Eating in the 'burbs

There was a review of Blue Ginger in Wellesley in the Globe the other day, and it generated a decent number of mixed comments from readers. One person mentioned that it was a "solid option" for those in the suburbs who don't like to go downtown. Do people in the 'burbs really settle more for lesser food? Many people on eGullet complain about chain restaurants and the number of people who love crappy food, but it seems that sub-par places in the city are just as popular as the good ones. PF Changs is packed, Cheesecake Factory has ridiculous waits, and I'm sure Olive Garden would attract hoardes of visitors if one existed in Boston.
In any case, I'd like to find the good neighborhood places outside of Boston. A number of Boston chefs have started opening restaurants in the suburbs, but there must be some good neighborhood places that just go unnoticed because they aren't in the city. I'll start keeping track of the good (and bad) ones as I find them. Here are a few places we've visited recently:

Blue Ribbon BBQ
Many people, even city folks, know about Blue Ribbon. They have really good ribs, pulled pork, burnt ends, and varied sides, among other items. Almost everything we've tried has been delicious.

Sweet Tomatoes Pizza
One in Newton Center and one in West Newton, this is one of my favorite pizza places. Super thin crust, but still nice and chewy, with fresh toppings. I think my favorite is spinach, garlic, and sausage. Mmmmmmm. The pesto veggie is also very good, but sometimes a bit oily.

Paddy O's
One drawback of the suburbs (in my opinion) is the lack of good bars within stumbling distance. Obviously, with the higher number of families and lower population density, this makes sense, but I still don't like it. The first place we tried, which shall remain nameless because I didn't bother remembering the name, was blah at best. We checked out Paddy O's the other night, and it was surprisingly good. It wasn't a particularly lively scene, but they had a decent selection of beer on tap, and the food was good for the price, if not great. The reuben had tender meat, good flavor, and came with crisp tasty fries, and the nachos were generously topped with real cheese, chili, good tomatoes, and sour cream and salsa on the side. (The olives and jalapenos were from a can, and not that great, so I pushed them aside.)

Do I like these places compared to places in the city? I'd certainly drive out to Newton for Blue Ribbon or Sweet Tomatoes, but I wouldn't go too far out of my way to drink beer and eat bar food.

Seasonal dinner

You can't read the news these days without hearing about local food, carbon footprint, and all that shit. While I'm happy to support local businesses and farms, I'm not convinced that eating "local" is necessarily the best way to live. For example, if you live in New England, does that mean you never eat citrus? What about olive oil, or wine? I suppose Westport Rivers makes great local wines, but wouldn't you want a bit more choice than that? Also, will a local tomato ever beat a canned san marzano tomato at its peak ripeness? If you live in Iowa, are you only allowed to eat corn? Seriously, where do you draw the line?
I don't think I can ever do the real locavore thing. I need ethnic food--Chinese, Indian, Italian, Mexican, Thai, French, everything. That's the best part about food!!! All the crazy ingredients from different cultures, mixing things together, learning about all the foods of the world. How sad to limit yourself to only what comes out of the ground immediately surrounding you! There's got to be some middle ground, right? Where you can support your local farmers, but not limit yourself to potatoes and kale in winter?

In any case, here's a dinner we made including some local ingredients:
Local corn, red peppers, shallots, shiitake, and maitake mushrooms sauteed with butter and olive oil, finished with scallions and basil. Sauteed pork chop with pan jus, and gooseberry sauce (finished with poire william liquor).


We also had a totally non-local cheese plate:
Speck, toscano, morbier, laguiole, roaring 40's blue, and olives


Finished with chunk monkey ice cream.

Comfort food

Mac n' cheese is one of those foods that is so simple, but can be so good. Last night we went to ES, and I got the mac n' cheese, which I hadn't had in over a year. Probably the best I've ever had. It was oozing with gruyere and studded with ham, topped with perfectly brown crunchy crumbs. It was even better at lunch today, and since I hadn't been drinking, I noticed the black pepper and bits of scallion throughout. I'm afraid I'll never be able to make mac n' cheese this good at home, because I'm incapable of using the requisite amount of butter, cheese and salt, then eating what I know is a total fat bomb. Unfortunately, I will also crave this dish, and be forced to order it frequently!

New beginning

I decided to start a new blog over here, since it seems a bit more user-friendly than LJ. I want to practice my writing, and to keep a better record of what we've been eating, drinking, cooking, and concocting (is that a word?). The focus will be on cooking and dining in Boston, but will also include vacations and travels. Let's see if I can keep this going during the school year :-P