Field Trips

Most of the time I feel like I am just another kid on a field trip, looking into some space that I have never seen before, running all over this City, happy to have the chance to learn something new. Here's yet another TBF exclusive video of Executive Chef Brooke Vosika of the Four Seasons, Boston, giving us a tour of the kitchens. Not many restaurants here have the time, space or budget to dry age their own beef. They do. We are looking at about $30,000 worth of meat here.

Heath Frisby?

Cold winters in Boston are sometimes an opportunity for cool sports. You may not recognize the name Heath Frisby but this video,which we are happy to rerun, was one of our most popular, with over 7,000 views on YouTube. Just remember, with each passing day Spring moves closer. Isn't it funny how people in New England get so excited when they notice a few minutes change in the time of the sunset? Well, Daylight Savings time ends in a few short weeks and it's all downhill from there.

Modern Pastry

One of my favorite Valentine's Day treats this week was this mini chocolate cake from Modern Pastry. Chocolate cake with a generous filling of raspberry jam is then drenched in chocolate. Heaven.


Whenever I am asked what the best bakery is in the North End my answer is always Modern Pastry. I am lucky that they also have an outpost in Medford Square, within walking distance of my house.



Modern Pastry
257 Hanover Street
Boston, MA 02113
Telephone: 617.523.3783

20 Salem Street
Medford, MA 02155-3232
Telephone: 781.396.3618

Chicken And Truffle Dumplings At Four Seasons

We joined several Boston food writers and bloggers this week at the very elegant Four Seasons Hotel, Boston, for a private cooking class with Chef Brooke Vosika. Here's a short video of Chef Vosika preparing Chicken And Truffle Dumplings, just one of the dishes we enjoyed. We'll have a full post with more video up shortly.

Speaking of elegance, we are really looking forward to the Spoonful Of Ginger event next month at the Museum of Fine Arts. It takes place on Monday, March 28, 2011, at 6:30 PM. You will not only get to meet and greet some of Boston's elite Chefs and enjoy their food but it is also all set against the breathtaking backdrop of the new Art of the Americas Wing. Rarely does the MFA allow food events actually inside the exhibit halls (the very first time was at this, same, event last year) so it is all but guaranteed to be one of Boston's most glittering society functions. The event benefits the Joslin Diabetes Center. Tickets can be purchased here: Spoonful Of Ginger.

Inside Legal Sea Foods' Wine Cellar

I was lucky enough on Tuesday to be the only food blogger invited to the Boisset Family Estates Dinner in the wine cellars of Legal Seafoods at their Park Street location. I had never been there before, although their classic wine dinners are held monthly. Everything was very well-planned and executed and featured the wines of the Boisset family of estates, which span a lot of territory, from Russian River Valley to Burgundy and the Loire Valley. Our host was none other than Jean-Charles Boisset, of the famous wine family, who flew in from France to host the event.




Smoked Salmon Napoleon was our first taste of the night.


The Lobster Fritter with Lemon Aioli hors d'Ouevres was excellent.


Hors d'Oeuvres were paired with a Louis Bouillot Cremant de Bourgogne Rose, Burgundy, NV.


The colorful and entertaining Jean-Charles Boisset spoke about each wine and the unique terroir of each vineyard in the family's varied portfolio.


First course was a Smoked Rainbow Trout Rillette with Mixed Green Salad, Orange Segments and Citrus Vinaigrette. This was paired with an Italian wine, an excellent Beni di Batasiolo, Piedmont, 2009. This was my favorite course.


Second Course was Roasted East Coast Halibut with Wilted Swiss Chard and Salsa Veracruzana. This was delicious and the salsa peppered just right for the dish. This was paired with two wines: Bouchard Aine Pouilly-Fuisse, Burgundy, 2007 and Raymond Chardonnay Reserve, Napa Valley, 2008. The latter wine was unoaked and both were very good, yet quite different, almost hard to believe they both come from the same grape.


Third Course was Wood Grilled North Atlantic Salmon with Truffled Parsnips Puree and Roasted Chantarelle Mushrooms.


The salmon dish was paired with a DeLoach "Block 1950" Pinot Noir, Sonoma Coast 2009. Perfectly balanced, this was a great pairing, probably my favorite.


Dessert was Crispy Crepe with McIntosh Apples, Maple Glaze and Cinnamon Ice Cream. This was served with Neige "Premiere" Apple Ice Wine out of Canada. Apple Ice wine was originally developed in 1994 in Quebec, at this winery. I had never experienced it before. It has a very robust sweet, unmistakable apple flavor. I liked the wine but maybe would have paired it with a cheese course so I am looking forward to trying that at home.


After dinner, Jean-Charles led the group in a traditional Bourguignon celebratory cheer.

Legal Seafoods Park Square
26 Park Plaza
Boston, MA 02116
Telephone: 617.426.4444

Biscotti Babies

I am a baker and one of my specialties is biscotti, which can be difficult to make. It's one of the types of cookies that you almost never get right the first time, maybe even the second or third. So, I was apprehensive when I was sent a sample of this new product to try. Created by Master Baker Mat Hauck of Great Barrington, MA, it's a new spin on the traditional cookie but I really liked them. They are bite-sized and come in small packs at one hundred calories a bag, the portion size is controlled but the flavor is there. The come in four flavors: cranberry walnut, orange almond, cinnamon hazelnut and double chocolate (my favorite). Made with all-natural ingredients, the fact that they are locally-made is just an added plus.

Burrito Bowl Boston 2011

Poe's Kitchen at The Rattlesnake was the place to be last Saturday to kick off Superbowl weekend with the first Burrito Bowl Boston. The place was packed as the event, hosted by Chef Brian Poe, had been sold out for weeks. The game: top Boston Chefs would each select a rival football team and build around that a theme for new burrito creation to be tasted. Then, the audience and a panel of judges would vote to select the winner for the bragging rights and to be featured on Poe's Superbowl Game Day Menu. How could anyone go wrong?


The Cuervo shots were generous and refreshing.


Chef Brian Poe of Poe's Kitchen at The Rattlesnake, Judge Jenny Johnson, Chef Andy Husbands of Tremont 647 and Chef Jason Santos of Gargoyle's On The Square.

Chef Jason Hutchinson, co-founder of boloco.


The recipe for Chef Hutchinson's inspired burrito.


Alex Galimberti (l) and Jose Duarte (r) of Taranta share a chopping lesson and a laugh with Judge Jenny Johnson of NECN's TV DINER.


Chef Jose Duarte of Taranta, who, you may remember from some previous posts, has been experimenting with QR code technology at his restaurant, used a mini cattle brand to stamp is food with a QR code that, once scanned, took you to a website containing the ingredients and recipe for the dish. Amazing!


Chef Duarte served up a mean roasted suckling pig with Cuban rice and beans, sweet plantain and fresh cheese and fried yucca served with the QR code-branded tortilla and dubbed: El Mayamero for his twist on his Miami team theme.


Chef Poe served up chicken burritos with accompaniments such as guacamole and some seriously good crisped onions.


Chef Santos served up a pulled pork with blue cheese served of Frito's corn chips. Santos represented The Patriots.


Culinary Director Laura Henry-Zoubir (recent winner of Food Networks CHOPPED) of Church and Chef Jonathan Gileen.


The delicious fried cajun redfish plate served by Church, one of our favorite tastes.


The recipe at the Church table.


Chef Tiffani Faison of TOP CHEF ALL STARS stopped by to chat with Bianca Garcia of CONFESSIONS OF A CHOCOHOLIC and I about wrapping up the show recently.


Even Chef Jose's sucklin pigs were branded with the QR code!


Judges Dan McCarthy of UrbanDaddy, Jenny Johnson of TV Diner and Josh Wolovitch of The Boston Herald announce the winners. People's Choice was Jason Santos and Overall Winner was Jose Duarte. Congratulations all! Special thanks to Chef Brian Poe. Seriously, this was one of the most fun events we've been to this year.

Poe's Kitchen at The Rattlesnake
384 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02116
Telephone: 617.859.8555

My Little Valentine

While most food blogs will be posting this weekend about chocolates, foods that are considered aphrodisiacs or great spots for cozy, romantic dinners for two, we are posting about our very own little valentine: Katherine Elizabeth. Happy first birthday and may I be the first man to give you flowers on Valentines Day.

Need A Gift?

What do shoes and shopping have to do with anything? It's Valentine's Day next week, that's what! We've reviewed products before from CSN stores.com, our favorite online shopping site where they have everything from school and office supplies to home decor, furniture and now even shoes, handbags and luggage. A gift card would be the perfect gift for your honey. They also have a great selection of LCD TV STANDS, which, for some reason, is one of the hardest things to find. Check it out. They have great styles. Happy shopping and an early Happy Valentine's Day!

Flat Patties

We stopped in at Flat Patties recently to check out their new location. They have moved out of The Garage in Harvard Square and about a block away to Brattle Street. We have long been a fan of their pulled pork sandwich and wanted to check the space out and make sure the quality was still the same.


Everything here is brand, spanking new.


The new location now has two levels with windows fronting Brattle Street for some great people-watching.


The upstairs level is small but comfortable.


The onion rings are large and perfectly battered and fried, one of the best in Boston.


Of course, we went with our favorite, the pulled pork sandwich to go with those onion rings. And yes, it's as good as ever.


Flat Patties finishes their pulled pork sandwiches with a generous mound of slaw, the way a real pulled pork should be served.

Flat Patties
33 Brattle Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Telephone: 617.871.6871

The Comfort Of Foundry On Elm

We joined a bunch of local bloggers, food writers and friends recently for a great dinner at Foundry On Elm. I really love the whole concept of this place, the old style, classic tavern feel to it, the stick-to-your-ribs menu and amazing cocktails and crafted beers. Since opening, it's proved a huge hit and seems to have been just the thing Davis Square needed to cement it's reputation as a great dining destination. Their popular cocktail, known to fans simply as The Elm Street, is a delicious rum punch drink and currently my favorite. I can't go in here without ordering one with dinner.


We started our feast with a couple of shared plates, the first of which was this Spaetzle. With Nueske's ham, exotic mushrooms, hazelnuts and and an aged Comté cheese, this is perfect cold weather food. Most of the menu items at Foundry feature such real comfort food favorites.


A generous plate of poutine, french fries with cheddar curds and a peppery beef gravy. Poutine, Chef Sam Putnam explained, was actually a local working-class favorite among Arcadian transplants in Somerville back in the day.


The Nueske's ham and hazelnuts really added to the richness of the mushrooms in this spaetzle dish.


Roasted Beet Salad. Served with arugula, blood oranges, almonds and a sherry vinaigrette, the flavors and freshness were great. I am so glad that beets seem to be showing up on more restaurant menus recently.




The pairing for the Beet Salad was a delicious Belgian beer, Verhaeghe, Duchess de Bourgogne, Belgium. A traditional, red Flemish ale, it has a rich, sweeter taste with a surprisingly dry finish. This was my favorite discovery of the night. I loved this beer.


Pan Seared Sea Scallops. Served with a fennel-leek soubise, beluga lentils and preserved lemon. You can never go wrong with the scallops, I say.


Chef Sam Putnam came out to the table to discuss each dish and its ingredients.


The scallops were paired with another very good Belgian beer, this Karmielet, Tripel, Belgium. A honey golden color, it was a perfectly blended, again, excellent beer. A very fine example of what a Tripel should be.


Our meat entree was Pork Osso Buco. With sweet peppers, kalamata olives, rosemary, swiss chard, polenta and gremolata, this was a hearty, well-seasoned plate. The Osso Buco was paired with Oddero, Barolo, Piedmont 2006, a more full-bodied red.


For dessert it was Pineapple Upside-Down Cake. Drizzled with caramel and toasted coconut a side of coconut ice cream accompanied the dish. Thie dessert was, again, expertly paired with a Kracher, Cuvee Beeranausleses, Burgenland 2007, a sweeter dessert wine.


The cornmeal used in the cake makes it dense and satisfying.

If you plant to visit Foundry On Elm for dinner on weekends we strongly suggest making reservations in advance.

Foundry On Elm
255 Elm Street
Somerville, MA 02144
Telephone: 617.628.9999
Open Mon-Sat 11:30am-1am; Sun 10am-1am