HI RISE V. CLEAR FLOUR

Welcome to the start of Boston's Winter Restaurant Week. That's right people, if you don't have reservations by now, you're probably not gonna get them. Just kidding. There are so many restaurants participating, I'm sure it's not hard to get one, even now. I have two reservations for this week: Union and Chez Henri. Both restaurants I've wanted to visit for sometime, and now I finally get to go! Actually this month will be filled with eating, since I'm headed out to NY next week. It'll be the NY foodfest weekend. And April will be the time to purge my system, exercise and lose weight month. But let's just make it through March first, shall we?

Yesterday we actually went to two bakeries in one day. We started the morning by having brunch at Hi Rise Bakery in Huron Village. We were joined by a number of friends and when we arrived to Hi Rise, the place was packed. However, the crowd tends to ebb and flow there. So after placing our orders and slowly grabbing seats, we were eventually able to grab a whole large table to ourselves. I got a sandwich and only finished half of it. (I'm having the other half for lunch today). Tom got a very generous bread basket. And since it was his first trip to Hi Rise, I think it was a great way for him to try out the breads there. Overall they were well made, but I think the breads at Hi Rise just tend to be bolder breads. The don't have the delicate artistry of the breads made at Clear Flour. So after some grocery shopping, we made out weekly trip to Clear Flour. I was able to grab two of those delicious sesame bread sticks, while Tom got an Epi French baguette (the braided kind). The breads tasted wonerful, as usual. And I'm glad the we make a weekly trip here now.

Now we just need a visit to Iggy's and Sel de la Ter to make this survey of Boston bakeries complete.