Sunday, November 29, 2009

DaVinci Ristorante, Boston

Dinner deal at DaVinci was too good to resist: $33.09 for three course on the full menu. Of course, we start out with the standard, "Do you have unblended rye?" When the waiter comes back and replies, "Yes," I almost burst out laughing. Need to rephrase that to "What kind of unblended rye do you have?" So he goes back to the bar and the bartender comes over and tries to tell me that Makers Mark and Basil Hayden are rye. They're not, are they? Have I been confused and mistaken and obnoxious all this time....probably yes, but not about this. So we discuss my drink a little and I order a Basil Hayden perfect manhattan. I see him, over the divider between the table we are sitting at and the bar area, shaking away. AARRGGHH! He brings back my drink and instead of leaving, he wants to know how my drink is. What I wanted to say was it would be a whole lot better if you just got this disgusting looking foam off of it. But I take a sip and say, "Thank you. It's very good.
First course is crab cakes with a red onion, apple and arugula slaw type concoction on the side. These people are really into long plates with swirls of yellow pepper mayonaisse. Not a problem as these crab cakes were quite good.
The waiter highly recommended the braised pork and he did not do me wrong. It came with saffron risotto and broccoli rabe. Meat just fell off the bone and the risotto...let's just say, I'm still dreaming about this stuff.
Another long plate for the chocolate souffle which came in a separate cup from the vanilla ice cream. Brilliant! Sometime during dessert, I see our waiter come out of the kitchen, pass the hostess desk with a dish on fire. He runs out into the street. As we leave, I ask and he says he's OK but you could tell he was quite shaken up.

Cuchi Cuchi, Cambridge

I have been by Cuchi Cuchi (95 Main Street, Cambridge) several times and have heard good things about it. They open at 530 pm so we had to stand outside a few minutes. Like the name, this place, on first glance, might be a little too cute. Girls behind the hostess desk and bar are in glittery outfits and if that's not your thing, try not to let that put you off. Cocktails, food and service are all quite good. A quick look down the extensive cocktail list didn't seem to have one drink with bourbon. The bartender offered a sazerac manhattan which I gladly accepted. And it came with this lovely twist, stirred at my request. I don't remember what my friend got. Pink, yes; but the base was gin not vodka and she was pleased.
We split the fried oysters which came with a lacy cracker and some red/orange fish eggs on top of some sour cream. The bread crumbs on the oysters were a bit mushy and not crisp. The chicken tangine over couscous was everything it should have been. We sat in the bar which filled up quickly. The dining room, empty when I took the photo, was also packed when we left.


Monday, November 23, 2009

Martini glasses (a little bit of heaven)

Glass on the left if a nice, properly sized 4 ounce glass. I got two at a little store called Re Enhabit at 112 State Street in Portsmouth, NH. They were only $4 each.

I have quite a few of the big gulp sized glasses so why do I need more? Notice the line about one inch below the top of the larger glass. (Notice Wendy and Ayman in front of the Eiffel Tower in the photo. They just had a baby girl, Lilah.) This glass might just be the greatest invention ever. This is a double thick plastic glass with ice between the plastic so you can stick the glass in the freezer. It's supposed to keep your drink cold and let me tell you, this really works. My friends compliment me (at least I take it as a compliment) that I can nurse a drink longer than anyone. So in bars and restaurant my drinks tend to get room temperature long before I am finished. So when I saw these last summer, I didn't buy them. I couldn't remember the name of the store I saw them in so was quite relieved when I saw LeRoux Kitchen at 23 Market Street within 10 minutes of hitting downtown Portsmouth (site is under construction at time of this entry). These are 5.99 each and so worth the price. Look how frosty this glass looks.

Don't forget - New Hampshire is tax free!

Food from Ikea (or Ikeatini the easy way)

I'm on a bit of a retail binge (no more underemployment for me: technically, I am still underemployed; the definition being that you have a job but they are not using you to your full potential. You can get the work done in about 2 or 3 hours instead of 8. Pay is not quite what I wanted but it's not unemployment). So here we have the food items I bought on my last trip to Ikea - cinnamon buns (always delicious), candy bars (ditto), a couple of cheeses - Swedish fontina and some baby swiss-ish type cheese that had no English name on the wrapper, crackers (meh, had some odd taste to them so won't be buying them again) and les pieces de resistance. Two bottle of drink concentrate. The first is fladersaft (elderberry flower) and the second is, yes, you guessed it, lingonsaft (lingonberry). I have been experimenting with both of these. Ikeatini, you already know. But I have tried the fladersaft in martinis and manhattans. I need a little more experimentation with amount for a martini. The first resulted in a barely discernible flavor and the second in a bit too tart flavor. Now a little dash of fladersaft in a Maker's Mark manhattan was a revelation; resulting in a manhattan that was as potent as I like them but light and clean tasting.

New for me from Trader Joe's

These might be the best new thing I've gotten at TJ's in a while and are definitely worth buying again. They are bake only; not microwaveable. I put a little marinara sauce on the plate and was very happy.

Monday, November 9, 2009

Starlite Lounge, Cambridge

This riff on a manhattan is from Trina's Starlite Lounge in Cambridge. I went there a few weeks ago and must report that this place might just be perfect except for the fact that it is a short half block or so from the back door of work. The drink is called The Gentleman (Buffalo Trace Bourbon according to the menu, Belle de Brillet and lemon juice). I think the oh so charming bartender, Dan, made mine with Maker's Mark. The pear flavor and the lemon flavor are very distinct and occur one at a time, pear first, then the tartness of lemon. I didn't taste the bourbon at all. The way I found out the drink was made with Maker's Mark was when Dan asked me how I liked the drink. I must have given a lukewarm, "Interesting," and asked what type of bourbon he used. Did I want more bourbon? Seriously, has a bartender ever asked you that? I hadn't quite made up my mind when my drink was whisked away and returned with no discernible flavor other than the Maker's Mark. More like what I typically want and I am not complaining. I did wish he hadn't taken that drink away so quickly so just I could have more time to decide if I really liked it. My friend got a mojito and didn't have a complaint. Now this place has been reported to have upscale picnic-like food and we obliged by ordering the $4.00 burger. Yup, you read that right. $4.00. Granted, it might not be much to look at...yes, kind of what you get at the back yard barbeque. But it was very good.


We split this order of onion rings. I have mixed feelings about these. They are light and thin with no greasy look or taste, almost like eating onion flavored air. The problem is that they are all connected and when you pick up just a bit you get quite a bit.


The bathroom is filled with with posters and there they were - Manny, Moe and Jack aka Pep Boys (for those who don't know, they are an auto supply chain store in California.


Service was great: hostess was very welcoming - pretended she knew what we were talking about when we started going on about the Rolling Stones Some Girls while she escorted us to the back bar past all the record albums that decorate the walls. Bartender - just lovely.

Fall in Boston and environs





Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Ode to Pink - the finale (or what to do when you're really bored)

What's better than Ikea? What's better than a martini? It's a little item I call the Ikeatini. I microwaved a tablespoon or so of Ikea's lingonberry preserves until it was in liquid form and added it to a Bombay (plain, not Sapphire) martini. First couple of sips, meh. Why'd I bother? But the longer it sat, the better it tasted. If you try this at home, you might want to let the jam infuse the gin. Warning: there will be sediment in your glass so if you are not into that, do not try this at home.

More pink

Did these chairs just appear in Harvard Yard a few weeks ago? Or have I just not been seeing them. People were still enjoying them in October but now it's just another reminder that summer is over.

Ode to Pink (part 1 or 2 if you count the soup)

These are the last of the flowers from the front garden for this year.

Creamy Borscht

I am not that interested in beets in the form I saw them as a child - dark red, julienned, just down right icky looking. But I had stock and I wanted to make something I had never made before. Would I make it again? Not sure. The cream definitely helped - not exactly a news flash there, right?

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Tavalo's, Dorchester

Tavalo is a newer restaurant/bar that is part of the expanding Chris Douglass chain which includes Ashmont Grille right across the street from Tavalo. We, of course, choose the full bar over the almost empty dining room at 7 pm, Friday. Odd start to our night - I send the young female bartender into a mini-meltdown with my standard "Do you have any unblended rye?" She gets the usual deer in the headline look, turns her back to us and fumbles around a bit, then moves over to the equally young mail bartender. Several minutes go by when neither of them turns around to face us. She goes off to do something and he continues to ignore us for several more minutes. Finally he comes over to us. I go through my hole rigamarole...very little of each sweet and dry vermouth, stirred not shaken...blah, blah, blah. No rye. Only a few types of bourbon so I go with a Knob Creek perfect manhattan. The guy on the bar stool next to me comments after I place my order that he's never heard anyone ask about unblended rye. The drink turns out pretty good flavor-wise but it's not very cold. Good thing about the wait is we have had plenty of time to figure out what we want to eat. We get an cheese plate which wasn't bad but wasn't great. We got the Goat Cheese, peppers, carmelized onions and roasted garlic pizza (we asked for and got no olives - I have never understood olives on pizza. The thing just looked awful and tasted pretty bad too. The female bartender must have seen the look on our faces because she came right over and asked if we didn't like the pizza and almost in the same breath offered to get us something else. We try the margherita pizza. We can't return the second pizza but it was seriously flawed too. You can't complain about the ingredients because they have chosen to make pizzas with tomatoes instead of sauce and it was quite pretty even with the not quite red tomatoes. But the entire center of the pizza dough was not cooked. Given all that though, I would try this place again and I might even give the pizza a try again. The bar staff eventually warmed up to us, the patrons next to us were friendly and it might be a good place to catch a Celtics game.


This just sounds really creepy.

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Sunrise, sunset



I wish I was down there for as long as it took me to post all the pictures and reports. It was, quite simply, one of the loveliest places I have been in a while. As we were driving home after just 2 1/2 days, my friend and I both commented on how relaxed our bodies and brains were.

Two weddings, no funeral


































The girls had the biggest wedding party I've ever seen - 12-14 bridesmaids and equal number of grooms. I thought the dock was going to collapse.

Sunday, October 4, 2009

Gustare Oils and Vinegars (or better living through chemistry)

You may think you have experienced raspberry vinegar and, indeed, you may have. But I was under a seriously mistaken belief that I had. That is until I tried the raspberry vinegar from Gustare, 425 Main Street, Chatham, MA 02633 Tel: 508-945-4505. We were assured that the website would be up an running soon but several weeks after the visit, it is not. Trust me, their product more than makes up for this lapse. As we were wondering around downtown Chatham, we walked into this little piece of heaven. Wall to wall olive oil and vinegars in every imaginable flavor and samples are the name of the game here. All of the large metal containers have spouts and tiny plastic cups next to them. The bottle are beneath the containers. Friendly but unobtrusive staff explains the process and encourages you to try as much as you want. It is almost impossible to decide as we make our way around the store that is full of customers. Porcini Olive Oil is the first thing we try and it's a winner (and later purchased). In inquire and are told that the saleswoman has used it on pasta, when cooking eggs, on bread. I used it with pasta, assortment of mushrooms and chicken - cooked everything has I normally would then put it all in a pan over a low flame and drizzled a little oil on it. My side was a salad with the raspberry vinegar and oil dressing. So simple, so delicious. The saleswoman also told us that she used some of the vinegars as marinade and as a flavor in sparkling water. I'm thinking proseco but haven't tried it yet. What I did try with the pear cardamon vinegar was to put a bit in a gin martini. It sinks to the bottom as you measure it in the shaker but stays separated after shaking. I'm not saying this was the best drink I've ever had but it was interesting and might just need some experimenting with ratios.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The Squire, Chatman, MA

One of the most wonderful things about the Wequasett Resort was that they offer free shuttle service to a couple of local towns, Chatham being one of them. We couldn't wait until 8 to eat the The Wild Duck and knew we wouldn't make it by 5:30 (the only two reservations they had), free shuttle or no, so we went to The Squire. It was going to be about 20 minutes for a table so we went to the bar and I got this lovely Basil Hayden manhattan.

By the time the hostess came to get us, we were happily into our cocktails and decided to stay at the bar. I got these yummy fried clams.

When we first sat down, there was a lovely older gentleman next to me and two older women next to him. He and his "lady friend" (from him, this was completely charming) were staying at their Chatham house and her friend was visiting. Sad to see them depart but even sadder at the arrival of the couple who took their seats. She was the drunkest woman I have ever seen (sorry, the pictures just don't do the situation justice). Dinner, drinks and a show...it doesn't get much better than that. They ordered spring rolls and she kept aiming for the dipping sauce and missing it. She apparently kept missing her mouth too because there was quite a bit of sauce and food particles on her face. The mess in front of and around her plate was astonishing. They eventually stumbled out and we went to the Wild Duck for dessert. Horribly chalky brownie sundae but good decaf cappuccino. They called the hotel to come get up and we enjoyed about one minute on the side patio until someone started smoking a stinky cigar. Are there any other kinds?




Thursday, September 24, 2009

with a view


This is the view off our private porch on the afternoon we arrived.


This is the small private beach down a few steps from our porch and some boats you could rent if you we so inclined.

We drove down to Chatham Beach...really what happened is we took a wrong turn when driving to downtown Chatham (shopping/restaurants/galleries)


It was sunny but cool. The wind was blowing so hard it was almost like getting a mini-dermabrasion.



Chatham Lighthouse

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

A room...



I won two free nights at the snazzy looking Wequasset Resort on Cape Cod. Yes, free, no sales seminar to sit through, from American Express. I entered the raffle when I went to the reopening of their store in Harvard Square. Originally the coupon said good for rooms only between October 15 and November 30 and April 1 - May 15. So I whined a little and they let me have my prize on September 18 and 19; increasing the odds of us getting in some tanning hours.

Cathedral ceiling - makes me long for the day when my bloody extra room is done so I can start on the next project...knocking out the ceilings? building a porch? redoing the bathroom? All on the list. But I'm here to relax so no bad thoughts.

The bedding is lovely: nice fluffy comforters, huge pillows and lots of them. Vanity is separate from tub and toilet. There is coffee maker with a good variety of coffees, cocoa and tea. Mini bar prices with the exception of the wines seem reasonable - can of coke for 75 cents. Yup, we are still in 2009 not some weird time warp.





And here is what we saw when we walked up the three steps. A lovely private patio with a table and four chairs and two chaise lounges.
A few minutes after we start to settle in, there's a knock on the door and we receive a lovely cheese tray and a bottle of wine. We enjoy the cheese, fruit and crackers but not the weird orange spread. We were not able to figure out what is was but it left a seriously icky aftertaste. We hold off on the wine and head down to explore the town of Chatham.

We got a room which would go for $345 to 835/night depending on season. I would not be able to afford this under the best of economic circumstances but if I could, I would expect absolute perfection. There were some strange things going on at this place. The arm lamps above the beds were so loose we joked that we could have the room all summer long for the rest of our lives if one of them fell on our heads. The door jam was loose (and a huge chunk of weather sealant flapped) creating the perfect tripping opportunity. We had to call and ask for hand towels and face clothes even though they replaced towels, etc. at turn down and again with daily cleaning (what modern luxury hotel does not offer you the option of not replacing bedding and towels daily in order to save the environment by not wasting water on laundry when it is not needed - apparently this one). On Sunday morning, our tray and dishes from our arrival amenity on Friday were still on the patio table even though we called to have them removed. We had to ask for a mini-bar key. Mini-bar was open when we arrived but locked that night when we returned to the room (we were not asked at check in if we wanted key).

A room with a view? You bet. Did it make up for the flaws? ... to be continued.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Coogan's

Did I get a beer? Not likely. Did I forget to take the picture until after I had drunk half of it? I have done that before but no. This, my friends, is the Knob Creek manhattan I got for $11 or thereabouts at Coogan's, 160 Milk Street, Boston. And this, my friends, is just wrong. Yes, this is a beer joint but come on. Hit the restaurant supply store and buy a dozen cocktail glasses. Hit the outlet stores and get a dozen for $24. Where's your pride? My water glass looked eerily similar to this glass. It was kept full upon request but swept up and not replaced at one point. Never saw a food menu and was never offered one or asked if I wanted anything but this place has $10 lobsters and some other specials before 7 pm.

One of the draws is the Trivial Pursuit game. I think teams exist before they arrive; the group I was with is supposed to have some good players. My team (the man who insisted I take his business card who ditched me, the team, the whole kit-n-kaboodle for the blonde at the other end of the bar; the out-of-towner who pulled Frederick Douglas out of who knows where as the correct answer to one of the questions but offered nothing else for the rest of the game; and the only other person in there besides me who ordered a manhattan - same glass, same sad look) finished in the middle of the pack.

What I bought at Wally's and what I did with it

Happier subject - food. Here's what I bought at Wally's in Maine.


Corn - delicious. Potatoes - ditto. Purple pepper - ever even seen a purple pepper before. It smelled very much like a green pepper but was much milder in flavor. I roasted it and put in on a crusty piece of bread.

Tomato - very good but no dicernable difference in flavor from the one I bought at Lambert's. The basil and mozzarella in the salad are from Lamberts. Just a little Ken's Steak House Balsamic & Basil Vinaigrette on it.



Remodel - Day 8 (or I come home and cry after a wonderful weekend)

So I come home and just drop all the purchases and suitcase to run into the new space. I can't believe it. The floor looks nothing like the existing floor.


Do these floors look dark to you? Trust me. They are. It's not even the same wood grain. In fact, it looks very similar to the sample that I rejected.


I leave a message for the contractor. I try to remain calm but it's very difficult. I don't say anything about my reaction, just name and phone number and please call me.

Next morning around 11 am when I still haven't heard from him. I call again. He asks if I've seen the floor. I want to ask if he's seen the floor but even with my limited experience with contractors, I know not to antagonize him too much. I am unhappy. He claims he left Saturday around 6 pm when they were just starting to put the stain on. I don't say anything about the very strict instructions that they were not to be left in the house alone. I tell him how unhappy I am. When is he going to come and see this mess and more important, when is it going to be fixed?

He comes over Tuesday night and agrees that the wood is not a match. I wonder out loud how they (whoever they is...) thought they were going to get away with this. How did they possible think this would be acceptable. They have basically ruined my house.

Can you tell by the date of this posting that it is now over two weeks since this happened? Well it has been. I have been offered $400 off the cost of the remodel. $400? See last sentence in previous paragraph for my answer to that. Contractor came over and pulled a sample from the closet which is the lightest shade of any of the wood in the house so not the best. I again point out the colors and tones I want from existing wood. I get a sample that is too light; even lighter than the sample they pulled from the closet. I give them pictures of the shades I want. Wednesday of this week, I call the contractor. When am I going to see a sample? He saw one this week but said it was too light. He is going to get another one.

Haven't seen or heard from him since. This will eventually resolve itself but my patience is almost gone.

Paint color looks pretty good though.



Hazel Nut Cream

Lousy picture; fabulous product. This little 6.7 oz jar ($5.99 in the wine section upstairs in the kitchen/house store next to Portsmouth Light & Gas, Portsmouth) comes a close second to Dalmatia Fig Spread as being the most perfect food item). It came in pistachio flavor too.

Yes, you can just stick your finger in the jar and eat it like that. I tried it on crackers and bread in the store; better on the bread (although that may have been the result of mediocre ritz like crackers). The wine guy said to try it on fish so the fish wouldn't taste so fishy. That just seems wrong - fish is supposed to taste fishy. The cashier said to use it as a topping on cheesecake. Now that sounds much better.

So far at home I have tried it only on vanilla ice cream with blueberries. Yummy.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Wally's might very well be the best
























































I don't know if Wally's (Rte. 236, S. Berwick, ME, 603-534-2030) is really the best since I've only been there twice and have no basis for comparison but it is pretty darn good. We went there last year on the way home and again this year. It is, quite literally, an open shack by the side of the road. I went a little overboard last year so really tried to keep spending in check this year. The girl who works the place (is she the same girl as last year?) is very sweet and helpful. We make our purchases and get back in the car just as 4 other cars pull in.