ever since the new york times posted its definitive recipe for chocolate chip cookies, i’ve been meaning to do a taste test between those and our trusty standby, toll house. we all know i’m a sucker for taste tests; the best ones that come to […]
i’ve just returned from a lovely, languorous lunch at per se. initially i had doubts that i even wanted to try to go to per se; after all, i’ve been to the french laundry, and it seems that the two are not particularly different (especially […]
it’s that time again: time for a random updating of my top ten favorite restaurants in boston/cambridge. these lists are always a little suspect because, well, what do i mean by top ten? i think that in this case, it’s a best-hits type of thing, where memory – and the longevity of memory – are a key factor. this is an interesting question to me, because i know that if i really, really enjoyed the restaurant, i will remember the meal i had there despite the inevitable fading of my memory. take alinea, for example: i ate there two years ago, but i still remember specific dishes: how they tasted and how we ate them. or the taste of the honey ice cream at aujourd’hui, also two or three years ago. memory is also pretty fickle: i have no way of knowing what i would think of a dish i had two years ago. my food memory isn’t that good. and it’s a legitimate question, at least to me: as your palate changes and develops, from eating more different kinds of foods (or perhaps just getting older), you have no way of knowing that your foundation of food knowledge is still the same. are the best chefs just that detail-oriented and gifted with respect to long-term memory?
ten favorite restaurants in the boston/cambridge area, 2008
i can feel it – the allergic reaction i have to most raw fruit – starting to tickle the back of my throat. serves me right, but this summer it’s been so humid occasionally that i refuse to cook, and eat fruit instead. ok, i […]
can you believe that i haven’t been watching law & order obsessively? yeah, neither can i. so this isn’t a murder case involving food, but it does involve me surreptitiously copying a recipe out of the best recipe at barnes & noble. this is my […]
annisa / 13 barrow street, new york / 212-741-6699 / m-sat 5:30-10:30, sun 5:30-9:30 / appetizers $9-18, entrees $27-33
when i was in chicago, i always felt awkward having dinner by myself – i always have that problem, when not in cambridge, where i can’t find people who share my predilection for eating out at nice restaurants. luckily i have (a) grown out of this phase; (b) know a couple of people who will go with me on occasion; and (c) feel more comfortable eating out by myself in new york than in most cities. it’s also true that i’m a student and can’t afford a whole lot of nice dinners, but this summer i’m in new york and i want to make the most of it. this is partly why i currently have three jobs (yeah, don’t ask…i just have trouble saying no).
most of the time, though, i do prefer to eat out with other people. yesterday’s partner in crime: j, who lives in brooklyn and is also interning this summer. we went to annisa, which is actually just a few blocks from my apartment. additional sidebar: i feel really weird when i come and go from my apartment since it’s right in the middle of a busy, trendy area – all of these people have come to the neighborhood to go out, and i’m going up to my apartment to stay in because i don’t feel like going out when everybody else is out too. yes, i am living in new york despite my aversion to large crowds of people. i’m avoiding times square like the plague. (more…)
banq / 1375 washington street, boston / 617-451-0077 / m-sat 5:30pm-1am, sun 5:30pm-11pm / appetizers $8-12, entrees $19-26 did that title sound a little snide? too snide? yeah, it’s a little snide. this is a review of banq, the new-ish restaurant on washington street, next […]
n is coming over for an early brunch tomorrow, and as i’ve forgotten the files i keep on promising her, it is going to have to be good. here’s what i’m thinking: poached eggs with some sort of cilantro or basil fake aioli, maybe some […]