foodymom's Profile
Visiting Boston with a Shellfish Allergy…
I have to second two places. Not only is Ming Tsai as good as it gets in terms of chef who are sensitive to allergy issues, but the Lounge at Blue Ginger (which is less expensive then Blue Ginger) is delicious. Legal Seafoods is also known for using a separate fryer for their French fries which can be a major source of allergy exposure for people with shellfish allergy. As of Jan. 1st, places will be much more knowledgeable due to a food allergy law that was passed (the first of its kind in the US).
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Best working chef in boston.
I agree with these folks: Jamie Bissonnette -- Toro, Gabriel Bremer -- Salts, Dante de Magistris -- Dante, Il Casale
But think that these people have to be included in the top: Tim Wiechmann-T.W. Food, Tony Maws-Craigie on Main; Barry Maiden-Hungry Mother; Chef Kung-Oishii Two in Sudbury
And, while the OP didn't mean this, I still have to send a nod to Rachel Klein-Aura; Ana Sortun-Oleana; Jody Adams-Rialto and Barbara Lynch. While they may have made decisions that mean they are not "on the line" as frequently as others, they are still an integral part of what shapes their restaurants.
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Potentially silly question about o ya
Oh, don't feel silly! First, as the other posters wrote, O Ya is a very relaxed place and just eat as you feel most comfortable. Second, the food is some of the more memorable I had had-you should be excited! Finally, if you want to learn to use chopsticks, they make chopstick holders that are meant for children to learn to use chopsticks. But, they are very good for adults who struggle! I bought some at the store at the RISD Museum of of Art in Providence, but I am sure they have them at other places.
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Baby friendly in Boston?
If you are here on a Tuesday or Friday night, I would definitely check out Family Friendly nights at Aura. Chef Rachel Klein (who has a two year old) has created a best of both world's situation: your baby can eat home-made organic baby food and then play with lovely toys, while the adults can eat Chef Klein's delicious fusion fare. Aura, at the Seaport Hotel, is near the ICA which is also an excellent place to visit.
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Recent visit to Newton, Brookline and Harvard Sqr. Markets
Brookline: With the sun out this Thursday afternoon, so were the happy customers at the Brookline Farmer's Market. This may be my new favorite. There was a huge range of farms offering gorgeous produce that I hadn't seen elsewhere. From Stillman's I bought some icicle radishes and purple kohlrabi, that when peeled, sliced and sprinkled with salt tasted like the sweetest of radishes. At the Kimball's Farm stand I purchased sweet raspberries and blueberries, their tomatoes that are always so, so good and pencil thin asparagus that cooked up in seconds on the grill. Other farm stands include: Cook's, Enterprise, Middle Earth and Dick's. You can create a whole meal with bread from Clear Flour, jams from Deborah's Kitchen, fish from the Globe Fish Company, syrup from the Warren Sugarhouse and incredible naturally-raised meat from River Rock Farm (that was recently visited by Chef Jody Adams and her Guerilla Grilling team.) For appetizers, you can start with the smoked fish spreads from Nantucket Wild Gourmet & Smokehouse or chevre from Westfield Farm. Finish with ice cream, Taza Chocolate and the salty butterscotch sauce from Sassy Sauces.
Newton: My trip to the Newton Farmer's Market ended suddenly as thunder and lightening rolled in. But I was able to snap a few photos. Although I will never enjoy ducking the traffic and crowds, they still have a variety produce and vendors, similar to the Like the Harvard Square market. I was struck here by the range of colors-of potatoes, carrots, mizuna, raspberries and flowers. The market has more farms than the Natick or Harvard Square market, along with ice cream, goat cheese, a few bakeries and a Turkey Farm. Finally, there are a number of farmers that grow organically.
Harvard Square Market.: Just like last year, you can walk away with many fixings for a meal. Some highlights of the produce: delicious IMP carrots, radishes, zucchini, beans and blueberries from Ward's Berry Farm in Sharon; more spectacular organic radishes from Plato's Farm, lovely chives and scallions from Flat's Mentor Farm and kohlrabi, gooseberries and currants from Silverbrook and Lanni farms. One of my favorite parts of this market are the other treats. You can get ice cream from Christina's. Make sure to sample the delectable nuts from Q's Nuts. They come coated in hot and sweet spices, but aren't coated in oil. I can never leave without buying my absolute favorite (and no, unfortunately for me, I am not being given free samples to say this!): Taza chocolate. They have a few new flavors: guajillo chile, yerbe mate and a salted almond bar that was so good I bought some immediately.
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Great Kid-Friendly Foodie Finds Near Storyland?
Thanks for the great advice! Here is my write up: They are all kid-friendly and relatively inexpensive.
Moat Mountain-North Conway. The food here was fantastic! We ate the best hush puppies I have ever tasted. They tasted like the most delicious, freshly fried cake donut. Yet they were also savory and filled with corn kernels. My husband dipped them into the maple syrup that was served on the side while my toddler and I just devoured them plain. They also have wonderful flatbread style grilled pizza and addictive fried chicken wings (which are on the kids menu). I had a combination platter that I literally couldn't finish over 2 dinners. It consisted of moist chicken, meaty ribs with pork that fell of the bone and smoky pulled pork. On the side was a small skillet of cornbread that was just baked. I loved that it was filled with cheese and jalapenos though it was too spicy for my husband. We both enjoyed the homemade coleslaw that was full of fresh veggies. The weakest part of the meal was the fact that they only offer two barbecue sauces. I liked one, but it was also too spicy for my husband. The other tasted like pureed tomatoes. Needless to say, this meant that my 16 month old, instead of my husband, ate the brisket that on its own was just too dry. In terms of keeping toddlers entertained, they have a number of TVs stationed throughout the restaurant, as well as a porch for adults without kids.
Glen Junction-Is great for children as there are two toy trains that travel on a track overhead. The prices were also reasonable, but our lunch (two wraps, grilled cheese and a hot dog) was mediocre.
Red Fox Bar and Grille-This place is absolutely perfect for kids as they have a play room and movie room for those moments that kids need while waiting (for table, for food). It was a great value overall as we fed our family of 4 for $30. The kids had delicious grilled cheese and hamburgers. I enjoyed a rare steak sandwich with chipotle dressing, while my husband liked his wood grilled burger.
Kringle's Country Store in Glen-a cute little store and pizza place. Decent pizza that was great for taking back to the condo when we could tell the kids couldn't handle another restaurant.
Trail’s End Ice Cream has home made ice cream from Bobby Sues in Freedom. It was so good that we went back 3 times. The first location in Intervale is good for a quick stop. But the second location near Attatish Mountain in Bartlett is good for a whole activity as it has a large area for sitting and a fantastic playground for the kids. I loved the peach frozen yogurt which had huge chunks of sweet peaches, while my kids devoured every scoop they could eat. Even the chocolate chip had hand chopped shards of dark chocolate.
Bagels Plus in North Conway-These weren't New York bagels, but they were very good and very friendly. They also have some unusual flavors such as whole wheat sesame, peanut butter and chocolate and spinach and garlic.
Yesterday’s in Jackson-delicious breakfast. Sarah took over the restaurant 7 years ago and makes a variety of homemade breads and muffins each day. We enjoyed a delicious wrap with eggs, roasted tomatoes, goat cheese and basil, as well as plate sized pancakes. Very relaxed and reasonable prices.
As You Like It Bakery and Cafe-for delicious baked good such as muffins and homemade donuts, in addition to bagels and toast. Also in Jackson.
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Great Kid-Friendly Foodie Finds Near Storyland?
We are headed up to stay at a condo in Glen, New Hampshire next week. Any must-eat places for a family?
Spiga...Needham St
I have been to Spiga 3 times-for lunch, for dinner and for an event. Each time the food was excellent. Marissa Iocco uses top quality ingredients. The "Flan of parmigiano reggiano with celery chutney and peperoncino scented olive oil", for example, was very memorable. It was a small fried souffle that was incredibly light with the bite of Parmesan. The celery chutney was sweet and tart-balancing the cheese. We inhaled this. I also enjoyed a salad of cold octopus with homemade potato and celery sticks, assorted olives and lemon sea salt. The management is also very intent on making sure people have a good experience-so I would definitely speak up if it doesn't meet your expectations.
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Farmers' Markets, CSAs, etc week of 6/8/09
Delicious organic produce from Small Ax Farm, new this year to the Natick Farmer's Market. The greens are flavorful and picked each Saturday morning before Melissa brings them to the farm. They stay beautifully if you can't eat them right away.
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Farmers Markets ect. - week of May 18th
The Natick's Farmer's Market opened a few weeks back. Today's highlights included Chestnut Farms (they had chicken, pork, hamburger and steak), a new organic farm from Dover with lovely produce (radishes, arugula, chard, kale, herbs, etc.), delicious breads from Hi Rise Bakery in Ashland and a few assorted flower/plant/sweet stands.
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Best Bakery in the North End
Maria's is fantastic. Maria, herself, is a wonderful person who makes good pastries using great ingredients. Her version of biscotti are slightly chewy, and full of big fresh almonds with just a hint of cinnamon. She also makes a light, just barely sweet sesame cookie that is wonderful for breakfast or dessert. Both cookies travel beautifully (and last as long as you can avoid eating them!) The store is rarely crowded, too. Finally, she will fill cannolis fresh for you!
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Super 88 Food Court- Allston
I love almost everything at Pho Viet's. In fact, it is the main reason I hike out to the Super 88. The banh mi are fantastic, the fresh soy milk is delicious and the bowls of soup are excellent, as the broth is homemade. I also love the cold noodles topped with grilled chicken or pork and fresh vegetables. Dim Sum Chef has decent dim sum, but Gitlo's down the street in Allston is much better. I agree that Kantin is fine, but the Korean place opposite is quite good, too. Overall, I found most of last year's Super 88 recs to be spot on.
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Cambridge top 5 based on food
I will add to all those in support of:
Oleana, Craigie, Salts (consistently great meals at all 3 restaurants), Burdicks for the hot chocolate and Dante for the fritelle.
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where to eat with parents/in-laws in metro-west
I would also highlight Tomasso as you can keep the prices lower by having pizza or sharing some dishes. It isn't cheap but it is fantastic. Another option is Bullfinchs in Sudbury. While the food is decent, the prices are reasonable and it is a good, friendly place to take a family. Completely different option is phenomenal sushi at Oishii in Sudbury. Spiga which just opened in Needham offers outstanding Italian food at prices similar to Tomasso.
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Birthday lunch in or near Framingham?
We had a terrible meal at Sel de la Terre in Natick. Two ideas-Tomasso in Southborough or Bullfinchs in Sudbury (but right on the Framingham border). Although Bullfinchs doesn't offer lunch, they do offer brunch. However, the atmosphere is nice and they have a great range of food. Finally, Legal Seafoods has, ironically, fantastic steak (in addition to great seafood and fish!)
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A decent piece of pie...
I agree that the pies at Petsis are as good as it gets. They are baked at the Somerville location which may explain why they seem fresher there. I love that you can get slices and try a few kinds. The mixed berry and multi-berry are heaven. While the crust can be thick, it is clearly handmade which is unusual these days. The scones, especially when heated briefly in the oven are pretty heavenly. I just had a fabulous pie of sorts at an unusual location. It was a crostada (a little pie) at Tomasso in Southborough. It was filled with goat cheese and lime zest and sat on honey and a crispy (and homemade) crust. Absolutely fabulous.
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More kid-friendly places like Full Moon?
We had a great experience at the Aura family friendly nights. It is a pretty unique experience that is perfect for people with young children as there is a play area adjacent to the eating space. In fact, Full Moon is the only other restaurant that I am aware of that does this. Our meal was fantastic and it is also a much more affordable way to eat at Aura as they are offering a prix fixe for $30.00. I am still dreaming about my soup-a creamy soup with slices of Chinese sausage and smoked shrimp and my toddler is still asking to go back to the "yummy restaurant with the toys!"
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Any Brookline must tries?
Some favorites: The New Rod Dee has seating. I recommend their daily Thai menu. Just ask the staff for the traditional Thai dishes. Step over to the Super 88 Food Court and eat the amazing Banh mi, Pho and warm soy milk at Pho Viet. Then pick up some sweets at Clear Flour or When Pigs Fly for breakfast the next day.
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o ya suggestions
I had a fabulous dinner there, and one of my favorite parts was the flexibility. They are willing to do the omakase for almost any style and within a certain price range. If you do get the chef's "whim", the benefit is you know how much you will spend in advance and they tailor it in order of flow. That being said, I just looked back at my post on the dinner and the kumamoto oyster was incredible. I also loved any dish with the Thai basil, the sansho leaf or the torched fish.
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Disappointing Meal at La Verdad-Does this reflect Oringer?
Thanks to the advice of CHers, we went back and had a meal that, while moderately better, was still not great. My husband loved the cola soaked skirt steak and the corn was caramelized and delicious. But the churros were still inedible and, as a number of posters noted, it is a far cry from authentic Mexican tacos. It is also is just not worth the parking or the Landsdowne atmosphere. However, my recent meal at Toro reaffirmed the Ken Oringer name. It was fantastic and well worth the money. Even the corn was far better than Verdad's. The reality is that both places reflect the quality of the chef and Jamie Bissonnette is a great chef.
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12/10/08 Sofra, Cambridge Report
I agree-the food is fantastic, complex and different from the typical items that are found at other food places. If you try to avoid the height of the rush, you can also grab a seat, but once the warm weather is around, take out and hang out by the Charles. The flatbreads are unforgettable, and the mezze bar has some wonderful offerings. For people with children, it really does offer an alternative to fast food, which was one Chef Sortun's goals.
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Great Restaurant Week Meal at Toro Makes Up for La Verdad
Many CHers chimed in our mediocre experiences at La Verdad. In fact a number of people pointed out how different it was from Toro. I will definitely agree. Just went for dinner there last night and we had fantastic food, with great presentation for a (relatively) reasonable price. You had a huge range of options from the Tapas menu and, best of all they are taking reservations. Although we enjoyed everything, the pork belly was definitely a stand out, as were the stuffed dates.
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CSA 2009
We had a great experience during the first year of the CSA at the Dover Farm in Dover (right over the Natick border). We had a range of wonderful veggies (from swiss chard to kale to cauliflower), as well as some chances to pick raspberries and flowers. (I wrote a number of blog and Chowhound posts about it last year.) However, I haven't heard from the owner or gotten any sense that it would be available this year. I would be curious if anyone knows if he is actually opening this year and/or thoughts on the Weston CSA.
Fabulous Meal at Craigie on Main, Kitchenside
My husband and I ate at Craigie last week. As always the food was fantastic. But the kitchenside opportunity, while not for everyone, definitely added drama and fascination for those of us that are as compelled by the cooking as the food itself. For me it reinforced the level of quality to attention and ingredients by watching the food put together. My sashimi appetizer, ironically, was one of the best I have eaten. But each dish-a frisee salad, a well roasted chicken, crisp smelts and heavenly desserts were all fantastic. The service was excellent-personal, detailed. For photos and more views of the kitchen, I have a recent post on my blog: http://foodiemommy.blogspot.com/2009/01/better-than-broadway-craigie-on-main.html
Disappointing Meal at La Verdad-Does this reflect Oringer?
So, on one of our few nights out, my husband and I went to La Verdad. Based on a number of good recs on this board, we expected decent Mexican. Overall, it was pretty poor. My "Sweet Heat" drink was so sour that I asked the waitress if something was wrong with the passion fruit puree. She said it was fine, but for $12.00, I am still surprised that it was so off-tasting. Our corn was the highlight-great grilling, delicious cheese, the right amount of spice. But my carnitas and al pastor tacos were so salty that I could barely eat them. My shrimp taco (all were highly recommended by the waitress) was not only salty but it was slimy and tasted too fishy to be very fresh. Finally, despite the quality of the meal, I had heard so much about the "Churros" that I thought I would try them. The waitress promised they were fried to order. Needless to say they reeked of old oil and the middle was raw. For the record, my husband and I are rarely so critical nor do we typically send food back. By this point in the meal, we returned the Churros.
I am wondering
A) Is this quality (or lack-thereof) typical of Verdad?
B) We had also thought about going to Toro but the wait was too long. Is Toro as over-rated as this was?
12/10/08 Sofra, Cambridge Report
Great post. I went on Dec. 30th and was also struck by the contradiction between the completely addictive flatbread sandwich (I had a squash, walnut, sesame seed and fresh mozzarella version) and the tense atmosphere of the seating. It felt like the ultimate Belmont/Cambridge Stand-Off! But I still thought the sandwich made it worth it. I thought the mezze options were good, though they didn't differentiate themselves from one another as much as I would have hoped. Finally, I was a bit disappointed by the desserts. I had high expectations, but overall I thought they were quite rich (to the point of masking the flavors). For more photos and thoughts, I have a post on my blog: http://foodiemommy.blogspot.com/
Birthday Dinner: Oishii Boston Or...?
My husband and I are finally getting a night out and we want it to be nice (my birthday) and are willing to spend about $100-$125.00 before drinks. We have had fantastic meals at Craigie Street and Salts but I wanted to try something new. I have read mixed things about Oishii Boston (I love Oishii but the lack of reservations make it prohibitive for a Saturday night with a babysitter!) Overall I am wondering if Oishii Boston is "worth it" or if people have other recommendations for a good meal without breaking the bank...Thanks in advance.
Recent Great Meal at Dante
My husband and I had a great meal at Dante's last weekend. You just can't beat the location as the sunsets over the Charles. We thought we were getting a last minute reservation, but there were a number of free tables. Our waiter was great-loved food and gave us really helpful hints when ordering. My pasta was delicious. It was full of mushrooms and the noodles were very toothsome. My husband's steak was cooked perfectly and balanced by the sweetness of caramelized shallots. The thin fries were even better with the truffle ketchup. The highlight was the warm, melt-in-your-mouth fritelle for dessert. Just a wonderful experience overall. You can check out my blog at foodiemommy dot blogspot dot com for more photos and a more detailed review of the meal.
Farmers' Mkts, CSAs & Farm stands- August
More tomatoes and a continued variety of eggplant and herbs at the Dover CSA. The Natick Farmer's Market had some wonderful white nectarines and peaches and delicious apples (many varieties) are just beginning! You can go to my website for more photos and a recipe: foodiemommy dot blogspot dot com
What's Missing for take out in Wellesley?
The simple answer: most everything is missing! I have yet to find decent food for take out in Wellesley which seems ironic as it is a population that can afford to have good food. I find myself heading back to Natick for Ogas or to Sichuan Garden in Framingham instead. Both Thai places in Wellesley Center, Amarin and Lemon Thai are actually decent but they don't come close to the authentic quality of Rod Dee or Dok Bua in Brookline. I agree with the CHers that said it is such a disappointment that chains are moving into the Linden area.
