Top Eats in the North End and Faneuil Hall (Tasted Menu)

Unseasonably warm winter days in Boston are perhaps the best times to check out notoriously tourist-heavy areas like Faneuil Hall and the North End. The crowds are much diminished in the winter, so we can enjoy some rare peace and quiet while exploring our own city. Food, of course, is a highlight of this exploration. Let’s look at some of the top dishes to be found in this area.

Read the rest of my article over on the Tasted Menu blog.

Photos from Saus: Boston's First Belgian Street Food Cafe

Specializing in Belgian-style fries, waffles, and frikandel sandwiches, Saus is poised to claim the stomachs of Government Center-area workers, late night hoards of drunks, and many more. My two visits to Saus have been complimentary blogger tastings, so I'll refrain from reviewing it until I've returned several times under normal circumstances, but as I don't make it to the neighborhood often, I just wanted to share some photos with you for now.

Does Belgium really taste this good? If so, I want to go!

A Multi-Course Meal at Quincy Market (CBS Boston)

Most Bostonians avoid Faneuil Hall Marketplace like the plague, particularly in the warmer months. Once in awhile, though, it’s worth the hassle to play tourist in your own city. Yes, everything is overpriced, and yes, you have to be a little aggressive shoving your way through slow-moving tourist hordes. (Also aggressive? The pigeons surrounding the market. If you choose to eat outside, get ready to duck when you see a little kid start running towards a flock of birds.)

While Faneuil Hall was founded in 1742, the Quincy Market Colonnade – the long hallway where most of the food can be found – wasn’t built until 1826. It’s currently home to about 50 different food stalls and restaurants, several of which have been around since the building’s revitalization in the 1970s. In the center of the building, there’s a circular space with long, shared tables and standing-room-only counter spots.

Read the rest of my article over on CBS Boston.

The Obligatory Best-of-2010 Post

Following in the footsteps of last week's obligatory resolutions post, here are some lists of my favorite/best/weirdest/etc. 2010 food things. (By the way, do you have plans for NYE yet? Here's one more plug for what's sure to be a ridiculously awesome live music experience.) 

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My favorite restaurant discoveries in 2010:

• Highland Kitchen (blog posts here and here): A fairly easy walk from my apartment, Highland Kitchen is my new favorite neighborhood spot. Everything I've eaten here has been good to great, the cocktails are interesting and strong, and the ambiance is fun and lively. I've still gotta make it to a Tuesday night Spelling Bee.
• Trina's Starlite Lounge: Hot dogs hot dogs hot dogs. Trina's feels like the same genre as Highland Kitchen to me; I guess they both fit into the fast emerging gastro-pub scene, or at least the outskirts of it. In any case, I love them both.
• KO Catering and Pies (blog post here): The first legit Australian place in Boston (that I know of). (Outback Steakhouse doesn't count. At all.) Meat pies and sausage rolls will make winter bearable.
• Marliave: I can't remember when I first went here - might have been last year, actually - but I'll include it anyway. A lot of people find the ambiance a bit run-down, but hey, it's historical. The upstairs dining room is lovely when the candles are lit. This is one of my favorite French onion soups I've ever had, and the cocktails are amazing. Happy Hour oyster specials on the patio make for a heavenly summer night.
• Ronnarong (blog post here): This discovery also might be more than a year old; I just can't remember. Great sake-based cocktails, wonderful Thai small plates. Absolutely try the Paradise Beef.
• Rangzen (blog post here): A Tibetan gem tucked away on a Central Square side street.
• Baraka Cafe (blog post here): Another Central Square gem, hidden even further from the main drag, Baraka Cafe offers delicious North African food in a somewhat-tacky-yet-beautiful ambiance, served up with a bit of attitude that'll make you cringe or smile depending on your temperament.
• Newtowne Grille: A great neighborhood dive-y place in Porter Square for super cheap pizza, apps, and beer. And the pizza is GREAT. My pizza snob boyfriend agrees and considers it one of the best in Boston.

My favorite food shop discoveries in 2010:

• The Chocolate Tarte (blog post here): The ultimate winner of my Cupcake Quest, The Chocolate Tarte is (un?)fortunately walking distance from my apartment. Not only are the cupcakes the best in the world - everything else is also delicious. I can't stop raving about this place to everyone.
• Russo's: This somewhat satisfies the hole in my heart that Wegmans filled when I lived in Rochester, and it also satisfies any need I may have to find any exotic fruit or vegetable in the entire world. Russo's is a mad house at peak hours - be prepared to shove and be shoved by shopping carts and hungry shoppers - and there aren't really local or organic options - but wow, the produce is cheap and exotic. Whenever I go here, I leave with vegetables I've never heard of. Love it.
• Savenor's (blog post here): Lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my! Well, I haven't seen tiger there, but I'm pretty sure I've seen bear, and they had lion at $40/lb a couple weeks ago. The famous Savenor's (a favorite of Julia Child) is the best source for exotic meats for miles around. Yep, it's expensive, but for a once-in-awhile treat, the quality and selection are spectacular.

My favorite food truck discoveries of 2010:

• Fillbelly's (blog post here): I've sadly only found the truck once, but I've been searching for it ever since. I want another bosilito (empanada) so, so badly.
• Clover (blog post here): A food truck that destroys the notion that food trucks are greasy and unhealthy. Pretty neat.

Blog posts I had the most fun writing in 2010:

• A Mystery Meet in the Dark: Blind Dining at Hampshire House 
• Pasta-Making Newbie
• Hell Night: A Culinary Adventure That Will Make You Cry Like A Baby
• Hell Night Number 4: I Must Be Insane
• A New York City Weekend of Food and Music and Animals with No Shame
• A Honky Tonk Rib Joint
• 25th Birthday Celebration, Part I: Dali Restaurant & Tapas Bar
• Cockroaches: Food Bloggers of the Insect World
• The Best Meal I Have Ever Had
• Pizza in New Haven (or, Why My Boyfriend Has Almost Nothing Nice To Say About Boston Pizza)

Things I've spent way too much time on in 2010...so please check them out so I feel validated:

• The Economics of Local Food: This is the capstone project for my master's degree. It consumed my life for many months, so I hope you'll find it interesting and educational. While I would have liked to submit it somewhere for publication, stories about local food are getting a bit overdone, so I never bothered. Instead, I posted it here on a whim a few weeks ago because it seemed like a waste not to share it.
• BostonFoodBloggers.com: This is a recent project and a major work-in-progress, but I'm hoping that it'll become a useful resource for food bloggers throughout Massachusetts. Many of you have already checked it out and responded enthusiastically, so thank you all very much for the support and kind words! Many new features will be rolling out as time goes on, but the fact remains that I have a time-and-brain-consuming day job as well as a "secret life" as a musician and photographer, so sometimes the food stuff falls behind. The launch party will be held on January 17th; I'm excited!

Weirdest search phrases that sent people to my blog in 2010 (via Google Analytics):

• "mixing pepto bismol and baking soda"
• "a nice mohito to oblivion." 
• "abstract of ham fork"
• "cake surrounded by cupcake"
• "creamsicle wimp"
• "frusting in love distance"
• "kelly brook breast size"
• "my thighs boston" 
• "one day unhappy in hell you can cry like a baby"
• "over in boston they have no more to write about, it's more like a sing a long"
• "psycho knives"
• "through the eyes of the smoke monster"
• "what is a hairkee"

My favorite bits of Internet fame:

• My grad school graduation cake landed on PassiveAggressiveNotes.com. (I blogged about it here.)

• I snapped a cell phone pic of one of the Public Garden Make Way For Ducklings statues, which had been vandalized one morning. I tweeted the picture with a note about how "some jerk had graffiti-ed the ducks, and it was retweeted - I think by Universal Hub, initially - and soon the story (and my ugly cell phone pic) was all over the local news. I blogged about it here in an essay about the gray areas between citizen journalism, traditional journalism, and blogging.

• I was surprised and honored to find my blog among five mentioned in this Boston Globe article criticizing review sites like Yelp but calling attention to "talented civilian reviewers who outgrow review sites."  

Ok, I think that's enough for now. Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve - whether debaucherous, extravagant, relaxing, or otherwise - and I'll be back...in a couple days. Not gonna make the cliched joke.

A Quick Lunch at Zo

Quick to say, quick to serve, quick to eat!

Normally I don't venture out to Government Center for lunch as it's about a mile from my office, but today was a good day to catch up with an old friend who works around there. Due to a massive blister on my heel (ouch!), I hopped the T instead of walking, and it was a quick enough ride to Zo.

Gyros, wraps, spanakopita, dolmadakia, baklava - it's all there, ready to be eaten in the breezy, shady courtyard of Center Plaza. It's a perfect place to meet up with old friends to compare notes on love lost and found, our lives in the working world, and such. Note: if you have long hair, put it up. It's abnormally windy over here, probably due to the configuration of buildings, and getting a big bite of your own hair with your gyro is never fun...although better than someone else's hair, I suppose.

I've been searching for the perfect tomato, basil, and mozzarella sandwich for awhile. I haven't quite found it yet, but I do like variations on it at L'Aroma Cafe, Tealuxe, and Iggy's at the farmers' market. (Perhaps I should make this an official quest?) Zo's version is wrapped up in a pita...

...but not just any pita. So soft, so warm, so comforting. Swoon. The rest of the ingredients were good too, but I'm thinking I could probably survive quite some time solely on Zo's pitas from heaven.

If you're looking for something meatier, try the original gyro, which my friend gives an enthusiastic thumbs up.

FYI: Weekday lunch only. No dinner, no weekends.

"Steakcation" Blogger Feast at KO Prime

When you get an email inviting you to a five-course "Steakcation," it's impossible to refuse. Nicole Kanner from All Heart PR asked a group of food bloggers to come downtown to KO Prime to try out Executive Chef Josh Buehler's menu. Although Buehler has been there for a couple years, most people associate KO Prime with Chef/Co-Owner Ken Oringer, but it's Buehler who is mainly responsible for the day-to-day workings of the restaurant.

I met up with Michelle (Fun and Fearless in Beantown) and Megan (Delicious Dishings) at Marliave for a pre-steak cocktail in the awkward time between work and dinner. Stay late at the office? Go home and come right back out? Cocktail? Cocktail! I plan on writing more about Marliave in the future as it's one of my Boston favorites, but here's a quick tip: the cocktails are ridiculously good. And ridiculously strong. All of them.

Perhaps a bit tipsy, we wobbled around the corner, skirts billowing in the eerie dusky pre-storm winds. KO Prime, which is in the Nine Zero Hotel, is located up a flight of glowing stairs (are we at a club?) with an elaborate antler chandelier at the top.

Slowly, our group filtered in: Michele (Foodie Mommy), Fiona (A Boston Food Diary), Aaron (Eat Boston), Robin (Doves and Figs), Will (The Boston Foodie), One Food Guy, who prefers to remain anonymous, and one other guy at the far end of the table whose name/blog I unfortunately didn't get. We had assumed "Steakcation" meant a vacation of steak, but it turned out to be a vacation from steak: since KO Prime is widely known as a steakhouse, Buehler wanted to show us what else he could do. Fair enough...I don't think I'd feel too well after five steak-based courses! As it turned out, it was actually ten courses. Hello food coma.

Due to the sheer number of courses, the rest of this post is just going to be food porn with very minimal discussion.

One ~ Creamy (but not cream cheesy) crab in a lightly battered and fried squash blossom. The accompanying duck sauce had a surprising bit of a kick.

Squash Blossom Crab Rangoon | Duck Sauce

Two ~ Local tomatoes. Nothing better in the world.

Heirloom Tomato Salad | Crispy Manouri Cheese, Tomato-Basil Vinaigrette, Peach and Apricot Aioli

Three ~ Ah, here's the beef.

Roasted Jalapeno Beef Tartare | Smoked Poblano Jam, Crispy Quail Egg

Four ~ I tried, I really did, but snails just aren't my thing. Delicious carrot puree, however.

Fricassee of Escargot | Thumbelina Carrots, Mushrooms, Salsify, Lardons, Brioche

Five ~ Many found this to be their favorite course. I wasn't really into the vegetables or cockles, but the fish was enjoyable and the chorizo was excellent.

Seared Striped Bass | Summer Succotash, Cockles, Homemade Chorizo

Six ~ A unique and tasty palate cleanser.

Apricot Soda | Yuzu-Mint Creme Fraiche Foam

Seven ~ Wait, now we're getting steak knives? But I'm already full!

Pork and Beef Duet | Dry Rubbed Pork Loin, Stewed Olives and Tomatoes, Chanterelle Polenta Cake, Grilled Flat Iron Steak, Pickled Ramps, Harissa

Eight ~ With little pieces of pineapple in it! Yum!

Pineapple Sorbet

Nine ~ Yes, yes, yes.

Dark Chocolate Marquise | Buttery Popcorn Ice Cream, Caramel Sauce

Ten ~ Oops, almost missed the last little assortment of goodies!

These weren't on the menu, but I believe the waitress said that it was raspberry gelatin, chocolate sandwiches with raspberry cream, and coconut cookies. We weren't really into the gelatin, but the others were a nice way to end the evening!

I can't vouch for the service on a normal evening, but our servers were friendly and informative. The presentation, as you can hopefully tell from the above photos, was colorful, clean, and creative, and there were plenty of strong flavors.

Based on this experience, I would definitely return to KO Prime. Even taking into account that we were a large table of food bloggers receiving an elaborate free meal, I assume that what we ate is still a fair representation of KO Prime's usual standards. I'd love to go back and actually get steak next time. (By the time course seven rolled around, I was too full to really enjoy the flat iron steak, but what I had was excellent.) As always, it was very nice to spend time with some other food bloggers from the area.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take a nice long nap. I'm still in full-on food coma mode.

EventBite: The (Re)opening of Anthem Kitchen + Bar

...where I ate a bunch of stuff I usually don't like...and I liked it!

Anthem is back from a several-year hiatus. Once located near Boston Garden before closing in 2007, now it's at the end of Faneuil Hall's South Market, where Plaza III existed until recently.

I never know what to expect when I get invitations to food events. Sometimes they're intimate sit-down meals with a few other bloggers and the chef. Sometimes they're big cocktail parties where most in attendance are friends and family of the owner, and I know no one. This was the latter. After watching the mayor attempt - with some difficulty - to cut the ribbon, I escaped the impending downpour that was seconds from starting and slipped inside, grabbing a champagne on the way.

Mayor Menino cuts through the ribbon...after a bit of a struggle.

The mayor stands with some important people and some entertainers.

Important people...owners and family, I think. Plus, the mayor.

Anthem has a warm, dark ambiance: hard wood floors, stone walls, and mesh curtains (reminiscent of Rialto) give it a neo-colonial sort of feel. It fits right in with Faneuil Hall but maintains its own sleek bourgeois air.

After searching the room for familiar faces and finding none, I retreated towards an empty area and hid behind my camera. An endless stream of waiters began bringing me hors d'oeuvres, sealing my decision not to mingle and just to sit and try all the food.

View the following slideshow to take a peek at the food I tried:

Anthem will do well with the Government Center happy hour crowd. The bar area is spacious and pairs TVs displaying sports games with classy dark wood and dim lighting. The glassed-in patio area is also nice, providing great people watching of the Quincy Market crowd.

The prices seem right - maybe even a bit low - for such a touristy area: wood-grilled pizzas (individually sized, I presume) are $13, entrees are $15-29, and burgers and sandwiches are $9-13 (except for the $19 lobster roll).

Some things on the menu that I'd like to try:

-mac & cheese (four-cheese with herb-crumb topping) and add-ins such as butter-poached lobster, grilled hot dogs, or shaved bacon

-American chop suey with slow-roasted meatballs, fresh pasta, tomato gravy, roasted peppers, blistered baby onions, and four-cheese sauce

-line-caught Chatham cod in a pan-roasted shellfish bouillabaisse with baby potatoes in a light tomato broth

The menu is very New England-y and heavily features cheeses (especially gruyere and goat) and meats.

If you don't live or work nearby, you'll have to decide if it's worth braving the tourist throngs to come here. I would return if I found myself in the neighborhood, but I wouldn't make a special trip to the area for it. I feel the same way about Faneuil Hall as I do about Harvard Square: I love it, but I wish other people didn't love it quite so much. It's better when you're not tripping over people.

In case you didn't view the slideshow or read the captions, in summary, the food is solid. I even tried some things I normally don't eat (mushrooms, goat cheese, bleu cheese), and I found that I enjoyed all of them in the context of their dishes.

Finally, here are a couple of gratuitous Faneuil Hall shots.

Ooh, impending storm!

It's Marine Week!

A Taste of New England

Ed. note: This post originally appeared in my 2008 food blog Fork It Over on the website of the Rochester Insider magazine, which is now Metromix Rochester. Since the old blog is no longer available online,  I'm re-posting some of those posts here and backdating them to their original posting dates. Although in most cases they are specific to Rochester, hopefully you'll still find them somewhat interesting!   ~Rachel, 6/28/10

Last week I spent some time eating my way through Massachusetts and hitting up some of the major tourist attractions. I grew up in a small Massachusetts town called Sharon, located about 25 miles south of Boston and home to one of the ten best ice cream places in the world, Crescent Ridge. Due to the short and relatively easy commute to Boston, I used to go into town often, but this was the first time I really got a chance to walk around on my own. I walked pretty much the entirety of Boston, took a painful amount of photos, and of course, ate some tasty food.

One of the most touristy places in Boston (but still worth a visit even if you're trying to avoid the typical tourist attractions) is the Faneuil Hall Marketplace. (The most common pronunciation of "Faneuil" rhymes with "manual.") The marketplace consists of Faneuil Hall itself, which is a historic building known for a whole bunch of things you can read about on Wikipedia; Quincy Market, which is the main food section; North and South Markets, which both house a lot of fun stores; and the outdoor areas between all the buildings, where you can find tons of carts selling a variety of crafts, t-shirts, and other items.

Quincy Market (that's pronounced quin-zee, not quin-see) is where you'll find most of the restaurants. The indoor area consists of a long hallway of to-go food counters featuring every type of food imaginable (see a full list here.)

In the middle of the hall of food, there's a large rotunda where you can battle other eaters for a seat at the long wooden tables on two floors.

There are also some large sit-down restaurants scattered around the marketplace, but the cheaper (and more fun!) option is to pick up food at one of these counters and go find a seat in the rotunda or outside. The empty space on either end of Quincy Market is usually taken up by performance artists, so there's always plenty of entertainment.

You can usually find people in interesting costumes.

No matter what you eat, make sure you leave some room for cookies. The Boston Chipyard, located along one of the outer hallways of Quincy Market, has the best cookies in the world. They typically have about ten flavors available on any given day, and you can order them in half-dozen increments. Last time I was there, I bought a half dozen chocolate chip cookies and a half dozen oatmeal raisin cookies.

Excuse me a moment while I wipe the drool off of my keyboard.

Of course, Quincy Market isn't the only place to eat in Boston. For authentic, delicious Italian food, be sure to stop by the North End. (Surprise! The North End isn't the northernmost area of Boston. East Boston and Charlestown are actually further north. Yes, East Boston is north of the North End. The West End is also in the northern part of town. Confused yet? One more interesting point: South Boston and the South End are two entirely different areas. Southie refers to South Boston, and the South End isn't the southernmost part of the city.) Anyway, back to the food. While you're in the North End, be sure to try a cannoli at Mike's Pastry, which has existed forever. The history part of the website is under construction so I'm not sure exactly how long it's really been there, but Mike's is definitely a North End landmark, so no matter how much you eat for dinner, save room for dessert and head to Mike's. Many North End restaurants are pricey, so be on the look-out for early bird specials. Recently, I ate at G'Vanni's Ristorante, which has an excellent early bird deal where you can get two large dinners AND a bottle of wine for $30, with various upgrades available for a little bit more money.

New England is known for seafood, so if you're anywhere in the region, be sure to eat some fish. Sadly, one of Boston's seafood landmarks, a store called James Hook and Co. that has been open since 1925, burned down several weeks ago (full story here, so cross that one off your list for now, although the owners do plan to rebuild.) Legal Seafoods, although a fairly large chain now, is still a great place to have a wonderful seafood dinner. You should venture outside of Boston as well, if you get a chance. Last week I spent a day on the North Shore of Massachusetts, which includes towns and cities such as Ipswich, Salem, Essex, Gloucester, and Rockport. I started out the day in Gloucester (pronounced Gloss-tah, not Glow-chester). First, I went to the Hammond Castle, a medieval-style castle built by inventor John Hays Hammond, Jr. in the 1920s that now serves as a museum.

Next, I stopped for lunch at The Gloucester House, a fifty year old restaurant responsible for popularizing fried calamari (thank you Gloucester House!!!) and specializing in North Atlantic seafood.

My mom ordered a lobster roll (pronounce it "lobstah" if you want to sound like a local), and it was enormous and delicious.

My dad got some tasty fried clams.

I had the baked haddock, lightly breaded to perfection.

After Gloucester, we headed to nearby Rockport, a coastal town full of little shops and art galleries. Once we were tired of shopping, we stopped by The Ice Cream Store for a little afternoon treat.

I got peppermint ice cream with jimmies. See the glossary if you're confused.

Eating in Massachusetts requires some specific food vocabulary, so here's a little glossary to help you out.

Glossary

• Frappes vs. Milkshakes: Frappes are what the rest of the country thinks of as milkshakes--milk, flavored syrup, and ice cream--while milkshakes in New England are made with just milk and syrup but no ice cream. So if you're from out of state and looking for a milkshake, you probably want to order a frappe. By the way, that rhymes with "rap." Don't pronounce it "frapp-ay."
• Jimmies vs. Sprinkles: You've probably had sprinkles before--the little candy pieces that you can get on your ice cream--in either the rainbow or chocolate variety. In most parts of New England, rainbow sprinkles are known simply as sprinkles, while the chocolate ones are called jimmies.
• Scrod: You will see "scrod" or "schrod" on the menu at almost any seafood restaurant. It's not a real fish. Scrod does not actually exist. The word "scrod" is a generic term used to refer to whatever whitefish is the catch of the day, most frequently cod or haddock. For more information about scrod, including a grammatical joke that will make you laugh if you're a grammar dork like me, check out the Wikipedia page.
• Tonic vs. Soda vs. Pop: Soft drinks are referred to as "soda" in Massachusetts. Never, ever "pop." If you call it "pop," you will probably be laughed at. Some Bostonians call soft drinks "tonic," but this isn't as common. "Tonic" isn't the same as what you might call "tonic water" (a carbonated beverage with quinine.)

I took way too many photos on this trip, and all the time spent sorting through and editing and uploading them is what held this blog post up for so long, so do me a favor and go take a look at them :)

• Rockport
• Gloucester
• Museum of Science
• Butterfly Garden at the Museum of Science
• New England Aquarium
• Miscellaneous Boston