A City Comes Together

On December 3rd I was driving home from my dad's when I noticed some crazy smoke moving across the city skyline.  At first I thought it was fog until I realized it wasn't rainy or humid.  When I parked my car the smoke was billowing over the buildings a few streets over.  I quickly scanned Twitter to find out that there was a 9 alarm fire that had jumped six buildings in East Cambridge.  JO and I walked over because we were actually a little nervous about our well being.  What we saw was insane and heartbreaking.  By the time the whole thing was over, the fire jumped to ten alarms and destroyed up to sixteen structures.  It was awful watching the news unfold but in true Cambridge fashion the city rallied to help those impacted by the devastating fire.  The Mayor established a fund and after the first night it reached $200,000 and after just a few days it swelled to $500,00+.  Parlor Sports and Trina's were hosting a fundraiser so of course we went to brunch for a good cause!  I love the way my neighborhood is always doing good things for others.

Babbo Pizzeria

My college friends and I kicked off the holiday season with a Girls Night at Babbo in the Seaport.  I had never been to Babbo and I'm so glad my friends introduced me to this place.  Babbo, a Mario Batali restaurant, is on a side street in the Seaport.  The space is large and open and has the right level of chatter.  It sounds busy and festive but you can easily have a conversation with the people sitting at your table.  We were lucky to be able to sample a lot of dishes because one of our friends knew the chef.  And sample we did!  Everything we had was delicious and beautifully prepared.  I loved the carbonara pasta, gnocchi with truffles, and the beet salad.  I got the affogato for dessert and am still dreaming about it.

The atmosphere in the restaurant is great.  It was a great venue for a get together with good friends.  Definitely felt like a special night out but without the stuffiness some places give off.  The prices were pretty reasonable and the service was great.  I am definitely going back to Babbo!

Tree Lighting at Charles Hotel, Benedetto, and Park

Thanksgiving Break was crazy busy.  I had so much school work and odds and ends that we only had time for one city outing.  We made sure to make it a good one!

We started with the tree lighting at the Charles Hotel.  We've gone almost every year since we started dating and the holiday season doesn't seem to start until we go.  I love the festive atmosphere and the live band.  The tree looked great this year!

After the tree lighting we had some time to kill before our dinner reservations at Park so we wandered over to Benedetto, which had just opened in the space previously occupied by Rialto. Benedetto is the new restaurant from the team behind Giulia, an amazing, rustic Italian restaurant just outside of Porter Square.  We loved Giulia when we went there last winter and were eagerly awaiting Benedetto's opening.  When we found enough seats for our group at the bar, we decided to duck in for a quick drink.  The bartender was super friendly.  I love that they kept the old, auburn colored bar from Rialto.  The decor is so different from the rustic Giulia.  The ivory and creams give it a soft, sophisticated look and unlike Giulia, where you can wait months for a reservation, there are tons of seating options so I imagine getting a reservation here is much easier.  The prices are definitely steeper than Giulia, which are already a bit pricey, but I'm sure the food is delicious.  I will probably opt to go back to Giulia before I go to Benedetto but I love what they did with the space.

After our drinks we made our way over to Park.  We hadn't eaten here in a long time and I'm not sure why.  The food is always so good here.  We had a fun time with great friends.  After dinner, we headed home to watch Home Alone.  Let the holiday madness begin!

Moona

After ThanksgivingFest, JO and I committed to going to the rock gym more frequently.  We planned on going on Tuesday night but than it was really, really cold and neither of us had slept well the night before, but really we blamed the cold.  It's about a fifteen minute walk to the gym and neither of us wanted to "catch a cold" so we decided to go out to eat instead.  Moona had just opened and looked super cute.  Moona bills itself as a Middle Eastern Mediterranean small plates eatery.  I was a little leery of the menu because of some of the adventurous spices but the super cozy and beautiful interior was too much to resist.  

We were lucky to get the last two seats at the bar.  Moona is very small, and very popular, so going without a reservation is extremely risky.  The lighting is perfect and the floor to ceiling windows give you great views of the neighborhood.  The wrought iron mosaic wall gives the place character and the mirrors keep it from feeling claustrophobic.  

The wine list was really strong.  I forgot which red I got but it was delicious, and if it wasn't a Tuesday I would've definitely opted for a second glass.  All I can say is A+++ for Moona!  We sampled four dishes and each one was spectacularly crafted.  One dish we got had pickled eggplants cubes as a garnish and I was mesmerized by them.  

We happened to be there when they were filming a segment for Dining Playbook and you can see some glances of us on the video.

We both agreed that although a little pricey, Moona will be making its way into our dining rotation.  And, we both realized while we were sitting at the bar, that the walk to Moona was almost half way to the rock gym :-)

Amelia's and State Park~ A Lovely Night in Kendall

I don't have a big family, so when someone comes in town I love showing off my city.  My cousin's son goes to Harvard and she was in town for the Harvard Yale game back in November.  I was glad we were able to go out and catch up.  I always feel a little pressure though picking a restaurant because I have a reputation for knowing all the good city spots and I don't want to disappoint.  Plus, Harvard Square was out because my cousin was staying in that area and she wanted to explore a different neighborhood.  It took me a while to come up with Amelia's Trattoria but I'm glad I did.  

I've only eaten inside Amelia's once, we often go for the patio, and I remembered it being cute.  I loved the atmosphere inside.  It's small, dimly lit with lots of exposed brick.  It was crowded, so I was glad we had reservations.  It's got just the right amount of "crowd noise."  The food was delicious, I loved the clams in a white wine sauce with spaghetti.  Everyone enjoyed their food, which made my day.  

After dinner we headed over to State Park.  The last time my cousin was in town we went to State Park and she hasn't stopped raving about it since, and I can't blame her.  It's just such a fun place to hang out.  Here's my original post about State Park.  It was so fun to hang out with family and show off my city at the same time!

ThanksgivingFest

ThanksgivingFest is probably my favorite of all of our friend traditions, because it's the one friends rarely miss.  I love that we can host so many of our friends at one table in our kitchen.  We have the whole event down to a fine science and set up and tear down doesn't take too long anymore.  Major props to JO, who set up the whole thing on his own this year since I had a class in the morning.

Being a host is just so tiring

Huskies Kick Off the Season

You know I love my Huskies!  Last year I watched, in awe and admiration, as my Huskies marched their way to a 4th straight championship behind the leadership of the Big Three- Stewie, The Little One, and Tuck!  Although I'm an unwavering Husky fan I'm also a realist.  I knew this season wasn't going to be like the last four years, how could it be?  We didn't have a leader, only one senior, and lots of question marks.  I was bracing my self for a few losses and an interesting season.

Of course, we went to Parlor Sports to watch the season opener against #12 Florida State.  I loved that they had a shout out to my Huskies (and me) in the weekly menu insert featuring the sports highlights for the week.

Parlor Sports is just so good to their loyal customers and I can't say enough good things about this place.  The game went the way I expected, we looked sloppy and unhinged at times, but still they weren't going to lose the season opener, right?

Well, with five minutes to go it wasn't looking great.  In fact, the game came down to the final thirty seconds.  Jon was nice enough to put the game on the surround sound for the last few plays and rang the bell when they won.  I was feeling kind of down about the performance, but Jon told me not to fret... and he was right!  My Huskies have gone 12-0, are back at #1, and have won 87 in a row!