Sunday Cook's Profile
quick! Dosa factory in the back of Shalimar - is it good?
I really enjoyed my visit there. I'm no dosa connoisseur, but we had a great lunch there. I think i had a masala dosa and one of the chaat dishes. I thought the prices were reasonable and the food was vibrant and flavorful.
It's not fancy at all - sort of a sub shop kind of environment - not an elegant night out kind of place, but perfect for a lunch with friends and/or the kids
Bar "buy backs" [moved from Boston board]
They really are illegal - see the ABCC language I posted above. I'm opening a restaurant right now and my local licensing board, as well as the state, have been *very* clear with us that the rules state we are never able to give a customer a free drink.
As the recipient of free drinks at many of my favorite watering holes, I know this rule is not frequently followed, but no freebies is the rule.
Bar "buy backs" [moved from Boston board]
That's exactly what it is.
And all it's done is drive these practices further under the covers. Now barstaff doesn't report buybacks to their management, and as you've noted, cocktails are large enough to have their own tides.
Pubs North of Boston
I second both recommendations, for different reasons. Ale House has a phenomenal beer selection and really educated servers. The food is meh. Patty melt pretty good.
Choate has good burgers, great onion rings, cheap drinks and friendly waitstaff - cash only though.
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Ale House
37 Friend St, Amesbury, MA 01913
Just for fun - most overpriced drinks in Boston?
Mooooo. Went one night and were charged $16 / 18 for a Maker's Mark and a Booker's on the rocks. No mixing, no stirring or shaking. Just open and pour. It wasn't a very large pour either.
Bar "buy backs" [moved from Boston board]
Ya - comped drinks are technically illegal - not that you'd know it from some of the places I drink at. But that is why never see booze comped on your tab, it just isn't there.
Full text from the ABCC is here: http://www.mass.gov/abcc/regs/reg2040403.htm
Relevant language - "a" covers comps, "c" covers happy hour pricing.:
(1) No licensee or employee or agent of a licensee shall:
(a) offer or deliver any free drinks to any person or group of persons;
(b) deliver more than two drinks to one person at one time;
(c) sell, offer to sell or deliver to any person or group of persons any
drinks at a price less than the price regularly charged for such drinks
during the same calendar week, except at private functions not open to
the public;
Looking for Rittenhouse 100
I think I bought the last bottle yesterday. They had Carpano Antica which was a pleasant surprise.
great meal at Bondir
I believe manigodine is a cheese. See this entry from Formaggio Kitchen's blog: http://www.formaggiokitchen.com/travelogues/France/Savoie-Farmhouse-Cheese
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Formaggio Kitchen
244 Huron Ave, Cambridge, MA 02138
Private chef in bostom
when I did this kind of thing I didn't expect a tip, but it was always *really* appreciated. Generally when I was tipped it was between $50-100 for the dinner - and that, I assume - is because I would go all out with surprise extras like boxes of chocolate truffles for each guest, a quick little amuse bouche and/or a special recipe packet.
I suggets looking at what she's charging (sans ingredients) and build a tip off that, 20% or so of the base rate is probably appropriate.
Newburyport? Soup, salad, sandwich type place? Veggie friendly? {Not a requiement}
I actually find the Purple Onion to be fairly expensive for what it is: a small, sandwich shop with seating. The food is okay, but generally underseasoned and sort of boring.
If you're looking for interesting for something more interesting, try Andaman Thai at the Tannery (on Water st.), or cross the bridge toward Salisbury (Rt 1 bridge) and go to MaPow for great Thai and pretty good sushi.
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Purple Onion
44 Inn St, Newburyport, MA 01950
Andaman Thai Restaurants
75 Water St, Newburyport, MA 01950
Dining with a dog in southern Maine
picked up jerk chicken and curry goat there last night. Brought it home to eat today - quite good. I think the jerk was better than the curry but both dishes were great.
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Jamaican Jerk Center
1400 Us Route 1 Cape, Neddick, ME
Best options at Eastern Standard
We eat at ESK all the time (in fact were there last night) - I love their burger and mac and cheese. Cod fritters, fried calamari, the beet salad - tons of app options. Their main menu is great too, although more than you may want to spend pre-concert.
Grab a seat at the bar if you can and enjoy.
Highland Kitchen/10 Tables in the suburbs?
Agreed and as a suburb dweller it makes me sad. :-(
Highland Kitchen/10 Tables in the suburbs?
Thanks for the info - much appreciated! Yes, Parson's Table looks like it will be exactly what I'm looking for.
Highland Kitchen/10 Tables in the suburbs?
I am looking for restaurants that have a Highland Kitchen / 10 Tables kind of vibe in the 'burbs. Smallish places that have interesting (i.e. goat stew) food, reasonable prices (entrees
Do these restaurants exist or are they purely a benefit of city living?
E/S NEW CHEF
Had dinner there Saturday. Andrew (GM) mentioned Jeremy came on board about a week ago (he was there Sat - was all over the dining room). Didn't sound like a consulting gig, but even if it was I certainly wouldn't expect them to talk about it that way.
We usually eat at the bar but were in the dining room b/c we were with friends. New pork shank entree - amazingly good. Better than the suckling pork special actually.
We hadn't been in a few months, so I can't speak to any great flops in the recent past. On this trip food was ok (ceviche - too mild and a little soggy) to fabulous (pork shank and *incredible* butterscotch bread pudding).
fabulous spiral ham?
According to the NY Times, Martha Stewart's ham - sold at Costco is supposed to be super duper: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/24/dining/24ham.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=ham martha stewart&st=cse
Company Dining Near the Convention Center/Pru/Back Bay?
While it's gotten mixed reviews - I think Summer Shack would be perfect. It's totally New England, so your Southerners can try some of our "native food" :-) It's also casual and with a varied enough menu to please most appetites.
Eastern Standard, while not right next to the Hynes, is another good option. They handle large groups with ease. Their menu has something for everyone and at a lot of different price points (the burger is great). The cocktails are great - although you'll blow your per diem.
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Summer Shack Boston
50 Dalton St., Boston, MA 02115
Eastern Standard
528 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215
Where to take our nephew and his friends for dinner?
Hello DC Chowers,
Thank you everyone for your suggestions. We just got back from our weekend and had a very good time.
We went to Founding Farmers for dinner on Saturday. Our table had fried green tomatoes and mussels as starters. I liked the tomatoes quite a bit. Personally I thought the mussels were a little underdone, but my husband and nephew scarfed them down. Different strokes, I guess. For dinner, I had the skirt steak and enchiladas and the boys both had the ribeye. I guess I didn't read the menu properly - I thought I was getting skirt steak enchiladas but got two cojita enchiladas with some seared skirt steak on the side. I really liked the pickled vegetables that were served as a side with the dish: the vegetables were crisp and just puckery enough to refresh the palate. The ribeye was served with mashed yukon golds and broccoli (veg of the day). The steak was thinner than I would have thought, but the kitchen did an admirable job of putting a good crust on the exterior and still holding a medium-rare doneness.
For brunch, we went to the Tabard Inn. I had the shrimp bisque to start. It was much spicier than I expected (which was a good thing) and was a great way to warm up on a fairly cold morning. I had a plate of poached eggs, fried oysters and potato-leek hash with bernaise (light! ha!) as my main. The eggs were perfect and the oysters were delivered hot and crispy. I thought the bernaise could have used a touch more tarragon, but as a whole, the dish was great. My husband had the cream-chees and chive scrambled eggs with Toulouse sausage and home fries. The nephew had hanger steak and eggs and a side of grits. Clean plates all around.
Thanks again for the advice. Much appreciated.
veal bones
I bought veal bones through McKinnon's in Danvers last July. I did have to order ahead. They told me that they order them in 10 pound cases.
I must have called 5 other butchers looking for them. I got one person on the phone who asked me "What are veal bones?" I replied, "They're what holds the cow up."
Trying to avoid food poisoning
Yeouch. No way am I eating anything from that kitchen. The hostess' food safety practices are definitely risky. In an perfect world, you wouldn't get sick from the precooked food just because it's been left out. However, I doubt that someone who puts so little concern into basic food handling practices when it comes to storage pays much attention to hand washing, cross-contamination issues and safe cooking temperatures either.
If she is cooking chicken or ground beef, for instance, there's a an issue with potential cross contamination. There's also a potential issue with cooking temperature: does she cook her chicken to her high enough temp to kill off salmonella or e coli? If not, the room temp storage creates a ideal breeding ground.
It's estimated that over 30% of food poisoning cases occur in home kitchens. Home kitchens are not immune from bacteria.
I am not a food safety crank (I eat my burgers med rare, like sushi, etc.) but there are some basics that are no deal issues for me: storage temperature, cross contamination and general cleanliness.
A great site for basic food safety issues is: http://www.homefoodsafety.org. It's run by the American Dietetic Association.
Food should be held at lower than 40 degrees, or higher than 140 degrees (in a warmer, crockpot or oven). In ServSafe (food safety cert for food handlers) you learn about The Danger Zone. That zone is the range from 40 to 140. In a restaurant, food left in TDZ for longer than four hours must be thrown out. Certain foods like bread, undressed salad, uncut fruit are exempt from TDZ regs.
Where to take our nephew and his friends for dinner?
Boy! Thanks everyone, this is a great place to start. I'll report back with a trip report after our return (a week after the inauguration).
Jacey - your comment about college boys and tapas is accurate. I was looking at the Cafe Atlantico "latin tapas" menu and ruled it our for that reason. My boy can eat and my wallet does have limits!
ISO measured pour spout
You could try Eastern Baker's Supply in the North End. They are only open during the day (I think they close at 4:30) and no weekend hours.
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Eastern Bakers Supply Co
145 N Washington St, Boston, MA
Best burger on the North Shore?
The Choate in Ipswich. Always juicy, served on an onion roll.
Full bar, cash only.
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Choate Bridge Pub
3 S Main St, Ipswich, MA
Where to take our nephew and his friends for dinner?
My husband and I are heading to DC to visit with our nephew at Georgetown University in a few weeks. We'd like to take him and his friends out to dinner and I am looking for recommendations.
We're chowish types (open to ethnic options, hole-in-the-wall kinda places). I am hoping to get to Ben's Chili Bowl at some point for some half smokes and chili. Our nephew is pretty adventurous too. I'd like to find someplace that's a tiny bit higher-end since he's on a pretty tight budget and it would be fun to treat him to someplace he might not go to himself.
I'm not sure which meal(s) we'll be meeting for, but I'm guessing dinner and/or brunch. Any suggestions would be appreciated. We will not have a car, so public transport accessible options would be best.
Oaf needs mandoline for thin-sliced garlic only
I second the truffle slicer. It's nice and small, so it's easy to handle. I use mine for garlic all the time. They aren't very expensive and mine is nice and flat so it's easy to store. I purchased mine at Williams Sonoma.
wusthof hand held sharpener
I use one and *love* it! I also have an electric sharpener but have stopped using it. Major benefits for me: it's quiet, it's very effective, since it's not powered (like an electric) I think you run less of a risk of over doing it.
I have a collection of knives from various manufacturers, so no worries if you don't own a wusthof. The only thing I am cautious about: I do not sharpen my Japanese knives on it - the sharpening rods look to be angled for "western-style" knife edges. Perhaps the santoku model is appropriate for the Japanese-style bevel.
Dungeness Crab at Super 88
Was at the Malden Super 88 last night. They had two tanks full of feisty looking live Dungeness crab - priced at about $6.50 a pound. Seemed like a good deal to me. Might be time to start a new Thanksgiving tradition. :-)
Perfect Sazerac?
It was served on the rocks.
We said something to the bartender and he offered to make something else, but we stuck with it. It was very anise-y due to all the pastis, but drinkable. The Aviation I ordered was good (was made old style with Creme de Violette).
I would give the bar a try, just stick to the drinks on their drink menu (my Aviation was) and don't go "off the list."
And yes, we did pay for it. 2 drinks = $30. That's the main reason the Mandarin is low on my list of spots to return to.
