restaurant review

Seasonal Dining at Seasons 52- A Girls Night Review

November 23, 2016

The holidays are a busy hectic time, but you still need to make time to hang out with your best buds or to go out on a fun date night. It’s so important to take the time to have some fun and enjoy a good meal.

My friend, Nichole, and I went out on Sunday for some girl time. We did some furniture shopping… found the perfect table for the house!… and then some clothes shopping…I found the best leggings ever!… and then we went out for diner at Seasons 52. It was such a good time.

Great company, great shopping, and great food.

Amy, our server, introduced us to the restaurant telling us all about how Seasons 52 is a seasonal restaurant with a rotating menu based upon what is in season. They highlight fresh ingredients in creative ways. We were blown away with everything.

Plus, we were blown away about her in depth knowledge of the menu, ingredients, and the restaurant as a whole. I can barely remember my own birthday some days and she had everything down pat, without sounding like a robot. There was knowledge and passion behind her information and stories.

Shortly after we sat down we were served an amuse bouche of their Lobster Salad that is on their lunch menu. It was a wonderful bite-sized introduction to Seasons 52.

We started with one of the Chef’s Suggestions for an appetizer and another on the main seasonal menu. The Caramelized Bosc Pear and Burrata Salad ($9.50) was a featured item that consisted of a pear, proscuitto, and burrata arranged on fresh arugula, drizzled with a 15-year aged balsamic and served with piece of honeycomb.

Neither of us couldn’t get over the fact the pear and burrata salad was less than $10, especially for the quality of all ingredients. I’ve never had a burrata dish for less than $14 either. Burrata… bliss. Plus, the presentation of the salad was just so beautiful on the wooden serving board too.

The Blistered Shishito Peppers ($7.20) was another appetizer that we just had to have. I love that shishitos and the addition of roasted corn, Sonoma goat-feta cheese and a lemon aioli all sounded amazing. Every pepper had some spice and the melty goat cheese on top was irresistible.

While we enjoyed our meals, we enjoyed some drinks too. Nichole wanted a Cali/Oregon Pinot Noir so Amy brought her a Kim Crawford ’12 ($12) and a Schug ’15 ($14) to sample and pick from. Ultimately, Nichole picked the Schug as she had not had that previously. I enjoyed their Cranberry and Sage cocktail ($10.30) and their Ginger Agave soda. Both were incredible. Hello… candied sage and homemade ginger syrup.

Nichole ordered the Asian-Glazed Chilean Sea Bass ($31.90) that was on the Chef’s Suggestions menu. It was served with black rice, snow peas, shiitake mushrooms and garnished with micro wasabi greens. The black rice was just so cool and different. It had great texture that worked well with the tender fish.

As soon as I saw that the Seafood Paella ($27.70) had a Maine lobster tail, I knew that I had to order it. I have really missed New England Lobster since moving to Florida. Plus, paella always rocks. This one was made with sea scallops, mussels, Chilean sea bass, and chorizo. Every bite had a great mixture of textures and flavors.

Dinner thus far was awesome and we were really full but we couldn’t resist the Mini Indulgences ($3 each). They are little layered desserts that come in a variety of flavors like Key Lime Pie, Raspberry Chocolate Chip Cannoli, and Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte.

Nichole had the seasonal Pumpkin Pie that had pumpkin mousse and gingersnap cookie, while I had the Belgian Chocolate S’more. I can’t resist a s’mores dessert, especially one that has a chocolate cake layered with rocky road mousse and topped off with a toasted marshmallow and chocolate dipped graham cracker.

Be sure to save room for a Mini Indulgence since they are awesome. Plus, they are on the house for your first visit!

I loved my girls night out with my friend at Seasons 52, but I am looking forward to visiting again for a great Date Night!

___________________

While I received this complimentary dinner in exchange for a review, all opinions expressed are my own.

Monday Munchies: Breakfast at Moody’s Delicatessen and Provisions- Waltham MA

April 18, 2016

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

If you ever happened to ask me what my favorite meal of that day is, I’d say it is breakfast.

It might be because of how much I really truly love eggs benedict. Plus, I make a meal egg sandwich. I toot my own horn about it, but it’s true. I rock it.

So when I saw that Moody’s Delicatessen and Provisions, in Waltham, MA, was featured as a local a Cheap Eats in Boston Magazine‘s Feb 2014 issue, I knew I’d have to get there to devour the featured breakfast sandwich.

Besides the low price, what was so amazing about this breakfast sandwich that made it get named the Best Egg Sandwich and get featured on the cover? ALL OF IT.

But the real highlight to me was the in house made Pork Roll.

What is Pork Roll?

My parents are both from New Jersey so I grew up eating Pork Roll that we would pick up from our visits to visit my grandparents. It’s a regional delicacy that hails from New Jersey. The simplest way to explain it is similar to bologna that you cook and eat for breakfast, most often in a breakfast sandwich.

But don’t just think that Moody’s is only good for Pork Roll. Oh no, they are aficionados in in a large variety of house made cured meats. If you want a great sandwich or if you want to make a fantastic charcuterie platter, then stop in an pick of some of their meats, like bologna, salami, and roast beef.

The Moody’s Breakfast Sandwich ($6) lived up to all of the hype that I had read about over the years in magazines and on Yelp.

After years of dreaming about heading out to Waltham, we finally visited before we moved and it was worth the wait,

The buttery griddled English Muffin makes for the perfect vessel for the egg, cheese, and meat. It’s soft, but still has a slight crunch that is a perfect contrast to the fluffy egg sandwiched between layers of Pork Roll. And of course, the melted American-cheese that waterfalls down the sandwich. The jazzed up Tobasco-spiked Ketchup gives it the perfect amount of kick as well.

Bliss. I was almost tempted to order another. I really should have.

The 2 layers of pork roll make for the perfect bite.

Price enjoyed their Breakfast Burrito ($6), which featured Spicy Sausage, Soft Scrambled Eggs, Green Onions, Cheddar, Barrel-Aged Hot Sauce in a flour tortila. He thought it was really good but from the bite that I relucantly shared of my sandwich made him declare the egg sandwich the (obvious) winner.

And never one not to eat, Autumn enjoyed her 2nd breakfast of the day and had a blueberry muffin. But it wasn’t just your average blueberry muffin, it was a light and fluffy muffin that had a big gob of cream cheese in the middle of it that made it so much better than your average muffin.

If you are in the Boston area, I highly recommend heading over to Moody’s for the most epic breakfast egg sandwich to start your day off on the right foot.

__________________

Moody’s Delicatessen and Provisions

468 Moody Street

Waltham, MA 02453

781.216.8732

Monday Munchies: KO Catering and Pies

March 21, 2016

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

I had taken a winter break from my Monday Munchies series since it was just too dang cold out to go out. Just kidding. Well, sorta. It was cold, but the holidays are crazy and then from there we went into ‘moving mode’ and things got even crazier. But I’m back today and I have a great place to share with you.

Now, people typically think of Shrimp on the Barbie, ginormous steaks, and vegemite when they think of Australian food, but KO Catering and Pies educates Bostonians on what Australian comfort food is all about.

Since opening their first location in South Boston in October of 2010, they have selling out of meat pies left and right. Thankfully, I learned of the hole in the wall storefront soon after they opened so I have been a long time fan. At that point I was a decent 30+ minute drive to there from our house so I was fully committed when I would drive over to stock up on warm and frozen pies and sausage rolls.

…

Making the World’s Greatest Burgers at Fuddruckers- A Review

January 14, 2016

When you think of getting a burger, what do think of? What do you think of for a causal lunch or dinner? Where would you go for family dining that everyone will love? How about fresh, handmade good food? What if I told you there’s a place that covers all of that! Welcome to Fuddruckers.

We went out to the newly renovated Fuddruckers in Reading, MA this past weekend. It was a great fun family dinner for us. Really great food for all of us. Plus, toy vending machines for Autumn. ha!

The restaurant is located in the big Jordan’s Furniture. It might sound weird to hear that it’s located in a furniture store, but there also is an IMAX movie theater and a ropes course and zip-line activity center called, Beanstalk. It’s basically a place for the whole family to have fun from watching a movie to buying furniture to zipping through the air, above sculptures made with jelly beans, no less!

All of that activity is sure to make you hungry, so the Fuddruckers is the perfect way to refuel you!

Their extensive menu includes burgers, chicken sandwiches, salads, fries, rings, and shakes. The decision might be tough but you’ll just have to come back for another delicious creation or take something to go (like how my husband took a brownie and didn’t even share it with me!!!).

Once you have figured out what to order, the fun begins!

The Shakes: Hand-mixed shakes are made to order with rich ice cream and milk, and then are topped off with whipped cream and a cherry. They are served in tall milkshake glasses along with the metal cup that they are made in since they are so large that they would overflow the milkshake glass!

I highly suggest treating yourself to a shake. There are big enough to share so it would be fun for a couple to enjoy together. They also offer kids sizes, but Autumn just enjoying taking some chilly sips of our Strawberry Nutella Shake. And I loved just how great it tasted with the fresh strawberries and Nutella mixed in.

The Meat: Fuddruckers has beef burgers of many sizes, cooked to order, and are always “100% USDA All-American premium cut beef.” They even have ‘exotic’ meats so you can create a burger with Buffalo, Elk, or Wild Boar. All of their game burgers are all-natural, free-range, grass and grain-fed, as well as 100% antibiotic and hormone free.

Price was adventurous and tried the All-American Burger with Elk meat which he said was noticeably different than beef but very lean and tasty. I went for the bacon and blue with beef. I loved it as the flavors all married really well together. I really enjoyed that the bacon was cut up as I find it really disappointing when I take a burger and a big strip of bacon comes with it, leaving so much burger behind with so little bacon. Bacon struggles are a real thing!

Both of us chose to have our burgers cooked medium rare, and guess what? They were! I know that might sound unimpressive, but more often then not we either get them very rare or medium-well, so it was refreshing to actually get a burger cooked to order.

The Bun: The scratch-made buns are made every day at every location. The bun was full of air and even had the butter and sesame seeds on top. They were puffy fluffy book ends to the giant patty between.

The Toppings: So what shall you top these wonderful meat patties and and buns with? Oh, how about whatever your heart desires?!?!?! These is a large topping bar to create your own “best burger in the world” each and every time you visit.

The entire bar was stocked!!! Shredded lettuce, leafy lettuce, sliced onions, sliced tomato, jalapenos, pico de gayo, banana peppers, and on and on and on… Plus there are so many sauces, including bbq sauce, ketchup, yellow mustard, and their signature honey mustard, plus so much more!

While Autumn is pretty adventurous with her palate, she is still 2 and would be happy living off Mickey-shaped waffles, yogurt, and her daycare teacher’s soup. So we just selected mac and cheese off the kid’s menu and hoped for the best. Some days she loves mac and cheese, and other days if you suggest it she looks at you like you’re crazy for suggesting it. Kids…

She really wasn’t into dinner as much as she was with all the excitement around her, like the quarter claw games with the blinking lights or the lobby full of yelling kids on the zip-line or the water fountain choreographed with music. But she ate the mac and cheese for lunch the next day and we had to break the news to her that there was no more and she kept asking and asking. She was a big fan.

And we were as well… yeah, we tried it too, oops! If you get something for your kids, you want it to be healthy, even when eating out. The mac and cheese was an excellent choice. The cheese was a white cheddar mix, not that neon yellow orange stuff. And it didn’t taste like it was loaded with salt either, which is really important for healthy kid’s meals.

While we were enjoying our burgers, Price and I noticed a few things at Fuddruckers that we hadn’t seen or noticed at many other places. First, you get in line to place your order, with drink cup in hand you head over to fill up and then find a table. The seating is first come first served which gives off a weird sense of organized chaos. A family was just leaving as we were walking by so we scored by not having to wait at all for a table that already had a highchair.

As soon as people leave there is a flurry of activity at the table as staff swoop in to clear the table and wipe it all down. Luckily there were plenty of workers to help with the task so no table remained dirty for any amount of time which was good because the line was out the door and spilled into the lobby for the majority of the time we were there.

You are given a buzzer that then notifies you when your order is done. A quick walk over to the kitchen and you are able to grab your food on a well organized tray.

The good quality of food, affordable price point, and fun aspect of personalizing your burger makes Fuddruckers a desirable place to grab a meal. Plan ahead if you are planning on grabbing a meal before a movie at the IMAX theater as it can be busy!

You’d think the line and overwhelming amount of people already seated would be difficult to manage but the staff but they just kept on pace and kept on smiling.

I spoke with the owner, Jim Boland, and general manager, Haley Davies, before and after our meal to learn about Jim’s 4 locations and what keeps both of them so happy and passionate about Fuddruckers. Jim’s genuine excitement about bringing families and friends together over a good quality meal is great to see. He wasn’t just another manager or owner happy to see a restaurant being successful, he was happy to see everyone being happy there. Shoot, they both were very hands on, even by helping clean tables. Not often you see managers, or even owners, helping the staff like that but you could tell with Jim that he liked what he did, liked his employees, and enjoyed that people enjoyed his restaurants.

____________________

Fuddruckers is located across the US and internationally. Scattered across 35 states and 10 countries, you will find a restaurant near you.

___________________

While our meal at Fuddruckers was complimentary, all opinions are completely my own.

Monday Munchies: Neighborhood Nights Out @ TAMO Bar- Boston, MA

October 19, 2015

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

____________________

There is a relaxed, fun vibe to TAMO Bar. You notice it the moment you walk in with the dim lights and upbeat music in the bar.

TAMO Bar is located in the Seaport Boston Hotel, located in the Seaport District of Boston. It’s a great location as it is great for visitors to Boston to stop in for dinner before going to for a show or concert. Or maybe it’s just the perfect stop to relax with a drink by the fire after a long day on your feet at the convention center.

TAMO recently relaunched their Neighborhood Nights menu. They offer a great deal every Monday and Tuesday night throughout the fall that allow guests to enjoy two courses each and share a bottle of wine for $40 per person. I love the flexibility with it as you can skip the appetizers and each have an entree and a dessert, or maybe you just feel like appetizers and dessert. So fun.

Price and I recently went and had a great weeknight date at TAMO to try out their Neighborhood Nights menu.

We decided to share an appetizer, each get an entree, and share a dessert to enjoy together on our neighborhood date night. Price and I typically share things off each others plates so sharing an appetizer and dessert is nothing new to us. But first, lets get to the good stuff, the wine.

Of the 6 bottles of wine that are available we elected for one of their whites, the ’14 Sauvignon Blanc from Chateau Lardiley in Bordeaux. We figured we would be eating light since it was a three course meal. We didn’t want to go too heavy and miss out on dessert from being too full. Then we moved onto our tough decisions for our meal.

We started with the Salt and Pepper Calamari, a large pile of freshly fried rings and tentacles is always good. The batter that Chefs Richard Rayment and Robert Tobin created reminded me of the batter on tempura shrimp and vegetables. It was served alongside a sweet and spicy chili sauce. Our only complaint was that it could have used a bit more heat, with extra peppers or jalapenos. It was a nice light start to our night and first glasses of wine. Then on to the main course.

Price selected the TAMo Burger. Burgers are traditional and safe, almost any restaurant can have a burger. There has to be something different and special about this burger if TAMO has it’s name on it it had better not be just any plain old burger. And it wasn’t. The TAMO burger was a flavorful burger mound smothered in sharp cheddar, bacon, caramelized onion, lettuce and tomato atop a nicely grilled brioche bun.

It was one of those meals where nothing sticks out because it all taste so great in concert. And the bun had grill marks! GRILL MARKS! You know TAMO stands behind their burger and it shows.

My Tacos Al Pastor were fantastic!

I arrived before Price and waited in the bar, and the gentlemen seated next to me ordered them and I knew right then that I would have to get them. Impressive since we actually ate tacos the night before. But I couldn’t resist.

Every bit was enjoyable with the warm tortilla, crisp lettuce, tender shredded meat, juicy pineapple, and drizzle of crema. Also, it was visually pleasing as much as it was delicious with the bright green avocado nestled next to the wedge of yellow pineapple. You really take it all in.

My only comment would be that I don’t like iceberg lettuce (with the rare exception of a wedge salad) so I didn’t love it in my tacos, but I’m just being picky.

The night was complete with the S’mores in a Crock dessert.

I love when restaurants take the classic S’mores dessert and change it up, so I wanted to see what the chefs did to jazz it up. They crumbled up graham crackers and combined them with melted chocolate and ooey gooey marshmallow. That delightful mess is then topped off with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Admittedly, we did wait too long to dig in since I ran to the bathroom and Price waited for me before digging in solo. That allowed the gooey marshmallow to cool off and firm up a bit. So I highly suggest that the moment it is set down on your table, you dig right in to enjoy the textures at their finest. Plus, the contrast of the hot S’mores mixture and cold ice cream play off each other really well.

Besides the awesome Neighborhood Nights special that TAMO Bar is hosting this year, they ave deals and specials on Sundays and Wednesdays. On Sunday’s you can hangout and watch football while enjoying their “Wings 3 Ways”, which includes Buttermilk Fried, Korean Style, and Chimi’s Spicy Chicken Wings for $20. On Wednesdays they offer a wine flight (three, 2 oz. pours) for $12. You can even have a specialty paired entree for $20. They change up their wines and pairing every week!

No matter when you go to TAMO Bar, you are sure to have a great time.

TAMO Bar

Seaport Boston Hotel

1 Seaport Lane

Boston, MA 02210

617.385.4315

__________________

While my meal at TAMO was complimentary, we provided our great waitress, Van, gratuity, and all opinions are my own.

Enjoying Summertime Burgers and Cocktails at The Hard Rock Cafe- Boston, MA

July 23, 2015

Without a doubt, Summer is my favorite season. It makes me insanely happy. I’m so thankful that it has finally really arrived here in Boston.

One of the best way to spend Summer’s hot, humid days and cooler nights is outside on a patio. You can’t beat great company, food, drinks, and atmosphere on a wonderful summer day. There are so many restaurants in Boston with patios and extra large windows that open up allowing you to soak up that summer sun, it’s easy to over look some. For a very long time I overlooked The Hard Rock Cafe here in Boston.

Located next to Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market, it’s perfectly located for you to grab a bite and a drink while you are sight seeing or meeting friends after work. You can grab a seat outside, along the windows, or up at the bar. You can enjoy live music outside or TV’s with music videos inside. The musically themed memorabilia pepper the walls to make the space come alive.

Price and I kicked off a recent date night at The Hard Rock Cafe with some of their new Summer Cocktails. Their five new cocktails provide you with plenty of options to help you beat the heat! Options like the Hard Rockin’ Mai Tai and Summertime Blues are really enticing with their blends of muddled herbs, sweet juices, and hard liquor. The cocktails are served in fun souvenir mason jars that you can take home too! (They apologized profusely to us for being out of the mason jars, which why our drinks were served in hurricane glasses.)

Price ordered the Summer Splash Daiquiri as he felt the layered frozen drink made it the perfect summer time bevie. It was a perfect “kick off the weekend” type drink too. The fruity mango and strawberry flavor was enhanced with a lot of rum and a splash of amaretto. Even the pretty color looks like a nice Summer Sunset in a glass, and who doesn’t want that.

I’m telling you, that the Back Porch Tea is something special as well. I took one sip and my eyes lit up, I slid my glass across the table to Price while telling him “You HAVE to try this!”. After his own sip he began nodding back in approval. We quickly began talking about how we will have to make it ourselves one day. It’s an experience in a glass.

We enjoyed our drinks and recapping our days and week together until the food came, and then all focus fell on our big, beefy burgers. Be still my heart!

As I am always on the hunt for fresh New England seafood and lobsters it felt like it was a no brainer to get Hard Rock’s recently launched “Local Legendary” burgers. It is one of their classic burgers topped with a scoop of fresh lobster salad. While the burger is typically served with cole slaw and seasoned fries, I opted just for the fries. I like cole slaw, but I knew I wanted to focus my attention on the burger and the seasoned fries. And my stomach is only so big!

This was such a delicious Summer-time meal! The large burger was well seasoned and the large scoop of lobster salad on top was lightly dressed allowing the flavors of the meat and lobster to shine on their own and together. The lobster salad was filled with large chunks of lobster claws and tails. I was really impressed. The accompanying sriracha mayo was served on the side, which I think was a smart choice and I don’t think the burger really needed it. I added it to a few bites but was more and satisfied with the burger as it was prepared.

My burger was slightly under-cooked by a minute or so from my requested medium-rare, but I wasn’t mad about it as I like my burgers under done (aka… ‘mooing’). However, Price’s was a perfect medium.

The current Hard Rock burger and beer pairing caught Price’s eye. Hard Rock worked with Goose Island to create a Tropical Bacon Burger to pair with their IPA.

Price’s burger was a beer glazed 8 oz. patty of Certified Angus Beef atop a pile of lettuce and tomato. It then had a layer of cheddar cheese and Cajun Spiced bacon and to top it off, a slice of grilled pineapple and mango salsa. When he thinks of Summer dishes, it’s always burgers. The sweetness of the pineapple with the savory beef and fresh produce made for wonderful mouthfuls bite after bite. The burger comes with a side of teriyaki sauce which is fitting with the pineapple and meat. The burger is so big that Price had to cover each bite with a little sauce because the massive burger was messy enough on its own.

His original plan was to order the beer pairing as well when his burger arrived, but the Summer Splash Daiquiri packed such a wonderful rum punch that he decided to stick with ‘just’ that.

Just like the choices and attention to detail that was put into the burgers, the fries had their own unique taste and sauce. For an additional $1, you can upgrade to their Savory Artisan Fries. They offer 3 different kinds of fries that are jazzed up with seasonings and are paired with their own dipping sauces. I picked out the Parmesan Romano Fries with the Garlic Aioli and Price got the Herb and Garlic Fries. I loved my fries so much that I am tempted to just go back one day and order a side of fries to munch on at lunch while sitting on the nearby Rose Kennedy Greenway.

We enjoyed our first date night out since getting married at The Hard Rock because they serve awesome food and drinks with a smile in a fun, lively music filled venue.

Hard Rock Cafe Boston

22-24 Clinton St

Boston, MA 02109

(617) 424-7625

____________________

While I received this complimentary meal (minus tip) in exchange for a review, all opinions expressed are my own.

It would be a big bummer if you couldn’t make it to a Hard Rock soon to try their summery burgers and drinks, but at least you can make yourself your own cocktail home by using these recipes below!

Back Porch Tea

Muddle the following:

4 each Basil leaves
2 each Mint sprigs
1 each Lemon wedge
1 oz Cucumber syrup

Combine with:

1 oz Light rum
½ oz Gin
½ oz Elderflower liqueur
1 oz Lemonade

Summer Fizz

Muddle the Following:

1 oz Black cherry infused syrup
½ oz Lime juice
4 each Fresh raspberries

Combine with:

1 ½ oz Light rum
½ oz Orange liqueur

Monday Munchies: Floramo’s Restaurant- Chelsea, MA

March 16, 2015

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

____________________

Price and I have only had a few ‘Date Nights’ since Autumn was born. I think 4, maybe 5 of them. And 2 of them were on the cruise that we took in January. And since then we have been talking about how we needed to get a babysitter so that we could have a Date Night soon.

As it was our first time using our sweet babysitter at night so we wanted to pick a place that was close by. We weighed our options and decided to go to Floramo’s restaurant, which is about a 3-4 minute drive from our house. We’ve lived in Chelsea for about 3 years now so we were excited to try a local place.

When we arrived shortly after 7pm we were told it would be able a 25-30 minute wait. We took our pager to a bench off the lobby to wait while discussing upcoming wedding stuff. But before we knew it a few minutes had passed and our pager began to go off. I’m glad our wait was much faster than originally predicted.

We debated getting an appetizer but once we checked out the Appetizers menu we decided we had try the Buffalo Fried Calamari ($9.95). We both really like traditional calamari that is fried and served with marinara sauce. Or the Rhode Island Style that has spicy cherry peppers.

But this was different as the crispy fried calamari was tossed in Buffalo wing sauce and blue cheese dressing was for the dipping sauce. It all worked together perfectly. A cool mashup between calamari and buffalo wings.

As Floramo’s is known for their steak tips and delicious meats, Price decided to order the Mixed Grill ($16.25) for his entree. It included Sausage, a Steak Tip, a Turkey Tip, Chicken a Tip, 1/4 Rack of Ribs. It was a good introduction to the selection of meats that they serve. All of their barbecue is meat that is cooked to your desired level of done-ness and marinated in Floramo’s secret barbecue sauce recipe.

Price really enjoyed everything on the mixed grill. He was really impressed by the amount of food served, although he wished there was more steak tips as the piece was really good. The piece of sausage was really big and grilled nicely. The slogan for Floramo’s is “Where the meat falls off the bone!”and it really is true as the meat on the ribs was fall off the bone tender.

As well, Price decided to get a baked potato, between his choice of fries, rice, mashed potato, baked potato, or pasta. It was served with butter and sour cream on the side.

I had originally thought I’d order steak tips, but once Price ordered a meaty dish I decided to check out their selection fish entrees. I ordered the Haddock Italiano ($13.95), which was lightly battered and sautéed haddock served over pasta with onions, diced tomato, spinach and crushed hot peppers in a wine based sauce. It was fantastic! I picked angel hair pasta and I think it worked well with the sauce. The 2 large pieces of fish were tender and very flaky. The sauce was spicy from all the crushed hot peppers in the sauce. It all just worked together really well.

Both of our dinners came with a simple salad. There were a handful of dressing to choose from, like ranch, blue cheese, Italian, but we opted just for oil and vinegar.

Even though both of us only had half of our entrees we were stuffed. I would have loved to have hung around and ordered dessert but we were just too full.

As the entrees were so large (for us) we enjoyed the leftovers the next day, making our dinner a great deal.

I’m so glad that we finally had a chance to make it to Floramo’s Restaurant. I’m already thinking about the next time we can go so I can have some of my own steak tips!

Floramo’s Restaurant

213 Everett Avenue

Chelsea MA, 02150

617-889-1330

Monday- Wednesday: 11-9pm

Thursday – Saturday: 11-10pm

Sunday: Closed

Monday Munchies: Fajitas and ‘Ritas- Boston, MA

March 17, 2014

Fajitas and ‘Ritas has been serving Boston with fun Tex-Mex food since 1989. Enjoy Texas favorites from Nachos to Tequila Wings, Fajitas to Barbecue, and Chili to Burritos. That’s 25 years of amazing lunches and dinners serving up some delisious food and drinks!

Price had worked near Fajitas and ‘Ritas years ago so we would occasionally meet there for lunches or drinks after work. It was a great place for affordable meals and drinks to help you get though the rest of a rough day.

It had been ages since we went but going back for lunch recently brought back the memories of the great food and margaritas we enjoyed together and with friends among the mural covered walls.

During our recent visit, we had planned on starting with the Build Your Own Nachos. Basically, you start with a plate of tortilla chips with melted cheese ($3.74) and then you pick the toppings you would like. I like that you can make the nachos exactly how you enjoy them with steak ($3.74) or chicken ($2.15) or chili ($1.64) and topped off with things like sour cream ($.75) or jalapenos ($47). Nachos were on my mind but since a basket of warm tortilla chips with salsa were put in front of us the moment we were seated we decided to enjoy those and pick other starters when we ordered our drinks.

I ordered the Mexican Sunrise ($6.07). I wanted something fun and it sounded like a great pick with it’s Lunazul Reposado, Grenadine, lemonade, orange juice, fresh lime juice, and ginger ale. It had great bite from the tequila and the lemonade and was such a pretty color from the Grenadine. I liked the slight effervescence from the ginger ale as well.

Price enjoyed the house margarita ($5.37). Fresh citrus and a hearty amount of tequila always makes for a great drink. Plus, the affordable price doesn’t hurt.

Ultimately, we decided on starting with the small order of 8 tequila wings ($8.18). Price loves wings so this was his pick. He was excited to dig right in when they were set down in front of us and the scent of the wings rose up with the steam coming off the hot wings.

The tequila wings were juicy and really flavorful without being too hot. The tequila adds a really nice flavor. I would have preferred the skin to be crisper but I’m honestly really picky about wings since I don’t actually really like wings. shhh… I prefer tenders but I have to say I did have one of these and it was really good. Loved the flavor from the sauce.

The wings were served with a zesty blue cheese sauce and, of course, celery. I loved the blue cheese sauce as it was really creamy and flavorful. I couldn’t resist dipping some tortilla chips into the sauce as well.

I picked out the special of Jalapeno Poppers since they are some of my favorite appetizers. I love the combo of spicy pepper with cooling cream cheese and the crunch from the crisp coating. These poppers were a perfect combo of that. Plus crazy fresh from the fryer, which is a must with poppers as you want a hot filling and crisp coating.

The jalapeno poppers were served with the same zesty blue cheese sauce as the wings.

Fajitas and ‘Ritas has several zones in their restaurant. It makes for flexible seating when it comes to avoiding loud crowds or for hosting a party in an area.

For my entrée, I ordered the steak and shrimp fajitas ($10.28) because I couldn’t pass up the signature dish in which the restaurant is named.

The fajitas are served with fresh guacamole, chopped pico de gallo, sour cream, and 2 warm flour tortillas.

I loved it all. It was a large portion of vegetables with steak and 4 shrimp. The steak was lean, flavorful, and tender while the shrimp had a nice blackening to it from the heat of the cooktop. The steak was cut into strips so it was easy for stacking into the tortillas.

Because we enjoyed 2 starters, I saved half of my fajitas to have for lunch the next day. It heated up well in the microwave as the veggies were still a bit crisp and the steak was not too well done in the first place so it didn’t get tough and chewy after it was reheated.

Price picked the pulled pork platter ($9.35). The platters are served with a corn muffin, cole slaw, beans, and a side of BBQ sauce. The typical hearty Texas meal!

Price really enjoyed the 12 hour smoked pork that was smothered in BBQ sauce. The thick sauce was smokey and sweet and a great compliment to the beans. A bite of pulled pork followed up with a bite of corn muffin was a great combination.

We both really enjoyed the cole slaw as it was really crunchy and lightly dressed. For us, texture is a big factor in a good cole slaw and this style of cut (like a dice, not ribboned) makes it extra crunchy.

While Price was enjoying his entrée, he had a CoronaRita ($8.41). What’s a CoronaRita? Well, it’s their house frozen margarita served with an upside down 7oz bottle of Corona in it. As you drink the margarita you pull the Corona out of the drink to release more of the beer so it mixes with the ‘rita. yum!

Besides the margaritas, they also serve wine and margarita like drinks with a vodka base instead of tequila. The Texas Sipper ($6.54) made with Titos Handmade Vodka, St. Germain, Grapefruit Juice, soda has my name all over it for next time.

I had been hoping to enjoy some dessert but we had filled up too much on our meal. Only means we need to go back for some Sopapillas (One for $1.64, Three for $4.40) and, of course, more ‘ritas!

And a big THANK YOU to our waitress who gave us awesome service, as well as being super sweet to Autumn. Just the sweetest thing ever!!!!!! Love the extra attention for our little one. Made my day.

Fajitas and ‘Ritas

25 West St #1

Boston, MA 02111

617.426.1222

*While a portion of my lunch bill was comped by Fajitas and ‘Ritas these opinions are entirely my own.

____________________

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

Stuffed on Steak: Fogo De Chao- Boston, MA

December 14, 2012

Are you looking for a new restaurant to try this weekend? Do you deserve a really great night out? Do you love steak?

If you think that you fulfill any of those things then you need to check out Fogo De Chao, a churrascaria, in Copley Square as soon as you can!!

Last month I attended the grand opening of Fogo de Chao, the new Brazilian Steakhouse located at the Westin Hotel that has your mouth-watering once you walk in the door. The smell of freshly seared steak, chicken, sausage, and lamb was the perfect perfume hanging in the air.

Fogo De Chao_Boston_04

The Caipirinha is Brazil’s national cocktail. I had the pleasure of enjoying the combination of cachaça (a sugar cane rum), sugar, and lime that make up this cocktail. The cocktail goes down easily as it is so sweet so you better watch out that you don’t have too many.

Fogo De Chao_Boston_06

As soon as we walked in Price and I remarked how amazing the space is. We have been to other Brazilian Barbecue restaurants before but this was the first one that was really stunning. I was quiet enamored with the lights.

Centrally located, the salad bar is packed full of fresh greens, smoked meats, a variety of cheeses, and much, much more. I wish I took more photos of the 30 plus options available but I didn’t want to hold up the line as everyone was dying to dig right in. But I could not miss taking a picture of a bowl full of bacon!

In addition to the salad bar there is an adjacent hot food bar that served things like rice and beans that would pare perfectly with your meal.

Fogo De Chao_Boston_11

I tried to only select a few things from the salad bar that I would really enjoy so I would not fill up but the options seemed endless. I really enjoyed everything I picked from the fresh mozzarella, steamed asparagus, hot peppers, and prosciutto. My favorite things were the sun-dried tomatoes since they were so flavorful and soft. I had the best intentions of going back to the hot bar to sample the rice and beans there but I ended up getting too full to go back.

As small as they were the pão de queijos were one of my favorite things about the meal. Small puffs of cheesy bread were served to accompany the meal. They were light and airy, with a crunchy exterior, and, of course, packed with cheese. I might have been tempted to throw a few in my purse, but I didn’t. I swear!

The only thing that I didn’t think was stunning were the plate of fried bananas, fried polenta, and mashed potatoes that the servers, which are known as Passadores in Brazil and called meat gauchos at Fogo De Chao, brought to the table. The bananas were delicious but the polenta and mashed potatoes were a little too plain for my preference. Also since we were so distracted by all of the meat available we ignored these for a bit and they all got cold. I just didn’t feel these were necessary to enjoy the meal.

Once we were seated after our trip to the salad bar we were ready for the gauchos to come around and start delivering a variety of different meats to us. The service was top notch and very knowledgeable on all of the different cuts of suculant meats you could enjoy. Fogo De Chao offers different cuts of beef, chicken, and lamb. The signature meat is the Picanha, which is a top sirloin cut of meat that is very popular in the churrascarias of Southern Brazil. This was available in a traditional light seasoning or a garlicky seasoning.

True love. The gauchos would ask you how you would prefer the meat to done and based upon where the meat was located along the skewer you would have a different degree of done-ness. I prefer rare to medium rare so they would rotate the skewer until they had the right piece in front of them to slice off and I would grab it with my little tong to enjoy.

This plate is true love to me.

My favorite cuts were the garlicky Picanha, Filet Mignon, Fraldinha, and Linguica. The Filet was an easy favorite as it was so tender it just about melted in your mouth. I prefered the Fraldinha, the bottom cut of the sirloin, over the Beef Ancho, the rib eye, only because I tend to like less marbled pieces of meat. I loved the Linguica as it was so flavorful and the exterior was very crisp from the rotisserie, which helped seal in the juices.

The only thing I did not get to try that I was looking forward to was the chicken but I think everything else more than makes up for that.

The biggest thing to remember is to pace yourself so use the GO and STOP cards they give you. Flip them over to tell the servers if they should come by the table or not. While it is completely acceptable to stuff yourself silly on all the different delicious meats you should try to save room for dessert. We had to keep reminding ourselves that.

We decided on getting the signature dessert which is the Fogo de Chão Signature Papaya Cream. This is a dish that is made with ripe papayas and ice cream. They use fresh, ripe papayas to blend with ice cream to create a very rich fruity dessert. This was a really good treat as it was so rich.

Of course we had to have some Creme de Cassis on top!

South American Flan was the real winner to us. Our server told us they make it daily on site and it is one of the top desserts. We thought the texture was light, creamy and very delicate. I could not get over the amount of vanilla specks that were visible in the caramel part of the custard. I would go back just for this.

Fogo De Chao is a special place to go to when you want to really enjoy a unique steakhouse meal. Dinner is $46.50 (Salad Bar Only – $22.50) so this is not a place to go for a casual dinner. A dinner out will cost you at least $60 a person and you will be so stuffed on very rich food you might want this to be for a nice occassion. Be sure to eat light before hand so you can really enjoy everything that is twirled around your table. And be sure to save room for dessert!

Fogo De Chao – Boston

200 Dartmouth St.

Boston, MA 02116

617.585.6300

*While I did recieive a complimentary brunch from Fogo De Chao these opinions are entirely my own.

____________________

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

12 Courses @ BOKX 109

October 16, 2012

Last Wednesday night I was honored to be a part of a blogger’s tasting of the Fall Flavors Dinner at BOKX 109. I’ve had to been BOKX 109 at Hotel Indigo previously for events, and was always dying to go back to use the hotel’s pool when I was a resident of Newton. I enjoyed my visits then but I was interested to see what a new Excutive Chef Stephen Coe would have to offer.

I brought one of the General Contractors that I work with to the dinner with me. I’ve been working on this project for 18 months now and he joined the team shortly after construction started last summer. I’ve brought in baked goods and other goodies to the team at meetings and have told him about the fun blogging things I do so I wanted to share this experience with him. Obviously, Chris could not turn down a 12 course tasting menu with wine pairings.

-Course 1-

Pear & Mascarpone Sacchetti … aka ‘Smoke Show’ – sacchetti stuffed with pear and Mascarpone topped with a cream sauce, arugula, pickled red onion, and lemon.

This is called ‘smoke show’ as the sacchetti, purse shaped stuff pasta, were plated and then served under a large wine glass that was filled with hickory smoke. The presentation was incredible. Chef Coe removed the wine glass for me so I could take photos of the smoke billow out. The smoke provided a nice subtle taste to the dish. It added a nice contrast to the somewhat sweet tender handmade pasta delicately covered in a cream sauce. Once I took a bite of this dish I knew that the rest of the courses would be unforgettable. Knock your socks off first impressions.

This course was paired with Robert Mondavi Fume Blanc

-Course 2-

Grilled Oyster- local oyster grilled and topped with fennel pollen, tomatoes, panko bread crumbs, pancetta, and chive fondue.

I skipped this course because I do not like oysters. It’s a texture thing. I gave my dish to Chris, who really enjoys oysters. He liked both but commented on how overall they were salty. Also he noticed that the second one (mine) was less briny than his, which he preferred more.

According to Chef Coe, ‘Fennel Pollen has a flavor that is incredible–like taking the fennel seed, sweetening it and then intensifying it a hundred times.’

This course as paired with Robert Mondavi Fume Blanc

-Course 3-

Grilled Octopus- Octopus Carpaccio and grilled tentacles served with Arugula and pickled red onions finished with lemon juice, olive oil, and chives.

This dish has us stumped for a bit. We obviously knew there was grilled octopus put didn’t know what was below the grilled ocotopus. We were running through some of the ideas we had like hearts of palm or sunchoke. It was so thinny sliced and delicate! Well we asked Chef Coe and he explained it was octopus carpaccio, which is a dish of raw meat thinly sliced or pounded thin. Loved the play on 2 ways to prepare the octopus.

This course as paired with Deep Sea Chardonnay

-Course 4-

Tomato Heirloom Soup- Campbell style, tomato, garlic, onions, basil. Finished with Parmesan foam.

I could not believe that Chef Coe was describing his soup as ‘Campbell’s like’ as this was a hundred times better. I could see where he was going with this soup as everyone grows up with and reminds you of home, reminds you of warm coup after a cold afternoon playing outside. Bullseye. The soup was paired with a salad of fresh heirloom tomatoes and some fried cheese. While this was very good – basically a raw, whole soup – I still was wishing the soup was paired with a fun grilled cheese. I just can’t resist that pair.

This course as paired with Deep Sea Chardonnay

-Course 5-

Lobster Cavatelli- Lobster meat, shitake mushrooms, edamame, and finished with a chive cream sauce.

Such a big bowl, such a big tease. I’m honestly glad there was not too much of this as we were not even half way through dinner but if this was an entree I would need a massive bowl as this was one of my favorite dishes of the night. The fresh pasta was sauteed in the chive cream sauce and then combined with the mushrooms and edamame. Lobster was tossed in and then it was all topped off with some ribbons of ricotta salata. Did you get all that? Wow. Like I said, I only wish there was some more of it.

Did you know that ‘cavatellis are a type of pasta. The term cavatelli has two meanings: the most common meaning is small pasta shells that look like miniature hot dog buns. It is similar in shape to casarecci, but shorter in length. The name is less frequently used for a type of dumpling made with ricotta.’?

This course was paired with King Estate Signature Pinot Gris

-Course 6-

Decon Rabbit- Bacon wrapped rabbit with stewed butter bean

I skipped this course. I just can’t eat rabbit. I think of my pets and I just can’t. Thankfully my partner in crime has no mental blocks and enjoyed this dish. He liked it so much he stole some more off my plate. I should have just asked for the dish without the rabbit since the beans looked incredible. Dang it!

This course was paired with King Estate Signature Pinot Gris

-Course 7-

Sous Vide Veal Cheeks- Sous Vide Veal Cheeks with Tarragon Pappardelle and Parsnip puree

Oh this course, I spent the rest of the week and all weekend thinking about it. Fork tender meat on a bed of fresh pappardelle with parsnip puree. Every element of this dish was thoughtfully prepared. The veal was incredibly tender and seasoned perfectly. It was my first time having anything made in the sous vide technique and I am a firm supporter of it now. So tender! The fresh papparadelle was tender and lightly coated with a tarragon sauce. Now, I can’t believe I am saying this but I could have had a soup bowl full of the parsnip puree. I’m sure there is an obsence amount of butter/cream/magic in there but I don’t care as it was ah-mazing. The puree was fine and if you close your eyes you just imagine fall.

I was talking to Chris was I was taking photos as he began to eat. I was shooshed. He was haivng a moment with the veal cheeks. I then had my moment a minute later. I love when a dish leaves you speechless. Bliss.

This course was paired with Hogue Reserve Cabernet

-Courses 8 thru 11-

Dessert Plate–Blueberry & Prosecco Shooter, Strawberry & White Balsamic Jelly, Petite Tiramisu, Chocolate Cyclone

Every element on the plate was unique and delightful.

The blueberry and Persecco shooter was a fun. I loved the presentation of it in the square shooter and tiny straw. I only wish there was more Persecco as it was a little thick for the straw, but the flavors were light and refreshing.

The jelly duo was a nice delicate dessert. The white balsamic was light in flavor and was a nice pairing with the strawberry jelly. I’ve had concentrated balsamic with strawberries in the past but the white balsamic is even better match.

The petite tiramisu was exactly that- a tiny bite of tiramisu. Very clear flavors, but not too intense.

The chocolate cyclone was so intense and rich. It was a chocolate cone filled with chocolate mousse and topped off with caramel corn. O.M.G. fun presentation and fun dessert.

-Course 12-

Pop Rocks- Frozen Lemon Soufflé with pop rocks

This was such a fun way to end the dinner. The poprocks added a fun, whimsical end to it while the lemon souffle was like last hurrah. The frozen lemon souffle, which was not too frozen, reminded me of lemoncello, which is an after dinner Italian drink. Fun!

I enjoyed all of the wine pairings we had during dinner. From light fruity wines to richer reds, this covered it all and were paired nicely. All were new wines to me. I would try them all again while shopping for some wines to pair with dinner.

I loved this evening at BOKX 109. It was a very special dinner as it was at the chef’s table and a custom 12 course dinner for the group of bloggers. However, Chris and I watched the dishes coming out of the kitchen and we were dying over some of the things we saw coming out for the dinner service. There was a trio of beef that got higher as was arranged on the plate. Trio of beef!! Oh and don’t get me started on this dish with that started with a bed of potatoes, then asparagas, and then a cut of beef (fillet?). That was covered in hollandaise and then topped with lobster. I could die happy after that.

BOKX 109

Located inside Hotel Indigo

399 Grove Street

Newton, MA 02462

*While I did receive this complimentary meal from BOKX 109 these opinions are entirely my own.

____________________

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

Monday Munchies: Brutole Restaurant- Danvers, MA

September 17, 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!

____________________

We recently went to Brutole Restaurant in Danvers, MA and had such a fantastic time. The service was spot on and the food was fantastic and really enjoyable. I am so thankful for the groupon that we had as it introduced us to a great place that is a short drive away from our new home.

As soon as we sat down our waiter placed this basket of bread in front of us. Then he placed a mound of grated cheese on a saucer and then drowned it on oil. Thankfully I have a bit of restraint, or I would have eaten 3 basket fulls of this bread with this dipping oil. Carb coma bliss.

We had a hard time picking out our appetizer. We eventually decided on the Mediterranean Spinach and Artichoke Dip that is served with Brutole tortilla chips ($10). This appetizer was served very hot so that cheese was melted perfectly. We felt that the dominate flavors were spinach and feta and that artichoke was missing from the dip. This did not make it bad it just was not as advertised. I think that if this was put under a broiler we would have loved it even more. We had half of this wrapped up to-go and it was still really great the next night.

For my entree I had the Lobster Mac & Cheese appetizer. As soon as I read it I knew I had to have it. I have no resistance against large chunks of lobster meat tossed together with a mascarpone cheese lobster velute and elbow macaroni. Plus on top of that there was a drizzle of truffle oil. It was the perfect pick for just $15.

I loved this as it was really loaded with large chunks of lobster and it was the perfect portion that did not leave me stuffed at the end and feeling ill from over indulging on rich food.

Price picked the fettucini pasta dish that had large gulf shrimp, tomatoes, basil, and baby spinach ($29). A very generous serving was placed in front of him and I was jealous. There were 8 large gulf shrimp nestled under that pasta. Eight large shrimp! I feel that if I get any dish with seafood that the seafood is that after thought and there are 3-4. Very impressive. Price also had half of this wrapped up with some extra bread and it enjoyed it for lunch the next day.

We split the creme brulee ($10) for dessert. It was a generous portion so it was perfect for 2 people. The custard was rich and creamy and had a nice thick layer of caramelized sugar on top. Perfect crack when our spoons broke through.

Brutole is not visible from Rt. 1 so I don’t think many people know about it or consider it as Rt. 1 is jam packed with restaurants. I think that it also doesn’t help them that several lights on the exterior are out. I think that if they liven up the exterior then people would feel more welcomed to come inside to see a great space and to enjoy a great meal.

We know that we will be back to enjoy that fantastic food and try one of their great sounding cocktails. I think we’ll grab a seat at the bar and try one of their grilled pizzas and a cocktail next time. That cocktail list has my name all of it!

Brutole Restaurant

65 Newbury Street

Danvers, MA 01923

(978) 777-6633