat seating starting at 10am. They told people to expect to stay for a couple hours. And stay we did – through 9 courses of delicious, and unique twists to what you might consider traditional brunch fare. We waited in line for a short while before they let us in. (Photos courtesy of my cousin’s husband’s iPhone)

Once in, we were treated to a really cozy atmosphere and were surprised to find that they only had tables for 4, 6 or 8. Which meant odd folks like the pair of us would have to share a table. Typically, this is not the kind of set-up I would look forward to: having to make small talk with strangers instead of relaxing and enjoying a meal with family or friends. But this turned out to be a totally wonderful surprise. The entire crowd was full of people who enjoyed great food and drink, and we were sat with a young couple that was very friendly (and equally apprehensive about the seating plan like us).

We sat at a table, ready with warm, fresh rolls and a warm, pork pate spread (Course #1). It was salty and just slightly sweet and perfect to get us started while we waited. We were served great cocktails: choice of Bloody Mary’s, champagne cocktails, espresso with liquor, or a sweet red wine, and with plenty of refills, by friendly, energetic and casual wait staff.

Course #2: Bacalao (cod) fritters, with a tangy remoulade type sauce. Salty and crisp and light, like hush puppies.

Course #3: Pork belly smoked and glazed with maple syrup – smoky and sweet, crispy and fall apart delicious pork.

We were really warmed up at this point – not having any idea of how many courses were to come, we watched other tables anxiously to see what was to come.

Course #4: Homemade, chewy, pizza, topped with the same sweet and salty sausage that was in the pork pate, and – my favorite – runny eggs. Some tables got pizzas with vegetables on them – alas, our table didn’t see a vegetable for the entire brunch (I don’t think we minded Winking smile )

Starting to feel full, we looked around and saw two courses being passed, which were new. One of our table compatriots asked the server if we were set to get the huevos rancheros, too (Course #5), curious if there might be more variety across the tables. We got a knowing look from our server, and when it came to the table, he said with a smile, “You asked for it.” Did we ever. We were starting to need deep breaths to keep going. More great runny eggs, a bright tomatillo salsa, these were some great huevos rancheros.

Course #6: The M. Wells breakfast sandwich with pickled green tomato, jalapeño, house made sausage patty, cheese and grilled biscuit. This was apparently famous at the diner. I understood immediately why – I could only eat a quarter of one of these by this time in the meal. But the mix of spice, pickle, salt, sweet, all together was fabulous. Maybe the best egg sandwich I’ve ever had.

Did I mention that they had a DJ playing upbeat tunes the whole time? It was awesome! We needed the upbeat music to keep us from being lulled into a food coma!

Course #7: Spanish tortilla with potatoes and… veal brains. With a basil and garlic sauce. Yup. You read that right. We didn’t know that ingredient until after we had all had a few bites and were trying to decide what the rich and interesting flavor we couldn’t quite place was…was it onion? The oil? Nope. Must be veal brain.

Did I also mention that we had reservations this same evening for dinner? Yeah. This was a day of serious marathon eating. At this point I started getting worried – are we there yet? Will we make it?

Course# 8: Cannoli with hazelnut cream filling. Finally! We must be coming to an end. My stomach couldn’t take it…or could it? I ordered a coffee to help with digestion, and enjoyed the sweet and creamy mini cannoli.

We aren’t done yet. Course #9 was a little cup of homemade peanut butter and jelly gelato. Manducatis Rustica makes their own gelato, and this little taste makes me want to go back for more in the summer. This was the final scene of the delicious crime.

We left remarking how wonderful it was to talk for 3 hours about nothing but restaurants, food, wine, and travel, and with strangers! We never asked or were asked the typical “What do you do for work?” question, and it was a relief. If you don’t love your job, what fun is it to talk about? This was definitely the most fun and adventurous brunch I’ve ever been to. And the owners of the restaurant and servers were all so friendly and happy to be there, it was contagious. My cousin’s husband got a lovely response to an email he sent thanking them for a lovely event. The crowd was a pleasant and patient and fun-loving one. It was well worth the $50 ticket price. I can’t wait to see their new place when it opens. Perhaps at next year’s birthday weekend eating extravaganza…

Technorati Tags: brunch, Food, M. Wells, NYC, pop up, Queens, Restaurants