Sunday, July 30, 2006

Magical Culinary Tour: Boston (Day 2)

The second day:

We got an early start on Day 2. We left Rosie's apartment in Central Square and headed towards Boston, on foot! We passed by a funky Korean supermarket; it looked almost identical to the Asian markets by me, so I am happy Rosie has that access as she is the queen of Asian cooking!

On the way to the Charles River, we passed by M.I.T. I half-expected to see some guys with unkept hair and pocket protectors come out of the buildings, but I guess it was too hot for that!!

The Charles River was beautiful -- unfortunately we didn't get to see too many boats on the water, but I did on my way to the airport later on. A beautiful sight!

A few minutes after crossing the Charles River we reached Newbury Street. Rosie tried to describe it to me in New York terms, being a seasoned New Yorker herself. It's a cross between the West Village, Soho, and 5th Avenue. So, it's packed with cafés and funky stores, but also Gucci and Valentino. But Newbury Street is a long stretch of a road, I know, because we walked the entirety of it, so there was really something for everyone. We stopped off at brunch at the very hip and 'now' Sonsie.

In addition to the atmosphere and the scene, which was fantastic (we got a table right by thesidewalk for people watching), the food was INCREDIBLE!!! I was so unbelievably impressed. Rosemary had a burger and fries thing - told you she likes her meat -
and I had such an incredible salad. Mmmm, please let me describe. Well the 'official' title of the salad is Parmesan Fried Portabello Mushrooms with Ugly Tomatoes and Pesto Cheese, but if I was to name this dish it would be Mmmm, mmmm and mmmm! So, the mushrooms were fried, obviously, and I'm guessing they probably cut up a huge portabello in long slices, battered it, and fried it. YUM! These were over perfectly soused chunky tomato slices and a generous portion of pesto cheese - I want to say it was goat cheese cause of its creaminess but I'm not sure. All of this was over some gorgeous arugula, in a lovely lemony vinaigrette, with pesto drizzled all over. This was just so fantastic! I don't think there are even enough words to describe it... Maybe just one letter, mmmmmmmm! Have a look yourself!


I've mentioned before that my dad always says I could feed a small country with the amount of food I always leave behind. Well, not this time! I practically licked that plate clean.
But I of course had room for dessert, and wouldn't you, with a name like this: Frozen Callebaut Chocolate Fudgesicle. I know that Callebaut is up there with the other Jaguars and Rolls Royces of chocolate, so I had to partake. It did not disappoint!

After the intense eating session we had, we continued on down Newbury Street, stopping at an awesome candy store with every shade of M&M's you could imagine!
I unfortuntely didn't buy any because I knew that the chocolate wouldn't survive the heat, but it was a really cool sight to see. The store had lots of imported chocolate bars too - curly whirlies, Aero, Crunchie, etc. Awesome!

Newbury Street ends at the Boston Common, which is a very beautiful and chilled out park. We rested a bit there, taking in the nice breeze and fabulous environment,and local wildlife.


And that was basically it. :( A short trip, but great, nonetheless, and made even more special for spending quality time with my Rosie.

There wasn't any time for cooking, unfortunately, just lots of walking and eating! Oh, and I must have gone into about 5 different GAPs. Awful sales!

So, I need to get back on track now with the project. It's obvious I won't be able to finish by the end of September, but maybe by 2007 I will, LOL, at this rate!!! Did I mention we're experiencing yet another heatwave here, and it will be in the triple digits this week... Just thought I'd mention that! :S

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wish I was there! Those Portabello Fries like yummy, and so does that frozen Callebaut bar.

Did you happen to get any FG Blue M&M's?

;)

Allan

Anonymous said...

Ilana,

I'm glad you had such a great time in my neck of the woods. It's nice hearing about Boston from an outsider's perspective. I take it too much for granted. I have never been to any of the restaurants you mentioned (having kids in tow kind of limits your choices of where to go as it would cost a fortune if we all ate at a fancy restaurant) so I'll have to get hubby to take me while the kids are elsewhere. Your descriptions make me feel like spending a weekend in Boston now. I love Cambridge and I love Newbury Street. You'll have to head for Faneuil Hall next time you're here.

Anonymous said...

Ilana, looks like you had a lovely visit to the city of my childhood! By the way, chica, you can get those swell coloured M&M's at Dylan's Cany Bar in NYC. Just in case.
xE

Anonymous said...

Ilana, I enjoyed your two day get-away.:) Thanks for the picture, too. They're beatuiful. How are your little feet doing now that you're back at the ranch?

Lea xoxo