I've seen the gh cretors Chicago mix at superstore and pretty sure at loblaws too. Imagine Costco is more economical though :)

indeed, you never know... i'm glad my cousin insisted. :)

thanks again for all the great recommendations, can't wait to go back to Boston!

Just returned from a wonderful trip! I had forgotten just how great a city Boston is. And so baby-friendly! Thanks again for all the suggestions. I have to return soon to try the places that remain on my list!

We enjoyed some delicious homemade meals, esp. breakfasts, made by my cousin, so wonderful and tasty that we didn't end up eating out as much as expected. but what a treat to eat homecooked food made by someone other than myself :) So here's what we enjoyed.

Burdick's: had some yummy treats at both locations. Loved the hazelnut orange cake.

Crema coffee: the vibe is totally different from the (unrelated) crema in toronto. I couldn't believe how huge and packed this place was. Really enjoyed the coffee!

Upstairs on the square: had some lovely salads and pizzas here. Not neapolitan style, but my daughter really loved the green leaf pizza :)

flour bakery: daughter loved the banana bread mixed with some yogurt. sticky bun was good. service was painfully slow and disrganized though.

otto pizzeria: liked some of the unique flavour combos like mushroom-cauliflower. again not really neapolitan but baby enjoyed her tomato-ricotta slice :)

cookie monstah food truck: nice peanut butter cookie

sofra: loved this place. brought back a ton of snacks for the flight home :) was surprised to see they had kouign aman, yum, better than any i've had since my last trip to paris 3 yrs ago. loved everything! pistachio mascarpone donut, chocolate passion fruit tart, crackers, some kind of baklava bread pudding hybrid... even the coffee was delicious. my cousins think we get better traditional armenian baked goods in montreal , so they thought we would enjoy sofra for its creative desserts.

oleana: turns out this is my cousin's favourite restaurant. we managed to pull this off with no reservation, 730 seating in the courtyard. perfect setting. we were blown away by the food. everything was stunning. i found myself wanting to lick my plate repeatedly. burrata with chickpeas and lovage, snap pea saganaki, carrot dukkah dip, mussels, soft shell crabs, deviled eggs, hummus with basterma, cheese pie ... my daughter was well-behaved, she had some space to walk around when she got restless, and she thoroughly enjoyed the spinach falafels :)

also had the requisite lobster roll on a day trip to gloucester :)

So, Boston is a super baby-friendly city, lots of great activities, delicious food and friendly people :) can't wait to go back :)

Thanks everyone, I will make sure to report back upon my return!

Wow, thanks everyone! some great suggestions! I am looking so forward to this long weekend trip. And I'm sure my daughter will appreciate all the park and greenspace recommendations :)

dwelltime and crema sound right up our alley. especially since I'm sure baby won't understand the concept of sleeping in while on vacation :) one of my favourite spots here in toronto is also called crema.

Sofra is on my list, and even more so now that it looks like Oleana is out. I'm of armenian decent so I will definitely enjoy some armenian pastries. My cousins would probably enjoy some treats from the suggested bakeries too :)

Also will definitely check our Cardullos and Flour and Central Bottle!

Of the places suggested, which do you think would be a nice place to take my cousins to thank them for their hospitality, keeping toddler in mind? I don't want to risk the rain/patio with Oleana. Really like the menus for Puritan and Co, East by Northeast, and Gran Gusto...

Hi everyone,

My hubby, 15-month-old daughter and I will be spending a long weekend in the Boston area next week.We will be staying with family in Cambridge. They are food lovers and I'm sure they will have some great suggestions but thought I would post here since the last time they dealt with a baby was over 20 years ago :)

From what I've read here, Boston seems to be pretty baby friendly, which is great. Our daughter is not overly picky. So here's what I'm looking for.

1- good coffee. we tend to like "third wave" indie coffee shops. We'd really like a spot that's walking distance from our place (nearMassachusetts avenue and hancock) for morning coffee, or at least a really easy commute by public transit.

2- good snacks/prepared food to bring home. I would like to treat my hosts to some nice foods to show my appreciation! Read about Formaggio - any other suggestions?

3- I would love some good seafood, lobster, pysters etc. My husband won't touch the stuff, so someplace casual where I can grab and go would be great.

4- I would like to take my hosts out for a nice dinner. I was reading about Oleana, it sounds great but is it ok to bring a baby?

5- other suggestions: any musts, let me know! We love pretty much any kind of food. as long as the atmosphere is casual enough for me to enjoy taking my daughter, I'm open. Myers and Chang sounds interesting. My daughter would probably enjoy some neapolitan pizza. We plan on doing lots of sightseeing so suggestions near the aquarium, children's museum, etc. are appreciated.

Thanks in advance! :)

I've been a few times for supper and to one large event. I personally don't find the food to be anything special, but I think it is good, particularly if you're looking to please a big crowd. Service has always been great.

The event I attended was hors d'oeuvres and a buffet. I can't remember the food now but it was fine. Probably better than most banquet halls but lacking wow. I do like the venue though. Perhaps you can customize a menu?

The above replies contain some great suggestions. I will add Chutneys for Indian. I only ate there once, years ago, and to be honest I don't remember much, but they do have a takeout special before 5:00. Ma Maison is a french bakery/cafe where you can get some nice quiche and salads to go. I have some other suggestions, but wondering how far you are willing to drive?

Can only hope that our little ones keep their adventurous palates! :) will try with omelette for next time. This time she ate the sauce with yogurt and bread and couldn't get enough!

I love traditional fattoush salad. If you omit the yogurt/ buttermilk, and toast the bread, you will essentially have a fantastic version of the traditional salad. The yogurt transforms it into a whole new delicious salad. I toasted the bread but otherwise followed the recipe. I too felt there was a lot of dressing, but it was delicious so it wasn't a big problem :)

Glad you liked it :)

So happy to have made this shakshouka. Followed the recipe except I reduced the amount of Harissa so that my 11 month-old could eat some of the sauce too (no eggs just yet). I overcooked the eggs a bit but still found this just wonderful. I topped half with yogurt as suggested in the recipe, and the other half with feta and zaatar. Loved it both ways.

Made this two nights ago. I really loved the sizzled garlic and capers, but I felt the tarragon didn't belong. Next time, I will omit the tarragon and chop the veggies inhf.

Going off the top of my head... not all exactly in BWV, but nearby at least. Some of the places are not necessarily my preferences, but are popular and may appeal to you.

Barque for bbq, Ace for brunch, Hey for casual/baked goods etc, Hopgood's Foodliner, Lit for coffee, Cherry bomb for baked goods, all on Roncesvalles

Playa Cantina for Mexican, Vesuvios for pizza, Locomotive for sandwiches, Crema for coffee, the beet for healthy food, Sweet Potato for decent organic groceries, Delight and fromagerie for chocolate and cheese, in the Junction

BWV - I haven't noticed a decline in Falafel World's quality, I enjoy it, and find the owners friendly. I only go about 3 times a year but I always have good experiences. I do find that the quality at Max's Market has declined, though some disagree. Bread and Roses, Hot Oven for bread... not a fan of Queen's Pasta Cafe but again, many like it. Dr Generosity for brunch

Etobicoke, about 10-15 min away from bwv : Paul and Sandy's BBQ, La Veranda Osteria for Italian, casual French at Merlot (not a huge fan but I know lots of people love it), Kumo sushi, Via Allegro for over the top italian, Faema at Sherway for good coffee and pizza (not worth a special trip but if youre at the mall...), Medium Rare butcher...

Jane/Annette: Patisserie 27!!!

I followed the recipe as written minus the goat cheese. Combined everything as a salad dressing for the beets. Worked out great but I would reduce the amount of yogurt.

Agree, the colour was rather unexpected, but mine turned out light and fluffy and my 11-month old went nuts over them. I served them as a main dish for meatless Monday, but would serve as a side dish next time.

I made a salad version of this recipe, basically chopped the beets and used the other ingredients for the dressing. Didn't use goat cheese. Used maple instead of date syrup. Fantastic, though if I make it as a salad again I will reduce the amount of yogurt a bit.

I made this too, forgot to post!I cut the carrots before boiling, just to make things a bit faster. Forgot the arugula (I seem to forget a lot of the final "garnish" steps in these recipes... blame it on the baby :) ). This was delicious. Don't be tempted to skip the 30 minute wait, the flavors need this time to meld.

Tahini cookies (don't have the page number, book is downstairs!)

Cream butter and sugar, add tahini, cream, and vanilla, then add flour. Knead until smooth. Form into balls, press down with a fork, decorate with a pistachio and a sprinkling of cinnamon and bake.

Pretty much followed the recipe, except that I used regular sugar and I put some cinnamon in with the flour instead of sprinkling on top. The dough came together really easily and didn't need much kneading. The cookies looked like a middle eastern version of a peanut butter cookie :)

I baked for 15 minutes, which is the minimum recommended time. Somehow, the bottoms came out really burnt! My oven doesn't normally run hot, so I'm not sure what happened. In any case, it was very easy to scrape off the burnt bits, so the cookies were saved. I enjoyed the crumbly texture and subtle flavour. I can see these pairing well with tea or coffee. My hubby and guests really loved these, probably more than I did even.Both guests ended up leaving with some, and the whole batch was finished within about 2 hours :)

I don't think this is an earth-shattering cookie, but it is lovely for company, not too sweet, and just different enough to keep things interesting.

Made this tonight for an iranian-inspired dinner. What a lovely dish. It's beautiful to look at and makes a pleasant side . It was fresh and tasty, with sour notes from the barberries, green from the herbs, and crunch from the pistachios. My only change was to add extra tarragon as I did not have chervil (never seem to have it at the grocery stores I shop at). Perfect complement to chicken kebabs, spinach yogurt, and tomato-cucumber salad.

Wow! Made these tonight and although I took a few shortcuts, they turned out fantastic. I made the recipe as directed, but I did not let the raw meatball mixture cool in the fridge for 30 minutes. I put the stock and lemon juice for the sauce in a separate pot, and put the fried meatballs in the sauce as I went along, instead of cooking all the meatballs then simmering in the sauce. I only left the meatballs in the sauce for a few minutes, at a higher heat. All this to say, I took a few shortcuts and they still turned out delicious! I loved the light fluffy texture, the velvety leek, and the bright lemon sauce. Another definite repeat.

Just made this tonight. What a wonderful dish. I made a number of changes and it still turned out great. I used chicken stock instead of vegetable, halved the caraway seeds, used one 28 oz can of diced tomatoes instead of 14 oz can + passata, and forgot the oregano garnish. Nonetheless, it was delicious. I was a bit hesitant throughout the cooking process - i thought there was an awful lot of liquid for the amount of barley. But at the end of the 45 minutes, the texture was creamy just like risotto. Very impressed, and it seemed less fussy than regular risotto.

Mmm this sounds fantastic! I wasn't sure about the frying but it sounds like it wasn't to heavy.

I once used the online form to complain to Loblaws about an incident that had occurred at the East Mall store. My issue was with the way the cashier and manager(asst mgr?) handled a pricing error for an item that was $3.50, and they offered me a $5 gift card. It's worth a shot.

Had these for supper tonight. Really enjoyed them, I think they make a solid weeknight dish. I followed the recipe, except I just used yogurt for the sauce, no sour cream. When I first saw the recipe, I thought it sounded great, but it didn't occur to me that it was basically variation of a dish my grandmother used to make... zucchini stuffed with ground meat/chicken and topped with yogurt and sumac. No wonder I found this so comforting :)

+1 We were blown away by this one. Hubby isn't a huge fan of squash, but he loved this combo, and so did I!

Ok so I just snuck a piece of mutabbaq from the fridge... Yum!!! The recipe says to serve warm but I like it even better cold! The syrup seems to be just right in quantity and the lemon adds a nice ending. The cheese is not as silky cold but that's ok. If you don't mind it cold, syrup will work fine as is, contrary to my previous post.

We loved this salad!!! So satisfying and tasty, wish I hadn't halved the recipe as we both wanted seconds.

I used pumpkin seed oil instead of walnut, and replaced the tamarind with lemon juice and a tiny punch of sugar. I didn't stress too much about keeping the leeks together. They fell apart but it wasn't too messy and didn't affect the flavor. Another winner.

We seem to gravitate towards the same recipes, geekmom :) The chicken with cardamom rice is on next week's menu!

Mutabbaq, p 262

This is a phyllo-based dessert made with cheese and topped with syrup. You layer and butter some sheets of phyllo, fill with a blend of ricotta and goat cheese, then layer and butter some more phyllo. While it's baking, you prepare a syrup with water, lemon and sugar. You then soak the pastry in the syrup as soon as it comes out of the oven.

I frequently use phyllo to make spanakopita, so overall I thought this recipe was a cinch to make. Even for someone inexperienced, the method described in the recipe is pretty straightforward. I really liked the tang of the filling. I wasn't sure how that combination of cheese would turn out, but it was really lovely. I only poured the syrup on the pastry about 10 min after it came out of the oven, due to my little one requiring a hug :) but this still turned out great. It's a bit more on the syrupy side than I like; I don't know if my timing had any impact on that. It's not as syrupy as, say, greek baklava, but definitely more syrupy than I'm used to seeing middle eastern baklava be. Speaking of baklava, the suggested variation uses nuts and cinnamon. Next time I make it, I will use a bit less syrup, and I will try making it without the lemon, and sprinkle a bit of cinnamon instead!