Bob Dobalina's Profile
Need Help with Choosing a CSA for Summer '12
I think I might know what's going on - just a guess, but wonder if the remaining shares being sold are being asked to pick-up exclusively on a weeknight to get some balance in the harvest/pickup schedule.
age old question....
What separates Fleming's badness from the pack? Just have never been, doesn't seem to get as much buzz in general...
age old question....
I thought someone mentioned the waitstaff at Del Frisco was heavily tilted toward eye candy...
And while my conscious mind knows about the changes to Morton's and S&W, my subconscious still is fixed on the old images - sorry, watched Inception last night.
age old question....
Part of the equation is who you are, cookfood, because each of these places plays to a particular subset of the population:
Let's play a word association game - here are my answers - I invite others to join in....
A&L's: loud, casual, NYish,
Grill 23: staid, corporate, quality, 40s
Capital: yuppie, suburban, 30s
Davio's: ethnic ;-)
KO Prime: modern, young, striving, 20s
Flemings: ?
S&W: Medieval
DelFrisco: Models
Morton's: corporate, basement
Ruth's Chris: bridge, tunnel, franchise
February 2012 Openings and Closings
Looks like Mare in the North End has re-opened as Mare Oyster Bar, following its brief hiatus for re-design.
http://www.marenatural.com/
Veggie Galaxy in Cambridge!
Ate here for dinner over the weekend - Had the house-smoked fried tofu, with aioli, fries and red cabbage slaw - this is essentially a play on fish and chips and I thought it was a good plate of food. The tofu had a substantially pleasant smokiness, and the breading was firm and fell off the tofu reminiscent of a good piece of haddock. The fries were plentiful and crispy for the most part - the slaw was very lightly dressed, not sweet, the crunch a good counterpoint to the other parts of the dish.
DW did not fare as well - she had a southwestern salad, which was chopped lettuce, a few tomatoes, some corn, overly firm black beans and a light dressing that was barely discernible. I doctored it with salt, pepper and the house hot sauce (green variety, a little zing) and that helped pep up the salad a bit, but it was a disappointment overall, especially for a veggie place. For a vegetarian restaurant to serve bleached out chopped lettuce is a crime.
Also, side of garlic mashed potatoes were overmixed to the point of spackle - for DW not to like mashed means they had to be pretty gross...this is pretty unforgivable.
My experience here feeds my general complaint about so-called vegetarian/vegan places - why so few vegetables on the menu? This place is a haven of starch, but very little love of veggies, at least not in a featured role, and the veggies I saw were not high quality. I understand this is a diner concept, and veggies are more difficult to cook when you are doing short-order-type stuff in line with the diner concept, so maybe that's the deal. And I guess Starch Galaxy does not really have a ring to it...
Good chocolate cookie (take-out from bakery) offered some saving grace, but we will not be hurrying back.
Need Help with Choosing a CSA for Summer '12
Viper, see my reply above - Saturday is definitely a pick-up day.
Need Help with Choosing a CSA for Summer '12
Viperlush, my looking at the website has Saturday as a pick-up time - it is also the most popular pick-up day by far. Not sure where you were seeing that info.
http://communityfarms.org/index.php/csa
Zo's original = best sandwich-ish offering downtown?
In that area, that is probably the best one, but the lamb and house-made marinated eggplant at Artu is pretty good.
Need Help with Choosing a CSA for Summer '12
I have been a Waltham Fields CSA subscriber for 7 years or so, so that speaks for itself. In terms of price, when I first joined, the cost of a share was $525/season for ~20 weeks or roughly $26/wk, which is what I was buying on average per week at Russo's. Add in the taste benefits and it was very much justified.
The cost of the CSA has gone up reasonably over the 7 years - it is now $625/season which works out to roughly $31/week, so still pretty reasonable.
The variety has gotten better over the years, although the early season crops are naturally slanted toward greens and root veggies. Summer and fall make up for it. They have built up a raspberry patch that is pretty reliable for months, along with a brief burst of strawberries. They also have partnerships with other farms for in season corn, squash, etc. All of this is subject to the vagaries of the weather, but for example, when the tomato crop failed in the Northeast due to the fungus two years ago, they worked really hard to get some tomatoes, but also to make up for them with other crops.
You get to manage what you want each week a bit - they usually have say 12 items for pick-up and you get to pick 9. That way, if you have not gotten through all your kale from the week before, you can get some onions instead. The pick-your-own is also great.
The WF CSA is a vital part of our Saturday a.m. routine and it starts from your neck of the woods - we head out early, grab a coffee and a fancy pastry at Sofra, head over to the farm, really enjoy walking the fields and picking peas, beans, raspberries, cherry tomatoes, etc., then swing by Russo's if we want to supplement with fruit, milk, etc., hit the Armenian markets on Mt. Auburn and the Stop and Shop in Watertown for big box goods, and head home.
Up until this year, we were two non-veg adults and we had to work pretty hard to get through everything each week. It will require a fair amount of cooking at home. If it gets overwhelming, you can split a share with someone too.
Anyway, my two cents. I don't think you can go wrong either way.
P.s. - can you tell I am excited for the coming growing season?
Looking for Good Cocktail Bars in Boston
I cannot speak to good cocktailry as an expert, but I did notice that the downstairs bar at the new tapas place in Union Square - Casa B - had a wide and varied assortment of bottles and liquors that seemed tilted toward the uncommon - all of which struck me as if they had been assembled with care and taste. My pisco sour was also excellent.
Birthday Dinner Question (Hungry Mother)
I'm surprised to hear you say incredibly heavy - I always thought it was pretty reasonable given the southern roots or vs. say Tupelo, which does seem heavier to me by comparison. Of course, I don't usually get the tongue.
Spending the weekend with my daughter after 4 years apart. Need restaurant, bar suggestions
Fun informal place, but small room so secure conversation not possible.
Birthday Dinner Question (Hungry Mother)
Just curious - there is fish, veg, chicken and steak on the menu....so what's left for her to like?!
Spending the weekend with my daughter after 4 years apart. Need restaurant, bar suggestions
Yeah, definitely second the Regina rec and opinionated's philosophy as well - easier to be overheard in a quiet restaurant than a loud one. Plus, probably better to keep it light and casual the first night and ease into the deep conversation as it happens. Search the board for a recent thread on hitting up the North End/Regina's before the game.
Also a 21 year old in Allston will probably have her own ideas of where she wants to grab a drink with you after the game, so I might not be all that concerned. Though, you might tell her you heard about this cool bar in her neighborhood - the Model - and pronounce it the Moh-Del. You might get some points for that.
Other than the setting what kind of food do you enjoy? does she enjoy?
Biryani Park - Sri Lankan in Malden
Just a quick few comments on Biryani Park -
Again, thanks to all CHers for your recommendation on this place - not only would I never have trekked out to Malden for this chow on my own, but I would never have stopped at this place, given the sort of barren look it has. Definitely owning the "hidden gem" descriptor.
We ordered mulligatawny soup and rasam soup - both were excellent, savory, complex in flavor -
Masala dosa was a huge portion, nicely crispy on the outside, good amount of fillings - all around, we liked it better than the similar dosa from Dosa Temple in Somerville - just bigger, fresher, better looking crepe - couple of kids at another table got the cone dosas - way cool.
Also a veggie biryani - again, complex spice, not overwhelming in terms of veggies - these were fairly scant and ok, but overall, the dish was very good.
Noticed at the bottom of our check - MILD in all caps - we might adjust that expectation in the future. Also, staff could not have been nicer - apologized a dozen times about how slow the food was in coming out - except that it was not slow at all - in fact, not sure how but we totally line-jumped other tables - probably by sticking with the dishes we ordered - in any case, they were very nice.
Ginger tea took a little while to come out - good non-alcoholic digestif!
Spring Break in Boston
Your premise is the problem - the "iconic" Boston places with name recognition and oozing Boston tend to have ultra-sucky food.
But if the Boston experience is what you want, I can think of no finer example of Santarpio's in East Boston - do a search on the board and take all stories and advice to heart.
February 2012 Openings and Closings
Too funny!
Here's the wiki-thought on this: "The name Shabu Shabu is derived from the "swish swish" sound of cooking the meat in the pot."
So we were both close.
Breakfast near Gvt. Ctr, State House
Awesome - have had the japchae (but had forgotten the name) - can't say I know good japchae vs. bad japchae, but I enjoyed it too.
Breakfast near Gvt. Ctr, State House
I don't want to oversell it - it is still very much the Hungry Traveler, but for some reason, I have a soft spot for the place.
Breakfast near Gvt. Ctr, State House
Still there as of a couple of months ago (I don't walk by that area quite as often) - it's run by a Korean couple - often can get a pretty decent bulgoki at lunch...
February 2012 Openings and Closings
That's a really clever name, since I think "shabu shabu" is the Japanese word for the swishing sound you make when you swish your food in the broth.
Breakfast near Gvt. Ctr, State House
In the same vein as High Spot Deli, down the street from Parker House and down the alley past the Starbucks is Cafe Delicato, which is standard breakfast, but done up to order - a little further and to the left is the Hungry Traveler, same sort of deal - basic bare bones, but these two places are decent honest working-class chow. Ultra no frills.
Or walk down Tremont Street toward the Common and keep going until you reach Thinking Cup on the left - great coffee, decent fancy-coffee-place baked goods and chow.
Modernist Cuisine (book) now in area libraries
The "translator" will undoubtedly be the abridged version, coming out in time for Xmas 2013.
Or you could work on a MC for Dummies volume...
Modernist Cuisine (book) now in area libraries
That's a truly thoughtful response - thank you - and I pretty much agree with you.
I have not looked at the book in depth, but a 6 volume cookbook has a Spinal Tap (this goes to 11) quality that makes it seem a bit absurd in total.
Modernist Cuisine (book) now in area libraries
Does the publication of this book collection signal the jumping of the shark of the foodie movement?
Floating Rock question
For me, bottom line is $16 for Tiger's Tears had better be great, and it's just average at best. Don't know about the lineage of the place - never went to FR when it was in Revere - but just seems sort of average food.
Couple that with experiencing badly made drinks and I haven't been back.
Granted, maybe as a hound, I am not in their target demographic with the DJ stuff.
