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  • Jeff Forman 12:26 pm on April 26, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

    Wine Riot 2010 

    I have been meaning to write this post for a few weeks, both as a recap of the event, and as a reminder to myself of the wine I want to keep a lookout for.

    For those not familiar with Wine Riot, it’s basically a beer festival/tasting, but with wine. A bunch of retailers, distributors and vineyards themselves come to the event and give samples of their product to attendees. This happened to be the biggest surprise for me. Having been to several beerfests previously, I am used to the brewer themselves being there. This gives patrons the ability to speak to the people behind the product. You can really learn a lot from those people, all the nuances and thought behind a new series of brews, and upcoming products. Wine Riot had a much higher percentage of distributors and wine purveyors on-hand, as opposed to winemakers themselves. To the best of my memory, I don’t remmeber speaking to more than a handful of actual winemakers or people from the actual vineyard. In total, there were about 50 booths set up in the Cyclorama in Boston’s South End.

    Below is the list of wine I vaguely scribbled as myself, M, and some friends made our way ‘around the world of wine.’ In no particular order.

    • Oyster Bay Marlborough Pinot Noir 2008 (New Zealand)
    • Esporao Reserva White 2008 (Portugal)
    • Sequana Vineyards Dutton Ranch Pinot Noir 2007 (California, Russian River Valley)
    • Corvidae Wine Co Wise Guy Sauvignon Blanc 2009  (Washington, Columbia Valley)
    • Corvidae Wine Co “Lenore” Syrah 2007 (Washington, Columbia Valley)
    • Charles Smith Wines Kung Fu Girl Riesling 2009 (Washington, Columbia Valley)
    • K Milbrandt Syrah 2007 (Washigton, Wahluke Slope)
    • K Viognier 2009 (Washington, Columbia Valley)
    • Terra Rosa Old Vine Malbec 2007 (Argentina)
    • Porta Wines Syrah WInemaker Reserva 2008 (Chile, Acongagua Valley)
    • Terra Andina Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 (Chile)
    • Yellow+Blue Torrontes 2009
    • Herdade do Esporao Touriga Nacional 2007 (Portugal, Alentejo)
    • Podere San Lorenzo Rosso di Montalcino DOC 2007 (Italy, Toscana)
    • NV Mionetto Moscato Dolce (Italy)
    • Corelli 34′ Malbec 2008 (Argentina, Mendoza)
    • Cahteau Lacombe Noaillac 2006 (France, Bordeaux)
    • Domain La Croix Belle Champ du Coq 2007 (France, Languedoc)

    My biggest surprise was the Yellow+Blue Torrontes, a wine served from a plastic container, almost like Franzia’s popular low cost wine in the square box. It was surprisingly good for the connotation that boxed-wine has.  Overall the event was worth going, especially because I was able to use a Groupon I purchased, saving me $10/ticket from the normally $30/ticket price. Local restaurants Upper Crust Pizza, Legal Seafood, and Redbones BBQ were among others selling food at the event. Given a Groupon being offered for next year, I highly recommend the event for those interested in wine, and will return myself.

     

  • Jeff Forman 7:31 pm on February 6, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

    Holy Dim Sum 

    I was down in Chinatown a couple weeks ago having shabu shabu while my mother was in town. I was waiting for her to arrive, and wandered over to an area of the neighborhood I don’t normally frequent (the East side of Surface Road for those curious)t. I came upon Hei La Moon, a resturant I had frequently read about via local food blogs and forums. I grabbed a menu and noticed that the dim sum list was at least 20-30 deep. It’s a big place, one massive room, with pictures on the front doors showing carts weaving their way through a packed weekend lunch service.

    Two weeks later, M and I, along with another couple friends who have become our restaurant seekers-in-crime, descended upon HLM at 12:30pm on a Saturday afternoon. To say this place was busy is an understatement. Now I don’t pretend to speak any Chinese, but that’s all I heard among the hostess shouting out numbers to parties waiting to be seated. (Being the stereotypical white male, I have heard the adage that a restaurant with ‘locals’ to the cuisine is normally very good, so I was psyched.) Without waiting more than 5-10 minutes, we were ushered through the throngs of people and incredible number of staff pushing carts to our table. I looked around and all I saw was a sea of people and staff, working the crowds entering and exiting, ushering food between tables, and turning tables over for the next party.

    Within 30 seconds of being seated, we had a cart off to the side of our table, with a waitress offering us various kinds of dumplings. This is all from memory, as I was not able to either take pictures nor write down any of what we had due to the intense commotion of the entire dining room. (In no particular order)

    • Beef Ball
    • Tripe
    • Peking Duck
    • Tofu skins
    • Pork knuckles with thick wonton noodles (the latter were incredible)
    • Steamed shrimp dumplings
    • Steamed Pork buns
    • Sticky rice with peanuts
    • and others I am unable to remember.

    This was a new experience for me, having never had ‘cart service’ dim sum. Waitresses did speak English, but over the din of the dining room (it was incredibly loud, but still possible to carry a conversation at your table), we ended up just pointing to things we wanted and that we hoped had the food we expected in them.

    There were some hits, like the peking duck, tripes, and wonton noodles. Each had a distinct flavor, never bland, and perfectly cooked, even though they had probably been sitting on the cart for several minutes making their way around the dining room. And there were some misses, although few and far between. Only the beef balls and sticky rice received less-than-rave reviews. We found those dishes to be very single-note, with not much interesting flavor. The beef balls tasted more like meatloaf, of which I am not a fan. The sticky rice had boiled peanuts, which surprisingly added no peanut flavor to the dish. We drank hot tea throughout the meal, but I must imagine cold water and soft drinks are available. Flagging down a waiter or waitress was not a problem when we were looking for more dishes, most of the time they came to us before we were done.

    Needless to say, we were full, but not stuffed, after polishing off the food we had ‘ordered.’ The one thing we were unsure of was just how much money we spent, given that the dim sum menu has no prices. After giving them my credit card and hoping for the best, a bill of $44 came back. We were blown away that so much food came from $11 a person. While not an every weekend trek for us from the near suburbs, we will definitely be back to try more of the menu and experience the frenzied atmosphere of Hei La Moon.

     

  • Jeff Forman 3:49 pm on September 19, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , sushi   

    O Ya for Sushi? Oh Yeah 

    I had RSVP’d for Ignite Boston 6, hosted by O’Reilly which was downtown this year at Fidelity’s Headquarters. Since it was right around dinner time, I figured I would grab some dinner downtown, maybe run over to Chinatown before jumping back to the Financial District. I had looked around, and noticed the O Ya was around the corner. O Ya being ranked as one of the country’s best Sushi resturaunts last year by the NY Times. I had heard the hype on the local food blogs, Chowhound and other places, and was curious about about the food. Knowing it was expensive, I wanted to go myself before bringing M and dropping a mortgage payment on dinner.

    Luckily I had dressed in jeans and a dress shirt, so while I ended up being a little under-dressed, I did not feel uncomfortable among the other clientèle who walked in later. The restaurant was empty, it being 530pm which is on the earlier side of dinner. The hostess took what I thought was an inordinate amount of time trying to “fit me in” but I obliged respectively and was seated at the bar. I was given the menu, and of course offered omakase, chef’s choice. While scanning the menu I noticed that the prices were indeed very high, even for sushi, and decided to put myself at the whim of the Chef for $75. This in my mind was how I would keep myself within a price range, and explore things I would not have otherwise selected on my own.

    The hit list (from the receipt, I didn’t have a chance to take pictures or write down each dish specifically):

    • Hamachi N O Ya
    • Salmon Tataki
    • Warm Eel O Ya
    • La Ratte Potato Chip
    • Shiitaki Mushroom O Ya
    • Kumamoto Oyster O Ya
    • Shima Aji Sea Urchin
    • Salmon O Ya
    • Hamachi Viet O Ya
    • Tuna Tataki O Ya
    • Foie Gras O Ya

    I must say that the sushi was excellent, every dish visually stunning, and even better on the way down. Most of the dishes were cooked or heated in some way, which caught me off guard from other sushi I have enjoyed. Having had omakase previously while on vacation in Los Angeles, the fact that this presentation was more cooked than I expected, made it no less satisfying. The only dish I felt was a let down was a piece of hamachi covered with a home made potato chip. While the dish was good, I felt that while at a restaurant that carried such prestige, this just seemed like a pretty-good potato chip on to pof a piece of tuna and some rice. It felt boring, more of a “a potato chip, really?” kind of moment. The only other nit was the use of basil. While very fresh and refreshing, it overpowered the dishes it accompanied, and I found myself removing it as courses went on.

    The last course was the most memorable since it was the most different. Foie Gras seared with some balsamic vinaigrette and chocolate, on top of a simple sea-weed rolled piece of rice,  paired with a sample of an 8 year aged sake. While having more of a syrupy consistency and being heavier than most sakes I have had, is still extremely sweet, with a strong hint of raisins. A perfect combination with the very savory foie gras it had been paired along side. This sake, worth noting and buying on my own for consumption at home, is called Hanahato Kijoshu.

    I thoroughly enjoyed my meal, and left full but not stuffed from the portion size I had decided on. I felt the omakase kept my budget in check. While scanning the menu during my meal, it would be very easy to blow a $100 or even $150 per person going a la carte selecting sushi or other cooked entrees from O Ya. This is definitely a special occasion meal, and somewhere I put on my list to hit once or twice a year if my budget and appetite desire.

     

  • Jeff Forman 9:18 pm on September 6, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: ,   

    Round two with Toro 

    M and I hadn’t gone out to dinner all weekend, and we figured, it was about time. I was having a hard time trying to figue out where we should go, and since neither of us had work in the morning, we could stray a bit farther from home. A friend’s Facebook status mentioned ‘sangria’ and I immediately thought tapas. Our normal standby tapas place is Dali in Somerville near Harvard Square. The past couple times there we became disillusioned with the dishes. It seemed like the same food on the menu the several times we went, not to mention it was always a bit oily. A couple months ago we tried a new place, Toro, in Boston’s South End with a couple good friends of ours. From that first visit, we were hooked, and vowed to go back again.

    The restaurant met all the South End trappings: expensive valet parking, dim lighting, and a clientèle a little bit more hip than everyone else. But being that it was a Sunday night, and a bit on the early side (630pm), I was hoping I could find street parking (I did), and that we could slip into a table (30 minute wait) or at the bar (we happened to get the two seats closest to the open kitchen). Having read about the place before, and heard about the Chef, Jamie Bissonnette, I recognized him from the moment we sat down. We saw him the last time we came in, and he’s here again. For some superficial reason, I knew the food was going to be just as good since he was there. Just so happened during the meal he ended up service us one of the courses, and asked how whether we had been to Toro before and whether we liked the food. Judging from my comments below, it was a hit, and we told him so.

    While waiting for our seats, I scanned the chaulk-board menu above the bar. I asked one of the bar tenders what a ‘Blinker’ was. Rye, grape fruit juice, and orange juice. While it was a good drink, albeit a little strong, I’d probably get something else next time. M got a sangria, which she enjoyed incredibly fast.

    Tonight’s hit list:

    • Atun Pincho: Tuna tartare with coconut milk and lime
    • Lengua con Lentejas y Salsa Verde: Smoked beef tongue with lentils and salsa verde
    • Ceviche with halibut
    • Anna’s Empanadas: Chicken and potato empanadas, aji roja and alioli
    • Sherry del Pollo con Tomate: Braised chicken with Pedro Ximenez, tomatoes and quinoa
    • Escalavada catalana: Roasted eggplant, peppers, onions and tomatoes
    • Churros con Chocolate (dessert)

    Every plate was memorable. The lime foam on top of the tuna tartare made the dish pop even more, with just enough sweetness to bring the tuna to life. The beef tongue had a buttery texture, sliced thin. M loved the lentils, even eating the tongue regardless of her less-than-voracrious appetite for red meat. The ceviche with halibut was extremely fresh. (Get more bread for this one, and sop up the juices with the bread.) The empenadas were M’s favorite. Luckily the weather had cooled off in Boston tonight, or else this dish would have been a bit too heavy for a hot night. The accompanied mayonassaie aioli to put on top of the empeanads had a very faint hint of garlic, which didn’t overpower the sweet empnadas. The chicken was cooked to the point where only forks were needed to seperate meat from bone. The chicken I found to be pretty ‘chicken tasted’, that is to say that it didn’t have much flavor in and of itself. But the accompaning quinoia and tomatoes added some depth. While I am not the biggest fan of quinoa (I found it a bit bland), this version did have definitely character to it, and added some thickness to the chicken. This chicken dish was another that had juices on the bottom of the plate worth scooping into your bread. The eggplant brought out was soft and made a good comparison to the heavy meat and poultry dishes we had.

    To end the meal we decided on getting the dessert suggested by our bartender/waitor who took great care of us. Churros con chocolate, like a fried/puffed pastry. The chocolate had a little kick to it, definitely unexpected. M and I had tasted chocolate that had chiles in it when we were out in Seattle in May, and this had the same profile. Slight, but not overpowering. Just enough to make you realize how unique and tasty it was.

    The bill came and we were again pleasantly surprised at how relatively affordable it was. All in all, another home run for Toro.

     

  • Jeff Forman 9:37 am on April 18, 2009 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: enagement, vacation   

    She said yes…How it happened 

    Since everyone is asking how it happened, I figured I’d write it up.

    So the lies started early. I went away the weekend before to the Masters, with the plan of telling Meryl that we had plans the following Friday night. Her and I had planned a week-long vacation to Seattle and Vancouver, and I wanted to do the proposal the night before. So I lied to Meryl, saying we had to meet one of my father’s clients for dinner, and that it was a client we couldn’t say no to. This solved one problem, that Meryl couldn’t go workout, and that she had to come right home after work.

    The next problem was getting her to a place in Boston to do the proposal. I waited until the last minute figuring this out, and thanks to half my office at ITA, came up with doing it somewhere outside overlooking the Boston skyline.  I told Meryl that my mother needed a picture of the Boston skyline, and that since she wanted me in the picture, Meryl had to get out of the car when we stopped. We got to a spot right outside the Boston University Boathouse on Memorial Drive in Cambridge, and took the first picture of me. I then told Meryl to turn around because I wanted to get a picture of her. In the commotion, I took out the ring, and asked her if she’d put up with me for the rest of her life. Surprisingly, she said yes!

    After many tears, I had to tell her to look at the ring and put it on her finger. In typical Boston fashion, a runner went by yelling “Say Yes!” After a few quick phone calls in the car, we went to a dinner that I had made reservations at weeks ago, at Craigie on Main in Central Square in Cambridge. This place is awesome, the food outstanding.

    Six courses, and a bottle of champagne so nicely provided by my boss Dave later, we came home to finish packing for our trip. Now we sit in the Boston Airport heading out for a week vacation in Vancouver and Seattle.

    Details and wedding website to follow!

    -Jeff and Meryl

     

    • Steve Laniel 10:01 am on April 18, 2009 Permalink | Reply

      Dave is a class act.

      I’m so, so happy for you two. Mazel tov!

    • Dana 10:44 am on April 18, 2009 Permalink | Reply

      Yay!!! Can’t tell you how excited I am to meet your Fiance in a few weeks! :) Congrats my friend! Now, if only she’d almost lost the ring at dinner (like I did–I didn’t actually lose it, but it fell off my finger) right after you proposed. haha…

      Definitely want to see the wedding website! :) Have you already talked about when you’ll get married???

    • Yeliz Eseryel 9:44 am on April 19, 2009 Permalink | Reply

      Wow, finally you’ve done it!!!! Congratulations!!!!

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