Boston Eats: Backbar

I finally made it to the elusive Backbar in Union Square!

See the sign?  It's the door before that.  Because to find the coolest places, you have to look really confused and keep opening random alley doors.

Skylights made the bar feel bright and cozy.

Olives and salty sweet kettle corn.  My first drink was their daily milk punch, but for my second, I spied an amazing tropical bird glass high on their shelves and decided to ask for "something in that."

The server said, "You know, I think I have a frozen pineapple somewhere...how does that sound? 

And that was how the entire bar became quite jealous of me. 

A singapore sling!  In a pineapple!  I took off the top, and a lovely wisp of smoke emerged.  Because obviously, if there's a pineapple drink, there must be smoke.

Oh-so-happy!  (even if I don't look it...it's hard to smile while drinking through a straw!)

Boston Eats: VeeVee

A new-to-me place in Jamaica Plain was the choice after Kyla and Jesse's marathon Sam Adams days - and it turned out to be a fabulous choice!

One of my favorite houses in JP.  The purple's a little ostentatious, but there are skylights!  And a porch!  And a reading nook!  Clearly, meant to be mine.

I found VeeVee through an article in one of the magazines they have for free near the subway entrance, and it ended up being a great place for the beer aficionado among us to get a flight.  (he ended up testing over 20 beers on his vacation here!)

Sardinian couscous with ramp pesto and ricotta salata.  Delicious.

And no night in JP is complete without ice cream at the original JP Licks!

Boston Eats: Area Four Brunch

My first Area Four Brunch!  A splendid idea.

Croissant (lovely), rhubarb hand-pie (delicious), green tea scone (kinda weird)

I bet you want a closeup of the beauty that is "The Hot Mess."

The magnolias

Colombian Dancers

My dear friend and labmate and her husband performed at the International Fair on campus with the Colombian Student Association here on campus...and I must say, I am so jealous of those skirts! 

Taking a well-deserved bow!

Boston Eats: Afternoon Tea at the Boston Public Library

It's hard to believe that five years ago, I had never been to an afternoon tea.  And now?  They've reached tradition status in my life.  There's just something about the scones, the warm tea, the lounging, the good conversations, the company.  I love it. 

I've been to several spots around the city at this point, but I hadn't been the Boston Public Library's afternoon tea service, served Wednesdays through Fridays. 

When I marry my Boston Brahmin zillionaire, we're totally getting married here.  (ha)

The restaurant is tucked away, and the transition from the much darker (though admittedly cozy) library cafe into the bright white and purple room with sumptuous armchairs was a complete surprise.

Things I am a sucker for: white china. 

Tea sandwiches were excellent. 

Desserts were a nice mix of fruit and chocolate.  It isn't afternoon tea without just a bit of chocolate, you know.

And scones.  Scones, I adore you.

I forgot to mention that purple goblets.  There are purple goblets. And yes, they're the kind you imagined yourself drinking with as a queen when you were playing dress-up at age seven.

Afternoon Tea at the Boston Public Library

Ambiance - absolutely lovely, an unexpected gem of a room; quiet and perfect for conversations

Waitstaff - courteous and helpful, and in no hurry to make us leave; very conscientious of vegetarian and allergen requests

Savory - bread cut into just the right size, nice mix of flavors, the cucumber sandwiches were well-balanced; bread was fresh (no stale edges)

Sweet - good blend of fruit and chocolate

Scones, clotted cream, and jam - warm out of the oven, jam was nice, clotted cream was a bit thin, but certainly pardonable, for it tasted wonderful

Tea quality - I had my standard English breakfast with milk and sugar; tea options were varied but not overwhelmingly extensive

Cost - $32 per person

Overall - a nice meld of traditional tea with a slightly modern setting; if you need a place to go during the week, it's a great option.  

Boston Eats: Sapporo Ramen

A chilly and rainy day means ramen.  And the best spot for a ramen lunch is Sapporo Ramen in Porter Square.  I haven't been to their new outpost at the Hmart in Central Square, though...hopefully it's as good as this one! 

Om nom nom.

Kyla comes to visit!

It's only fitting that a post about a dear friend's visit to my city starts with the most adorable meringue peep from Flour, right?

Right.

At this point, they had been up for hours traversing airports, catching flights...clearly, caffeine and a snack was necessary.

Can I get enough of the chai at Area Four?  Nope. 

Kyla and my science, because clearly sciencey whiteboards are the new photobooth backdrop.  

The trees! They're green!

to the BSO!

Mahler + friends = lovely Friday night!

City sunset

Minnesota

Boston

April around campus

From bare buds to full flowers!

Twin Cities Eats: Dairy Queen

The oldest Dairy Queen in Minnesota is the cutest little place on the corner of Lexington and Larpenteur - between blizzards, dipped cones, and buster bars, they are a family favorite. 

Real Minnesotans eat their Dairy Queen ice cream sundaes in April wearing puffer coats, gloves, and ear muffs. 

Twin Cities Eats: Boneyard

Where there is "chicken and waffles" on a menu, there is Eric saying, "We're going." 

I'm glad we're related.  And so off we went to Boneyard, a new restaurant in Minneapolis. 

We went on a Sunday night, and the bouncer gave my mom a funny look, a "you're too old for this place" look as he checked our IDs...apparently Sunday dinners are normally slow so they like to kick it up a notch, hiring a DJ and turning the bass up to 11.  Not exactly ideal when one is home for three days and wants to catch up with their family, but hey, we rolled with it.

Unwritten rule of Uptown Restaurants: kale must be on your menu.

Quite pleased with his cocktail, the Moonshine Punch.  Dickel White Rye, Midnight Moon Blueberry Moonshine, lemon juice, and beer. 

Mom's drinking the blackberry sage tea (we all loved it), and I went for The Cloister, a strong dose of gin with chartreuse, grapefruit juice, and lemon juice.

I will surprise everyone (everyone) and say I adored the lima beans in the succotash.  I hate lima beans.  They are so chalky and awful.  But someone must have been talking to the Lima Bean God, because these were smooth and creamy.  And the fried potatoes?  So good.  The meat was a solid good, not great.  And don't bother with the coleslaw or the hockey puck biscuits.

I completely agree with the Heavy Table's general take on their new restaurant flaws...as in, seriously?  You're a southern restaurant that made bad biscuits?  And the acoustics, whether DJ'd or otherwise, even after the music was turned down, well, it was deafening in there. 

But the drinks were fun, I love that Minnesota is starting to have some great flashes of inspiration in the form of southern food, and I think their large patio will be so much fun during the summer.  And I love the decor.  Hopefully I can come back for drinks and dinner sometime and they can impress me with their progress! 

Pizza Dinners at McCormick

One of my favorite events in the dorm is pizza dinner night...the housemasters make pizza dough and  set out a full spread of toppings and cheese, and let the residents go to town!

Best movie theater ever.

A Tri-Venn Diagram between my brothers and I looks something like this:

So...when you're home for four days, obviously, you spend as much time in the center as you can. 

Which brings us to the MOST AMAZING THEATER SEATS EVER!

See that?  Leather recliners.  The entire theater is leather recliners. 

If this is what selling out and moving to the burbs looks like, well, I can imagine why people would want that.  Because this is awesome. 

And of course, Marvel's Captain America!  The boys hadn't been keeping up with Agents of Shield, which I found to be a wonderful addition to my early morning workout queue - so I felt very much in the know (which I never am, ha).