Brunch at Simon Pearce

This weekend, we took a short trip to Vermont for a triathlon that D and a couple of his friends did. On the way back, we stopped for brunch at Simon Pearce, which you may already know is renowned for its blown glass and handmade pottery. It's a retail store and a great restaurant. The retail store sells beautiful items that are all hand-made, but very pricey! One wine glass, for example, runs for about $60.



As you can sort-of read above, the restaurant uses dinnerware, stemware, and flatware that they design and produce. They are also known for utilizing local sources of foods. They also recycle their cooking oil by using it to fuel the chef's car! Their food scraps are donated as chicken feed, and their to-go containers are biodegradable. What I think is really cool is they utilize hydroelectric energy from the waterfall below to power up the glass furnace, as well as electricity for the store and restaurant.


The menu was just lovely, I had difficulty choosing what I wanted!!


Here is an example of their hand-made products they use in the restaurant. Isn't this bread plate beautiful?


Here is a hand-made glass centerpiece... beautiful.


They served us their famous brown bread, along with their freshly whipped sweet butter! Oh, delicious.


We got some house-made granola with yogurt and strawberries. What I loved about this is you can see the vanilla bean specks in the yogurt! It was a great way to start the meal.


We got the creme brulee french toast to share at the table, which was amazing, delicious, scrumptious! More more more! It was so incredibly delicious, there truly are few words to describe.


I ordered the poached Atlantic salmon hash with fried eggs and a creamy dill sauce. It was delightful!


And, check out the vibrant yellow yolk! It was such a dark rich yellow color, and it tasted as good as it looked.


D got the special - ham, red pepper, and asparagus quiche. It had such a nice crusty cheesy crust on top, and the eggs were fluffy and perfect. The greens were fresh and crisp, but a little bit over-dressed. Regardless, it was delicious.


After feeling horribly stuffed after our awesome brunch, we went downstairs to see the glass-blowers do their handywork. It was amazing to see how incredibly talented these folks are, watching them make a piece of stemware right before our eyes. It is truly a dying art, but thankfully places like Simon Pearce are keeping it alive.


Here is a pottery demonstration... very "Ghost"-esque.


If you're ever in Vermont, you must stop by Simon Pearce! You will pick up some amazingly well-crafted blown glass and pottery items, have a fantastic meal that is environmentally conscious, and witness the craft of glassblowing and pottery. A fantastic experience I won't soon forget.

Maine Lobstaaaahs

One of the greatest things about living in Boston is that really great FRESH seafood is always close by. On this lovely Memorial Day weekend, we took the hour-ish drive up to Kittery, Maine, to a little hidden family-owned place called Morrison's Lobster.

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This is classic New England charm -- a wood structure on the water, wood deck with just a few tables, and as you can maybe see in the picture below, a tiny "kitchen" which consists of three large pots of boiling water and a large water tank with FRESHLY caught lobsters.


It started out to be a cloudy day with some raindrops, but still the scenery was nice. Here are some lobster boats and traps:


An ugly bridge, more classic New England buildings...


A boy (part of the Morrison family?) who romped around barefoot in a wetsuit, and periodically jumped off the dock and into the water...



Here's the wooden deck on which we enjoyed our lobsters...


Speaking of lobsters, here is Morrison's minimal menu... it's basic and simple. Lobster, steamers, lobster roll, chowder/bisque, and the rest is up to you! BYO everything else (beer, side dishes).


I got the half-half clam chowder/lobster bisque. It may seem strange to combine the two, but they were DELICIOUS!! Creamy, salty, seafoody... I wish I took a picture but I ate it too fast! I also got a 1-1/4 pound boiled lobster. Morrison's keeps things simple here -- a boiled lobster served in a paper dish, with a little cup of drawn butter. Really, what could be better?


And here's the "after" shot... poor lobster didn't have a chance.


The Morrison family has two adorable dogs just hanging out... I tried to get a picture with one, but that didn't work out too well...


They painted her toenails!!


I really want one of these!!


And here's the other one... I think this one is older.


Anyway, I love love love fresh lobster, in all its cholesterol-filled-butter-dipping glory. Morrison's is truly a hidden gem -- off the beaten path, family-run, no nonsense, low-key. Even though every winter I ask myself, "Why am I living in New England?," and I am reminded when summer comes around that New England has so much charm and a whole lot to offer. Let me know if you're ever in the area!

The best pizza in Boston -- Santarpio's!

Sure, Boston isn't known for its pizza... not like New York or Chicago. But, there are a few hidden gems around the city that, in my opinion, have a lot to offer. You will find that every food review in Boston presents the same duel: Santarpio's versus Pizzeria Regina. Santarpio's is in East Boston, while Pizzeria Regina's original location is in the North End (aka Little Italy). It has always been my opinion that Santarpio's wins hands-down! It remains a solo location (Regina has opened several locations.... it's become sort of commercialized), and it has retained its "charm", shall we say, with its dark interior, questionable health-code violations, and sticky tabletops.

My friend Nairi and I have been coming here for quite some time now, usually for lunch. Although they offer excellent grilled meats, including homemade sausage, we always opt to split a nice pizza. This time, we got a half cheese - half mushrooms and peppers.


The pizza is just smothered in cheesy goodness! I think it's the sauce that makes it distinct -- it's sweet, tomato-ey, and just delicious. The vegetable toppings are buried underneath the cheese.... and the cheese is browned so nicely!


Of course, in addition the sauce, the quality of the crust is very important. Santarpio's crust is thin, crispy, and sprinkled with crispy semolina. This particular pizza unfortunately had a soggy center, which does not happen every time, but the crust was generally delicious. It was simultaneously crispy and chewy. Yum!!!


Not to mention, the price is right! For a pizza with these toppings, and two sodas, the total came out to only $15.50. Yeah! A bargain!

If you're ever in Boston looking for an off-the-beaten-path, genuine Boston restaurant, definitely head over to Santarpio's. The pizza is delicious, the grilled sausage/lamb is delicious, and the service is so-so (but what do you expect, it's East Boston!). But, it is well worth it!!!

Ole!

I love me some good Mexican food! For my friend's birthday, we went to Ole Mexican Grill in Inman Square (Cambridge, MA). I had heard great things about this place, and in particular, I had heard rave reviews about the table-side guacamole. YUM!! Fresh guac!

Unfortunately, on a busy Friday night, they were not able to make it fresh table-side, but they did make it fresh at a guacamole station, and in a traditional molcajete (basically a heavy stone mortar). It was served with warm, fresh, crispy tortilla chips, which were so good they could have been eaten solo.


The guac was SO DELICIOUS!! I am a huge fan of avocado, and an even bigger fan of a good, fresh guac, so I appreciated this very much. It was creamy and had the perfect balance of salt and lime.


I ordered the Chiles Rellenos -- two roasted poblano chiles, one stuffed with mixed Mexican cheeses, spinach, raisins, and pine nuts; the other with shredded braised pork, served on a roasted tomato broth, Mexican rice, and some fried plantains. I know in the picture above, the dish appears like a mushed mess. But, it was quite good!! I liked the braised pork chile the best (who doesn't like tender, fatty braised meat?), and the other one was pretty good, too. The plantains were soft and delicious!



One of my friends ordered the Carne Asada a la Ole -- a 10 oz. sirloin steak with grilled tri-color peppers, served with frijoles charros, salsa fresca, and guacamole. This dish also came with fried plantains (yum!). The guac was served on a piece of radicchio, which I thought was pretty creative. It was a lot of beef, but it was tasty!


We also ordered a couple of platillos pequenos (small plates), including Tacos a la Ole -- grilled citrus-chile chipotle chicken breast on handmade corn tortillas topped with grilled orange-pineapple salsa. Yum... I love any combination of sweet and savory!

It was a delicious meal... especially the guac!! I will be sure to go back. Soon.

Restaurant Week Boston -- Toro!

Restaurant Week Boston 2009.

One of my favorite weeks of the year. This year, a group of us re-visited Ken Oringer's Toro in the South End of Boston, just as we did last year for Restaurant Week.

Toro is an amazing, but tiny, tapas restaurant in the South End neighborhood of Boston that was recently named as the best place to live in Boston for food. Amidst the beautiful brownstownes and brick sidewalks are tiny, cozy restaurants with character and amazing food.

Ken Oringer is a Boston restauranteur and award-winning chef (James Beard 2001 Best Northeast Chef winner!) who has opened some of the most acclaimed and delicious restaurants in Boston: Clio (contemporary French-American), Uni (sashimi bar), KO Prime (steakhouse), affordably-priced La Verdad (taqueria near Fenway Park). He's even been on Iron Chef America!

(photo credit: www.starchefs.com)

For a mere $33.09 per person, we were able to each get one pincho (basically, an appetizer), and 20 tapas for 8 people. Believe me, we were plenty full by the end.


They had very tasty mixed drinks, and an exclusively Spanish wine list. The sangria (which I did not partake in) was reported to be delicious!


My pincho was Queso Mahon -- marinated cow's milk cheese from Menorca. It came with toothpicks (which is the rough translation of a pincho), and was very tasty.


Some of the other pinchos people ordered were Pan con Tomate (a classic), and Datiles con Jamon (serrano ham wrapped dates!!).

In the tradiational small-plates style of eating, we shared everything. We had the Atun Crudo, which is a non-traditional tapa, and is yellowfin tuna with citrus and soy, garnished with beansprouts. Being a big fan of sushi and sashimi, I thoroughly enjoyed this one!


We also had Anna's Empanadas -- chicken and potato empanadas with aji roja and aioli. Deep-fried to a golden crunch, these were tasty little bites of heaven.


We also enjoyed some vegetable selections, including Escalivada Catalana -- marinated wood roasted eggpland, onions, peppers, and tomato with sherry vinegar and olive oil. The eggplant was mushy and very tasty.


There are several items for which I do not have actual descriptions from the menu (the one on the website must not be updated). But we also had some delicious baby clams in a broth that was fit for sopping up with crusty bread, or just drinking straight.


We also had some deliciously crispy and fatty duck that had a nice sweetness with an Asian flair. Yum.


There was also a deliciously tender and fatty braised short rib, which just fell apart under the knife. Just the way braised short ribs should be!


We also had a shrimp dish that was probably cooked in a saffron cream, although I'm not certain. Either way, it was delicious, and perfectly cooked. Who likes overcooked rubbery shrimp?


Oh... finally, and certainly not least... the piece de resistance, "La Especialidad de la Casa" as they say on the menu... the very famous Maiz Asado con Aioli y Queso Cotija. This is the one dish every review for Toro will discuss. This is the dish that is the most memorable, the most messy, and possibly the most delicious. It's grilled corn on the cob that is just smothered, drowning in a rich creamy cheesy buttery herby sauce that gets all over your fingers and in between your teeth, and you need a wetnap afterwards. Then, with all the leftover sauce, you just eat it up with some nice crusty bread. Oh, I will dream of this corn... dream and dream until I meet it again. Soon, I hope.


Some of the other dishes we had were Croquetas de Bacalao (traditional salt cod fritters with lemon rings), Coliflor a la Plancha (cauliflower a la plancha, pimenton de la vera), Patatas Bravas (fried potatoes with aioli and spicy tomato sauce), Garbanzos con Chorizo (chickpeas with chorizo, spinach, and hard boiled egg), and Hamburguesas de Kobe (mini burgers with smoked tomato, aioli, and pickled red onion).

If you are in Boston, I highly recommend Toro for a night of tapas you won't soon forget. And be sure to get more than one order of the corn... and save some for me!