Farmstead Table + Parish Café x Baby Camden

Dining out with baby Camden has been a success. He's pretty chill. Above we are enjoying a night out at Legal on the Mystic in Assembly Row. I didn't take any photos of that meal but him enjoying a rare bottle and the fact that I had the photo below ;)

~~~~

Farmstead Table in Newton Center is always a wonderful choice. In their clean intimate space we dined early and Camden mostly slept. 

A classic American country kitchen presents innovative plates with the freshest of the season. It looks like I ate a gorgeous crab and avocado dish topped with radish plated to resemble a tartare, plus grilled corn & cabbage tacos with avocado, cotija cheese, a spicy aioli and dusted with fresh chives.

~~~~

Parish Café escaped the blog all these years! I love it here for sure. Camden has a backup daycare in Back Bay so we will take a stroll and find somewhere to pop in for a bite. 

Their thing is gourmet sandwiches crafted by local chefs. The Bravas from Chef Cassie Piuma of Sarma Restaurant it INSANE. A grilled sesame torta bun is slathered with sweet onion butter, then layered with prosciutto, chorizo, manchego, crispy brussels sprouts, drizzled in a grand finale of hot sauce and garlic aioli. There are some notable Boston chefs on the menu - you can't go wrong as long as you get a sandwich. The tomato bisque with a deep fried grilled cheese crouton and basil is also next level. When Camden was first old enough to eat, the Baked Mac n Cheese with gruyere, romano, monterey jack and a Ritz cracker crumble got the job done!

Legal on the Mystic

301 Great River Road

Somerville, MA 02145

Farmstead Table

71 Union St

Newton Centre, MA 02459

Parish Café

361 Boylston St

Boston, MA

Citrus & Salt

We celebrated my first Mother's Day with brunch at Citrus & Salt. The vibe is coastal Mexican. My vibe is tired but still up for having fun in the city! We ate in the back room with cozy couches and ottomans - it felt sort of speakeasy-ish. It also felt perfect for dining out with a baby. I had a delicious Brunch Chimichanga ($13) containing scrambled eggs, refried beans, poblano queso, salsa and home fries. 

After brunching we emerged into the bright floral and skulls space for a cocktail at the polished marble bar. We had a little more time to spend before our ticketed time at Happy Place just down the street. A fun interactive exhibit, we strapped Cam in the Ergobaby and did all the pose-for-cute-photos and laugh at ourselves things. 

The margaritas here are really good, however, I sipped on a Rosa Spritz ($14) served in a dainty etched coupe glass. Codigo Rosa Tequila, Aperol, hibiscus, lemon and rose cava was a very good cocktail indeed. I'm a lucky Mom!

Citrus & Salt

142 Berkeley St

Boston, MA

Saltie Girl

You guys!! I'm finally getting around to sharing my dinner at Saltie Girl, where one of the most talked about food trends - tinned seafood! reigns supreme. 

This was an impromptu dinner on August 2nd;  a memorable summer night because we had just taken our engagement photos. I was wearing my late grandmother Julia Fenton's vintage party dress and feeling like a 1960's goddess as we gallivanted about our final shoot location on the Esplanade. 

Ready to celebrate the evening we ended up at OAK Long Bar + Kitchen for fancy martini service before Saltie Girl coaxed us in. As luck would have it we entered just as two cozy seats opened up at the far end of the bar. Serving seasonally-inspired, fresh and tinned iterations of seafood, the intimate restaurant set in a regal brownstone at Dartmouth + Newbury affirmed one of my favorite evenings of the summer with fantastic food and wine. 

We choose first from a variety of toasts - the Smoked Salmon with greek yogurt, truffle wildflower honey and cured yolk on potato bread was a revelation. Second, from the hyped, exceptionally curated menu of tinned fish the Tuna Filets in olive oil come with piquillo peppers, artisan bread and hand churned butter on a handsome slate board. Tinned fish is much more expensive than I expected; it was very good though! We also shared Toasted Handmade Gnocchi with caviar, and absolutely could not pass up Saltie Girl's Fried Lobsters and Waffles with sweet corn butter and spicy maple syrup. 

Saltie Girl

28 Dartmouth Street

Boston, MA 02116

Tentua di Biserno @ Grill 23

One of my favorite things about keeping up with this blog is the discovery and opportunity regarding anything new. This includes tasting elegant (and expensive!) Italian wines on a Tuesday evening in an opulent wine room at Grill 23. 

Wine tastings are nothing new around here, neither is the beloved Boston steakhouse Grill 23, but these wines and exposure to the region where they are grown in Tuscany certainly are! A sweet Italian man named Marchese Lodovico Antinori proudly presented to us his latest wine making project; Tenuta di Biserno, a unique blend leading with Cabernet Franc.

The Biserno Estate thrives in Western Tuscany in the coastal area of Upper Maremma among the hills of Bibbona, a small wine village bordering the more famous Bolgheri. The wild, rugged terrain only more recently tamed by winemakers is now home to vineyards and olive groves that stretch down towards the Mediterranean Sea. 

Lodovico decided to plant exclusively Bordeaux with Cabernet Franc in greater percentage - followed by Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and an almost abandoned varietal - Petit Verdot. The estates soil is rich in minerals, silt, alluvial sand and clay - terrifically distinct, complex and produces some truly remarkable wines. Here's a look at the five beauties we tasted paired with an excellent three course meal.

Caesar Salad | brown butter croutons, anchovy marmalade

Il Pino di Biserno 2012 - (SRP $75) intense nose with dark berries and plenty of sweet spicy notes. Concentrated palate with beautiful depth and length.

Il Pino di Biserno 2014  - (SRP $75) notes of red cherries with underlying oak adding spice and complexity. Elegant and harmonious palate with fine round tannins and a long polished finish.

Boneless Ribeye | roasted mushrooms with sherry, confit shallots, sautéed spinach w garlic
Biserno 2012 - (SRP $175) their eponymous wine, only the finest grapes are selected resulting in a thought provoking intensity and complexity with notes of plum and blackberry followed by toasty spice. Elegant palate with fine rounded tannins. 

Biserno 2010 (SRP $175) - deep ruby red, scents of blackberries, freshly ground coffee and licorice. Elegant structure to the palate with fine grained tannins, balanced acidity and a mineral-y feel with a lengthy finish.

Cheese Selection | with cranberry pecan crostini, membrillo, honey comb, black pepper apricot chutney

Chevre Berger du Haut Bearn (Goat) Pyrenees, France / Gruyere Reserve AOC (Cow) Friebourg, Switzerland | Pecorino di Pienza, Gran Reserva (Sheep) Tuscany, Italy 

Lodovico 2011 - (SRP $419) A rare, unexpected assemblage, this wine is all about the full bodied, rich texture and complexity, balanced by a fine acidity. 

Wow, this wine is exceptional. All of them were!

Combining the unique terroir with the cooling influence of the sea, Upper Maremma plays host to some of most famous and celebrated wines of Italy. I felt incredibly lucky to taste Lodovico's wines among a spirited group of wine lovers. 

Grill 23 & Bar

161 Berkeley St

Boston, MA 02116

Omakase @ Uni

 Back in February we celebrated my 33rd Birthday at Uni, a contemporary Izakaya helmed by Chef Ken Oringer featuring inventive Japanese cuisine alongside an extensive craft cocktail and sake program. We went all out with the Omakase (chefs tasting) and it was worth every penny. 

Omakase is typically twelve courses, starting small with a few perfect one bite dishes and building in substance as it progresses. At Uni the elements of each dish are plated strikingly so and further each bite takes your palate by surprise. Flavors are remarkably nuanced, intricate, and complex, the fish so fresh, the knife work so precise. 

 We had a cocktail each followed by two gorgeous, striking, fantastic bottles of sake; a Hakkaisan ($55) from Nigata - a sparkling junmai ginjo brut and later a Nigori Dassai '50' ($45) from Yamaguchi, a polished and approachable junmai daiginjo. 

I captured most dishes but did omit a few - here goes:

 Smoked Uni Spoon | osetra caviar, quail egg yolk, yuzu
Foie Gras ice cream | ostreta caviar, potato chip

Kaki - Aunt Dotty Oyster | yamamomo granita, tonburi 
Tai - Sea Bream sashimi | concord grape, myoba

Spicy Tuna + Foie Gras Tataki | aji amarillo, pistachio, pear 
Live Maine Uni Sea Urchin | citrus ceviche, cherry tomato

Nigiri | Toro (fatty tuna), Maguro (bluefin tuna), Hirame (Fluke) + more
Hotate - Scallop | maitake mushroom, chinese chive vin, candied bacon jam
Suzuki - Bass | maguro shirodashi, lemongrass, garlic

Lobster Carbonara | Maine lobster, ramen noodles

Korean Ricecakes | kalni oxtail, kimchee butter, gremolata

This meal had been on my bucket list for awhile, I was so grateful for this exceptional and really fun birthday dinner!

Uni

370 Commonwealth Ave

Boston, MA 02215