Brian Poe

Monday Munchies: The Tip Tap Room- Boston, MA

July 23, 2012

As part of my Monday Munchies series, I will feature a different eatery for a review on the first and third Monday of every month. Hope you enjoy!

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When I heard that Chef Brain Poe was opening a restaurant near my office I was so enthusiastic. I have loved Poe’s cuisine ever since I tried the revamped Rattlesnake menu when he took over as chef there a few years ago. Since then we have celebrated many birthdays and happy events around his food so knowing I could have it much more often was so exciting.

The concept behind The Tip Tap Room is to serve great ‘tips’ while enjoying a refreshing ‘tap’. Steak tips seem to be served in just about every pub in the Boston area, which is what inspired Chef Poe to open a restaurant that focused on innovative tips like steak, swordfish, and various game meats. And to wash it all down there are plenty of taps on hand.

Price and I went on opening day to enjoy lunch there (to celebrate the opening and his arrival back from a long weekend away in Vegas) and we have been back recently for dinner as well. Here are some of the things we’ve had at The Tip Tap Room…

Rock Shrimp- Kataifi & nori fried shrimp, cucumber salad, chile ginger sauce $11.75

This alone is the reason why I would go back again and again. The shredded phylo dough that coats the shrimp stays so crunchy, even as it is in the chile ginger sauce.

Rock Shrimp Salad – Katafi & nori fried shrimp, cucumber salad, chile ginger sauce

As I told Chef Poe during my first visit I think that the Rock Shrimp Appetizer would make a great salad, which is exactly why I had it for dinner. The chile ginger sauce made for a great dressing on the salad. I would have preferred for the cucumber in the appetizer to have been in the salad but it was still a great meal.

Steak Tips- House marinade, horseradish mashed potatoes, cherry pepper & watercress slaw, bordelaise $13.75

The thing I could do without for this dish is the watercress. I don’t like it so it just was pushed aside. Everything else about this is a perfect 10.

Steak Tip Burger – Lettuce, tomato, veal demi, A1 aioli, Russian dressing, brioche bun, served with fries $10.95

Price really enjoyed the Steak Tip Burger for dinner. Instead of having fries with his burger he had a side of creamed corn mashed potatoes. (Our friend has goat cheese mashed potatoes which I snagged a bite of and thought was luscious and addicting.) Price asked for Medium but the burger was way underdone, but was still okay for him since I serve them ‘moo-ing’ at home. We did tell Chef Poe this later on to keep him informed on what is going on in his kitchen when he is not there.

Peach Tip Cobbler –Peaches, cobbler, peach and strawberry ice cream $6.95

shhh don’t tell… I don’t like cobblers like this. I much prefer cobblers with biscuits on top. But Price and I easily shared this since the fresh fruit and ice cream made this a perfect summer time dessert.

I suggest swinging by The Tip Tap Room for a great meal and a refreshing beer. When you go it is must that you sit by the opened garage door style windows to enjoy people watching on the warm summer breeze.

The Tip Tap Room

138 Cambridge Street

Boston, MA 02134

(857) 263-7614

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Burrito Bowl Numero Dos

February 24, 2012

I had such a great time at the first Burrito Bowl last year that when this year’s event was announced I knew I had to go. Emily and I ended up buying tickets for the Feb 4th event right after they went on sale, which was a good thing since this was a sell out event. As with last year we arrived nice an early and still had to wait in long line to get into The Rattlesnake Bar and Grill, the hosting restaurant. It was clear that people were amped to attend the Burrito Bowl 2, and rightfully so!

Like the first year, there were several stations set up around the restaurant for people to chat with the chef and grab a burrito. There were 9 stations set up featuring places such as Boloco to Taranta.

Great Presentation for the Texas “7 Layer Dip” Burrito from Chef Jon Gilman from Church.

It was really obvious that this burrito was themed around Seattle because it had a spicy seafood mixture in there and was accompanied by a salsa roja. Andy Husbands (Tremont 647) is from Seattle so maybe he had unfair advantage getting a city that he knows so well, but in the end I am glad because it was so good. And I was not the only one to think so being that Andy’s burrito won Judge’s pick! Congrats!

Since The Rattlesnake is one of our favorte places to eat it was no surprise that Brian Poe made a great burrito. This had Velveeta in it! ha!

This ‘burrito’ was made to represent Pittsburg. hmm this? Pittsburg? Well, the Steeler’s heavenly locked Troy Polamalu is Samoan, which is what inspired this burrito. It was not my favorite because the pineapple pork was a bit hard to eat without cutting, however itw as vary flavorful.

Both Emily and I voted that the Korean-inspired burrito from Marc Orfaly of Pigalle was our favorite. We enjoyed the kimchi and soy aioli that topped the pork burrito. I have not had much kimchi before but really liked the flavor it added to the burrito. It was clearly Asian but still very subtle.

Brian Roche of Lolita Cocina and Tequila Bar made a San Francisco-inspired burrito, which was voted by the crowd as the favorite securing his win for Burrito Bowl II! Congrats!

I already can’t wait to attend next year’s event.

BTW… here I am (with my Heidi braids) on the Boston.com website 🙂

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Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.

In the know, according to Brian Poe

March 13, 2011

Last Tuesday I took a cooking class at Boston Center for Adult Education called “The Dishes You Need to Know with Chef Brian Poe”. I wanted to take this class because Brian was teaching it but also because it focused on learning how to approached several dishes with just a few ingredients. This taught us how to be creative with a few things and see how they can be used in multiple ways.

oranges made an appearance in salsa, as well as sangria

one of the main components in the dishes being prepared was duck. We put basil, hydrated chipotle pepper, lime juice and a slice of orange on it. This was my first time working with duck, in fact I had not patten it much before this.

Brian working on a red wine sauce.

Hello sangria! (glass #1)

Vinaigrette | duck

Under cress

Plating the first course

First Course- duck with israeli cous cous that was tossed with some vinaigrette served under cress

making tacos | the class

Taco course- duck taco with undergress, salsa, and queso fresco. I charred the tortillas over a gas burner.

Sangria glass #2 and #3… I ended up having 4 that night. Gotta love Tuesdays!

Main course- Duck served with a cous cous risotto, salsa, and red wine sauce

Dessert course- dessert nachos… a play on nachos that was made with totillas that were fried in duck fat (previously done at The Rattlesnake) and coated in cinnamon and sugar. Tortila chips were served with a “rice” pudding that was made with cous cous and topped with salsa.