Random Snapshots of Good Times with Great Friends @ Silvertone, Trade, Audubon, and Wink & Nod, Boston, MA

Random night...with Veuve...who says you have to have a reason to celebrate with champagne?

Dr. Andrew Rausch, Summer Williams, Dr. Markeya Williams (DrFoodie) enjoying some bubbly.  #RandomMondays

Let me upgrade ya!

From the Champagne of Beers to Veuve Cliquot

After the Sonoma Wine Group private wine tasting focus group...

Sips with Tenzin @ Trade

Games any night @ Audubon!  Who doesn't like drawing on the bar???

 

Tiki Night at Wink & Nod with Brother Cleve 

Waterfront/Marina Bay Quincy, Memorial Day

Downtown Crossing

Estragon

THE Soul Food Burger...Need I say more??? @ JM Curley, Boston, MA

One fateful evening on Twitter I came upon a mouthwatering twit pic of Chef Sam Monsour's interesting creation: "The Soul Food Burger"!  I immediately tweeted my commitment to check it out.

I love when I find inspiration for writing about a food experience in the most random of situations.  I was packing for Barbados' Food+Wine+Rum Festival, when I came across a maxi dress and a vintage dress, both of which triggered by memory of the Soul Food Burger.

   Here's are a few pics of the dresses:

The two on the right are from Derby Day during the Mint Julep Crawl I hosted May 2012

This was my first visit to JM Curley and certainly will not be my last.  I've read much about the burgers, but I was also impressed with the mac & cheese, partly because mac & cheese is one of those hit or miss dishes on restaurant menus.

Upon arrival, we had the pleasure of being seated by the iconic Patrick Maguire, author of the blog "Server Not Servant".  It's always fun to meet bloggers/industry folks who's work you admire.

We had several servers working in sync taking good care of the section.  The atmosphere was dim and mellow with quiet chatter from surrounding tables and the bar area.  The menu design was simple and its contents laced with comfort food and entertaining quirky/snarky rules on proper behavior within the establishment with which I absolutely agree!  I was just glad to see that the phrase "No Food Photography" did not make the list.

Seated next to us was a group of people whom Chef Monsour apparently knew.  He came out to speak to the group, but didn't fail to acknowledge and greet us and others in the dining area...a real class act.

The bar offered two of my favorite cocktail classics of which I had a couple:  The Manhattan and a Classic Champagne Cocktail (Called "Mister Bubbles" @JM Curley).

So, this Soul Food Burger was EVERYTHING!  I've never been one to order burgers at a full service restaurant, but with this one, I very much identified with Richard Chudy (of Boston Burger Blog) and his perpetual search for the perfect burger.  

The Soul Food Burger was well-seasoned and juicy, served on a buttery, toasted sesame seed bun and layered with  tender collard greens, pimento cheese sauce, and candied yam crema! It was spicy... it was savory... it was simply wonderful...

...and what a beauty:

Sorry KFC, THIS is finger-lickin' good!

The Soul Food Burger!

The presentation of the squash hush puppies was Thanksgiving dinner on a bread and butter plate!  The hush puppies were served with turkey neck gravy, cranberry cinnamon butter,  and pop’s stuffing spice.  They were moist on the inside and crisp on the outside.  Though I am a fan of marrying sweet and savory, I enjoyed the cranberry-cinnamon butter best.

Squash hush puppies

We really enjoyed the cast iron mac & cheese made with Cottrell Old Yankee ale and Grafton maple smoked cheddar.  The consistency was perfect, not watery, not dry- which is important to me.  Remarkable flavors came through over tender pasta.

The smoked trout rillettes potato skins were topped with charred leeks, sour cream, parsley, smoked trout and bacon.

Smoked Trout Rillettes Potato Skin

Neither my friend nor I were moved by the Beer and Cheese soup (made with Ellie's brown ale, Vermont cheddar, and Texas Pete hot sauce), but perhaps Tabasco sauce (which my friend didn't request) or more Texas Pete could have been helpful.  I'll try again.

The braised beef cheek gorditas were apparently so great the kitchen ran out by the time of my visit.  I'll be back for those amongst other eye-catching items on the menu.

JM Curley:  Consider me a new fan!

1st Annual Boston Cocktail Summit: The Thing "Salty" Black Tie Event @ Locke-Ober (Now Closed. Tragically)

 

For what turned out to be one of the last cocktail events at the iconic space "The Thing", held at Locke-Ober was a pretty amazing event filled with fashionable friends and snazzy industry folks likeKirsten Amann, Jackson Cannon, Josh Childs, Ted Kilpatrick, and Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli, amongst others.

With the attire calling for "salty" black tie and proceeds benefiting "Meet the Worms" (an initiative by the Barbara Lynch Foundation which helps educate children on the importance of health and nutrition), how could anyone resist? 

Me and Danette of Yum! Food Food

Photo by Natasha Moustache Photography: Me, Christopher Bidmead, and his beautiful locks ;0)

Several handcraft cocktails were featured on each of the 3 floors with my favorite served up by Troy Clarke and Kirsten "Kitty" Amann:

The "Ward 8" cocktail was created in 1898 at Locke-Ober, made with rye whiskey, fresh orange and lemon juice, and grenadine/maraschino cherry.

Troy Clarke serving up the good stuff!  How do you like that ice cube?!?  Love a good punch!!!

Emma Hollander mixing up the Margs!

A perfect pour!

Jackson Cannon

Shannon Bullard Sweetser

Andrew busting a move and being photo bombed. Ha!

Photo-bomber and friend :0)

Noah. Playing the air flute??? :0)

Milk punch producer @ Catalyst ;0)

Felt, 533 Washington St, Boston, MA (Downtown Crossing)

I FELT extreme disappointment with my experience dining here (corny pun, I know).

Service:

Our server was flighty and clearly inexperienced in the industry. 
I ordered sauteed mushrooms as a side dish with my chicken and mash entree...she proceeded to bring them out as an entree.  Her pacing was awful to the point where the 'manager' began to help out with our table and the other FOUR (yes, only FOUR) other tables.

We were enticed into Felt with a BuywithMe certificate and the online menu looked decent enough.  The server was not sure what to do with the certificate...ok, fair enough, maybe she's never processed one before (but I'm a veteran with these things and have never experienced that before)  it was as if I handed her some old school foodstamps as payment....deer in the headlights!

The manager eventually comes over and tries to convince us that Buywithme defrauded the company and sold certificates without their consent....hmmmm, that's a new one. 
He decided to 'honor the certificate anyway'.  Oh, gee, thanks!

Anywho...the food:

The stuffed mushrooms tasted like canned 'shrooms and were over-salted, as was my chicken, and the other entree which consisted of some type of goat or feta cheese and crostini creation.  The mushrooms were not actually stuffed since they were small and still had the stems (not stuffed caps) with tomato and other stuff dumped on top.  The mash that came with my chicken entree was thin and tasted like watery boxed potatoes. My dining companion said his chicken sandwich was dry...overall, the quality of the meal was amateur at best.  The velvet seats in the dining booths were dirty and stained (wish I'd wished I noticed before sitting down to eat).  This place is just gross!   
Thank goodness we didn't pay full price for this disaster of a meal!

I contacted Buywithme regarding Felt's accusations.  They investigated and found this to be a false claim and refunded my money spent on the certificate.

(Now Closed) Mantra (Indian Cuisine), 52 Temple Place, Boston, MA (Downtown Crossing)

I usually have decent things to say about Mantra, but on Tuesday night (3/1/2011) I had a reservation via opentable.com at 7:30, was not seated until after 8:00 and the service was extremely slow with poor pacing between courses. We did not receive our food until almost 9:30 and the appetizer order was incorrect. Even my side dish came after I was halfway done with my filet mignon. I'm not sure if I will return or recommend Mantra again as I have so many times in the past.
If anything, I'd recommend having dinner at the bar.

7/2011:

I had a friend visiting from Turks & Caicos and we were milling around looking for lunch on a Saturday in Downtown Crossing since Kingston Station was not open at the time.  So, I decide to head into Mantra.
My new recommendation is that the lunch buffet is THE best time to go to Mantra!  The spread was pretty great and there's no need to worry about receiving poor service!  The price was decent at $12 from 11:30-2:30 daily.
The buffet has okra dishes (masala and fried), chicken tikka masala, vegetable fritters,vegetable biryani, tandoori chicken....all the favorite staples.

Kingston Station, 25 Kingston St Boston, MA 02111(Downtown Crossing)

Update - 9/20/2011

How did I miss this before???
The maple syrup home-churned butter served as a spread for the just average bread was pretty awesome!  I think after the first bite, I tuned my dinner guest out for about 30 seconds!
What a lovely touch!

I tried the chicken vegetable soup last night as well.  Pretty tasty!  I was pleasantly surprised by the healthy serving of shredded chicken and the broth had great flavor!

8/26/2011

I usually go for drinks, but the first meal I had here was pretty fantastic.  The tuna tartare was super spicy and delicious and the pasta bolognese was one of the best I've had which is pretty shocking.
I love that they now have live music.  The talent is pretty great and I always have great service.
Their cocktail menu has some interesting items.  I actually enjoyed the French 75 AND I ACTUALLY HATE GIN...but I'm guessing if you add champagne to it, I'd drink just about anything :0)
The Fidel Castro and the Moscow Mule are pretty tasty as well.

I have an upcoming reservation this weekend and hope to be able to update this review with more great picks! 

Kingston Station Website:

www.kingstonstation.com

Max & Dylan's Kitchen+Bar, Boston, MA (Downtown Crossing) 15 West St Boston, MA 02111

West Street in Boston's Downtown Crossing neighborhood feels "alley-ish" like most places on those side-streets.  The atmosphere of M&D's fits the bill.  Everyone from 'teamster-looking' guys to the financial industry's afterwork gentleman were collected at this watering hole.
Small space but not claustrophobic; the ambiance was welcoming.

I am a fan of the lobster mac n' cheese and the spinach + artichoke hearts man n' cheese.  The pasta was cooked nicely in both.  The lobster mac had nice portions of claw meat chunks and the artichokes were an interesting addition to the other.
I wasn't a fan of their house prosecco, but I suppose I could get over it.  The bartender worked nicely with my request for a cucumber martini sans Hendrick's gin, replaced with Ketel One.  The St. Germain was a nice touch.

The New Orleans style bbq shrimp with ciabatta didn't remind me of "Nawlins" in the least, but had a good flavor, though the shrimp could have benefited from being cooked about 45 seconds more.

The space (downstairs) was just average, nothing extraordinary to discuss.  The server (Allison) and hostess were both polite.

On a solid GOOD note:  My dinner companion, who signed up for their fan club awhile ago, was able to get a FREE entree (without restrictions) for her birthday!
Plus they validate par
king for 10 bucks at the Hyatt around the corner!

I will go back to try more...


Max & Dylan's Website:

www.maxanddylans.com/downtown.html