Traveling Foodie in 4" Stilettos

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

2013 Taste of the South End @Cyclorama, Boston, MA

Maybe it was the excitement, or the lack of guidance by the door hosts, or my ravenous appetite, but though my friend and I held VIP tickets, I foolishly traveled onto the main floor in childlike delight to begin making rounds before the major crowds, only to realize that had I only looked to my left upon entering or to the right while waiting for my coat check ticket, I would have realized the VIP Lounge was there awaiting our entrance...no such luck! We were totally stuffed by the time we realized where it was at the end of the night.

I've attended several food and cocktail philanthropic events at the Cyclorama over the past year and a half or so, but this was my first Taste of the South End. I will be sure to pay attention next time around (if I'm still in the city) or perhaps skip the couple of bubbly aperitifs with Mark at Hamersley's Bistro beforehand.

On to the Yummy Bites:

Haley House presented a nice spicy white meat Jerk chicken, with collards and whipped naturally sweet potato.

Keeping up with the spice, we enjoyed a beautiful chicken tikka masala, Basmati rice, Veggie Samosas and Saag Paneer by Mela

An interesting Indian-Italian fused Masala ravioli by Da Vinci Ristorante

Kitchen showed off a number of pates, sausages and jerky. My favorite being the hot smoked venison sausage!

Aquitane's Socca Crepes with roasted mushrooms, Swiss chard, and Cantal fondue

Hamersley's Bistro smoked, spiced fish and dill cream topping

B&G Oysters' fresh, shucked oysters...

Beautifully, tender pork (whole roasted pig) served with Vigoron salad by Chef Rodriguez of Orinoco

Chef Karen Akunowicz, Executive Chef at Myers & Chang and one of my favorite chefs in the city, presented a lovely salmon and honey apple crisp tartare with a spicy soy vinaigrette, pomegranate, on an airy sesame crisp

El Centro's lovely plates. I absolutely loved the salmon dish in a light sauce with microgreens and tortilla crisps. The zucchini and squash dish was lovely as well.

Fresh smoked salmon on baguette was served up by a favorite French bistro Petit Robert

I couldn't get past the truffle oil on Davio's gnocchi with mushrooms and shaved Parmesan

Yummy deviled eggs with housemade pickles and pickled carrot by Chef Eric Gburski of Estelle's!

Masa offered a refreshing habanero watermelon margarita and a delicious poblano vegan chili!

The Stephi's on Tremont team demonstrated real teamwork and served up a tasty dish of tender braised short rib over toasted brown butter farro, with Brussels sprouts, and butternut squash and fig glaze!

Whole Foods knocked it out of the park with their spoons of layered flavor, color, and texture:

Mistral

Stir's Niçoise Salad

The Beehive's shrimp and grit with a nice roux and Cajun spice

I believe it was The Butchershop that served this beautifully rich soup:

The Gallows served these toasted marshmallow treats:

There were many more great dishes and my favorite wine station of the the evening was of course Rodney Strong!

Proceeds (ticket costs and auctioned items) benefit the Aids Action Committee http://www.aac.org/

Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Save-The-Date April: 2nd Annual "What's Your Beef?" Fundraiser at the Boston Center for Adult Education, Boston, MA

BCAE (Boston Center for Adult Education), one of my favorite places in the city will host their second annual fundraiser event: "What's Your Beef?"

Check out my review of the 1st annual "What's Your Beef?" event here.

Boston’s Top Chefs and NECN’s Billy Costa Join the Boston Center for Adult Education at Second Annual Fundraiser

Date:

April 18, 2013

Location:

Boston Center for Adult Eduction, 122 Arlington Street,   Boston, MA

Tickets:

           Chef's Table - $250
           5:45PM - VIP reception including Island Creek Oyster Tasting

            6:30PM - Chef's Table seating (Only 24 seats available!)

· Wüsthof gift bag

· Includes all food and beverage

$215 of ticket price is tax deductible

VIP Admission - $150
5:45PM - VIP reception including Island Creek Oyster Tasting

· Wüsthof gift bag

· Includes all food and beverage

$115 of ticket price is tax deductible

General Admission - $100
6:30pm – Doors open

· Includes all food and beverage

$70 of ticket price is tax deductible

Sponsors and Participating Chefs:

Each featured chefs will break down a different cut of beef into a one-of-a kind dish.

Michael Scelfo of Russell House Tavern will show what he can do with short ribs.

Tiffani Faison of Sweet Cheeks will cook up brisket.

Jason Bond of Bondir will turn chuck into a dish fit for a gourmet.

Danny Bua of The Painted Burro will tackle the flank

Brian Reyelt of Citizen Public House & Oyster Bar will take on the rib-eye

Will Gilson of Puritan & Co. focuses on the sirloin

Kevin O’Donnell of The Salty Pig and Louie DiBiccari of Storyville and Tavern Road will bring up the rear with the round cut and the shank.

If meat is not on your personal menu, Karen Akunowicz of Myers + Chang will provide a vegetarian option.

Dessert will be served and all are invited to enjoy perfectly crafted cocktails by Market by Jean-Georges’ Domingo-Martin Barreres.

For many of the BCAE’s scholarship and tuition voucher students, a class can be a life changing experience. Consider the deeper meaning of a class that adds much needed skills to an unemployed mother’s resume, or an art class that allows a domestic violence victim to find hope. As the oldest education non-profit in New England, the BCAE strives to provide all students with affordable access to education, but prices can still be prohibitive for those that need them most. And that? That’s everyone’s beef.

SPONSORS: Edible Boston, Northeast Family Farms, 90+ Cellars, Island Creek Oysters, Peak Organic Brewing Company, Boston Organics, Peterson Party Center, Vermont Farmstead Cheese Company, Espresso Plus, Veterra, Sons of Liberty Spirits Company, NECN, Wüsthof, Vegware, Filippo Berio Olive Oil, and Hunt’s Photo & Video.

RSVP:

RSVP is necessary.

Please visit education.bcae.org/whatsyourbeef.html or call the Boston Center for Adult Education at 617-267-4430.

Media release modified from:

Image Unlimited Communications, Ltd.

http://www.imageunlimited-boston.com

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Book Review: Strange Foods: Bush Meat, Bats, and Butterflies; An Epicurean Adventure Around the World

Not a new book (November 1999), but new to my obsession of buying food-related book and even tons of Cookbooks, without plans to actually use the recipes in my own kitchen...I just love reading about food and honing food description tools for writing, Strange Foods: Bush Meat, Bats, and Butterflies; An Epicurean Adventure Around the World by Jerry Hopkins (author) and Michael Freeman (photos) has been a fun book to read!

Absolutely stunning yet not appalling colored images of "strange" foods: a bisected Filipino belut egg with prominent feathers, beak and wings of the partially developed duck embryo; the smiling face of Dr. Li, an herbalist at a restaurant in Singapore, displaying a prized wine-infused deer penis; a rustic image of large rubber band bound waterbugs surrounded by fresh, brilliant, green Thai chili, deep lavender whole shallots, and lovely scallions, awaiting their transformation into a spicy dip.

The photographs and the black and white sketches are intriguing and beautiful and somehow not extremely shocking. The book is full of smiling and par-for-the-course faces of natives preparing, eating, or displaying delicacies.

The text: Educational, low level scientific, and health-forward: calculating the fat content or protein yield of songbirds over red meat.

I do have one confession. I consider myself an adventurous eater - I'll try anything twice, and I love snails (classic escargot, with garlic, butter, and parsley) - yet it was hard for me to stomach the page on 'creamed slugs in a mushroom cream sauce and the multi-step process for removing their protective slime. Somehow, I was transported back to my childhood when I heartlessly poured table salt over these poor creatures inhabiting my grandmother's large wooden porch during summer months. Perhaps it's just guilt.

I consider this book to be every "foodie's" must read, with attractive sub-chapters such as "Dirt", "Poisonous Plants", "Genitalia", "Urine", "Butterflies & Moths", this is sure to served as an entertaining read and hopefully inspiration to gourmands who love to travel the world or are willing to creep into the the secret places of their own metropolitan cities to discover something... exotic.

I purchased my copy of "Strange Foods..." on Amazon.com, here.

What's the "strangest" thing you've ever tried at the dinner table? You can comment below.

Have you read this book?

Thursday, March 7, 2013

2013 Food and Drink Trends (Originally written for the Association of Food Bloggers

Originally written for the Association of Food Bloggers' Restaurant News Section:

2013 Food and Drink Trends

Posted on 22 February 2013

By Markeya Williams

2012 was an exciting year for many food and cocktail trends. It was also the year that ended with many trends on the horizon and awaiting their turn to blossom from the minds of geniuses and out into the world to turn us on.

Leave your ‘sweet tooth’ behind

2013 is the year of the bitter, sour, and spicy! Let’s talk digestifs if you will; though it does appear to be and odd place to begin.

Amaro. Interpreted as “bitter” in Italiano. 2012 ended with great interest in such digestifs as Averna and Fernet-Branca, which made quite the reintroduction to society along with aperitifs such as Campari and Aperol.

The American palate is being forcefully pushed toward bitter and herbaceous and we should all be grateful. Don’t believe me? Next time you’re out on the town, order a Fernet-Branca or perhaps a Menta-Branca and watch your bartender’s eyes light up then hold on to your chair for the astringent, though pleasantly smooth and very grown up experience that is Fernet.

House made (wonderfully inviting new buzzwords) bitters, simple syrups, and shrub syrups.
It’s a pretty surreal experience to sit at the oak in your favorite watering hole and observe hand-written labels boasting “grapefruit shrub” or “house bitter blend”. It almost takes you back to Organic Chemistry class, but with a more entertaining result.

Photo Credit: Markeya K. Williams (DrFoodie Photography). ArtBar (Cambridge, Massachusetts)

House made hot sauce is also challenging us all beyond Texas Pete (not that there’s anything wrong with that). But aged, fermented Korean chili paste (gochujang) and even fresh horseradish based hot sauces are leading the way these days. Most are simple, but brace you for a few with a storyline.

Photo Credit: Markeya K. Williams (DrFoodie Photography). Kitchen (Boston, Massachusetts) Chef Scott Herritt’s Frog legs with House made Hot Sauce

Salted & Boozy Desserts

Not so unusual in Asian cuisine, salted desserts are capturing and holding the attention Westerners. Salted caramel has eased us into this trend. We’ve found salted caramel swirled in vanilla ice cream, enjoyed bacon chocolate, stout(ed) chocolate, bacon cotton candy, and salted caramel candies/chocolates. It’s quite an interesting ride! Adult milkshakes (think banana with rum) are also all the rave!

Photo Credit: Markeya K. Williams (DrFoodie Photography)

Photo Credit: Markeya K. Williams (DrFoodie Photography) Corn popsicle at The Painted Burro Mexican Restaurant (Somerville, MA)

Mei Mei’s Kitchen (Boston) Cider ice cream w/ salmon roe and brown butter powder

Crisp fried chicken livers with orange marmalade, fried tobacco onion, and garlic seared greens. Estelle’s Southern Cuisine (Boston, MA)

Fun-Filled Deviled Eggs

I never imagined such a phrase would ever be written, but restaurants everywhere seem to be competing on how to design the trendiest deviled egg. Think smoked, spicy chicken liver, pesto, or smoked salmon with capers and you’ll understand what I mean.

Spicy, Smoked Chicken Liver Deviled Eggs. Estelle’s Southern Cuisine (Boston, MA)

Not Your Average Kid’s Meal

Fancy kiddos celebrate! Your child is not a second class diner with limited choices of chicken nuggets and mac n’ cheese. Even the palates of babes are becoming more sophisticated. Treat
your little gourmands to panko hand-breaded chicken, whole grain items, pot stickers, even small filet mignon and they may not expect a toy afterwards.