Playground - Taking a Stand Against Child Exploitation

Typically, I use this blog to write about my social events, restaurant reviews, recipes, and other light and fluffy subjects. But today I'm going to write about something different.

Last night, I was lucky enough to attend a screening of the documentary, Playground (executive produced by George Clooney, Grant Heslow and Steven Soderbergh), at the Institute of Contemporary Art. My friend is the Executive Director of the Boston Initiative to Advance Human Rights (BITAHR), which she founded and is incredibly devoted to, and graciously invited me to this screening.

Like many of you, my knowledge of child trafficking and sexual exploitation is limited to what I see in the media. I always believed that these things happen in other countries and are especially troublesome in Asian countries. While this is true, I learned last night that this is not just happening in other countries. It is happening here - in the United States, in Massachusetts, and in your local neighborhood. It is just something that we don't discuss.

Playground is a documentary that brings awareness to the very issue of the sexual exploitation of children. The director, Libby Spears, tackles this difficult issue by focusing on the search for a girl named Michelle, an American child who was victimized in interstate and international child trafficking, and subject to exploitation as a child prostitute. Throughout the movie, I cringed and groaned as I heard her story from her caseworker, foster parents and local authorities who were involved with trying to help this child victim. And I felt even more devastated when I found out where Michelle is now and how she got there.

After the documentary, there was a panel which discussed the issues surrounding the sexual exploitation of children in this country. This is happening to our children - right here, right now. I learned that approximately 1,000 children are exploited on ads for sexual services in the greater Boston area every day. That number shocked me. How can this be happening and how come this is not on the news or in the media every day? And what can we do about it? There are many public and private task forces and non-profit organizations that are working to address this problem, but what can we as a society do to change how children learn about sex and how children are sexualized in our media and in our society?

The problem is difficult and finding the answers aren't easy either. As Ashley Judd introduced the film, she talked about she traveled and saw many horrible situations of child exploitation that absolutely broke her hear and she wanted to make a difference. After watching this documentary and learning from the panelists, I understood that sentiment.

Libby Spears discussed her decision to try to present these issues in a sensitive manner by using Yoshitomo Nara's artwork, which a child could easily relate to, with the hopes that it will be someday viewed by a younger audience. For her, awareness is the answer and I agree. While this isn't a "fun" subject, my hope is that just one person will read this blog and be "fearless" in making a difference.

For more information, please check out the following links:

The Playground Project

Boston Initiative to Advance Human Rights

Kim's Project

MA Human Trafficking Task Force

Nest Foundation

Polaris Project

Do something. Tell someone about this issue. Tweet about it. Post this on your Facebook. Donate your resources - whether it be your money, time or knowledge. Take a stand. Do something.

House of Blues - Surprisingly Tasty Food, Shockingly Bad Service

Last Friday, the girls and I decided to head to House of Blues for dinner. We wanted to get together with a low-key dinner to catch up over dinner and drinks but nobody want to really go out hard since we had a big birthday bash the following night. We originally decided on Dillons, but S arrived in Boston later than expected and after she parked her car at T's place in Kenmore Square, we impatiently decided to head around the corner to Lansdowne Street to grab a bite at HOB.

When we arrived, there was a line at the door for the club side but the restaurant/bar side of HOB was surprisingly not full. We were seated right away with paper place mat menus, but this seemed on par for this kind of place. What we were not anticipating was for there to be one server for the entire floor on a Friday night. We waited at least ten minutes for our server to come over to us and take our drink order. She took another ten to fifteen minutes to come back with our drinks, which consisted of draft beers and sodas. The bar certainly was not busy and the two bartenders sat around idly so I'm not sure what the cause of the delay was beyond that our server just didn't have the time to return to our table immediately.

When our server returned with our drinks, she took our meal orders and then asked to take our paper place mats away. We looked a bit surprised and she apologetically and sort of embarrassingly informed us that, "The placements are actually our only real menus." Yikes. I can't only imagine how dirty, ruined, or torn they will quickly get.

The wait for our food was shorter and we of course passed the time by catching up on each other's lives - school, work, job hunting, relationships, and of course T's birthday party the following night. By the time our meals arrived, we were all famished.

I ordered the "Elwood", which is a blackened chicken sandwich served with chili-garlic mayo, green chilies and sour cream (which I got on the side). For a sandwich cheesily named after Dan Aykroyd's Elwood Blues character, this sandwich was surprisingly really good. The blackened chicken sandwich was nicely charred and although I didn't taste the garlic in the mayo, the chili and green chilies were a strong bite.

My only complaint was that the sandwich was incredibly messy to eat and about half way through (with no sign of our server in sight), I went to the bar to get extra napkins for the table. Eventually our server saw me standing at the bar and got us a pile of napkins as everyone else had ordered equally messy dishes. Despite the extra napkins, I ended up eating the second half of my sandwich bun-less with a fork and knife because it was just too difficult to navigate. The dish came with a small side of fries that were cooked well but were in the end, just okay fries, and nothing to write home about.

M also had the Elwood and equally enjoyed the dish (although she also had to eat her sandwich with a knife and fork) and the burger and grilled chicken sandwich also received good reviews.

I was surprised at how delicious the food was for not only a bar, but a touristy bar. But the service was appalling. We didn't fault our server because she tried really hard but it was a complete mismanagement of staff to have a hostess and two bartenders standing around with one server and bus-girl running around to all the tables. We could only get her attention when she was in the midst of running to another table. I know that it was probably incredibly annoying to her but we would have sat there without service for a long time without doing so. I'm not sure if someone called out or what but this resulted in really slow and unreliable service and I hope this was a one time deal.

Despite the unsurprising abysmal state of their bathrooms (it is a bar and club after all), we stayed around to have a few more drinks after our dinner. But after just one round of drinks, a local jazz band took the stage, which made it very difficult to talk or hear. Any other night, this would have been fun, especially since the band was decent, but we just wanted a low key night to catch up with girl talk so we took off for a different bar.

I've only been to HOB once prior to last week and that was before a game for some beers and an appetizer. But I've got to say that the food is really solid. I'll definitely make a return trip before a game but next time, I think I'll skip the meager service and just sit at the bar.

xoxo

Pre-Rain Scenes from Last Night's Game: Coca Cola Pavilion

Ever since the Red Sox created the Coca Cola Pavilion last year, I've been dying to sit there. Besides one other area, this is one of the areas that I have not sat at Fenway Park. Here are a few photos from our view:

And ofcourse, gratuitous self portrait shot...

And the first pitch by Johnny Pesky, who turned 90 on Sunday...

And a shot of #6...

Since the game was going so horrendously, we left at the top of the sixth inning and decided to catch the rest of the game at home. Although there were lots of cabs available, at my suggestion, we decided to walk home since its my favorite thing to do after a game when the weather isn't too hot or too cold. This was a BAD idea as we got caught in the downpour. B was chivalrous enough to hail a cab while I stayed as dry as I could under a doorway. They ended up calling the game - another loss for the Sox. Hopefully we can turn it around this week....

xoxo

Best Friend Weekend Highlights

• On Friday night, my best friend S came into town. She had previously been living in L.A. for the past four years but recently moved back to the East Coast to New York. Its not Boston, but its heck of a lot closer than LA. We decided to have a low-key type of night and met some of the girls for dinner and drinks at House of Blues followed by more drinks at Cornwall's. Restaurant review from HOB to follow this week. After a lot of laughs and catching up, S and I stayed up late night having one of our old roomie chats that we used to have every night when we lived together our senior year of college. I didn't realize how much I missed that.

• On Saturday morning, S, B, and I headed to Beacon Hill Bistro for brunch. While everyone (i.e. the Beacon Hill newbies and tourists) love the Paramount for breakfast or brunch, my favorite Beacon Hill spot is the Bistro as I constantly blog about. Once again, BHB did not let me down. The eggs benedict dish was spot on and I was a very happy girl.

• Afterwards, S and I headed to the Back Bay to do some damage to our wallets. I was in search for a top for Mama T's themed birthday bash. It was her "21 plus 10" birthday and we were all instructed to dress as we did in the fall of 1999. Let's just say that this was a pretty horrific fashion time for me but I managed to find a sparkly one shoulder top that was reminiscent of my freshman year of college. After some shoe shopping (a girl can never have enough patent flats), we met T at Lord and Taylor to glam up for the night. We all got our makeup done together with the fabulous makeup artist at the NARS counter. I highly recommend her.

• Soon after, we finished getting dressed and headed to M's for the birthday pre-party that she threw for T. We drank and ate our faces off and then headed to An Tua Nua for the birthday celebration where we proceeded to drink and dance....and then headed back to M's for the post-party to drink and eat some more. Notice a pattern here?

• After getting back to our apartment WAY too late, we slept in the following morning nursing our heads and queasy stomachs. We walked over to the Kinsale for lunch and the chicken cobb salad did the trick for me (although our training server was absolutely a mess). We spent the rest of the day laying around the couch, watching movies and napping. It was great to have my best friend around and know that it is just okay to lay around and not entertain her, especially since she has been to Boston so many times before. I was sad to say goodbye to her and can't wait until I see her again soon.

• Here are pics from Saturday night:

Picture of the birthday girl - Happy 31st Mama T!

The tray of shots A bought - no surprise here.

Pics with some of my fave girls.

Love that my bra is shining through my one shoulder top!

Co-worker love...

And ofcourse, one with my bestie.

Hope everyone had a great weekend - xoxo

My favorite part of my weekend in Vermont...

...ZIPLINING!!!!!!

B finally put up the photos from his camera from the wedding weekend. Note the ridiculous smile on my face while I'm doing it! I definitely can't wait to do a course the next time!

Fig Jam and Mandarin Pumpkin Marmalade

So last night B and I had over his co-worker (and friend) C for dinner. She is always raving about his yummy leftover lunches and I told her that she was welcome to dinner any time (with a leftover lunch to boot). And since she just moved to a fabulous new apartment closer to our place, it was perfect timing for her to come over.

Our menu for the evening was simple - pulled pork sandwiches, wasabi mashed potatoes and pan roasted brussels sprouts with bacon. And we ofcourse had lots of red wine on hand. Since the meal was so heavy, I wanted to put out a simple cheese platter for an appetizer. I picked up a fresh baguette to slice and served a camembert, smoked Vermont cheddar, and a French blue cheese. Instead of the typical fresh fruit that I tend to serve with cheese during the warmer months, I was feeling more seasonal and decided to put out a bit of fig jam. I have heard really good things about the Organic Adriatic Fig Spread from Whole Foods so I picked that up. I also discovered a really delicious sounding mandarin pumpkin marmalade, and I tossed that into my shopping basket also.

Um, wow. The fig jam was a huge hit and we gobbled that up. It was really delicious with the camembert cheese and I can't wait to serve that with brie. Thankfully a little fig jam goes a long way and there will be plenty of that to go around the next time I have people over.

The Earth & Vine marmalade was delicious and very fruity. I think it will make a good marinade for pork, or to use it as a glaze for sauteed carrots. Yum.

Any other suggestions on how to use this?

xoxo

I Like Marliave, But I Don't Love It

Before the Regina Spektor concert, B and I decided to grab a bite to eat at Marliave. I've definitely blogged about this place before and have had great experiences there for lunch and for drinks, but I've never actually eaten dinner here.

We got to Marliave around 5:30 PM and I was happy to see that the seats at the downstairs bar were full since the last few times I've been there it has been pretty empty. We decided to sit on the second floor and I was surprised at how nice the decor looked. Where the downstairs bar is stark and feels almost institutional, the upstairs is warm with dark woods, mirrors, and open windows. It is a completely different vibe. We were seated against the window and our server quickly greeted us.

After some contemplation, we gave a full order. I decided to start out with a glass of Magner's cider, a half dozen of their $1 oysters, and the Mrs. Marliave sandwich with fries. B ordered a Sam Light, a roasted beet salad and the beef wellington. Our orders could not have been more different.

When the drinks arrived, my Magner's was served already poured in a pint glass with ice. Typically, most places will ask if you would like ice or not and I actually prefer no ice. I didn't want to make a fuss so I kept the drink but I was a little annoyed.

We were served a bread basket along with a dipping dish of olive oil and three green olives. The bread was very yeasty, almost as if it was undercooked and I found it unappetizing. B liked the bread but didn't enjoy the olive oil because it was too strongly olive-flavored. We were off to a bumpy start.

Things got a little better with our first course. My oysters were a combination of Wellfleets, Duxbury, and Pleasant Bay oysters. They were cleanly shucked and refreshing. I loved the simple prosecco mignonette sauce and spicy cocktail sauce served with the oysters. I was dismayed, however, that my oysters did not come with a lemon to squeeze lemon juice on the oysters. Since the oysters were so delicious, I didn't complain and I assumed that they just weirdly don't serve lemon with their oysters. However, I got annoyed when I discovered (after my oyster shells had already been cleared from the table) that the table next to us had also ordered oysters and were served multiple lemons wedges on their plate. It was just strange and terribly inconsistent.

B's roasted beet salad included salad greens, goat cheese, walnuts and a thick aged balsamic. The presentation was beautiful and the salad was delicious but the portion was noticeably very small compared to its price. I guess that Marliave is just not a place where you can order a salad as your actual meal.

At this point I ordered another Magner's and asked for no ice. The server immediately reddened realizing her previous mistake in not asking my preference. She returned with a bottle and a cold glass, and poured it at the table. I was satisfied.

For an entree, I chose the Mrs. Marliave because I really enjoyed the Mr. Marliave when I previously ate there for lunch. The Mrs. Marliave is a croque madame, which is a croque monsieur (a grilled ham and Gruyere sandwich) served with a fried egg on top. The sandwich was served bercy style with a bechamel sauce. This time I was expecting the large portion but I still couldn't finish more than half the sandwich. But every bite I did have was enjoyable. The side of fries was less salty than I last remembered and fried to a crispy golden brown with rosemary. B really enjoyed my fries and actually had most of them.

B had the beef wellington - beef tenderloin, foie gras, mushrooms wrapped in a puff pastry and served with a red wine sauce. Although the presentation was lovely with a dome cover (although a bit out of place at this restaurant), B was disappointed in his entree. While the beef was cooked to a tender medium, there was not even a hint of the foie gras in any bite. It was also unclear how long the dish had sat before being served as the red wine sauce had cooled a little (though not cold) and slightly congealed, which was completely unappetizing to me. On top of which, there was not a single vegetable or any side served with the wellington, which seemed odd. Like I mentioned before, thank goodness B liked my fries so much.

After we had finished our meal, it took the server quite some time to clear our dishes. In fact, it was really unappealing to sit there for so long with our dirty dishes in front of us even though it was clear that we were done with our napkins on the table.

All in all, the dinner was good but not great. The ambiance upstairs was really nice but the dishes seemed hastily put together and inconsistent. The same could be said about the servers. I like the Marliave, but I don't love it. I'll probably go back again for lunch since it is so closely located to my office or for drinks after work but I don't know if I'll be back there for dinner anytime soon. That being said, the restaurant was definitely busy, especially for a Tuesday night. There were diners sitting at a majority of the tables on the second floor and both the bar downstairs and the patio was also full of seated patrons. So maybe I'm missing something? Who knows....

xoxo

Regina Spektor at the Orpheum

Before last night, I liked Regina Spektor. I thought her quirky voice was beautiful and enjoyed the imagery of her "Fidelity" video. But I didn't love her. In fact, I was really underwhelmed when B lovingly surprised me with tickets to Regina Spektor's concert because he thought I was a huge fan of hers. Um, nope - I just know and like two of her songs. Oops? In fact, B doesn't know how underwhelmed I was because I faked my excitement and I only write all of this because I know that he doesn't read my blog. I also faked my enthusiasm when B downloaded her albums so we can learn her songs before the concert. I did, however, listen to the songs on road trips and when cooking dinner and started to learn her songs and did like them.

I know, I'm sounding like a complete bitch here but I'm being honest. I'm not a huge concert person. I will only go to a concert when it is a band or singer I really love, like NKOTB or Neil Diamond. Yes, I'm being serious - don't judge. Beyond drunken dancing at bars to my favorite local cover bands (hello Bearfight), I wouldn't call myself a concert person.

With all these things in mind, when we arrived at the Orpheum, I decided to be positive and just enjoy the show as much as I can. After all, B went out of his way to be really thoughtful and I didn't have the heart to tell him any of the above. It was

tough because the Orpheum was ridiculously hot. I think the combination of an old building with the unexpected warm weather that night led it to be so hot that everyone was gulping down cold beers and waters and fanning their faces.

On top of which, the opening band, Little Joy was underwhelming. Honestly, I was thinking that I would really like them considering the members includes Fabrizio Moretti of the Strokes. Um, not so much. I did LOVE Binki Shapiro though - her voice was AMAZING.

By the time the show started, I was uncomfortable hot, antsy and wanted to go home.

I'm glad I stayed.

Regina Spektor was ridiculously good. I mean, she really blew me away with her vocals. In an age of synthesizers and re-mixes, with Regina Spektor, what you see is what you get. She sounds exactly like she does on her albums and videos, i.e. she can really sing. Her songs have a simple accompaniment of a drummer, a cellist, and a violinist. While she

plays the piano for most of the time, I also LOVED when she picked up the electric guitar for a few songs, especially when she sang "That Time". She was quirky but genuine and the fans seemed to love her. Speaking of, her fans involved moms and dads, high school kids and hipsters. I'm not quite sure where we fit in that demographic and surprisingly I ran into a UMASS former frat boy and a law school classmate there that night.

As far as vocalists go, Regina Spektor is one of the best I've seen live in a long time...probably since I last heard Juliana Hatfield. Despite my not so thrilled attitude, a major heat wave, and a mediocre opening band, I had an amazing time and was happy to not have to fake my enjoyment at the end of the night. I was converted. Before last night, I liked Regina Spektor. After the show, I adored her. I recommend that you definitely download her songs and read her lyrics - they're really one of a kind.

xoxo

The Green Cup - Waitsfield, VT

This past weekend, while staying in Waitsfield, I was lucky enough to try out the Green Cup several times. Located in the heart of Waitsfield Village on Bridge Street, we passed by the Green Cup on the way to and from Sugarbush. Being the foodie that I am, I always try to do a little research before I go on a trip (even a small weekend getaway) and the Green Cup kept coming up with great reviews.

Our first visit to the Green Cup was on Saturday morning. We were on our way to Sugarbush to go ziplining and decided to stop in at the Green Cup for a quick bite. We were all feeling a little sluggish from the previous night's festivities and wanted something to settle our stomach but nothing too big since it probably wouldn't sit well with ziplining. They had an assortment of muffins, breads and other baked goods. I drooled over their vegetable quiche but decided to get a piece of their bread pudding - filled with bread, raisins, chocolate, cinnamon and nutmeg. They gave a huge slice which I attempted to devour on my way to Sugarbush but could only finish half.

After we finished ziplining, we were now all famished and headed back to town to grab a bite to eat. Since we were all impressed with our pastries from our earlier visit, we decided to stop there for lunch. Our server sat us at one of the six tables in the front of the restaurant (I spotted a back dining room that is used for dinners), and we could pour ourselves mason glasses of water from the pitchers up front. I was definitely in love with the mason jars because of the homey feel. We took a look at the small menu and then returned to the front to place our orders.

B and I decided to split two of their hot pressed sandwiches. One had grass-fed beef, Maplebrook mozzarella, sweet basil, and caramelized onion. The other was avocado, Vermont bacon, romaine lettuce and tomato. Since the restaurant has a focus on local ingredients, we knew that everything would be fresh and hopefully tasty.

I tried the beef sandwich first. The beef was well roasted without being dry. The beef was tender and wonderfully seasoned with fresh pepper and salt. The meat's combination with the sweet basil and caramelized onion left the dish with a sweet and savory taste.

The "ALT" sandwich was also really delicious but had a few problems. The thick slabs of cooked bacon made the dish really difficult to navigate and parts of the bacon was just too chewy. The sandwich was also served with an overly generous serving of mayo that seemed to overpower the delicate flavor of the avocado in the dish.

Both sandwiches were served on a pressed artisan white bread that was lightly buttered and pressed to a delicious golden brown. Instead of the typical chips, fries or salad that sandwiches are served with at most places, each sandwich was served with a small (perhaps too small) side of fruit consisting of a slice of pineapple, orange and grapefruit. Our server cleared our plate and we paid at the front as we left the restaurant.

While I enjoyed each half of the sandwiches that B and I shared, I probably wouldn't have loved the Green Cup if I didn't go back for breakfast the following day. We were seated at the same table as the day before. Although sandwiches were served this early in the morning, I decided to order breakfast with their house omelette filled with Vermont bacon, scallion, basil, caramelized onion, and chevre cheese. The chevre cheese is what really convinced me as I was still raving about the herb chevre cheese served with our bread basket at the wedding reception. Wow, this dish was decadent and so full of flavor. This is probably the best omelette I've ever had in my life. The omelette was served with pieces of Red Hen's Mad River grain bread. I placed bites of my omelette on top of the bread which was incredibly satisfying.

Located at 44 Bridge Street, it is also right next to a few adorable consignment/thrift shops, which S and I definitely explored after lunch on Saturday. And it is also located right next to Waitsfield's covered bridge, which we also took a few touristy photos on. If you're in the Mad River Valley area, I would highly recommend the Green Cup. It is a low key environment with good, well-made food, along with thorough and friendly service.

xoxo

Long Weekend Re-Cap: Waitsfield, VT

This past weekend, B and I headed up to Vermont for our last wedding weekend of 2009. Since S and S were also going to the wedding, we decided to rent a house just a few miles down from the wedding location at the gorgeous Round Barn Inn. The wedding was a beautiful outdoor ceremony, followed by a cocktail hour in the art gallery on the first floor of the Round Barn, and finishing with the reception upstairs in the rustic barn. We were so happy to witness their special day and it was a lot of fun, especially the after party at the Purple Moon Pub.

On top of the beautiful wedding, we jam-packed our trip with lots of our activities, including:

• A stop at the Ben and Jerry factory in Waterbury, VT. Since it was along the way to Waitsfield, we decided to stop in for some ice cream. We didn't do the factory tour since it was jam-packed with tourists and we were all a bit exhausted from the rainy drive. However, we did get a scoop of ice cream - pumpkin cheesecake with graham cracker crust for me - along with some pints for the weekend. I also was happy to see the signs for Hubby Hubby, the Chubby Hubby ice cream flavor that Ben and Jerry re-named for the month of September in honor of gay marriage legalization in Vermont.

• Our house was absolutely beautiful. It was the dream getaway house for a weekend with two floors and three bedrooms. Everything was completely rustic (see the oven photo below) and the owners had a barn (for storage), gardens, and flowers everywhere!

• The bride and groom had a fabulous open bar rehearsal dinner the night before the wedding and invited all of their guests who were in town the night before the wedding. They held it a beautiful heated outdoor tent at Lareau Farm, which is also home to American Flatbread Pizza. We got to see the wood-fired earthen oven in action and had delicious pizza. My favorites included the bacon, caramelized onion and mozzarella, along with the feta, red pepper, and black olive pizza. We watched a hysterical slide show of the bride and groom, made smores by a campfire and enjoyed the Adirondack chairs at the Inn.

• We also enjoyed beautiful views at Sugarbush on both Saturday and Sunday. On Sunday, we took a lift ride up to the mountain and enjoyed the views. But the best part was the ziplining on Saturday but the photos haven't been uploaded yet off of B's camera. It was an amazing experience and something I've wanted to do for a long time.

I had a great time in Vermont and am still wiped from the trip. But this week will be busy so there's no rest for the weary - concerts, dinner guests, birthday parties and my best friend is coming to visit! Lots to blog about...

xoxo

Bina Osteria - I Wanted to Love It for the Service Alone

On Thursday night, I headed to Bina Osteria after work for KV's belated birthday celebration. Her birthday was the previous week but she was away in San Diego and I had an out of town guest staying with me, so we postponed a week to celebrate properly. KV and I had both attended the opening of Bina Osteria and absolutely loved the vibe of the place. Located at 581 Washington Street, we'd walk by the restaurant on the way to our gym and promise ourselves that we would try it and her birthday celebration seemed the perfect occasion.

Although the opening was lovely, I wasn't sure quite what to expect since the restaurant had changed it leadership when Executive Chef Brian Konefal left in the late spring/early summer. But I am familiar with the owners' other restaurants - Bin 26 Enoteca and Lala Rokh. I have enjoyed the small plates at Bin 26 Enoteca so I hoped for the best.

KV, K and I arrived at Bina Osteria around 5:30 PM and the place was dead. There was only one person at the bar, which was surprising for a Thursday night. Our server came over right away and was incredibly attentive. He informed us that for the month of September, they were offering various wine that are usually marked at a higher price point at $30 or under. We decided that since the meal was a celebration, we would start with the only bottle of sparkling on this list - a rose blend of Merlot and pinot noir. It was not too sweet and perfect for the occasion.

To start, we got a standard bread basket with whole grain and Tuscan bread. The basket also contained tiny little bread knots but they were hard and totally unappetizing. Since we are all huge fans of cheese, we decided to break tradition and order the dessert cheese platter as our appetizer. Our lovely server brought over a list of the different cheeses, which I meant to take home to write about for this blog but completely forgot. But I can describe the cheese offerings as variations of a blue cheese, goat cheese, brie-like cheese, and peccorino romano all served with an aged balsamic with toasted walnuts and grapes. Let's just say that we needed a second bread basket and a second bottle of wine to go with our cheese.

For our entree, KV and I split the seafood risotto which we were told would be way too huge for one of us alone. K chose to start with the beef tartare and finish with the "panzanella" soup - tomato soup with onions, cucumber and bread. The beef tartare we all stole a bite of and while the presentation was beautiful with the olive oil and aged balsamic, it was very under seasoned. The beef was chopped too coarsely and the radicchio and celery salad didn't add enough bite to the dish. K also seemed unpleasantly surprised that her soup was more of a sweet gazpacho than a hearty panzanella soup and barely made a dent in it. KV and I enjoyed our seafood and asparagus risotto but it was seriously lacking in seafood with one mussel, one piece of baby squid and shrimp and lobster so finely chopped that it was unnoticeable. We were both disappointed in the stingy seafood portion.

Our server was incredibly attentive and gave us enough space to enjoy the meal without hovering. We joked that it was KV's birthday and that we were expecting a birthday song a la TGIF/Applebee's. Instead, he brought over three scoops of an espresso gelato with a small candle which was a thoughtful touch. After being persuaded by the floor manager, he did end up singing a beautiful rendition of Italian happy birthday. It turns out he is also in school for opera voice and it was absolutely breathtaking and not at all the cheesy birthday song that we were joking about.

All in all, the service was wonderful but good service cannot make up for so-so food that seems overpriced. I'll definitely come back to nibble on the cheese plate and to drink some wine, but I don't know if it will make my list of restaurants to return to.

After dinner, we ended the night with a showing of the September Issue, which KV and I were both dying to see. It was a documentary of the making of the 2007 September Issue of Vogue. It showed Anna Wintour's harsh exterior (as expected) but also moments of a more vulnerable and softer side. There were lots of moments of laughter and everyone definitely felt sympathy for Grace Coddington, Vogue's Creative Director. If you like fashion and documentaries, I'd definitely recommend the movie.

I have lots to blog about from my long weekend in Vermont. Hopefully I can catch up this week on blogging - xoxo

A Lively Dinner for Four at Bouchee

After brunch on Saturday, C, A, and I spent most of the rainy day shopping in Back Bay and Beacon Hill. A and I headed back to my place and we lounged around while we decided on what to do for the evening. A few of our friends had different birthday dinners to attend to in the Back Bay, so we decided to head to that area for dinner with B and our friend A from law school. We wanted to go somewhere that wouldn't be too pricey and a place where we could be a little loud and obnoxious if we wanted.

After much discussion and based on reservation availability, we decided upon Bouchee, located at the corner of Dartmouth and Newbury Street. A came over and we decided to have a glass of wine (or two or three) before we headed to dinner and we knew that it was going to be one of those nights where the wine would be flowing and the laughter would be non-stop.

I've only eaten at Bouchee once before for brunch on their patio and I've never actually been inside the restaurant. It definitely had the New York steakhouse vibe with lots of dark paneled wood, leather booths and mirrored walls. The ambience was brighter than I anticipated and it was definitely loud but not deafening (ahem, Grill 23). This was definitely our kind of restaurant.

We were seated upstairs at a four-seater booth and our server brought us over some water immediately. We took a look at the wine list and since A and I were both leaning towards the mussels dish, we decided to order a bottle of sauvignon blanc. Our server brought over a bread basket and served us individual pieces of bread. Personally, I love it when a restaurant does this because it stops me from absentmindedly inhaling the bread while I'm waiting for my food to be served. I chose a petit baguette and it was fresh, soft and delicious.

Do you ever have one of those meals where you are having an absolute blast? The wine was flowing and the conversation was hysterical. We relived some of the old days, gossiped about our old law school friends and talked about anything and everything. It was one of those meals where the food was secondary and the company made the dinner absolutely great.

Of course, this isn't to say that the food wasn't great. A and I split the escargot, which was served en cocette in a typical cast iron dish. The garlic and butter sauce was rich and perfectly flavored the escargot that was definitely hot out of the oven. They served buttered toast pointes to eat with our escargot and I was in rich decadent buttery heaven. The boys each got a salad - warm beet salad for A and duck confit salad for B. I stole a bite of each of their salads - the duck confit was deliciously tender and the roasted beet was sweet and soft but not overcooked.

For our entrees, A and I each ordered the moules a la provencal - mussels steamed in a garlic white sauce and served with pomme frites. We had decided that we would try this dish because we had been reminiscing about our favorite mussels from Antonio's that neither of us has had in awhile. The mussels were large and plentiful with no broken or closed shells. The sauce was incredibly decadent and we dipped our pomme frites in the sauce. The pomme frites also came with a spicy aioli sauce that I adored. A got the special mahi mahi plate, which he thoroughly enjoyed but I can't remember what came with his dish (we were on our second bottle of wine at this point). B got the house foie gras burger, which he claimed was the best burger he has ever had. I stole a bite of the foie gras, of course, because I can't resist a good seared foie gras.

After much deliberation, the men ordered desserts - profiteroles for B and the flourless chocolate torte for A. A and I, after much teasing, both got Bailey's on the rocks and then stole bites into the boys' desserts. While the profiterole was good, it wasn't anything too special. And the chocolate torte was too rich for A to finish, which is why I avoid chocolate cakes and desserts in general.

Like I said before, while the food was good, the company was even better. We left in a fantastic mood and headed to the M Bar to meet up with some of our other friends that were there. The place was filled with old men picking young women, cougars picking up young men, and wanna-be's but our friends made it fun with a little corner of our own. My favorite cocktails included the Home Run, which had Absolut Boston, white grape juice and ginger ale, and the "Missing my Cereals" which tasted like cocoa puffs. Of course, the cocktails were all ridiculously sweet, which I usually don't enjoy but at this point of the evening - I was loving it.

After M Bar, we headed to the Rattlesnake to meet the rest of our gang. We had a few more drinks and then headed back to C's place in Beacon Hill for an after party. It was honestly like re-living law school. The next day we were all exhausted but we refueled with Diet Coke and bagels and headed to the Sox game for the make-up game for Friday. It was a great game - the first of the double header - and the weather was 100% times better.

After the game, we headed back to my place to bum around until A's train home. She was originally going to fly home Sunday morning but decided to stay later for the make-up game. However, there were no flights back to D.C. that evening so she took a red-eye train back home. We ordered Upper Crust and E came over (straight from her trip to Florida that weekend) to say hello.

It was a jam-packed weekend and I'm still recovering. Work has been crazy yesterday and today with hearings, agency meetings, and international client meetings but I am happy that the rest of the week should finally slow down for the first time in weeks. I'm looking forward to returning emails and calls and catching up with some of my neglected friends (you know who you are).

Also, a big shout out to KK for her ridiculous performance this weekend, which you can read about here. Congratulations!

xoxo

Brunch at Sel de la Terre, Boylston Street

On Friday, my best friend from law school arrived in Boston for a weekend of baseball, drinking, eating, shopping and the usual debauchery. In other words, we were planning on re-living our law school days. We headed to the game Friday night and had amazing seats thanks to our front office connection with the Red Sox. But even the best of seats couldn't make the rain stop. We met up with some of our other friends at the game and headed back to Beacon Hill Pub to meet more friends for a few drinks followed by a late night cap at our apartment.

Needless to say, we were all incredibly exhausted the following morning. A and I decided to do what we would always do on a weekend day after a heavy night of drinking the night before - get brunch and do some shopping. Fueled by non-fat lattes, we met C (who also lives in Beacon Hill) and jumped in a cab to the Mandarin Oriental for brunch at Sel de la Terre.

We decided to have brunch at Sel de la Terre because none of us had been to that location yet for brunch. We arrived a little after 11 AM and we were the only ones in the place for brunch. This was the perfect place for three giggly yet tired girls to re-cap the previous night's festivities and to just catch up since the three of us rarely get to hang out together. We were all looking to cure our hangovers, so we requested some Bloody Mary's - extra spicy. I love a good Bloody Mary, especially after a late night out, but I cannot stand when it is watered down or weak. But this was definitely not the case. It was a perfect proportion of vegetable juice, Ketel One (of course), olives, ice and a squeeze of lemon. We were starting to feel a lot better.

We munched on their bread, which was a combination of sourdough, whole grain and white bread. They served their always delicious sweet butter, which makes the bread basket oh so hard to resist.

While C and A were in the mood for breakfast (they ordered the eggs benedict and truffle mushroom quiche respectively), I opted for lunch and ordered the SDLT burger. The burger came with crispy bacon, cheddar cheese and a spicy aioli mayo all on a sourdough bun. Cooked to a perfect medium, the burger was juicy, which was perfect with the crispy bacon. The mayo added a nice little kick to each bite although the cheddar was barely noticeable in the burger. The burger came with a HUGE side of addictive rosemary pomme frites, which were thinly sliced and golden brown, and a small green salad. C also finished her eggs benedict, which was served with pancetta instead of the usual ham or salmon. She also ordered a side of bacon, which we all shared in. And A's mushroom quiche was also quickly finished. She ordered a side of rosemary pomme frites to share but it seemed to be unnecessary with my huge share of frites that we shared.

By the time we actually got our meals, the restaurant had filled up pretty quickly. The service was attentive but our server seemed to understand that we were in the mood to linger and chat, so we never felt rushed. In addition, we used a card I had for 15% off the meal that I received from Chef Frank McClelland at a food festival. So, on top of a great meal, we also got a great deal.
SDLT was a perfect pick for brunch with a good choice of menu options, along with a perfectly made Bloody Mary. It also brought us right by all of our favorite shopping destinations.

As a side note, I ended up getting an ADORABLE pair of flats for an upcoming wedding that I am attending. They are a little bit silly but perfectly comfortable and I got a great deal for them at Lord and Taylor.

I tend to stick to Abe & Louie's or one of my favorite Newbury spots when it comes to a weekend afternoon of brunch followed by shopping, but I'd definitely return to SDLT for brunch again. The portions are plentiful and their menu is large enough to satisfy the pickiest of eaters.

xoxo

My First Try at Korean Dukboki

To start off, my mom is an amazing cook. She is completely self-taught and just has a great taste for flavor. While I have picked up a lot from her from just cooking with her, I am constantly asking her to write down recipes. But unless she is baking (where you obviously need to follow exact measurements), she cooks by color, smell and sight - not measurements. So when I decided to make Korean dukboki, her instructions were vague - such as "cook until it gets that nice red" or "not too watery but not too thick". But since I have eaten this dish many times, I hoped that I could figure it out and gave it a try last week.

Dukboki is a traditional Korean dish that consists of flat rice cakes (duk) stir fried with a hot bean paste sauce, vegetables and meat. The type of vegetables and meat is dependent on the cook's taste so you see a lot of different versions at different Korean restaurants or homes. I, of course, planned on following my mom's recipe.

In Korea, making dukboki would actually require making the duk yourself but this is incredibly time consuming. Instead, most people purchase their duk frozen or fresh. I had a package in my freezer so I de-thawed half the package in a large uncovered bowl of water in the fridge for approximately 24 hours.

The following day, when it came time to cook, I began my prep. I sliced up a small yellow onion, a few cloves of garlic and a long green hot pepper. My mom likes to add sliced carrot for texture and sweetness but I am not a huge fan of carrots in this dish so I left that out. I also took out some sugar, sesame seed oil, quarter pound of ground beef and gochujang. Like any good Korean girl, I have a jar of my mom's gochujang. Gochujang is a spicy bean paste that is a staple ingredient in a lot of Korean dishes.

To start, I lightly browned the ground beef in a wok with water and no oil. My mom advised me to not put too much water, just enough to add moisture to the beef while it cooked. I guestimated that this meant a few tablespoons of water. While the beef cooked but it was still pink, I add the gochujang. I added enough to give it some color and add more moisture to the beef. I then added my vegetables to the dish and stir-fried all of these ingredients in the wok. When the beef had cooked, I tasted and realized that it needed more spice so I added some more gochujang. I then added the rice cakes (which I had rinsed and dried) to the mix and quickly stir fried to keep the duk from sticking to the wok. I added sesame seed oil and a few spoonfuls of sugar to add some more flavor to the spicy dish.

I served the dukboki along with rice and jajamyun. Although jajamyun (a sauce of black bean paste, potatoes, onions, and beef) is traditionally served with large wide noodles, I prefer it from time to time with some plain white rice. My mother made a big batch of jajamyun, froze it and gave some to me the last time I saw her. So I reheated it on the stove top to serve with the dukboki.

All in all, I managed to cook the dukboki under my mother's vague instructions and I was very pleased with the results.

xoxo

Herbed Spaghetti Squash and Stuffed Eggplant

As I've mentioned in my previous blogs, I'm a huge fan of fresh vegetables. During the summer, I tend to get a lot of vegetables from my mother's garden and it is hard for me to resist purchasing a few fruits and vegetables from the numerous farm stands nearby my office. Last week, I found myself with grape tomatoes and a spaghetti squash from my mom's garden, along with an eggplant that I had ordered via Peapod. I decided to try to find a way to make a meal using all of these ingredients.

I did a quick search on the Food Network's website, and came up with Michael Chiarello's Mom's Stuffed Eggplant and Emeril Lagasse's Herbed Spaghetti Squash. I really like the Food Network website because it has a great review section for each recipe that gives tips on what works and what doesn't. These recipes are a great base to make a dish but if you are comfortable enough, you can make it your own and add/subtract ingredients or try a different cooking style. For instance, I have a hard time following recipes closely because I tend to favor making dishes to be spicier and am way more heavy handed with the garlic.

I picked up an onion, red pepper, basil and parsley at the local farm stand and a hunk of Pecorino Romano from Whole Foods. I then got the rest of my ingredients from my pantry together.

Since both recipes needed a good baking time, I heated up the oven to 375 while B got started on the spaghetti squash. Neither of us have tasted or cooked spaghetti squash so we had no idea what we were in for. B cut the squash open and it looked fleshy with large seeds that were easy to scoop out. The squash smelled sweet and I was intrigued to see how this would really turn into spaghetti-like strands.

B put the squash face down in a baking dish with water, covered the dish with tin foil and threw the squash in the oven.

Meanwhile I had put a pot of water on to boil. While the water was boiling, I prepared my other ingredients. I chopped up some onion, red pepper, garlic, parsley, and basil. When the water was boiling, I scooped out the eggplant and threw the insides in the water to boil. I heated up a pan on the stove with some olive oil and added ground beef, pepper and salt. I very lightly browned the beef so that it was cooked but a little pink because I knew that I would need to cook it some more with the vegetables and then bake it. I didn't want the beef to get too tough. Although the recipe called for me to take out the beef to drain the pan of the fat, the beef was 99% fat free and I thought the meat juice would nicely flavor the vegetables. So I added the garlic, onion, and red pepper to the pan until the vegetables had just started to soften. I also added crushed red pepper flake to add some a little heat.

During this time, B had taken out the squash, turned it over face up and put it back in the oven. B also put a tray of grape tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and put it in the toaster oven to slowly roast.

Because there was a lot of prep, whenever each of us had a free moment, we would take turn grating the Pecorino Romano cheese. Pecorino Romano is a hard cheese that has a salty taste, similar to Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. It has a sharp taste and I find it stronger than Parmigiano Reggiano cheese. We needed it for the eggplant dish but we also decided to include it in our spaghetti squash so there was a lot of grating to be done.

When the spaghetti squash was ready, B took it out of the oven and threw the tin foil away. He then let the squash sit to cool and lowered the stove temperature to 350. I took the cooked eggplant insides from the pot and drained it. I put the cooked eggplant in a bowl, added my cooked meat and vegetable mixture, and added the parsley and basil. I also added bread crumbs, cheese and an egg, which really helped to bind the mixture together. I stuffed each half of the eggplant and topped it off with chopped fresh grape tomatoes, cheese, salt and pepper. I put the eggplant in the oven but lessened the cooking time since the oven was still hot from the squash.

While the eggplant was cooking, B and I got to work on the spaghetti squash. I wish we had taken photos of us pulling the strands. It was really cool and the squash was surprisingly strong. We put the squash in a skillet and tossed it with chopped parsley and basil, fresh crushed black and pink peppercorns, salt, and butter. When this was done we put it back in the bowl and tossed it some more with Pecorino Romano, roasted grape tomatoes and roasted garlic.

By this time, the eggplant was done and ready to be served. B and I split one half of an eggplant served with a side of "spaghetti" and a glass of sauvignon blanc. Delish.

This was a meal that took a lot of prep for a weeknight meal but it was well worth it. The herbed spaghetti squash had a small taste of sweetness, which complimented the small heat that came from the eggplant stuffing. The cheese in both dishes added the perfect saltiness to really bring out the flavor of the herbs. It was a decadent meal and one that held up well when re-heated for lunch.

xoxo