Restaurant Week at Erbaluce

Being restaurant week we decided to finally pop into Erbaluce, a somewhat hidden Italian restaurant on the border of Bay Village and Back Bay. Though I can't say I've ever really noticed anyone coming in or out of it, at 6:30 on a Friday evening it was hopping. We were by far the youngest people there by perhaps 30 years, but we took the fact that the restaurant was full of well-to-do-looking older men and women as a sign that it must be good ;-) We were immediately seated at a table for two in the dimly-lit main dining room. I must say I was underwhelmed by the ambiance - it was quite dark, the walls were mostly bare, and the tables were non-descript looking, but it was by no means uncomfortable or unwelcoming.

We were first served a delicious white bean pureed with a number of herbs, nutmeg, and cinnamon, along with freshly baked bread. This was outstanding, and we could have sworn there was heavy cream or something rich and creamy in it, but this was not the case, and it was quite healthy. Bottles of wine were on the pricey side and all from Italy, so we decided to just order a glass each, both of which were very nice. To start I had the orange and rosemary cured organic salmon with a chicory salad and pink peppercorn dressing. The pink peppercorns, actually small tart berries, were very interesting and contrasted nicely with the sweet orange flavor and the saltiness of the salmon. For me you can never go wrong with cured fish or any sort. Chris had the
white cornmeal polenta with marinated tomatoes and gorgonzola dolce, a simple but tasty take on polenta.

For my main dish I went with the whole steamed Jonah crab with crab and celery risotto. I always feel a little bit strange hacking away at a shellfish carcass while in a nice restaurant, but I couldn't resist. The risotto was very good and had a strong celery flavor to it, but I was disappointed with the amount of crabmeat that was both in the risotto and in the crab claws and legs, themselves. Chris' pan-roasted Newport steak with a lemon, thyme, and white pepper sauce, on the other hand, was very satisfying and perfectly cooked.

We ended up waiting quite some time before our desserts came out, but eventually our chocolate and tart cherry bread pudding
and tortella of local apples with almond cream arrived. The tortella was essentially deep fried dough but very light and airy, and the almond cream was very nice. The chocolate and tart cherry bread pudding was simple but good, though I could have used a bit more of the dark cherry flavor. Finally, as we waited for the check, we were served some complimentary homemade truffles, which was a nice touch.

Overall I can't say I was in love with Erbaluce but I would definitely give it a second try when it isn't restaurant week. The special for the night, a braised rabbit stuffed with liver and truffle something or other sounded absolutely divine, and a number of the other menu items sounded quite enticing.

Snappy Sushi

Having a craving for sushi but not wanting to spend an arm and a leg we decided to check out Snappy Sushi, a sushi joint recently having relocated to 108 Newbury from further up the street. Known for having only koshikari brown rice, Snappy offers a healthier alternative to the more traditional brown rice. The restaurant´s interior is two leveled, with the top floor having a small seating area and the downstairs offering both sushi bar seating and a number of tables.

I was pleased to see that the menu items were very reasonably priced, as sushi can obviously get quite expensive. The fancy rolls average about $10 for 6 pieces, while the more traditional rolls, both standard and "inside-out" averaged at about 5. Pieces of nigiri were either $1 or $2, and there are a number of salads and other plates averaging around $12. We decided to keep it simple and order a few pieces of nigiri as well as a few rolls.

The best roll was the crispy eel roll, which had eel, avocado, cucumber, and flying fish roe topped with mayo and crunchy tempura bits, drizzled with eel sauce. The yellowtail and salmon rolls were standard, and the inside-out spicy tuna was also very good and had a nice sprinkling of sesame seeds on the outside. The fact that all of the rolls came with brown rice was undetectable in all but the spicy tuna roll given that it had the most rice. While I must admit I do prefer the white rice, the brown was certainly nothing to complain about, especially with it being healthier. For nigiri we had the saba (mackerel), tamago (sweet egg omelet), ika (squid), and ikura (salmon roe), all of which were delicious.

I would certainly return for another round of sushi, perhaps sampling one of their very reasonable lunch specials. Other fancy rolls of future interest include the Boston Lobster Roll, which has avocado, cucumber, and green leaf rolled together, and dressed with chopped lobster meat mixed with red onion and flying fish roe in wasabi-butter sauce, and the Roasted Garlic Scallop roll, which is an avocado and cucumber roll dressed with chopped scallops and onion in Snappy Sushi's sweet garlic sauce, topped with garlic mayo and black flying fish roe.

Amazing kimchee-beef dumplings!

Dumpling truck in South Pasadena, CA

http://dumplingstation.com/

Dim Sum at Myers + Chang

After living in the area for a few months we finally made it a few blocks over to Myers & Chang, where Chinese, Taiwanese, Thai, and Vietnamese flavors combine in an array of fun dishes and drinks to be had. Being a weekend morning we decided to go in for Dim Sum, order a few items, and see how their Dim Sum compared to the more "traditional" offerings in Chinatown.

First to come out were the tamarind glazed peel-and-eat prawns. The glaze was sweet and delicious, as were the 7 or 8 nice, plump prawns.

Next were the fried oysters with fermented black beans and pickled bean sprouts - I wish there were more than two per order, as the combination of textures and sweet, salty, and savory flavors was excellent!

The fried egg banh mi with sweet soy glazed bacon was by far the messiest item, both for splitting among diners or just to eat on its own. Its components were all very good, though I feel they could have done a lot more with the Vietnamese-ness of the dish, as it was more or less just an open-faced sandwich with a fried egg and bacon.
The cantonese bbq pork bao was also nice enough, but I might have expected something more substantial for $4 - it was perhaps two bites and couldn't really be split among more than 2 people.

The coal-black chicken wings with housemade sriracha were next and shouldn't be missed for any lover of chicken wings - the charred, smoky flavor was delicious, and the sriracha added a really nice bite to the plate. We also had two orders of dumplings, one with shiitake mushroom and Chinese greens and the other being "Mama Chang's pork dumplings" - Both were fairly standard dumplings, but the soy-based dipping sauce was particularly tasty.
Finally were the crispy spring rolls, your standard vegetable spring rolls fried to a nice crisp and filled with fresh veggies. Along with our Dim Sum came a choice of brown or white rice, but given there were four of us I was expecting a bit more than just one small bowl - oh well!

Price-wise Myers & Chang's Dim Sum is a little on the higher end compared with the more traditional joints, but you can definitely detect the greater freshness of ingredients and the greater thought that goes into each of their plates when compared with the larger establishments in Chinatown. Most items are 5 or 6 dollars, though there are a couple of smaller "snacks" for $3. Overall it is a very nice Saturday or Sunday morning experience if you're looking for dim sum, but something a little more fresh and different. I look forward to returning and sampling some of the other items like spicy kimchee pancakes and sweet potato fritters with Chinese sausage!

Also worth mentioning...

Dim Sum isn't all Myers & Chang has to offer - on Sunday nights they have a wonderful $1 Oyster and $1 PBR tall boy special known as "Oyster Oblivion", which is a MUST. The oysters come with a standard mignonette or an outstanding Asian mignonette with lemon grass. Unfortunately you can only order 12, but self-control isn't always a bad thing, I suppose!

The Wholy Grain

This afternoon we ventured over to The Wholy Grain on Shawmut Ave in the South End to try it out. The Wholy Grain opened last Friday and is located ont the street level of a traditional brownstone. The inside is light and airy with yellow walls, chalkboard menus, and white marble countertops and tables. Although somewhat reminiscent of the South End Buttery, the Wholy Grain maintains a charm of its own. There are baked goods to choose from on the counter ranging from the traditional croissants to muffins to breakfast stromboli. There is also a glass case which--as of today--only had a strawberry cream cake and brownies in it; but, eventually, it should be filled with cakes and other pastries, we can only assume. We ordered a few items to try, a chocolate croissant/pain au chocolat, a blueberry muffin, a bacon-avocado-chicken wrap, a spicy-chicken and blue cheese sandwich, and a raspberry-almond cream croissant. Although it is unclear, we think the croissants and bread are made off-site while the muffins and tarts seem to be made in-house.

The chocolate croissant was light and flaky; overall very good. We were impressed with the raspberry almond cream croissant; on looks alone it could have won us over but the taste was just as impressive--it was fantastic. The bacon avocado chicken wrap was decent. The avocado wasn't quite ripe enough and the wrap itself was a bit bland but the bacon and chicken tasted good. The wrap sold for $6.95, so a bit over 7 bucks after taxes--a bit too high a price I think but typical for the area. The blueberry muffin was jam-packed with blueberries, after unwrapping it and breaking off a piece you could see a ton of blueberries inside. The spicy chicken sandwich looked and tasted very good, too.

The Wholy Grain was quite busy when we got there, but we didn't mind the wait. We enjoyed the friendly service and the comfortable atmosphere. This is a good alternative to the Buttery. My hope is, as the weeks go on, there will be more take-away baked goods such as cakes, cookies, and different types of bread available for purchase. Overall, there are a few kinks the Wholy Grain needs to work out but it will make a wonderful addition to the neighborhood. We are certainly excited for the outdoor seating come warmer weather!

South End Bakery

The South End finally gets a real bakery, The Wholey Grain. We'll try to visit this weekend to fill everyone in!

Tico

For a last minute Valentine's Day dinner I decided that it was right about time to try one of Boston's newest restaurants, Tico. I had heard a few things about this place - that it was Latin American, Central American, Mexican, Small Plate/Tapas, and Nuevo Latino, so I had to go check it out for myself. Lucky for us we were able to get a table for two at 6:45.

We were seated without issue and put right in front on St. James at a table for two - thankfully it would give me enough light to take some food pictures, as the place overall is rather dim. After we ordered a very nice bottle of Garnacha, our server was kind enough to fill us in as to plate sizes and whatnot so we wouldn´t order too much or too little food. Basically the menu is divided into 4 sections. There are a number of tacos, each serving two and costing between 8 and 12 and consisting of two small tacos. Then there are the "a la plancha" or grilled selections, ranging from around 5 to 12. Thirdly are the "small plates", a large selection of dishes for sharing ranging from around 7 to 12. Finally are maybe 5 or 6 full-size entrees for a main course. We figured it best to get a variety of things to try, and as our server suggested we split our selections among the first three varieties. We ended up with 1 set of tacos, 2 from the grilled, and then 5 of the small plates, one of which was added on at the end...plus dessert ;-) While we waited we enjoyed freshly baked bread with olive oil - nothing special but definitely delicious. The first dish to come out was the fried calamari with ancho-lime aioli. It was your standard calamari - the deep fried lime wedges were a nice touch and the aioli was as tasty as any mayonnaise-based dip can be. Next came the chicken "a la plancha" with spicy pomegranate served on little skewers. The chicken was moist and had a really delicious seared flavor, and while the pomegranate sauce wasn't overly spicey, I was a big fan.

Next came the sweetbreads with blood orange, endive, hazelnuts and masa harissa. While the mystery still remains as to which part of what animal I was served, the sweetbreads were very mild and nicely enhanced with the harissa and blood oranges. Luckily by this point we were not even halfway through! The next three dishes came in succession, starting with the tacos with tender pork with spicy cucumber. The pork was wonderfully moist and flavorful, and the cucumbers were at that nice halfway pickled stage providing a nice crunch to the soft tortilla taco. Next was the risotto - while it was flavorful enough and the rice was nicely cooked, there was hardly any chorizo, and at it tasted like the chorizo I buy at Stop & Shop - not at all bad, but I was hoping for something more. Finally came the meatballs with smoky tomato. The meatballs had a nice crisp outer layer and were perfectly cooked, but the "smoky tomato" sauce that accompanied it was non-descript.

At this point we were feeling satisfied, but I still wished I had ordered the mushroom and cheese quesadilla with black truffle salsa. Done. Within minutes our light and crisp tortilla arrived - the mushrooms were great, though I wish the cheese had been something like chihuahua, not American-esque like I tasted. The little dollop of truffle salsa was really nice, but could definitely have been amplified. Dessert? Why not?! It was Valentine's Day after all. Our dessert had a long name, the "chocolate gelatto-peanut butter mousse over-the-top caramelized banana split" with Mexican chocolate and crushed peanuts. The hyphens were confusing. What came out was a three-scoop serving of chocolate gelatto sitting in a bit of peanut butter sauce (mousse) alongside a caramalized banana with everything sprinkled in peanuts and then a side of Mexican chocolate. This was legitimate, particularly the chocolate sauce with just enough cayenne to really enhance the dish overall. The gelatto was excellent and the whole dish was perfectly-sized to be split between two.

All in all we left satisfied with Tico and would consider returning, but we could certainly think of some improvements. First of all was the music. I'm not quite sure if Tico has decided what it wants to be - swanky Latin lounge and restaurant, yuppy south-of-the-border hangout, or what, but the music leaves something to be desired and didn't quite match with the atmosphere. As mentioned before it was very dim, but at least warm-colored. For how big the place is, though, I'm not sure if this works. Price-wise the food was decent, though to compete with other local tapas-type restaurants like Masa it should consider some time with reduced price menu items as what I got wasn´t necessarily what I thought I was paying for. Regardless, the place has been open for only a week, and if it doing this well so far it definitely deserves future patronage, and I´m looking forward to coming back and sitting at the bar for something from its extensive selection of tequilas and some nibbles at the bar.

Cœur à la crème! A perfect Valentine's day dessert -- or any day for that matter!

It's truffle day!

That is a LARGE club sandwich! At The Beehive!

Boston Olive Oil Company

Strolling down Newbury this afternoon we couldn't help but be drawn into the Boston Olive Oil Company. Though it has been there since the fall of 2010 and we had heard good things about it, only now did we finally take the time check it out!

Walking in you see that this place means business - the entire store is lined with rows of handsome stainless steel fusti with spigots for tasting the over 40 varieties of extra virgin olive oils and balsamic vinegars. We were immediately greeted by one of the owners who was happy to educate us a bit about her products. Their Olive Oils are 100% Extra Virgin, unfiltered and settled, and come from both the northern and southern hemispheres. There are the varietals, which are unadulterated oils like the manzanillo and ascalano, and then a large selection of fused/infused oils. The Balsamic vinegars, on the other hand, are harvested in Modena, Italy and imported to the store and bottled on the premises. They range from the traditional balsamic to more interesting varieties like pomegranate and pumpkin.

All of the products are available to be tasted right there in little paper cups and with small pieces of bread. The owner was kind enough to suggest a number of combinations, like the herbs de provence oil with mandarin balsamic and the tuscan herb oil with pomegranate balsamic, the latter of which we ended up purchasing. Another great combination we enjoyed was the harissa olive oil, which is infused with smoked chili peppers, garlic, caraway coriander, cumin, with the tahitian vanilla balsamic vinegar. We could have spent an hour in there guzzling all kinds of delicious oils and vinegars! I must say it was a lovely way to spend a quarter of an hour or so and inspired a delicious antipasto lunch drizzled in our new oil and vinegar combination! I look forward to returning to sample and purchase some more in the near future!

Bottles for purchase are directly underneath the fusti and average at about 18 dollars for 375 ml. You can find the Boston Olive Oil Company at 262 Newbury Street and online at their website, on facebook, and on twitter!

Brunch at Gaslight in the South End

Since moving downtown last summer we've had the opportunity to sample the brunch offerings at many a restaurant in Back Bay and the South End. One of our favorites for the food, atmosphere, and the price has consistently been Gaslight Brasserie du Coin. While great any time of year, it is particularly nice to eat on the patio on summer mornings when the early afternoon heat has yet to set in.

By far the best option value-wise is the 9.95 prix-fixe menu, available all day Saturday and between 10am and 11am on Sundays. Included with this menu is a glass of either freshly squeezed orange or grapefruit juice, Peet's coffee or tea, and Julia Child's spiced shortbread with raspberry jam. The spiced shortbread is excellent - soft and tangy and very light. It's the perfect bit of sweetness for those who like a more savory breakfast, but still want something to satisfy their sweet tooth.

As for the main dishes, one can choose between the vanilla french toast with Vermont
maple syrup and blueberry compote, an omelette Lyonnaise with gruyere cheese,
potatoes and caramelized onions, and scrambled eggs & cantal fondue served over toasted brioche with fines herbes. The standout here for me is the omelette Lyonnaise - it is incredibly filling and the caramelized onions and gruyere are a match made in heaven. Though not a sweet breakfast fan, the French toast is quite tasty, and you can't go wrong with good maple syrup on anything. The scrambled eggs is for me the weakest of the three, probably because it doesn't have enough of the "cantal fondue" going on, but I still certainly enjoyed it. The regular brunch items range from truffled scrambled egg tartine and caramelized banana crepes, to more lunchy items like croque monsieur and salade niçoise. A diehard smoked salmon fan, I've very much enjoyed the scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, fromage blanc, capers and toast. With many breakfast items involving eggs and smoked salmon, the salmon becomes far too cooked and loses its smoked flavor, but with this omelette that was not the case.

There are also a number of sides to be had such as pain au chocolat or French onion soup, and early morning boozers can partake in the gaslight bloody mary, matin martini, and other fun brunch cocktails. All in all there is something for everyone, and with its very reasonable prices there isn't a reason you shouldn't give Gaslight a mid-morning try!

Great Bento at Yasu in Brookline!

Thinking about lunch today we had two things in mind - something Asian and something cheap. A Bento box lunch special was precisely what we needed. Having good memories of a meal here some time ago, we headed to Yasu, a Korean, barbecue and sushi restaurant in Coolidge Corner.

The choices for the lunchbox special are pretty straight forward - a few Korean dishes, some sushi combinations, tempura, and a couple of teriyaki dishes. Each comes with a bowl of Miso soup, a salad, rice, and a "chef's choice" surprise. All average around $9, with the exception of one of the sushi selections. I opted for the kalbi(갈비), which is marinated beef short ribs in a "special sauce". Chris went with the spicy pork (돼지불고기), which is fairly self explanatory. After slurping up our miso, which was very good, I was very pleased to see a big bento box chock-full of delicious-looking things headed my way!

In addition to the chosen dish, rice, and salad were 3 pieces of california roll, a noodle salad, and what seemed to be fried orange chicken. The marinated beef was delicious and served alongside the bone it came off of. The "special sauce" was soy-based but I'm not sure what else was going on in there, maybe some ginger, garlic, etc. The "chef's choice" was, indeed, orange chicken with little pieces of baby corn and scallion, and though it was a little bit cold, it was very good. The sushi was pretty standard, and the noodle salad was nice - stir-fried cellophane noodles served cold with little bits of vegetable. It may have been japchae.
Chris' pork was also very tasty. It wasn't super spicy by any means but the thinly sliced pieces of fried pork definitely spent some time with hot chili peppers.

All in all it was a very successful lunch for a total of $24 for two including tax and tip. I'm looking forward to returning!

Goose Island Sofie Belgian Style Ale

Going back to my parents' house in Illinois for the holidays, I am always excited to indulge in local beers I can't typically find back home in Boston. One of my favorite Chicago-based breweries, Goose Island, recently came out with a line of vintage and vintage reserve ales. Thanks to my sister's boyfriend's attempt at buying my affections with beer, I had the opportunity to try two of them, Matilda and Sofie.
While I thoroughly enjoyed both of them, Sofie came out on top. Described as a beer for champagne drinkers, which I certain am, Sofie is a "tart, dry, sparkling ale" with a "subtle, spicy white pepper note, a hint of citrus from the orange peel and a creamy vanilla finish". It was incredibly light and refreshing and had that lovely slightly musky Belgian taste about it. A little more pricey than the standard Goose Island brews, it is certainly worth the extra couple dollars. Rumor has it that Brookline's Public House Provisions had it in stock, but I fear the store has since shut down for good. Regardless, I look forward to trying to rest of the line of new ales Goose Island has to offer wherever I may come across them!

Mamie Eisenhower's Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Every year around this time, it seems I am given or happen upon this recipe. Supposedly, it is Mamie Eisenhower's very own Pumpkin Chiffon Pie. After reading the ingredients and directions, I decided this year, I would give it a shot. It looked extremely easy and hey, if it was good enough for the President, it's good enough for me. It only took a few minutes to whip up (I confess I used frozen pie-crust) and I let it chill for a few hours before diving in. To my delight it was great! Below is the recipe in case you need something quick and easy for this Thanksgiving or for a Fall dinner.

Mamie Eisenhower's Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

Ingredients:

1 env. plain gelatin

4 tbsp. cold water

1 cup brown sugar

3 eggs, separated

1/2 cup milk

1-1/2 cups canned pumpkin

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. allspice

3 tbsp. granulated sugar

1 baked 9" Pie Shell

Directions:

Soak gelatin in water for about 5 minutes. Combine brown sugar, egg yolks, milk, pumpkin, salt and spices in top of double boiler. Cook over boiling water, stirring until thickened. Remove from fire. Add gelatin, stir until thoroughly dissolved. Chill until mixture begins to set. Beat egg whites quite stiff; gradually add sugar while continuing to beat until stiff. Fold the meringue into pumpkin mixture. Pour into baked pie shell and chill until set.

Marilyn Monroe's Stuffing Recipe

The NY Times today published an all but forgotten stuffing recipe from an unlikely cook. Marliyn Monroe. The recipe appears in a new book entitled, "Fragments" about Monroe. The Times adapted it slightly for measurements and it appears here. You can read the full article here.

Commonwealth Quality

The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources has launched a new program that will help consumers know that their food was grown and packaged in the Commonwealth. Look for this seal on the products you buy and know you are supporting local producers and helping to keep your carbon footprint lower.

For more information, read on: <http://www.mass.gov/agr/markets/commonwealth_quality.htm>.

Geoffrey's opening soon in the Back Bay

A few months ago we went to Geoffrey's in Roslindale. We loved it. So, we were excited to hear that they were going to be opening up a new location in the South End/Back Bay where Laurel used to be.

As we walked by today, carpenters were busily working, and "opening soon" signs were in the windows. We are looking forward to opening day...

Make Your Own Herbs de Provence

It always bothered me that in the U.S. if you wanted herbs de Provence you were going to have to first, spend half a month looking for them and then, after you found them, spend way too much money to buy a small pinch of them. After going to Provence and seeing how cheap the mixes are there, I was even more annoyed. Well, I have found a solution. I decided to make my own. You can buy dried herbs online for relatively cheap. I chose to use Mountainroseherbs.com and was very happy with the quality (plus they mostly sell organic!). For around 20 dollars (plus shipping) I was able to make over a pound of Herbs de Provence. Williams-Sonoma sells the same thing for 18 dollars an ounce! If I had bought that amount of herbs de Provence at Williams-Sonoma, it would have cost me over $300! Below is the recipe I used to create my mix (most mixes in America include basil but I noticed in France, the majority do not... so I stuck with the traditional mixes I saw):

4 oz Summer Savory

4 oz Marjoram

4 oz Rosemary

4 oz Thyme

1 oz Lavender (you can leave out the lavender if you want as a lot of mixes don't have it but there's something about the scent of lavender that's just "oh-so-Provence")