A Perfect City Weekend- Casablanca, Park, First Printer, and The Aquarium

This past weekend was an epic city weekend!  I love when we jam pack our weekends with fun city adventures.

On Friday night we headed into Harvard Square to see Casablanca at the Brattle Theater.  Casablanca is our Valentine's tradition, but this year the Brattle couldn't show the movie on Valentine's Day so when we saw that it would be showing this past weekend we had to go.  If you've never seen Casablanca it is simply movie perfection.  Every scene, every piece of dialogue is perfect.  There isn't a wasted moment in the movie and the best way to watch it is on the big screen.  This time there were a lot of people in the audience who hadn't seen the movie before and it was neat to see how amazed they were when the movie ended.

After the movie we were both a little hungry so we decided to continue the evening at Park.  I've loved this place since we tried it with friends back in April.  We grabbed two seats at the bar and ordered the cheese plate and a couple of clam chowders.  Once again the service was great and the food was delicious.  I really like their chowder and it's hint of bacon running through it.

After working on my dad's house all day Saturday we met up with some friends at The First Printer in Harvard Square.  We've gone here a few times since it opened back in March.  I really love the decor and the bar.  They seem to be running slightly understaffed so the service was a bit slow but the meal was great.  Since we had eaten a late lunch I got the tomato and mozzarella salad.  I think a better name would be the tomato and mozzarella tower.  There were thick slices of red and yellow tomatoes stacked between slices of mozzarella.  The whole thing was drizzled in olive oil and balsamic and topped with three fried basil leaves.  It was delicious.  A shout out to the waitress who gave our friend an entire basket of toasted bread after she asked for some bread to go with her salad.  We were both pretty impressed.

On Sunday JO and I headed out to the Aquarium.  If you recall, this trip was planned for last weekend but the scorching temps put a stop to that.  I've gone several times in the last few years but JO has never been.  I felt it was a crime he hadn't seen Myrtle the Turtle and the other fish so off we went.  We stopped off in Faneuil Hall for noodles at Wagamma before waiting in a longer than usual line to get tickets.  The wait was worth it though because fish and seals are awesome :-)

The penguins are always a big hit

This sea lion was taking a solid nap

Sting Ray smiles

Myrtle!

Umm...this is a million ray eggs

4th of July

I have to say, this 4th of July will be one I remember forever.  We met up with our friends at the Liberty Hotel for a barbecue in the the hotel's courtyard bar.  I love the Liberty Hotel so when our friends suggested this earlier in the week it was a complete no brainer.  The weather was perfect, there was a reggae band, and great company.

After stuffing ourselves with delicious lamb bites we headed to one of the other hotel bars, Alibi.  Note to self- it's very easy to get a table at Alibi, inside or out, on the 4th of July.  We stayed for about an hour.  We rushed outside just in time to see the Blue Angels flyover, which sounded similar to two Mac trucks colliding.

Around 8:00 we headed out over the Longfellow Bridge to find a perfect spot to see the fireworks.  In previous years we had been further down the river, by Central Square.  We had some pretty great viewing spots but this side of the river offers a lot more tree-free spots so we were excited for what was in store.  Off in the distance we noticed some pretty nasty lightning but we chose to ignore it, but not before I made a mental note of my quickest route to safety, because that's how I roll!

The concert started and we were ready for the show when all of a sudden there was an announcement over the loudspeaker saying that we needed to evacuate immediately.  Since I almost never mess with Mother Nature, having lived through a downburst and a low grade tornado, I was up and sprinting towards the MIT building across the street.  We camped out inside at a table (thanks to my speedy exit) for about 20 minutes before venturing back outside.  The lightning had ended, and texts from friends were telling me the show would start back up in about 20 minutes.

We headed back to our viewing spot and after a while the music picked up again.  There was this really awesome feeling in the crowd, as if we had all been united by the evacuation.  Word spread that the crowd on the other side had been evacuated to the Storrow tunnels, and I think we were all grateful to have had a big, comfy building to hang out in.  When "Sweet Caroline" came on the speaker everyone was singing and dancing.  The fireworks started and everything was great, for about 10 seconds until a torrential downpour started.

In most cases I hate being out in the rain but this just added to the memories so we went with it.  The fireworks were great, we were drenched, and it was awesome!  On the way home, JO and I talked about how we would talk about this 4th of July when we are old and gray!

New England Road Trip

Sunday was supposed to be a Boston adventure day.  JO and I got up early to go to the Farmer's Market in Harvard Square before visiting the waterfront and checking out the Aquarium.  Unfortunately, five minutes into our walk to the Square we had to surrender to the brutally hot temperatures and return to our apartment.  We were both kind of down about the prospect of spending the day in our air conditioned living room.  We consulted our Summer Bucket List to see if there was anything we could substitute.  Luckily for us, google maps  let us know that two of our items were a mere half hour from each other in the Lake Winnipeasaukee area of New Hampshire where it was also 10 degrees cooler with a lot less humidity.  We were able to mobilize in thirty minutes and we were off to New Hampshire.

Our first stop was Castle in the Clouds, a childhood favorite of mine.  My family used to visit the Castle at least once a summer to tour the house and do some horseback riding.  The recent opening of their patio deck as a full fledged restaurant was what landed it on the Summer Bucket List.  We took the quick hike to the small waterfall before arriving at the Carriage House.

We were able to get a table on the patio where we had lunch with this spectacular view.  I haven't seen views like this outside of our National Park road trips.

After lunch we toured the Castle before heading to the world's largest arcade at Funspot.  For $20 you can get 100 tokens to play basically any arcade and carnival game you could ever want.  We probably spent about an hour and half playing games like Dr. Mario, Sega motorcycle racing, Pong, etc.

It was a really fun way to spend the day!  If you've never been to the Lake Winnepeasaukee area I highly recommend it.  Every now and then it's fun to leave the city and see what other parts of the area have to offer.

Dancing in the Streets

Every year the City of Cambridge throws a huge dance party to celebrate the start of summer.  They close down Mass Ave. in front of city hall, hire a dj, and put on a light show for thousands of people.  It's such a fun night and one of the many reasons I love my city!

Tuesday Night Fights- Inman Style

I've blogged about Parlor Sports before.  It's a great neighborhood sports bar that opened up back in the fall and is owned by the people behind Trina's Starlite Lounge.  I love Parlor Sports but haven't been there since March Madness ended.  Parlor Sports is always coming up with creative ways to get people in the door and my favorite is their Tuesday Night Fights.

I'm not talking about boxing here, I'm talking about an Iron Chef type food battle.  Each month features a different ingredient or style of food- nachos, hot dogs, Cracker Jax, etc.  When I heard that June's battle was a Pizza Rumble, what with my recent love affair with all things pizza, I knew we had to go.

The Pizza Rumble featured four local pizza shops:  Eat at Jimbo's, Emma's, Easy Pie (not necessarily local since they are from Braintree but good enough), and of course All Star Pizza Bar.  Each shop presented the crowd with the "ultimate" slice.

Eat at Jimbo's brought their Bob Marley Pizza- jerked chicken, banana peppers, and pesto.  You wouldn't think jerked chicken and pesto would work together but let me tell you they did!  This pizza was delicious and the chicken was cooked perfectly.  There was some nice heat to the pizza but it never overpowered you.

Emma's gave the crowd a garlic, roasted tomato, and blue cheese pizza.  I loved the melty blue cheese on this pizza and the thin slice.

Easy Pie was next and they announced they had brought the "Schwarzenager" of pizza.  I would have to agree with them.  They provided us with a Big Mac Pizza and it was amazing.  Hamburger, cheese, shaved onions and pickles, iceburg lettuce shreds, thousand island drizzle, and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.  I could not believe how much this pizza tasted like a Bic Mac.

The battle concluded with the entry from All-Star.  They had been tweeting up a storm that their pie  was"bucket list stuff" and I'd have to agree with them.  It was a peanut butter crust topped with mashed and pureed bananas and plantains, chunks of chocolate covered bacon and cheesecake, with a burbon drizzle, and hazelnuts for crunch.  It was an amazing dessert pizza and I don't even like bananas.

In the end "true" pizza won and the title of Pizza Rumble winner went to Eat at Jimbo's.  A highlight of the evening for me was when one of the owners of All Star came over and asked me how I was doing :-)

JO and I both agreed that this was a perfect way to spend a Tuesday in Inman.

All Star Pizza

The new Inman Square motto

This post is long overdue!  How have I not blogged about All Star Pizza Bar yet?  It's totally wrong and as both a frequent visitor to All Star and a proud Inman Square resident I should be ashamed of myself.  I offer up this meager post as my apology to the mecca that is All Star Pizza Bar.

It used to be that in Inman if you uttered the phrase "All Star" everyone knew you were referring to the renowned sandwich shop All Star Sandwich Bar.  Additionally, for a rather long stretch of time (beginning with the demise of Aram's #1, not to be associated with Aram's #2, and ending with the jubilant grand opening of All Star Pizza Bar) it used to be that in Inman if you wanted pizza you only had one option.  Don't get me wrong, City Girl Cafe has yummy pizza but not much variety and the lack of pizza in our neighborhood was just downright depressing.

That all changed when it was announced that the people behind All Star Sandwich Bar bought the space previously occupied by Aram's with the promise to do to pizza what they had done to sandwiches.  It took them close to a year to renovate the space but slowly things started happening.  Signs went up, humongous pizza ovens were delivered, and murals were painted.  JO and I were constantly updating each other on the progress in the space.  Did you see the awesome mural?  What do you think about the exposed brick wall?  Oh my god! The menu just went up and it looks amazing!  We spent quite a lot of time discussing the evolution of All Star Pizza.  It helped us get through the winter :-)  

The line for the pizza party

Finally, in April, the moment that everyone in Inman had been waiting for happened.  All Star was ready to open.  A few days before the official opening, All Star decided to throw a free pizza party.  I was giddy with excitement all day at work.  People probably thought I was crazy when I said I had to rush out of school at the end of the day to go to a pizza party.  Apparently I wasn't alone.  I got there about a half hour after it started and waited in line for 40 minutes.  Of course I was sending JO pictures since he was in Portland, OR for work.  I finally made it to the pizza counter and I was hooked from my first bite.  It took a lot of restraint on my part not to get pizza on their Grand Opening night, but I held out for JO to get home from his trip so we could try the pizza together.



Since All Star opened we've had our fair share of pizza.  I'm also so overcome with jubilation from their pizza creations that I often post about our All Star visits on Facebook.  As a result, more than one person has commented that they are concerned that all I eat is pizza.  When I brought a couple left over slices to work for lunch several people asked me if this was indeed "the pizza."

Dessert Pizza

One of the cool things they do is have a Funky, and sometimes Funkier, slice/pizza of the day.  These are crazy creations and you just have to try them.  My two favorites have been the shortrib pizza with braised shortribs, roasted mushrooms, and a creamy onion sauce and the dessert pizza featuring roasted apples, chunks of cheesecake, and a walnut, maple burbon drizzle that was to die for.

Shortrib Pizza

My two favorite standard (standard only because they are on the menu daily) pizzas are the Red Head featuring shaved steak, roasted potatoes, cremini mushrooms, applewood bacon, and a horseradish drizzle and the Chile Relleno Pizza featuring salsa verde, corn (yes, that's right and it's delicious!), chorizo, relleno peppers, and Cotija cheese.

The Red Head

Even more than the pizza, and the fact that it's literally 50 steps from our building, what I love about this place is the neighborhood atmosphere.  The owner loves sharing his pizza with Inman and loves how great everyone has been to him.  If he's in the shop he'll stop by your table and ask how the pizza tastes.  It's the kind of place where your greeted not with "What will you have?" but "How's everything going?  Good to see you again."

All Star Pizza Bar deserves all of the awesomeness that has come it's way and I for one, despite my complete lack of a blog post until now, am grateful for it's addition to the Square!

Same Old Story

Sadly it's been over a month since my last blog post.  It's the same old story.  School plus my dad's house kept me super busy.  Fear not.  I had some time to squeeze in city adventures, but certainly not enough time to blog about them.  Thanks to summer vacation though I have all the time in the world now.  It's only been five days but already I feel like I've been on break for a month.  The last two summers have been super busy for me, getting ready to go back to the classroom and wedding planning, so this summer seems extra relaxing.  Here are a couple of highlights from spring in the city.

The Grafton
Towards the end of April vacation I met a friend of mine in Harvard Square for lunch.  We were trying to figure out where to go and settled on The Grafton due to their outdoor seating.  We were lucky enough to get a seat in the perfect spot.  Our table was right where the full windows open onto the patio.  We had the luxury of shade from the restaurant but all the fun of eating outside.  The Grafton's outdoor seating is really great.  I love not only the patio but the bar seating by the full windows.

Meadhall
I headed home from The Grafton when I got a phone call from a good friend saying he was in Kendall Square and wanted to meet up.  Since he was in Kendall, I took the opportunity to suggest a place I had been wanting to try for awhile.  Meadhall opened about a year ago to rave reviews.  We spent a few hours here sitting by the large full sized windows catching up.  This is a great place to hangout and catch up with friends.  With 100 beers on tap everyone should be able to find something they like.

Park Restaurant and Bar
Park opened up in the space formerly occupied by the Redline in Harvard Square.  It's owned by the people who own The Grafton, Temple Bar, and Russel House Tavern.  I didn't love Russel House Tavern when that opened so I didn't hold out high hopes for Park.  In a testament to social media, a picture from Park came up in my Twitter feed and I was instantly intrigued.  The picture showed a large arm chair and small round table in their lounge area.  It reminded me a little bit of The Last Hurrah and anyone who knows me knows I love that place.  Our friends wanted to meet up for drinks one Saturday night so I of course suggested this place.  We got a table in the main bar area and within minutes I was hooked.  I never realized how huge the space was.  They've decorated it perfectly.  The decor was even featured in Boston Magazine last month.  There is a main bar and dining area, a lounge area, a smaller dining room, and another dining room in the back.  Each room is decorated perfectly with a blend of luxury, rustic, and Harvard Square vibes.  You really have to go in person to really get it since I'm not doing a good job explaining it.  Everything at Park is great.  From cheese plates, to chocolate plates, to a trio of bacon tastings and a toast tasting you can't go wrong.  I was so impressed with our visit that we headed back a few weeks later for dinner.  It's easily already one of my favorite places in the Square.  


First Printer (Again)
To celebrate the end of the school year, JO and I decided to head into Harvard Square for dinner at Daedalus and drinks at First Printer.  I have to say, I really enjoy the bar area at First Printer.  The room is so open and bright and the staff is really friendly.  Both First Printer and Park have great sparkling wine options on their menu, something that was lacking in the Square.  I was surprised at how empty the place was, so I don't want to get too attached.  It was recently rated the 2nd most interesting new restaurant in the Boston area so hopefully it won't be going anywhere anytime soon.


Now if this heatwave would just go away I could get back to enjoying the city!