Batifol Opens

 Petit Robert opened a new restaurant in Kendall Square called Batifol.  I love Petit Robert and I'm a sucker for a French restaurant.  Batifol delivered.

We started with drinks at the bar while we waited for a patio table (yes, patio weather in November!) to open up.  I ordered their blood orange version of  a French 75 and it was delicious.  This drink was so delicious that it pops into my mind quite frequently.  JO tried some of the other cocktails and honestly, they weren't that great.  Definitely get the French 75 or some wine and you'll be just fine.

One of the things I love about their menu is that they have a whole salad section.  I really appreciate that since I'm a big fan of fresh, yummy salads.  We also tried the Coq au Vin dish and it was delicious. 

This restaurant is a great addition to the Cambridge restaurant scene.  They did a fantastic job with the interior renovations.  Abigail's used to be pretty dark and Batifol has brightened it up but still kept it very cozy.  I love the teal velvet accents and the general buzzy feel in the interior.  

We ended the meal with an espresso martini and it was fantastic!

After dinner, we ended up walking back to our old neighborhood and enjoyed a glass of wine at the bar at Puritan.  It was a really fun night.

Thursdays are for the Ballet

 

Hanging on to Patio Season for as Long as we Can

 The Monday before Thanksgiving was warm enough to have dinner on the patio at The Independent so that's what we did!

Cocktail Party in the Lounge

 To celebrate our new Shag painting, we through a cocktail party.  I do love going out for cocktails, but I have also been enjoying learning how to make cocktails at home.

Barcelona Wine Bar is on our Side of the River Now!!!

In an amazing development, Barcelona Wine Bar opened a Cambridge location and it is amazing.  We went in mid-November and it ended up being patio weather.  The interior looks amazing and I really want to go back soon to enjoy it, but you never pass up patio a late season patio night.

Now, Barcelona Wine Bar is obviously known for their wine but let me tell you this mezcal cocktail was out of this world!

The meat and cheese board was amazing as was all of the food we ordered!

Dinner at Yvonne's

 We discovered a few years ago that the best night to get a reservation at one of those "impossible to get reservations at" restaurants is to go on Halloween.  We took advantage of this this year by booking a table at Yvonne's.  Yvonne's is owned by the same restaurant group that owns Mariel, Ruka, and Coquette.  Yvonne's is in the space previously occupied by the historic Locke-Ober.

Yvonne's has two dining spaces.  The first is the "library" room.  I wish we had sat in that space because it just looked so intimate and cozy.  The second space is the "lounge" area.  The decor is this fantastic over the top opulent style featuring crazy chandeliers and velvet booths.  The space is anchored by this amazing carved wooden bar, which is left over from Locke-Ober.  (After dinner we had drinks and dessert at this bar and I really loved it...better than eating dinner in the lounge dining room.  Plus, the cocktails were fantastic!)

All of the restaurants owned by this restaurant group go over the top with decor and match it with the quality of the food.  I think I liked the Yvonne's food the least though.  (It was recently just voted top 50 restaurants in Boston in Boston Magazine and I'm a little surprised.) My other issue with dinner was that everything came so fast.  From being seated to the final plate, I think the meal lasted 30 minutes, and I'm a slow eater.  

Like I said above, the drinks and time spent at the bar were really great.  If this bar didn't get filled up so fast all the time, I could see spending lots of city nights right there.  My new cocktail hand jewelry also looked perfect in this space!

SomerStreets

 The end of October saw us out and about in our neighborhood at yet another festival.  This one was Halloween themed, and featured a costume parade, music, and games.  Another feature of this festival is that lots of city departments had stands and booths.  This was a great way for residents to be able to learn more about city services.  (We took advantage and found out how to get a parking exemption for hosting parties!) It was a great day to be out and about enjoying the neighborhood.