Goodbye Sedona, Hello Real World

Posted on February 26, 2012 by She Wears a Red Sox Cap

It’s been a super productive weekend over here. I’m so glad I gave myself the whole weekend when I got home, that has made the fact that the upcoming week is going to be really busy a whole lot easier. Yesterday Eric and I had a pretty funny adventure at Babies R Us. I dragged him there because I have 2 baby showers coming up, one is for one of his friends so I figured that was allowed. I figured it would be like wedding registries: stroll in, print the registry, find the stuff, buy it. Oh no….no, no, no. The strolling in and printing was okay, but I could not find ONE SINGLE THING on the registry. Seriously, we tried- but we were massively overwhelmed as neither of us has any clue about baby stuff. It’s going to be scary when we have kids. Oh well… after 20 minutes, we gave up, left the store with nothing and I’m going to go back to my original plan to buy online. The only reason I went to the store is because it did not like that I was buying off of two different registries online, but I’ll have to solve that some other way!

Anyway! I’ve spent today trying to get reorganized for work. It’s parent conferences this week, so I need to be super organized. I did all my prep for conferences this morning, but I still need to plan what I’m going to do with the actual kids during the week.

Since I’m clearly WAY out of vacation mode I better finish recapping the trip… Wednesday and Thursday! We started to lose steam for the crazy touring by these days, so I have less to report but they were both great days too. Wednesday we visited Montezuma’s Castle and Jerome. Jerome is a city built into the side of a mountain, just driving to it is crazy but the view from the town is well worth it!

In Jermone, we visited 2 wineries and an old western saloon. We also visited a couple of shops and a picked up a little present for Caroline.

On Thursday, we met up with my cousin Kristen and her husband who happened to be in Sedona at the same time as us! We did probably my favorite Sedona hike called Devil’s Bridge. Last year Eric and I did not have a 4 wheel drive vehicle so we had to walk pretty far down the road leading to the hike, this year we had a big car so we were able to do it a lot quicker. The road part itself was definitely an adventure! The hike is only about 2 miles, but you get rewarded with a really cool “bridge” at the end…

Like everywhere in Sedona, the views are amazing…

It’s always so hard to leave Sedona, I feel like there are endless things I could do, no time is ever long enough. I am glad we got to spend another week there, and show Eric’s family how much we love the place. I now know that I’ll definitely be back! I just don’t know when yet. Time to start focusing on Summer Trip 2012- Seattle/Vancouver

Do you have a home away from home that you love to visit? For me that place is Cape Cod, but Sedona is becoming a close second! Do you have any trips coming up? If you don’t enjoy talking about trips as much as I do, what was the best part of your weekend?

Hiking Those Redrocks

Posted on February 25, 2012 by She Wears a Red Sox Cap

I’m home! I had high hopes for my Saturday morning: sleeping late because I’m still on Arizona time, going to the Saturday hours at my doctor’s office to get a couple of tests I need to be fasting for (nothing bad, I’ve had high liver enzymes for awhile so my doctor is just monitoring it basically) and cleaning up the house. Well, the sun shining in at 7:00 crashed away my hopes of sleeping late and I woke up feeling like I got run over by a plane… or maybe just like I was in a car and on a plane all day yesterday. I figured if I feel like butt my blood tests would probably look terrible and suddenly I’d have even more issues to deal with, so I’ll just wait until tomorrow for that. Yes, this office is open on Sunday morning too… AMAZING. And it’s near Pinkberry, which conveniently opens at 10am. Life is good.

Since I’m up and trying to catch up on the 96% full DVR, I figure I should blog more about the trip! After our day trip up to the Grand Canyon, we decided to spend some quality time in Sedona on Tuesday. We started with a morning hike up Cathedral Rock. This is one of my favorite Sedona hikes and I would probably do it weekly if I lived there. It’s short, but steep so you really feel like you accomplished something. In Eric’s family, when you accomplish something, a beer toast is involved…

The view from the top is a pretty good reward also…

Cathedral Rock is a bit of a steep hike and there was some worry from our crew that the way down would be a huge challenge, but it’s really not so bad. If you are ever in Sedona, you have to do this hike. That is all.

Another must-do in Sedona is a Pink Jeep tour. We recommend the Broken Arrow Tour, which Eric and I have now done three times! Every time we go, we learn new interesting info about Sedona and this time our tour guide was a photography expert as well, what more could I ask for? She was probably one of the only people I’ve handed my camera to who was not immediately overwhelmed. Let the photo shots begin…

I probably should’ve left all the photography up to our fabulous guide Ray, because when I tried to get a jumping shot of Eric, he ended up landing on some uneven ground and bruising his heel.

Actually, judging by this picture it’s kind of lucky all he hurt was his heel… I should not be trusted with a camera.

I swear we were actually in a jeep for some of the adventure:

Sedona is the best place ever. Really. I always come back from these trips all psyched up about hiking and then I just NEVER do it at home. This year will not be like that. I WILL do some awesome Boston hikes this year. Hold me to it.

I’ll be back tomorrow with the recap of the last two days of our trip! We visited a cool town built into the side of a mountain and we went on my top favorite Sedona hike. Wahoo Let’s hope I am super productive until then!

Do you do any hiking near your home? Where is your favorite place to hike?

Weekend Scenes: Burlington, VT

Posted on February 21, 2012 by La vie j'aime

Luke, the puppy!

Mrs. L’s succulent garden

Tasting at Magic Hat

Church Street at night

Walking and enjoying the beach at Lake Champlain

My lake treasures

Fun shoes galore at Stella Mae

Winter Weekend in Maine

Posted on February 20, 2012 by Yogurt and Berries

It’s not news to tell you that I love Maine…especially Portland. It’s one of my absolute places to go in New England.

The bonus is that now I have a friend who lives a short 10 minute drive from the Old Port!! One of my good friends/former co-workers moved back to her home state of Maine about a year and a half ago and I am just now getting up to visit her!!

We had a relaxing, fun, and delicious weekend with our dogs

Bromley had a great time playing with Molly!

First thing we did when I arrived was to head into downtown Portland to hit up a local winter Farmer’s Market and then walk around the Old Port.

I picked up some local cheese to try

We dove into the cheese later on

Beautiful little spice shop on Commercial Street

Finally tried a cappuccino from Bard Coffee

It was very good, but I still think that Thinking Cup wins.

Lots of cute shops, lunch, more walking and then I decided I needed a sweet treat

I can’t believe how many places I had never visited in Portland before!! Including Two Fat Cats!

Everything is made from scratch and it just looks that way. The cookies aren’t perfect round circles, and the cupcakes are just frosted by hand with a knife…no fancy piping. I LOVE that.

I couldn’t decide so I bought 2 cookies to nosh on…a little then & a little later.

I’m STILL thinking about these cookies and wish I could have one RIGHT NOW! The one above was an Almond Shortbread….so soft, buttery, almond-ey…perfection in my opinion.

Also a pecan chocolate chip. Again, soft, buttery…all the things I love in a chocolate chip cookie.

As I was eating them I couldn’t stop saying how good they were…that’s when you know you found something special.

After that, we went back to her house, grabbed the dogs and headed to a local beach for an afternoon walk!

Bromley had a blast!!

He wants to live near the ocean now.

From there, we headed home and started thinking about how we wanted to tackle the evening to be sure to hit up lots of delicious spots.

But first some wine and cheese

I probably over-did it a smidge on the cheese, but it was good stuff and I was hungry.

Our first stop was my friend, Jen’s, favorite Mexican place…El Rayo!

Inexpensive, fresh, flavorful food, with a great drink list!

Since we had more food in our future, we only split 2 small tacos and 1 hibiscus margarita

Next, we headed to Walters for drinks and some appetizers.

Since my cocktail on Valentine’s Day was such a success I decided to go the “ask the bartender” route. I ended up with one of their cocktails on the menu but minus the syrup. This one had rum, grapefruit juice, and lime juice.

We also ordered a Brussel Sprout Salad that was divine… shaved brussel sprouts, red onion, cob smoked bacon, marcona almonds, dried cranberries in a lemon honey mustard vinaigrette with pecorino

And also some Cracklin’ Calamari and Salt & Pepper Shrimp. Both really good. This was just enough food after all the cheese, wine, tacos…etc.

We had hoped to stay for dessert but they had run out of what I really wanted so we figured we’d hit up another spot for a sweet close to the night. Unfortunately most places were closed, or at least their kitchen’s were and we were out of luck!

In the end it was fine…we were full and I still had some of my Two Fat Cats cookies left.

Sunday morning we were both woken up around 6:30 by our lovely pups…thanks guys.

Sunday involved picking up pastries from Standard Baking…my request.

Coffee from Coffee By Design, and then heading to another state park/beach with the pups.

Flaky fresh Pan au Chocolat and an Ocean View.

A little later we said our goodbyes, and I packed myself and Bromley into the car to head home.

I was trying to be a good wife and find Brian a bottle or two of a certain beer he really likes (its from Maine and hard to find…Lunch IPA in case anyone sees it and wants to let me know where!)

I tried 3 places with no luck so I gave up.

But then I got a FANTASTIC idea.

Lobster > Beer. I stopped by a fish market in York on my way home and grabbed 3 lobsters.

I made Brian do the dirty work.

I’d say it’s a fair trade

Oh I had also picked up some crab cakes that were on sale at Whole Foods

Took our “Feast” to the next level.

Quick potatoes

(cooked 1large potato in the microwave, then just sliced it and browned it in the pan I cooked the crab cakes in, sprinkled with a little Old Bay)

Steamed Asparagus

Notice I just put down an old towel on the table instead of place mats…things get messy when we eat Lobster.

Apparently February is a great time for Lobster…these were some of the BEST lobsters we’ve had in recent memory!! The meat was so flavorful!! I wish I got 6 of them!! We each had 1 and split the 3rd.

Couldn’t even finish the crab cakes, but no worries those made a delicious lunch today.

What an fabulous way to end a great weekend. It almost ALMOST felt like summer for a minute.

Can’t wait to go back and visit Jen when it’s warmer out! So many things to do and still SO many restaurants to try!! I was notorious for always eating at Fore Street whenever we are in Portland, but she is breaking me out of that habit…although I do miss it. Next time

Hope you all had a great (long?) weekend! Brian and I both worked today, so not so long here, but still nice as you can see.

A Nine-Course Brunch to Remember

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Travel Wine Dine

A few weeks ago when we were celebrating my friend Raija’s birthday at Trade, she told us about an amazing brunch that she had on her birthday visit to NYC. The nine-course brunch, complete with great conversation, sounded like the perfect way to spend a few weekend hours, and luckily, her cousin’s husband caught the event on his iPhone, which takes better pictures than my camera, apparently. . .

Raija had perfect timing in delivering the below guest post. My weekend away, followed by a totally manic work week, complete with terribly ache-y training runs has made blogging impossible and eating less-than-interesting.

So, while I wait for the weekend to arrive, work the day away, and attend a cocktail class at Art Bar tonight, I leave you in Raija’s capable hands to brunch vicariously through her.

Enjoy!

For the past several years, I’ve enjoyed what has become a tradition of visiting my family in Brooklyn, NY to celebrate my birthday. This celebration includes the typical fun of hanging out with my nephew and cousins and enjoying their Carroll Garden neighborhood, but most importantly a dinner at a fun new restaurant. A few years ago, we had one of the best meals I’ve ever had at Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich’s restaurant, Babbo.

This year, we really overdid ourselves – eating-wise that is. An opportunity arose to go to unique pop-up like event. M. Wells, restaurateurs from Quebec, were doing a brunch at a nearby Italian restaurant, Manducatis Rustica in Long Island City, Queens. They closed their diner last summer and have not yet opened their new place. My cousin’s husband works nearby and had experienced the delicious and unique vibe at M. Wells’ diner before they had closed. He told a story of going in for lunch and watching a whole swordfish being prepped on the diner counter across from his booth. This is creative cooking in a city where space is at a premium!

The brunch was $50 per person, and one flat seating starting at 10am. They told people to expect to stay for a couple hours. And stay we did – through 9 courses of delicious, and unique twists to what you might consider traditional brunch fare. We waited in line for a short while before they let us in. (Photos courtesy of my cousin’s husband’s iPhone)

pop up brunch

Once in, we were treated to a really cozy atmosphere and were surprised to find that they only had tables for 4, 6 or 8. Which meant odd folks like the pair of us would have to share a table. Typically, this is not the kind of set-up I would look forward to: having to make small talk with strangers instead of relaxing and enjoying a meal with family or friends. But this turned out to be a totally wonderful surprise. The entire crowd was full of people who enjoyed great food and drink, and we were sat with a young couple that was very friendly (and equally apprehensive about the seating plan like us).

We sat at a table, ready with warm, fresh rolls and a warm, pork pate spread (Course #1). It was salty and just slightly sweet and perfect to get us started while we waited. We were served great cocktails: choice of Bloody Mary’s, champagne cocktails, espresso with liquor, or a sweet red wine, and with plenty of refills, by friendly, energetic and casual wait staff.

Course #2: Bacalao (cod) fritters, with a tangy remoulade type sauce. Salty and crisp and light, like hush puppies.

Course #3: Pork belly smoked and glazed with maple syrup – smoky and sweet, crispy and fall apart delicious pork.

We were really warmed up at this point – not having any idea of how many courses were to come, we watched other tables anxiously to see what was to come.

Course #4: Homemade, chewy, pizza, topped with the same sweet and salty sausage that was in the pork pate, and – my favorite – runny eggs. Some tables got pizzas with vegetables on them – alas, our table didn’t see a vegetable for the entire brunch (I don’t think we minded Winking smile )

brunch pizza

Starting to feel full, we looked around and saw two courses being passed, which were new. One of our table compatriots asked the server if we were set to get the huevos rancheros, too (Course #5), curious if there might be more variety across the tables. We got a knowing look from our server, and when it came to the table, he said with a smile, “You asked for it.” Did we ever. We were starting to need deep breaths to keep going. More great runny eggs, a bright tomatillo salsa, these were some great huevos rancheros.

huevos rancheros

Course #6: The M. Wells breakfast sandwich with pickled green tomato, jalapeño, house made sausage patty, cheese and grilled biscuit. This was apparently famous at the diner. I understood immediately why – I could only eat a quarter of one of these by this time in the meal. But the mix of spice, pickle, salt, sweet, all together was fabulous. Maybe the best egg sandwich I’ve ever had.

breakfast sandwich

Did I mention that they had a DJ playing upbeat tunes the whole time? It was awesome! We needed the upbeat music to keep us from being lulled into a food coma!

Course #7: Spanish tortilla with potatoes and… veal brains. With a basil and garlic sauce. Yup. You read that right. We didn’t know that ingredient until after we had all had a few bites and were trying to decide what the rich and interesting flavor we couldn’t quite place was…was it onion? The oil? Nope. Must be veal brain.

Did I also mention that we had reservations this same evening for dinner? Yeah. This was a day of serious marathon eating. At this point I started getting worried – are we there yet? Will we make it?

Course# 8: Cannoli with hazelnut cream filling. Finally! We must be coming to an end. My stomach couldn’t take it…or could it? I ordered a coffee to help with digestion, and enjoyed the sweet and creamy mini cannoli.

We aren’t done yet. Course #9 was a little cup of homemade peanut butter and jelly gelato. Manducatis Rustica makes their own gelato, and this little taste makes me want to go back for more in the summer. This was the final scene of the delicious crime.

We left remarking how wonderful it was to talk for 3 hours about nothing but restaurants, food, wine, and travel, and with strangers! We never asked or were asked the typical “What do you do for work?” question, and it was a relief. If you don’t love your job, what fun is it to talk about? This was definitely the most fun and adventurous brunch I’ve ever been to. And the owners of the restaurant and servers were all so friendly and happy to be there, it was contagious. My cousin’s husband got a lovely response to an email he sent thanking them for a lovely event. The crowd was a pleasant and patient and fun-loving one. It was well worth the $50 ticket price. I can’t wait to see their new place when it opens. Perhaps at next year’s birthday weekend eating extravaganza…

Technorati Tags: brunch, Food, M. Wells, NYC, pop up, Queens, Restaurants

Reminder! February 25 – Cocktails for a Cause

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Travel Wine Dine

Just a reminder that our Boston Marathon fundraising event for The ALLY Foundation is coming up next weekend!

Join us February 25 at 7:00 at Savin Bar & Kitchen and party the night away for a great cause.

We’ll be serving appetizers, but if you have been wanting to check out dinner at Savin, I highly recommend it. They are an awesome local business and have been incredibly helpful in planning this fundraiser. I can’t say enough good things about their food, wine, and cocktails. . . as many of you know we ate there about three times a week this past summer!

Raffle includes prizes from Le Creuset, Edgeware, Nespresso, The Liberty Hotel, Karma Dawn Yoga, Stop & Shop, and more!

RSVP today!

http://www.facebook.com/events/289777451079946/

For those of you who can’t make it but want to enter the raffle, we will be opening it up online sometime next week so stay tuned! Please check out my fundraising page for more details: http://www.crowdrise.com/RunAllyForAChange/fundraiser/MeghansBostonMarathon

Thanks to my fundraising partner in crime Marie for making this beautiful poster! (Did you know we discovered via Twitter that our husbands are long lost first cousins?!)

Technorati Tags: charity, cocktails, Dorchester, events, Savin Bar & Kitchen

15 Minutes to Yum

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Travel Wine Dine

Could it be possible Nutella jars look even more beautiful in black and white? Could I possibly have any more work this week? Did you have a good Valentine’s Day?

This week has been absolutely insane with conference calls and new projects. Yay! But, it does get overwhelming to sort of always have to adjust to a new schedule. By the time work and running were done at 7:00 last night, the last thing I wanted to do was to cook. I did want to make something a little sweet and decadent for Valentine’s Day though. Once again I garnered inspiration from my Philadelphia cream cheese cook book (Thanks, Mom!), grabbing a savory recipe and turning it into my own sweet creation.

It involved three ingredients.

1 package refrigerated crescent rolls

4 ounces cream or Neufchatel cheese

As much Nutella as you like

Preheat the oven to 350.

Roll out the crescent roll dough into two rectangles on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Top one of the layers of dough with cubed cream cheese and dollops of Nutella. Honey and cinnamon would also probably be good.

Fold the second layer of dough on top of the first, and push corners down to seal the fillings in.

Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes.

Remove the dough from the oven once it is golden brown on the outside. Set aside to cool, the cut into desired servings. Be sure to heat any leftovers before serving so to achieve the below gooey consistency.

The dough ended up light, flaky, and buttery, and the sweet Nutella was cut by the creamy, more savory cheese. I love desserts with cream cheese or any sort of cheese. (Check out Emily’s Palmiers. I am making these ASAP!)

The end result is not too sweet and made for a dessert that appeals to lots of palates. It also makes an indulgent breakfast with an espresso. Smile

I don’t know about you, but I am ready for the long weekend already. What’s your best trick for getting through an exhausting week?

Technorati Tags: breakfast, dessert, Nutella, recipe

Maple Bacon Potatoes Au Gratin

Posted on February 14, 2012 by Travel Wine Dine

Happy Valentine’s Day! I hope you all get to celebrate love today for family, friends, significant others, and pets. And that you have some Champagne or chocolate or whatever your heart desires.

I celebrated Valentine’s Day a day early yesterday, helping out at the MSPCA Valentine’s Day sale. The sale is also on today at the MSPCA Angell Memorial Hospital in Jamaica Plain. Stop by to pick up flowers, baked goods, dog and cat toys, and other fun items, with all proceeds going to the MSPCA. I was happy to be in the mascot costume; it was a chilly day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

When I got home, I didn’t feel like eating much. I don’t know if it is tiredness from being away over the weekend, or I am coming down with something, but most foods didn’t appeal to me yesterday.

One recipe did, however. My mom gave me a cookbook she received from the Philadelphia cream cheese company, and I zeroed straight in on the Maple Bacon Potatoes Au Gratin. Somehow, though the bins of spinach and other veggies in the house did nothing for me, cheesy potatoes with sweet and salty flavors did. Sometimes you just have to eat what feels good, even if it’s not the healthiest dinner. I think these would make a great side with any sort of chicken, steak, or pork dish.

Sadly, I deleted all of my prep photos before uploading them. Out of it.

maple bacon potatoes

These potatoes are super easy to make. I scaled it back to feed two, which ended up being a portion for about six people.

Before I got started on the ingredients, I preheated the oven to 400.

Then I used my mandolin to cut half a red onion. I added the onion to a dry frying pan and let it get a little browned and crispy, stirring frequently so it didn’t stick.

In the meantime, I cut two large Idaho potatoes into thin slices. I set those aside and got started on the au gratin sauce which consisted of chicken stock, milk, and cream cheese. I basically eyeballed the ingredients until I had a creamy sauce mixed with the onions. To that I added four slices of chopped, cooked bacon and a swirl of maple syrup.

These potatoes need to cook, covered, for a long time. Leave them in for about 40 minutes, then uncover, cook for about 10 more minutes.

What you end up with is a baking dish filled with cheesy, sweet, salty potatoes. The smoky bacon, the crispy onions, the cream cheese, oh the flavor love!

I didn’t feel very well when I started eating, but by the time I finished my first bowl of these, I had my appetite back. I had another bowl, made a fresh carrot and apple juice, and called it a night.

I hope my energy returns!

And I hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day. Ever since the blogger dinner at Stone Hearth Pizza, I have been dreaming of a cozy night in with pizza and bubbly, so that’s what we are doing. I might make a special dessert if I am feeling better.

Do you have any fun plans for tonight?

Technorati Tags: bacon, potatoes, recipe

Delicious Heights

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Travel Wine Dine

Trips to suburbia are always interesting when it comes to dining out. Not that fabulous dining experience only exist in cities, but when you head out to the burbs, there are definitely more opportunities for mediocre chains and bland, disappointing meals.

Luckily, hip, tasty suburban places like Delicious Heights exist. I visited my family in NJ this weekend, and we had dinner at Delicious Heights in Berkeley Heights, NJ. As always, I checked out the menu in advance and was seriously impressed with the choices available, both food and beverages.

Delicious Heights menu

The actual menus light up, very helpful for those of us with bad eyesight. The dining area at Delicious Heights is comfy but modern, with stone walls and a fireplace. The noise level was low enough that we could chat, but busy enough that our chatty one year old wasn’t a nuisance to fellow diners.

Because Delicious Heights had such a fun cocktail menu, I decided to stick to cocktails for the night. I started with the mango martini, a dangerously delicious mix of mango vodka and fresh mango juice and I think Midori. It came perfectly layered, and it was very fruity with lots of mango pulp. Yum.

mango martini

My sister had a wild berry drink that contained Sprite and some berry vodka, along with a bunch of berries to garnish. It was also dangerously delicious. Delicious Heights cocktails? A+

wild berry drink

Their homemade ketchup was pretty amazing too. My sister recommended that we share an order of sweet potato fries, and they were not shy with the ketchup on the side.

homemade ketchup

These were crispy with a hint of sweetness, just the way I like sweet potato fries.

sweet potato fries

I had a really hard time deciding what to order for dinner, but the grilled vegetable platter kept speaking to me. It came with a salad, and since I love a good wedge salad, went with that. This one was nothing special; I really love a tangy, flavorful blue cheese, and the dressing was kind of bland. But the lettuce was nice and crunchy, and the bacon a nice, salty addition.

wedge salad

Before my dinner arrived, I ordered a pomegranate martini. It was good, but tasted very alcohol-y, a big switch from my mango martini. I would stick with the mango the next time.

My grilled vegetable platter was just what I wanted. It contained pita bread, brined olives, brown rice, and grilled mushrooms, carrots, asparagus, squash, and zucchini., topped with feta On the side were cups of tzatziki, hummus, and guacamole. I really ordered this meal because of those three. I ate as much as I could and brought the rest home. Sadly, they didn’t include the dips with my leftovers. Sad smile Don’t they know the dips are the best part?!

grilled vegetable platter

Overall, our dining experience at Delicious Heights was a good one. Next time I might order my second choice, a crab cake grilled cheese with avocado, but the grilled veggie platter really did the trick on this particular night.

We followed dinner by funfetti cupcakes with buttercream icing. Yum!

Sadly while eating our cupcakes and watching a Valentine’s cartoon with the kids, we learned of Whitney Houston’s death. I am much sadder about her death than I would have imagined, From dance recitals to college bars, I feel like there are so many Whitney songs that remind me of certain memories. I always liked I Wanna Dance with Somebody when I was younger, and It’s Not Right reminds me of a college weekend away. She was such a talented woman, and it’s sad to see such talent go to waste. Hopefully someday we will better be able to understand and care for addictions, whether they happen to a celebrity or just your average person.

Do you have a favorite Whitney Houston song?

Technorati Tags: cocktails, dinner, Food, New Jersey

You have to go here.

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Travel Wine Dine

Where, you might be asking? Darryl’s Corner Kitchen and Bar! I can’t believe I have been missing out on this incredible gem in the South End. I first heard about Darryl’s at the Spoonful of Ginger event at the MFA last year. Their fried catfish was crispy and light, and the woman serving was sweet and welcoming. Yet, somehow, with all of the restaurants in Boston, we never got there.

On Wednesday night, we were texting back and forth trying to figure out where to go on a date before I headed to NJ for four days. I was tired from another long-ish run and a crazy work day, and I didn’t want to go anywhere super fancy. I should tell you that, as much as I like a really nice high-end restaurant, I don’t like eating anywhere super fancy where it’s so quiet everyone looks at you if you drop your fork or something. I like a good level of noise and a feeling of comfort in a restaurant, so when I was browsing through Open Table, I was looking for casual with great food. Darryl’s popped up as having openings, so I checked out the menu. I instantly knew it was the perfect spot for the night.

We were instantly pleased when we walked into the warm, cozy restaurant and saw a jazz band setting up. Darryl’s is dimly lit and has its own unique style, a mix of classic jazz bar meets South End modern.

Our entertainment for the evening turned out to be Phillip Young and Friends, and they set the mood nicely.

Darryl's Corner Kitchen and Bar

I found myself dancing a little in my seat throughout the meal. The music was perfect; we could chat over it. The musicians were super talented, and they looked like they were having a blast.

I kicked off the night with one of Darryl’s specialty cocktails, of which there are many. The “Kind of Blue” featured Cold River Blueberry Vodka, pomegranate juice, and Triple Sec. It was both sweet and tart and actually reminded me of a Sweettart candy. I loved it.

cocktail

Ordering dinner has never been so difficult. I wanted so many items from all parts of the menu, but I finally went with the first thing I set my eyes on, crispy cheese grits with beans, greens, and tomato gravy.

grits

My husband had the fried chicken with sweet potato fries and mac and cheese, and we shared a side of cole slaw because I love cabbage and mayonnaise.

fried chicken

Once the food was put in front of us, we stopped chatting and enjoyed the music and the heavenly bites put in front of us. Each bite of crispy grits got doused in a tangy tomato sauce and topped with perfectly made greens. I also snagged multiple sweet potato fries which were lightly sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Oh, and the mac and cheese? Total, complete cheesy comfort food. This is the place to be after a week of running.

When our server returned to clear our plates, we did not even need to see the dessert menu to know that we wanted the red velvet cake. Our dining neighbors on both sides ordered it, and we were those people, you know, the ones staring at other people’s food.

The cake was the perfect portion, was nice and cold the way I love cake to be, and was layered with slightly sweet cream cheese frosting. I am in love with this cake.

red velvet cake

The service at Darryl’s was so friendly and warm; they were busy, and our server had most of the room. She totally took it in stride, smiled the whole time, apologized for any wait, which wasn’t long, and just made the experience fun.

We loved the food, the people, and the buzz about this restaurant. It was the kind of place that makes you smile ear-to-ear, the kind of place you want to linger.

We might go back next week.

Happy Friday! I am blogging from NJ this weekend while my hubs works the Boat Show in Boston.

What are you up to this weekend?

Technorati Tags: Boston, cake, cocktails, dessert, Food, Restaurants, wine