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Two Reviews for the Price of One!

Before I get to the restaurant review, I’m going to give you a movie review.  Go see Searching for Sugar Man.  It’s a documentary about a musician from Detroit in the early ’70’s  whose name is Rodriguez, poised to be the next big thing a la Bob Dylan, putting out beautiful music but he never did become the next big thing.  Instead, he disappeared and became the biggest rock ‘n roll star in South Africa without his even knowing it.  A lot of legend surrounded him and I won’t give anything away but can tell you, that you’ll be applauding at the end of the movie, I promise.  Two thumbs up from 2 at the bar!

East by Northeast is a tiny storefront restaurant in the Inman Square neighborhood of Cambridge, MA.  It’s got all the hype, it’s on everyone’s “Best Of” list and it was noted in the New York Times “36 hours in Cambridge” article.  All for good reason. It’s putting out big flavors.  It’s Chinese fusion; everything is locally sourced.  And, there’s no white rice so don’t ask for it!  It’s tapas-like, small plates meant to be shared.  Everything is made from scratch and that includes the most delicious noodles.  On our table were:

  • scallion pancake, roasted garlic chili sauce, pickled onions
  • smoked pork confit, mantou bread,cucumber,  plum sauce
  • crispy pork belly, mantou bread, pickled melon rinds, sweet bean paste
  • stuffed littleneck clams, bacon, black bean, herb relish
  • pork and zucchini shaomai, carrot puree, black vinegar reduction
  • Summer stew with marinated chicken, corn, squash, zucchini, xo sauce, house-made togarashi and the most beautiful hand-rolled short rice noodles that were like gnocchi
  • homemade thick cut noodle with pork ragout, napa cabbage, marinated radish, corn, chili vinegar

Does that sound good?  It was!  The food is delicious, the sauces are rich and it’s not terribly expensive.  But be prepared, if the restaurant is crowded, it’s really, really loud.  At the table with us our pals B and G and the four of us loved the restaurant (and the movie!)

We topped the evening off  with a walk down the street for ice cream from Christina’s which has some of the best ice cream around and that’s saying a lot for a city that takes it’s ice cream seriously.  We begged for them to please let us in because they were just closing up.  Lucky us, they did open their doors and we finished off the evening in ice cream heaven!

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Summertime…

It doesn’t get much more summery than this in New England.  90+ degrees and humid.  That’s summer!

We picked a great weekend to spend with our pals L and M on the Cape.  Going to the Cape on a Friday in the summer you either leave early in the morning or late at night.  We left at 3P and it took us an hour longer to get there than it would normally.  But, so what! Continue reading “Summertime…”

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Martha’s Vineyard

There’s something magical about getting on a ferry and leaving the mainland for an island.  We’ve done it all over the world and it never loses it’s appeal.  Last week we hopped the ferry  in Wood’s Hole, MA for Martha’s Vineyard with our pals J and M.

Martha’s Vineyard has a vibe.  It’s a little bohemian, it’s a little sophisticated,  it’s home to a number of celebs and it has hosted some Presidents.  You can stay in the action packed towns of Edgartown, Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven, or you can go for the more quiet appeal of West Tisbury, Menemsha or Chilmark.   We opted for West Tisbury. Continue reading “Martha’s Vineyard”

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Taranta – Peru Meets Italy

Peru meets Southern Italy and it works!  The name of the restaurant, Taranta.  It’s located in Boston’s North End on Hanover Street.  It’s owner/chef, Jose Duarte incorporates spices and foods native to Peru into an Italian menu.

We’ve never been and were looking forward to it.  Waiting for our friends G and B to arrive we ordered a bottle of Argiolas Costamolino Vermentino from Sardinia.  It seems that Vermentino is becoming popular and showing up more and more.  I hope so because it’s a perfect summer white and it always reminds us of of our trip to Sardinia!

Continue reading “Taranta – Peru Meets Italy”

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The Old and the New

Fan Pier.  Years in development, us skeptial Bostonians never thought it would happen.  But it did, it’s spectacular and a great place to be on a summer night in Boston with the skyline as a backdrop.  Take a walk along Fan Pier, go to the ICA, have dinner at any number of restaurants ranging from mexican to Legal Seafood, Del Friscos, Strega, Jerry Remy’s and Anthony’s Pier Four.  Yes, remember that one?  That’s where we started our July 3rd celebration. Continue reading “The Old and the New”

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I’m speechless…

Coppa.  Just a sliver of a restaurant on Shawmut Avenue in the South End of Boston.  It has a pedigree. Ken Oringer and Jaime Bissonnette own the restaurant and also own Toro together.  Hailed by every food critic far and wide I can see why.  It’s serious not fussy.  Just really great ingredients put together in inventive ways.  The people that work at Coppa are artists, committed and proud of what they do and it shows, from the bartender to the sous chef making the Tuna Crudo.

We were on our way to another restaurant but when I mentioned Coppa to Roy on the street, someone passing by said, “you have to go there , it’s the best”.  And, so that’s where we ended up.  Since it was only 5P we knew we’d get 2 at the bar.

And we did  Already, a buzz at 5 o’clock we grabbed a couple of seats and ordered 2 Prosecco to toast the beginning of summer.  And then, what to order.  Hard to choose, we started with ostriches  (2 oysters) with hint of rhubarb verjus, set on a mound of salt, incredible.  Then, we ordered the Pizza Pepe Blanco named after Pepe’s in New Haven.  We’ve had the pizza blanco at Pepe’s, but Coppa’s is probably the best pizza we’ever had.  A white clam pizza with bacon and baby leeks.  The crust perfect with not a hint of oil.  Made in a wood burning oven.  And, an order of arancini with fontina cheese.

I was watching as one of the chefs was preparing the tuna crudo.  He did it with such intense attention to detail and it looked so good, I had to order it.  A thick slice of the pinkest tuna, radish, sriracha and sweet sicily.  Who thinks these concoctions up? That’s why Coppa is what it is!

I had a delicious sparkling Rose which the bartender who looked like Rosaria Dawson recommended, and Roy had a good, old Narragansett beer!

A special shout out to Nicole who was sitting next us.  She’s an open water swimmer and going to Istanbul next week to participate in a swim across the Bosporus along with 4,000 other swimmers.  Cool right???

It was such a beautiful night we decided to go elsewhere for dessert and ended up at Beehive, at the bar of course, and had a fantastic rhubarb and berry bread pudding with vanilla ice cream.

A good way to start the summer, don’t you think?

See you at the bar….

Coppa on Urbanspoon

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Towne Stove and Spirits

I was sweating it – dinner on Saturday with two foodies; people who take food seriously, really enjoy great restaurants and relatives to boot!  Where to make a reservation when between all of us we’ve eaten at some of Boston’s best.  So after much discussion and making and canceling reservations at other restaurants we decided on Towne.  Owned by Lydia Shire and Jasper White, it has a great pedigree.  And, it was voted one of Esquire’s best in 2011. Continue reading “Towne Stove and Spirits”

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Double Bill: Jesse Malin and Alejandro Escovedo

 

It was a regular Friday afternoon at the office with everyone asking “what are you doing this weekend?”  “I’m going to hear some music”, I said.  Oh?  Who?  “You probably have never heard of them – Jesse Malin and Alejandro Escovedo”, I said.  “No, what kind of music?”  And that’s where I was stumped.  What kind of music?  Alt, Alt-Country, Americana, Rock, hard to put these two musicians in a box. Continue reading “Double Bill: Jesse Malin and Alejandro Escovedo”