New England on my mouth
As my blog readers (aka my mom) already know, my partner and I recently returned from our first trip to New England, where we stayed with friends and Boston and had a romantic getaway in New Haven, Connecticut. I intend to blog about the trip itself, but I wanted to do something fun this time and first write a blog about the amazing meals we had on the trip.
Right when we got off the plane, my very good friend Courtney (Paulsen) Martin and her husband, Ty, were there to pick us up and we were whisked away to Waltham, MA, to pick up my friend Bethany who I hadn't seen in even more years than Courtney. We went to Solea, a restaurant and tapas bar on this cute little street lined with snow that looked like something out of a movie. The service and food were incredible, and this coming from the guy who normally HATES tapas bars with a passion. But the sangria was yummy and all the tapas were so delicious... we had shrimp, calamari, pork, stuffed peppers, salmon, stuffed dates... I can't even remember all the treats that were delivered to our table but none of them were less than thrilling. Plus you just can't beat a reunion of two of your long-lost friends that have never even met and one of them had a husband you've never met but you all seem like you've known each other forever - that's how it was and that's why I was so happy that I decided to pay the whole bill when it came, which was way less than I had anticipated. It was a perfect beginning to our trip.
The next meal we had was the following morning, and although it was nothing spectacular it was on our "list" of things to do - Dunkin' Donuts. I remember Dunkin' from when I was a kid but I'm not sure why. I thought maybe there was one in Hays, KS, but most likely there wasn't. It seems to be an east coast thing. Over the course of our trip we must have seen hundreds of DD locations, and especially in Boston, you couldn't walk more than 50 feet without stepping over an old DD coffee cup. It was crazy! So, we decided to go there for breakfast and I got a waffle sandwich and a butternut (?) donut, with an iced coffee. We were near Boston Commons and we went to a little plaza type place where we sat down on benches and ate, and some little birds had to fight with a couple of pigeons over some scraps that Courtney had lost.
Then came our bar crawl, which will be detailed in full in my blog about the trip in general. Although I'd be remiss to leave out the delicious cup of clam chowder I had at Ye Old Union Oyster House, the oldest restaurant in America, or the scrumptious steak (or something resembling steak) on-a-stick at this bar called Hong Kong something or other, which was also notable for their "Scorpion Bowls" which are big drinks in ceramic bowls that come with a bunch of straws for people to share.
After our bar crawl, we decided we were still hungry despite the meat-on-sticks, and we ended up at some bizarre train-car style diner that Dylan and I both immediately dubbed "The Nightmare Cafe" after this short-lived Wes Craven TV show I used to be obsessed with in the 90's. Although Ty named it "Murder Street Cafe" which also was very appropriate and catchy. I had a Ruben Sandwich with fries and I can't say anything bad about it, but I was so drunk at that point that I could have eaten a peanut butter and jelly and thought it was the best thing since, well - sliced bread with peanut butter on one and jelly on the other put together.
The next day we all woke up with various degrees of hangovers and debated for awhile where we should go to cure our ailments, and it was decided that we would go to this place called Sunset Tap or Sunset Grill, can't remember the exact name, but it was walking distance. The menu was VERY extensive, just the beer menu alone was like War and Peace. Craziness! Somehow I decided to order a Paradise Chicken Burrito or something of that nature, it was supposed to be tropical inspired. It was great but after Courtney's nachos, Dylan's sliders and whatever delicious appetizer Ty had ordered, I could only finish half of it. However I did save room for the "beer ice cream" because I just was so excited by that prospect as you can imagine. It ended up being a chocolate concoction, which Ty wouldn't dare eat what with his disdain over cocoa, but the other three of us downed it in no time... although I would have actually liked more beer flavor than it had (or at least I thought I would). Dylan noticed his glass said "lame stolen beer glass" so he reckoned that meant he needed to steal it, and so he did.
That afternoon/evening Dylan and I went to Dunkin' again and got some donuts this time - a jelly donut and chocolate Munchkins (donut holes) and I had iced coffee with blueberry flavoring. Yum!
When we got back to Ty and Courtney's, Ty had cooked dinner and it was quite possibly the best meal of the whole trip. It was pork tenderloins with lots of spices and seasoning, candied vegetables (Brussels sprouts and asparagus with cranberries) and stuffed mushrooms. I can't begin to describe how delicious it was.
On Monday, Dylan and I made our way through the snow to Connecticut and checked in at our hotel, after which we finally went to get something to eat. We stuck near the hotel and drove by several interesting, if not a little bizarre, looking places including one home-turned-bar/restaurant called Libby's Excuse Room that we meant to go back and check out later. We decided to try this place called The Limelight which billed itself as a Thai/French joint. Intrigued by that proposal, we took the chance but were somewhat disappointing that the menu offered items that were either Thai or French, but not a fusion of the two. We decided to order one Thai dish (yellow curry vegetables) and one french (champaign chicken) and had an appetizer that I don't remember at the moment. It was actually pretty damn good and the waitress was definitely very friendly and accommodating. This was in Branford, CT, in case you want to know.
Later in the day, we headed in to New Haven and after walking around and going to this little gay bar we found, we went to a deli which I meant to remember the name of but seem to have forgotten. It was cute, open late, and I had a superb chicken portabella wrap with potato salad.
The next day was when we really did New Haven and so we had to go to Wooster Street, Little Italy, and try their famous Pizza. We went to Sally's first but they were not open for lunch so we walked down the street to Frank Pepe Napolitano Pizzeria. We were so excited to go there since I had been told about it by one of my work associates who grew up in the area, and we were not disappointed. The place looked liked it was from another time (the 20's) and had old photos all over the walls, including one of the founder, Frank Pepe, as well as shots of Ronald Regan out front, and Bill Clinton enjoying a slice. We ordered a white pizza (garlic sauce and clams) and a regular one (tomato sauce and grated cheese). They were both amazingly fabulous, steaming hot out of the coal oven, SO yummy and unique. The clam pizza was especially extraordinary with fresh shucked clams so delicious and fresh!
Later that night we were hungry and decided to leave this bar, called Bar, which was having a "gay night" and went to eat at this little bar called Anchor I think, that looked like it was time-warped from the 60's. They only had a limited late night bar menu so I had a tuna salad sandwich and sweet potato fries which was all fine and dandy as far as late night bar food goes.
Wednesday we had the Holiday Inn breakfast (we had it the day before too) and were off back to Boston.
For our last meal of the trip, Courtney and Ty took us to the North End, which is the little Italy of Boston, to a restaurant called Al Dente, one of Court's favorites. It was definitely very authentic and atmospheric, and of course delicious as you would expect. For appetizers, we had Spinach turnovers, shrimp in an orange honey sauce, and then we had our main entrees - Dylan and I split homemade Cannelloni and grilled fig salad, all of which was outstanding. But it was made even more special when Ty grabbed the check and insisted on paying it, which was just so unnecessary but definitely appreciated. I have to say the Ty and Courtney went way above and beyond, they were the ultimate hosts and they are just both such super people. I always knew Courtney was one of those people and I'm so glad that she and Tyler found each other and that I am priveledged enough to call them friends of mine. They made our trip so much more than just what it could have been, they elevated it to a whole other level. I only hope we can return the favor should they ever come to LA or wherever I may live in the future.
Right when we got off the plane, my very good friend Courtney (Paulsen) Martin and her husband, Ty, were there to pick us up and we were whisked away to Waltham, MA, to pick up my friend Bethany who I hadn't seen in even more years than Courtney. We went to Solea, a restaurant and tapas bar on this cute little street lined with snow that looked like something out of a movie. The service and food were incredible, and this coming from the guy who normally HATES tapas bars with a passion. But the sangria was yummy and all the tapas were so delicious... we had shrimp, calamari, pork, stuffed peppers, salmon, stuffed dates... I can't even remember all the treats that were delivered to our table but none of them were less than thrilling. Plus you just can't beat a reunion of two of your long-lost friends that have never even met and one of them had a husband you've never met but you all seem like you've known each other forever - that's how it was and that's why I was so happy that I decided to pay the whole bill when it came, which was way less than I had anticipated. It was a perfect beginning to our trip.
The next meal we had was the following morning, and although it was nothing spectacular it was on our "list" of things to do - Dunkin' Donuts. I remember Dunkin' from when I was a kid but I'm not sure why. I thought maybe there was one in Hays, KS, but most likely there wasn't. It seems to be an east coast thing. Over the course of our trip we must have seen hundreds of DD locations, and especially in Boston, you couldn't walk more than 50 feet without stepping over an old DD coffee cup. It was crazy! So, we decided to go there for breakfast and I got a waffle sandwich and a butternut (?) donut, with an iced coffee. We were near Boston Commons and we went to a little plaza type place where we sat down on benches and ate, and some little birds had to fight with a couple of pigeons over some scraps that Courtney had lost.
Then came our bar crawl, which will be detailed in full in my blog about the trip in general. Although I'd be remiss to leave out the delicious cup of clam chowder I had at Ye Old Union Oyster House, the oldest restaurant in America, or the scrumptious steak (or something resembling steak) on-a-stick at this bar called Hong Kong something or other, which was also notable for their "Scorpion Bowls" which are big drinks in ceramic bowls that come with a bunch of straws for people to share.
After our bar crawl, we decided we were still hungry despite the meat-on-sticks, and we ended up at some bizarre train-car style diner that Dylan and I both immediately dubbed "The Nightmare Cafe" after this short-lived Wes Craven TV show I used to be obsessed with in the 90's. Although Ty named it "Murder Street Cafe" which also was very appropriate and catchy. I had a Ruben Sandwich with fries and I can't say anything bad about it, but I was so drunk at that point that I could have eaten a peanut butter and jelly and thought it was the best thing since, well - sliced bread with peanut butter on one and jelly on the other put together.
The next day we all woke up with various degrees of hangovers and debated for awhile where we should go to cure our ailments, and it was decided that we would go to this place called Sunset Tap or Sunset Grill, can't remember the exact name, but it was walking distance. The menu was VERY extensive, just the beer menu alone was like War and Peace. Craziness! Somehow I decided to order a Paradise Chicken Burrito or something of that nature, it was supposed to be tropical inspired. It was great but after Courtney's nachos, Dylan's sliders and whatever delicious appetizer Ty had ordered, I could only finish half of it. However I did save room for the "beer ice cream" because I just was so excited by that prospect as you can imagine. It ended up being a chocolate concoction, which Ty wouldn't dare eat what with his disdain over cocoa, but the other three of us downed it in no time... although I would have actually liked more beer flavor than it had (or at least I thought I would). Dylan noticed his glass said "lame stolen beer glass" so he reckoned that meant he needed to steal it, and so he did.
That afternoon/evening Dylan and I went to Dunkin' again and got some donuts this time - a jelly donut and chocolate Munchkins (donut holes) and I had iced coffee with blueberry flavoring. Yum!
When we got back to Ty and Courtney's, Ty had cooked dinner and it was quite possibly the best meal of the whole trip. It was pork tenderloins with lots of spices and seasoning, candied vegetables (Brussels sprouts and asparagus with cranberries) and stuffed mushrooms. I can't begin to describe how delicious it was.
On Monday, Dylan and I made our way through the snow to Connecticut and checked in at our hotel, after which we finally went to get something to eat. We stuck near the hotel and drove by several interesting, if not a little bizarre, looking places including one home-turned-bar/restaurant called Libby's Excuse Room that we meant to go back and check out later. We decided to try this place called The Limelight which billed itself as a Thai/French joint. Intrigued by that proposal, we took the chance but were somewhat disappointing that the menu offered items that were either Thai or French, but not a fusion of the two. We decided to order one Thai dish (yellow curry vegetables) and one french (champaign chicken) and had an appetizer that I don't remember at the moment. It was actually pretty damn good and the waitress was definitely very friendly and accommodating. This was in Branford, CT, in case you want to know.
Later in the day, we headed in to New Haven and after walking around and going to this little gay bar we found, we went to a deli which I meant to remember the name of but seem to have forgotten. It was cute, open late, and I had a superb chicken portabella wrap with potato salad.
The next day was when we really did New Haven and so we had to go to Wooster Street, Little Italy, and try their famous Pizza. We went to Sally's first but they were not open for lunch so we walked down the street to Frank Pepe Napolitano Pizzeria. We were so excited to go there since I had been told about it by one of my work associates who grew up in the area, and we were not disappointed. The place looked liked it was from another time (the 20's) and had old photos all over the walls, including one of the founder, Frank Pepe, as well as shots of Ronald Regan out front, and Bill Clinton enjoying a slice. We ordered a white pizza (garlic sauce and clams) and a regular one (tomato sauce and grated cheese). They were both amazingly fabulous, steaming hot out of the coal oven, SO yummy and unique. The clam pizza was especially extraordinary with fresh shucked clams so delicious and fresh!
Later that night we were hungry and decided to leave this bar, called Bar, which was having a "gay night" and went to eat at this little bar called Anchor I think, that looked like it was time-warped from the 60's. They only had a limited late night bar menu so I had a tuna salad sandwich and sweet potato fries which was all fine and dandy as far as late night bar food goes.
Wednesday we had the Holiday Inn breakfast (we had it the day before too) and were off back to Boston.
For our last meal of the trip, Courtney and Ty took us to the North End, which is the little Italy of Boston, to a restaurant called Al Dente, one of Court's favorites. It was definitely very authentic and atmospheric, and of course delicious as you would expect. For appetizers, we had Spinach turnovers, shrimp in an orange honey sauce, and then we had our main entrees - Dylan and I split homemade Cannelloni and grilled fig salad, all of which was outstanding. But it was made even more special when Ty grabbed the check and insisted on paying it, which was just so unnecessary but definitely appreciated. I have to say the Ty and Courtney went way above and beyond, they were the ultimate hosts and they are just both such super people. I always knew Courtney was one of those people and I'm so glad that she and Tyler found each other and that I am priveledged enough to call them friends of mine. They made our trip so much more than just what it could have been, they elevated it to a whole other level. I only hope we can return the favor should they ever come to LA or wherever I may live in the future.
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