Monthly Archive for October, 2010

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Hungry Mother – Boston (Cambridge)

Published by Gastronomer on October 10, 2010 in Boston, Restaurant Review and Southern. 6 Comments

Hungry Mother is just about the coolest restaurant name I’ve ever come across. Even though I know it’s in reference to a Virginia state park, a part of me still wishes that it were a shortened expression for “hungry like a mother effer!” Alas, it can only be so in my heart…

I was sent to this Cambridge gem by three trusty sources: my brother, Evelina, and GQ magazine. Opened in March 2008, Hungry Mother serves southern cuisine with an Appalachian bent. Employing local New England ingredients, chef and co-owner Barry Maiden (L’Espalier and Lumière) prepares the homey dishes of his youth using French techniques mastered from years working in fine dining restaurants. The premise of Hungry Mother reminded The Astronomer and me of a less formal and hipper version of Highlands Bar & Grill, our favorite restaurant in Birmingham, Alabama. We were joined for dinner by our friend Matt and sister Rosalind.

We were seated at a table in the bar area because I foolishly made an OpenTable reservation for the week after our trip. The host was incredibly nice about my absent minded move and managed to fit us in even though the restaurant was fully booked. It was really fantastic that he took good care of us even though it was totally my mistake. [By the way, according to Matt, a Boston resident, the service here is heads and shoulders above the rest of the city.]

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Myers + Chang – Boston

Published by Gastronomer on October 7, 2010 in Asian Fusion, Boston and Restaurant Review. 4 Comments

The Astronomer and I had such a positive experience at Flour Bakery + Cafe that we decided to check out Chef Joanne Chang’s latest restaurant concept a few days later. Opened in the fall of 2007, Myers + Chang is a modern and funky diner offering personal interpretations of Taiwanese soul food and Southeast Asian street food.

As much as I love seeking out authentic dining experiences with dishes that can be traced back to the motherland, the opportunity to taste well-executed fusion fare excites me as well. In fact, seeing how traditional flavors and techniques are transformed and reinterpreted can oftentimes be even more intriguing. At Myers + Chang, age-old recipes are tweaked and spun, and the results are seriously tasty.

Myers + Chang is a joint venture between Chef Chang and her husband Christopher Myers, a restaurateur (Radius, Great Bay, Via Matta) and “front-of-the-house wizard” according to Gourmet magazine.

The restaurant, which occupies the ground floor of a luxury apartment complex, feels like a diner as re-imagined by a really hip designer with a penchant for pink accents and Asian motifs. The space is brightly lit, casual, and fun. I would kill to have a place like this in my neighborhood.

Any restaurant that offers a choice of wooden or plastic chopsticks in a vintage tea tin is cool in my book.

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Flour Bakery + Cafe – Boston

Published by Gastronomer on October 5, 2010 in Bakery, Boston, Dessert and Restaurant Review. 10 Comments

While most of my ideas on where and what to eat are culled online through blogs, Tweets, and food pages, I occasionally find inspiration on the telly too. An especially memorable episode of Bobby Flay’s Throwdown that aired sometime in 2007 brought Boston’s beloved Flour Bakery + Cafe onto my radar. After seeing Chef Joanne Chang swiftly kick Bobby Flay’s buns during a Sticky Buns Throwdown, I made a mental note to visit here on my next visit to Beantown. Considering how infrequently I tune into the Food Network, its content is surprisingly influential.

The Astronomer and I, along with The Astronomer’s sis Rosalind, visited the original South End location on our first day in the city. Chef Chang opened the bakery in 2000 after leaving a career as a management consultant and baking in some of New York (Payard Patisserie and Bistro) and Boston’s (Biba, Bentonwood Bakery, Rialto, Mistral) top kitchens.

After the success of the original Flour, Chef Chang opened a second branch in 2007 in the Fort Point Channel area and a third one in 2010 in Cambridge near MIT and Central Square.

As luck would have it, my friends the Two Hungry Pandas visited Boston a few weeks before me and tipped me off on Flour’s terrific egg sandwich ($6.50). Served with cheddar cheese, tomato, arugula, dijonaise, and a choice of ham or bacon, the sandwich was as perfect as Evelina had promised. The elements that rocked most were the silky fried egg and the perfectly ripe tomato slice. Not to mention, the sturdy yet pliable focaccia and smoky bacon strips. Truly, I could go on and on…

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Blackberry Cloud Cake

Published by Gastronomer on October 3, 2010 in Cake + Cupcake, Dessert and Recipe. 10 Comments

Back in early July, I attempted to bake a New York cheesecake in celebration of The Astronomer’s 26th birthday. Everything was going swimmingly until I peeked into the oven and discovered that I had scorched the poor thing. Instead of a smooth and creamy surface with a golden graham crust, mine ballooned like a souffle and was caramelized in all the wrong places. Needless to say, my creation was chucked into the trash and my ego was bruised for some time. To add insult to injury, The Astronomer was left cake-less on his birthday.

It wasn’t until I encountered this Blackberry Cloud Cake recipe in last month’s Martha Stewart Living that I was finally inspired to bake a replacement. Scanning the list of ingredients and directions, I imagined a pastry similar to Jin Patiserrie’s “Spring Bouquet.” In actuality, this one was a completely different (and lighter) beast. Martha and company were right on the money when they compared its texture to that of clouds. The combination of fluffy whipped cream and soft meringue was truly lighter than air.

For birthday boys with a penchant for non-traditional cakes and a great love for berries, this recipe is just about perfect.

3 containers (6 ounces each) blackberries (about 4 1/3 cups)
1 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
Vegetable oil cooking spray, for parchment
8 large egg whites, room temperature
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon white-wine vinegar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups cold heavy cream
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, plus more for dusting

Toss 2 containers blackberries (about 3 cups) with 2 tablespoons granulated sugar; let stand for at least 2 hours, tossing occasionally, until berries release juices. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line a 10-by-15-inch rimmed baking sheet with parchment; coat with cooking spray. Whisk egg whites with a mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar. Raise speed to high, and whisk until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes. Whisk in cornstarch, vinegar, and vanilla. Spread meringue evenly into sheet pan.

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Clover Food Lab – Boston (Cambridge)

Published by Gastronomer on October 1, 2010 in Boston, Chain / Multiple Locations, Meals on Wheels, Restaurant Review, Vegan and Vegetarian. 6 Comments

In early September, the Astronomer and I spent a week in Boston visiting friends and family. Whereas our previous travels were centered around eating and lots of it, this trip was about reconnecting with loved ones whom we don’t get to see nearly enough. While this trip wasn’t as food-centric as those in the past, we still managed to eat very well. After all, catching up with old friends is best accomplished over a long and delicious meal.

One of our most memorable dinners was eaten street side at the Clover Food Lab, a bright white vegetarian food truck parked on MIT‘s campus. The truck was founded by MIT graduate Ayr Muir. After earning an MBA from Harvard, he worked in marketing at Patagonia and as a consultant with McKinsey and Company. In 2008, he decided to leave the corporate world behind for new challenges in the culinary field.

To make his dream a reality, Muir teamed up with Chef Rolando Robledo (@RolandoRobledo), a one-time poissonnier under Thomas Keller at The French Laundry and an instructor at Johnson & Wales University. Together, they created a temporary “food lab” out of a truck to test recipes for a soon-to-be launched chain of vegetarian restaurants. The truck opened for business on MIT’s food lot in September of 2008 and closed down seven weeks later as planned. However, customer protests made the two reconsider their initial plan. The truck reopened in March 2009, and they have since expanded to two trucks.

By the way, I read in an article on MIT’s campus news site that the truck’s exterior pays homage to Muir’s MIT past. It features a dry-erase board menu, which Muir says reminds him of the problem sets he faced as a student. I ♥ nerds.

The Clover truck, which runs on biodiesel (a fuel made from used vegetable oil), serves moderately healthy, meat-less fast food fare with a focus on seasonality and locality.

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