Old Cambridge Haunts

Went to East Coast Grill for dinner last night. We hadn't been in a while, and last time was for Hell Night. We had the fried calamari, which was really good, especially with its accompaniment of mint, cilantro, and chili garlic dipping sauce. Fried chicken livers were also good, if a bit overdone. They came with a delicious mix of chard, orange marmalade, and lime (and probably some other ingredients). It was a great sweet and sour dish. Mussels were also very good in a ginger lemongrass sauce, and the grilled sirloin was fine, but nothing special. We sat in front of the oyster shucker, who was very friendly.

Afterward, we met some friends at the Cellar, another Cambridge spot we hadn't visited in quite some time. I forgot how cheap it is compared to other places in Boston--at one point we ordered a round of 8 drinks and it was $37!!!! I love Cambridge!

Comfort food

Even in the summer, sometimes comfort food really hits the spot.

Chili made with ground buffalo and kidney beans, served over polenta:


Cheesy garlic bread--this is possibly the best thing ever invented. A mix of cheese, garlic, scallions, mayo, butter, and cream cheese baked on good bread:

Updated liquor cabinet

We've had a bunch of additions over the last couple years so it's about time to take inventory again:

Whisk(e)y:
Thomas Handy Rye (our of our favorites for sipping, barrel proof)
Rittenhouse 100 Rye (great for mixing and sipping, so cheap)
Old Overholt Rye (mixing only)
Sazerac 18 year (my favorite!!)
Red Hook Rye
Old Portrero 18th century style whisky (100% rye, too assertive for sipping, not our favorite)
George T Stagg Bourbon (great for sipping, barrel proof)
Maker's Mark Bourbon (good for mixing)
Oban 14 year
The Balvenie 10 year
Buchannan 12 year blended
Southern Comfort
Compass Box Peat Monster
Talisker 10
Caol Ila 12
Lagavulin 16
Dewar's White Label (for mixing)

Gin:
Hendricks
Tanquaray
Junipero
Corenwyn Ginever
Plymouth
Boomsma Oude

Rum:
Ron Zacapa 23 Anos
Bacardi 8
Old Monk (Indian rum, butterscotch flavors)
Khukri (Nepalese, tastes like molasses)
Mount Gay Eclipse (light rum)
10 Cane
Malibu coconut rum

Tequila:
El Tesoro Añejo
Herradura Silver

Vodka:
Vermont Gold
Luksusowa
Green Tea infused
Szechuan pepper infused
Earl Gray infused
Vanilla infused
Zubrowka bison grass
Aalborg Jubilaeums Akvavit

Brandy:
Laird's Applejack
Laird's Straight Apple Brandy (100 proof, really great stuff)
Laird's 12 year old rare apple brandy (nice for sipping, probably wouldn't buy it again)
Bas Armagnac Marie Duffau Hors d'Age
Christian Brothers VS (for mixing)
Calvados Mozin Hors d'Age 15 year
La Captive Calvados

Fruit flavored things:
Luxardo Triplum (triple sec, really good)
Marie Brizard Triple Sec
Marie Brizard Apry (so good)
Marie Brizard Poire William (sweet pear liqueur, we're not really sure what to do with this)
Marie Brizard Parfait Amour (perfumy, citrusy, really sweet)
Mandarin Napoleon
Bauchant Napoleon
Cherry Heering
Luxardo Maraschino (awesome)
Cassis de Bordeaux
Midori
Peach Schnapps
Creme de Banane
Blue curacao
Sloe Gin (now Plymouth instead of the nasty crap)
Mirto

Other Liqueurs:
Benedictine
Green Chartreuse
Yellow Chartreuse
Strega
Galliano
Amaretto
Pims
Creme de menthe
Creme de cacao
Bailey's
Kahlúa
Buttershots
Sambuca
Absente
St. Germain
Zirbenz Stone Pine
St. Elizabeth Allspice Dram
Rothman & Winter Creme de Violette

Bitters:
Fernet Branca
Luxardo Fernet
Amer Picon
Punt e Mes
Campari
Averna
Luxardo Amaro
Nonino
Fee's orange bitters
Regan's orange bitters
Fee's peach bitters
Fee's old fashioned aromatic bitters
Angostura bitters
Peychaud's bitters
Underberg
Fee's Whiskey Barrel
Elixir Vegetal

Wine base:
Vya sweet vermouth
Noilly Prat dry vermouth
Cinzano M&R sweet vermouth
Dubonnet Rouge
Lillet
Carpano Antica Formula
Barolo Chinato

More on SF

Okay, so if you haven't had enough of San Francisco, here's some of the food we ate.

First, the Slanted Door.

We started with grapefruit salad with candied pecans, really refreshing and intensely flavored:


Kona kampachi--possibly my new favorite fish, although I'm not sure it has replaced a great piece of yellotail:


Clams with basil and chilis. Mmmmmm.


Hamachi collar--this was probably the best one I've ever had. A ton of meat, perfectly cooked with a crispy exterior and tender, juicy, melty interior. Came with pickled papaya and a great soy dipping sauce. So so so so good.


Pork with rice noodles:


We had a great bartender who was from Boston. Drinks were really tasty, and went really well with the food. In particular, we liked the Indian Summer (gin, elderflower and grapefruit juice) and the Hotel Nacional Special (Barbancourt 8yr rum, lime, pineapple gomme, Orchard apricot brandy).

It was so good, we went back the next day for lunch:

Turnip cake:


Cellophane noodles with crab (tons of fresh crab meat, soooooooo yummy):


We also had a salad with shredded green cabbage, chicken, and rice noodles. Good, but not as good as the grapefruit salad. An order of the hamachi collar was just as delicious as the day before.

"Pimms" cup with homemade "Pimms". A really pretty, interesting, tasty drink.


For dessert, cherry tomatoes and buttermilk sorbet. A really nice light dessert.


The Slanted Door was not at all like we expected--it had a much more modern feel, great food and drinks, and very affordable. We loved it.

Drinking in SF

We managed to hit up a few great bars in San Francisco.

We went to the Slanted Door for two lunches, but I'll post those later with photos.

Bourbon and Branch is a bit of a pain in the neck if you want to sit at the main bar, since you have to make reservations, but the woman I talked to never called back. However, the library didn't require reservations, and was a nice room through the back of the bar. Lots of dark wood, old books, and candles.
We started with the traditional Revolver and a tequila drink (El Diablo). Then, we got an old fashioned and a Genevieve drink that also had lemon juice, orange juice, sweet and dry vermouths. Finally, we finished with a negroni variation: aperol, gin, and lillet. All were really good, but I think our favorites were the Genevieve drink and the "negroni".

On another day, after a long walk through the city to Golden Gate Park, we stopped at The Alembic for some refreshment:

Perfect Storm: Goslings rum, tawny port, and beer, served in a tea cup with a clove-studded lemon. Cute presentation, and very tasty.
Bolo tie: silver tequila, miso white peach puree, sparkling wine. Interesting twist on a bellini.
Macanudo: anejo tequila, apricot eau de vie, Qi smoked black tea liquor, and agave. This was soooooo good and very complex.
Vow of Silence: Wild Turkey rye, benedictine, creme de griotte (like cherry), and bitters.
Boutonniere: Scotch, nocino, and orange bitters.
Old Fashionista: aged cachaca, smoked maple syrup, house-made sasperilla bitters, soda, and lemon. Very funky and interesting.

We then went off-menu with excellent bartender Thomas Waugh, and got a drink with stone pine liquor, an attempt at a Hierba Buena (his entry in the Averna competition that won him a trip to Sicily--the glass wasn't right), a different Averna drink with simple, lemon, ginger beer, and mint (so delicious), a vieux carre, and a nightcap whose ingredients I can't remember.

At Alembic, we also snacked on za'atar potato chips, crispy tripe, octopus carpaccio, beet salad, and tomato burrata avocado salad. Yum.







Of note was that despite SF's reputation as an expensive city, we found food and drink prices to generally be lower than Boston, and certainly lower than NY.

Fleur de Lys, San Francisco

We're in San Francisco for a few days, and are busy eating and drinking our way around the city. Last night we had dinner at Fleur de Lys, where we opted for the four course menu.

Amuse:
Butternut squash soup with lentil salad.
A nice tasty bite to start the meal

Course 1:
a. Tasting of Alsatian Choucroute: Choucroute soup, toasted spaetzel, and paprika oil; Choucroute fondant with Osetra caviar (so yummy, like a cauliflower flan); Choucroute strudel with sauteed foie gras (wow, this was amazing).
b. Sweetbreads with morels, sauteed leeks, farm egg, and veal jus. Just delicious.

Course 2: Fish
a. King salmon with marcona almonds, sweet and sour radicchio, grapes, scallion oil, and polenta (very good flavors, but the fish was a bit overcooked for our taste)
b. Sea bass with pimento butter, leeks, olive oil mashed potatoes, purple olive jus, and spicy fried artichokes (so good, the potatoes were spectacular!)

Course 3: Main
a. Buffalo strip steak, vegetables, and lemongrass sauce (great flavor, and the sauce was delicious)
b. Wagyu beef cheeks with butternut squash and celery root puree (amazing beef, and the celery root was so smooth and creamy).

Course 4: Dessert
a. Pistachio cake with apricot (roasted with grand marnier), amaretto ice cream (good, but not spectacular)
b. "Fleurburger" a dark chocolate patty with strawberry and kiwi garnish on a bun, banana shake, kiwi "pickle", fennel ice cream "frites" (very cute and fun)

Overall, we thought this meal was a very good value. The food was generally very tasty and interesting, while very French. We had a good Trimbach Pinot Gris, a couple glasses of red, and a Quarts de Chaume dessert wine. Service was nice, although the main course came out way too fast. I don't think we would have been disappointed with any of the menu items--they all sounded really good!

Soups and a salad

I totally love soups. They change with the seasons, and you can serve them hot, cold, smooth, silky, lumpy, etc. Almost any ingredient can find its way into a soup, and there's so much room for variation.

Zucchini mint soup
I'm not sure why I keep buying zucchini, since it's so disgustingly bland. It grills up okay, and isn't bad sauteed or in pasta, but it has no real virtues that I can think of. Except this one: cold zucchini mint soup. I first had this at Via Matta many years ago, and it was the first time I liked the vegetable. For this version, I also added a handful of basil, a few dollops of Greek yogurt, a squeeze of lemon, salt, pepper, and olive oil.


Tomato, watermelon, cucumber, and goat cheese
aka, variation on this summer's most trendy salad (tomato watermelon and feta). There's a slice each of watermelon and tomato, topped with cucumbers and Tomme de Fleur goat cheese, which is possibly my favorite. It's coated with tarragon, rosemary, and pink peppercorns, among other spices, and has such an elegant balance of tang, creaminess, goatiness, and spice.


Sweet potato soup with chorizo shrimp
We flavored the soup with onion and smoked paprika, and used a chorizo, garlic, and scallion flavored oil to lightly cook the shrimp. Mmmmmmmm. We ate this with a Manzanilla sherry. Double mmmmmmmm.


Hey, a non-pureed soup!
This one has cauliflower, fennel, onion, and carrot. I added a parmesan rind and some prosciutto ends to the broth, along with bay leaf and Italian seasoning. The broth had a great flavor, but the cauliflower was a bit bland. Oh well.