A Taste of Church (2 Dine For Boston)

Joel and I were recently invited to try out the new spring menu at one of our favorite spots on the other side of the river, Church. We've always enjoyed the food as well as the music venue, where we've both played and seen many shows.

Joel wrote about the tasting on 2 Dine For Boston; check out his review and my photos.

More photos:

Roast Beast (2 Dine For Boston)

When I was a kid, my parents and I would often go out for delicious roast beef sandwiches at the now-defunct Mur-Mac’s Roast Beef, a dark and grungy yet beloved institution in Stoughton, MA that also featured fries and soft-serve ice cream. (It was even one of my first drives after getting my learner’s permit.) Somewhere along the way, we started calling roast beef “roast beast.” I’m not sure where we picked up the phrase, although apparently a “roast beast” makes an appearance in How the Grinch Stole Christmas, so maybe we read it there.

When a new restaurant called Roast Beast opened in Allston, it triggered immediate nostalgia, and I knew I had to try it out. One strangely warm afternoon in January – warm enough that Joel biked over from Somerville – we met our editor, Kevin, at Roast Beast for a roast beef feast. Turns out we’d just missed dynamic blogging and catering duo The Skinny Beet, made up of Katie (The Small Boston Kitchen) and Richard (Boston Burger Blog). It was a bloggerific day at the Beast!

Read my full "she said" review, along with Joel's "he said" review, at 2 Dine For Boston.

Gourdough's (Fork it over, Austin! - Part 23)

After nearly a week of feasting our way through Austin, we came to the last day. Finally, a beautiful day. I spent a lot of it walking. And eating. (What did you expect?)

For lunch, I was thrilled to finally get the chance to meet Jodi, my co-organizer and swap partner for the holiday gift swap between the Boston Food Bloggers and the Austin Food Blogger Alliance back in December. She brought me to a food truck lot I hadn't been to yet, but it had certainly been on my radar: Gourdough's. Izzos Tacos. Dock and Roll Diner. She got a lobster roll from Dock and Roll, but as (a) a mayo hater and (b) a native of a city known for lobster/lobstah rolls, I needed something else. Big. Fat. Donuts.

Since it would be my whole meal, I opted for a donut with more of a well-rounded meal quality, not a dessert: the Mother Clucker. Fried chicken on a donut, topped with honey.

The donut was as big as my face. I didn't come close to finishing it, but it tasted good enough to eat five. While huge, it was actually light and airy, with a nice crispy exterior, and it wasn't overwhelmingly sweet.

Later that night, I ended up back in the same lot with Sam, Jen, and John. We started with Izzos - more on that in another post - but we ended with a donut. Fortunately, a different person was working this time. Being seen twice in one day at the donut truck would be a bit embarrassing.

We all split the Dirty Berry, which was covered in gooey chocolate and grilled strawberries.

These donuts are not for the faint of heart, but if you have even the slightest sweet tooth, Gourdough's should be a necessary part of your Austin itinerary.



Other posts in the Fork it over, Austin! series:
Part 1: Whip In
Part 2: Foreign & Domestic
Part 3: Caffe Medici
Part 4: Walking Along SoCo and Lunching at Chi'Lantro
Part 5: The Capitol, UT Austin, and Lunching (Again) at Torchy's Tacos
Part 6: Museum of the Weird
Part 7: Uchi
Part 8: East Side King at The Grackle
Part 9: Franklin Barbecue
Part 10: Flagship Whole Foods and My First Green Smoothie
Part 11: Late Night Pizza at Via 313
Part 12: Kebabalicious
Part 13: My Robotic Kitchen Planned This Dinner Party
Part 14: Papi Tino's
Part 15: Annie's Cafe & Bar
Part 16: The Peached Tortilla
Part 17: Cupcake Quest: Hey Cupcake!
Part 18: Arancini
Part 19: The DeLorean, Boxing Robots, and Roller Derby Pillow Fights
Part 20: Second Bar + Kitchen
Part 21: Tia Kelly's Navajo Tacos
Part 22: Hopdoddy Burger Bar
Part 24: The Ice Cream Social
Part 25: Walking to Barton Springs
Part 26: Izzos Tacos

I'm also posting daily recaps on the Tasted Menu blog, FOOD=LOVE:
Day 1: A First Taste of Austin
Day 2: Tons of Tacos, Sushi at Uchi, and a Late Night Trip to East Side King
Day 3: Early Morning Barbecue and Late Night Pizza
Day 4: Globetrotting: Kebabs, Enchiladas, Pommes Frites
Day 5-6: Meeting and Eating

Hopdoddy Burger Bar (Fork it over, Austin! - Part 22)

I wanted to love Hopdoddy Burger Bar. The concept is awesome; nearly everything there is some combination of local, made in-house, organic, compostable, etc. The way the line moves is awesome as well; you enter along the bar so you can order a drink to bring with you as you follow the line to the counter where you order your food.

I ordered a pomegranate Texas Greyhound, which was refreshing, although I wish I had gone with a milkshake. I would have been uncomfortable stuffed with a milkshake, fries, and a burger, but I bet it would have been worth it.

While you're waiting in line to order food, a hostess gives you a table number, and by the time you order, your table is waiting for you. Then, when your food is ready, it's served to you at the table.

The atmosphere and the employees were great, and the menu was interesting, but I was disappointed by my burger (Angus beef, cheddar, hickory BBQ), which ended up being bland and undercooked. One of my dining companions fared better with the Greek burger (lamb, feta, tzatziki, arugula, and more).

The buns, however, were amazing, and we were also really into the fries.

There's so much to like about Hopdoddy; it's unfortunate that I didn't like my burger. But if I lived in the area, it's the type of place I'd definitely try again.

On a somewhat unrelated note, we saw a couple awesome signs on the way home - one plain awesome one and one that makes me chuckle for a couple different reasons.

Other posts in the Fork it over, Austin! series:
Part 1: Whip In
Part 2: Foreign & Domestic
Part 3: Caffe Medici
Part 4: Walking Along SoCo and Lunching at Chi'Lantro
Part 5: The Capitol, UT Austin, and Lunching (Again) at Torchy's Tacos
Part 6: Museum of the Weird
Part 7: Uchi
Part 8: East Side King at The Grackle
Part 9: Franklin Barbecue
Part 10: Flagship Whole Foods and My First Green Smoothie
Part 11: Late Night Pizza at Via 313
Part 12: Kebabalicious
Part 13: My Robotic Kitchen Planned This Dinner Party
Part 14: Papi Tino's
Part 15: Annie's Cafe & Bar
Part 16: The Peached Tortilla
Part 17: Cupcake Quest: Hey Cupcake!
Part 18: Arancini
Part 19: The DeLorean, Boxing Robots, and Roller Derby Pillow Fights
Part 20: Second Bar + Kitchen
Part 21: Tia Kelly's Navajo Tacos
Part 23: Gourdough's
Part 24: The Ice Cream Social
Part 25: Walking to Barton Springs
Part 26: Izzos Tacos

I'm also posting daily recaps on the Tasted Menu blog, FOOD=LOVE:
Day 1: A First Taste of Austin
Day 2: Tons of Tacos, Sushi at Uchi, and a Late Night Trip to East Side King
Day 3: Early Morning Barbecue and Late Night Pizza
Day 4: Globetrotting: Kebabs, Enchiladas, Pommes Frites
Day 5-6: Meeting and Eating

Second Bar + Kitchen (Fork it over, Austin! - Part 20)

After our dinner at Papi Tino's on the fourth day of the trip, we had a girls' night out at Second Bar + Kitchen, a...bar and kitchen...near the hotel. It's under the same ownership (and in the same building) as Congress, a highly praised restaurant we had intended to try at some point during the trip, but those plans fell through. Second Bar did not disappoint, though. On our first visit, we enjoyed the drinks, the truffle pommes frites, and the fact that Rocky Horror Picture Show began to play silently on the bar televisions at midnight, so we returned on the fifth night after the SXSW interactive opening party, this time with food in mind.

We sampled (and greatly enjoyed) nearly everything on the 'small plates' portion of the menu:

buffalo fried pickles with gorgonzola and bull's hot sauce (probably our favorite!)

veal meatballs 'arrabiata' with fennel and grana padano

goat cheese ravioli with wild arugula, green olives, bread crumbs, and red pepper

avocado fundido with queso fresco, house chorizo, and chipotle masa chips

salt and pepper ahi with soy syrup, burned orange, and sprout salad

baked ricotta and goat cheese with fruit mostardo and toasted ciabatta

Rocky Horror started playing again, leading us to wonder if it was a nightly tradition. We were also curious (and perhaps a bit creeped out) by the German audiobook playing quietly in the restrooms.

We liked the food, drinks, and ambiance so much that we returned yet again on our final night to get those fries one more time...and some drinks on the side, of course.

Rocky Horror was not playing on the final occasion. Neither was the German audiobook.

Other posts in the Fork it over, Austin! series:
Part 1: Whip In
Part 2: Foreign & Domestic
Part 3: Caffe Medici
Part 4: Walking Along SoCo and Lunching at Chi'Lantro
Part 5: The Capitol, UT Austin, and Lunching (Again) at Torchy's Tacos
Part 6: Museum of the Weird
Part 7: Uchi
Part 8: East Side King at The Grackle
Part 9: Franklin Barbecue
Part 10: Flagship Whole Foods and My First Green Smoothie
Part 11: Late Night Pizza at Via 313
Part 12: Kebabalicious
Part 13: My Robotic Kitchen Planned This Dinner Party
Part 14: Papi Tino's
Part 15: Annie's Cafe & Bar
Part 16: The Peached Tortilla
Part 17: Cupcake Quest: Hey Cupcake!
Part 18: Arancini
Part 19: The DeLorean, Boxing Robots, and Roller Derby Pillow Fights
Part 21: Tia Kelly's Navajo Tacos
Part 22: Hopdoddy Burger Bar
Part 23: Gourdough's
Part 24: The Ice Cream Social
Part 25: Walking to Barton Springs
Part 26: Izzos Tacos

I'm also posting daily recaps on the Tasted Menu blog, FOOD=LOVE:
Day 1: A First Taste of Austin
Day 2: Tons of Tacos, Sushi at Uchi, and a Late Night Trip to East Side King
Day 3: Early Morning Barbecue and Late Night Pizza
Day 4: Globetrotting: Kebabs, Enchiladas, Pommes Frites
Day 5-6: Meeting and Eating

Arancini (Fork it over, Austin! - Part 18)

Austin has so many food trucks. Boston's growing food truck population barely even matches the number of Austin trucks present in one parking lot. One day, maybe. In any case, I was determined to hit up as many trucks as possible while in Austin, especially once the weather cleared up. There's just something so enjoyable about paying a few bucks for a hot, delicious meal that's ready quickly and perfect for an on-the-spot picnic.

As previously mentioned, on the fifth day, we ate lunch at the SXSW Foodspotting Street Food Fest (The Peached Tortilla and Hey Cupcake! for me). And then we also ate dinner there, this time at Arancini, a truck selling...you guessed it.

For the purposes of the fest, they were offering three types of arancini, and our group split two orders: duck ragu and sun-dried tomato with mozzarella. The wait felt incredibly long once we had ordered (I think they warned us that it would be about 10 minutes), so I can only assume they're cooking each one to order.

Both flavors were excellent, from the gooey rice on the inside to the fried breading on the outside. The size was substantial as well. Worth the wait? Perhaps. They were definitely tasty, but we did get very antsy while waiting. And beware: don't lose your receipt. A couple girls in front of us lost theirs, so their order was put at the end of the queue - and it seemed to keep getting pushed back even farther. Eventually, they had to leave, sadly without their arancini.

Other posts in the Fork it over, Austin! series:
Part 1: Whip In
Part 2: Foreign & Domestic
Part 3: Caffe Medici
Part 4: Walking Along SoCo and Lunching at Chi'Lantro
Part 5: The Capitol, UT Austin, and Lunching (Again) at Torchy's Tacos
Part 6: Museum of the Weird
Part 7: Uchi
Part 8: East Side King at The Grackle
Part 9: Franklin Barbecue
Part 10: Flagship Whole Foods and My First Green Smoothie
Part 11: Late Night Pizza at Via 313
Part 12: Kebabalicious
Part 13: My Robotic Kitchen Planned This Dinner Party
Part 14: Papi Tino's
Part 15: Annie's Cafe & Bar
Part 16: The Peached Tortilla
Part 17: Cupcake Quest: Hey Cupcake!
Part 19: The DeLorean, Boxing Robots, and Roller Derby Pillow Fights
Part 20: Second Bar + Kitchen
Part 21: Tia Kelly's Navajo Tacos
Part 22: Hopdoddy Burger Bar
Part 23: Gourdough's
Part 24: The Ice Cream Social
Part 25: Walking to Barton Springs
Part 26: Izzos Tacos

I'm also posting daily recaps on the Tasted Menu blog, FOOD=LOVE:
Day 1: A First Taste of Austin
Day 2: Tons of Tacos, Sushi at Uchi, and a Late Night Trip to East Side King
Day 3: Early Morning Barbecue and Late Night Pizza
Day 4: Globetrotting: Kebabs, Enchiladas, Pommes Frites
Day 5-6: Meeting and Eating

Trina's Starlite Lounge (2 Dine For Boston)

Hot dogs! Cocktails! I return to Trina’s again and again: a comforting late night snack after a frustrating day, a meeting spot for drinks with friends, an embarrassingly early dinner with my parents. Trina’s does comfort food well, classing it up with a snazzy cocktail list; it occupies the same chamber of my heart and stomach as Highland Kitchen.

The hot dogs are the best I’ve had, taking the key characteristics of my favorite childhood hot dog (Bliss Dairy, Sharon, Massachusetts – no burn marks, please!) and improving upon them. The bun is the classic New England style, white on the sides and golden-brown along the edges. Buttered and lightly toasted, of course. The dogs are incredibly juicy, split end to end for the easy addition of condiments, if you choose. No condiments for me; I don’t practice safe hot dogging. The plain griddled dog is just $3; pair it with an order of fries or onion rings (both delicious and a good size for sharing with one or two others). I often accompany mine with an Arugula and Spinach Salad, a mountain of greens garnished with goat cheese, pepitas, and balsamic. Simple and wonderful.

Read my full "she said" review, along with Joel's "he said" review, at 2 Dine For Boston.

More photos:

30 Hours in New York City

I try to visit New York City at least a couple times a year. It's a city I love to visit for a few days at a time, although I suspect it'd tire me out if I stayed for much longer. Fortunately, Joel and I have plenty of friends and family in the city, so it's not so hard to make these trips happen.

At the end of December, I unexpectedly found myself with a little bit of free time between the end of one job and the beginning of another, so I ditched Joel and booked a quick trip into the city to spend some girl time with my friend Kim, who lives right in the middle of plenty of fun and delicious things in the East Village. Thanks to the magically cheap and not-too-sketchy BoltBus, I was in and out for a whirlwind 30 hours of...mostly eating.

First, we failed epically at lunching at Eataly, a mega mart of Italian food with several sit-down restaurants in the middle of all the action. It was beyond crowded, and we were very confused as to how to get a table at one of the packed restaurants. When we finally found a hostess stand and put our names down, it turned out we were in line for the vegetarian restaurant. We were seated after a wait and realized that there was absolutely no pasta on that menu, just salads. Sure, salad is great, but we went to Eataly for the pasta. We realized, however, that we were starving and it'd be a very long wait to go through the whole process again for one of the other restaurants, so we resigned ourselves to the greens and planned to get pasta for dinner. (The salads were delicious, by the way.) I'm fairly certain that Eataly resides in a special circle of tourist-filled hell, but it's still worth a trip. Despite the crowds and frustration, it's a pretty neat idea and reminded me of a bigger, fancier version of Bon Marche, a cafeteria-style restaurant that used to exist at the Prudential Center in Boston.

To sate our pasta craving, we chose Porsena for dinner, a spot that several people recommended to me when I put out a Twitter call for not-too-expensive hidden gems around the East Village. We were extremely satisfied; I particularly enjoyed my anneloni con salsiccia e rape, and the wine was fantastic as well.

...and we somehow saved room for dessert at the legendary Momofuku Milk Bar. The red velvet soft serve ice cream was rich and wonderful. I brought home a couple cookies to share with Joel as well.

We ended the night at The Immigrant, a cozy wine bar in Kim's neighborhood, where we enjoyed a number of wines. I don't recall the number...

Kim was occupied the next morning, so I headed over to Brooklyn to have brunch at Egg with Clara, Joel's brother's girlfriend. (She and Joel's brother, Dan, have a fantastic food blog!) Broiled grapefruit? My new favorite thing ever. Candied bacon? Obviously amazing. We walked off the gluttony by browsing around an amazing cheese shop (can't remember the name), a shop full of kitchen goodies (can't remember that name either), and a few other places.

Back in Manhattan, Kim and I did some shopping and then had an early dinner before I headed back to the bus. This Little Piggy Had Roast Beef is adorable, although I do think Boston wins out on the roast beef war. I'd definitely prefer a sandwich from Roast Beast or Jimbo's over this one, which was on the soggy side, but it had potential. And the fries were amazing. Interesting phenomenon, though: I ordered a can of regular Coke, and I reminded the guy that I wanted regular when he asked "Diet?" a few minutes later, and I still ended up with Diet Coke. Yuck. (I didn't realize until we were back at Kim's, unwrapping our sandwiches.) Kim said that places around there aren't used to girls not ordering diet soda. I rarely drink soda, but when I do, it's the real stuff. I'm strongly anti diet soda because (a) it tastes gross, (b) artificial sweeteners are sketchy for a variety of reasons, and (c) there's substantial research that suggests it contributes to worse health in a number of ways. And anecdotally, at least, it seems that many people who drink diet soda drink a lot of it because hey, it's diet. Doesn't mean it's good for you. On the other hand, because I only drink regular soda, I only treat myself to it once in awhile.

Totally stuffed, I headed back to the bus and back to Boston. We squeezed a lot of delicious things into 30 hours! I'm looking forward to my next trip to NYC, which will be in April. My band is playing at The Rock Shop in Brooklyn on April 14th, part of our (second annual!) tour with Neutral Uke Hotel and Golden Bloom. (Wanna come to the show? Tickets are now available!)

Here are some of my other New York favorites that I didn't get to visit this time around:

Amazing BBQ at Fette Sau. (Earlier blog post.)

Gut-busting brunch at Pies 'n' Thighs. (Earlier blog post.)

Late night pierogi at Veselka.