Round Up...

Recession? What recession? I've been eating out my fair share lately - you know, helping the economy and all. During my adventures in Boston's culinary landscape, I've had the opportunity to try a number of new restaurants (new to me, anyway). So many, in fact, that the prospect of writing a full review about each individual experience was simply too overwhelming. So... a round up was in order.

OM - I'd been looking forward to eating at OM for a good long while. It's been in Harvard Square for about three years and I've walking past it a number of times - always peeking in the windows and admiring the cool, zen interior. Plus, the Asian-inspired menu looked very promising. You know what they say about not judging a book by it's cover? Oh boy. It went badly right out of the gate. At OM they don't serve you bread or crackers to start, they serve you popcorn. Now, don't get me wrong, I like popcorn and this was particularly good, sprinkled with parmesan and thyme, but this is an upscale restaurant with an Asian vibe. It was just wrong - and that was just the beginning. The appetizers - a beet salad and mussels in a spicy tomato broth - were both tasty, but unremarkable. The entrees went from mediocre to terrible, including rare tuna served over bland, dry udon noodles and vegetables usually found in airline food, an underdone double-cut pork chop, and a stuffed trout that - while the best of the dishes - seemed oddly New England-y. Having been totally underwhelmed by the food, we opted out of dessert and headed to the Hong Kong for a scorpion bowl. This was undoubtedly the right choice.

I'd give OM, at 92 Winthrop Street in Cambridge, a C. Unless you are looking for more UM than OM, I'd skip it.


Estragon - I love tapas. Love, love, love. And I pretty much make it my mission to try any new tapas restaurant in Boston, so it was a no brainer that I had to get over to Estragon. Since I am fascinated with restaurant gossip, here's a little for you - Estragon is owned by Julio de Haro, the ex-husband of Deborah Hansen, the proprietor of Taberna de Haro in Brookline, which they founded together. Deborah and I are both graduates of Bates College in Maine. Wasn't that fun? Our own little six degrees of Kevin Bacon. Oh, you want to know about the food? Fine then... it was good, very good. Not the best (still Dali, in my opinion), but definitely flavorful, adventurous, and authentic. I went with a friend for Restaurant Week, during which they served each diner about five tapas - in reasonably small portions - so we were able to try quite a few things. Some of the highlights included the smokey, crunchy fried garbanzo beans seasoned with paprika, a salad of sauteed spinach sprinkled with toasted pine nuts and golden raisins (great sweet/savory balance!), crispy fried chunks of artichoke hearts served with garlicky aioli, and salt cod croquettes served with a smokey pureed tomato sauce. Some of the less impressive dishes included the cod cheeks which were too dry - though served with this mysterious amber sauce that was vaguely sweet and tangy and excellent - and the beef cheeks which were tough and chewy and served in an overly-salty beef gravy. We opted for a cheese course to end our meal and, sadly, I don't remember the particulars of what we were served. All of the cheeses were a nicely quality, but the portions were minuscule - an unfortunate side-effect of Restaurant Week, I fear.

I'd give Estragon, at 700 Harrison Avenue in the South End, a B. Definitely worth exploring, especially if you share my passion for tapas! Authentic Spanish nibbles served in a lovely Art Deco-inspired setting.


L'Andana - I did it! I made it to L'Andana! Now, this is where this blog comes in handy... after mentioning my seeming inability to actually drive to Burlington for a meal in an earlier posting, I had several suburban-dwelling friends contact me and assure me that, if I ever did get out there, they'd be happy to meet up. Apparently, that was just the inspiration I needed. The first thing I noticed about L'Andana was the size. I guess when you live in the city for too long, you just get used to things being small - real small. L'Andana has it's own huge parking lot, and the restaurant itself is roughly the size of a mall. Yikes! Luckily for L'Andana, it's beautifully appointed with dark, wood paneled walls, soft candlelight and low-lit candelabras, chic white tables and modern chairs. All of which keeps it visually in the same family as it sister restaurants in the city - and some of my favorites! - Mistral, Teatro, Sorellina, and Mooo. The menu at L'Andana focuses on Italian dishes, with predominantly grilled entrees. We chose classic Italian appetizers, including a rigatoni with a Bolognese-style sauce and an insalata caprese with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, and several thin slices of prosciutto. The insalata used exceptionally fresh ingredients and came together deliciously; however, the rigatoni was sublime. The meat sauce was thick and rich and the fresh pasta was dense and chewy. It would have been more than satisfactory as a meal on it's own. Our entrees, a grilled salmon with a sweet glaze and a 12 ounce ribeye served on a bed of arugula and parmesan, were both cooked to well and tasty, but a bit of a let down after the wonderful starters. Dessert, a cinnamon-apple crostada and a chocolate crema, are a nice sweet finish, but fairly predictable.

I'd give L'Andana, at 86 Cambridge Street in Burlington, a B+. For tried and true city-lovers, you get all the urban flair and high-quality eats that you need at L'Andana.


Wagamama - Last Friday evening, Paul and I found ourselves in the Prudential Center mall and starving. Being almost allergic to shopping in malls or big department stores, it had been ages since I'd been in the Pru. I had no idea what our food options were beyond the small food court, which was definitively not an option. Eventually we stumbled upon Wagamama. I heard all about Wagamama when the inaugural Boston outpost opened in Faneuil Hall, but I didn't realize that there were two others - one in Harvard Square and the one at the Pru. If you, like I did, read about Wagamama when it hit the scene a few years ago, you know it's a London noodle house and sort of a hipster scene. The Wagamama at the Pru keeps fairly true to these roots - it's a wide-open room with long tables, where everyone eats sort of cafeteria style. The multicultural, universally tattooed staff was attentive and friendly. Our waiter did a great job explaining the menu and pointing out some things coming out of the kitchen, so we got a sense for what to expect. After a reasonable amount of deliberation, we ordered edamame with chili-garlic salt (fairly standard, but with a nice kick from flavored seasoning), ebi gyoza (tasty dumplings stuffed with shrimp with a nice seared coating, but overall the wrappers were too chewy), the chili beef ramen (great flavorful broth and fresh veggies, but the beef was bland), and finally the teriyaki chicken (great, tender pieces of chicken in a sweet sauce served over soba noodles). I was sorely tempted by dessert at the end of the meal - especially the baked ginger cheesecake - but, ultimately, we were just too full.

I'd give Wagamama, at 800 Boylston Street in Boston (in the Shops at the Prudential Center), a B-. While the food isn't outstanding, the restaurant has a relaxed, metropolitan vibe and makes for a quick, fun lunch or dinner.


Union Bar and Grille - Just this past weekend, one of my favorite Boston artists - Chris Speakman - was having an opening in the South End. Since we were going to be in the area, we decided to grab a bite for dinner at the Union Bar and Grille. I have a friend who really likes Union for drinks, but to be truthful, I really hadn't heard much about the food. Turns out, there was a reason for that. First of all, it seems that we were not the only ones out there supporting the economy during these tough times - despite having an 8:15 p.m. reservation, we weren't seated until close to 8:45 p.m. We sat down with drinks that we were still half full from the bar and didn't intend to buy a bottle of wine, but our waiter easily convinced us when he let us know that we could take whatever we didn't drink home. I will give Union this - that's a great service and a terrific way to upsell. Reminiscent of "popcorn-gate" at OM, we were served cornbread in a small skillet as a starter. While cornbread is bread - sort of - it's a completely non-sensical compliment at a restaurant that isn't serving BBQ. So, another questionable start - and it didn't get a lot better. Paul ordered an appetizer of pulled short ribs over a bed of spicy coleslaw and topped with fried onions. The dense, saucy meat was nicely cut by the crisp slaw, but the onions were chewy and inedible. I ordered the gnocchi with duck confit and orange sections, which turned out to be overly salty with overcooked dumplings. For an entree, Paul ordered the hanger steak with buttermilk mashed potatoes. The meat was well-portioned and nicely cooked, but the potatoes were largely tasteless. I ate the prosciutto-wrapped cod with a side of white bean salad. The fish was dry and absorbed too much salt from the ham. Sadly, having finished an entirely passable meal, we opted to skip dessert and enjoy the remains of our wine at home.

I'd give Union Bar and Grille, at 1357 Washington Street in the South End, a C. That area is packed with great options for dinner. Union Bar and Grille is not one of them.

Phew... until next time! Though, with the current state of my bank account, the next review may feature the cuisine of Chez Scott-Howard. Not to worry, it'll get all As.

C Minus

It's probably not too much of a stretch that I use an ABC grading system to rate restaurants. I've admitted before in this blog that I am pretty much a nerd. I only received one C+ in my entire academic career; nothing less than that. Until now. Looking back at my 2008 Wish List, I only scored a 70%. The Shame. It was almost enough to abandon the blog. Almost. But, here I am - back and ready to write. After all, it's a new year and this list-lover has a whole new set of targets...

But first, I need to own up to my failures. I never did quite make it to Petit Robert Bistro (despite the fact that there's now about a dozen of them), O Ya (hellooo... who can afford $300 sushi in a recession?), or Summer Winter (I guess Burlington really was too far to go in the end). However, there were some highlights too! T.W. Food and Ten Tables both lived up to their local, organic, exquisite reputations. The classic, French-inspired cocktails at Beehive and Gaslight brought whole new game to the Boston bar scene. And new favorites were cemented in Myers + Chang and Orinoco. Also, 2008 was also the year in which Paul and I feasted on the most extravagant meal of our lives at Alex in Las Vegas. Let me just say, they gave me a footstool... for my purse. O My.

OK, now that that's behind us, on to 2009...

Sportello – First-rate restaurants have become so prolific in Boston that you could have a long healthy debate about the city’s top chef. One of the candidates would, no doubt, be Barbara Lynch. In fact, I’ll put it out there and say, if the competition was for the best female chef, there would be no need for the debate. The latest in Lynch’s empire of fabulousness include Drink, a high-end cocktail bar, and Sportello, a “modern interpretation of the classic lunch counter.” Having already spent a lovely evening sipping a custom gin concoction and some delicious nibbles at Drink, I am excited to move on to experiencing Sportello.

Marilave – Some evening, if you squint a bit at the reflection of the Pru on the Charles, you might just start to see the twinkling lights of the Eiffel Tower. French bistros are becoming as common in Boston as rim-ending potholes. Luckily for us, most of the former are considerably more enjoyable than the latter. To say that Marilave is “new” is a bit of a misnomer – the original restaurant was opened in the 1880s, but has reemerged on the scene. The menu, however, still features some classic New England specialties along with the French classics.

L’Andana – Putting L’Andana on my 2009 list is a bit risky. After all, I totally failed at making it up to Burlington for last year’s #2 target, Summer Winter. But, what is life without a little chance? Besides, Boston Magazine rated L’Andana – another Burlington star – as the best restaurant debut of 2008, as well as one of the 50 best restaurants in greater Boston. Hopefully that’s enough to get me on 93-North this time around.

Highland Kitchen – Despite myself, after having spent the last six years working there, I developed a certain fondness for Somerville. I’ll give you a second to collect yourself before I go on. I know, Somerville is not exactly the crown jewel of metro Boston, but you’d be hard pressed to not acknowledge that it has its fair share of cool bars, restaurants, and shops – a list that grows all of the time. Highland Kitchen’s laid-back, hipster vibe, and solid southern-inspired fare has already garnered a lot of attention. Is it five o’clock yet?

Persephone – Remember when going out to eat in the Fort Point district meant overpriced stuffed clams and overcooked steak at Anthony’s Pier 4 or Jimmy’s Harborside or… er, uh, well, that was pretty much it. Boy, have times changed. Fort Point got so hot so quickly, it practically jumped the shark before most people even knew it was there. No restaurant defines the new hip-upcoming-obscure nature of the area better than Persephone. Persephone is half of what is known as the “Achilles Project” – the other half is a chic boutique, Achilles. I’m sure that I'm not nearly young or trendy enough to be their ideal clientele, but having sampled Michael Leviton’s fabulous French cuisine at West Newton’s Lumiere, they can’t keep me away.

Sofra – Ok, so this one is a little bit of a cheat. Sofra is not exactly a restaurant, but more of an upscale café and bakery. However, it’s one of my top destinations for the year. Above all, Sofra was opened by the owners of Oleana, where I enjoyed one of the best meals I’ve ever eaten. Beyond that, Sofra’s opening had just slightly less press than the premiere of Twilight. All said, I can wait to try some sweet treats with Middle Eastern names that I can’t pronounce.

Estragon – It took me a few tries to get over the fact that the name of this restaurant is not Estrogen. Alright, I am not really over it, but that’s not going to stop me from trying the creative tapas at this new South End establishment. Estragon’s menu features cod cheeks to frog’s legs to pork belly, all sounding more delicious than the last. After dinner, diners can also check out Las Ventas next door, a gourmet Spanish food market.

Townsend’s – One of the most fun aspects of moving to Roslindale a few years ago has been getting to know some of Boston’s lesser known neighborhoods – Rozzie, West Roxbury, and Hyde Park. While terrific restaurants abound in Roslindale and West Roxbury, finding a good place to chow down is a bit harder in Hyde Park. With the addition of Townsend’s, launched by a husband and wife team and long-time Hyde Park residents, there’s finally a local joint that’s worth checking out. It shouldn’t be too hard to convince my British husband to tuck into an order of their fish and chips.

Via Matta – Remember that top chef debate? Another name that’s sure to be on the list is Michael Schlow. Schlow has never done me wrong at Radius or Great Bay, and I expect no less
of Via Matta. The restaurant is not new, but I’m sure that time hasn’t diminished the quality that Schlow is known for and, certainly, applies to its Northern Italian dishes.

Erbaluce – The buzz for Erbaluce was strong amongst the restaurant-obsessed on the popular website Chowhound. Mostly the discussion focused on when it would finally open. Their prayers were answered last fall when the restaurant debuted to many happy sighs. I owe a great debt to (or, perhaps was cursed by?) Erbaluce’s chef, Charles Draghi. Draghi’s last Boston gig was running the kitchen of Marcuccio’s in the North End – offering widely lauded, unconventional Italian cuisine. Paul and I spent our first Valentine’s Day at Marcuccio’s and I was hooked – both on my husband-to-be and on Boston’s exquisite fare. A foodie was born – and she can’t wait to pay a visit to her old friend.

This year, I’m going for a 4.0. Who’s with me?