One Last Time This Summer

Last night we enjoyed one last summer night at Remnant Brewing at Bow Market...

Have no fear, fall nights start on Monday 😉

Lula Wiles at Great Scott

Lula Wiles is the best band you're (probably) not listening to.  When I heard they were playing a local show at the end of August I quickly grabbed tickets (and you should have too!)   The benefit of a 10:00 pm start time is that you can catch a Hitchcock movie at the Brattle beforehand. 

The Lula Wiles show was at Great Scott in Allston.  Allston is like a foreign world to us.  We got to the venue at 9:30 only to find out they wouldn't be letting anyone in until 10:00.  We figured we would just duck in somewhere and get a drink to pass the time.  This proved to be kind of difficult in this part of Allston.  We walked all around before finding The Avenue.  This place was great.  Great prices, great menu options, and great prices.  I feel like it's what Wit's End could be if they fixed up their food menu.

As for the Lula Wiles show, it was excellent as usual.  Lula Wiles bills their music as "Sad about a boy. Sad about America."  I've never seen the group play a full set in a venue like this.  Most of the shows I've gone to have been at sit down venues and it was nice to be able to dance along.  Lula Wiles has the unique ability to captivate and mesmerize everyone in the audience from the first song to the last acapella cover of another one of my favorite local bands.

I can't say enough great things about this band.  Please check them out.  You won't regret it. 

Start planning now, I think the next local show will be in December (that's too long to wait!)

Also, best band merch ever!

Tatte Like Latte

I guess I've been saying it wrong the whole time 😅

Holding on to Summer~ Teatro and Last Hurrah

And just like that, summer vacation is almost over.  The next week is going to be crazy.  Not only do I go back to school but my dad is moving in with us for a week while he's in between apartments.  JO and I have been making sure to enjoy the last few days of sanity before the chaos comes back 😉

On Thursday night we headed into Boston for a night out.  I had been meaning to plan a whole night for us but I got distracted by home decorating (What has happened to me?  I bought decorative pillows) and hadn't made any plans.  I was pretty surprised when, at the last minute, I checked and Teatro still had reservations on a Thursday night. 

It has been a long time since I sat in the dining room at Teatro.  I usually sit at the bar when I come here before the ballet.  It was so nice to relax and forget about the upcoming stress filled week.  We munched on the antipasto plate (salami, prosciutto, olives, truffled devil eggs, and cheese) seasonal corn risotto and orichetti with spicy sausage and broccoli rabe.  Everything was so yummy!  This place consistently delivers on food, service, and experience.  Whenever anyone asks for restaurant recommendations, Teatro is always one I put on the list. 

After dinner we decided to continue the night with drinks and desert.  I knew exactly where I wanted to go~ The Lash Hurrah at the Parker House.  I love everything about this bar and I couldn't tell you the last time I had been there.  The Lash Hurrah is old school historic Boston.  It's nothing fancy but it's so cozy and oozes historical charm.  I love the arm chairs in the corner and I love the big windows that are great for people watching.  I love that they have champagne cocktails and an entire gin and tonic menu.  This is the place where my love of hotel bars started.  Most of all though, I love the memories that I have here.  I've celebrated a lot of happy things here and gotten over some pretty sad times here too. 

JO and I split the chocolate cake.  Thank goodness we split it.  This chocolate cake is no joke. It was the perfect way to end the night!  City views, pink bubbles, and cake!

Hanging on to Summer Like...

Me to JO, "It's my last week of summer so this is what I want. Let's go climbing, eat oysters and Hotbox pizza, and drink a beer at Remnant."

JO, "We can make that happen!"

For one more week, every day is my Friday!

These oysters from Hooked Fish Shop at Bow Market are to die for.

Out and About~ Loyal Nine Cafe, Oak Long Bar, Waypoint, and Longfellow Bar

Last week a good friend of mine (who used to live here and now lives in Oregon) came to town for a quick visit before we headed to Newport for another friend's bachelorette party.  We had one day to enjoy the city and I wanted to get it right.  My friend loves Boston and I know that she wanted this visit to be perfect.

At my friend's suggestion, we started with coffee and breakfast at the cafe at Loyal Nine.  I'm so glad we checked this place out.  The cafe always looks super cute whenever I walk by.  The cafe is off the back of the main restaurant and features a very indoor/outdoor experience.  The walls are white, water is available in glass bottles, and there are rustic touches everywhere.  My friend knows a lot about coffee and the server was really knowledgable.  We sat on the patio, which I had no idea extended as far as it does.  The patio offers a lot of shade.  It feels very private since you can't see the outside world because of the fencing.  The coffee was excellent and the food was yummy!  I'll definitely be coming back.

After breakfast we headed to the Garden to pick up some presents, wandered around Faneuil Hall, and then meandered past the Common and Public Gardens.  At this point we were both pretty hungry and we debated where to go.  Eventually we settled on Oak Long Bar and Kitchen at the Fairmont.  We wanted something reliable (no one likes to go out for their one day of fun in Boston and get a so so meal and cocktail) that was also sophisticated (this friend and I love the fancy, old world charmy places in Boston~ think the Taj, Parker House, etc.)  It's been years since I've been here and that is a crying shame.  The space is just so beautiful~ marble, copper, deep reds, grays, and huge mirrors.  We were able to get the bartended to make my new favorite cocktail, the Hugo, and we sampled the mussels and tomato salad. 

After taking a short break to regroup back at my place, we headed out to meet up with a bunch of our friends at Waypoint in Cambridge.  My friend was looking for a place for our group dinner that was fun, easy to get to, new and upcoming, and featured seafood.  I walked past this place last week and realized it would be perfect. 

They gave us a circular table for seven, in the front corner of the restaurant.  I love how open and airy this place is, and really enjoy the hints of neon here and there.  The cocktail menu was creative and everyone loved their drinks.  We decided to get a lot of small plates and share.  The small plates are meticulously crafted, with unique ingredients and preparations.  Everything I ate was delicious.  My favorites included the crab dusted fries (probably the best fries I've ever had), char belly (think pork belly but made out of fish), and the dumplings!  We ate a lot of food but left room to continue the night at the Longfellow Bar.

I picked Longfellow's because I know my friend loves a good cocktail and they are known for their quality drinks, plus the space is absolutely gorgeous and screams city life.  I happen to think this is the most beautiful bar in the entire city of Cambridge.  I was pretty nervous though because it's not huge and we were a group of seven at 8:00 on a Thursday.  Thankfully, all the bar seats upstairs were free and we took over.  I loved my "Brazilian Tiki" drink and the mocktail I got afterwards (huge shoutout to a creative mocktail menu) was AMAZING! 

I had been pretty nervous in the days leading up to this visit because I wanted to make sure my friend had an amazing day.  I think I pulled it off!

Forge Baking Company

My car has been long over due for a wash and detail (like months overdue) so when they told me it would take an hour and half I didn't really have a choice.  Thankfully, the Somerville Car Wash has a new system where they will call you when your car is done.  I took advantage of the down time to check out Forge Baking Company, just down the street. 

This place is fabulous!  They offer coffee, coffee drinks, sandwiches, and salads.  The space is modern, industrial and very open.  I've been craving a "real" salad and this one did not disappoint.

I'll definitely be returning with JO.   Added bonus, the old time ice cream shop that is housed in the same building looks super cute.

More Patio Time

The weather lately has been seriously amazing and we've been finding ourselves eating on a patio quite often.  On Monday, we decided to celebrate finally being done with the kitchen renovation (we had finally painted the bathroom which allowed us to put all the kitchen furniture that was in our bedroom back in the kitchen for the first time since June) by going out to eat (someone pointed out how ironic that is.)   We headed over to State Park and enjoyed a lovely evening on their patio.  State Park is definitely a place best enjoyed in their awesomely decorated interior, but on a night like this, the patio couldn't be passed up. 

After dinner, we started walking home but decided to turn around a extend the evening with a drink at Cambridge Brewing Company.  We've really hit our stride with this summer in the city living!

Oops, We Did it Again

Somehow, we ended up at Remnant Brewery's patio again on Sunday. 

We capped the visit with a golden snitch (salted caramel) macaroon from the macaroon shop!  Bow Market really does have everything!

Saturday Fun Day

Saturday was equally as gorgeous as Friday was and so we decided to ditch adult responsibilities (like cleaning, panting, planning my dad's move, etc, etc) and have another day of city fun!

The day started with coffee and a book in Harvard Square.  This is my favorite part of summer and treasure these mornings greatly.  With all the traveling and the heat wave back in July, I haven't had a lot of these mornings which makes these last few in August so precious.  

For lunch, JO and I headed over to (wait for it, wait for it) Bow Market.  We grabbed a Hotbox Pizza and enjoyed the courtyard tables.  Since it was so beautiful out, and we didn't want to do any of those adulting jobs we needed to do, we decided to grab a drink at Remnant.  Hooked Fish Company, which has a shop at Bow, was serving up oysters on the patio and I couldn't resist.  This is my almost daily plug for Bow Market~ this kind of space should be a priority for any city right now.

For dinner, we headed into Harvard Square for burgers and shakes at Mr. Bartley's Burger Cottage.  This place is such an institution and we definitely don't frequent it as much as we should.  In case you don't know, Mr. Bartley's has been a mainstay in Harvard Square since the 60s.  The space is no frills, with picnic tables and lawn furniture.  The walls are decorated with kitsch art, soda signs, and posters that we all had hanging in our dorms.  Scattered around are yellow signs letting you know which famous person sat where when they visited.  They serve really good burgers that they give fun names, often referencing current events.  Right now a lot of their burgers are named after Democratic candidates for president.  Of course, I ordered the Pete Buttigieg.  

After dinner we headed over to the Brattle Theater to watch some crazy movie that JO really wanted to see.  I love the Brattle, even if the movie was kind of crazy. 

Since the movie was so wacky, JO agreed that I could pick the after movie drink spot.  My plan was to go to Noir, but when we got out of the theater I noticed that there were tables on the small roof deck belonging to The Longfellow Bar and no one was up there.  I figured it was closed, since there would certainly have been people up there, but to our surprise it wasn't closed.  We had the entire roof deck to ourselves.  The white Christmas lights on the big tree on the sidewalk was a beautiful backdrop to our delicious cocktails.  (This bar is constantly getting written up for it's cocktails and all the accolades are well deserved.  We went here for dinner on Valentine's Day and I didn't love the food but I think that was me and not them.)  I highly recommend this place, the interior is drop dead gorgeous and no one seems to take advantage of the roof deck.  

It was such a beautiful night to be outside!  We certainly made the right decision to put off adulting for a day!

Friday Fun

July was a whirlwind- between traveling, getting ready to travel, recovering from traveling, and dealing with heatwaves, we didn't really have too many city fun nights.  Well, thankfully the weather has been great lately and JO and I definitely took advantage.

Friday night was an absolutely perfect night for dinner on a patio.  We knew we were taking a risk heading to Harvard Square because we figured everyone else would be wanting to eat outside too.  After striking out at a few places we ended up on the patio at The Red House, which, according to JO is the best patio in Harvard Square.  (My personal favorite is the roof deck at Daedalus, but the Red House is a very close second.)

The Red House's patio is simply put, charming.  It's surrounded by a white picket fence that's been weathered over the years and is connected to the restaurant via large glass doors with wooden frames.  It's decorated with white Christmas lights that top of the space perfectly.

This place has the best oyster deal around.  From noon to five and nine to twelve, oysters are 2 for $1.  In between, oysters are just $1.  Obviously, we took advantage of that!

The menu features small plates and a few larger plates.  I wish they had a little bit more variety but what they do, they do very well.  We enjoyed our drinks and food while people watching in the beer garden of Charlie's Kitchen, which the patio overlooks.

After The Red House, we decided to walk over to Colette in Porter Square for pink bubbles and Hugos (my new favorite cocktail from Switzerland.)  Huge shoutout to the bartender who did a little research on his phone and concocted a pretty good take on it.  Colette continues to impress and is definitely a restaurant you should check out.

Since it was so nice out, we decided to walk home past Bow Market.  Since we couldn't resist we decided to poke around and stumbled on a free DJ dance party at the Canopy Room, an event space/cocktail bar with different happenings each night.  We enjoyed dancing around before walking home.

It was really a perfect city night out!

Hotbox Pizza and Beers at Remnant

Have I told you lately how much I love Bow Market?  I think I have!

Suffering from a case of the  "vacation is over blues," JO and I made a bee line for Bow Market.  The weather was beautiful and neither of us wanted to unpack, do laundry, or iron.  We grabbed two seats on the patio at Remnant and finally got to enjoy some Hotbox Pizza (they are closed on Mondays and that's when we kept ending up here.)  Hotbox is a small pizza place in Bow Market that specializes in South Shore Bar Pizza.  If you don't know what that is, it's really thin crust pizza with the perfect ratio of sauce and cheese, that's usually pretty well done so you get some great charred crust pieces.  Growing up on the South Shore, my favorite "bar pizza" was from Venus Cafe. 

Hotbox comes pretty close to Venus.  The only thing missing is a Greek Salad on the side. 

Happy National Oyster Day

We were lucky to return home from Switzerland to gorgeous summer weather.  Monday was one of the best days of the year.  It was warm without being humid and the sun was shining all day.  It also happened to be National Oyster Day and I wasn't going to miss celebrating!

I headed over to Noir in Harvard Square because I know that they have a big patio and it doesn't usually fill up.  I also know I love their sparkling wine and who wants to eat oysters with a sparkling wine that you don't like 😀  

It was a perfect way to enjoy the beautiful weather and forget about the fact that summer vacation is quickly coming to an end.

Trying Not to Melt in the South End

In between our California vacation and our Switzerland vacation we were home for eight days.  Those eight days just happened to be during the horrible heat wave (fyi- global warming is real and it's happening right now and we need a Green New Deal.) 

We weren't able to do much other than stay trapped in our living room withe AC blasting but we did muster the courage to go out to the South End for dinner.  We decided to try Cinqcuecento, a Roman Trattoria.  The sun was going down when we arrived and we were presented with the option of sitting on the patio.  Even with the heat it seemed like it was too good to pass up so we took a table on the large, circular patio.  The patio is amazing!  It's decked out in red umbrellas, beautiful flowers, and white tables.  There's even an outdoor bar and lounge space.  This patio is a real gem. 

We each ordered a pasta dish and started with the grilled artichoke appetizer.  The food was good but nothing special.  I'm definitely willing to give this place a second chance because the interior and exterior are so beautiful!

After dinner we decided to head inside for dessert.  Our first choice was Barcelona Wine Bar but that it was packed in there so we ended up at Metropolis.  We had gone here last winter and had a great time so we knew it would be great.  I love the old world charm of this place.  It's small and cozy with white brick walls, black furniture, and globe lighting.  We were lucky to get two seats at the small bar.  We had fun talking about our trip to California and dreaming about our Switzerland trip and of course, drinking some sparkling rose!