Restaurant Week is always a favorite of mine. RW lets you try restaurants that you might not normally try. One of my favorite restaurants was discovered on a Restaurant Week outing a while back. I don't think I would've tried The Grotto if it wasn't for RW and now it's a favorite!
This year we decided to try Toscano's on Charles Street. I was particularly drawn to this place because they had so many choices on their RW menu! I was also intrigued by their location. I've been meaning to spend some more time on Charles Street and this offered the perfect excuse.
Additionally, Alibi is near by and we had an 8:30 reservation at the restaurant which left just the right amount of time for a quick stop. I really love the atmosphere at this place and am thrilled it's making it into the rotation on a more regular basis!
The walk to the restaurant was rather short but was a lovely stroll on Charles Street. It's such a cute street with great shops and restaurants. We were talking about how it would make a great winter destination since it's so close to the T.
Our dinner was delicious. The veal meatballs are the best meatballs I have ever had, and I don't even like meatballs. The lobster risotto was brimming with fresh lobster meat and the tiramisu was decadent. It was also fun to go out on a Thursday night... to start the weekend a bit early (although since I'm on vacation every day is the weekend!) It was also nice to be with such great friends. The city can be fun on your own but it's even better with good friends to share it with!
I feel totally inspired by the excursion and can't wait to go exploring again! I could definitely envision walking down Charles Street on a weekend morning with my coffee :-)
Friday, August 20, 2010
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Roof Decks in the Square
All I can say is that we scored a roof deck table at Daedalus!
My blog inspiring friend Abdu paid me a visit today and we spent the evening in the Square! We did a little shopping followed by a lovely evening on the roof deck. I love, love, love this restaurant!
Look how far we've come from our days in the "woods."
My blog inspiring friend Abdu paid me a visit today and we spent the evening in the Square! We did a little shopping followed by a lovely evening on the roof deck. I love, love, love this restaurant!
Look how far we've come from our days in the "woods."
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Tommy Doyle's, Marliave, Shakespeare in the Park, and Chauncey Creek: Or How I Spent My Weekend
What a whirlwind of a weekend. I love these kinds of weekends because I feel like I did everything I set out to do! It seemed like everything from friends' schedules to the weather to outdoor dining tables being available just worked out right! I love when that happens.
Friday night was gorgeous. The weather was just perfect and I really wanted to eat outside. I was sure if we went to the Square we wouldn't be able to find a table so we opted for Tommy Doyle's in Kendall Square. We figured if we couldn't get a table there we could always try the Cambridge Brewing Company. Both restaurants offer lots of outdoor dining and since they are in Kendall Square we figured they wouldn't be as crowded.
I haven't been to this area in a long time and I had forgotten what a great outdoor dining spot it is. The trees are all lit up with white Christmas lights. It was so nice to just sit back and relax with friends. The only downside is that they allow dogs in the outdoor patio and I'm not a big fan of dining with canines.
The weather continued to be absolutely beautiful on Saturday so I headed into the Square for some coffee and reading. Last Saturday there was a great singer performing in front on the Au Bon Pain and the music drifted into my reading spot added to the relaxed atmosphere. I was pleasantly surprised when I heard his music again. Between his music and a fun book my Saturday morning was perfection!
Saturday night we headed into Boston to watch Shakespeare in the Park's performance of Othello. We decided to head in a bit early to grab dinner at a restaurant that is skyrocketing to the top of my favorite restaurants list as evidenced by this and this. This time we tried the outdoor dining at The Marliave and it was nothing short of awesome! We ordered an array of appetizers including the Mac and Cheese which is amazing, the escargot which may be the best in Boston (and I've tried them at a lot of places), a mixed green salad, and meatball sliders and just enjoyed the beautiful atmosphere. The restaurant is at the end of a street that's not very traveled so it's very quiet and peaceful. I love, love, love this place and am already trying to think of an excuse to go back again real soon. After dinner we headed over to the Boston Common where we watched Othello. It was so fun to be in the park at night. This is one of my favorite things to do in the summer because it's a great way to combine the arts and the park. The production was really good and the last act was riveting. Who knew one handkerchief could cause so many problems!
The weather was just as nice this morning so I headed into the Square and the singer was back. This totally made my morning so I made a point to walk past him in hopes of finding out who he is. I was hoping he might have a cd on sale but he didn't. He did have a card though and I now have a name to go with my mystery singer. John Sage's music can be found here. He has definitely been a welcomed addition to my mornings in the Square the past few weekends!
To conclude this ridiculously perfect weekend we headed over to Chauncey Creek Lobster Pier in Kittery, ME for some seafood with great friends. Our Inman friends joined us, as did my good friend from Portsmouth. It was such a fun day, sitting by the water, eating lobsters and steamers. I highly recommend this place to anyone that likes seafood. It's not too far from Boston, probably about an hour and 15 minutes or so. It's BYOB and you can also bring other food not sold at the restaurant. I'm already thinking about our next trip- judging by the people around us we need to bring tablecloths and flowers and perhaps a gourmet torte!
And the end of summer fun doesn't stop here. We have restaurant week at Toscano's in Boston, which I'm super excited about, a stop at The Alibi, a final visit to the roof deck pool, and maybe even a Brewery Tour... and I can't forget the fun Harvard Square outing planned for this weekend!
Friday night was gorgeous. The weather was just perfect and I really wanted to eat outside. I was sure if we went to the Square we wouldn't be able to find a table so we opted for Tommy Doyle's in Kendall Square. We figured if we couldn't get a table there we could always try the Cambridge Brewing Company. Both restaurants offer lots of outdoor dining and since they are in Kendall Square we figured they wouldn't be as crowded.
I haven't been to this area in a long time and I had forgotten what a great outdoor dining spot it is. The trees are all lit up with white Christmas lights. It was so nice to just sit back and relax with friends. The only downside is that they allow dogs in the outdoor patio and I'm not a big fan of dining with canines.
The weather continued to be absolutely beautiful on Saturday so I headed into the Square for some coffee and reading. Last Saturday there was a great singer performing in front on the Au Bon Pain and the music drifted into my reading spot added to the relaxed atmosphere. I was pleasantly surprised when I heard his music again. Between his music and a fun book my Saturday morning was perfection!
Saturday night we headed into Boston to watch Shakespeare in the Park's performance of Othello. We decided to head in a bit early to grab dinner at a restaurant that is skyrocketing to the top of my favorite restaurants list as evidenced by this and this. This time we tried the outdoor dining at The Marliave and it was nothing short of awesome! We ordered an array of appetizers including the Mac and Cheese which is amazing, the escargot which may be the best in Boston (and I've tried them at a lot of places), a mixed green salad, and meatball sliders and just enjoyed the beautiful atmosphere. The restaurant is at the end of a street that's not very traveled so it's very quiet and peaceful. I love, love, love this place and am already trying to think of an excuse to go back again real soon. After dinner we headed over to the Boston Common where we watched Othello. It was so fun to be in the park at night. This is one of my favorite things to do in the summer because it's a great way to combine the arts and the park. The production was really good and the last act was riveting. Who knew one handkerchief could cause so many problems!
The weather was just as nice this morning so I headed into the Square and the singer was back. This totally made my morning so I made a point to walk past him in hopes of finding out who he is. I was hoping he might have a cd on sale but he didn't. He did have a card though and I now have a name to go with my mystery singer. John Sage's music can be found here. He has definitely been a welcomed addition to my mornings in the Square the past few weekends!
To conclude this ridiculously perfect weekend we headed over to Chauncey Creek Lobster Pier in Kittery, ME for some seafood with great friends. Our Inman friends joined us, as did my good friend from Portsmouth. It was such a fun day, sitting by the water, eating lobsters and steamers. I highly recommend this place to anyone that likes seafood. It's not too far from Boston, probably about an hour and 15 minutes or so. It's BYOB and you can also bring other food not sold at the restaurant. I'm already thinking about our next trip- judging by the people around us we need to bring tablecloths and flowers and perhaps a gourmet torte!
And the end of summer fun doesn't stop here. We have restaurant week at Toscano's in Boston, which I'm super excited about, a stop at The Alibi, a final visit to the roof deck pool, and maybe even a Brewery Tour... and I can't forget the fun Harvard Square outing planned for this weekend!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Spontaneous Summer Outing!
Now that my trip blogging is done I can get back to tales from the city! Just in time too since Saturday was such a great day!
Last week was a long one. I spent almost the entire week working in my classroom and JO was gone hiking Granite Peak in Montana. In addition, the heat and humidity were out of control, preventing me from enjoying anything that required me to be outside. By Friday I was going a bit stir crazy.
On Saturday, with temps plummeting into the 70s, our good friends invited us out to join them for a night in Boston. I was pretty sure JO would be too tired from his hours of flying but thanks to jet leg we were able to join them.
Since they had headed in earlier then us we met them at the Union Oyster House to plan the rest of our evening. The last time we were at the Oyster House we were joined at the bar by two children which led to the coining of the phrase, "I don't drink in your daycare, don't play in my bar." Luckily for us there were no children in sight.
We decided to head into the North End for dinner. This was a bit risky since:
a) It was a Saturday night
b) We didn't have reservations
and
c) It was the first night in over a week that the weather wasn't disgusting so everyone had similar ideas about being in the city.
We thought we would have better luck if we tried to find a place off of Hanover Street. We hit the jackpot on Richmond Street when we found Vinoteca di Monica with no wait for a table for four. I loved, loved, loved the food and the atmosphere was great too. Sometimes restaurants in the North End can be a bit stressful what with the tight quarters and tons of people. This place was small, but not too small, and I never felt too packed in even though lots of people started arriving after we were seated. I also really liked that we never felt rushed, another pitfall of many North End restaurants.
We got the grilled calamari for an appetizer. I've only ever had fried calamari so this was a welcome change. Plus it was served on a bed of arugula and fennel. My volume of Food Network watching goes way up in the summer and there have been a lot of recipes with fennel recently so this was a perfect opportunity to try it. It was yummy :-)
I got the pasta carbonara for dinner and it was delicious. It was less creamy and more eggy than other carbonaras I've had before and I quite enjoyed that. The homemade pasta was cooked perfectly.
The only downfall was the fact that my leftovers were thrown out before being wrapped up but they gave me a free dessert to make up for it. I had been craving tiramisu for a while so this worked out quite nicely.
After dinner we decided to head over to The Last Hurrah at the Omni Parker. This is quickly becoming a favorite of mine as evidenced by this and this.
Great weather and great company makes for a great night!
Last week was a long one. I spent almost the entire week working in my classroom and JO was gone hiking Granite Peak in Montana. In addition, the heat and humidity were out of control, preventing me from enjoying anything that required me to be outside. By Friday I was going a bit stir crazy.
On Saturday, with temps plummeting into the 70s, our good friends invited us out to join them for a night in Boston. I was pretty sure JO would be too tired from his hours of flying but thanks to jet leg we were able to join them.
Since they had headed in earlier then us we met them at the Union Oyster House to plan the rest of our evening. The last time we were at the Oyster House we were joined at the bar by two children which led to the coining of the phrase, "I don't drink in your daycare, don't play in my bar." Luckily for us there were no children in sight.
We decided to head into the North End for dinner. This was a bit risky since:
a) It was a Saturday night
b) We didn't have reservations
and
c) It was the first night in over a week that the weather wasn't disgusting so everyone had similar ideas about being in the city.
We thought we would have better luck if we tried to find a place off of Hanover Street. We hit the jackpot on Richmond Street when we found Vinoteca di Monica with no wait for a table for four. I loved, loved, loved the food and the atmosphere was great too. Sometimes restaurants in the North End can be a bit stressful what with the tight quarters and tons of people. This place was small, but not too small, and I never felt too packed in even though lots of people started arriving after we were seated. I also really liked that we never felt rushed, another pitfall of many North End restaurants.
We got the grilled calamari for an appetizer. I've only ever had fried calamari so this was a welcome change. Plus it was served on a bed of arugula and fennel. My volume of Food Network watching goes way up in the summer and there have been a lot of recipes with fennel recently so this was a perfect opportunity to try it. It was yummy :-)
I got the pasta carbonara for dinner and it was delicious. It was less creamy and more eggy than other carbonaras I've had before and I quite enjoyed that. The homemade pasta was cooked perfectly.
The only downfall was the fact that my leftovers were thrown out before being wrapped up but they gave me a free dessert to make up for it. I had been craving tiramisu for a while so this worked out quite nicely.
After dinner we decided to head over to The Last Hurrah at the Omni Parker. This is quickly becoming a favorite of mine as evidenced by this and this.
Great weather and great company makes for a great night!
Monday, August 2, 2010
Days 7 and 8- Breckenridge, CO
After leaving Aspen we headed over to Breckenridge, CO. It was our last stop before leaving and we had high hopes after Aspen's poor showing.
Simply put...Breckenridge is awesome with three exclamation points!!!
Breckenridge is similar to Harvard Square... lots of shops, restaurants, and bars.
Since we got there before we could check into the lodge we spent the afternoon eating ice cream, wandering around, and looking for the best souvenir t-shirt! We instantly loved the calm, relaxed atmosphere and everyone we met was so friendly. Plus, every few blocks there's a neighborhood fire pit!
We think there's an ordinance about having hanging flower baskets every 3 feet!
One of the neat spots in the town is the River Walk. Breckenridge use to be a mining town so it has a beautiful river running through it.
We scouted out all of the restaurants before settling on the Quandary Grille. We had seen the chef smoking meat in the smoker earlier in the day and it looked delicious. Plus, in my opinion, this restaurant has the best views of the Breckenridge Mountain and the pond that flows into the river.
Even though it had been warm during the day, it was getting pretty cold by the time the sun went down. As a result, we decided to hit up Burke and Riley's Irish Pub because they had two of my favorite things- a roof deck patio and a fire pit! We had a great time here and even spent some time talking to the owners and their families. We spent almost two hours here and by the end of the night we were talking about moving to Breckenridge... or at least retiring there. What's not to love! Great food, great shopping, and great weather! It doesn't get too hot or too horribly cold and the snow is light and powdery.
The next morning we got up early so we could keep enjoying this great town. We rode the gondola, and the ski lift, up to the top of Peak 8 for the Fun Park to ride the alpine sleds. The views from the top of the mountain were stunning.
We grabbed lunch at another pub and wandered around some more. We were looking for one last memory and that's when JO had a great idea- sampling the fried pie dessert at Mimi's Fried Pies.
Unfortunately our time was up and we needed to head to Denver. I know I've said this a lot but I definitely want to go back to Breckenridge.
I was hoping to do something fun in Denver for the last night of our trip but it was 102 degrees and our hotel wasn't exactly "in" Denver although it was right next door to Mile High Stadium.
Our trip was amazing! It was better than we ever thought it would be. We're already planning next year's trip- Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park.
Simply put...Breckenridge is awesome with three exclamation points!!!
Breckenridge is similar to Harvard Square... lots of shops, restaurants, and bars.
Since we got there before we could check into the lodge we spent the afternoon eating ice cream, wandering around, and looking for the best souvenir t-shirt! We instantly loved the calm, relaxed atmosphere and everyone we met was so friendly. Plus, every few blocks there's a neighborhood fire pit!
We think there's an ordinance about having hanging flower baskets every 3 feet!
One of the neat spots in the town is the River Walk. Breckenridge use to be a mining town so it has a beautiful river running through it.
We scouted out all of the restaurants before settling on the Quandary Grille. We had seen the chef smoking meat in the smoker earlier in the day and it looked delicious. Plus, in my opinion, this restaurant has the best views of the Breckenridge Mountain and the pond that flows into the river.
Even though it had been warm during the day, it was getting pretty cold by the time the sun went down. As a result, we decided to hit up Burke and Riley's Irish Pub because they had two of my favorite things- a roof deck patio and a fire pit! We had a great time here and even spent some time talking to the owners and their families. We spent almost two hours here and by the end of the night we were talking about moving to Breckenridge... or at least retiring there. What's not to love! Great food, great shopping, and great weather! It doesn't get too hot or too horribly cold and the snow is light and powdery.
The next morning we got up early so we could keep enjoying this great town. We rode the gondola, and the ski lift, up to the top of Peak 8 for the Fun Park to ride the alpine sleds. The views from the top of the mountain were stunning.
We grabbed lunch at another pub and wandered around some more. We were looking for one last memory and that's when JO had a great idea- sampling the fried pie dessert at Mimi's Fried Pies.
Unfortunately our time was up and we needed to head to Denver. I know I've said this a lot but I definitely want to go back to Breckenridge.
I was hoping to do something fun in Denver for the last night of our trip but it was 102 degrees and our hotel wasn't exactly "in" Denver although it was right next door to Mile High Stadium.
Our trip was amazing! It was better than we ever thought it would be. We're already planning next year's trip- Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Night 6/ Day 7- Aspen, CO
Telluride had been so fun, and we left so abruptly, that I was in a bit of a mood on our way over to Aspen. I also had some trouble with the altitude during the drive so it's no wonder that I headed into Aspen with a grudge :-)
We stayed in Snowmass Village which is right next to Aspen. There is a free transportation system that takes you over to Aspen. In all honesty, I wish we had just stayed in Snowmass. Everything was so expensive in Aspen. I felt like it was a huge Newbury St. I didn't feel like we belonged here at all, which was oh so evident when we went here:
for a glass of wine only to find out that it was $15 a glass!
I will say that I absolutely loved 39 Degrees at the Sky Hotel. The concierge at our lodge in Telluride told us to check this place out and he was right. We got to sit by their pool and enjoy the fire pit! We ended up staying there for almost two hours and felt like we had salvaged the day in Aspen.
That's when things got really bad. We took the shuttle back to Snowmass only to realize that we didn't know the name of our hotel. All of the places have similar names and none of the streets have lights! A group of people saw us and recommended that we join them at Base Camp for the music. Long story short, we were there for ten minutes, had a great time, but witnessed three bar fights and decided to leave.
We managed to find our hotel in the dark and hoped that the last stop on our trip would be better than Aspen.
We stayed in Snowmass Village which is right next to Aspen. There is a free transportation system that takes you over to Aspen. In all honesty, I wish we had just stayed in Snowmass. Everything was so expensive in Aspen. I felt like it was a huge Newbury St. I didn't feel like we belonged here at all, which was oh so evident when we went here:
for a glass of wine only to find out that it was $15 a glass!
I will say that I absolutely loved 39 Degrees at the Sky Hotel. The concierge at our lodge in Telluride told us to check this place out and he was right. We got to sit by their pool and enjoy the fire pit! We ended up staying there for almost two hours and felt like we had salvaged the day in Aspen.
That's when things got really bad. We took the shuttle back to Snowmass only to realize that we didn't know the name of our hotel. All of the places have similar names and none of the streets have lights! A group of people saw us and recommended that we join them at Base Camp for the music. Long story short, we were there for ten minutes, had a great time, but witnessed three bar fights and decided to leave.
We managed to find our hotel in the dark and hoped that the last stop on our trip would be better than Aspen.
Night 5/ Day 6- Telluride, CO
After an amazing experience at the National Parks we took off for the first of three Colorado ski resorts that we would visit. This trip was kind of like two in one~ experiencing the parks and relaxing in the mountains.
On our way to the first ski resort, Telluride, we drove past a scenic turnout where we saw this great quote by Theodore Roosevelt.
It really rung true to me after the five days in the National Parks.
Telluride was the smallest of the three resorts we visited. The base of the mountain is where most of the lodging is located. We stayed in a great lodge called the Mountain View Lodge.
Since it was already about 7:00 we raced out of our room and hopped on the gondola to get to the "Beach" section of town, which is full of great shops and restaurants. I had never ridden a gondola before and quite enjoyed the ride.
This is the aerial view of the "Beach."
We had dinner at the Hop Garden because they had outdoor fire pits, which have become a favorite of mine after this trip.
After dinner we rode the gondola back to the lodge. On our walk back to the lodge, on the dimly lit path, we totally showed our "city" side by stopping to stare at all of the stars.
The next morning we rode the gondola over the mountain to the town of Telluride. I loved it immediately. It had all of the charm of Harvard Square set against the mountain. Unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time to stay and look around. I really wish we had had more time here.
We'll just have to go back.
On our way to the first ski resort, Telluride, we drove past a scenic turnout where we saw this great quote by Theodore Roosevelt.
It really rung true to me after the five days in the National Parks.
Telluride was the smallest of the three resorts we visited. The base of the mountain is where most of the lodging is located. We stayed in a great lodge called the Mountain View Lodge.
Since it was already about 7:00 we raced out of our room and hopped on the gondola to get to the "Beach" section of town, which is full of great shops and restaurants. I had never ridden a gondola before and quite enjoyed the ride.
This is the aerial view of the "Beach."
We had dinner at the Hop Garden because they had outdoor fire pits, which have become a favorite of mine after this trip.
After dinner we rode the gondola back to the lodge. On our walk back to the lodge, on the dimly lit path, we totally showed our "city" side by stopping to stare at all of the stars.
The next morning we rode the gondola over the mountain to the town of Telluride. I loved it immediately. It had all of the charm of Harvard Square set against the mountain. Unfortunately, we didn't have a lot of time to stay and look around. I really wish we had had more time here.
We'll just have to go back.
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