Restaurant Review: Alfresco

I think this is the first time I've reviewed a restaurant in the Boston area that does not have its own website. For me, this makes my experience at Alfresco all the more charming.

Before checking out the Alloy Orchestra doing its thing at the Somerville Theatre (the Orchestra is currently rocking to Man With A Movie Camera and the event was all sorts of awesome), Pete and I wanted to get a bite to eat. As ever, I hit up Yelp for suggestions. I couldn't think of many tasty, "nice" places to hit in the Davis Square area, and so wasn't entirely shocked to see that only a few establishments ranked 4 out of 5 stars -- and some of those were not actually restaurants.

I did find Alfresco listed within the first page of hits, however, and was intrigued by the reviewer comments. Most appeared to have stumbled upon the tiny place by accident, nestled just far enough out of the hub of Davis Square. Pete had never heard of the place (which I always consider a small achievement when choosing a restaurant), so we strolled a few blocks up Highland Street from the T.

Alfresco sits roughly 20 bodies and was about half full when we arrived. We were immediately greeted with what appeared to be a sincere welcome from the hostess, who asked us to sit wherever we liked. We opted for the petite bar, and were subsequently presented with menus and a smile from the owner, who was propped against the opposite side. A mediocre mid-priced bottle of wine ("a very good choice") was ordered while we perused the offerings. The menu has a significant selection of fish options, but also straight-up traditional pasta and protein dishes.

I immediately felt cozy at the bar, gazing around at the dark wood and tiny white lights that made up the bulk of the decor. After we ordered, a basket of bread, a plate of oil and a plate of some spicy tomato chutney appeared, which we nibbled at while we waited for our appetizer to appear. In not much time at all, the sauteed kalamari arrived, slathered in the house marinara. The kalamari was tender enough, but the star was certainly the marinara, which was bright in both flavor and color. I sopped it up with hunks of the spongy bread.

Not long after we devoured the appetizer, our main entrees appeared. Pete ordered the chicken marsala, which was nestled atop a bed of linguine. A simple dish, but tasty. I ordered the risotto with mushroom and prosciutto, which was insane. It was excellent. Lighter and less creamy than I normally think of risotto, but flavorful -- the woodsy unami of the mushrooms was countered with the salty prosciutto and green slices of nicely al dente zucchini. And there was a lot of it. I tried to leave a portion on my plate, but the (perfectly) leisurely pace of the waitstaff meant that I had plenty of time to return for another forkful. And another. Alas!

I'm sure the wine was helping (and the mood lighting, and being able to snuggle up next to Pete since we were side-by-side at the bar), but I kept thinking what a lovely little place this is to share a meal. More patrons arrived as we ate, but the mellow vibe of the restaurant remained. After paying the bill, the owner thanked us and perfunctorily implored us to come again. Pete, as if responding to a challenge, declared, "Oh, we'll be back!" I hope we will.

Restaurant Review: Tamarind Bay

Pete and I watched the men's hockey finals with some friends on Sunday afternoon at Cambridge Common. Somehow, we had managed to pick the same drinking establishment as was patronized by the Harvard Canadian Club. We almost came to fisticuffs over the event, which for us Americans, ended in Olympic heartbreak. After the battle was over, we headed down Mass Ave to Tamarind Bay to meet my parents for dinner.

Tamarind Bay is neither Canadian, nor American -- nor vaguely reminiscent of the Olympics in anyway. In short, Tamarind Bay was a great relief.

We ordered drinks, some rosemary naan and the Karavali shrimp to start. The bread and fish were out in a jiffy and the shrimp (cooked with whole cashews in a garlic sauce) was tender with some significant heat. When our waitress came out to clear the starter plates and take our order for the mains, I remembered what I had so enjoyed about the staff at Tamarind Bay during my first visit some two years prior. The servers (1) let you breathe in between courses, (2) make reasonable, thoughtful suggestions for accompaniments, and (3) smile encouragingly as you butcher the names of their delicious dishes. (Our waitress also chased me out the door as we were leaving to hand me a bag I had left behind my seat; extra points for that.) We ordered some more naan and lemon rice with our entrees:

• ADI MACCHI HIRYAN NAAL. Chunks of swordfish delicately marinated and finished in Tandoor.
• MAHI FIRDOUS. Fillet of salmon marinated with mint, yogurt and spices.
• RAAHRA GOSHT. Lamb simmered in a wok over a period of time until it turns crisp brown & garnished with fresh coriander.
• SHAAHI BAIGAN. Eggplant cooked in rich cream & cashew gravy.

We all oohed and mmmed as we made our way to the bottoms of the deceptively tiny-looking silver vessels. As Pete stated aptly, while there are many Indian restaurants in and around Cambridge, most of them seem to serve up the same dishes of mush over and over. Tamarind Bay sets itself apart with a healthy variety of cooking techniques and unique flavor combinations. I wanted to drink the cream sauce that covered the eggplant, but I opted instead to mop up every last drip with bits of naan (if only because Pete looked aghast when I declared my original intentions).

There are apparently two Tamarind Bays in the in Boston area, one in Brookline (Tamarind Bay Coastal Indian Kitchen)and the location I've been to in Cambridge (Tamarind Bay Bistro and Bar). As of this post, the Brookline location takes reservations through OpenTable; the Cambridge location does not.

Trois Pistoles

A friend tipped me onto Trois Pistoles beer (from Unibroue) this weekend. He mentioned it was available at Trader Joe's, which initially made me wrinkle my nose until I discovered that TJ's carries non-TJ brands of beer on its shelves. My friend described it like this:

"Most beers I just recall just as beers and cannot differentiate one from another in my memory. But this beer...this beer I can think of and remember exactly how it tastes."

Trois Pistoles is a dark, spicy ale that is a fine choice to drink on its own. The Unibroue website describes the taste as "wild fruit with an aftertaste of port" and the aroma as "ripe fruit and chocolate". It's probably not for everyone, as the finish is a tad sweet, but I was happy to try it - and happy to know it's sold at TJ's at such a bargain price.

The only other brew from Unibroue that I recall having is La Fin du Monde. La Fin holds a special place in my heart, because it's the first drink I had during my first trip to Montreal. I was in a French-speaking province, so why not imbibe a French-named beer (or bière)? There are a total of 8 brews available from Unibroue, easily identified by their colorful, fantasy-inspired labeling, so perhaps a tasting is in order.

Beer Advocate, which knows a lot more about beer than I do, gives Trois Pistoles an A.

Boring Data

I worked in my town's public library for some years during high school. I can attest to a certain snarky brand of humor that characterizes the Librarian, but this example really tickled me.

A colleague of mine is working on her Master's in Library Science. She recently stumbled upon a library record for an urban renewal plan of Charlestown, penned in 1963:

Brief description of buildings, topography, etc.; detailed discussion of condition of streets and improvements to be made; includes data and recommendations on parking, public transportation, traffic signals, police and fire alarm boxes, water supply, steet and park lighting; also includes 29 pages of boring data.

Good to know.

Restaurant Review: The Independent

While I've rubbed up against hipsters many a time on the pub side of The Independent, Friday night marked my first foray into the restaurant area. Seven of us sat at a large high-top table, conveniently located by the front window, which was open to the lovely end-of-summer air and the Union Square showing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1971) in smell-o-vision. Our waitress was also bartending, so we had to do some fighting for her attentions.

A few of us split the Korean-style calamari, which was fried ever-so lightly and came accompanied by a tiny silver pot of delicious dipping sauce. The calamari was tender and stopped my friend from gnawing off my arm in hunger (she threatened several times to do so), but I could have done with fewer scallions. While the scallions were cut prettily -- extra fine and on a deep bias -- they got tangled up in the calamari and it was impossible to avoid them in bites. The same scallions returned on my croque monsieur and I was throuroughly over the slender green onions by that point.

The ham of the croque monsieur was delicious, but I lost a lot of the flavor in the slather of bechamel and pilings of gruyere. The sandwich was served in two open-faced halfs, which was probably wise in terms of construction, but resulted in toasty bread on only the bottom of each bite; this was not enough to cut the richness of the bechamel/gruyere combo. The croque monseiur is one sandwich that does not come with a side of fries and a pickle, so it was just RICH AND CREAMY ALL THE TIME. Conceptually, rich and creamy all the time appeals to me, but in reality, this sandwich quickly became too much to handle.

I had a Six Point Apollo Wheat with my meal, that was quite nice: light and citrusy. I will come back to try a more robust entree, rather than a sammy, but at the moment my only recommendation of the croque monsieur at The Indo is that it's cheap ($7.00).

The Independent
75 Union Square
Somerville, MA

Trader Joe's Bananas Make Me Sad

I eat a banana every day.

My former apartment was within walking distance of a Shaw's (Star Market? Shaw's?) and thus within walking distance of beautiful Dole bananas. I know that bananas are not local and therefore heathen, but if I ever decided to live off of only locally grown and produced foods for a year I would have to make an exception for bananas. Barbara Kingsolver made some exceptions (coffee and olive oil were on her list, I believe) and if she can, I would too. For bananas. Bananas!

My new apartment is just steps from Trader Joe's (and a few more steps from Whole Foods) and while this makes me generally happy, the organically grown bananas found there do not. They are consistently and perpetually bruised! There are some fruits that I can handle eating bruised, but the banana is not one of them. A bruised banana reaches a whole new level of mush that is completely unpalatable. Are the organics more delicate than non-organic? Or does Trader Joe's toss those puppies around like they're bales of hay?

Some interesting books that come to mind, that I recommend, and that I think I need to re-read passages of in light of this post:

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver
Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World by Dan Koeppel

Restaurant Review: Tupelo

Tupelo in Inman Square used to be Magnolia's, and still retains some of the decor. The water glasses are new though - large Ball jars - and, as far as know, the artwork on the bathroom doors is fresh. We both agreed that the red walls are nice, the sconces are out-of-place Art Deco and the painted mirrors look kinda crap. Oh, but the food. It's lovely.

We arrived close to 8:00pm on Friday night and were told it would be about a 45 minute wait for the two of us. A fella waiting in line just ahead of us said it was worth the wait and that folks gather round the small bar to kill the time. Only two beers on tap, but one was Brooklyn Lager, so I was set. Our friendly bartender served us straight away, and the host swung by once before we were seated, just to confirm our place on the waiting list. We were led to our table in what felt like no time at all.

We started with a deviled crab salad on garlic toasts: flavorful and with a nice afterburn that I doused with my frosty brew. Pete ordered one of the specials for dinner - jambalaya - which full of warm, "slow and low" flavors and crammed with big shrimp and hunks of andouille sausage. I had the brisket for my main:

Daube of Beef: Beef braised in red wine with hominy mashed potatoes with charred peppers, roasted corn salsa & Creole horseradish cream. 15

The meat had a crispy edge but was still fork-tender. The three items on the plate meshed well together, and I admit that more than one forkful contained meat, potato and corn together. We stalled for a while, but then gave in and ordered dessert. Pete had the blueberry pie with vanilla icecream; I had the brown butter pecan pie with bourbon icecream. BROWN BUTTER. My newest love. Nom. A free beer from the waiter for me (just me? awkward?) and then we paid our modest bill.

I like the wave of southern-inspired cuisine that is making its way through Cambridge. Tupeolo uses big, bold flavors on its gently priced plates and I look forward to a return trip.

Tupelo
1193 Cambridge Street
Cambridge, MA 02139
617-868-0004
http://www.tupelo02139.com/