Boston Restaurant: American Craft

posted by Katie

What: American Craft
Where: Washington Square in Brookline
Honeys Heart: Outdoor patio

I've been wanting to try American Craft since I first heard about its opening last fall. American Craft is owned by the same people who own the Publick House down the street, so I had high expectations for it as I know how much people seem to love the Publick House.

My family headed over to American Craft around 6pm on a Saturday and, to my surprise, most of the picnic tables on the large patio were not yet occupied. Excellent!

We started off our visit with a round of drinks. My mom went for the sangria (her new favorite, remember?), my dad tried one of their many craft beers, and I went for the Original Sin hard cider. All very refreshing.

We weren't quite ready to dive into dinner so we decided to order the Zucchini Fritters ($8) with buttermilk sauce.

I guess we aren't big fritter people because these didn't get rave reviews from anyone even though I thought they were good.

We also tried the Heirloom Tomato Salad ($11) with homemade garlic mozzarella and and aged balsamic and basil oil. 

Everyone really enjoyed this dish. Very fresh and flavorful.

When it came time for dinner, I decided to order a hamburger. I'm still looking for a reliably good hamburger over in my neck of the woods and I was hoping that burger would be found at American Craft. American Craft burgers start off at $10 and then additional toppings range from $1-$2.50 each. I'm on a caramelized onion kick, so I decided to go with those as my topping.

The burger itself tasted very good, but as you can tell, there was a lot of meat going on. The patty was so thick that I could barely fit my mouth around it to take a bite. That might be a plus for some people, but it was a minus for me. I don't like to feel as if I need to dislocate my jaw in order to eat my dinner. The fries were good though, thick and meaty on the inside. And you get a lot of them. You're definitely not leaving American Craft hungry if you get the burger...

My sister went a similar route and chose the Veggie Burger ($9) with avocado.

My sister said that it was "okay, but not the best I've ever had." So no glowing review there.

My dad is a big fan of fish so he ordered the Striped Bass special.

The bass was perfectly cooked and the accompaniments were fresh and tasty. Too bad the bass isn't a regular item on the menu.

Finally, my mom opted for the Crab Cake Sandwich ($12) with Maine lump crab and dijon aioli served on potato bread.

Just like my sister, my mom gave this dish an "okay, but not the best I've ever had."

So really, while none of us outright disliked our meal, the Heirloom Tomato Salad and the Striped Bass were the only dishes that were more than just "okay." I think this shows that you can't go to American Craft just for the food, you have to also be looking for an extensive beer selection and an enjoyable outdoor patio to be satisfied.

Boston Restaurant: Toro

Posted by Katie 

What: Toro

Where: 1704 Washington St, South End

Honeys Heart: Ceviche!

Warning! The pictures in this post are of very low quality. They do not reflect the food, which was actually of very high quality...Damn iPhone messes up EVERYTHING

The South End is my new favorite neighborhood in Boston (sorry Brookline). Yeah, it's at least 45 minutes away from my apartment, but I love the rows and rows of red brick buildings and there are so many great (albeit expensive) restaurants.

When I was figuring out where I wanted to take my parents during their visit, the South End was first on my list because I thought my mom and sister would enjoy walking around the neighborhood as much as I do. I also wanted to take my family out for tapas to give them a taste of the food I enjoyed while in Barcelona. And so, Toro seemed the ideal spot.

Toro serves Barcelona-style tapas and was Ken Oringer's newest restaurant until Coppa opened last summer. My research suggested that there would be quite a wait when we got there, even if we did go on a weeknight, so we were happy to find that we could be seated immediately on arrival. 

Toro has a long bar as well as a communal table that runs down the center of the restaurant. Everyone's kind of crammed together, but I liked the cozy and slightly raucous atmosphere that the closeness created. We were seated in between some douchey undergrads recently back from their own European adventure ("Dude, Amsterdam was like so crazy") and a group of thirty-somethings enjoying just as many drinks as they did tapas.

My dad happily opted for a local beer but my mom, who has recently discovered sangria, was disappointed to see that her new favorite drink was not on the menu. After I explained that sangria is not really Spanish, she decided to order a more traditional wine spritzer made from wine and Sprite. To her chagrin, it tasted just as you might suspect: wine watered down with Sprite. Guessing she won't order that again...

Our server (adding to the authentic Spanish experience with her thick accent) advised us that 2 to 3 dishes per person was a good guide for ordering. That seemed like a little much for us, so we decided to start with 6 plates and order more as we went along if needed.

First out was the crusty bread topped with tomatoes and olive oil, called Pan con Tomate ($4) at Toro but known as pa amb tomaquet in Barcelona. 

I had raved about having it in Spain. Unfortunately, Toro's version was less impressive. Not particularly flavorful even though it was topped with a lot more tomatoes than then bread in Spain had been. Cross that one off the list for next time.

Next came the Patatas Bravas ($5), fried potatoes with alioli and spicy tomato sauce. Nothing fancy really, but quite tasty, especially when dipped in the sauces they came with. And a good pick to have made as Toro was quite generous with their serving and the potatoes were to make up most of my sister's meal (she doesn't do meat or fish, except for the occasional hot dog).

Up next was the Ceviche (which annoyingly, I can't find on the online menu). This was by far the favorite of the night. The ceviche was refreshing with the perfect amount of sweetness that none of us had expected. A must-order for my next visit (if they still have it).

We also had an order of the Gambas Al Ajillo ($12), griddled garlic shrimp. Sorry, super blurry photo:

My mom loves shrimp in any form, but my dad and I agreed that the shrimp was far too salty to be enjoyable. When eaten atop a piece of the crusty bread from the constantly-refilled basket on our table, they were more edible, but I would not order them again.

The Datiles con Jamon ($6), dates stuffed with blue cheese and almonds and wrapped in jamon, were a rich addition to our table. My dad and I loved the combination of the sweet dates, salty jamon, and the bite of the blue cheese. 

Our meal ended with the presentation of Toro's specialty, Maíz Asado con Alioli y Queso Cotija ($6), grilled corn with alioli, lime, espelette pepper and aged cheese. 

Our neighbors on both sides ordered the corn as well and when it arrived, we all snuck glances at each other in attempt to figure out how to go about eating it. My family dug in first, eating the corn with our hands. Some of our neighbors followed our lead while others tried to cut their corn off the cobs with their knives. That didn't really work for them. Guess the hand method was the way to go.

The corn was certainly tasty, but loaded with gobs and gobs of alioli. I think it would have been just as enjoyable if Toro has been less liberal with their spread. And while I had no qualms about getting a little messy with my family, this would not be the dish to order if you were on a first date. (Unless you're sure your dining partner would find a mayo-smeared face and teeth lodged with corn endearing...)

Overall, my family and I very much enjoyed our meal at Toro. It was fun to have so many different dishes to try and discuss, and while I was worried that our dinner would be a little pricey, our total bill turned out to be less than some of the others that we would rack up during their visit.

To make it easy, here's the order my dad and I rated our dishes at Toro, with the #1 spot being the most enjoyable. (Mom and Sis would have rated them differently, but majority rules.)

1) Ceviche

2) Stuffed Dates

3) Fried Potatoes

4) Corn 

5) Bread with Tomatoes

6) Shrimp 

Boston: Family Visit Summer 2010

posted by Katie

My parents and my sister flew back to San Jose a week ago, and I'm only just now recovering from the food coma that their week-long visit induced. 

I'm going to post our eating itinerary because food was pretty much the focus of my family's visit. Some of that has to do with the fact that I was working during the day when they did most of their touristy stuff. But also, I've been building quite the list of restaurants that I want to try, and a visit from the parents seemed like the perfect opportunity to try some places that might normally be a little too pricey for my friends and me to go to outside of a special occasion. Plus, I think my family appreciates a good meal out and I wanted to take them back to some spots that I have really enjoyed and that I knew they would like too. 

Some of these places warrant their own post, and those will be coming soon.

Also, here's a picture of my family. Cute right?

Ok, here we go:

Day 1: Saturday
Lunch in Brookline Village at Cuttys
Dinner in Brookline at American Craft
Dessert in Brookline at BerryFreeze  

Day 2: Sunday
Breakfast in Allston from Bagel Rising
Cupcakes in Plymouth at Cupcake Charlie's
Dinner in Brookline at Anna's Taqueria

Day 3: Monday
Dinner in Harvard Square at Grendel's Den 
Dessert in Brookline at Finale

Day 4: Tuesday
Dinner in the South End at Toro
Dessert in the South End at Picco

Day 5: Wednesday
Dinner in Davis Square from Dave's Fresh Pasta
Dessert in Davis Square from Kickass Cupcakes

Day 6: Thursday
Dinner in Allston at Brown Sugar Cafe

Day 7: Friday
Lunch in the South End at Flour Bakery+Cafe 
Dinner in Back Bay at Legal Sea Foods

Day 8: Saturday
Lunch in Salem at Capt's Waterfront Grill
Beer tasting in Seaport at Harpoon Brewery
Dinner in the North End at La Galleria 33
Dessert in the North End at Modern Pastry 

Day 9: Sunday
Brunch in Brookline at Kupel's Bakery (Warning! My dad, sister and I all got food poisoning that day and we all had bagels and cream cheese at Kupels. My mom had a pastry and she was fine. I'm not going back, but if you do, think twice before you order a bagel with cream cheese. What a way to end their visit huh?)

So that's the rundown. And in case you were worried, we also did A LOT of walking.

I had a great time showing my family around Boston, and while it was a little exhausting at times, I can't wait to have them back next May for my graduation!

Portland Restaurant: EaT: An Oyster Bar

Posted by Kelly

What: EaT: An Oyster Bar
Where: 3808 N. Williams Ave
When: Sun, Mon, Wed 11:30am-10pm & Thurs, Fri, Sat 11:30am-'round midnight

Regrettably I don't make it up to North Portland as much as I'd like to since graduating from UP last year, so when I was going to be on N Williams anyway and my mom was in town to treat me to lunch, I thought it was time to try Eat: An Oyster Bar.

We began our southern dining experience with fried pickles and it's accompanying homemade sauce. The pickles were awesome and the sauce was SPICY, but good!

For my main meal I ordered the gumbo. Full of meat, clams, prawns and of course a couple oysters. It was also SPICY, but still had great flavor. I'm not usually an oyster fan so I picked around them. Mostly, I enjoyed it though! 

My mom opted for the Shrimp Etouffee, which was once again SPICY, but still maintained a its flavor. I hate when food is so spicy that is just takes over the dish and looses it's flavor, that's definitely not the case at EaT though. It was a lighter, more tomatoey etouffee than I have ever had. I might be slightly biased, but I think I like my mom's Etouffee better...but I'm supposed to say right?!

I would definitely say that EaT is worth a visit! The food was tasty  (I also hear the Jambalaya is good) and on a sunny day the funky mix and match of tables and chairs opens up expanding onto the courtyard area. Great for a summer day!