The Tony's and some Take-Out (well, delivery really)

So, I sit here at home, flying solo for the evening, and am super psyched that I decided to turn on the tv (a rare event). Now, why do I say that? Because as the television powered on, I came to realize that the Tony's were airing tonight! I'm not usually an avid award show fan but this one was special...My uncle was nominated for a Tony for Lighting Design (and won!). As I sat here contemplating cooking or ordering in, I decided I'd be best "dialing up" my old friend Foodler (aka http://www.foodler.com/).

I decided to go with an old standby, Pho and I...A placed I've never been but have ordered from on a number of occasions. It's an Asian place (likely a hole in the wall) that specializes in Vietnamese cuisine. My favorite thing to order is either their Pho or the make-your-own meal. This evening I opted for seafood sauteed in lemongrass with fresh vegetables. So simple yet so good! Of course I made a great decision, though I'm not sure there's a bad one when it comes to Pho and I take out.

So, here I sit...Full belly and the Tony's on the big screen tv. As The Four Seasons might say..."Oh what a night..."

Food Bonanza...ENCORE!

Okay, yeah, maybe I'm a little bit obsessed with food. I mean, who enjoys a fantastic brunch, drives 90 minutes for shellfish and then returns home only to head out to a late dinner??

So, that said, 9:30 rolled around on Saturday evening and my friend and I headed out to Sibling Rivalry. I had been wanting to try this place out for a while mainly because of the concept...Two brothers who are chefs who have a sort of dueling menu. Each takes an ingredient or dish type and comes up with their own variation on it. The diner can choose which one they prefer and order that. It should be a restaurant that showcases the distinct styles of two chefs. Unfortunately, in my opinion, I think SR misses the mark somewhat.


We started with two appetizers...local steamers in a celery-lemon herb broth and a dish of grilled romaine and taleggio cheese bundles with tomato sauce (?) and arugula. The clams were just okay...a bit sandy and very garlicy. The best part of the dish was the toast and roasted tomato that came with it. The romaine, on the other hand, was probably one of the best texture dishes I've ever had. The "sauce" was a little bit Spaghetti-O-like but the romaine and cheese bundles were unreal. Finally, we ordered arctic char with artichokes, olives, pine nuts, haricot verts, oven dried tomatoes and garlic-basil sauce. This entree was pretty darn good. There was a spice or flavor of some sort in the dish that we could not figure out for anything but it was tasty and definitely different.

Oh, and, as a side note, their martinis are pretty darn good. The passion fruit one was tasty but definitely strong! The watermelon martini was really neat...watermelon infused vodka and chunks of fresh watermelon shaken until it became a puree. If I liked watermelon, I'd say it was awesome. As a watermelon disliker, I thought it was just good stuff.

I'm not sure I'll try Sibling Rivalry again but I was happy with my evening there, especially the texture party in my mouth at appetizer time.

Food Bonanza Part II - !!!

After "brunching" in South End yesterday, my friend and I decided that it would be a perfect day for a cruise up to Maine. "Lobster!", we exclaimed together in unison. After a 90 minute drive up to Ogunquit, we settled in to a nice little restaurant on the coast overlooking lapping waves on a rugged shoreline. We placed our order..."Twin steamed lobsters, please!". And $24 later, we had two darn big sea creatures in front of us.

After I forced my friend to put the lobster bib on for a photo op, I broke into the big badboy in front of me. My, oh my! BIG surprised. Black goop poured out. I was like...W?!T?!F?!?!?! I then saw millions of tiny orange specs. Oh, jeez....My lobster is (was) PREGNANT!!! Eeeeek! Now, I'm not a pro-life'er or anything but eating pregnant shellfish isn't really something I'm game for. I did my best to scrape away the evidence of the lobster's expectancy and proceeded to ingest the thing. SO worth it. Once I started tasting it, my guilt was disuaded. DELICIOUS! Maine lobster is some of, if not THE most tender and sweet of the shellfish family.

Anyway, I'm sorry Mrs. Lobster for the fact that you were harvested despite the pregnancy but damn, you were tasty!

Food Bonanza! Part I...

Saturday I had a marathon day of good food, drink and beautiful sunny spring weather.

The day started out with brunch at Pops on Tremont in South End. Things started out with pomegranate mimosas. Yum. Nice and light, refreshing and not too sweet....a perfect early afternoon brunch beverage. As a starter, we ordered roasted beet salad with feta and toasted hazelnuts. Simple but fantastic. The beets were HUGE! Bigger than my fist (and I have man-hands). As our brunch main course, we ordered poblano crab cakes accompanied by eggs (over-easy) and a tomato basil salad. Good stuff. The real star of the day, though, was THE best omlette of my life...Sage infused eggs with goat cheese and an onion jam. Just absolutely incredible...texture, taste...everything was perfect.

Pops scored a homerun with me! I'm actually glad that most places weren't open for brunch on a Saturday otherwise I may have missed out on this one...

Rhubarb Martinis....Genius!!!

On Friday evening, I (FINALLY!) returned to Petit Robert Bistro on Columbus Avenue here in SoEnd. Petit Robert's is a solid French bistro...as good as they get here in this neighborhood. The main reason I come here, though, is the bar. WOW they make some awesome drinks! I am not a big mixed drink person...especially not those frufru-ish drinks that so many places serve up nowadays. I have always been a big traditionalist with the mixed drinks...give me an extra dirty vodka martini or a gin and tonic with a lime and I assure you I'll be quite content. Fast-forward a few years and into my life comes Petit Robert. I cannot explain to you how much I LOVE their rhubarb martini. It's a delectible delight...balsamic and sugar rimmed glass and just the right amount of consistency and bitterness in the actual drink. Quite amazing, really...And I can say it is the absolute best drink I've ever had (and I've had many!).

Mister or Miss Rhubarb Martini, my love, thank you...THANK YOU...you made my year...

A blog is born...

I have spent a good portion of my adult life documenting my love of, opinions on and thoughts about food in random places. Recently, I've come to the conclusion that it would be a fantastic idea to centralize all of this in one place....hence, my blog is born!

I will include postings about food in general and on establishments that I've frequented both at home here in the Boston area and afar. I will do my best to include photos...often the coined "Meghan-style Picture" where you will basically see a stop-action picture of me doing what I love most...Eating.

Food, to me, is so much more than sustenance. It has become a huge part of my life...Something I've been drawn to learning about and experiencing for some time now. A good portion of my social life revolves around food which is absolutely wonderful in my opinion. For me, food is a gateway to conversation, an experience that can be shared with loved ones as well as casual acquaintances and, all the while, provide us with a satisfaction that few other things can.

I hope you enjoy reading my thoughts....
Cheers to this new adventure, cheers to you and, finally, cheers to FOOD!