Where?

I'm sorry for my absence. My life has gotten quite hectic as most normal adults' lives tend to be. I'm certainly not any different for sure. But I've been so uninspired by food in Boston as of late that I don't really feel much like talking about it. Even my old stand-bys have let me down considerably. Why, why, why?

Boston is a city with a considerably smart population of people that tend to eat out quite a bit. I think I eat out for perhaps, on average, 4 of my dinners a week. Sometimes out of sheer laziness but mostly because I'm trying to connect with various friends and breaking bread is a very good way to bridge the gap in terms of spending time with folks.

The best way to sum up my past month with food might be a quick list. A quick and very disappointing list.

1.) Oleana - The meal that mattered the most to me this past month. My parents were in town and meeting my betrothed for the first time. My mom wanted to go here because she enjoyed the carrot soup and thought the food to be fresh and nicely prepared. I made the reservation and was so excited to share E with my folks.

A few slips in terms of service. 1.) table wasn't ready, really no big deal, but didn't even offer us water or a seat at the bar while waiting. 2.) the server was a real pompous bitch. Understand it takes a lot for me to say that about any server. But when my Dad yelled out "waitress" (he comes from a different generation all together) I had to smile. Typically, I'd be mortified and correct my Dad. But this girl was so rude and so condescending that I didn't care. Typically, service doesn't really get to me much but this time it really bugged me. It also goes into my next gripe.

The food kinda blew. That carrot soup my Mom had been looking forward to wasn't on the menu and instead of being sweet about it being missing, our "waitress" (hahaa) kinda glared at my Mom and seemed to lack any sort of sympathy. I ordered a haloumi and squash blossom appetizer. The apps took forever to arrived and we had to beg for bread. When mine arrived it was aflame in ouzo (I think). It finally burned off or so I thought and I proceeded to dig in. Only to find myself choking on a mix of cheese and alcohol. The alcohol had not all burned off and it seemed that maybe the cheese had absorbed the alcohol. It was soaked in the stuff to the point where I couldn't eat it. Sigh.

I think we all liked dessert which took forever. It was the slowest meal ever plus one of the rudest I've had. It was such an awful experience that I'm now crossing Oleana off my list of loves and standards. The meal that mattered the most to me was a big huge f-cked up mess. It was stressful because of the server and the food. And instead of focusing on making this big meeting go as smooth as possible, I found myself focused on the slowness of the dishes to appear, the bitchiness of our server, the lack of attention to the amount of flaming alcohol on my cheese.
Sigh.

2.) Lockobers. My family went here for my Dad's 70th birthday. They told us that they could accommodate two four year old boys with a plate of spaghetti or a grilled cheese. They didn't and wouldn't. And for the amount of money my Mom blew on that place (four digits), it was the least they could do. Food was heavy and rich. Again, I was disgusted at what was a complete lack of customer service when it came time to make good on a promise to be flexible about a meal for my two young nephews. Not cool.

3.) Beacon Hill Bistro. Meal was eh. We sat at the bar and the bartender was a nice guy (no Lee for sure!) but not fantastic because he didn't seem to show much of his own personality. But he was capable and that seemed to be good enough. The skate I was ordered was a skate wing plopped on a piece of squash with some spinach and hazelnuts. It was the most disjointed meal I'v eaten in a long time. It lacked seasoning and connection. It was just weird. I think E's pasta was ok. She didn't really have much to say so that's not a great sign. We did order dessert b/c I was intrigued by the walnut tart (very good) and the peach pie (so late in the season but not very good).

4.) Eastern Standard. My absolute go to place! My last meal with my star employee and we both got the mac and cheese. It's usually gooey and cheesey with a crispy buttery bread crumb topping. It's everything a mac and cheese should be. It's rich and you kinda feel ill after eating it, but it so amazingly good, you kinda always have to order it! Well, they changed the recipe!!!!!! It now includes ham. You know, I love pork but I'm a mac& cheese purist and ham is not suppose to be in my mac and cheese! Plus it's not nearly as creamy and gooey. It was kinda on the dry side. It was disappointing and I wonder if they will ever change back to the way it was before. Sigh.

I was raised to believe that if you have nothing nice to say, well don't say it at all. It's painful to have to talk about how sucky I feel the Boston food scene has been of late. Perhaps it's the places I've been choosing. I dunno. However, I will keep the faith and hope that October marks a better month of food for me!

XOXO

Bare Bones

I own a small shop in the Hotel Commonwealth. Soon after I opened my store, four years ago, plans got under way for a massive space in the Hotel right next door to me. When I say massive, I mean it really is the size of a stadium sized soccer field. The space was huge but it was also cavernous. I would ride the elevator up to just check out the space and stand in awe. It was kinda like looking into the Grand Canyon of retail leasing space. It was raw area and didn't have anything covering it's cement foundation or gray metal walls. It was truly bare bones and sometimes it's hard for me to still remember what that space looked like before it became Eastern Standard.

Before Eastern Standard opened, there was only Great Bay for dining in the Hotel. It was a fine place to have a good meal. It's still there and because the original chef is gone, some of the magic is really gone too. I've been told that they do a great brunch and only do it for big holidays. But I haven't been back since Jeremy (the chef) left. He was part of the charm. His food was simple, honest and good. He now owns Lineage in Brookline and I adore that spot as well. I'm sure I'll get around to reviewing it sometime soon. So the Hotel only had Great Bay and it was fairly good.

Eastern Standard opened and I won't lie. The first few times I went I was rather disappointed. The food seemed rather heavy, salty and boring. The cavernous space I use to sneak into to gaze upon was transformed into a dark walnut and burgundy leather sorta bistro with a beautiful marble bar and lovely over sized photo pictures on it's dark walls. It was lush and dark. It was lovely space. And so it happened that 9 times out of 10 my friend Caroline (who also owned a store in the Hotel) and I would opt to go to ES for comfort food after work. We kinda gave up on Great Bay and made ES our place. And maybe because we got so use to feeling at home at ES or maybe because the food truly got better, it began to top my list of places to eat/drink/meet friends. Perhaps I became more accepting that I wasn't ever going to have "diet" fare at ES but came to accept that the food would always be on the heavy side with salt and butter galore. And anyone who knows me, knows I'm not one to say no to either of those things!

I certainly became more trusting with my food choices. And the chef that opened ES, this really sweet tattooed kid name Jamie, certainly knew his way around offal and other random offerings. Liver, sweet breads and I think marrow were pretty consistent offerings on the menu. I had the marrow once and it was dreamy. Think butter but with meaty flavor and amplify that 100% over and you have marrow.

Jamie has since moved onto greener pastures and Caroline has moved away as well. But one thing stays the same. I still go to ES when I need comfort in the form of food and atmosphere. Before we ever even met, I think my fiancé already liked ES quite a bit. But her affection for it grew when she realized that the Sazerac was a regular bar offering. In fact, ES has become the place to go for amazing cocktails and our friends Ian and Garry are regulars at the bar. They are folks who enjoy a beautifully made drink. So ES will always be on my list of places to go. I know I'll always find something I like and I also know it will be sure to impress my cocktail guzzling pals as well.