Right on, Bistro 5!

Now I have lived in Medford, MA for most of my life, and for most of my life I have complained about it. My main complaint is that there aren't any good restaurants in the area, and any food joints close at 9pm. God forbid you get a tad hungry at 9:15 at night and want to order a sandwich, its just not possible. Medford has come around in the past few years, and my 9:15 cravings now go to Boloco on Boston Ave for a burrito, since they are open till 11pm. I also have discovered what I call a "diamond in the rough" restaurant in West Medford Square. Well, I really shouldn't even use the word "discover" since I actually walk by this particular restaurant on a daily basis since its about 1 block from my house! I have been to this restaurant a good handful of times because it happens to be one of my fav's, and I felt that it was about time they earned a blog entry, and share my one of many amazing meals I have had at Bistro 5, on Playstead Rd, in Medford.

Bistro 5 opened when I was in high school, and it was this tiny restaurant that had about 8 tables and no liquor license. As a foodie, we know that those restaurants are the best of the best, because they focus on one thing - THE FOOD.

Bistro 5 is no exception. Chef Ettore owns, and actively works in his restaurant perfecting his creations. I had the luxury of briefly meeting him one night after having the best

braised rabbit I have ever tasted, and he was so quietly happy & thankful I enjoyed his meal. He doesn't need to be all over the food network like Bobby Flay, or have seven different shows like Racheal Ray, or sell cookware like Emeril. He just wants to buy he best ingredients and share them with people who will enjoy it. Who knew it could be that simple.

Since I am on Bistro 5's mailing list (which I highly recommend doing, after you read my blog of course) Chef Ettore sent out an updated Fall menu which I was drooling over. Wasting no time, I enlisted my new foodie friend Caitlin to experience this with me, as she had never been to the restaurant before. Let the eating begin!

We arrived quite early for our reservation, which isn't much of a surprise since I get overly excited about eating! The host allowed us to sit near the bar while waiting for our table to be ready. I failed to mention, since opening over 10 years ago Bistro 5 expanded their restaurant to allow for MUCH more seating, and a full bar with so many yummy italian-inspired cocktails and wine, wine, and more wine baby! After breezing through the drink menu, I asked the bartender about the lemonsecco, which I presumed was limoncello & prosecco mixed, and he so graciously mixed a sample size version of the drink for Caitlin and I to try first! Normally I would say to myself "well he probably thought we were cute and wants a good tip", but thats not at all the case here - every single employee at this restaurant just wants you to have the best possible experience & drink/meal enjoyment. That's it! I love it! And boy did I love this drink...so simple and refreshing, how can you not like a drink that tastes of bubbly lemon-y goodness!

Okay so let's get down to the business. Since I have been to this place a number of times I wanted to make sure I tried seasonal items. The one seasonal item that caught my eye was the Pumpkin Risotto. Risotto is a tricky rice meal to make, the second it loses moisture it dries out and the texture & taste is gone, but I knew Chef Ettore wouldn't dissappoint. I decided to get the pumpkin risotto as my app, instead of a full meal. Note: Bistro 5 gives you the option to make any pasta entree an appetizer portion - how cool is that!?!?!? So that is what I did, and it turned out to be a huge mistake. This pumpkin risotto is the BEST I have ever had - I should of got it as my meal! So as the picture shows, the pumpkin risotto came with 2 scallops, and a cute little pumpkin overflowing with creamy risotto. Oh god it was amazing. Now it didn't have a ton of pumpkin flavor, but I actually liked that about the dish. Risotto is so delicate that any more intense pumpkin flavor would have been overkill. Now I can't confirm, but I am pretty sure it was cooked with a chicken stock, that gave it a really nice salty flavor. It also had truffle essense...still not quite sure what that is exactly (is it an oil? or a truffle salt? dunno...) but it definitely rounded out the flavors of everything. Truffle is a tough taste to pick up on the tongue, but when you do it just makes everything better! The scallops were perfectly seared, and juicy & tender inside, and really made the dish so tasteful. And ya know what's funny...I don't even like scallops. Seriously! Its the one seafood I never order, or like the texture of, but that just shows how AMAZING this chef is!

After practically licking my plate clean, out comes my entree, and I

ordered the Wild Coho Salmon. I was nervous that the risotto would be filling, so I played it safe with a more lightweight meal, and

thought salmon would be a good option. The salmon came with corn brulee, crispy kale, and a little butternut squash puree. The salmon filet was perfectly cooked, and had light seasoning on it, which is exactly how I like it. Too many places drown salmon in butter/soy sauce/tarragon/dill/cream sauce craziness that you don't realize how good salmon taste as is. Salmon is like steak: just put some seasoning on the outside, let it sear and call it a day! I ended up dipping bites of my salmon in the butternut squash puree and it was sooooooo good. My one critisizm is with the corn brulee, it just didn't translate well for me. I know that corn is naturally sweet and I thought brulee-ing it did make sense, but something about the texture I wasn't a fan of. It was part corn brulee and part corn kernals, and was just too sweet for such a savory dish. On a positive note - the crispy kale, AKA kale chips, were so fun to eat! Kale is probably one of the best greens to eat health-wise, and crisping them up is such a cool concept! They started off crispy and slowly melted in your mouth, yummy. I am still thinking about them...

As we ended our meal, I again encountered what I now abbreviate as my "DD" - Dessert Dilliema. Oh the DD never fails, I always end up asking myself "do I WANT a dessert?" "Do I NEED a dessert?" "Do they even have dessert here???" For whatever reason I battle myself with dessert. What I have learned to do is to look at the dessert menu, and if nothing sparks my interest I do not order. So Caitlin and I agreed to only get dessert if somthing sounded good

, and of course something sounded good. We agreed on the Creme Brulee duo - a pumpkin creme brulee and vanilla creme brulee with pomegranate topping. Count me in! Also after having a not-so-great corn brulee with my salmon I was hoping the dessert version would redeem itself. The brulees came in the very posh yin/yang dishes and both were delicious. I for sure thought I was going to like the pumpkin version better, but those pomegranate seeds on the vanilla brulee was a burst of flavor, literally! The texture alone was so good: you have the creamy vanilla custard brulee, then crunchy pops of berries mixed with the vanilla was a perfect combo. A success! I overcame my DD!

In summary, Bistro 5 does it right. The best local & seasonal ingredients, a creative and passionate chef, a caring & helpful waitstaff...all make up for a successful restaurant experience. Know wonder why Boston Magazine names Bistro 5 as one of the 50 best restaurants in Boston. Well deserved, especially when your going up against chefs that take over Boston with their lists of restaurants they own all over town. I just so happen to work for a company that has locations outside of Boston, and in order to be successful you need the help of your neighbors to support your business, its just crucial considering the economic state we are still in unfortunately. So all I ask is that instead of going to the hip new place in Boston, talk a walk around where you live and see what your city/town has to offer. Like I said before, the small, off the beaten path places are some of the best, whether it be food, shopping, etc...

Next time anyone passes through Medford, call me and I will take you to Bistro 5, you will thank me later :) Here are the deets... and don't forget to signup on their mailing list!

website: http://www.bistro5.com/home-0

facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bistro-5/384959457523?ref=ts

Um...did you say 160 beers on tap???

My food travels have landed me at the Yard House Restaurant this past Saturday, in Dedham's new Legacy Place shopping plaza. Yard House = Beer heaven. Literally. I have been itching to try this place out for about a month now...knowing that it is the only location in Massachusetts! And it just so happens I work down the street and walk by and secretly get jealous that I would rather be sitting by their outside fireplace biting into a juicy burger and sipping on a cold one......oh jeez I've lost my train of thought! Moving on, Saturday night is girls night and we wanted to try a new place out, and Yard House it was!

Let me set the scene: 5 classy ladies walk into a bar, get seated near 20 flat screen tv's, a massive bar that houses 160 different types of beer on tap, and a bunch of men pounding drinks! I couldn't decide if I was out of my element, or really missed the singles scene! Either way I was enjoying my mix of beer, boys, and Bruins!

So let's get down to ordering: The beer menu was insane, and being more of a wino, I decided to get a beer "blend" which literally blended two types of beers for a very unique taste. My blend consisted of Hoegaarden White beer, and Framboise liqueur. Holy moly it was sooooooo refreshing & tasty! It blended a pale ale with a raspberry twist: It reminded me of a heavier tasting wine cooler, perfect for a summer night! Onto apps: A few of my friends split an order of the spinach dip...which seemed to be the appetizer of choice of everyone sitting around us. And I can see why! It was very fresh tasting, with fresh ingredients. It's amazing how just using fresh

ingredients can make the simplest dish over-the-top yummy. However, I think the show-stopper of the night was the Onion TOWER!!! (see pic below) Its yet another genius idea that I can't believe I have never thought of! Besides looking really cool, the onion rings were perfectly crispy and came with 2 types of ranch sauce.

Now we get to meal time baby, and again, I totally had trouble deciding what to order! I knew I wanted something light, but satisfying - so I landed on the Porcini Crusted Halibut with asparagus, bok choy, and parmesan mashed potatoes. The portion was HUGE, which I am certainly not complaining about! Generally speaking the halibut was tasty. Food critically speaking it was a little salty & a tiny bit chewy. My issue was more with the title of the dish, because I wouldn't say the fish was "porcini crusted" it was more like "porcini rubbed." Either way, it was a yummy mushroom explosion in my mouth. The

truffle sauce totally made the dish complete, and helped moisten the halibut. I have to say, the star or my meal - was the bok choy! I don't know why I don't buy this veggie more often! It was cut in half, sauteed just enough to cook it through but maintained the crunchiness of the choy and seasoned perfectly. Note to self: Buy more bok choy and use it instead of a side salad.

Overall, my friends and I enjoyed our meals & drinks very much. On the positive: an extensive beer, wine & cocktail drink menu can satisfy ANY ONE'S taste. On the negative: the atmosphere was pretty loud & busy, and did make it hard for the 5 of us to hear conversation. If its your first time trying this place out I would probably recommend going during lunch hours to make the most of this incredible bar.

One prop I do have to give this restaurant is the service. The hostess kept her cool among a sea of hungry patrons, the waitstaff was friendly & prompt, and managers were out & about helping their staff turn tables. One of the managers just so happen to see me take pic of my raspberry beer (god I am such a dork!) and came & introduced himself and took an interest in my food blogging hobby haha. Sometimes I think I am wasting my time sitting in front of my computer talking about what I eat...like do people actually care about what I write? But apparently other foodie's like myself do, and that re-assures me as a foodie, and more importantly a consumer, people alike do value my opinion and thought process. Right??? ;-p

Here are the deetz!

The Yard House - DEDHAM
950 Providence Highway
Space 200,
Dedham, MA 02026
Phone: 781-326-4644 | Fax: 781-326-4955

http://www.yardhouse.com/default.asp

A haunting experience at Scarlet Oak Tavern!

Well sort of. Co-workers and my south shore buddies have mentioned to me about some random restaurant that was apparently haunted. They mentioned how if you look at the ceiling where the brick oven pizza is made that you can see footprints from a baby on the wall. My first thought....they could of been painted on. My second thought....who cares about that, how is the food??? haha, i know sometimes I can be too blunt. Thanks to my friend Kristin, she reminded me about the restaurant/bar, and we decided to check this place out Saturday night. It is called the Scarlet Oak Tavern, located in Hingham, and since their renovation has been thriving with stellar reviews and is the place to be for a great meal and drinks in the south shore.

Ghosts aside, I decided to check out the menu online, which luckily was available and easy to read. My girl Kristin is a meat & potatoes type of girl, so I was expecting a typical steakhouse sort of place, but boy was I way off! I was drooling after reading the menu...no really, I was. Forget the main courses, I wanted to order every single appetizer! What to choose??? Do I get the crab & cheddar dip? Or one of my fav's the beef carpaccio? Oooooo what about the mussels braised with beer & garlic???? I am a Libra - Libra's can't make these types of decisions! In the midst of my food panic attack, Kristen suggested sharing some oysters from the raw bar, and slowly my panic attack subsided. Ahhh...yummy, refreshing oysters to prepare my palette for tasting...sounds damn good to me!

Now as a side note...the Scarlet Oak Tavern offers a raw bar TOWER, which sounded pretty impressive, but be warned, it is only for seafood lovers. It has a sampling of oysters, shrimp cocktail, littleneck clams, and two types of seafood shooters. I plan to go back to check this baby out!

Ok back to me & my inability to decide on what to eat...which is rare. I was originally thinking I was just going to order a bunch of apps, but since everyone has raved about their yummy comfort-food style courses, I certainly didn't want to miss out. After scoping out the menu, I landed on the Braised Short Rib Bolognese. Goat cheese gnocchi, wild mushrooms and more cheese were integrated with the short rib...and it was...WOW. I have to say, I would of never put braised short rib with gnocchi, and the mushrooms didn't make sense either, but it was freaken amazing. The mushrooms were probably the best tasting mushrooms I have ever had. The gnocchi was cooked soooooooooooo perfectly...and just melted in your mouth. And the short rib...how can anyone not like short rib! Any meat that falls off the bone and you don't have to cut is a winner in my book. WOW. And the sauce really just pulled everything together. I was blown away...and pretty much licked my plate clean! Not too mention the oysters were cleaned to perfection and had that amazing salty brine taste. All of us at the table devoured our meals and washed it done with an Australian red wine that wasn't to heavy or bitter...just right :-)

I was completely satisfied, but then came the dessert menu. I hate when this happens, because I am not normally a sweet-craving person, but of course I always seem to find one dessert that sounds so intriguing...and then I buckle and end up ordering it. Grr. So indeed that happened, and I ordered the S'mores. I had envisioned an over sized s'more for some reason, but when the waitress came with it, it looked like alittle cake. There was a circular graham cracker crust and in the middle was the chocolate and marshmallow torched so that it was a little crisp on top and gooey on the inside. It tasted good, but I wasn't impressed with the execution of it. Personally, I feel like alcohol makes everything taste better (hence, my bourbon pumpkin pie...see below) so I would of loved to seen some Grand Marnier drizzled on top of the s'more, or maybe mixed in the chocolate sauce. Ah well, luckily I still had to kill the bottle of red which I had no problem doing!

While finishing our wine...we decided to check out the ceiling near the brick oven to see if we saw footprints. One of the waitresses was kind enough to show us exactly where to look, and sure enough 2 tiny white footprints were right on the wall. It was a cool feature, am I convinced that is was haunted? Not really...but the overall vibe in the restaurant was pretty chill and those footprints made it that much more fun & exciting to be sitting in a possible "haunted" restaurant. Overall, I highly recommend the Scarlet Oak Tavern. The menu is small, but literally has something for everyone. A generous wine list helps too :-) Just an FYI - make a reservation if possible, me & my company lucked out and got a table near the bar, but if we wanted a booth we would of had to wait an hour & a half!

Here's the website!

http://www.scarletoaktavern.com/