B and I had dinner at Harvest in Cambridge last weekend. It’s owned by the same people who own Grill 23 and Post 390. As you may know, I love Grill 23 – both for drinks and dinner (I tell you, Adam makes the world’s best martini). I’ve only eaten at Post 390 once, and it was lunch. It was really good, but I think dinner is a true measure of a restaurant, and I will get there soon.
With all that said, and given my positive feelings about the other two restaurants, I was looking forward to eating at Harvest.
Now that I have, I’m not sure I really liked it. We had a 6:30 reservation that we made with Open Table. We arrived a few minutes early and were seated right away. Our waitress was appropriately friendly and attentive – service was definitely not an issue. We each ordered a cocktail while we looked over the menu and it was brought promptly.
We ordered a 1/2 dozen oysters to start. There were two choices and the waitress recommended the lower priced option because she said they were better that night. (Part of the good service points.) While we didn’t have anything to compare them to, the oysters were delicious. However… the cocktail sauce looked (and tasted) more like ketchup with a chunk of horseradish sitting on top. I have an extreme aversion to ketchup, but I pinched my nose shut and stirred the horseradish into the ketchup and it was palatable.
As we typically do, we decided to split a Caesar salad. Okay, this is where everything went downhill (ketchup sauce notwithstanding). First of all, we have ordered a split salad in many restaurants and every time we got it served on separate plates. This time it came on one plate. I am not (completely and consistently) unreasonable. I’m okay with sharing it off the same plate as B. Not the issue. The issue was that the salad consisted of literally 5 romaine lettuce leaves (whole ones, and very small whole ones at that), a sprinkle of shaved parmesan, dressing and two biscotti “croutons”. It was certainly not sized for sharing, and it cost $10. The $10 Caesar at Grill 23 always comes out on two plates (with anchovies, I might add – as long as you want them, that is) and it is large enough to be generously shared by two people. This salad wasn’t big enough for one person, let alone worth $10.
Despite my insistence to the contrary, B ordered a second salad. I really didn’t want him to. I was horrified enough that we were paying $10 for a salad that couldn’t feed one person, let alone $20 for two salads that could just barely feed one. I can be cheap about a lot of things, but food generally isn’t one of them. But nonetheless, B didn’t take me seriously and the second salad was delivered.
And it got worse!
The second salad did not come with the biscotti “croutons” as advertised, and as served to B. In some regards that was okay, because they didn’t taste very good. But now I’m paying $10 for a salad that wasn’t as big as the first one. And my first lettuce leaf had no salad dressing – all I could taste was the water they used to wash the lettuce. “At least you know it was washed,” said B. Small consolation. Needless to say, the other four lettuce leaves had no dressing either. Dis-a-ppointed. (Okay, I realize the two p’s in the way I tried to emphasize that word look stupid, but I’m trying to make a point.)
Now for the entrees. B got the duck, and I got the striped bass. I tasted B’s duck (after he kindly cut away all the fat even though he said it’s the best part… gag, I have a meat fat aversion that’s approximately the same size as my ketchup aversion) and it was good. The duck was served with forbidden black rice, some sort of risotto, and a vegetable medley of carrot, turnip and baby bok choy (we think). The striped bass was served with three tiny clams in the shell on a bed of what appeared to be peppers sliced to look like pasta in some sort of a broth. There was no starch and the veggies were barely there (not even a 1/2 cup portion). The first couple of bites of the fish were good, but when I started to dig into the crust I was overwhelmed by a very salty and fishy taste. And not in a good way.
While my hats are not off to the chef, I can applaud the pastry chef. We ordered a chevre cheesecake that was absolutely delicious. I may even use the word “divine.” I’ve never tasted a better cheesecake. The cappuccino I ordered to have with it was another story. It was more like espresso with a topping of milk foam. There was no steamed milk mixed into the espresso.
So, I give the service and the pastry chef high marks. The chefs and the barista, not so much.
In their defense, apparently it was the first night of restaurant week and I am told that restaurants can tend to be off their game during restaurant week. But, we didn’t order off that prix fixe menu and the restaurant was by no means full. At 7:30 on a Saturday night in bustling Brattle Square, there were empty tables. (And I don’t care what anyone says about the economy, I haven’t been to a restaurant on a Saturday night that wasn’t full at prime time.)
Would I eat there again? Probably not. The menu was not extensive enough to think that I just ordered the wrong thing (and with B’s dish so much more substantial than mine, it doesn’t seem there is a lot of balance in their offerings).
And I’m not getting over that $10 Caesar salad anytime soon.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Penne a la Lindsay
Okay, so dinner has been eaten and the leftovers are packed up for lunches later this week. The kitchen is clean, and the verdict is in. Penne a la Lindsay is still good, even with my tweaks to the recipe. And not only that, it’s fast and easy too! It literally took no more than 20 minutes from start to finish. Eat your heart out Rachael Ray, I got you beat by ten whole minutes!
Here’s the recipe:
1 lb penne (I used Barilla whole wheat)
2 T olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 cloves minced garlic
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
4-5 cup chopped raw spinach
1 .5 cup sliced white mushrooms*
Small can of sliced black olives
1 lb cleaned/raw shrimp*
• Cook penne according to package directions. Add shrimp during the last three minutes of cooking time.
• While penne is cooking, sauté mushrooms and garlic in 2 T olive oil for ~3 minutes.
• When penne and shrimp are finished cooking, drain and add the mushrooms and garlic (along with any residual olive oil) and the rest of the ingredients.
• Combine well, serve immediately.
The heat from the pasta will wilt the spinach just the right amount, and make the feta just slightly melty to bring out its flavor and make it nice and creamy. This recipe is so simple, and so good. And it’s quick to boot! It’s the perfect week night meal that can be on the table in no time. I served it with some Italian bread, and thought about preparing a salad but we decided there were enough vegetables in the pasta and I was concerned that the salad dressing would compete too much with the balsamic vinegar/olive oil dressing used for the pasta. The best thing about this recipe is that it also makes a great cold pasta salad. So make the whole recipe, and pack up the leftovers for lunch. If you want it hot, zap it in the microwave. If not, eat it cold straight from the fridge.
What’s with the * in the ingredient list, you ask? Well, those are the things I added to Lindsay’s original recipe. I love mushrooms, and think they are a great addition to most dishes. If you don’t like them, omit them, and add the raw garlic to the hot pasta with the rest of the ingredients (and reduce olive oil to 1 T). I added the shrimp because I wanted some more protein than just the pasta and cheese.
I can’t believe Lindsay cannot remember this recipe (see post “So Much Food… So Little Time” from 3/21/2010). But hopefully she’ll read this and it will all come back to her… if not, I’m taking full credit.
Give it a shot and let me know what you think. Or better yet, try adding your own variations and see how you can make this dish your own. Wait a minute… since technically I made this dish my own by adding the mushroom and shrimp, shouldn’t this version be called Penne a la Beth?
Here’s the recipe:
1 lb penne (I used Barilla whole wheat)
2 T olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 cloves minced garlic
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
4-5 cup chopped raw spinach
1 .5 cup sliced white mushrooms*
Small can of sliced black olives
1 lb cleaned/raw shrimp*
• Cook penne according to package directions. Add shrimp during the last three minutes of cooking time.
• While penne is cooking, sauté mushrooms and garlic in 2 T olive oil for ~3 minutes.
• When penne and shrimp are finished cooking, drain and add the mushrooms and garlic (along with any residual olive oil) and the rest of the ingredients.
• Combine well, serve immediately.
The heat from the pasta will wilt the spinach just the right amount, and make the feta just slightly melty to bring out its flavor and make it nice and creamy. This recipe is so simple, and so good. And it’s quick to boot! It’s the perfect week night meal that can be on the table in no time. I served it with some Italian bread, and thought about preparing a salad but we decided there were enough vegetables in the pasta and I was concerned that the salad dressing would compete too much with the balsamic vinegar/olive oil dressing used for the pasta. The best thing about this recipe is that it also makes a great cold pasta salad. So make the whole recipe, and pack up the leftovers for lunch. If you want it hot, zap it in the microwave. If not, eat it cold straight from the fridge.
What’s with the * in the ingredient list, you ask? Well, those are the things I added to Lindsay’s original recipe. I love mushrooms, and think they are a great addition to most dishes. If you don’t like them, omit them, and add the raw garlic to the hot pasta with the rest of the ingredients (and reduce olive oil to 1 T). I added the shrimp because I wanted some more protein than just the pasta and cheese.
I can’t believe Lindsay cannot remember this recipe (see post “So Much Food… So Little Time” from 3/21/2010). But hopefully she’ll read this and it will all come back to her… if not, I’m taking full credit.
Give it a shot and let me know what you think. Or better yet, try adding your own variations and see how you can make this dish your own. Wait a minute… since technically I made this dish my own by adding the mushroom and shrimp, shouldn’t this version be called Penne a la Beth?
Sunday, March 21, 2010
So Much Food... So Little Time
I’ve been eating so damn much food, I haven’t had much time left to write about it. Some good, some bad - here are the highlights.
A couple of weeks ago, B and I hit the road with Lindsay and Padraig. Our destination? Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT. Our goal? Lunch at Bobby’s Burger Palace and dinner at Bar Americain. It was to be our very own Bobby Flay Day (as opposed to the non-existent national holiday in Chef Flay’s honor). After my trip to Vegas in August and my meal at Mesa Grill, I became a Bobby Flay convert. Lindsay and I have been planning this trip since we learned that Bar Americain opened last November. We wanted to give it a few months to work out the “new restaurant” kinks, so we could be assured a great experience. And our trip was finally upon us!
Our first stop was Bobby’s Burger Palace. I know that burger joints are the new “in” thing for celebrity chef’s to do, and I was expecting a casual but up-scale dining experience –similar to Hubert Keller’s Burger Bar in Vegas (casual atmosphere, upscale burgers). What I was not expecting was an upscale cafeteria experience. You have to stand in line, single file, to order your meal – burgers, sides, drinks. You pay, you get a number. Then you find your own seat. When your food is ready, it is brought to you. I don’t know what happens if you decide you want another beer, because we chose not to say. The dining area was pretty full, and the line was pretty long. We were hungry and we didn’t want to take the chance that we wouldn’t be able to find seats after we paid for our food, so we decided to eat somewhere else.
I would tell you where we ended up getting lunch, but it was so forgettable I barely remember having lunch at all that day.
Since the primary motivation for the trip was to eat dinner at Bar Americain, we weren’t too broken up about missing out on the Burger Palace experience. And dinner was definitely worth the trip. We started with some raw bar – oysters and cherrystones. Our entrees ran the gamut of the red meat selection – Lindsay and Padraig both got steaks, B got lamb and I got venison. I’ve never had venison before, and it may have been risky to order it for the first time in an expensive restaurant where I was dying for a great meal. But it was good… oh, very good. It reminded me of roast beef. Yummy. For sides, Padraig got Brussels sprouts, Lindsay got some kind of cauliflower gratin, and B and I shared some creamed spinach and mushrooms. All the food was delicious, and the only thing worth pointing out as unusual was that the sides were definitely portioned for one person, but the entrees were big enough to share.
In my experience, a la carte sides tend to be at least big enough for two people (if not more), and the entrees are not huge. I shared my venison with everyone at the table and still couldn’t finish all that was on my plate. But when I stole a Brussels sprout from Paddy’s dish while he was in the bathroom, I literally had to re-mix the dish so it wasn’t obvious that something was missing. I’m not kidding.
All in all, it was a great restaurant – the food was delicious, oddly sized portions notwithstanding, and the service was great. I would definitely eat there again.
Later that week, B and I had dinner at Legal Seafood. Since it is Lent, and I choose to obey the “don’t eat meat on Fridays” rule, Legal’s has been our Friday night restaurant of choice. Plus, they serve Old Salt Ale by Harpoon. Not sure what I like more – the beer, or the salt and lemon with which it’s served. (I actually think it’s the salt and lemon.) B tends to order off the specials menu at Legal’s, and I attempt to choose a lighter, healthier option (I’m not always successful in following through on this plan, but I arrive with all the best intentions). This time around, I got the wood grilled scallops. I’ve had these at Legal’s before, and have never been disappointed. We started with the mussels, which are always a hit. The first few were good. Then I got one that felt a little undercooked. I remember someone saying once that you are never as sick as you are when you eat bad mussels, so I was reluctant to eat more than a few. When our entrees arrived, I was a little surprised that the scallops were bay scallops (the smaller ones) and not sea scallops (the bigger ones). I like them both, but I strongly prefer sea scallops. I would never order wood grilled bay scallops – as far as I’m concerned, bay scallops should only be served in a casserole dish covered in a butter sauce topped with bread crumbs (or on a pizza with bacon – trust me, it’s delicious). And to make matters worse, they weren’t that good. They also tasted a tad undercooked. I didn’t finish those either.
Normally, undercooked or raw seafood isn’t an issue for me. But since B and I were leaving for Mexico the next day, I didn’t want to take any chances of waking up with seafood-itis.
Yes, that’s right… we were off to Cancun. ‘Tis the season for spring breakers, so we made sure we stayed at an adults only, higher end all-inclusive resort outside of the main Cancun area. The resort was amazing – a Caribbean paradise in Playa Mujeres. The resort included eight restaurants featuring a variety of cuisines, and I was anxious to try as many as possible. We arrived Saturday afternoon, and were leaving Tuesday morning. That got us 9 meals, and therefore 9 opportunities to try some new food.
As it so happens, Saturday was B’s birthday (Happy Birthday, B – I love you, baby!!!) so he got to choose where we ate our first dinner. (Lunch was a quick sandwich with chips and salsa… salsa good, chips weird.) B chose Chez Isabelle, the French restaurant. We got the tasting menu, and a couple extra appetizers (I was so getting my money’s worth out of this all-inclusive price tag). The starters were okay, and I thought the entrée – chateau briand – was better than average. For dessert, we got some very rich chocolate cake and a serenade of “Happy Birthday” for B. Very sweet. All in all, the meal was pretty good.
But it was all downhill from there…
The next morning for breakfast I got the Huevos Rancheros and B got the Huevos Something Else (I can’t remember… truthfully, I want to forget). The eggs weren’t that bad, but the more I thought about them the worse they got. For lunch and dinner, I had about 27 margaritas at the swim up bar. (I can’t say this enough – Victor, our swim up bar bartender, you are a very bad man. Mucho mal hombre. Yeah, I know, my Spanish is not bueno.) Since I was inoccupado (which is Spanish for passed out and/or throwing up) for the rest of that afternoon, night and into the following morning, B got the opportunity to try out the room service. He got a turkey club sandwich which he said was okay, and then an American breakfast which was pretty good. If you are ever in Mexico and find yourself hung over, take note – ginger ale is an impossible find. We couldn’t even get some at the bar. It made my recovery awfully difficult, but I have no one to blame but myself (and Victor).
The next night we decided to try the tapas restaurant for dinner. Not so good. We bailed fairly early in the meal and opted to try the buffet. After circling the entire buffet and having only sautéed zucchini on my plate, we knew we were pretty SOL as far as getting a good meal that night.
Interestingly enough, the best food we had in Mexico was at the Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville Restaurant in the Cancun airport. Kind of a shame, but at least we had some food to remember fondly. (And I will try for the rest of my life to duplicate that fresh guacamole.)
The day after our return trip home was St. Patrick’s Day. In true Irish fashion, I threw some food in a pot and boiled it. Dinner is served. All kidding aside, it’s just not St. Patrick’s Day without corned beef and cabbage (and carrots, and potatoes) with a side of Irish soda bread and Guinness. We were desperate for a home cooked meal by this point (at least I was), and since really all I needed to do was throw the stuff in a pot and boil it, this was a no brainer. And it tasted oh-so-good.
The rest of the week didn’t include many highlights or lowlights food wise, so fast forward to today… I have made my first attempt at duplicating that fantastic guacamole, and it’s in the fridge with the flavors blending and developing as I write. For dinner tonight, I’m making a pasta dish based on a recipe I got from Lindsay. I mentioned this to Lindsay this morning and she has no recollection of the recipe I am talking about. I remember the dish being really good both hot and cold, so if all goes well tonight there should be some good leftovers too. I’m making some slight variations to the recipe, so I want to try it out before I share the details. But since I’ve been the absentee blogger as of late, I will share a mid-week update on the success or failure of Penne a la Lindsay.
Bon appétit!
A couple of weeks ago, B and I hit the road with Lindsay and Padraig. Our destination? Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, CT. Our goal? Lunch at Bobby’s Burger Palace and dinner at Bar Americain. It was to be our very own Bobby Flay Day (as opposed to the non-existent national holiday in Chef Flay’s honor). After my trip to Vegas in August and my meal at Mesa Grill, I became a Bobby Flay convert. Lindsay and I have been planning this trip since we learned that Bar Americain opened last November. We wanted to give it a few months to work out the “new restaurant” kinks, so we could be assured a great experience. And our trip was finally upon us!
Our first stop was Bobby’s Burger Palace. I know that burger joints are the new “in” thing for celebrity chef’s to do, and I was expecting a casual but up-scale dining experience –similar to Hubert Keller’s Burger Bar in Vegas (casual atmosphere, upscale burgers). What I was not expecting was an upscale cafeteria experience. You have to stand in line, single file, to order your meal – burgers, sides, drinks. You pay, you get a number. Then you find your own seat. When your food is ready, it is brought to you. I don’t know what happens if you decide you want another beer, because we chose not to say. The dining area was pretty full, and the line was pretty long. We were hungry and we didn’t want to take the chance that we wouldn’t be able to find seats after we paid for our food, so we decided to eat somewhere else.
I would tell you where we ended up getting lunch, but it was so forgettable I barely remember having lunch at all that day.
Since the primary motivation for the trip was to eat dinner at Bar Americain, we weren’t too broken up about missing out on the Burger Palace experience. And dinner was definitely worth the trip. We started with some raw bar – oysters and cherrystones. Our entrees ran the gamut of the red meat selection – Lindsay and Padraig both got steaks, B got lamb and I got venison. I’ve never had venison before, and it may have been risky to order it for the first time in an expensive restaurant where I was dying for a great meal. But it was good… oh, very good. It reminded me of roast beef. Yummy. For sides, Padraig got Brussels sprouts, Lindsay got some kind of cauliflower gratin, and B and I shared some creamed spinach and mushrooms. All the food was delicious, and the only thing worth pointing out as unusual was that the sides were definitely portioned for one person, but the entrees were big enough to share.
In my experience, a la carte sides tend to be at least big enough for two people (if not more), and the entrees are not huge. I shared my venison with everyone at the table and still couldn’t finish all that was on my plate. But when I stole a Brussels sprout from Paddy’s dish while he was in the bathroom, I literally had to re-mix the dish so it wasn’t obvious that something was missing. I’m not kidding.
All in all, it was a great restaurant – the food was delicious, oddly sized portions notwithstanding, and the service was great. I would definitely eat there again.
Later that week, B and I had dinner at Legal Seafood. Since it is Lent, and I choose to obey the “don’t eat meat on Fridays” rule, Legal’s has been our Friday night restaurant of choice. Plus, they serve Old Salt Ale by Harpoon. Not sure what I like more – the beer, or the salt and lemon with which it’s served. (I actually think it’s the salt and lemon.) B tends to order off the specials menu at Legal’s, and I attempt to choose a lighter, healthier option (I’m not always successful in following through on this plan, but I arrive with all the best intentions). This time around, I got the wood grilled scallops. I’ve had these at Legal’s before, and have never been disappointed. We started with the mussels, which are always a hit. The first few were good. Then I got one that felt a little undercooked. I remember someone saying once that you are never as sick as you are when you eat bad mussels, so I was reluctant to eat more than a few. When our entrees arrived, I was a little surprised that the scallops were bay scallops (the smaller ones) and not sea scallops (the bigger ones). I like them both, but I strongly prefer sea scallops. I would never order wood grilled bay scallops – as far as I’m concerned, bay scallops should only be served in a casserole dish covered in a butter sauce topped with bread crumbs (or on a pizza with bacon – trust me, it’s delicious). And to make matters worse, they weren’t that good. They also tasted a tad undercooked. I didn’t finish those either.
Normally, undercooked or raw seafood isn’t an issue for me. But since B and I were leaving for Mexico the next day, I didn’t want to take any chances of waking up with seafood-itis.
Yes, that’s right… we were off to Cancun. ‘Tis the season for spring breakers, so we made sure we stayed at an adults only, higher end all-inclusive resort outside of the main Cancun area. The resort was amazing – a Caribbean paradise in Playa Mujeres. The resort included eight restaurants featuring a variety of cuisines, and I was anxious to try as many as possible. We arrived Saturday afternoon, and were leaving Tuesday morning. That got us 9 meals, and therefore 9 opportunities to try some new food.
As it so happens, Saturday was B’s birthday (Happy Birthday, B – I love you, baby!!!) so he got to choose where we ate our first dinner. (Lunch was a quick sandwich with chips and salsa… salsa good, chips weird.) B chose Chez Isabelle, the French restaurant. We got the tasting menu, and a couple extra appetizers (I was so getting my money’s worth out of this all-inclusive price tag). The starters were okay, and I thought the entrée – chateau briand – was better than average. For dessert, we got some very rich chocolate cake and a serenade of “Happy Birthday” for B. Very sweet. All in all, the meal was pretty good.
But it was all downhill from there…
The next morning for breakfast I got the Huevos Rancheros and B got the Huevos Something Else (I can’t remember… truthfully, I want to forget). The eggs weren’t that bad, but the more I thought about them the worse they got. For lunch and dinner, I had about 27 margaritas at the swim up bar. (I can’t say this enough – Victor, our swim up bar bartender, you are a very bad man. Mucho mal hombre. Yeah, I know, my Spanish is not bueno.) Since I was inoccupado (which is Spanish for passed out and/or throwing up) for the rest of that afternoon, night and into the following morning, B got the opportunity to try out the room service. He got a turkey club sandwich which he said was okay, and then an American breakfast which was pretty good. If you are ever in Mexico and find yourself hung over, take note – ginger ale is an impossible find. We couldn’t even get some at the bar. It made my recovery awfully difficult, but I have no one to blame but myself (and Victor).
The next night we decided to try the tapas restaurant for dinner. Not so good. We bailed fairly early in the meal and opted to try the buffet. After circling the entire buffet and having only sautéed zucchini on my plate, we knew we were pretty SOL as far as getting a good meal that night.
Interestingly enough, the best food we had in Mexico was at the Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville Restaurant in the Cancun airport. Kind of a shame, but at least we had some food to remember fondly. (And I will try for the rest of my life to duplicate that fresh guacamole.)
The day after our return trip home was St. Patrick’s Day. In true Irish fashion, I threw some food in a pot and boiled it. Dinner is served. All kidding aside, it’s just not St. Patrick’s Day without corned beef and cabbage (and carrots, and potatoes) with a side of Irish soda bread and Guinness. We were desperate for a home cooked meal by this point (at least I was), and since really all I needed to do was throw the stuff in a pot and boil it, this was a no brainer. And it tasted oh-so-good.
The rest of the week didn’t include many highlights or lowlights food wise, so fast forward to today… I have made my first attempt at duplicating that fantastic guacamole, and it’s in the fridge with the flavors blending and developing as I write. For dinner tonight, I’m making a pasta dish based on a recipe I got from Lindsay. I mentioned this to Lindsay this morning and she has no recollection of the recipe I am talking about. I remember the dish being really good both hot and cold, so if all goes well tonight there should be some good leftovers too. I’m making some slight variations to the recipe, so I want to try it out before I share the details. But since I’ve been the absentee blogger as of late, I will share a mid-week update on the success or failure of Penne a la Lindsay.
Bon appétit!
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