Archive for April, 2009

I love bagels in all their chewy, bready goodness.  Plain bagels, flavored bagels, with or without cream cheese, I love them all.  So, I was excited when I saw an ad (and, even better coupons!) for Einstein Bros Bagels new Bagel Poppers – cute little bagel bites that you can dip, pop in your mouth, and enjoy on the go.  Or so I thought.

I stopped by a local Einstein’s franchise this weekend and split two order of bagel poppers with my husband – blueberry and cinnamon sugar.  (We skipped the third flavor, an unappetizing sweet cream cheese).  I expected them to taste like, well, bagels.  We were sorely disappointed to find the bagel poppers tasted more like donut holes than bagel holes.  The blueberry variety had a sticky glaze on the outside that stuck to my fingers and made the poppers cloyingly sweet (and I love my sweets).  The cinnamon sugar flavor tasted more like fried dough dipped in cinnamon sugar.  Neither variety would be a good option for food on the go.  Despite being served in a plastic travel cup with a lid, the bagel poppers are too sticky and messy to enjoy without a napkin, or preferably a sink nearby.  If you don’t want to start your day with dessert, you’d do best to stick with your traditional bagel. And if you do want a sugary jolt to start your day, I’d recommend sticking to a classic donut.  If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

I’ve been to Tomasso Trattoria in Southborough, MA, a few times before to enjoy their fresh spin on Italian cuisine.  The restaurant offers several different courses and portion sizes and encourages customers to order as few or as many courses as they like (one to six courses) and to share dishes.  Given these options, the restaurant has the potential to serve as a spot to linger over several courses, or to simply enjoy cocktails and appetizers.

We arrived and despite having made reservations, we were seated in a very cramped area near the kitchen.  We, and nearby diners, were all told that there was a birthday party in the larger portion of the dining room.  The hostesses were clearly aware that it was subpar seating, yet they continued to seat diners with reservations in uncomfortable quarters.  One couple nearby was seated at a counter abutting the kitching that was more like bar seating; they were not moved or accomodated despite their clear distaste for their cramped stool seating.  They didn’t stay long.   Throughout the meal, servers bumped into us in order to serve nearby tables and jostled our table.  It was a bit claustrophobic to say the least.

Despite our disappointing seating situation, we were ready to enjoy several small plates and desserts.  The meal started strong with appetizers of Fontina in Carozza (fried fontina cheese served with salsa verde), Polpette (meatballs), and Suppli (fried spinach risotto balls with cheese). 

The fontina cheese was perfeclty melted and oozing out of a perfectly fried crunchy outer coating.  It was served with a pleasing salsa verde that did not overpower the mild cheese with its sweet onions and herbs.  The Polpette were equally great.  I’m not a huge meatball lover, but Tomasso could convert me with their perfectly tender beef and pork meatballs served with a lovely chunky tomato sauce and sharp parmesan gratings.  They were perfectly seasoned and not at all dry.  The Suppli were fried balls of perfectly al dente risotto with spinach and tallegio cheese.  The flavors were well balanced and the suppli were appropriately moist and dense inside.  The appetizers were a good value at $5 to $6 each, with decent portions provided.

We moved on to small plates, or Primi Piatti.  The dishes we ordered, Risotto al Funghi (risotto with mushrooms) and Ravioli con Uovo (egg filled ravioli), were $11 and $12, respectively.  Relative to the appetizers, these dishes were surprisingly expensive with much less food than expected.  The Risotto was a bit too al dente for my taste and a bit on the salty side, but very flavorful with strong red wine and mushroom flavors throughout.  The Ravioli was in fact one ravioli, albeit a large one.  Given that the restaurant encourages sharing, it was surprising to receive one large ravioli that was very difficult to split.  As soon as I cut into the ravioli, egg yolk seeped everywhere.  The ravioli was tasty with inital flavors of black truffle followed by creamy mascarpone and egg flavors that mingled nicely on the palate.

I also enjoyed a glass of Montepulciano that was full-bodied and a little dry, while my husband had a cabernet sauvignon-merlot-sangiovese blend that was lighter and fruity.

After enjoying several small plates, we were excited to move on to dessert.  We split an assortment of biscotti, semifreddo and mascarpone gelato.  The biscotti arrived in abundance and included traditional biscotti and other Italian cookies including a lemon cookie with fennel seeds, a strawberry jam filled sugar cookie, and a nutella sandwich cookie.  Some were a little dry, but most were very good and the variety was excellent.  The semifreddo, which literally translated means half-frozen, is a frozen treat that is icier and less creamy than ice cream.  Ours was served layered with mocha semifreddo, white and chocolate cake, and raspberry filling.  It was interesting with some nice flavors, but not exceptional.  The gelato of the day was mascarpone, but tasted more like an ice cream.  More surprisingly, we could not detect mascarpone flavors at all – instead the gelato tasted like a very strong Amaretto ice cream, which was incredibly disappointing.

While enjoying our desserts, the manager approached our table full of questions and concerns about the semifreddo.  He explained that he had hired a new pastry chef and was trying out some new desserts, including the semifreddo.  He displayed a surprising lack of confidence about the nearly completed semifreddo on our table and was concerned that it might be too dry, or just disappointing.  I admitted that the cake was a bit dry, but overall, we really enjoyed the semifreddo.  I went on to ask about the gelato, which we were wholly confused by.  I explained that the waitress had told us that it would be mascarpone gelato, but that it tasted like Amaretto.  He explained that the chefs fold Amaretto in to the mascarpone gelato, then glanced at our still full melting bowl of gelato and scurried away.  It was pretty clear that we had finished our biscotti and semifredo and avoided the overpowering Amaretto gelato.  Amaretto was far too strong a flavor to pair with the mild mascarpone.  We were disappointed that he didn’t address the issue.  Worse, several waitstaff scurried by, asked if we were done, and cleared the rest of the dishes.  While we waited a significant amount of time for our check to arrive and be taken care of, our gelato sat and sat, melting into an unappetizing yellow pool of liquid.  Nobody asked if there was a problem with it, and nobody seemed to want to remove it, either.  It became a comical annoyance.  Our waitress was polite but seemed slightly put out and/or annoyed.

All in all, the meal started strong but became slightly more disappointing by the course, with inconsistent service throughout.

Of course, you’ve heard of white sugar and brown sugar, but black sugar?

Apparently it’s a new trendy ingredient being used in both savory and sweet dishes.  Black sugar, more specifically, Okinawa black sugar, comes from cane juice and is purchased as a brick-like block that looks a bit like a dark chocolate bar.  After grating or chopping it, you can cook or bake with it.  I have yet to try it, but it is described as being deeper in flavor than brown sugar (like molasses in a solid form).  Black sugar appears to be a common ingredient in Japanese candies.  It can also be used in cakes or cookies, for roasting or in bbq sauces…my interest is piqued!

Black sugar can be purchased from Amazon.

Haagen-Dazs is one of those gluttonous treats that I can’t have around all of the time – too dangerous!  But when I heard that they had a new line, Haagen-Dazs Five, I was intrigued and felt it was my obligation as a food blogger to review it (really, that’s the only reason I bought some… ).  This new line of ice cream features several flavors, each with only five ingredients each – sugar, cream, eggs, milk, and a natural flavor.  The flavors currently available are mint, vanilla bean, milk chocolate, brown sugar, ginger, coffee, and passion fruit.  Besides being all-natural, Haagen-Dazs is marketing this ice cream as being lower in fat than their regular ice cream.

I don’t like the idea of chemical additives in my food, and many of my favorite ice cream stands haven’t opened for the season, so the Five line is a great opportunity to indulge – naturally.  I bought the Brown Sugar flavor and it seems creamier than a typical pint of store-bought ice cream.  In addition, it has a rich flavor that tastes like molasses and caramelized sugar.  You’ll need a sweet tooth to enjoy this flavor as it is very sweet, but it is delectable and the next best thing to my favorite ice cream stand’s home-made offerings.  You’ll scream for this ice cream!

Tasca is one of my favorite restaurants in the Boston area, so it was just inexcusable that I hadn’t been there in years and hadn’t introduced my husband to this great restaurant.  Tasca serves Spanish cuisine which I love for its robust flavors and Meditteranean ingredients.

Tasca is known for their delicous tapas, but they also offer full Spanish entrees and great Spanish wines.  Tapas, if you aren’t familiar with the concept, are small plates of food and are traditional Spanish fare (although many American restaurants are adopting the notion).  It allows you to try small amounts of several different foods.  In Spain, the locals hop from tapas bar to tapas bar to try specialties at different restaurants.  This isn’t an option in Boston, but Tasca offers more than enough delectable options to keep you happy and full.

On our recent visit, my husband and I ordered about 8 or 9 tapas dishes – a little too much for two people, but it was so difficult to choose!  Our tapas included chicken and ham croquettes, patatas bravas (fried potatoes), a petit filet mignon in a mushroom sauce, a timbale (or tower) of vegetables, a leek quiche, and herbed goat cheese empanadas.

Everything was flavorful, cooked appropriately, and delicious.  Many of the dishes were augmented with tasty sauces.  The croquettes, for example, were lightly fried and served in a Romesco sauce.  They were soft inside and each bite revealead a delicous combination of meats and herbs.  The petit filets were served with crispy onion strings and a  hearty red wine mushroom sauce that was able to stand up to the rich meat.  The leek quiche had two cheeses including Manchego, and it was soft and almost creamy, but never mushy.  The timbale of vegetables was a tower of grilled vegetables including eggplant, zucchini and tomato and was our only disappointment - it wasn’t bad, but was very basic compared with most of the tapas we received.

I ordered a glass of Vina Perguita from Navarra Spain.  The wine is a mix of tempranillo, cabernet and merlot.  It was fruity and full-bodied with a slightly dry finish.  It was incredible.

We split two desserts, the Pastel Vasco which was ensconced in chocolate cookie crumbs and filled with soft banana and milk toffee.  It was very sweet and rich and everything I could ask for in a dessert.  We also had a piece of cheesecake – a special on the day we visited - which was made from goat cheese and covered in a blackberry topping.  It was a little tart with a creamy texture – much less firm than a traditional New York style cheesecake.  It was good but didn’t come close to the Pastel Vasco.

Insiders know to sign up for e-mails to get a birthday coupon worth up to $15 off your bill (or a free entree of a lesser value).  E-mails also notify customers of prix fixe menus, holiday specials, flamenco dance performances, wine dinners, and more. Even without the birthday coupon, the meal would have felt like a good value for the quality and quantity of food.  Valet parking is reasonable at $6.  I don’t plan on letting another few years pass before revisiting one of my favorite tapas restaurants!