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.

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.

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

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?