As I'm getting out there more and talking to chefs, and walking around to all these wonderful restaurants...my eyes are being opened to so many other new places. I'm definitely learning how this whole industry is intertwined and everybody seems to know everybody. People are even starting to ask me..."so what's the newest restaurant...what's the chef doing over at this place now?" It's kind of cool, but I must say, I'm not all up to date on everything. Since the visit with our VP of business development I've been doing so much more research and just trying to put my fear of walking into kitchens to the side. Well, I don't have that fear with the kitchens I'm used to, but I'm starting to walk into new ones. I'm kind of like the new kid in school. You know, you start talking to people but you accidentally trip over a cord, walk into a wall, or in my case...bump into a stack of plates. "Just wanted everyone to know I was here!" haha I've realized that even though some chefs can come across intimidating...I think deep down they're kind of soft. I mean, they're in a kitchen all day long with no windows (kind of like the gym I used to work in) and once they get past the front of being all rough and tough...they're really cool and you can joke around with them a ton! That's one thing I'm good at!
I've also started to go out a little more and hit up places where all the industry people go. My friend Meag and I headed out last night to a new sushi restaurant in the Back Bay. Her brother is actually a bartender there, so we started the night there with a few drinks, some apps, and sushi rolls. The atmosphere of the place was really cool and looked like a place you'd see on Sex and the City. Just so there's no confusion...we'll call our night Drinks and the City. With our "Typhoon" and "Kamodo Dragon" drinks on the lit bar, we enjoyed ourselves while catching up on things and people watching. We started there with some edamame and miso soup. Then we just had some spicy tuna rolls and philadelphia rolls before heading onto our next destination. I must say, I did better with the chop sticks than I thought I would...I could even pick up the little pieces of rice with them once I was done! Yay!
So after that we headed to another place that actually isn't one of my accounts, but I've become friends with the chef there through some other parties! So for drinks there I had a Parisian Martini which had some pomegranate juice and vodka with a champagne float. It was very, very good! Meag had a raspberry truffle which was also very tasty...it was like raspberry and white chocolate liquified for a little buzz! Yumm! We ordered the calamari there and were pleasently surprised with it. It was wasn't fried like we thought it would be. But we were even more surprised with the huge scallops over polenta, the gnocchi with cauliflower in a creamy garlic sauce, and the meatballs that followed! They were all so tasty. I devoured the scallop right away and enjoyed the gnocchi oodles! But the meatballs came on this long plate and they were lined up on it with an elegant toothpick sticking out of the top and sauce drizzled over the top. These meatballs were sooooo good and practically melted in my mouth. Wait, did I just say "elegant toothpick"??? Haha, times sure are a-changing! It was very tasty though and we were definitely satsified by that point.
So then it was off to one of Boston's hottest drink spots. I've always known that this place has one of the best mixologists (fancy for bartender) in the Notheast and he has quite the reputation for the drink concoctions he's come up with. This bar is somewhat old fashioned and all the bartenders are very professional with their white, button down shirts and aprons over that. This is also where a ton of chefs go after work. We got there and it was pretty busy. I looked at their drink list and had no idea what to have? I asked the bartender for some ideas and he first recommended the "whiskey slam", which I opted not to have since I had already had a few drinks, and apparently this was a little sweet. I don't like sweet drinks...just in case you ever want to take me out for one! ;-) I also told him I didn't want any of the drinks with the raw egg in them. I wasn't feeling like Rocky by that point! So then he recommended the "Final Ward" which I ended up ordering. Everyone kept asking me what I decided on and I could not remember what was in it. Nothing you would normally hear of....marschino, rye, and some other stuff?? I actually didn't drink it...it wasn't really sweet, but I just couldn't pick out what the flavors were. I was also afraid if I drank it I would have a headache before even going to bed. Meag had the Commonwealth Cocktail which was basically like apples and lemon. Another sweet drink, but I thought it was tastier than mine. So without finishing my drink, I opted for an Amstel Light to finish the night. I met some other chefs and saw a couple other people I knew through work that had just gotten off their shifts. It was a really fun night. It's just great heading out, having great food, drinks, and meeting new people!
So until next time...Cheers! And Go Pats!!!
KK :-)
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