Legal Sea Food - what can I tell you that you don't know already

Went for lunch yesterday. It was a 'business' lunch. Take that for whatever you think it means. My management team dined together during an all day strategy session. Nice lunch break when you include wine. (wink, wink)
I got what is the single best lunch item - Cioppino (sp?) Basically it's Italian style Bouillabaisse. It is full of mussels, clams, shrimp and a 1/2 lobster tail - simply delicious. Anyway.... a few were jealous of my meal. Everyone loved (there were 9 of us) their food. The seafood is fresh and always well prepared. They loved their dessert even more. Legal does a consistently excellent job with everything they do. I love to go with my friend Susan or when there is an opportunity for a 'business' lunch or dinner since there is one very close to the office. I don't go to often with Rolfe because he thinks it's overpriced (he is still living in the 80's Revere - fish should be cheap world - remember the 1.98 fish plate at Kelly's?) and prefers Skipjack's much more than Legal. So there you have it.
http://legalseafoods.com/

Just a quick note about the Village Smokhouse

Okay, Rolfe wants to make sure I mention the Smokehouse. We went a few weeks ago. I haven't been there in 10 years. The place hasn't changed much. The BBQ is very good. The ribs are wet and Rolfe really likes them. They are second to his number one fav - Bugaboo Creek (go figure). We'll do a top 10 bbq list soon. But if you are in or around Fenway, the hospitals or Brookline and you are craving good BBQ and a margarita (those are AWESOME) go here.
http://villagesmokehouse.com/

You will not be disappointed in anything and did I mention the margarita's? I'll be doing a margarita top 10 soon. hmmm. It's amazing that there are places out there (hello, Redbones?) that people flock and rave about that don't do ribs this good. I'll tell you, most people don't know what they are talking about. Bugaboo's ribs are way better than Redbones. So are Soul File and the Village Smokehouse.

More Gourmet in the Burbs - Summer/Winter

I heard the guys from Arrows in Ogunquit were opening a place in Burlington. Then we met this guy at a cocktail making class as Stir last summer who was going to bar tend at this new restaurant in Burlington that had their own greenhouse and a commitment to using fresh, local ingredients. I was happy to find out that they were one and the same. They opened in November and we finally made it last Saturday. It is called Summer Winter and is in fact located in the Marriott Hotel in Burlington. Don't be a location snob. This place is easily accessible - close to the mall and RT 95.
http://www.summerwinterrestaurant.com/index.cfm
They have fancy cocktails make with fresh fruit, herbs and spices. I had a Blackberry Nightshade. It went right to my head and tasted sweet and tart. Rolfe had something that tasted like gingerbread. I loved, he said it got too cloying half way through. I am looking forward to trying other concoctions next time. We were doing wine with dinner so nixed another cocktail.
The space is beautiful (bar and dining areas) and comfortable. The kitchen is open so you watch what's coming and going. Makes it tough to pick. They have great list of appetizer and small plates(of which you can combine a few and make a 'picnic' basket)
I started with the Blue Cheese soup. (who knew Massachusetts made blue cheese - Great Hill I think) Rolfe got some butternut squash ravioli that was to die for. It some fancy Italian name that must of meant ravioli. The saucing and presentation was outstanding. Fussy Rolfe deemed this the 'best' butternut squash ravs he's ever had. I agree.
The soup was rich and think - something I would have again. They really pay attention to detail here and the waitstaff is extremely knowledgeable. My entree of cedar plank sea bass was fresh and tasted of the sea (and fresh herbs) and Rolfe's short ribs with corn pudding was comfort food that had that 'something' that it made it special.
Overall, this place is worth the slightly big ticket for the burbs and will even more popular once people venture out of the city. I will return many times.

Soul Food for a non-football Sunday

What to do on the empty Sunday between the AFC Championship and the defining moment of the Patriots utter domination of world (Super Bowl)? Go buy new running shoes at the New Balance outlet in Brighton and then go have some home cooked BBQ at Soul Fire in Allston. http://www.soulfirebbq.com/
It was our first time to Soul Fire. The place is small and clean. They have the worst and best beers in the cooler (from Schlitz to Magic Hat). They also have PBR, Harpoon and Sam on tap. Rolfe was all over the PBR while I decided to go with UFO (love that unfiltered wheat). We sampled the corn dogs while waiting on some bbq. The corn coating/batter was light and tasty and it came with a bbq mustard dipping sauce. We really like these. Would get them again.
For lunch I had the 'Reuben' with a side of collards. It was made with their brisket, bbq sauce, cole slaw and swiss. It was heaven in a grilled rye sandwich. I heard some people claim that Soul Fire has the best collards. I agree. They are the fattening variety (you know what I mean if you eat collards) but worth every calorie. I tasted everything from Rolfe's platter of baby back/pulled pork with mac-n-cheese, fries and corn bread. The meat was nicely smoked and dry rubbed. There are several sauce choices to accompany your meat. All excellent, especially their own regular bbq. I must say that all sides sampled (including the corn bread) were way above average. You can tell this place really takes bbq seriously. The meat is smokey but not too much that you taste it for hours later. The brisket in my sandwich had that perfect smoke ring. I am looking forward to post-Super Bowl Sundays to enjoy more Soul Fire BBQ. I figure this place would be really crowed and full of young Allstonians most nights. I'll take the quiet lazy Sundays.

Nebo - Pizzeria

http://www.neborestaurant.com/



So, before last night's Celtics game we decided to try Nebo (my husband wanted pizza for his birthday). This place is beautiful - nice bar and bartenders. Both owners were there last night and greeting regulars. I started with a key lime pie martini and Rolfe had a Blue Moon. My drink was a real martini, not the loli-pop variety you get at other places. We were excited to see how the food would turn out given the attention to detail that the bar exhibits as well as the wonderful aroma of garlic and tomato lofting from the open kitchen.

We got the ribs as an appetizer and ordered two pizzas (individual sized) - he got the traditional (read:boring, albeit with caramelized onions as an extra) and I got the white clam. Rolfe asked for his to be 'well done'. The ribs were tasty, if not a bit scant for 18 bucks. I would suggest a few minutes under the fire to caramelize the bbq sauce. It was loose and ran off the ribs onto the plate when you picked them up. I would have wanted more if I ordered this as an entree. It was listed under the carne section not the appetizer section. So overall - it was not worth the price tag.

As the pizzas arrived I was looking forward to tasty, crispy and delicious. It was tasty, chewy and way too oily. You don't need to put more oil on a pizza with full fat cheese. I enjoyed the clam pizza although there were not enough clams and way too much oil for my liking. I like a crust with some chew but this was a little over the top and kind of tasteless dough. My husband was disappointed with his pizza for the same reasons. Additionally, it wasn't well done and he thought the sauce and crust could have more flavor. I think we are spoiled by coal or wood fired pizza. I am not sure how these are cooked but they definitely lack that special char that we like. The most telling comment after woofing everything down, was 'we make better pizza'. Note: we did woof everything down so it wasn't all that bad.

Overall - a bit overrated and overpriced. The pre-game crowd and after work gang mingled together to make this a good meet up, have a drink or two and snack type of place. If you really want to go out for traditional style - stick with Regina's or gourmet (I'd rather have Figs).

Teppanyaki - Yum Yum Yum

New spot in Lexington in the old Peking Garden. Waltham Street - in the Center, right off Mass Ave. We were skeptical - Japanese (sushi) and Chinese? In the same space? Hibachi tables? Scorpion Bowls? Too much to believe. We made early reservations and expecting the bum's rush on New Year's Eve. - brought my sister (who was in from out of town) to enjoy a wonderful dinner of various Maki (spicy tuna, lobster and spider), Soba, and traditional Chinese food. We were pleasantly surprised by terrific food and great service. They did a good job on the ubiquitous Pu-Pu platter but we were really impressed by the quality and presentation of the sushi. We we also oohing and aahing as some of the beautiful dishes that passed us on their way to other tables. We had a booth by a peek-a-boo window that looked upon the hibachi room. We drank our scorpion bowls (that arrived with flaming 151 rum) entertained by the hibachi artists in the other room. All in all - I will be back. They have a cute little bar and two seating areas - Hibachi and regular. You can order Hibachi from the traditional tables as well. Check out their extensive menu

http://www.teppanyakiasiancuisine.com/