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:

Restaurant Review: Sweet Cheeks (CBS Boston)

Boston’s an interesting town for barbecue. You can do a decent job with it and please a lot of people, but there are enough Southern transplants around that if you don’t get it just right, if you don’t respect the proper traditions, there will be plenty of complaints. A new contender has just jumped in the mix: Sweet Cheeks, led by chef/owner Tiffani Faison, the second place finisher of Top Chef’s first season. Sweet Cheeks might have what it takes to earn respect from Boston’s Southerners and will most likely please casual barbecue enthusiasts.

We arrived at 7 p.m. on a Thursday night to a packed house. Our party of eight had a couple no-shows, resulting in strangers being given the last two seats at our table, a high eight-top by the bar. Many of the tables are long and communal when necessary. (By the looks of it, it’s probably almost always necessary.) The space — previously home to the Fenway location of Cambridge, 1. — is characterized by rich wood paneling and rustic wood plank tables. To the right, you can peer into the stainless steel kitchen; on the far right, you can catch a glimpse of Tootsie, the nearly 5,000-pound meat smoker (named for Texas pitmaster Tootsie Tomanetz). Large cans full of mismatched utensils, bell jars for drinks, and metal trays for food round out the ambiance.

Read the rest of my article over on CBS Boston.

More photos:

Restaurant Review: Church

Where can you find strong cocktails, pool tables, rock ‘n’ roll, and gargoyles? Church. Yes, really. Not exactly the most religious of places, Church is a combination restaurant and music club in the Fenway area, tucked just far enough away to avoid being part of the cluster of loud, packed sports bars.

The gargoyles are part of the slightly medieval ambiance. Heavy red velvet curtains and candles help round out the theme. Large windows let in the sun during the day, and at night Church becomes moody and romantic.

Read the rest of my article over on CBS Boston.

More photos:

Blogger Meet-up at Cambridge, 1. (Fenway)

Last Tuesday, I got the chance to dine with a couple of bloggers I hadn't met before - Amanda of Tales From A Kitchen Misfit and Molly of Cheap Beets - thanks to a meet-up put together by Jayne Karolow, Events and Communications Manager for Cambridge, 1. and its sister restaurants. Unfortunately, no one else could make the event due to pre-Thanksgiving travel and preparations, but the three of us (plus significant others and Jayne) enjoyed some nice food, drink, and conversation at the spacious Fenway location of Cambridge, 1.

Cambridge, 1. (This is the Fenway location at 1381 Boylston St. in Boston. There's also a Harvard Square location at 27 Church St. in Cambridge.)

The menu features 13 charcoal grilled pizzas along with some salads, pasta, and soup. The pizzas come in half and full sizes; a half size left me satisfied but not uncomfortably stuffed.

A rep from J.K.'s Scrumpy Hard Cider came by and gave us free cider (and t-shirts!) Scrumpy Cider is organic and comes from a small farm in Michigan. We tried the original flavor as well as the seasonal Solstice (brewed with cinnamon, vanilla, and maple syrup). Both were very sweet and tasted virtually non-alcoholic, very similar to apple juice. I generally prefer very dry ciders, but these were a pleasant surprise for a sweeter cider.

We sampled a couple of appetizers; the wings were nice and meaty, and the warm flatbread that came with the meat platter was excellent.

It's a shame I'm writing this post days after going to one of New Haven's famous pizza places - more on that later this week - so I'm currently a bit biased against all other pizzas. If you like ultra-crispy flatbread pizzas, though, Cambridge, 1. is a decent place to go. Joel and I were a little underwhelmed, but he's a major pizza snob with a preference for NY/CT style, and I'm still on a New Haven pizza high, but this is really a very different type of pizza.

#8 - pepperoni (or you can get sopressata, if you prefer), tomato, fontina, romano

#10: maine lobster, corn, scallion, parmigiano, lemon butter

#11: hot cherry peppers, black forest ham, manchego

Cambridge, 1. is a lively place, and the portion size of the half pizzas is perfect for me. While I probably wouldn't go here for a date night, it's a fun meeting spot for a group of friends to gather or watch a sports game.

As always, it was lots of fun to meet some other bloggers! (Side note: Are you a Boston-area food blogger? Have you checked out my new site, Boston Food Bloggers, yet?)

I'm second from the left, Amanda (Tales From A Kitchen Misfit) is third from the right, Jayne is second from the right, and Molly (Cheap Beets) is on the far right.

Disclosure: We received free drinks and discounted meals. Since I am not backed by the budget of a publication, I do occasionally accept free or discounted meals or products. I always disclose this and I am under no obligation to review positively - or review at all - these meals or products. Regardless of the cost or lack thereof, my reviews represent my full and honest opinion.

25th Birthday Celebration, Part II: Cupcakes and East Coast Grill

My parents arrived at my apartment bearing an assortment of 25 gifts - it was like Chanukah times 3.33! - and many were food-related, such as a beautiful Teavana tea set, spicy chipotle rub, potato scrubbing gloves (awesome!), cupcake lip gloss, Barbie fruit snacks (because they apparently think I still like playing with Barbie dolls), Food Lovers' Guide to Massachusetts, and A Baker's Field Guide to Cupcakes. Soon I'll be supplementing my Cupcake Quest with posts about my own attempts at fancy cupcakes!

They also came bearing real cupcakes. Guess I'll have to put off the cupcake break for a few more days. These are Shaw's minis, which I've previously described as "always decent." They didn't disappoint, although this spray paint-style frosting tastes more chemically than the normal frostings. (It's a bit hard to see in the picture, but the cupcakes all have white frosting with pink and purple color seemingly sprayed on.)

Next, we met Joel at the always-amazing East Coast Grill, where I have previously tormented myself at two Hell Nights, enjoyed an amazing Cinco de Mayo media dinner, and devoured The Best Meal I Have Ever Had. Our waiter, Arthur, is also ECG's social media guru, manning the Twitter and Facebook pages. After apparently seeing my Twitter posting about going there to celebrate my birthday, he wished me a happy birthday and offered us a couple desserts on the house! Yum! He even asked permission to sing to me; I appreciated being asked first. Of course we had to get the peanut butter pie with candied bacon as well as the key lime pie, and both were delicious. The key lime pie was the real thing - not bright green. (Check out Joel's recent guest post to learn more about what makes key lime pie awesome.) The entrees were fabulous as usual. I just can't contain my love for East Coast Grill. I've never been disappointed there. By the way, East Coast Grill is also celebrating a 25th birthday very soon! From July 11-16, participate in their birthday celebration. Three-course prix fixe meals will be available for $25.

After dinner, Joel and I promptly passed out in food coma mode and didn't accomplish anything else that night.

The next night, Sunday, we went to Church (the bar near Fenway) for a drink with Geoff and Julia, who are about to move away. Note to self: Do not order a drink called Death on a weeknight. And then my birthday weekend was over, and Monday arrived, full of humid, 90+ degree grossness. Such is life.

Cupcake Quest: Cheesecake Factory (via Barnes & Noble Cafe)

This post is part of the Cupcake Quest series on Fork it over, Boston!

I stumbled on unexpected cupcakes yesterday! My mom took the commuter rail into Back Bay to meet up with my dad and go to the Sox game. Since I work nearby and was finishing up as her train was coming in, we met up and walked to Kenmore together. With some time to kill, we stopped by the cafe at the BU Barnes & Noble. There, in the pastry case, was a single red velvet cupcake (my weakness) and some vanilla bean cupcakes. At first I thought they were from Starbucks since the cafe sells Starbucks drinks, so I was prepared to ignore them. I've already quested to Starbucks, resulting in disappointment. On closer inspection, though, I saw that they were actually from The Cheesecake Factory. Wait, they bake stuff other than cheesecakes? I was intrigued. I'm generally not too enthusiastic about huge chains, but The Cheesecake Factory did manage to save an otherwise bad evening recently. Plus, chain or not, their cheesecakes are pretty reliably tasty, so maybe their other baked goods are also decent.

I snagged the last red velvet and a vanilla bean and carefully placed the package in my big bag, cradling it worriedly on the even-more-crowded-than-usual T ride home. At one point the package flipped over, but the cupcakes somehow survived almost completely intact. I let them thaw for a couple hours (I assume the pastry case at the cafe was refrigerated.)

Here's the red velvet, garnished with chocolate shavings:

And here's the vanilla bean, garnished with mini white chocolate chips:

Both had great cake-to-frosting ratios. The cake had the slightest bit of the refrigerated dense texture but retained the moisture pretty well. The red velvet had more flavor than almost any other red velvets I've tried so far. (Danish Pastry House might have been a little bit better, and it gets bonus points for not being an obnoxiously large chain.) Joel and I were both very impressed by the frosting, which was somewhere in between the airy/sugary type and the buttery/creamy type.

The Verdict: I'm not sure why you'd go to The Cheesecake Factory without the intention of getting cheesecake, but if you're in the mood for something different, these are worth it. Actually, I don't even know if these are available at The Cheesecake Factory. But if you find yourself in a B&N cafe that has these, go for it. Both were great, but I'd recommend the red velvet because it's one of the better ones I've had so far.

National Lobster Week

Google can't shed any light on its origins, but apparently National Lobster Day...or Week...starts this Sunday, June 13! Some restaurants around Boston will be featuring special lobster dishes, including The Regal Beagle and Church. (Also, be sure to check out MySecretBoston.com's useful list of places to eat lobster. Apparently you can go off-menu and order lobster gelato at Da Vinci Ristorante.)

Executive Chef Laura Henry-Zoubir (from Church and The Regal Beagle) has created a couple brunch dishes:

At Church, which is located near Fenway, you can get a Maine lobster omelet with tomato, roasted mushrooms, and truffle oil (served with breakfast potatoes and toast). I was invited to stop by and try this tomorrow, so I'll report back with a photo and a review tomorrow evening. (There are also lobster sliders on the regular dinner menu. Yum!)

At The Regal Beagle in Brookline, you can get Lobster Eggs Benedict with Lemon-Chive Hollandaise (served with roasted potatoes). I declined to try this one since I'm not a fan of hollandaise, but Rina Peselman of Dramshop Hospitality, which represents both restaurants, sent over a photo to make you salivate:

I haven't been to The Regal Beagle yet, but I've had one dish at Church, and it was great: meatball sliders with provolone. They came with a side of fried bowtie pasta - very unique! It reminded me of elementary school when I'd sleep over my friend Ashley's house, and we'd sneak down to the pantry for a midnight snack. I'm sure we ate normal treats as well, but for some reason, we enjoyed chowing down on uncooked dried pasta. We were weird kids.

Anyway, since I'm encouraging you to go out and eat lobster, and I'm also uncomfortable with the fact that I just basically threw a press release at you, I should also point out this article in today's Globe regarding the decline of Atlantic lobster populations. Biologists are recommending a ban on lobster-catching all the way from south of the Cape to Virginia for the next five years. The Southern New England lobster population has been dying off due to diseases caught in the warming waters, a possible effect of climate change.

New England actually draws from three populations of lobsters, though, and the affected one is the smallest. We get more from the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank; those would not be affected by the ban.

If you are interested in the ban - or other options for letting the population recover, such as shortening the fishing season - the public is invited to attend the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission's American Lobster Management Board meeting on July 22 in Warwick, Rhode Island. Click here for more information [PDF].

Update 6/12/10
Just tried the lobster omelette ($16) along with The Angel Gabriel, one of the bloody mary options. (Disclosure: My drink was free. Cocktails are generally $8-$10 at Church.) The Angel Gabriel is made with house-made bacon and bay leaf-infused vodka and garnished with a bacon-wrapped tomato and a stick of celery.

Potent! I took a few sips and then decided to wait for the food.

The omelette had 8-10 reasonably sized chunks of lobster, which seems pretty fair for the price. It tasted good, but I was distracted by the homefries - those were really good.

Lobster omelet with ricotta, chives, roasted mushrooms, and cherry tomatoes.

I really like Church - the trendy/medieval sort of atmosphere (complete with gargoyles) is unique, and the menu is creative. If you happen to feel like indulging in a fancy omelet tomorrow, this one's worth a try. And Church is worth a try any other day as well. The music venue part of it is fantastic - Joel's band has played there a couple times, the food is innovative, and the well-crafted drinks are strong and intriguing.

Cupcake Quest: Shaw's Supermarkets

This post is part of the Cupcake Quest series on Fork it over, Boston!

I grew up going to Shaw's, and I thought it was great. Then, I moved to Rochester, NY for awhile and discovered Wegmans, and my loyalties switched quickly and permanently. Shaw's does have a decent bakery, though - and Wegmans doesn't exist around here (yet...I'm glaring at you, ultra-slow developers of the Westwood shopping development) - so I don't hold a grudge against Shaw's, despite the usually terrible selection of produce.

Part 1: Mini Cupcakes
If you grew up near a Shaw's like I did, I'm sure you've had these at countless birthday parties. Bite-sized and sprinkled, they're always decent. If the cake part is a bit dry at times, it doesn't really matter because it's gone in a bite. The frosting is a little bit sweet, fortunately without that ultra-chemically taste. This tasting took place at a going away party for one of my classmates from grad school, who just moved back home to Montana for awhile. She loves bugs and spiders, so I decorated the food table with an assortment of (toy) spiders.

Shaw's mini vanilla cupcakes with chocolate or vanilla frosting (spider not included)

Part II: Gourmet Cupcakes
Gourmet? Shaw's? Well, relative to the simple mini cupcakes, yes. We tried three: a giant vanilla one topped with chocolate frosting and white chocolate shavings, a normal-sized chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting and an Oreo cookie, and a normal-sized chocolate cupcake with pink frosting in the shape of a rose. The vanilla cake was very dry; the chocolate was also pretty dry, but a bit more bearable. The frosting on the giant cupcake was nice - kind of like a Hostess cupcake. The rose frosting was practically radioactive: that bitter, awful, fake sugary taste. Yuck. The frosting adhesion on the rose cupcake was also terrible. The nightmarish frosting fell right off the cake (which I guess is actually a good thing in this case). The frosting-to-cake ratio was appropriate on all three cupcakes.

Do not get this cupcake. Ever. Or if you do, let the frosting fall off (it will.) The cake part was actually pretty decent.

Decent cake, decent frosting. This is a pretty safe choice if you like Oreos.

This cupcake is just too big for its own good: it's very dry. The frosting, however, is very nice. If you get this one, try to get it early in the day; maybe it'll be moister.

The Verdict: If you want something cheap and convenient, Shaw's cupcakes are always a solid choice. Play it safe with the minis, or go gourmet, but avoid anything brightly colored. Chocolate and vanilla frostings are the best bet. (Location note: The mini cupcakes were from the Fenway Shaw's and the gourmet cupcakes were from the Prudential Shaw's.)

A Very International Evening: Tacos at La Verdad; Gogol Bordello and DeVotchKa at House of Blues

La Verdad

I first discovered Ken Oringer's La Verdad on a late March night after going to a Dropkick Murphys shows at the House of Blues. Two of my friends live nearby and said it was the best place in the world, and the rest of us couldn't say no to late night tacos. Well, my friends were right. We sat in the tiny takeout section, which seemed surprisingly empty for such a great post-show option.

Last night, we went to another show at House of Blues - more on that amazing part of the night after the food part of this post - so we opted for a sit-down meal in the restaurant part. My friends arrived a few minutes after us, and they told me via phone to order a pitcher or margarita, meaning a pitcher of beer or a margarita for each, but I heard "pitcher of margarita," so we ended up with a whole lot of margarita. It was tasty but on the weak side.

Julia and Geoff swear by the fish tacos, and Joel is obsessed with the duck tacos that he had back in March. I got a combo of three tacos: pastor traditionale (pork adobo, roast pineapple (which seemed to be missing), lime, cilantro, onion), turkey pastor (turkey with cinnamon, brown sugar and chili marinade, mole, toasted sesame seeds), and chorizo y papas (chorizo, potato, poblano, lime, cilantro, onion). All of the tacos were delicious; my favorite was the chorizo, which had just a hint of spice. The duck tacos are definitely worth trying as well. (Where else can you find duck tacos? I've never seen them anywhere.)

Pork in the foreground, chorizo in the back (left), turkey on the right.

One thing left me really irritated, though. The taco plates, which cost around $10-12 depending on what you get, come with refried beans and slaw. Each costs $3 if you order it as a side dish. Rice is also a $3 side dish. I don't like beans and slaw, so I asked if I could just get rice instead of both of those. I know substitutions can be a pain, but honestly, that seems like a substitution that would make the dish easier (and cheaper). Maybe I'm wrong. But they insisted on charging me $3 for a side of rice, even though I didn't even want the other two sides. Here is the offending rice, which was most definitely not worth $3:

$3 rice. Meh.

I would have been happy to pay a small substitution fee, but I don't think I should have had to pay for a side dish. As it turns out, they messed up and put the beans and slaw on my plate and left them off my friend's plate, but they quickly brought the missing sides once we told them what happened. On the topic of prices, I'm also a little mystified by the fact that the cocktails cost the same as most of the food.

Anyway, despite those issues, I really like La Verdad for "gourmet" tacos. If you're looking for something less than gourmet, though, I do have to throw in a plug for my other favorite taco place: Tacos Lupita near Porter Square in Somerville.

DeVotchKa
I first heard DeVotchKa's music in the trailer for Everything Is Illuminated (which, by the way, is both an amazing movie and an amazing book). I was hooked. I went to Bonnaroo 2006 but arrived just an hour too late to see them, so last night was the first time I finally got to go to a show. I won't tell you about their history because the bio on their website (warning: music autoplays) is fantastic and definitely worth the read. They play a unique type of Eastern European-style rock tinged with sousaphones, theremins, accordions, and such. When I'm not writing or eating, I'm playing whatever instrument I can get my hands on, so I'm really into the fact that each member of DeVotchKa plays at least three different instruments. From the booming bass of the sousaphone (whose player also plays upright bass) to the eerie whine of the theremin to the lead singer's haunting vocals, DeVotchKa put on an intense and impressive set. I almost forgot to mention the crazy circus act during one of the songs: two of the strongest and most flexible women I've ever seen shimmied up a couple ribbons dangling from the ceiling and did all sorts of twists, turns, and poses. It was a really cool addition to the music.

Gogol Bordello
If you've never heard gypsy punk music, you're in for a treat. Gogol Bordello is one of the earlier bands to popularize the genre, and I think they actually coined the term "gypsy punk," but I might be wrong. I first started listening to them within the last year after hearing my boyfriend's band, Somerville Symphony Orkestar, cover one of their songs. Like DeVotchKa, Gogol Bordello features quite a mix of instruments that may seem randomly thrown together: accordion, brass, violin, and more. And here's another connection: Eugene Hutz, the lead singer of Gogol Bordello, had a starring roll in Everything Is Illuminated. Hutz, a lanky but muscular powerhouse of a guy with the creepiest/greatest mustache ever, ended up shirtless by the end of the show, pouring water and wine on the fans lucky enough to be near the stage. The violin player, who looked to be in his 60s, was equally energetic and ridiculously talented. The whole set - which was long, sweaty, and exhilarating - was full of primal beats, crazy energy, and very tight instrumentation. Even if you don't think gypsy punk sounds like a genre you'd be into, I highly recommend seeing Gogol Bordello - you'll leave with the feeling that you're part of a raucous, rowdy rebellion against something, but you'll have no idea quite what it is you're rebelling against.

EventBite: Bloggers Go Loco at Boloco

I went to the Boloco in Cleveland Circle once, probably about a year ago. I had ignored it for awhile because I don't like burritos, but when I actually took a look at the menu one day, I realized that it had a bunch of burrito-style wraps, not all of them Tex-Mex. I tried out one of the Asian-style ones and found it to be on the bland side, so I never went back.

A couple weeks ago, though, I received an invite to a blogger event at the newest Boloco location, which is right near Berklee. I figured I might as well give it another try, as I'm a fan of small local chains in general. (Since there are multiple locations, it probably means they're doing something right, but they're not yet obnoxiously big so there's probably a level of quality control and enthusiasm that larger national chains tend to lack.)

Boloco's CEO, John Pepper, talked to us about recent menu changes, plans for expansion, new beer pairings coming soon at some non-Massachusetts locations (liquor licenses are unfortunately very expensive here), and the general philosophy of Boloco: for one thing, "putting great food into a very portable product," said Pepper. Meanwhile, we tried out the new mini sizes ("disturbingly small," says the menu) of burritos and smoothies.  I had a Bangkok Thai tofu burrito (Thai-style peanut sauce, Asian slaw, cucumbers, and brown rice in a flour tortilla).  I enjoyed it, but like my previous experience, I thought it could have a bit more flavor.  I'd order it again, but I'd request some hot sauce on it. The smoothie - a Jimmy Carter with peanut butter, banana, milk, and frozen yogurt - was perfect, but I doubt I could have more than a mini size; it's just so rich. (For those of you in my age group that don't understand why it's called the Jimmy Carter, Pepper enlightened us: Carter grew up on a peanut farm.)  We also sampled new gluten-free brownies, and I think we were all pretty impressed that they tasted good - and like normal brownies!



Even though I'm still not completely won over by the burritos in terms of flavor, I'm really enthusiastic about the introduction of the mini sizes. You could realistically get a mini burrito ($3.95) and mini smoothie ($2.95) without using up all your recommended calories for the day and feeling overwhelmingly full.  Also, there's a "goloco" option on the menu where you can design your own burrito, so before I give up entirely on the burritos and just go for the smoothies, I'll try out a few different combinations to see if I can find something I like.

I was impressed by the ambiance of the restaurant as well.  I was expecting just a take-out joint with some boring tables, but the space was airy and clean with a bunch of people sitting around comfortably, using their laptops.  It seemed more like a coffee shop than a fast food place.

And, in addition to the food, it was great to see some other Boston food bloggers: Pam (Cave Cibum), Katie (Small Boston Kitchen), Will (Boston Foodie), Fiona (Boston Food Diary), Natalie (a vegetarian blog on her campus), Lingbo (Lingbo Li), Lena (The Chicktionary), and Athena (Forays of a Finance Foodie).