Puritan & Co.

Here you have Chef Will Gilson's almost a decade-old original spot, Puritan & Company, and this is my first time here!! On our 3rd Wedding Anniversary in May of 2021 life was coming-out-of-the-fog but still on strict pandemic era time. Mask wearing was full on and tables were spaced strangely around restaurants like the ones here awkwardly fronting the bar. I was newly pregnant with my son, Ryder. I don't remember exactly what we ate but it went something like: crab toast, burrata salad, orecchiette in short rib ragout and brown butter cod over creamy risotto. Puritan’s team made us feel cozy and celebrated - and all the dishes of inspired New England fare were really, really good!

Puritan & Company

1166 Cambridge Street

Cambridge, MA 02139

Bar Mezzana

Bar Mezzana opened this past spring in the South Ends new Ink Block development boasting an ultra modern atmosphere with sleek white subway tiled walls and crisp blue banquets. To match the glossy, airy space, Chef Colin Lynch is serving simple yet elegant Coastal Italian cuisine - beautiful crudo, thoughtful, approachable crostini and soulful homemade pasta. 

What we devoured (next time, more crudo is necessary!): 

Crudo: Salmon with green chile salsa verde ($12)

Crostini: Chicken Liver, bacon, onion ($10)

Cocktails: Five Days of Milan ($12) Mad River Revolution Rye, meletti 1870, meletti amaro / 

Stirred Beetle ($12) St George Terror gin, bruto americano, cocchi americano rosa

Homemade Pastas: Orecchiette ($21) sausage, fennel, radicchio / 

Farro Tagliatelle ($22) duck ragout. 

Dessert: Affogatto ($5)

Boston Magazine recently came out with their Top 25 New Restaurants of 2016 - a list I look forward to perusing to see which of my favorites made the cut and which restaurants I need to add to my list for 2017! Bar Mezzana comes in strong at #7. I concur - the food and the hospitality in this space are worth the hype. 

And because I am constantly getting asked for Boston favorites - new spots to take out of town guests, date nights, you name it - check out the new restaurants I am a big fan of that made the critics list, too! 
#18: Branch Line / #17: Little Big Diner / #11: Tiger Mama / #7: Yvonne's / #5: Little Donkey / #3: Waypoint / #2: SRV / 

Restaurant goals for 2017 include - #4: Uni / #4: Mamaleh's / #9: Juliet / #12: Season to Taste / #14: Saltie Girl / #20: Ganko Ittetsu Ramen / Plus: Asta, Café Sushi, Giulia, Hojoko + Shepard.  

{edited to add that in 2017 I made it to: Uni, Saltie Girl and Shepard!}

Since we're on a roll - Boston Magazine's annual list of the best in town -  50 Best Restaurants in Boston is worth a glance. I'm digging deep into the blogs archives for some of these....so if you need a recommendation, enjoy! Alden + Harlow / B&G Oysters / Banyan Bar + Refuge / Bergamot / Bistro di Midi / Brewers Fork / Coppa / Craigie on Main / Erbaluce / Grill 23 / Island Creek Oyster Bar / Kirkland Tap + Trotter / La Brasa / Mei Mei / Menton / Myers + Chang / Neptune Oyster / No. 9 Park / Oleana / O Ya / Row 34 / Sarma / Select Oyster Bar / Shōjō / Strip T's / Sweet Cheeks / Sycamore / Toro. 

What were your favorite Boston restaurant openings this year and where do you want to eat in 2017?!

Bar Mezzana

360 Harrison Avenue

Boston, MA 02118

winter mix

All the things! (The holidays, winter tea juleps, making good use of my dining room, the light in my dining room, precious newborn babies, plaid shirts, winter beers, and snow. Always snow.)

Marco | North End

I lived in the North End for four years and I have been recommending restaurants to friends and strangers ever since. In fact, it was one of the main reasons I started this blog, teemed with the fact that I enjoyed photographing good looking plates of food, just because. (Before it became so trendy that it wasn't - or more likely is I jumped on a bandwagon unknown to me at the time.) I digress. Even though I moved over the bridge to Charlestown, those tourist laden streets of Little Italy still beckon. I miss them. And I'm strangely, fiercely loyal to this neighborhood in all its classic Italian glory. It is a shame that I couldn't recommend Marco, Chef Marc Orfaly's intimate roman trattoria, sooner.

I have known about Marco all the while, it sits quietly unassuming on the busiest section of Hanover Street, perched on the second floor above Caffe Paradiso. As we made our way up the discreet staircase for the first time, entering the cozy nook of a dining room anchored by a working fireplace with elegant hardwood floors, exposed brick walls, antique rustic beams and only a handful of tables, I couldn't believe what I had been missing out on. Our window side table was romantic in its simplicity, set with white lilies in a Sanbitter bottle vase, a flickering tea light, and lending an ideal people watching view.
At a glance their cocktail menu wasn't particularly intriguing. I noted standards (cosmo, bellini, mojito) and decided to stick with a glass of Prosecco ($9). They don't have a full alcohol license but make do with flavored spirits and liquor. Adam ordered their version of an Old Fashioned ($11) (think meets Negroni, with a Cherry flavored Whiskey) which made me think twice about passing one up, it was excellent! The small Italian wine list focuses on family run and boutique wineries. To pair with our entrees I chose the house Nero d'Avola ($26) a great value (about four glasses worth) offered by the carafe. 

After the atmosphere and the first round of drinks impressed, in swoops the bread course, a delightful gesture of bite size rosemary and garlic dusted focaccia squares served with house caponata containing olives, eggplant, onions, peppers and the obligatory side of olive oil for dipping. 

The Antipasto di Marco ($18) is a revelation of handsomely presented, simple delicacies on a heavy wood board. On top of a trio of delectable imported salumi: soppressata, mortadella and salami sits neatly spooned heaps of a chickpea and carrot salad, marinated roasted red peppers, shredded eggplant, mashed tuna and tangy anchovies draped over white beans. Even more perfect bites, hot peppers stuffed with hunks of mozzarella, slices of creamy burrata and grilled bread. Finally, piled in the center is a mash up of cornichons, olives, caperberries and pickled cauliflower. There is a tiny bar across the dining room which is mostly empty. I picture myself returning just to sit there and snack feast on this. 

The pasta dishes are superb - elevated by house made meats. In my Orecchiette Alla Salsica ($25) with peas and favas, there is free form house made sausage, while Adam's Rigatoni alle Polpette di Maile ($25) features Berkshire Pork Meatballs in tomato gravy. We both went with full portions and I took plenty of leftovers home so depending on your appetite, or your next destination, you might consider a half for $14. 

We decided to skip for dessert! I was even feeling too stuffed for a cappuccino and tiramisu, which is so not like me.

Where simple romance is matched with exquisite Italian cuisine, Marco is the true definition of a North End hidden gem. Bravi! 

Marco

253 Hanover St #2

Boston, MA 02113

Carmen Trattoria

I have lived in the North End for a long time now and still I am never without a different restaurant to try. I love discovering new-to-me-spots just as much as I adore revisiting old favorites. Carmen is one I immediately came to regret not visiting sooner. A small trattoria tucked away in the ever quaint and cobblestone lined North Square, Carmen serves memorable Italian cuisine in a intensely dark and extremely cozy brick walled space. The cave like interior with a wine bar nestled in the front is perfect for an intimate date night, while the dimly lit close quarters make for less than ideal photo conditions. The cuisine is defined as old country Italian, it remains comforting with a sophisticated touch.

Definitely order the Steamed Wellfleet Clams ($16) with hot homemade mustard, fennel and cream to begin the meal. A heaping bowl of plump briny delicacies come bathing in a tantalizing cream where sliced fennel accompanies grainy mustard pearls. This dish is exquisitely pungent, not only do the clams benefit from an innovative preparation, I was eating the creamy, spicy, mustard laced broth by the spoonful.  This is perhaps one of the best clam appetizers I've had, ever.

For my entrée I chose the Orecchiette ($25) which came with sweet Italian sausage, broccoli rabe, tomatoes and herbed bread crumbs. The orecchiette itself was excellent, cooked to a toothsome al dente, while the the broccoli rabe and the sweet Italian sausage were equally delicious. The dish had one major downfall being that the tomato sauce was severely over-salted. It tasted like the result of an unfortunate kitchen mishap, but I can not say for sure as I have only been here once. The red sauce became more abrasive with every bite, to eventually overpower the well executed ingredients. It was a bummer!

Adam ordered the Pan Seared Duck Breast ($29). This was fantastic. A tender pan seared breast comes executed to the desired medium rare with a crispy skin in a luscious pomegranate reduction, with a smooth and creamy sweet potato puree and plenty of savory sautéed kale. Red sauce is pretty basic, so I would give Carmen the benefit of the doubt on this one and not hold it against them, especially since I still liked the components of my dish and loved everything else we ate. I was smitten with the romantic interior and we had great service. Our hostess was welcoming and bubbly and our waitress fit the bill, she was professional yet easy going. It was a lovely date night. I'm so bummed for all that salt!

All things considered, they still get my vote. The next time you are faced with the daunting task of where to eat out in the North End, you might consider Carmen!

Carmen 

33 North Street

Boston, MA 02113

Al Fresco Dining at Rialto

In 1992 Esquire Magazine named Jody Adams one of America’s best young chefs to keep your eye on. Four years later Bon Apetit named Rialto one of the top 25 hotel restaurants in the country. In 1997 she won a James Beard Award. Clearly, people took Esquire's advice because that list goes on. And on. And present day, over fifteen years later, this amicable chef is still delighting restaurant goers and Charles Hotel visitors with her simple yet sophisticated approach to Italian cuisine. Inside Rialto's peaceful dining room with sweeping gauze curtains and soothing color tones you overlook Harvard Square. It was here where I first experienced not only Jody's cooking by way of a three course lunch; but her warmth and generosity as a person and prowess as a chef through a demonstrative cooking class. This time around, I was joined by my friends Amy, Emily, Megan and Bianca for dinner on the terrace. Equally as relaxing and relatively new to the scene (opened last spring) is the shaded outdoor space defined by an orange awning, those same wispy curtains and strands of small white light bulbs. We started off with cocktails, I ordered an Equinox ($11) made with Hayman’s Old Tom Gin, Aperol, grapefruit & lemon bitters.Aperol is my latest go-to, this Italian Aperitif delights with its presence in various cocktails both in taste and in presentation (that bright orange color, swoon!) In addition, we were greeted with a glass of bubbly poured by Rialto's Wine Director, Allie Foote. To eat this evening we shared a little bit of everything. The appetizers began with Lourdes’ Burrata ($15) served with pickled greens, sliced fava beans and spiced anchovy. I love the understated whimsy to the presentation, the colorful elements forming a little circus ring around the burrata.A salad appropriately named Simple Lettuce ($12) consisted of frisee and pickled melons coated lightly in a lemon chardonnay vinaigrette. I do think $12 seemed overpriced for a small salad, but I did enjoy this as a light starter. When our waitress described the Cod Cheeks special we quickly added it to our order. A delicate batter encases morsels of fresh cod served with a creamy elevated tartar sauce, radishes and ramps. This was one of my favorites!

The Prosciutto di Parma ($16) was excellent, beholding a soft stinky blue cheese, arugula, thinly shaved beets and walnuts.Off the bar menu we couldn't pass up some Crispy Fried Calamari ($7) with pepperoncini, lemon and olive oil.

I am so glad Bianca convinced us to order the Roasted Duck Sandwich ($12) loaded with Gruyère, gingered figs and hand cut fries. The fries are chips, but they are truly sensational, as is the sandwich. On the other hand, $12 was a pretty reasonable price for this sandwich, proving the bar menu extremely worth while if you're dining on a budget!

The chef sent out three complimentary side dishes. The first was Local Barley ($8) which I didn't care for - I guess I'm just not a huge barley fan?

However, I loved the Pan Seared Mushrooms ($8) flavored with herbs, shallots, white balsamic and served in the cutest mini cast iron cauldron.

I was also a fan of the Spring Vegetables ($8) which were cooked until tender in shallots and parsley.

Rialto's pasta dishes are remarkable. They are offered in half portions, ideal for those of us who like to sample and share. The Lobster Bucatini ($16/$30) is made with green and red tomatoes and seasoned with chilis and saffron.

The Orecchiette ($15/$28) has greens, garlic scapes and house made sausage. The pastas embrace a delicate elegance and both prove incredibly satisfying.

You will want to linger over dessert at Rialto, where pairing fresh seasonal fruits with expertly constructed pastries and a dusting of nuts are the main focus. The Rhubarb Rose Meringue ($12) with pistachio and strawberry-rhubarb sorbet was a flawless example.

Sfogliatelle ($12) was sent out with the chef's compliments. The raspberry mint sorbet and pine nut sauce was a refreshingly unique combination.

The Summer Fruit Crostata ($12) with brandied blackberries and a peach ice cream to finish off the trio was equally as exciting.

Rialto proved tonight why it continues to stand out among a crowd, whether you narrow it down to the Harvard Square scene, broaden the scope to include Cambridge and Boston dining alike, or look to the vast category of Hotel Restaurants and Bars nationwide. As with my lunch and cooking class last November, I will fondly remember this summer evening on the patio!

Rialto Restaurant + Bar

1 Bennet St

Cambridge, MA 02138