BASTA PASTA, CAMBRIDGEPORT

Ok, I'm sorry. I just don't have a creative title in me today. And you think I would considering how cutesy the restaurant's name is. But really, I'm tired and i want a Coke. But I've got iced coffee and at least i'm posting, right? Allright, so last night, Katie, Dustin and I had dinner at Basta Pasta in the area that's known as Cambridgeport (the area west of Central Square and bordered by the Charles). We were looking for something quick, so Katie could make it to the gym post-dinner (which she didn't), and something relatively inexpensive. So at least we fulfilled half that goal.

Upon driving up to the restaurant, which is located on Western Ave., we discovered that there was no parking. Well, actually there was plenty of parking for people with Cambridge parking permits, but not for us. The only meter that existed was in front of the restaurant, but there was a police car parked there. So we ended up parking a few short blocks away on Putnam Ave.

When we walked into the restaurant, we found a cute neighborhood restaurant with a handful of tables and the menu written on a large chalkboard. Here's a pic of some customers who arrived after us. (and half of Dustin)We put our order in and given that the restaurant was small and not packed (yet), we figured our food would come out fairly quickly. But we'd be wrong about that. Though we were entertained watching the Sox dominate their game against the Devil Rays, we were very cognizant of the fact that our food was taking forever to arrive. This gave me some time to observe our fellow diners. There were plenty of locals and 2 sets of cops (which I guess shouldn't be that surprising since the Cambridge police station is only a few blocks up from the restaurant.)

Finally, our food was ready and we got 3 steaming bowls of pasta. Here's my dish, a chicken cacciatore with linguini. Lots of chicken and peppers. I found this very tasty and the portion was generous, so I took 1/3 of it home.Meanwhile, here's Katie's special of the day. I considered ordering this, but opted for something different after Katie chose it. It has zucchini, chicken, grape tomatoes and I don't remember what else.Katie liked it but not as much as she enjoyed Dustin's chicken marsala. And I gotta admit, Dustin's pasta looked pretty tasty to me, too.
Dustin also ordered some garlic bread (which I didn't take a picture of) and it was very good. Filled with butter, cheese and some spices, it also came with a side of pasta sauce. Unfortuantely by the time it arrived, he'd already finished his pasta. Also by this time, the small restaurant had filled up, all with locals who had clearly been there before. Dinner was very economically priced. I paid $11 for my pasta with a drink and like I said, I took some of it home. Katie pointed out that it's too bad they didn't have any dessert selections, but I was so full that i didn't mind too much.

I think the key to this place is to order ahead of time and arrive in time to eat. Or pick up your food and take it home (which a few people were also doing). The food was certainly tasty, so if I'm ever stuck in Central Square and looking for some place to eat, I'd make another visit to Basta Pasta.

BBQ THAT DEFINITELY DESERVES A BLUE RIBBON

Last night my sister and I had dinner at Blue Ribbon BBQ in Arlington. Now, many of you may be thinking that Arlington is some suburb that's all the way out there, but really, it's just a 15 minute drive from Harvard. And this restaurant is certainly worth the trip.

There are a few famous bbq places in Boston. Red bones in Davis Sq. is the one that immediately comes to mind, but I didn't like that place. It reminded me of a restaurant that frat boys would love to eat at. And there were very few choices for the non-pork or beef eating public. Blue Ribbon BBQ not only has better food, but I found the atmosphere much more pleasant. Located on Mass Ave. (yes, the exact same Mass Ave. that runs through Boston and Cambridge), it evokes the feeling and look of a 1950s diner. Like the tile floors and cool old seats. There isn't a whole lot of seating at the location, they mainly focus on take out, and there were certainly many people doing that, but my sister and I were gonna be eating in.

We placed our orders at the counter. I opted for the half bbq chicken platter with 2 sides- black eyed corn(I didn't know that was, but was willing to try it out- turns out it's corn and black eyed peas) and mashed potatoes. (that was the smallest portion I could get) while my sister ordered the rib platter with sides of coleslaw and baked beans. With 2 lemonades, it came out to $27, which may seem like a lot for a dinner for 2, but wait until you see the size of the portions.

Here's my dinner. Isn't it huge?? The chicken was totally juicy and not dry at all. And the bbq sauce is great, with a hint of spice and heat. (i opted for the sweet bbq sauce, rather than the hot one). All platters also come with pickles and cornbread. I do love cornbread. and the mashed potatoes were totally packed with butter and absoloutely great!Here's my sister's rib dinner. And yes, there really are a lot of ribs.
Needless to say, neither of us finished our meals and ended up taking most of it home. I enjoyed sitting in front of the big window watching traffic go by while feasting on my bbq. There were desserts available like pies and cookies and brownies, but we were so full there was no way that either of us could eat any more. Oh also, the staff there is super friendly. Even though you don't really have much contact with them, they asked as twice how we were doing and that made the meal really pleasant.

Overall, this place was without a doubt worth the drive. And really, it's just an extra 10 minute drive from Redbone's. And if you're getting food to go, there's a very extensive take out menu. I look foward to my next visit there, but for now, I'm looking foward to eating my leftovers at home.

A MOROCCAN OASIS IN THE SOUTH END

On Friday night, Leah, Jayna and I decided to have dinner at the Red Fez in the South End. I was excited to try out this Moroccan restaurant which has been a part of the South End dining scene even before the area became gentrified and famous as a dining destination. And I was hoping for the Moroccan dining experience that I had had in college at the Moroccan restaurants in Philadelphia- with the darkened rooms, seating on cushions, eating with your hands and experiencing amazing food. (Sadly, I haven't been able to find the same thing anywhere else.)

Upon driving up to the Red Fez (and yes, the awning on the restaurant is supposed to be a red fez), I was happy to find free parking in the South End, in the parking lot behind the restaurant. When we entered the restaurant, the bar area was totally packed. Perhaps because there was a Red Sox game on or because this place just has a bar scene. But it was quite lively and noisy. We put in our names for a table and told it'd be a 20 minute wait, so we decided to wander outside and take a look at some of the neighboring stores. I finally got a look at Brix, the wine store on Washington St. that opened last year. And it was very pretty. Then we walked over to Seven Eleven where we bought ourselves a bag of chips to share cause we were all pretty hungry.

When we walked back to the restaurant, our table was ready, so we got seated in the dining room. The cool thing about the Red Fez is that it is a stand alone building, so it has lots of space. The entire place is divided in two sides by a curtain- the left side is the dining area and the right is the bar. The restaurant part is actually quite spacious with really nice 20 foot ceilings, but of course, this increases the volume level of the restaurant immensely and it's hard to have a quiet conversation. They really could have fitted more tables in, but it was kinda nice that they didn't.
Our waitress showed up quickly to take our drink orders, but upon discovering that we weren't about to order drinks, as Leah put it, the light in her eyes went out. And we would see her very little for the rest of the night. It's suprising considering the number of people they actually have working that service would be so poor, but it was. Not hostile and terrible, but very neglectful. She did take our orders, though. I got chicken kabobs, while Leah and Jayna both ordered lamb kabobs.

As an appetizer, we share the humus with crudite. I found it very yummy, though a little oily. But it was a generous portion and even the three of us couldn't finish it all.They also give each table a giant bread basket which is great! And a little white bean dipping sauce on the side, which i also found very yummy.

Then our entrees arrived. Here's my chicken kabob. I got a side of couscous with it, and was surprised that they used the big couscous. However, it was drenched in butter and tasted great. And everything else was very tasty.

Here's Jayna's lamb kabob. She got a side of potatoes. Both Jayna and Leah enjoyed their entrees. And we all had food left over to take home. Was the food fantastic and amazing? No, but it was very good. And I think it was pretty reasonably priced for dinner in the South End. All our entrees were in the mid-hi teens. So you won't break the bank eating here.We perused the dessert menu, but didn't find anything particularly desirable. So we decided to get ice cream elsewhere. We ended up at Toscanini's in Central Square were we all order micro-sundaes (unfortunately I forgot to photograph them, but they were googy and great).

A TASTE OF VENEZUELA IN BOSTON

Leah and I were on our way to see the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at the Orpheum. So we wanted to grab a quick dinner before we arrived at the theatre- in time to see the main act, but late enough to miss the opening band. (I mean, do any of you really care about the openers? I certainly don't. So i try to miss that part whenever possible).

So i suggested we try Orinoco, the new Venezuelan restaurant on Shawmut St. It's been written up a lot and had some good reviews. Plus, it's always nice to try out other cuisines in Boston. We were lucky to find parking right in front of the restaurant, since as we all know, it's almost impossible to find parking in the South End. And even though we arrived right after 6:30, the place was already packed. Luckily Leah and I were able to snag that last two seat available, at a small bar in front of a big window. Otherwise, it would've been a 20 minute wait for a table. Unfortunately, our seats were right next to the door, and of course, it had turned unseasonably cold, again. We were also lucky to arrive when we did. Had we been 5 minutes later, we definitely would have had to wait as the restaurant began to fill with diners waiting for a table.

The interior of Orinoco is very cute, colorful and festive. I almost felt this restaurant could belong in NY. Maybe in the West Village. We were quickly asked what we'd like to drink and brought menus. But then the wait began. And I think this coincided with the line of people waiting for a table. Orinoco is a small restaurant. Even though I've heard it only seats 20, I certainly seats more than that, but not by much. And there's no waiting area, so you're left with waiting diners standing in the middle of the restaurant, while getting in the way of waitstaff and diners who have an actual table. Also, it seemed like there was only one real waitress taking orders, so we had to wait for her. Which is exactly what we did.. For a good long time, despite some obvious looks around the restaurant indicating we wanted to order, until she realized that we were ready to order.

I ended up ordering two arepas. An arepa is basically a corn meal pocket filled with stuff and then pan fried. I didn't know how big there were gonna be, but figured they be an appetizer portion and a bowl of pumpkin soup. After we actually placed our orders, the food arrived pretty quickly. so here's my first arepa, which is the traditional chicken one.The arepas were different from ones I'd had before. I guess they were fancier for starters. And the corn pocket was much thicker than I'd remembered, and kinda chewy which I didn't love.Which made the entire thing very filling. I should've just ordered one. My favorite part of the arepa is the excellent green sauce that they give you on the side, that was super tasty.Here's my second arepa- which had shredded chicken, avocado and cilantro. I didn't like it as much as the first one cause it reminded of a chicken salad stuffed in the corn pocket, but I did enjoy the avocados.
And lastly I got the soup of the day, which was the pumpkin soup with bits of plantians. The soup was pretty good, nicely spiced, but a bit too sweet for my taste and I wans't a big fan of the plantains floating about.Here's leah's dinner. She ordered "Pabellón Criollo: Venezuela’s most folkloric dish: shredded beef, white rice, black beans and plantains."I think she liked her dinner. Not loved, but enjoyed it. I thought it was a little skimpy. But i guess this is one of those restaurants where you're supposed to order an appetizer before the entree.

Now came the difficult part of paying. You'd think with people waiting they'd try to turn those tables a little faster, but not really. So tracking down the waitress to get the bill, then actually have them run the credit card took a bit of time, too. The good thing about this place is that dinner is very reasonably priced, especially for the South End. None of the entrees were over $20 and I could have easily eaten for less than $15.

So if you've never tried Venezuelan food, Orinoco makes it very easy for you to give it a try in a comfortable setting, so you're not overwhelmed by a new cuisine. However, if you plan on getting there after 6:30, remember to give yourself plenty of time to wait and eat.

A WINTRY DINNER ON A WINTRY DAY

They say it's spring. But of course you can't believe them. Cause this is Boston, where winter can last through May. So despite a few days of lovely sunshine and warmth, all was erased on Wednesday when it snowed- in April. So in honor of this wintry spring day, I decided to make a dinner which was suited to the cold weather- a potato mushroom casserole and Ina Garten's 40 clove garlic chicken.

Now I knew of Ina Garten's 40 clove garlic chicken cause the Amateur Gourmet made it in February for his Oscar's party. Which was great cause I had lots of heads of garlic after Boston Organics sent me 2 heads along with what I already had at home. So I'm not going to photograph and repeat the exact same steps when you can just go to the Amateur Gourmet's site and follow along. Suffice it to say, yes, garlic is super easy to peel when you flash boil it, but you still gotta stand there and peel it. And this is a lovely recipe, with the flavors of the garlic mellowing out as it cooks, but the best chicken ever? I don't think so. It is really easy to make, though, and I'll certainly be doing it again. Actually I brought it for lunch today and eat it as soon as this post is up.

So onto the potato mushroom casserole. For my birthday, my little sister got me the Silver Spoon cookbook, which I had asked for. It was on backorder on Amazon and didn't arrive until March (my bday was in January), so I hadn't gotten around to using it yet. If you haven't heard of the Silver Spoon, it's this massive Italian cookbook. Like slightly over 1,000 pages and it's super heavy. It was started in the 1950s, when the publishers had all these home cooks in Italy send in their favorite recipes. So remembering that it's the 50s, things were starting to be cooked a lot more quickly and convenience was really important. It's been updated since, but it's still super cool and contains recipes for almost everything you can think of. Really. It's kinda funny just flipping through it for exotic fish recipes and various parts of the cow and such.

At any rate, I decided to make a potato (again from Boston Organics) and mushroom casserole. The hardest part about this recipe was slicing the potatoes and mushrooms and grating the cheese. So here are my ingredients all ready to go (remember mis en place?)

The sliced mini portobella mushrooms and the greated parmigiano reggiano cheese:
And the potatoes along with some dried porcinis that are rehydrating:

The recipe had asked for porcini mushrooms. But we're in the U.S. and those beautiful, fresh porcinis which are everywhere in Italian markets are very difficult to find here and if you do find them, they're gonna cost a ton. So I went for the mini portabellos instead. However, I did have some dried porcincis left from my last trip to Italy, so I decided to use some of those just for added flavor.

Next you melt 3 tablespoons of butter in an oven proof dish. When it's melted, remove that from the heat and start layering.Here's my first layer of potatoes. I seasoned with salt and pepper between each layer and sprinkled generously with cheese and mushrooms. Here it is below:Then you just repeat until you run out of ingredients. I finished it off with a layer of cheese on top, add 5 tablespoons of water, and it goes into the oven at 350F for 1 hour. Now, I knew that this would take more than an hour, having cooked potatoes before, but I did end up over cooking them. So watch your time and check often. It still came out tasty though, albeit a bit watery. I think that had to do this the type of mushrooms i ended up using, since different mushrooms have different water contents.

I would've taken a pic of everything for you guys, but my little camera is unhappy right now. I think i set it down in a little puddle of water while i was cooking and it hasn't turned on since. I'll get it checked out soon. But in the meantime, even though the cold weather gave me a chance to cook some yummy wintry food, i still hope it'll warm up soon so we can have lovely green veggies and produce for me to cook with.

THE NEIGHBORHOOD PUB IN JP, DINNER AT JAMES GATE RESTAURANT AND PUB

If I lived in Jamaica Plain, the James Gate restaurant and pub might be my neighborhood bar... If i had a bar that i frequented, which i don't, since i rarely drink anymore. but that's getting totally off the topic. Last week, Katie and decided to head down to JP for dinner. Some of you may be more familiar with the restaurants on Centre street, but we wandered off the beaten path and ended up on South St. in JP in search of James Gate.

So the first nice thing about James Gate is that they have a parking lot. Don't be fooled by the first parking lot that you see up front, with only 5 spaces. There's a much larger one just half a block down on your left with like 20 more spaces. Only problem was that they didn't seem to have any more spaces available for us, but we managed to squeeze into a semi-spot next to a dumpster. (were there really that many people in this place?)

And upon entering the actually pub, the answer is, yes. There really were that many people inside. But the vibe was totally one of people hanging out with their friends for a beer and dinner. This was a neighborhood place and totally relaxed and comfortable. And there were still one or two open tables. Katie and I took one in a corner. I had noticed online that James Gate had 2 menus, a dinner menu and a pub menu. and I had wondered how they would separate the two, was the pub menu only served in the bar area? And what if you sat in the dinner area and wanted to order pub food? This question was answered pretty quickly when we entered. This restaurant is divided in half, with separate entrances to either side. The pub is dark, noisy and the bar takes up an entire side. But you can see through a doorway to the restaurant side with it's light yellow painted walls and art work. The restaurant side is also significantly more expensive.

Upon sitting down, we learned that you had to place your orders with the bartender. That's right, no real table service in the bar. Which was fine, but a little difficult trying to navigate past the people actually sitting at the bar while getting the attention of the lone bartender who was taking care of the entire restaurant. Katie ordered a turkey burger while I got chicken fingers with curry sauce.

Here's my dinner:
ok fine. I forgot to take pictures until i had already started eating. I got onion rings rather than fries. And they were good, but they put beer in the batter and it wasn't subtle. That kinda turned me off from the rings. My chicken fingers were a little too dry and stringy for my taste, but i really liked the curry sauce that came on the side.

And here's katie's turkey burger. So perhaps I'll try that next time.Katie deemed this the best turkey burger she's ever had.

All the food comes in huge portions, which is great for the amount that they charge. I kept watching huge platters of food whiz by. and though service is a bit lacking (it took forever to get the bartender to give me the bill) it's a really relaxed and comfortable place to hang out for a beer and a burger. So i would certainly give this place another try. Maybe next time I'll go for the turkey burger, or try something like the fish sandwich.

THE COLOSSAL HUNGRY MAN BREAKFAST

ok, i just wanted to show you all what the colossal man breakfast at deluxe town diner looks like. Jayna, leah and i went back the other night so i could have breakfast for dinner, and i just needed to show this off.that's right, not a veggie in sight. jayna and leah were more reasonable with their dinner orders, but i just had to get this. and the waitress totally gave me props for my order. lots of brown and white, as leah pointed out. but just to let you know, i did have a glass of oj on the side. those pancakes were great. so fluffy and sweet. i'm still thinking about them...