Boston Food Finds Food Tour

Hello hello! I've been traveling quite a bit the past month, therefore I have not had time to post my latest foodie Boston adventures. This is past due, but it's never too late to let you all know about this fabulous food tour I went on recently courtesy of Audrey at Boston Food Finds. It was a fantastic tour that took us all over Beacon Hill and Back Bay. Everything was very well planned out and I was happily surprised to not be completely stuffed at the end, but rather perfectly satisfied. We tasted everything from delicious Italian naan and fresh mozzarella from Scampo, chocolates and gelato from Beacon Hill Chocolates, flowers and fresh made pasta at Copley Farmers Market, Turner Fisheries' famouch clam chowder, and the most bizarre: Yak Burgers from Savenor's. I have to admit it was surprisingly delicious along with every other thing we tasted along the way. 

If your new to Boston, or just in the mood to taste your way around a neighborhood, I definitely recommend getting in touch with Audrey and going on one of her fantastic tours. You won't be disappointed. To give you an idea of the luxurious and delicious fun your bound to have on one of these tours I will take you on a visual tour where you can imagine for yourself just how deliciously stimulating it was for all senses.

First stop: SCAMPO

This open kitchen space where they bake all their naan pizzas and woodfired breads was a great way to create an interaction between the chefs and the diners. I don't know about you, but one of my favorite things is to watch chefs in action!

The kitchen was beautiful, organized, and surprisingly small. It doesn't deter them from busting out a huge amount of food for their bustling restaurant though.

Our first dish on the tour was a refreshing caprese dish that was delightfully creamy yet light. The tomatoes were perfection and there is nothing better than homemade mozzarella cheese.

Patrick's naan was a great spin on a classic Italian pizza. The prosciutto topped with a red wine reduction was fantastic! The dough was crisp, airy, and light, which allowed the incredients to shine center stage. The whole group split one naan pizza, but it was so good I could have easily eaten the whole thing myself.

SAVENOR'S

If your looking for some out of this world bizzare meats like rattlesnake, rabbit, or even YAK, Savenor's is the place to get it!

Savenor's Yak Burger

BEACON HILL CHOCOLATES

Great selection of chocolates from all over the world. They package them in uniquely decorated boxes that you'll want to collect. Their gelato is also delicious. Perfect during the summer months.

COPLEY SQUARE FARMER'S MARKET

We enjoyed delicious fresh pasta salad from Nella Pasta. Their pastas are made fresh and have a delicious hint of nutty flavor that pairs really well with their ravioli fillings. My favorite was their broccoli, feta, and toasted cashew filling.

Sienna Farms sells incredibly huge beautiful sunflowers during the summer months and their selection of fresh produce can't be beat. If your craving something sweet definitely pick up a bag of their oatmeal fig cookies. You won't regret it.

TURNER FISHERIES

Personally, I never have loved clam chowder, but when Turner Fisheries brought us all massive bowls of their award winning chowder I had to at least have a little. Well man oh man, now I understand why it has won so many awards. This bowl of chowder can change any non-chowder lover into an addict. If your visiting or craving a hot bowl of clam chowder this is the place to get a bowl.

SWEET CUPCAKES

Sweet Cupcakes has a great selection of traditional flavored cupcakes as well as season varieties such as Pink Lemonade and Lemon Raspberry. My favorite is Red Velvet, but in the spirit of summer I decided to go with one of their seasonal flavors. The Lemon Raspberry cupcake that I chose was deliciously bursting with sweet raspberry jam. The frosting could have been a little more tart, but all in all it was decently satisfying. 

Overall I had a fantastic time with Audrey on the Boston Food Finds tour of Beacon Hill and Back Bay. I got to try new dishes that were delicious, fresh, and exciting. I mean who else has eaten a YAK burger recently? It was also nice to visit establishments I've yet to eat at since living in Boston. I hope that you all contact Audrey if your in the mood for a local tour or you have family coming into town. It's a great way to taste your way through a neighborhood, meet new people, and find great new restaurants.

Running Of The Bulls at Toro

Every year, Pamplona has a huge fiesta celebrating the running of the bulls. The festival is always held from the 6th to 14th of July where people from all over the world gather to party, celebrate, and have fun together. Well, the wonderful crew at Toro brought the festivities to Boston by hosting a Running of the Bulls party in the restaurant this past Sunday. Sangria, Jamie Bisonnette's addicting corn on the cob, many other delicious dishes, a porron contest, and great company. What could be better on a Sunday afternoon?

I basically fasted from breakfast until the party so that I could make sure I was starving for all the superb food coming out of Jamie's kitchen. I don't know how he does it, but the food at Toro is outstanding. Any animal part tastes OFFAL good coming out of the Toro kitchen.

Jamie, as well as the entire Toro team are great people. Friendly, fun, inviting, and damn good at what they do! At the party I finally got to meet Jamie's wife, Coco! What a great woman...and I'm not saying that just because we have the same name.

One suggestion: If you enter into a porron contest with the man second to the left in this photo...you don't stand a chance. He downed an entire bottle of cava in one! CHAMP!

The rest of the days shenanigans were filled with food, food, cava and sangria, more food, laughter, more food, and more laughs. You get the idea. 

PATATAS BRAVAS

RED SANGRIA

TUNA TARTARE

ASSORTED SANDWICHES

CHORIZO HOT DOGS

Below are a few other photos that will hopefully give you an idea of how successful the Running of the Bulls party was at Toro. Great friends, great drinks, and great food are the three things that keep me going everyday. I thank the Toro team and wonderful friends for such a wonderfully memorable Sunday...

ÉXITO

Brunching at Aquitaine

Last Saturday, Joey and I decided to try out Aquitaine's pre-fix brunch menu for $9.95. The decor of Aquitaine, which is nestle right in to the heart of the South End, has always caught my eye. The small, yet inviting bar is lined with empty wine bottles clear up to the ceiling! Most every table has red-cushioned bench seats, which adds to the Frenchy, dark cafe comfort I love so much in France. 

We got a nice table for 2 along the wall and ordered a round of St-Honore cocktails before ordering. It was basically a French 75 and was very light, bubbly and refreshing on such a hot day.

Since we ordered the pre-fixed menu, our cocktails arrived with bottomless coffee as well as your choice of juice. We definitely were not going to go thirsty...

For brunch I ordered the salmon eggs benedict (my favorite), and my brunch date ordered the Eggs Piperade.The mini cinnamon roll appetizer was a nice treat. It tasted like a croissant with loads of cinnamon and a nice drizzle of glaze. Thumbs up! The salmon benedict was lacking in the smoked salmon department and the english muffin could have been toasted quite a bit more. On the other hand my eggs were cooked perfectly. The Eggs Piperade were underwhelming on flavor, but we asked for them very soft scrambled and they came out just right. Often times restaurants don't follow through on the soft-scrambling request and Aquitaine did an excellent job in fulfilling our request. 

Lastly we ordered a round of Bloody Marys and they were very flavorful. I usually like mine quite spicy, but these needed no doctoring up! We took our Bloodys over to the quaint, wine bottle-decorated bar where we sipped away while watching all the dog walkers taking their pups out for their daily stroll Tremont St. 

Overall, the food was just alright, but very affordable. The drinks were definitely the highlight of our brunch!

I'M BACK

Hello Hello!!!! Wow, it has been quite a while since I blogged and I apologize for being such an anti-blogger. BUT, now I'm back and more excited than ever to tell you all about my tantalizing eats and dining experiences. I've been in foodie heaven the past few months going to a whole slew of events such as pop-up restaurants, tastings, wine riots, and tons of great dinners. I also just got back from a very indulgent, delicious adventure to Greece with my family! So much has been going on so I will catch you all up with some recap photos. From there I'll dive into some great reviews and recipes I can't wait to share with you all. I am very excited to get back into sharing all my food experiences with you and giving you great recommendations on places to eat, drinks to quench your summer thirsts, and great meals to impress your friends and family! Welcome to the next chapter of my foodie adventures. I hope you all enjoy. Happy Summer!

Here's a recap of the past few months...

My close friends Emily and Louis DiBiccari at Chef Louie Night 

 

The Chef Louie Night girls celebrating a successful event!

Joey and I taking a day trip to the Sam Adams Brewery. Learned all about the hops and most memorably how to distinguish between a great glass of beer!

Met a great group of people through Boston Brunchers. They host monthly brunches where bloggers get together and enjoy a fabulous meal together. I've met some amazing people through this and have dined at some great places as well. This brunch is from Ashmont Grill. They had a whole selection of different kinds of bloody marys as well as some great brunch options! 

I GRADUATED FROM EMERSON COLLEGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Went to an amazing pop-up dinner by Eat at the British Consulate-General. My friend Will Gilson cooked an amazing meal reminiscent of all things British. My friend Jeannie and I dined together and everything was superb!!!! I'm sure I'll be going to some more Eat pop-ups and I'll be sure to blog in full about the events.

My next adventure was to Paris with my parents and Joey. It was absolutely amazing. Joey had never been to Europe before so we basically crammed as much Paris site-seeing as we possibly could in 3 days. After those marvelous three days we headed off to Skopelos, Greece! I'll let the pictures talk for themselves....

 Paris, Greece, and all the adventures I've been having with such amazing people since graduation have been unbelievably enjoyable and I can't wait to finally get down to business and start sharing my reviews, tastes, creations, and adventures with you all....

Please stay tuned...much more excitement to come!

New Site Design!

Pardon the look of my blog right now, I am figuring out a new platform and in the works to update the look of my blog. Bare with me while my site is under construction. Soon it will be up and running and looking as fresh as ever before!!!!

Just to keep you interested here are a few photos from a recent delectable meal I enjoyed with some wonderful friends.....some great reviews and recipes are in the works too!