I had the crème de la crème of the Finer Things Club™ this weekend. Friday evening began with a mission of celebrating my first commission check. The journey commenced at the much-raved about Beehive; aka the closest thing Boston has to the LES. Think modern cafes des artistes for the Bohemian (wanna-be's) of the city. You have an option of sitting on the ground floor or the subterranean level so we chose the latter because the bar had openings. There we were greeted with antique chandeliers, exposed brick and funky starving-artist artwork exploding on the walls. Salsa was delicately echoing the room (although the club boasts live music every night) and the clientele was diverse and funky, no Ned Devine’s for this crowd. We started off cocktail hour with our stand-by’s; vodka and Jack. I got the Moscow Mule, a drink that was popular in the 50s with vodka, ginger beer and lime. My counterpart ordered his go-go, a Jack and coke. To coat our bellies, we ordered the bite-size beef Wellingtons (the cheapest offering). Small beef medallions surrounded by puffed pastry and coated with a sweet reduction. Not great, but it was a start.
After feeling like I had finally found the artist’s niche of Boston, we headed to B& G Oysters to sample fresh sea fare. The décor was icy, sleek and modern, a different pace from the warmth and eclectic atmosphere of Beehive. The oysters were delicious (Ningret, Montauk and Malpeque), especially accompanied by the fruity French Muscadet we chose. Barbara Lynch was even cooking in the open kitchen, which the oyster bar surrounds. (Barbara is the proprietor and chef of B& G as well as some other top Boston restaurants).
Still wanting more food and drinks, we changed paces and jumped to Newbury and settled on Croma; an Euro-Italian pizzeria where we got homemade sangria and salads. I ordered a goat cheese salad, which I expected to be very run of the mill. However, I was extremely surprised. On top of the bed of greens was a disc of hot bread holding a mound of warm gooey goat cheese with roasted red peppers and tomatoes. It was incredible. After bar hopping galore, I finally felt like I had reached my max and decided to call it a night.
Saturday I had the honor of reconnecting with an old friend, NBH and her mere, Loulu. The gorging continued. I met my hostesses at the infamous Stephanie’s, where I was greeted with pushy teenagers and overly dressed middle aged women. However, since my entourage travels in style, and we were immediately seated in a lovely booth (birthday white lies are key), where we sipped chilled Chardonnay and sampled an incredible tuna tartare and arancini balls. For our entrée, I ordered a grilled jumbo shrimp salad, full of flavors and textures. Dessert was a molten chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream, hot bittersweet chocolate and panna cotta. Yes, please.
The gorging continued once we were ensconced back in Newton. For our evening food choices were Thai (chicken satay, perfectly crisp Thai rolls, pad thai smothered in peanut sauce and lime, which offers a very refreshing bite and masaman curry over nutty brown rice), Teuscher truffles and a lovely, bold Cab.
As Sunday rolled around, we started the morning with a Jewish brunch; bagels, lox, homemade scallion cream cheese and an assortment of juicy fruits. By the time 4PM rolled around, we were hungry again and feasted on a French version of flat bread (think baguette flattened) and the most delectable roasted red pepper aioli, goat cheese spread and tapenade. The weekend proved to be lovely, relaxing and full of gorging, sleeping and giggling…sigh.
