Mocktails at Back Bar

 I love that a lot of the amazing bars in the city are embracing, and celebrating, mocktails.  And by embracing, I mean going all out with the flavors and presentation of mocktails.  No one wants to be drinking a boring drink just because it doesn't have alcohol in it.  The best mocktails are flavor forward and beautifully presented.  

Earlier this week I saw a video on Back Bar's Instagram page showing off their new, smokey mocktail.  JO and I happened to be around the corner from Back Bar last Thursday and since it was still on the early side, we decided to see if we could get in.  

Back Bar is one of the top bars in the entire Boston area and they are known for their curated cocktail menus.  Their current menu is a bit on the smaller side for them, but features some really wonderful mocktails.  I got the smokey drink and the presentation was stunning.  They brought a wooden plank over to our table, torched it, and then turned the glass upside down on the charred spot so it would fill with the smokey flavor.  Delicious and fun!

  

Ali McGuirk at The Sinclair

 After a fun time at the bar at Longfellow's, we headed over to The Sinclair to see local sensation, Ali McGuirk!

It's been a while since I've been to The Sinclair.  I had forgotten what a great music venue it is.  There are no bad spots to see the show in this smaller version of the House of Blues. It's an intimate venue, despite it's size and I always enjoy seeing shows here.  

Ali had pulled together an A lister band to play with her, which made the show even more entertaining.  

Friday Fun at Longfellow's Bar

 On Friday night, we had concert tickets for The Sinclair in Harvard Square.  The artist we were going to see wasn't taking the stage until around 9:30 so we had some time to kill in between work and the show.  JO suggested we head in early and get a drink somewhere.  He asked me where I wanted to go and we kind of locked eyes and both said Longfellow's at the same time.  

Longfellow's is quickly becoming one of my favorite bars in the whole city.  If you are lucky enough to get seats upstairs you will find yourself in one of the most beautiful bars in all of Cambridge.  From the exposed brick, the arched window overlooking this massive tree and the square below, to the wood and brass accents, the decor screams cozy elegance.  

We were in fact lucky enough to get two seats at the bar.  We both really enjoyed our drinks.  They have a new speciality menu featuring new takes on old classics.  JO got the mezcal aviation which was incredibly beautiful and delicious and a Hemingway Daiquiri made from starfruit infused rum and Aperol.  (I actually told JO we have to come back soon because the daiquiri was perfection!). I tested out the Stairway to Heaven, a tropical burst of flavor, and a classic Pisco Sour.

Birds of Paradise- Boston's New It Cocktail Bar

 In the last week of 2022, a new cocktail bar opened and it was all the buzz.  Birds of Paradise, from the team behind the Baldwin Bar, started popping up in my Instagram feed and was referenced in Boston Magazine's "Best Cocktail Bars" end of year list.  They basically declared it a forgone conclusion that this bar would be at, or close to, the top of next year's list!

Birds of Paradise bills itself as a bar based on travel.  The drink menu features the names of airplane routes.  The cocktail features ingredients and flavors from the takeoff and landing destination.  The drinks also feature unique, eclectic ingredients, and over the top garnishes.  

I figured since this place seems to be headed straight for "impossible to get in" status, I would grab a reservation while I could.  Last night JO and I headed over to The Speedway in Brighton to check it out.  The Speedway is a new "food hall" type spot that is getting a lot of buzz.  I use food hall loosely here because it's really just two establishments, Notch Brewing and Birds of Paradise, but maybe there are more spots waiting to open.   One thing I noticed about the Speedway is there is no real spot for Ubers to drop off in a convenient way and there is no dedicated parking if you are coming from out of the area.  When you enter the bar, you walk down this small path and "follow the pink light" as the bar said in a recent Instagram story.  

When we entered this subterranean space I was a little underwhelmed.  It's nice enough but I was expecting a little more out of the decor.  The wall behind the bar is exposed stone, which was nice, but didn't seem to fit the travel theme.  There is some nice uplighting and the bottles are on glass shelves.  In addition to the bar seating, there is a row of tables that can seat probably another 20 guests.  There's an "arrival" airport sign above the bar but other than that the decor is pretty basic.  

My disappointment ended with the decor, and frankly, not every place can match a Ruka or Mariel level interior.  The menu is fantastic, with lots of unique ingredients.  Our first round featured the Guavaleada (BOS to GDL) and the Bankok to Mumbai (BKK to BOM.). These were incredible.  The Guavaleada was this icy, slushy consistency and featured rum, lime, and guava.  My one critique would be that the black sesame garnish was messy and I didn't think it added anything to the flavor of the drink.  The Bankok to Mumbai was absolute perfection, even down to the lime zest over the top, which is definitely a trick I will be employing when I make mojitos this summer.  The mango and jackfruit played perfectly with the yellow chartreuse and gin.

Since we had trekked (🤣) all the way over here we got a second round.  (If we had stayed for a 3rd round we would have tried their amazing mocktails.  You tell the bartender what you like and they whip up some great creations with awesome garnishes.  The table next to us did this and they looked amazing.) I certainly couldn't leave without trying the already Instagram famous house Pisco Sour Lima to Dubai (although I got it with only egg whites) and JO got the Rio to Tokyo.

Let's start with the sour first.  The presentation was excellent.  A+, 4 stars, fantastic.  They use a silicone stencil and an atomizer to make the design on the top.  And this glass was a cocktail drinker's dream, with it's long, thin stem and the elegant coup shape. (I may have started searching for glasses like this today.)  The sour also features some unique additions- Mr. Black coffee liquor, acidified cantaloupe, and cardamom tincure.  I was a little skeptical of the Mr. Black because it seemed so odd to add to a pisco sour but this drink was absolutely worthy of it's Instagram fame.  The coffee liquor did not overpower the drink at all.  Instead it was just this little hint in the back that brought out the best in all the other flavors.  If you didn't know it was in there I don't think you could place it as coffee but you would say, "What is making this taste extra yummy?"

JO's drink featured cachaca, miso pineapple, wasabi coconut, and green shiso.  I'm not a coconut fan but it was quite good.  I think JO's first drink was better but this is a great drink and again A+ for presentation.  I have the same critique with this drink that I had with my first one.  The stenciled green dust (possibly wasabi but it wasn't spicy so maybe it's the shiso but I don't know what shiso is so who knows) is messy.  You could easily ruin a sleeve if you aren't careful.  

Overall, I really enjoyed this place and the cocktails are obviously the star.  I don't love the space and I didn't love getting there from our house, but I could easily be convinced to come back.  

A Sunny Somerville Day to Start 2023

 It was so warm and sunny today, it definitely felt like spring.  We decided to take advantage of the warm weather to get out and explore our city.

First stop was the Tower for the ceremony commemorating the raising of the first colonial flag at the command of General George Washington.  

Then we decided to take the new Green Line Extension (the GLX as the cool kids say) and get off at every stop.  (We ended up missing one but we'll get that another day.)  

At the Medford/Tufts stop we walked around and found a nice bakery, cafe for lunch.  

Then we stopped at Ball Square.  I was super impressed with this square.  It appears to be the diner/hair salon capital of Somerville.  JO and I definitely put some places on our "come back and visit" list.

We also walked over to Powder House Square and found this amazing park, complete with a lamb statue?

Our last stop was Gilman Square, which we walked home from.  It was a really fun way to explore our city.  I guess we are really Somervillians now!

Ringing in the New Year

 It was so fun to host a little New Year's Eve cocktail party for some friends.  We had fun decorating the house.

We got take out from Barcelona Wine Bar- this is the perfect place to order from if you are throwing a party.  The food is so delicious and we may have sampled pretty much everything on the menu.

I had fun mixing up some cocktails, including my first try at a French 75!  

2022 was a pretty nice year for us and I'm hoping 2023 is even better!

City Fun Day- A Visit to Caffe Vittoria

 On Friday it was a bit cloudier, but still in the 50s.  After battling a cold and an injured knee all week, I was finally feeling good enough to get out and do some city living.

I took the Green Line over to Lechmere so I could get a salad from Tatte and eat outside at the picnic tables by the water.

After lunch I hopped back on the Green Line and headed over to the North End.  Sometimes on a city fun day I hem and haw about where to go.  I go back and forth about all the pros and cons of various places.  Not on this day though.  For some reason I really wanted to go to Caffe Vittoria.  I haven't been here in years but it's one of my favorite spots in the city.  I love the atmosphere, the old fashioned decor, and the round bistro tables.  It's also a great spot because you can get wine, a few cocktails, dessert, and an amazing selection of coffees.

The space is big, don't get tricked.  If you go past the first counter you see, you will end up in the larger seating area and the second counter area.  I grabbed a table in the elevated seating area and ordered a glass of prosecco and drank it while reading my book.

I followed that up with a piece of tiramisu and the best cappuccino in the city.  They put this mocha powder on the top and it's a coffee and a dessert all at the same time.

Since the weather was nice, I took the long way back to the train, and stopped to enjoy the common before heading home.

When I got off the train in Union I realized I had time to sprint up to the Tower to catch the sunset.  I'm so glad I did.  (And I just told JO today we need to do more sunset viewing in the new year)

What do you do when it's patio weather but your patio is in storage for the season?

 So it was sunny and 52 degrees this past Thursday.  I had to get myself outside with a coffee and a book but our patio is in storage for the season.  After some brainstorming for a bit, I grabbed a Union Square latte  and headed over to Bow Market.  During the weekday afternoons, all of the seating is open and it was a great spot to enjoy the sunshine!

Back at Trade

 In a recent post, I raved all about Trade.  While I was there with my college friends, I texted JO and told him to book a table for vacation week.  This place is definitely my current favorite restaurant in the city.  

We had a lovely experience this past week.  We ate dinner in the beautiful dining room and our waiter remembered us from our last visit, back in May.  It was the perfect way to start the evening.  

After dinner we headed to the bar for drinks and dessert.  The bartender overheard me talking about pisco after I spotted a bottle on their top shelf.  I watched him start to make a pisco sour and I just knew it was for me.  The bartender was so nice, talked me through how to make the cocktail at home, let me on their secret (their citric juice is 2 parts lime, 1 part lemon), and then gave JO a glass of sparkling wine.  

It's things like this that really set Trade apart from other places.  I cannot recommend this place enough!

Bloc Cafe

 One of the things I love to do on vacation is go to a coffee shop and read.  I never have time to do this during school and I find it so relaxing.

I headed over to Bloc Cafe to start vacation.  My favorite coffee around here is Union Square Donuts but they are only open until 2:00 and they aren't really set up as a traditional coffee shop.  Remnant Brewing also serves coffee but I'm not the hugest fan of their coffee, so Bloc Cafe it was.

Apparently everyone in Union Square went to Bloc on this day.  It was jam packed and I actually walked out because there were no tables.  I turned around and tried again when I noticed a couple leaving from the front seating area.

I have to say, I didn't love it.  Bloc has all these windows that look out onto the street, which is rather appealing, until the sun streams in and blinds you while you are trying to read your book.  LOL!