Boston

Up, Up and Away!

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Hello from Logan Airport! Hubz and I are currently awaiting our flight to Raleigh to meet my parents and head to Myrtle Beach (where I hear it is currently pouring). Until our flight we are hanging out, enjoying the free wi-fi and “enjoying” an airport breakfast of Starbucks oatmeal, OJ (for me), coffee (for him) and a fruit cup (to share).

REWIND!

Lets rewind a bit to Friday….

Friday afternoon started our Babymoon journey to Myrtle Beach by way of Boston, but first we had to stop into our midwife office for our mid-pregnancy ultrasound and appointment. We have a very active baby growing inside me and it took forever for the tech to get all the shots she needed but she finally got all the necessary shots and even caught a side profile for us. We did not catch a glimpse of the goods so we still have no idea what we are having. Well I mean we know it’s either a boy or a girl …we hope anyways. After our appointment we headed to Boston where we first stopped to have flatbread (our post appointment tradition) at Flatbread Company in Somerville. We ordered the vegan flatbread and it was good but we both agreed American Flatbread in Vermont is so much better. After dinner we checked into the Westin Copley Place where we passed out pretty quickly.

Saturday morning started off as it always does when we travel to Boston with bagels and lattes at our favorite spot- Espresso Royale on Newbury Street. We both ordered our favorite whole wheat everything bagels with veggie tofu spread and tomatoes (and sprouts for husband <--I miss sprouts so much!) and a decaf latte for me and an americano for him. We were so hungry that the bagels were gone before I could take a photo but I did shoot a quick pic of my beautiful and amazing latte.

After breakfast we took a walk around Newbury Street and the Prudential Center (actually that’s what we spent most of the day doing) and eventually we ended up at OMBE Boston for our massages. It felt wonderful to get a massage and just relax.

After our massage we strolled down Newbury Street and then stopped into my favorite college spot The Otherside Cafe where we shared a pot of tea and a big bowl of fruit with raw chocolate mousse.

After a little more shopping and strolling we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at Estragon Tapas Bar where I actually purchased a Living Social deal for a few weeks back. I started with a virgin pineapple mojito which was amazing and for my second drink I asked the waiter if he could have the bartender make another virgin cocktail and he came back with this amazing ginger brew concoction that had caradmom, cinnamon, salt and one other thing I can’t remember.

The restaurant was dimly lit so I didn’t take any photos of the food but everything was so delicious! They have the vegetarian and vegan options labeled right on the menu which makes things so much easier. They have an amazing waitstaff, our water glasses were always full and our waiter attentive, friendly and knowledgeable.

We were tempted to go with the vegetarian paella but decided to try a variety of tapas, we had:

  • Garbanzos Fritos (VG) crispy paprika chickpeas
  • Puerros Con Romesco (VG) grilled leeks, romesco
  • Patatas Bravas (VG) feisty fried potatoes
  • Espinacas A La Catalana (VG) sauteed spinach, pine nuts, golden raisins
  • Pimientos Shishito (VG) blistered shishito peppers, sea salt
  • Esparragos Verdes (VG) Grilled Green Asparagus, Lemon Oil, Sea Salt

We really enjoyed all of the dishes but our favorites were the spinach and the leeks. I actually wasn’t really interested in the spinach but Neil insisted that we order it and I am so glad we did because it was AMAZING. I would really recommend trying this restaurant if you visit Boston.

Anniversary Getaway: Day 4-Shop Til You Drop & Plan Changes

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Wrentham Village Premium Outlets where we spent four hours shopping our butts off. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed getting some shopping done while still being able to walk around outside.  For lunch we packed up wraps and fruit and enjoyed a nice little picnic on a green patch that we found next to our car.  As for the success of the shopping….well the Hubz purchased a bunch of tops and a pair of shorts and I left with a pair of earrings and a tennis skirt; not so successful on my part.

After our shopping trip we were left with a huge dilemma- what do we do now?  Honestly there isn’t much happening in the Wrentham area and our hotel which was in Franklin well was just not what we’d hoped for on our anniversary.  So we decided that since we got a steal on the room via Hotwire that we would eat the cost  and find a new room in Boston so we could enjoy a nice night out.  Again turning to Hotwire (seriously addicted) we chose a 4 star in Cambridge and ended up with the Hyatt Regency- WIN!

Our accomodations went from:

Room at Hawthorne Suites - Franklin MA

Room at Hawthorne Suites - Franklin MA

To this:

Hyatt Regency Cambridge

Not only did the romance factor increase so did the ability to get out at night and enjoy ourselves. I mean as much as I loved that evening trip to Target and Shop & Save I’d rather be galavanting around Boston. So we checked in at the Hyatt Regency and headed straight to our room to change and take advantage of their gym – we were in need of a good run to stay on track for our training plan.

 

View as I Ran

After our run and a good shower we got all done up and took a walk across the bridge to Boston to catch a T to our next destination, Addis Red Sea. We had made reservations at Addis Red Sea because it has in the past been one of our favorite restaurants to visit in Boston. We love the atmosphere and the Ethiopian food and have always had a good experience ….until this past visit. We arrived 2 hours before closing and were seated. We were super hungry so we decided to order a lentil sambusa and the vegetarian plate for two along with a few beers. Well once the girl finally took our order we settled in to what we hoped would be a great night. About 10 minutes later the waitress returned to tell us they were out of the lentil sambusa but they had the veggie if we wanted that instead; we said yes and 10 minutes after that she returned with two sambusas. I had a feeling something just wasn’t right so instead of biting right in like I normally would have I tore a corner off only to find that our veggie sambusa was actually beef; can you imagine if I had taken a big bite!! Well 10 minutes after that I finally got the waitresses attention and told her of the mistake and that we would rather not have an appetizer at all and we would just like our meal at this point.

After waiting a bit longer our meal finally arrived with two lentil sambusas (I guess they found more?). We started into the food immediately since at this point we were ravenous after waiting for almost an hour for our food. After a few bites the Hubz noticed that we were missing our salad that was to go with the meal and that most of the food was cold and in addition to that when we finally took a bite of the sambusas they were freezing in the middle. Overall we had the worst experience ever at this restaurant ever and we have been here many times. Unfortunately, after this experience I wouldn’t recommend Addis Red Sea and wouldn’t return- there are enough other great restaurants in Boston to eat at so don’t waste time (or money) here. Oh and we got charged for the sambusas after the whole mess and the fact we told them to disregard the order since they couldn’t seem to get it right.

Oh well! We didn’t let the dinner get us down instead we headed out for a celebratory (for our anniversary, not the horrible dinner) Manhattan down the road.  Honestly one of the best Manhattans ever and I had the best company with me too. Love.

Anniversary Getaway Day 1 Part 2

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After checking into our lovely hotel the Hubz and I headed out to The Elephant Walk in Waltham for dinner.  This restaurant has been on my “must visit” list for awhile but we have never made it there. A few times I tired to make last minute reservations but they have always been booked (guess that means they must be good right?)  Well I lucked out this time and got a last minute reservation at the Waltham location and I am so glad I did because it was delicious!

I received a number of great recommendations as to what to get at The Elephant Walk by a number of tweeps and in the end the Hubz and I decided to both do the 3 Course Prix-Fixe since it was our anniversary and all.

We both ordered the Vegan Rouleaux, Chilled Avocado Citrus Soup and theVegan Crevettes (tofu) Amrita for our three courses.  We also both picked out fancy cocktails.  I chose the Cucumber Martini; it was really refreshing and so good.

Crop organic cucumber vodka accented with a splash of Dolin White Vermouth (an amazing, small production family product) and garnished with a slice of cucumber

First Course: Vegan Rouleaux– this was a really amazing and fun dish to eat.  We were instructed that you take the lettuce leaf and place the fried roll in the middle, then top with mint, basil and bean sprouts roll it up and dip in the sauce.  It was crazy delicious and there was so much food- I definitely got a little filled up just on the first course! I am now going to have to recreate these some day after a long run.

Two Cambodian spring rolls filled with something vegan , crushed peanut, beanthread noodles, carrot and onion; served with fresh greens and herbs for wrapping and tuk trey on the side for dipping

Second Course: Chilled Avocado Citrus Soup– this was the Hubz favorite of the three. It had such an amazing flavor and zip to it.  Again something I need to attempt to recreate.

Third Course: Tofu Amrita- this final course was absolutely delicious.  It was huge as well and neither the Hubz nor I could finish more than half of it after devouring the first two courses.  The dish was filled with wonderful chunks of crispy tofu with lots of veggies and a sweet peanuty sauce. Overall delicious.

Organic Tofu sautéed in a lightly sweet and spicy Cambodian satay sauce with coriander, cumin, cardamom, galangal, cinnamon, ginger, peanuts, star anise and lemongrass; with button mushroom, onion, red pepper and scallion

Overall the Hubz and I loved The Elephant Walk; the food and drink were both amazing.  The atmosphere of the Waltham location wasn’t my favorite because it wasn’t very romantic and they seemed to try and fit as many tables in as possible so you were basically sitting on top of the people next to you.  However despite that the food was amazing and we will be going back (again and again).

Adventures in Boston

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This past weekend the Hubz and I headed south-east to Boston for a little eating, drinking, shopping and a blogger/tweet up! We rolled into town and were ready for some eats. I had always been curious to try Island Hopper and so I gave them a call and inquired about the vegan options; after confirming that they had options we headed out and really enjoyed ourselves.

We enjoyed miso soup, tofu satay- this was really amazing, and then two other dishes that I forget the names of but they were really yummy. I loved that our entrees were served with brown rice and greens.

On Saturday we headed to the new vegan restaurant in Somerville, True Bistro, to meet up with a few bloggers and tweeps. We met early for brunch with Emily and her boyfriend, Lisa aka @seaweedgirle and Laura aka @pansymaiden.

The Hubz and I split the Tofu Benedict and the Teele Square Burger both of which were really delicious- the house made french fries were so good and the heap of caramelized onions were amazing on the burger. Emily and her boyfriend both enjoyed the Waffle with Poached Pears and Emily had a side of fruit which looked really good. Laura also enjoyed the Tofu Benedict and Lisa had the Biscuits with Crumbled House Sausage. After our meal we were presented with two extra large cookies on the house; the six of us sampled the chocolate chip and the oatmeal raisin- the oatmeal raisin was the overall favorite.

After brunch it was time to get our shop on and boy did we! Finally around 8pm we decided to stay close to the hotel and eat at my old college favorite The Other Side. We decided that after a busy day we would unwind with the Ball Jar special which happened to be Victory Lager.  For dinner I went with my favorite vegan chili and vegan grilled cheeze and the Hubz went with the Buffalo Tempeh sandwich; both of these were so delicious.  We ended our meal with the vegan chocolate mousse with fruit; this was really rich and so amazing.

We ended our trip with breakfast at Trident Booksellers where I found to my delight more vegan options than I would have expected. All of the egg dishes can be prepared with tofu and they have a tofu scramble on the menu. We order the tofu scramble with broccoli, spinach and mushrooms and a Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Smoothie to share. After fueling up we took a few photos at the Prudential Center and then hit the road and did some more shopping on the way home.

Checkout Past Boston Features:

Boston Restaurant: Myers & Chang

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On our last night in Boston we decided to make a last minute reservation at Myers & Chang located in the South End. Like Grezzo we have wanted to visit Myers & Chang on our many past trips to Boston but had never really been in the area. However, this time our hotel was only a 20 minute walk from the restaurant so we decided to go, and boy were we glad we did.

The atmosphere of Myers & Chang reminds me of something I’ve seen on an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations in Toyko or Beijing; it is very loud & high paced with low lighting and hip-hop playing over the speakers.  The food is served family style which is my favorite way to eat because dishes come out as they are ready so if you’re lucky you get to enjoy each dish as a separate “course”.

Since the husband had been making comments all weekend about trying a Scorpion Bowl we decided that since there was one on the drink menu that we must start with it. For those of you who don’t know a Scorpion Bowl is generally filled with some sort of variation of 3 different kinds of rum, gin, vodka, orange juice, pineapple juice and grenadine- basically it taste like a tropical vacation.

Hubz trying out the Scorpion Bowl

For our dinner we decided to go with four dishes- 2 snacks, a noodle and a green.  One of the great features to the vegetarian menu (oh don’t forget to ask them for one when you arrive) is that all vegan dishes are marked with (v) so that they are easily identifiable. For our dishes we went with:

edamame and celery slaw with sesame oil & candied lemon

grilled 5-spice tofu buns-bao, brandied hoisin, house pickles

spicy brussels sprouts

vegetarian wok-charred udon noodles, tofu, baby bok choy

Since the place was packed and we made a super last minute reservation we were stuck at probably the worst table in the house, you know the one right next to the kitchen where servers hustle in and out.  We were however sitting close enough to the open kitchen that we could see the chefs cook up the meals and the huge flames which gave all the food this great barbeque/charred flavor.  All of the food was amazing and I would order everything again.

Since we were craving something sweet we decided to see if there were any vegan dessert options. Our waiter came back to let us know that there was an orange granita or a chocolate mousse that both were vegan.  We decided to go with the chocolate mousse which was whipped tofu, vanilla and dark chocolate.

If you are vegetarian this usually comes with 5-spiced homemade marshmallows

Boston Restaurant: Grezzo

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After years of talking about visiting Grezzo (pronounced GRAY-zo and means raw in Italian) we finally went for lunch on our last Boston trip.  The restaurant is located in the North End of Boston and is open for lunch and dinner.  The restaurant is very quaint, filled with large paintings of fruits and vegetables that were beautiful and I just wanted to take them home with me. The very tiny kitchen is located at the back of the restaurant and has no stoves or ovens just prep tables, refrigerators, a dehydrator and other essential appliances for creating raw meals.

We sat and looked over the menu for quiet awhile, not because it was big but because everything sounded amazing and we were having such a hard time deciding on what we wanted to try. We decided to start of with some drinks which can come with or without sake (we went without):

Grezzo Mojito - with kombucha

Chai Mudslide - creamy, spiced concoction, coconut milk

Both were decorated with pretty edible flowers

These drinks were incredible! Neil had the Chai, it tasted like a chai milk shake and was delicious.  I had the Mojito – it was delicious and so refreshing.  For lunch I decided to go with the Gnocchi Carbonara-the gnocchi were so good and the cream sauce was amazing. The hubz went with the BLTA (“Bacon”, Lettuce, Tomato & Avocado)- this was honestly the best sandwich either of us had ever had.  It came with sweet potato chips and pickled vegetables which were also delicious.

Gnocchi Carbonara - house-made dumplings, creamy rawmesan and fresh English peas with pea shoots and crispy eggplant

BLTA Italian Bread Wrap- eggplant bacon, lettuce, tomato, avocado and house cheese

Lastly, we decided that we just couldn’t leaved without trying one of the desserts since everyone raves about them. We decided to go with the Cheesecake of the Day which happened to be a New York style and was served with raspberry gelato. Overall we loved our meal and can’t wait to go back again.  I think we will try dinner next time as the dinner options sound amazing as well.

Delicious Dessert

Boston & Veg Fest 2009

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This past weekend my husband and I headed south to Lowell & Boston for the weekend.  We stayed in Chelmsford and decided that we just had to go to Life Alive for dinner in Lowell.  We visited the cafe the same weekend last year and they actually had a booth at Boston Veg Fest 2008 (they didn’t have one this year though.)

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I enjoyed The Swami which had a- (as described on the menu)- “Miso Curried Sauce sweetening a masterfully-tasty mix of tamari roasted almonds, flame raisins, pearl onions, dark greens, broccoli flowerrs, and shredded carrots, served over brown rice with a sprinkle of nutritional yeast.”

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Neil enjoyed The Emperor- (as described on the menu)- “Sweet and nutty short grain brown rice, melted cheddar cheese, sundried tomatoes, steamed greens, sweet yellow corn, shredded carrots, tofu and sunflower sprouts crowned by our Satisfying Sesame Miso sauce.”  He got it without the cheese obviously and subsituted with raisins and nutritional yeast.

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Neil loved his dinner so much that he just had to hug about it.

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For breakfast Saturday morning we went to our old standby Bagel Rising– inside the Espresso Royale on Newbury Street.  We both got the ‘Joy of Soy’ on a whole wheat everything bagel; mine with jalapeno tofu spread and Neil’s with veggie tofu spread.  I enjoyed a double espresso and Neil a soy chai. 

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We love Life Alive so much that we went back again for dinner Saturday night.  We started out with a shot of wheatgrass.

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I’m boring and got The Swami again- this time with squash.

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Neil got The Rebel – (as described on the menu)- “Sesame ginger nama dressing with flax oil and Braggs, tofu, carrots, beets, dark greens, broccoli and hijiki steamed over quino and short grain brown rice”- They were all out of quinoa so he just had brown rice and I gave him half my squash.

For breakfast Sunday we went to Newton Center to Prana Cafe– a mostly raw cafe that serves it’s full menu from 7am-4pm.

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I ordered the Burrito – (as described on the menu)-“Wrapped in chard leaves with refried beans, avocado, marinated vegetables, and sour cream.”  I have to say this was the best thing that I had all weekend and was a ridiculous amount of food.

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My husband decided that he would be nice and take a picture of me eating the biggest bite ever.

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Neil had the Prana Burger – (as described on the menu) -“Taylor grew up in Chicago eating deep fried hamburgers at a favorite family restaurant. This tastes so much better and actually fills your body with the best vitamins, minerals, and enzymes ever so you feel satisfied but not slowed-down. Served on our homemade-n-hearty onion bread.”  This came with yummy crispy kale chips and Neil ordered cashew cheese on top.  It was delicious!

 

We finally made our way to the Boston Vegetarian Food Festival where we enjoyed trying the different samples and meeting various vendors.  We are excited though because we met the owners of a new vegan B&B on Cape Cod and we are excited to check them out.  The owner told us that the vegetarian one we had visited last year is now closing so they are opening to fill the need. 

We stopped up to the noon demo but were really disappointed with it and decided to leave about 10 minutes in.  It drove me nuts that they guy kept calling omnivores carnivores …..seriously??

Anyways the fest was fun but after two years of visiting I don’t think we would go again unless we happened to be in Boston the same weekend it was going to be happening.

We did leave the fest with a wonderfully sinfull treat from Vegan Treats– the Chocolate Peanut Butter Mousse Bomb- which was incredible.

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