Living the High Life

While I love to drink tea (black, green, white, pure, and blends) any time of day, I must say the best thing about it is the food. Scones, tea sandwiches, jam, and clotted cream... Oh what a dream.

Thankfully, Boston has several places where one can experience the full British high tea experience. The first photo was taken at the Taj hotel (which used to be the Ritz), where the tea was accompanied by various pastries and chocolates, dainty tea sandwiches (with the crusts cut off, of course), and scones with clotted cream and lemon curd. More recently, M and I indulged in afternoon tea at L'Espalier. Enjoying high tea here is definitely the way to go to experience all the luxury and impeccable service of an upscale restaurant for the fraction of the price for a normal meal.

Although the savories and sweets at L'Espalier were not presented on tiered platters, I must say the food was decidedly better and more interesting than your standard fare with choices such as lobster on miniature pretzel rolls and panna cotta with matcha crumbles. Considering that L'Espalier was a french restaurant, we decided to add on a cheese tasting to accompany the rest of our spread. Yes, it was way too much food for two people. But we persevered and finished every delicious, albeit painful, mouthful. I've read many great things about afternoon tea in Upstairs in the Square in Cambridge, so that's definitely my next stop.

The Taj
15 Arlington Street
Boston, MA 02116
(617) 536-5700

L'Espalier
774 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02199
(617) 262-3023

The Road Less Traveled

Just off the main tourist path of Hanover Street in the North End in an unassuming side street is one of the best Italian places in the area. Mamma Maria does not only boast a beautiful building and interior but also impeccable service, great pastas and food all around. To start, M and I shared a Maine peekytoe crab appetizer with frisée and a poached egg. Continuing with the theme of seafood, we both got the striped bass entrée, which also consisted of calamari, mussels, and clams atop a bed of risotto nero (pitch black risotto flavored and colored with squid ink). To accompany our cups of coffee, M got the walnut rhubarb cobbler with vanilla gelato served in a cast-iron pan, while I opted for the boozy baba au rhum, or brioche soaked in rum. Of course, I would get the alcoholic dessert option.

Mamma Maria's is definitely pricier than your standard options, i.e. Giacomo's, but its not so outrageous that you couldn't come here on a nice date or with your parents. So if you are like me and M and foolishly thought you would be able to get a table at Neptune's on a Saturday night, stroll on over to Mamma Maria's where, in the comforting ambiance of the restaurant, you will soon forget about the ridiculousness of a 2 hr+ wait for oysters.

Mamma Maria
3 N Square
Boston, Massachusetts 02113
(617) 523-0077

Rest In Peace

Assortment of nigiri from left to right: tuna, salmon, squid, smoked salmon, octopus, eel


A's spicy tuna roll and nigiri in the background



Farewell Café Sushi's $1 sushi Sunday. We hardly knew you.

Alas, after only having just learned about this deal, I also discovered through Café Sushi's facebook that they were going to discontinue it after today. So it was indeed a bittersweet experience eating here knowing that it would be our last chance to take advantage of such a great and cheap meal, especially considering how expensive sushi tends to be. But don't let this news deter you from visiting Café Sushi yourself. From the looks of the menu, they seem to have some pretty adventurous and unique looking makis and other Japanese delicacies that seem to be definitely worth a taste.

Anything Off the Trolley, Dears?

The aftermath of a Saturday afternoon dim sum feast at Hei La Moon.




These steamed pork buns were my favorite. Next time I will try out the baked version with their golden tops.










Some variation of mochi balls filled with red bean paste and covered with sesame seeds. They also had egg custard tarts, but sadly my stomach ran out of the necessary real estate. Next time...

My very first time eating dim sum today in Chinatown with the roommate and another friend. It was very reminiscent of Spanish tapas, but there is no menu and instead you get to choose what you want from the various carts that come wheeling around the dining room. I am not sure about any of the names and some of the ingredients in each of the plates, but all of them were quite good and worthy of trying again. A good advice for any other newcomer is to bring along a friend who speaks Chinese and/or is familiar with the culture of dim sum etiquette and the dishes on offer. But if all else fails and you're willing to be a little more adventurous, pointing is also a respectable and, almost always, tasty option.

Hei La Moon
88 Beach St
Boston, MA 02111-2510
(617) 338-8813

No Reservations

A long overdue post about some of the various things I ate while in Paris in May.

Both M and K were nice enough to let me decide where we were going to eat lunch the first day we were all in the city. After consulting the always trusty Mr. Lebovitz for recommendations, we ended up at Chez Omar to feast on Moroccan food. I guess it might seem a bit strange to be eating couscous in Paris, but I feel like Moroccan food is a bit like what Mexican food is in America (or at least California, since I have yet to have good Mexican food in the Boston area).

I had the couscous (the restaurant's specialty) with the merguez (spicy lamb sausage). M opted for the steak frites like a true French person, so I guess it was a win-win situation for all of us.

And since we were on vacation, dessert was a given indulgence. And no, these weren't all for the three of us. What the waiters do is bring out two gigantic trays of pastries and place them on your table so that you can choose what you want to eat. A lot of them were similar to Greek pastries, such as baklava, and were on the sweet side. Each piece cost, I believe, 2 or 3 euros. Considering how indecisive I tend to be, I'm amazed I was even able to narrow down my choices. But everything looked and tasted incredible, so I couldn't go wrong with any of my selections.

I've also been thinking a lot about that question that goes something like: "What would your last meal be on death row?" For some twisted reason, I think about that a lot, but I am never satisfied with my answer. Usually, I end up just listing a bunch of things that I like to eat and decide that I would want to have them all buffet-style. On the other hand, I don't think it would be that appetizing having Indian food alongside cream scones, Korean food, sushi, ice cream, etc. So, I'm thinking the best way to go is to be more concise and plan out a more cohesive menu for myself. Great, another thing to add to my growing list of "Things to do for the summer but wasting time on the Internet instead to avoid completing them."

Of course, I probably wouldn't mind going if those two trays were placed in front of me again. And a refreshing cup of mint tea in a beautiful glass cup to wash it down.

Our second day in Paris, M stayed behind in Fontainebleau. K was definitely a trooper humoring me as I went in pursuit of my gastronomic conquest of Paris. In between the gorging on Ladurée and Pierre Hermé macarons, we took a little pit stop in Café Angelina, renowned for their ridiculously rich and thick hot chocolate and Mont Blanc.

See what I mean? It's as if it was just pure, melted chocolate. And they also give you a little bowl of whipped cream to top off your drink as if the hot chocolate wasn't decadent enough.

I ordered the Mont Blanc. It's so precious! The mound on top is pureed chestnuts that sits on top of a meringue to give the dessert a pleasing textural contrast. I could eat that pureed chestnut paste just on its own. And I'm probably not the only one since the cafe also sells tubes of the stuff as well.

A shot of the inside.

Amazing millefeuille to cap off a great dinner (sadly, those photos seem to have disappeared from my camera). Layers upon layers of shatter-prone puff pastry with vanilla pastry cream sandwiched between the sheets. Gratuitous but pretty shower of powdered sugar on top. Can you believe each of us was given half a normal sized piece? And they say the portions are bigger in America! The bistro was another recommendation I found from David Lebovitz's site, but the name of it escapes me now. Also, not only was the food great, but the restaurant was nice enough to seat us even though we didn't make reservations in advance (Get the title of this post now? It's not just a reflection of my obsession with Anthony Bourdain).

Chez Omar
47, rue de Bretagne, 75003
Paris, France
01 42 72 36 26

Café Angelina
226 Rue De Rivoli
Paris, France
01 42 60 82 00

Last Supper

Finals were over but I still had my whole life to pack up in two suitcases in less than 24 hours...so how did I choose to spend my last night in Cambridge? Well, splurge a little for dinner with my lovely roommates in Boston. Mariam and I had been wanting to go to a Mediterranean restaurant since forever, but it took our last night together before we all left for the summer to make that happen. Oh, and also kudos to Keri who still came for a much needed study break despite having a final at 9 am the next day!

Small Plates: Jamón ibérico; seared foie gras, brioche, rhubarb; goat cheese truffle croquette

Above we have the three "tapas," or small plates, we ordered to whet our appetites before the main affair. From left to right we have, Jamón Ibérico, seared foie gras on top of a slice of brioche and topped with rhubarb, and goat cheese truffle croquettes. My first time trying foie gras, and it was everything I had imagined it would be more. While I could have done without the rhubarb jam nestled on top of the foie gras, as it tended to overwhelm the delicate flavor of the foie, this dish was a nearly perfect marriage of sweet and savory. The only downside was the teeny tiny portion size. Definitely insufficient for two people to share (thanks Mariam for being brave enough to try duck liver for the first time. what a trooper!), even if it was one of three appetizers. The goat cheese croquettes were surprisingly light despite being deep fried in oil and the jamón was pleasantly salty and not too stringy-- definitely befitting its title as one of the finest hams in the world.

Entrée #1: Organic Scottish salmon, sunchoke, onion soubise, ginger cucumber salad

I will leave Keri and Mariam to be the experts on this salmon entree. But I can only imagine that it did not disappoint.

Entrée #2: Slow braised beef short rib, goat cheese, pea risotto

Feeling particularly carnivorous that night, I opted for the heartier and more rustic dish of slow braised short rib which was accompanied by a nice creamy and toothsome pea risotto. The short ribs were seriously heavenly--fall off the bone tender with a texture not unlike room temperature butter. There is a Korean dish that my mom makes with a soy sauce marinade that is very similar to this rendition. Of course, it's very difficult for me to compare the two. So, let's just say I'll be very happy with either version. The sauteed veggies in between the ribs and the risotto (I think it was spinach) were forgettable; but fortunately, they did not detract from the deliciousness of the fork tender ribs and al dente risotto.

Dessert #1: Vanilla bean panna cotta, fresh berries, powdered sugar

Continuing this trend of firsts, I also tried panna cotta for the first time. The only thing that I could think about as soon as I took the first bite: "OMFFG, I am such an idiot!! Why have I waited this long to try it!!!!! Ahhhh!" Surely a momentous occasion of which I am glad to have photographic evidence. It's a very simple dessert in concept, just heavy cream, vanilla beans, sugar, and gelatin. But its the the texture--luxurious and velvety smooth--that really elevates the panna cotta above and beyond the simple jello or pudding. Now, I'm just itching to try a recipe with balsamic-glazed strawberries next time in my own kitchen.

The other desserts, I'm sure, would also satisfy any die-hard sweet tooth. Mariam got her chocolate fix in the form of a luscious and gooey chocolate cake, whereas Keri knew she wanted the churros at the start of our meal when she laid eyes on them from across the room.

Dessert #2: Warm chocolate cake, espresso ice cream, créme anglaise

Molten: More food porn

Dessert #3: Churros, dark chocolate, dulce de leche

Leaving with full bellies and slightly lighter pocket books, Mariam, Keri, and I made our way out of the restaurant in search of the nearest T stop. Although it was the end of this foodie adventure and our time as sophomores, surely it would be the start to many more and an even better junior year.

Avila Modern Mediterranean
1 Charles Street South
Boston, MA 02116
617-267-4810

Happy Feet

You see that little beauty up there...well, that was a long time coming. Granted that was my second try at making macarons (don't ask about what happened to the first batch), but I felt like a proud mama holding one up for its close up.

In truth, I was a bit anxious before taking the first bite. While macarons are generally simple in concept with only a handful of ingredients (aged egg whites, powdered sugar, and almonds), one needs to master an exact technique to achieve success. For example, I learned the hard way of the importance of whipping your egg whites to a stiff peak stage before introducing the dry ingredients to the batter. And afterwards, you have the macaron batter to contend with.

Overmix the egg whites and almond/sugar mixture, and you will have a runny mess when piping out the confections on your baking sheet. Undermix it and air bubbles will form, causing holes on top of your macarons. But of course, macarons aren't infamous for being notoriously fussy pastries for nothing. I knew that I wouldn't know whether I had succeeded until at least 5 minutes into the baking time.

Sure, the batter came out perfectly and I got those tempermental little "feet" to form that macarons are noted for. But would the taste come anywhere near to those confections I had come to love in Paris?

Since I just wanted to get my feet wet before experimenting with flavor combinations, I decided to keep it simple with the macarons this time around. I didn't add any flavorings into the batter, which allowed the taste of the almonds to shine (not to mention that it makes the batter much easier to deal with). With smooth, flat tops and nice little feet around the bottom, these macarons definitely looked like what they were supposed to.

And the texture was also spot-on--a thin, crackly shell and soft, slightly chewy interior (think a meringue, but infinitely more delicate). With a slathering of nutella sandwiched between the two fragile macaron shells, it really did feel like I had brought along with me a little bit of Paris. While Pierre Herme's fanciful creations are still my undisputed favorite, these homemade versions will definitely do for the time being.

Now that one of my top baking goals have been completed...well, there is that salted caramel macaron recipe or a dark mint chocolate one that I've been eyeing for awhile. Guess that's up next.