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Pizza Party

January 27, 2012 in Food, Restaurants by traveleatlove | 12 comments

Wednesday nights are usually the tipping point for us, where we go from a few days of eating really healthy meals to wanting to curl up with some pizza and beer. This is especially the case in the winter and even more so the day after a 15 mile marathon training run.

Luckily, this past Wednesday, I was one of the lucky Boston bloggers able to attend a dinner hosted by Stone Hearth Pizza, Clown Shoes Beer, and Pete & Gerry’s Organic Eggs.

I had only tried Stone Hearth’s pizza once before, at the Taste of Cambridge in 2010, and I was really excited to be able to sit down to try not just their pizza, but some of their fantastic appetizers and salads as well, all washed down by some beer from Clown Shoes.

Let’s start with Stone Hearth as a business. They are doing some awesome things to be SOL, sustainable, organic, and local. Not only have they built sustainable building space, but they also use organic flour, tomatoes, and growth hormone free cheese. They also source their ingredients from local partners and give back to the communities they are in through charity involvement. I love it.

The Allston restaurant is a short walk from the Harvard Square T station (It’s also on a bunch of bus routes, but I passed the bus, stuck in traffic, while walking.), and I lucked out with a warm-ish night. The walk over provided a good stretch for my achy legs and revved up my appetite! I was excited about the guest list for the event; it included some of my favorite Boston bloggers.

Our table was set up with beer glasses, plates, and Clown Shoes pint glass souvenirs.

I was greeted with a pour of Clown Shoes Clementine, a beer I have had and enjoyed before. I love the citrus notes; they make it a refreshing aperitif.

Then the food started coming. I could barely keep up with what everything was!

We had parmesan flatbread with roasted eggplant spread and some spicy meatball poppers.

And my favorite of the starters, cheddar covered olives. I thought they were fried, but the menu says baked. I like them even more now!

Fresh salads galore filled the table. Stone Hearth is a great place for people of all dietary needs as they had lots of veggie options and some cool, creative, and delicious salads. No iceberg and sad shredded carrots here!

I had a few bites of the spinach and avocado salad.

And some of this crunchy celeriac which was definitely unexpected but really good. Clearly a ton of thought has gone into this menu.

Then it was time for the main event, the pizza. I was actually ordering a pizza for my husband when these all came out, so I missed what some of them were. I just dove right in though.

I loved the bacon and blue which had a nice amount of smoky bacon and zucchini on it. I don’t think I have ever had zucchini on a pizza, but it is a good idea.

I also loved this special which featured curly kale, leeks, gouda, and sausage. Again, I haven’t had kale on a pizza before, but I will definitely have it again.

After all that food, there was also dessert, which I ended up missing. My husband and I made a deal that if he picked me up on his way home from work so I could avoid the T, I would bring him home a pizza. I ordered the buffalo chicken pizza about 20 minutes before he arrived, and it was hot and ready for me when I left.

You would think I would be too full for more, but I chowed down on two slices of this as soon as we got home. It was the best buffalo chicken pizza I have ever had.

I love the way that Stone Hearth tops their pizzas with creative ingredients, but most of all I love the thin crust. It is exactly the way pizza should be, in my opinion, with just enough crunch and dough to give you that chew, without being at all soggy or overwhelmingly doughy. We had a go-to pizza place with good crust for years but stopped eating there about a year and a half ago for ethical reasons. I miss it, but I am happy to have found pizza I actually like better from a company committed to being a good business.

We all left with a six pack of heirloom eggs from Pete & Gerry’s along with some coupons for their other eggs, including the eggs we buy, Nellie’s Cage Free.

I love eggs and have been eating them pretty much every day during my training, so I will post about them soon.

I was super impressed with Stone Hearth’s food, and the Clown Shoes beer was a great accompaniment. I think the only downside, for us, is that it is a very kid friendly restaurant. We only like kids that are our blood relatives, so other people’s screaming kids are not what we want to hear at the end of the day. Luckily, the Allston Stone Hearth location is right off the Mass Pike and therefore on my husband’s commute home.

There will be a lot more salad and pizza in my future. In the meantime, Stone Hearth, please open a South Boston or Dorchester location! Smile

I dined at the Allston Stone Hearth location, but they also have restaurants in Belmont, Needham, and Cambridge. Dinner was complimentary, but my opinions are entirely my own.

Technorati Tags: Allston, beer, blogger events, Boston, Clown Shoes, Food, local, pizza, restaurant

Tags: Allston, beer, blogger events, Boston, Clown Shoes, Food, local, pizza, restaurant

Lovin’ Spoonfuls at Lineage

March 1, 2011 in events, Food, Restaurants by traveleatlove | 9 comments

Boston has so many great events for foodies, but there are none better than when a great restaurant brings people together to both celebrate and do good. Last night I had the opportunity to spend some time helping Lovin’ Spoonfuls at the 5th anniversary party of Lineage, one of Brookline’s most-loved restaurants.

Having had only incredible experiences at Lineage, I jumped at the chance to head over to celebrate their anniversary. And having wanted to help out Lovin’ Spoonfuls in some way for quite some time, I was glad to finally have the chance.

Have you heard of Lovin’ Spoonfuls? The work that they are doing is incredible. From their website:

Headquartered in Brookline, MA, Lovin’ Spoonfuls is a 501c3, non-profit organization that facilitates the recovery and distribution of perishable and unserved foods that would otherwise be thrown away and wasted. We deliver this food directly to local crisis centers, soup kitchens and other social assistance entities. Lovin’ Spoonfuls was incorporated in 2010, and is committed to do its part to help eradicate hunger in Massachusetts.

It sort of seems like an obvious act; people are hungry, and food is being thrown away. Get food being thrown away to the people who need it. Yet it hasn’t been happening, and Lovin’ Spoonfuls is changing all of that.

Lineage is the perfect size for a restaurant. It is small but does not feel crowded, and it has a really nice, laid back vibe. Last night the usual tables were removed so that people could mix and mingle throughout the event.

A wood-fired oven is the central fixture in Lineage’s bar area, and it provides some toasty warmth and incredible aromas throughout the restaurant (and neighborhood!).

A table was set up with a Lovin’ Spoonfuls guest book. Elizabeth, Fiona, and I had the easy task of asking guests to fill out their contact details so that the organization could follow up with a tax receipt.

The evening was chock full of good food, as you would expect from such a great restaurant. There were bowls of homemade chips and spiced nuts scattered throughout.

Island Creek set up an oyster boat, and they were shucking fresh oysters all evening.

It seriously seemed like a never-ending supply of oysters.

Spoonfulls’ founder, Ashley Stanley, got in on the shucking action.

Servers passed other delicious treats like mashed potato pizza, lobster tacos, and sliders, along with signature cocktails. This is a Beekeeper, made with rye whiskey, honey, coriander, and lemon. It was the perfect blend of sweet, spicy, and tart, with a kick from the whiskey. I am excited to have a new cocktail that I love!

While all of the food throughout the evening was great, I went back for seconds of the cauliflower soup. Served in cute, easy-to-hold little cups, it was velvety, warm, with a subtle roasted cauliflower flavor and a little hint of saltiness, in a very good way. I didn’t see this soup on the menu, but I could definitely eat a huge bowl of it on a cold day.

The vibe at the event was great. It was clear that everyone attending loves Lineage and was happy to be there to celebrate its anniversary and also to learn about Lovin’ Spoonfuls, if they didn’t know about the organization already.

It may have been a raw Boston winter evening, but there was a lot of love, joy, and warmth in the room. People can say what they want about Bostonians, but I am constantly amazed at how many people I meet who want to do good things. Smile

Happy March 1! Do you have any goals or travel plans for the month?

Technorati Tags: Brookline, cauliflower soup, charity, cocktails, drinks, events, Food, Lineage, lobster tacos, Lovin' Spoonfuls, pizza, wine

Tags: Brookline, cauliflower soup, charity, cocktails, drinks, events, Food, Lineage, lobster tacos, Lovin' Spoonfuls, pizza, wine

Chicken Pesto Pizza

February 20, 2011 in Uncategorized by traveleatlove | 13 comments

Happy Sunday! I am quickly learning there are no weekends or vacation days when you work for yourself. Which isn’t really that different than working in the corporate world, you just get to do it on your own schedule and in your pajamas.

The theme for this week is simple, healthy foods. Friday night we did a massive grocery haul at Market Basket. It was awesome to have that big task checked off before the weekend even began.

I have had a craving for homemade pizza for awhile but have had no desire to mess with dough. I just don’t have it in me to have another pizza disaster.

So I went the very easy route, Boboli whole wheat pizza crust for our lunch pizza yesterday.

You know what? I really liked it. Like I said, I am just in the mood for simple food these days. I don’t care that it wasn’t a hand-tossed dough or made in a pizza oven or on a special stone.

Instead of a red sauce, I decided to use my winter pesto, also known as “poor girl pesto” as the base. Winter pesto because it utilizes spinach instead of basil, and “poor girl pesto” because it uses walnuts, which are cheaper than pine nuts, and there is no parmesan cheese. To tell the truth, I love it just as much as traditional pesto.

Start by adding a bunch of baby spinach leaves to the processer.

Top with a handful of walnuts, 4-6 cloves of garlic, a grind of sea salt, and enough oil to cover the top. Because my pizza was cheese-less, I added a little extra oil to my pesto to make sure it was not a dry sauce.

Voila! I always make enough pesto so that I can eat a spoonful or two right out of the bowl. It’s garlicky goodness never fails.

Next up, I chopped a head of broccoli into florets. We certainly got our greens in at lunch!

I didn’t get a photo of the process, but I smothered the Boboli pizza crust in pesto and a little basil oil, topped it with broccoli, and popped it into the oven at 420 degrees for about 10 minutes.

While the pizza was baking, I quickly stir fried bits of chicken breast with some olive oil and garlic.

When the pizza came out of the oven, the chicken was perfectly cooked and ready to join the rest of the ingredients.

Yum!

This was an awesome lunch that didn’t take more than 20 minutes to make. In the middle of a busy weekend, it was nice to stop for a healthy meal with all sorts of flavors.