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figarofigaro1The day after Thanksgiving, which some cultures call Black Friday, we drove down to Boston for a quick trip. We stayed at the Langham which was a new spot for us. It was nice. The room was small, but comfortable. The staff was notably good and seemed genuinely interested in us having a nice stay.
We had dinner on Friday at Towne Stove and Spirits. It was a fun spot. The menu is eclectic and interesting. There's a side-menu that is a "lobster bar" and has smaller lobster items to add to the meal. I had seared scallops in a pumpkin bisque to start; then a salad of arugula, the "last" summer tomatoes, and burrata; and then a grilled lobster tail (from the lobster bar menu) that came with some house-made Terra-style chips (plaintains, sweet potatoes, parsnips). I started dinner with a cocktail of smashed blackberries, whiskey, and lemon juice that was terrific! Both our meals were excellent quality. The service was off a bit, but we didn't really care. They brought us our salads twice but we sent the seconds back. Then there was a lull before the main plates came out. So they gifted us a giant plate of maple cotton candy. It was yummy and I hope it made them feel better. We weren't upset in the least. There was "dinner theater" right next to us: a table of 13 celebrating at least one birthday. The honoree was a thin older glamorous woman done up like an old-time Hollywood movie star. Her (twin?) sister was similarly attired and we overheard more than one waiter say the words "Sunset Boulevard" out of their earshot. The guest in charge of the whole party was being a total jerk to the staff as well, so there was plenty to enjoy. After our complimentary dessert, which looked like a barrister's wig on a plate by the way, we had dessert drinks just so we could watch some more. (And there was a new table with two terribly drunk couples adding to the entertainment.)
Saturday's dinner was at Coppa and was fantastic! We're adding it to our list of must-eats for Boston. It's got kind of a local casual hole-in-the-wall vibe. The menu is printed on the placemats, for example. They have innovative cocktails and excellent small plates with a snout-to-tail philosophy. We shared everything. We had a charcuterie sampler, and after discussing what we might want on it, we opted to let them pick. We got mortadella, duck prosciutto, coppa, pate di campagne, and coppa (I think). B took a picture which I am now stealing and posting here.
After that, we had a plate of fluke cruda with olive oil, radishes, and chili oil (excellent!); a salad of apple slices charred lemons, and burrata (OK, so I have a thing for burrata); and half orders of two pastas. One was a special that was pappardelle with a non-traditional Bolognese sauce that had goat and something else and chicken livers in it. It was heavenly. And I selected the house-made chestnut fettuccine with wild boar ragu and roasted chestnuts. It was rich and meaty and chestnutty and delicious!
They don't do much in the way of dessert there and that was fine. We were well-fed and happy.
Other highlights included a tasty lunch at Wagamama and meeting up with M&SW (who were there visiting family) at Maria's Pastry Shop in the North end where we ate sfogliatelle and I ate the best cannolli of my life. Seriously. And I've had good cannolli before.
Other than eating, there was the usual shopping. I hit the Nespresso store to restock and also got the new limited-edition variations: cherry, chocolate, and vanilla. I've only tried the cherry so far. It's tasty. I never would have imagined cherry flavored coffee. I scored a sweet Norwegian-style sweater at Macy's for a ridiculously low price. On the way home on Sunday we stopped at Trader Joe's to restock some pantry items. And then on to Crate and Barrel where I fell in love with (but didn't yet buy) a beautiful liquor/wine cabinet bar thing. The key-word here is "yet". (Swooning over the pictures even just going to find the link. That is so not me.)
The weather was freakishly warm the whole time we were in Boston - we didn't wear our coats once, even at night.
Unsurprisingly, after Festa Week and this Boston trip, I'm feeling fat. So this week thus far food-wise has been severely restricted.
We had dinner on Friday at Towne Stove and Spirits. It was a fun spot. The menu is eclectic and interesting. There's a side-menu that is a "lobster bar" and has smaller lobster items to add to the meal. I had seared scallops in a pumpkin bisque to start; then a salad of arugula, the "last" summer tomatoes, and burrata; and then a grilled lobster tail (from the lobster bar menu) that came with some house-made Terra-style chips (plaintains, sweet potatoes, parsnips). I started dinner with a cocktail of smashed blackberries, whiskey, and lemon juice that was terrific! Both our meals were excellent quality. The service was off a bit, but we didn't really care. They brought us our salads twice but we sent the seconds back. Then there was a lull before the main plates came out. So they gifted us a giant plate of maple cotton candy. It was yummy and I hope it made them feel better. We weren't upset in the least. There was "dinner theater" right next to us: a table of 13 celebrating at least one birthday. The honoree was a thin older glamorous woman done up like an old-time Hollywood movie star. Her (twin?) sister was similarly attired and we overheard more than one waiter say the words "Sunset Boulevard" out of their earshot. The guest in charge of the whole party was being a total jerk to the staff as well, so there was plenty to enjoy. After our complimentary dessert, which looked like a barrister's wig on a plate by the way, we had dessert drinks just so we could watch some more. (And there was a new table with two terribly drunk couples adding to the entertainment.)
Saturday's dinner was at Coppa and was fantastic! We're adding it to our list of must-eats for Boston. It's got kind of a local casual hole-in-the-wall vibe. The menu is printed on the placemats, for example. They have innovative cocktails and excellent small plates with a snout-to-tail philosophy. We shared everything. We had a charcuterie sampler, and after discussing what we might want on it, we opted to let them pick. We got mortadella, duck prosciutto, coppa, pate di campagne, and coppa (I think). B took a picture which I am now stealing and posting here.
After that, we had a plate of fluke cruda with olive oil, radishes, and chili oil (excellent!); a salad of apple slices charred lemons, and burrata (OK, so I have a thing for burrata); and half orders of two pastas. One was a special that was pappardelle with a non-traditional Bolognese sauce that had goat and something else and chicken livers in it. It was heavenly. And I selected the house-made chestnut fettuccine with wild boar ragu and roasted chestnuts. It was rich and meaty and chestnutty and delicious!
They don't do much in the way of dessert there and that was fine. We were well-fed and happy.
Other highlights included a tasty lunch at Wagamama and meeting up with M&SW (who were there visiting family) at Maria's Pastry Shop in the North end where we ate sfogliatelle and I ate the best cannolli of my life. Seriously. And I've had good cannolli before.
Other than eating, there was the usual shopping. I hit the Nespresso store to restock and also got the new limited-edition variations: cherry, chocolate, and vanilla. I've only tried the cherry so far. It's tasty. I never would have imagined cherry flavored coffee. I scored a sweet Norwegian-style sweater at Macy's for a ridiculously low price. On the way home on Sunday we stopped at Trader Joe's to restock some pantry items. And then on to Crate and Barrel where I fell in love with (but didn't yet buy) a beautiful liquor/wine cabinet bar thing. The key-word here is "yet". (Swooning over the pictures even just going to find the link. That is so not me.)
The weather was freakishly warm the whole time we were in Boston - we didn't wear our coats once, even at night.
Unsurprisingly, after Festa Week and this Boston trip, I'm feeling fat. So this week thus far food-wise has been severely restricted.
