BAAHHHSTON ... the haaahdway...

Teeheehee ... yeah, I was in Boston with my dude and the whole time we were there we murdered the accent. So, the title makes me giggle.  BAAAHHHSTON. I decided after a long week of cooking almost all of the recipes from my next run of episodes that I'd take a long weekend. So me and my dude got on a train to Baaahhston! I did this trip a few years back when I got a hankering for a lobster roll. I initially made reservations back then for only 2 nights I think, then ended up having such a good meal and time at the hotel that I stayed longer than expected and continued to eat until I had to get back to work. It helped the hotel was attached to two malls :-). This trip had it's interesting moments. The train ride was great, but after a week of cooking homemade stuff ... I settled in for some train food and got this ...

It doesn't look good, and if it got zapped about 10 seconds less in the train microwave, it would've been as perfect as a cheeseburger in plastic wrap can get. :-) The bun was chewy, but really ... I was so hungry it was gone after two gulps of Corona. The cheese was yummy. lol. You'd think I'd be full from all the cooking, but the load of recipes was so high, it was like I had two seconds to taste for accuracy before we moved on to the next recipe. So I had tapas all week teeheehee ... the train cheese burger was my saviour. Then next to us on the train was a lady talking about some really crazy stuff. Ever hear a conversation that is exhausting? That was it, but the funny thing is my dude and I had our own internal jokes about it ... is that wrong? We were making the best of an interesting situation. So... we get to Boston and we are staying in the hotel I stayed in before because I remembered such a good stay ... but lemme tell ya, something happened the night we got here that we probably won't forget for some time. Let's just say it felt like we were in pre-civil rights times at most or dealing with a classist jerk at the least. And the jerk works at the hotel. After the encounter we go grab a late night bite and the meal was bangin'! It was this place called News. I ordered the French Toast with Vermont Maple and two eggs sunny side up with bacon and an English Muffin. I know, again ... I was hungry. My dude got the Roast Beef sandwich with the best fries I've had in a long time. He didn't have to offer once after I heard the crunch for me to try them. They were fat and still crunchy because they were battered and I think twice fried ... really really winner fries. We kept saying to ourselves ... and this is a lounge? It was more of a club than a restaurant feel, probably because it was about 1:30AM and most people were chillin' on the couches than at the dining tables, but really the food was great. As we were leaving people were coming in that were surely coming for a bite to eat after the club, so If you are in Baahhhston late night and you are hungry, this is a place to add to your possible list.

Then the next day we had lunch at a seafood spot I probably shouldn't name because ... although my oysters on the half shell and king crab legs were yummy, something my dude ate (clam chowder, shrimp) gave him food poisoning ...3 hours after eating we hopped into a car service to get to Faneuil Hall to go see the Red Auerbach bench sculpture. We got out, passed a fake Cheers bar and just around the corner there he was ... sitting for eternity. 5 minutes after this picture, my dude threw up lunch in a trashcan, then took a 10 minute break and threw up some more. Food poisoning is no joke ... but it's pretty cool to know your stomach can actually reject food. Check out Red ...

And an added tourist attraction bonus to his left (our right) was this ...

Good ol' Larry Bird!! Very cool.

So that was Saturday .... the sickness pretty much kept us in the hotel. Did dinner in the lobby restaurant. Then, on Sunday we went to two restaurants on the opposite ends of the spectrum and had two baaaaaangin' meals. Our hotel concierge Jerry, was a pit of information. You know when they say that about people? He was that and so much more. Just really a nice guy. So, he set us up for brunch at Upstairs on the Square in Cambridge's Harvard Square. This is a place he described as "Alice in Wonderland on acid" and immediately we agreed to make a reservation. We were not disappointed. Eager to get there we hopped into a cab and the driver took us over the bridge that separates Baaahhston from Cambridge and then decided to tell us he had no idea where the restaurant was. He was like, I can't know where everything is lol ... I was like, maybe next time tell your passengers when they get in, not when they get across a bridge lol. We got out and hopped into another cab and pulled up to the street and spotted it because it was the only spot on the block with bright pink and purple chairs outside ... just a little hint at what we'd see inside. The decor was aptly described as Alice in Wonderland on acid ... there were animal prints, pinks, purples, greens, gold painted chairs. There was a bridal shower going on with some partying ladies, a few locals and Harvard students, Take a look ....

The light bulbs had wings



Now look at the fooood.

Selection of Artisan Cheeses 

(figs were yummy) 

Tuscan Style Melon & Prosciutto de Parma

(pesto was sooo good)

Eggs Benedict

Two Poached Eggs, Pancetta & Tarragon Hollandaise 

Served on an English Muffin

(h.sauce was so good, I asked for a side of it and it came in 2 secs, perfect balance of lemon and butter)

Lobster Omelette

Sautéed Mushrooms, Brie & Petite Salade

Signature Milk Chocolate Pecan Turtles (plate of 3)

(ok, theeeese .... theeeeese?? were ... i mean .... omg and so sweeeeet and sugary ... and the chocolate melted ... just .... theeese  were ... we should've bought some to bring back) Our waitress brought us these complimentary when we ordered this ...

Butterscotch Pudding

Pecan Caramel Shortbread Cookie

(the spoon is covering the first scoop taken out surreptitiously by my dude before I could snag a pic, he had the hand-in-the-cookie-jar face teeheehee)

All was very yummy and just when we were about to leave, our waitress told us that a neat show was about to happen, little did we know our table was front row, stage center. A few seconds later in runs the Harvard Krokodiloes, according to them they are the oldest acappella singing group at the university and they did a short, but very entertaining show, one dude sang Summertime and my eyes got a bit watery, I'm a wimp for music .... here's most of them, mid-song....

We took a break, walked some and then headed back to the room to get ready for dinner!!! Now this place was recommended to me by someone at Food Network last week when we were chatting about our weekend plans. The chef just won battle coffee on Iron Chef America and I was told it may be hard to get in. Jerry hooked us up and at around 9pm Sunday night we were at Clio in foodie heaven!

It was a total departure from the funky decor that worked so well at brunch ... this place was more refined and conservative in decor and atmosphere. People speaking in hushed tones and white linen on the tables. I had ...

Frozen Hot Chocolate

(liquid nitro and it was smooth and velvety)

White Asparagus with Maple

(I love white asparagus and this was so good, sorry i didn't take notes, i just ate and ate and then now i see it isn't on the online menu, but lemme tell ya it was divine.)

Sweet Butter Basted Maine Lobster with chanterelle mushrooms, fava beans and vin jaune d'Arbois

(ok, i've never had a lobster more tender and buttery, the vin d'youknow was out of this world creamy and silky, and yes ... the foam was good too teeheehee)

Couldn't tell ya the title of this one ... i'm gonna have to call, i know, i'm wack i really was counting on it being on the website, but it isn't. i'm really not doing it justice because this meal deserves more respect teeheehee.... really does. ok, well the orange dots were mango sweet, the white was a lil scoop of ice cream, the blocks were butterscotch and the orange curls tasted like orange life savers, little crunchy bits ... it was all verry yummy!

Every bite garnered a remark of how good it was, me and my dude just kept saying how our food tasted. It truly was the perfect meal. I wish I could've been a judge or something on that Iron Chef to taste more of Chef Oringer's creations! Crazy good.

we walked back to the hotel because the weather was nice and omg, how much did I eat this weekend?? I took no prisoners ... I'm on my "water is my only drink right now" diet, no more beer, soda or sweet tea for a minute ... gotta get some good fluids in me teeheehee ... ok, hope you had a great weekend. Check back soon, I have some behind the scenes news about my Cooking for Real set, if you are in to that type of stuff :-) ... Happy Tuesday!