Coffee Shop Vent

This is a vent for all the coffee shop owners in the world.   I know you didn't ask me to stand up for you, or speak out, but I am going to anyway!

Coffee shop patrons:   Clean up your damn dishes.   Don't assume the coffee shop has someone to do it for you.  Especially if they have visible garbage cans and busing tubs.   Get it together people!    Half the time another patron, especially in a busy shop ends up cleaning up your nasty left over garbage with half drunken lattes, and icky food traces.

If you live like that at home, I don't care!  Don't bring your nasty mess out in public.

Eric and Mary dinner

The Carriage House in Rye, um just look at the pictures and then get your butt there.  It is near the water.  It is total nice without being too formal.  Good date night, double date night, good food night kind of place.   Go here too!   Damn I get to eat a lot of good food.  

The Melt Away Creamery and Sandwichery

Total Random breakfast place we went to with Joe outside of Laconia.  You can tell how old this is because Joe is in a sling.  At least Joe will know how old this is that is.    This place was an icecream place where you could get breakfast and it was damn good.  Go there.

224 Boston Street

224 Boston Street

224 Boston Street

Dorchester MA

617-265-1217

I got a promotion at work a couple weeks ago, and Lou brought me out to celebrate. Who says you have to go into downtown Boston, fight the crowds and pay an arm and a leg to celebrate an event?

Not us, and that is why we found ourselves at 224 Boston Street. The address is the name. You can't forget where this place is, genius.

From the outside this looks like a pretty tiny place, but they use the space wisely Walking into the the front door you end up in the bar. There is a large round table in the center of the room with generous pillar candles on it. There were also a few two tops as well as seats at the bar. To the left of the bar is a short hall leading to the dining area. The dining area is filled with two tops and a few booths. If you read this blog you know I LOVE two tops in a restaurant. You can move them around, push them together. They are the perfect restaurant table.

We started our meal with the "Mini" Lobster Mac&Cheese. As you can see there is nothing really mini about it. I thought presentation was original and the lobster was abundant. It was a great starter.

Mini Lobster Mac & Cheese garnished with Micro Arugula

For dinner I got the Grilled Salmon with Blue Claw Crab & Red Pepper Ravioli, Creamy Pine Nut Pesto and Yellow Pear & Grape Tomato Ensalada. The salmon was a large portion. The sauce was tasty, and I could definitely taste real crab in the ravioli. Honestly there was enough here to have a second meal out of it because the sauce was fairly rich.

Lou got the Pistachio Crusted Chicken Breast with an Orange Marmalade Cream Sauce and
Goat Cheese Ravioli. I wasn't a big fan of this, but it isn't really what I would call from my taste portfolio. I am not a big fan of sweet and savory together, and I thought the chicken was a bit bland, but Lou ate the whole meal, and he isn't one to just eat something he doesn't like.

I didnt' get a picture of our desert but we got the Death by Chocolate Warm Fudge Brownie, Vanilla Ice Cream, Hot Fudge and

Whipped Cream.

Another Old post that I never published, the address is the name.  Go there, a lot of fancy food for a good price.

Coconut Cafe, Beacon St. Newton

Wow I found a bunch of posts I started with pictures but never completed, so I am just going to pop them up here.  #1 The Coconut Cafe in Newton.  Cute small Thai place.  Inexpensive, got there.  Enjoy the pics

Eat Boutique, a Christmas Food Story Boston 2012

I'm Back!!!!!!!! and the Holidays are here!

Today was a wonderful day in Boston.   Especially for a hungry girl who had just come from yoga.

So great, it inspired me to write a new blog post.    I've been out of touch for a LONG time!

I read about this Eat Boutique at the Artist's for Humanity spot in South Boston a few weeks ago.  The Eat Boutique is a gathering of food artisan's peddling their yummy edible wares to the masses.   I was really psyched because AFH is right on A street in Southie, but then I realized we were supposed to be away this weekend.   Lately I feel like so many great things are happening in Boston, and when we leave for the weekend, I miss out!   I guess I have the dreaded FOMO (fear of missing out).

Late Thursday, however, we had to cancel our plans because Lou realized he had a class on Saturday for work.  There was no way he could miss it, so the Eat Boutique was back in the plans!

I went to yoga early this morning and was famished by the time I got home.   The event started at noon I got home about 12:30 so I thought "Perfect time for sampling good food", but then we got there and I saw thousands of people with tickets in hand.  OOPS It turned out you have to buy tickets ahead of time...UGH HUGE FAIL for someone who is starving and not thinking straight.  I needed to EAT!!!!   The next available tickets were for the 3 to 5 time frame.   Thankfully I had Lou there to talk me down from the ledge.   He said, "Buy the tickets now, we will go check out KO Pies in Eastie, and we will come back:)" Ah the voice of reason.   We bought the tickets and headed through the Callahan Tunnel to seek out KO.

We will get back to the Eat Boutique, but have I told you about KO pies?  Yes I have,  in an earlier blog post!  That post is about the KO in Southie though.   The one we were headed to is in Eastie on the waterfront.    Sam Jackson, yes that is the Aussie's name, did so well with his first pie place, he opened a second, larger place in the shipyard in Eastie.   The menu is a bit different, there is more seating room, and he has a liquor license at the new place.  They even serve a Sunday Brunch.

The cool thing about KO Pie's in Eastie, is you get there by water taxi and you can catch a water tazi from several spots in the harbor. We didn't do this today.  It was a little cold and we had a time crunch, but I couldn't help but think what a cool thing to do in the warmer months.

KO is in the shipyard in Eastie.   Sam says it is reminiscent of the Sydney Harbor before it became what it is today.  Honestly, the shipyard is pretty cool.   There is art throughout it, and there were plenty of people seeking out KO.  KO has seating inside and out, and today was just warm enough that people were still eating outside.  I think it would be a really cool spot for a small company party.

When we left KO, we still had some time to kill so we checked out the new coffee shop, Barrington Coffee  on Congress St.  It is across from Lucky's and was delightful.   They only do coffee and it is top notch.

The most interesting thing about our trip to KO and the coffee shop was a random event that occurred.   When Lou and I were walking into KO there was a party of 4 in front of us.  2 girls, 2 guys, may have been couples, I don't know, but when we left KO, we wondered around Eastie a bit to check it out and eventually made our way back into Boston.   We contemplated getting coffee at Sorrelle, another great cafe on Congress St. closer to the city, but there was no parking, so we checked out the new spot, Barrington.   When we walked in, there was that party of four from KO Pies!  Seriously!  Lou and one of the guys exchanged cards.

Ok back to the Eat Boutique!!!!   We finally made it back to AFH at 3 pm, and it was completely worth the WAIT!!!   Look at my haul!

I got this amazing log of ginger bread caramel from Suss Sweets out of NH, Pure Maple syrup, the hard stuff at the end of the season from Nutting Farm in Vermont, I got a bunch of Ana Sortun meals made with quinoa, bulger and couscous.   I got a delicious nut blend from Fastachi out of Watertown, Ma, a POUND of fresh honey.  Honey comb and all.  Honey never goes bad did you know that? AND I got Saint Nicholas and Cha Cha cookies from Lark.   Basically you totally want to come to my house this Christmas because I have some killer snacks!  I am so excited you get two pictures!

Our last trip today was to Social Wines, the new wine store at 52 West Broadway in Southie.   The owners Chris and John were smart enough to have one of the employees, Jeremy stand outside the AFH, Eat Boutique and let people know they could go to Social Wines to get some hot cider and buy all the stuff they weren't allowed to buy from the vendors inside the AFH.  ( I guess you can't sell alcohol at a holiday market)

Chris and John were completely welcoming as we walked in the door.    They offered us cider, they were a wealth of knowledge about their products.   Their prices are inexpensive, and their selection is vast.   Not only do they have an amazing wine selection, they have just as big of a beer selection.    What is really cool though is, they are going to get us Jean Leon wine!   When we were in Spain this year, Lou and I went on a vineyard tour with my parents at Jean Leon.   It was a really great day, and we have been searching for the wine ever since.   They are going to get us some just in time for Christmas when my parents get here!!!!!



Happy Holiday eating everyone!!!

All the Pieces the Bits and Pieces

Sharing some of the images from my food life over the past month. This first one is a very cool beer glass, shaped like a can, and a tasty beer at the Channel Cafe. We had an amazing meal there and a very knowledgeable waitress. This is Lisel, loving her after work beer in her cool glass. Ah Illy, I love this coffee. When I see it , I get it, and I have no idea where I had this one, but isn't it pretty? Look at all that sugar! I swear it looks like more than it was.

Don't judge me on the price! I had a coupon! and it was worth it. For the lazy cinnamon toast maker, this allows you to just spread it on in one fell swoop, or spread as the case may be.

This tasty burger was from The Counter, in Times Square. For being in Times Square, it wasn't too expensive, and it is a totally design your own burger type of place. You pick, beef, chicken, veggie, turkey, then the toppings, cheese, bun.... This was Jimmy's creation. The fries can come with parmesan! So delicious!!!!

I realized butternut squash soup has got to be the easiest soup on the planet to make. Onions, stock, butternut squash, blend. Add nutmeg , salt, and pepper, I mean seriously? Let it sit a while to reach full flavor potential. Add some chives of scallions on top for color. What better fun way to eat it than in a Halloween mug!!!!

One of my favorite stores in the city to get unique food items. Cardullo's in Harvard Square. They also have awesome sandwiches, see my earlier post, and wine:)

Cool Vegetarian Diner in Cambridge near Porter Square. Veggie Galaxy! The food was amazing. If only I could figure out how to cook this way.

And this... is my Veggie Galaxy Burger. It was fabulous

Girl's weekend in Orlando took us to Universal Studio's Island's of Adventure and what better way to end the weekend than a hurricane at Pat O'Brien's. The first time I had them was in New Orleans. I remember drinking two and thinking I could drink more. Fast forward 15 years and 3 sips of this one got me nice and tipsy. That is probably a good thing!

What is cooler than homemade cider? Not much... This is my friend's husband's creation. It is very lovely. The funny thing is he doesn't drink it!

These next two are my dinner at Wolfie's! A new eatery in our little town of Southie. The funny thing about this place is Lou has joked for about 5 years that Wolf Gang Puck's friends call him Wolfie. Someone must have heard him. This is no association with Wolf Gang. The Cobb Sald below was a good portion, chopped well, and tasty.

The French onion soup at Wolfie's not quite and good as the Cobb. The cheese looks very melty, but it was melted only on the top, and it was too much. The soup was OK. This place is on L Street where Kelly Landing was previously.

This fun loving group was in NYC to watch Lou run the marathon! Where is Lou you ask? He was resting up for that run while we were out galvanting in the city. This awesome setting was in Bryant Park and OUTSIDE. There was a great view of the ice rink for people watching and a mega heater above our heads. That gi-normous punch bowl in the middle of us was our beverage! $126 but we all had more than enough and it was much cheaper than buying individual drinks. Not to mention we were the first punch bowl of the season!!! Trendsetters:)