Boston Wrap-up

Easter morning was a beautiful day in Boston – the rain had moved out and the sun was shining!  It turned out to be 20 degrees warmer on Sunday than we got to Boston on Friday – how’s a girl supposed to pack for such things?  After church in downtown Boston, we headed out to Cambridge for brunch @ Craigie on Main.

I had read multiple reviews on this spot.  The Food Network voted it the best breakfast in Massachusetts.  Boston Magazine voted their brunch “One Perfect Meal” in April 2011.  So we were pretty stoked about heading here for Easter brunch.  Friday afternoon they called to confirm our reservation and to inform us that they would have a pre-fixe menu.  I have to say, I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t know about the pre-set menu until then.  But we probably wouldn’t have chosen anywhere else.  So onto the good stuff…

a little Bloody Mary to start…

And then came this delectable tray of goodies:

Cranberry turnovers, sweet potato bread, cinnamon rolls and some of those amazing house made doughnuts!  They really know how to make a girl happy!

Next up:  Fruit salad with crème fraiche

Entrée:  House-cured Ham hash with slow poached egg

Grilled Rabbit Crepinettes – yes Joe ate Rabbit on Easter – slightly wrong I know.

Side of pork belly – yes please!

Desserts:  Sour milk panna cotta and house made Beignets = WOW!

What an amazing meal.  Service was superb.  The food was excellent.  A highlight of the trip for sure!

After brunch we headed out a little further to Harvard and tried our best to soak up some smarts.  Don’t think it happened, but can’t blame a girl for trying!

That evening we headed to Myers + Chang for a little Asian fusion.  We were blown away by this place.  A fun fresh funky spot! Loved all the different options. This was the one time when I wish we would have had a big group of our friends so we could have tried more items. Our favorite would have been the muscles - they were AMAZING! Didn't love the pork tacos (I only chose these because I had read so many good reviews about them.) but everything else we couldn't get enough of! The portions were pretty large – I wish there was a 1/2 portion option.  There were so many other items we wanted to try but just didn't have enough room. The mussels were some of the best I have ever had. 

I was so busy slopping up the broth of the muscles that I didn’t take any pictures of the food.  Sorry kids.  Can you tell we liked this place?

Monday, our last day in the Beantown was spent mostly on the North end.  I had read so many different reviews about Regina Pizzeria and Galleria Umberto’s and couldn’t decide which one to settle on… so we picked BOTH!  Yes get ready for carb overload coming peeps…

Margherita Pizza from Regina Pizzeria

a thinner crust pizza - medium sweetness to the sauce – light cheese = REALLY good pizza

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Then on to Galleria Umberto’s.  This is a little different spot.  They have everything in the case and you choose what you want.  The prices here are CRAZY cheap.  $1.45 a slice!!  The pizza is more deep dish-esque.  Much sweeter sauce and think ooey gooey cheese.  REALLY REALLY good pizza.

The challenge is you really can’t compare these two.  They’re very different. It just depends on what you look for in a pizza – if you like thinner crust then go to Regina’s and if you like thicker pizza go with Umberto’s.  Or you can just make the smart choice – go to both. Because they both are  REALLY good.  I really think I am saying really too much in this post.  But what can I say they were just REALLY good. 

As if we had not had enough carbs – a MUST stop in the North end is an Italian bakery.  The two fav’s are Modern Pastry and Mike’s Pastry.  We went with Mike’s – I wasn’t strong enough to do a tour of pastry shops after the tour of pizza joints.

We tried an assortment – chocolate calzone, a black & white, and one fruit tart.  All we could muster up was a couple of bites and took the rest with us for later at the airport.

And here ends our whirlwind tour of Boston and stuffing ourselves with as much goodness as we possible could!  Boston was an amazing city.  We saw beautiful sites, enjoyed some great history and may have enjoyed just a bite or two of food.  Overall a wonderful long weekend away!

So have you been to Boston?  Have you been to any of the restaurants that we went to?  Did we miss one of your favorite spots?  Do tell!

Italian in Boston

Saturday evening the rain had finally lifted and it had turned out to be a lovely night.  We took a five minute stroll from our hotel to dinner at Erbaluce.  A charming restaurant nestled between large buildings – you felt like you were entering a secret location.  The décor was crisp and simple – mostly whites with very little artwork.  The food shining through as the main attraction.

    

The menu was in a hand written font which I thought was perfect feel for the restaurant.  It was “fine dining” without stuffiness. The chef would run food from the kitchen and then stop by a table for a visit.  All very laid back and homey!

We started off with a bottle of wine: Castello di Luxxane- Carlino Oltrep Pavese and moved on to the food.

Appetizer – San Danielle Prosciutto with hazelnuts and pears.  Delicate. Delicious. Simplistic.

Entrees:  Rack of Boar with wild Concord grape and lavender mosto / Lasagnetta with a procini sauce, foraged mushrooms and marjoram – AHHH mazing!

We had decided we wanted to walk over to Finale Desserts and Bakery to finish off our evening but how sweet was Erbaluce to deliver some sinfully rich truffles with the check.  It’s a sneaky little way to sweeten you before you see the damage!  Totally worked.

Unfortunately we were a bit disappointed by Finale…  nothing to write home about.  We should have gotten something off the amazing dessert menu back at Erbaluce.

I know y’all are probably done reading about all the food we ate in Boston.  The weekend recap is half over – promise.  Just a few more spots to tell you about.  I think we may have saved the best for last – no wait there was the Lobster Roll @ Neptune’s.  Well needless to say there are still more yummy treats to tell you about.

Rainy Day in Boston

We woke up to a rainy chilly day on Saturday in Boston.  After our fun filled day on Friday, we were fine with taking it easy. 

So we slowly motivated and got bundled up to go explore.

Of course our first stop was brunch!  We headed over to Southend Buttery in the Back Bay neighborhood, which was really close to our hotel, The Chandler Inn.  This brunch was super good! 

We started with coffee and their house scone.  Something about hot coffee, warm scone, cold butter, and yummy jam just makes me happy!  So happy I had to have a bite before I even could take a picture.  It’s kind of like someone got the hand caught in the cookie jar – that would be me!

For our main courses:

Joe went with Huevos Ranchero – 2 eggs over easy, cheese quesedilla, black beans, crispy home fries, sour cream and guacamole – YES PLEASE!

I went with the Tradition Buttery Breakfast:  2 eggs over medium, pancakes and bacon – a classic – you can’t go wrong!

Just delicious!!  Fueled up and ready to go…  now where to go to get out of the rain and cold?  A museum of course!  We made our way over The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.  This is a little different museum in the it’s a personal collection of art housed in a building specifically built for the collection.  Really they can do a much better job explaining it.

Excerpt from Isabella Stewart Gardner website:

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is housed in a stunning 15th-century Venetian-style palace with three stories of galleries surrounding a sun- and flower-filled courtyard, the museum provides an unusual backdrop for the viewing of art. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum's preeminent collection contains more than 2,500 paintings, sculptures, tapestries, furniture, manuscripts, rare books and decorative arts. The galleries house works by some of the most recognized artists in the world, including Titian, Rembrandt, Michelangelo, Raphael, Botticelli, Manet, Degas, Whistler and Sargent. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum opened to the public on the evening of January 1st, 1903.

Fenway Court, as the museum was called at its inception, is the only private art collection in which the building, collection and installations are the creation of one individual. Isabella Stewart Gardner's vision that the museum remain as she arranged it "for the education and enrichment of the public forever" is reflected in every aspect of the museum.

To learn more about the museum hop over to their website.

After a couple hours in the museum and some more walking around town it was time for a quick bite of lunch.  A fellow blogger, Jeannine was so sweet to give me the low-down on some of her favorite spots in Boston.  One of which was a really cool burger spot that was created by two college friends called, B Good.  Their concept is to make fast food real – by real people.  They want to create fast food you can feel good about eating.  And boy did we feel good about eating this super delish burger!

We went with the Adopted Luke beef burger:  mushrooms, caramelized onions, swiss cheese, and homemade bbq sauce.  And of course we needed a side of fresh cut sweet potato fries.  The burger was cooked perfectly – nice and juicy with just a hint of pink inside.  The toppings were in perfect proportions not too many falling out everywhere.  The sesame seed bun toasted lightly held up well to the BBQ sauce of juice of the burger.  The fries were big and rustic – no doubt that they had been cut in house and made that day.  (Mouth watering over here!)

Dinner on Saturday was VERY good!  More tasty tales to come…

Starting off right!

We had a nice and early flight into Boston.  We arrived around 10:30 to a brisk day – about 45 degrees – burr!  We dropped our bags at the hotel, hopped back on the T and headed to the Italian North end.  The Boston foodies gave us the tip to be at Neptune Oyster as soon as they opened.  And boy were they right!  We were there when they rolled up the gates, grabbed two seats at the bar and settled in for some tasty treats!  Before we even had placed our order the place was full!

We decided it only made sense to start with some oysters.  We got 3 different kinds: 1 from the west coast and 2 from the east coast.  I thought I kept the list so I could tell you the exact ones but can’t seem to find it!  Bummer!  But needless to say they extremely fresh and the perfect way to start of our New England trip!

We also decided to try the Hamachi Crudo.  They really let that Hamachi shine!  Sliced thin with a jalapeno-lime vinaigrette, shaved red onion and cilantro.  This was so light and fresh.  A delicate dish without being at all pretentious. 

And then for the real reason we were there…  THE LOBSTER ROLL!  Oh.Me.Goodness.  This was amazing.  The roll was warm and toasty.  The lobster fresh and overflowing.  The butter covered it all in an expertise proportion.  The fries were crispy on the outside – soft on the inside.  Truly the perfect sandwich.  We mentioned multiple times throughout the weekend that we could always go back and get another Lobster Roll.  It was that good!

After filling our bellies with some amazing treats it was time to work it off!  And what better way to do that than a bicycle tour of the city.  I had been following Groupon for Boston and happen to come upon a Groupon for Urban Adventures.  (following along one of the coupon sites for the city you’re going to be visiting is a great way to find some deals!)  Urban Adventures does different tours of the city via bicycles.  I loved the idea of seeing the city up close and personal.  So we donned our helmets, got fitted for bikes and we were off!

  

The “City View” tour shows you a really nice portion of Boston in about a 2-1/2 hour tour.  Check out our route:

And some shots from the tour:

            

Beacon Hill

Charles River

Fenway Park

Downtown & Harbor

Overall a great way to see the city, learn some history and get some exercise!  I would highly recommend it – but make sure you pack some gloves and a warm hat in case of cold weather.  We weren’t prepared and had to go shopping real quick!

Can you believe all this was in our first day!  And we still haven’t made it to dinner – we love to pack in the activities!!  For dinner that evening, we headed to a little neighborhood on the south west side of Boston, Jamaica Plains.  This was a really cool neighborhood – it reminded me a little of Charlotte’s NoDa but bigger.  We ate at Ten Tables, a small intimate restaurant where the food takes center stage.  The restaurant was very romantic – i.e. dark!  So I wasn’t able to get any photos of the food but believe me it was tasty!

We started with cheese of the day – a very strong bleu that came with almonds, honey and fruit paste and the house made Charcuterie with traditional accoutrements.  For entrées I had the housemade Cavatelli with fava beans, peas and ricotta salad. I really enjoyed the freshness of this dish.  There was a lightness even though it was a pasta and fava beans and peas added a nice brightness.  Joe went with the Moulard Duck Breast with red rice, shitake mushrooms and spring onion jam.  The duck was cooked perfectly and the combination of the earthy mushrooms with the sweetness of the jam made a scrumptious bite!  Unfortunately with all the bread from our cheese and charcuterie we neglected to leave room for dessert!  Bad bad – I know!

Whew!  And then we went back to the hotel and fell into bed – that was one FULL day!  Saturday was much more laid back, you’ll see!