Time to eat!

If you love to eat, and since you're here reading this I imagine you do, dining at fine restaurants is such a treat. Eating something prepared by another person is not only a satisfying pleasure but also an inspiring experience for those of us who like to concoct things in our own kitchens. For me eating out is a watch and learn kind of thing. I love to examine how dishes are plated, how ingredients are paired, and how flavors work together. However, eating out at regular intervals can get expensive. I collect names of restaurants like I collect names of good books. When one is recommended to me, it goes on the list, which for books, sits on my bedside table and for restaurants ends up in a note on my iPhone.

If you are like me, with a long list of restaurants you are eager to try, rev up those engines, it's time to knock a few off that list. Boston's 2010 Winter Restaurant Week is coming up soon and this year there are over 216 participating restaurants to please the palate. Area restaurants will be offering fabulous meals at fixed discounted prices for the weeks of March 14 - 19 and March 21- 26. Two course lunches will be $15.10, three course lunches will be $20.10 and three course dinners will be $33.10 per person.

The website will provide you several different ways to search for restaurants participating in Boston's 2010 Winter Restaurant week and there will also be some links to OpenTable for restaurants using that site for reservations. You can even find information about discounted parking during Restaurant Week!

Happy eating!

Boston Winter Foodie Events

SPECIAL ONE-TIME EVENTS
 

Rum Tasting with Tony at Redbones in Somerville
Monday, January 25 from 5 - 7 pm

(617) 628.2200

Downtown Wine & Spirits' Tony Iamunno returns with rums. From the Berkshires to Brazil and islands in the Caribbean to India, Tony has selected eight excellent rums for sipping & mixing:

Hurricane Rum, Triple 8 Distillery, Nantucket

Ragged Mountain Rum, Berkshire Mountain Distillers, Great Barrington, MA

Matusalem 15 Year, Matusalem & Co., The Spirit of Cuba made in the Dominican Republic

Patron Pyrat XO, Anguilla Rums Ltd., BWI, for Patron

Pampero Ron Añejo Aniversario, Industrias Pampero, Venezuela
Barbancourt 15 Year, Rhum Barbancourt, Haiti
Leblon Cachaça, Brazil

Old Monk, Mohan Meakin, India

8 1/2 oz. pours & appetizers for $15.00.
Reservations not necessary but come early to get a seat. Tasting starts at 5:30 pm.

19th Annual Boston Wine Expo

January 23-24, 2010

Seaport World Trade Center and Seaport Hotel 

From the Boston Wine Expo Site:

Grand Tasting	Sample wines from over 450 international wineries in one location. Some 1,800 wines in all!
Celebrity Chefs	Watch over 15 celebrity chefs in action on two stages, taste samples, and bring their recipes home with you.
Guided Tastings/Seminars	Learn something new at 26 continuous seminars with topics for both the novice and the connoisseur.
Grand Cru Wine Lounge	Pamper yourself by visiting the ultra-special Grand Cru Wine Lounge. The Lounge is located in a private setting away from the show floor for your enjoyment. Sample the best of the best and relax in this intimate area. Featuring an al-new lineup of vintages!
"Meet and Greet" the Winemakers	Meet your favorite winemakers in this special feature area returning in 2010 and learn the secrets of their wines.  Sponsored by JetBlue.

2010 WINTER RECURRING EVENTS

Cheese Fondue Sundays @ Beacon Hill Bistro

5:30- 10:00 pm $26 per pot for two

What could be better than a fondue dinner on a cold winter Sunday night? Served up by the cozy, French, Beacon Hill Bistro, this is a can't miss recurring event. Pots of cheese fondue for two people are priced at $26 will be available in addition to the regular menu.  BHB of course serves their fondue with all the proper accompaniments: small boiled potatoes, cornichon, pickled vegetables like ramps, cipollini onions and cauliflower, and rustic bread from Iggy's. Reservations are recommended so call 617.723.7575 to book your table anytime between 5:30 to 10:00pm.

Wine & Dine Mondays @ Beacon Hill Bistro

7 pm $55 per person

BHB has recently announced their 2010 Winter/Spring Wine & Dine Monday line-up.  These are twice monthly events that are wonderfully social, gastronomic, and informative all at the same time. Having attended the BHB Wine & Dine with Languedoc-Roussillon wines in November 2009, I will be sure to join them as often as I can for the 2010 series. 

Monday, January 25th - Mendocino and Lake County
Monday, February 8th - Puglia
Monday, February 22nd - It's all Greek to me!
Monday, March 8th - Barossa Valley/Langmeil Winery
Monday, March 22nd - Tempranillo
Monday, April 12th - Alsace - Maison Hugel
Monday, April 26th - Austria
Monday, May 10th - Blind Tasting

Seating is limited so make sure to reserve your spot by calling 617.723.7575.

Wine Mondays @ L'Espalier

7 pm $60 per person

Since its inception in 2002, Wine Monday evenings have consisted of a selection of wines, inspired by the changing seasons, wine regions or varietals, paired with a four-course tasting menu composed by Chef McClelland. With menus and pairings ranging from the classical to the adventurous, guests at Wine Mondays are often the first to taste a dish that ultimately shows up on L’Espalier’s Prix Fixe menu.

Participants are seated at large tables that foster lively conversation, while sommelier Erich Schliebe leads an engaging, informal talk that is appropriate for a range of enthusiasts, from newcomers to experienced wine lovers.

The four-course meal, which costs $60, begins at 7:00pm in the restaurant's book-lined library. Reservations can be made by calling L'Espalier directly at 617.262.3023.

2010
1/4 - Wine Resolutions
1/11 - Australia
1/18 - (MLK day) - Burgundy
1/25 - Red Letter Day
2/1 - American ABCs (Anything But California)
2/8 - Wine and Chocolate
2/15 - (Presidents' Day) - Washington

2/22 - Cab'n Fever
3/1 - Italy
3/8 - Loire
3/15 - Rhône
3/22 - Spring Fling
3/29 - March Madness
4/5 - (Easter Monday) - Rosé Colored Glasses

Wine Wednesdays @ Sel de la Terre Long Warf

7 pm $38 per person

Sel de la Terre's Long Wharf location offers Wednesday evening wine tasting dinners. Wines are chosen to compliment the season and the rustic french fare offered by Chef Knack.  To reserve your spot, check the schedule below and call 617.720.1300.

Wednesday, January 6th - New World Wines for the New Year
Wednesday, January 13th - Cabernet Sauvignon & Cabernet Franc
Wednesday, January 20th - Southern Hemisphere
Wednesday, January 27th - Red in the Face
Wednesday, February 3rd -Loire Valley
Wednesday, February 10th - Wine & Chocolate
Wednesday, February 17th - California
Wednesday, February 24th - Southern France
Wednesday, March 3rd - Italy
Wednesday, March 10th - Rhône Valley
Wednesday, March 17th - French ABCs
Wednesday, March 24th - Spain
Wednesday, March 31st - Seth's Favorites

2010 WINTER ONCE-A-MONTH EVENTS

Show & Taste Tuedays @ Sibling Rivalry

7 pm $50 per person

Sibling Rivalry's Show and Taste Tuesdays offers a 3-course meal and some extra special kitchen insight the first Tuesday of each month. Chef David Kinkead will choose three courses from the Sibling Rivalry menu and demonstrate how to prepare them. The $50 per guest cost includes dinner and the demo. Call Sibling Rivalry at 617.338.5338 to reserve your seat.

Cheese Tuesdays @ L'Espalier

7 pm $68 per person

For cheese lovers, L’Espalier’s renowned cheese tray is the ultimate indulgence. Born out of Fromager and mâitre d’ Louis Risoli’s desire to satiate diners passion for cheese, Cheese Tuesday has become one of the most exciting and popular nights at L'Espalier. Once a month, in-house cheese expert Risoli, hosts a special evening of cheese and conversation. Chefs McClelland and James Hackney build a four-course menu around the various cheeses, while wine director Erik Johnson, pours matching wines.

Risoli covers all aspects of cheese, including artisanal cheese production, differences in taste and texture, cheese producing regions, and cheese selection - informing guests how to choose particular cheeses, determine when a cheese is ripe, and how to experiment with new and exciting varieties.

Similar to Wine Monday, guests are seated at communal tables that encourage spirited conversation the singing doesn't hurt either!

SCHEDULE
Feb. 2 - Island Hopping: Some of our favorite cheeses come from exotic locales.

Feb. 23 - Fondue Party: A fun cheese meltdown, featuring Raclette, Fontina, and Tarentaise, served up in sommelier Kate Moore's extraordinary collection of vintage fondue pots.

24 hours in Manhattan: a food & fun recap

With guest confirmation emails in hand, my friend Gabi and I hit the road after school drop off here in the Boston area for a 4+ hour drive into the heart of Manhattan. We were headed to the special Martha Stewart Show on bloggers. The entire audience would not only be made up of crazy bloggers like us but we were all asked to blog throughout the show on our laptops or phones. Since we needed to be at the studio by 8:30 am we decided that an overnight in the big apple was in order.

We arrived by 1:00 pm and after a quick freshening up at the hotel, we hit the pavement to find some lunch. Gabi has not spent much time in NYC so it was a little daunting trying to choose where to take her. Since we only had one afternoon, we didn't have too much time to linger. Here is what we hit on our mad dash around town....

Lunch @ Le Pain Quotidien 

A little look-see @ ABC Carpet and Home

Some fun purchases @ Fishs Eddy

A quick walk-in mani @ Dashing Diva Nails

Scouring racks and a boot purchase @ Century 21

Then it was back to the hotel to spruce up for dinner. With no reservations in hand (see this post) and the hour quickly approaching 8:00 pm, we realized that we were going to be lucky to even get a bar stool space.

Our patience and my flexibility paid off. As we were walking towards Union Square from our hotel we passed a restaurant called Almond. If it were not for a really cute Vespa parked outside I would have missed it all together. Neither the name nor the exterior were inviting enough to grab my attention but when we peered through the huge plate glass windows, we both decided that the bleached beach wood panel and toile paper covered walls seemed cozy enough to have a look at the menu. The menu, with it's decidedly french/italian slant, seemed fine enough but it was the stream of people flowing in that made us realize that a) people in this hood seem to like it and b) it may have the last available table we could find on short notice tonight. So we took the gamble and asked for a table for two. We didn't regret it.

 Starters

Gabi's s: Brussels Sprouts Two Ways in a Caesar Style. The dish was beautiful and full of flavor. 

Mine: Endive, Pear, walnut & Roquefort Salad. These are flavors that always please but the delivery could have been better. The endive was cut into awkward long slices about the same size as the pear. The two were disappointingly indistinguishable in the restaurant's low light. The walnuts were glazed with a sweet caramel which turned out to be the delight of the dish. Unfortunately, while the dressing had a light roquefort flavor, there should have been cheese crumbles on the dish. There were none. 

Mains

Gabi's: Wednesday special of Shrimp Scampi via Risotto topped with onion rings. It was a home run. risotto was full of flavor and the shrimp delicious according to Gabi. 

Mine: Heritage Pork Chop with Brussels Sprouts & Gnocco alla Roma. The chop was perfectly cooked with a slight pink hue to the moist and flavorful interior. The Gnocco was a large, about 2.5" in diameter, single gnocco, browned on both sides with a creamy, slightly cheesey flavor in the center. From what I am hearing, this is a take on a rapidly rising food trend in NYC. Gnocco alla Roma is just one of many menu items culled from the streets of Rome landing in NYC these days. In a NYT article just published this week on trendy Italian food moving away from the coveted Tuscan dishes to a decidedly Roman style, Roman Gnocchi were highlighted with both a clear description of how they differ from traditional gnocchi and a nice photo spread.

All in all, Almond was a good value for the money, not a seat at a special NYC foodie joint but it truly didn't disappoint. The meal had some very high points with some somewhat low points but the vibe combined with great service made it a restaurant I'd return to when back in Manhattan.

From my trusted friends at epicurious.com, here is a recipe I am going to try tonight. I will report back in the morning to let you all know how it turned out. And yes, of course, I'll provide pictures of the process!

Gnocchi Alla Romana

yield: Makes 6 first-course servings

Active time: 30 min Start to finish: 2 hr

• 3 cups whole milk
• 3/4 cup semolina (sometimes labeled "semolina flour"; resembles fine yellow cornmeal)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 3 oz finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (3/4 cup)
• 1 large egg

Whisk together milk, semolina, and 1 teaspoon salt in a 2-quart heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over moderate heat, whisking. Simmer, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until very stiff, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 2 tablespoons butter and 3/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano. Beat in egg.
Spread gnocchi mixture 1/2 inch thick on an oiled baking sheet and chill, uncovered, until very firm, about 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 425°F.
Cut out rounds from gnocchi mixture with a 2-inch round cookie cutter (push scraps into remaining mixture as you go) and arrange, slightly overlapping, in a well-buttered 13- by 9-inch baking dish. Make a small second layer in center of dish with any remaining rounds. Brush gnocchi with remaining 1/4 cup melted butter and sprinkle with remaining 3/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Bake in middle of oven until gnocchi are beginning to brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Here are some snapshots of the set at The Martha Stewart Show...