Eats * Posto

Posto is a warm, welcoming pizzeria in Somerville. I had heard good things about this place so my Mr. and I called up our Cambridge buddies C + A for a Friday night dinner. It getting chillier here in Boston but Friday was a perfect day so we sat outside to take advantage of the late summer night. Scroll through the photos to watch the sun set on our meal!

First off, burrata with wood roasted peaches, prosciutto and rosemary honey. I thought peaches and burrata would be an unusual combination but it's so good! So many textures and flavors! The sweet, juicy peaches were delicious with the cool, creamy burrata which was sprinkled with a tiny bit of sea salt.

Arancini with spinach, mushrooms and spicy sweet and sour tomato sauce. I will always say yes to arancini. Served piping hot and wonderfully crisp, there was one for each of us which was excellent because I don't think any of us were up for sharing.

Our first pizza! Wait, what? We didn't order this but it came to us by mistake. Our super friendly server cheerfully apologized and told us to go ahead and enjoy it while they whipped up our order. This was the fiorentina, a white pizza with shiitake, white trumpet, crimini, fontina and spinach. Don't mind if we do!

Here we go. The soppressata with spicy pork salumi, mozzarella, Tuscan pepper, oregano, arugula, and parmesan.

And the margherita with mozzarella, olive oil, basil, and sea salt. So simple but oh so good. All the pizzas were really delicious. I'm a huge fan of their dough. So fluffy and full of flavor. A fitting base for all the yummy toppings. I loved it so much that I stole my Mr's crusts. A good pizza dough can make such a huge difference. My only wish was that the margherita had just a few more basil leaves on it. We divided each pizza into fours and one piece just had a corner of basil on it.

Grilled ribeye with rosemary gold potatoes and Tuscan kale. I'm not a steak eater but even I thought this was a beautiful piece of steak. Juicy and cooked perfectly medium rare.

Cavatelli with ricotta, baby heirloom tomatoes, arugula, garlic and evoo. I was surprised at how hearty and filling this pasta was. The cavatelli had a gnocchi-like texture that went well with the lightness of the rest of the dish.

I would definitely come back. The service is great and we felt so comfortable and happy. I'm so glad that we went with friends so that we could try more dishes. Without the extra, unplanned pizza, we had ordered the perfect amount of food for our group. We saw a good number of larger parties in the dining room. Big tables, warm wood interior and low, cozy lighting. It just feels so homey.

Posto
187 Elm St (Davis Square)
Somerville, MA 02144

Eats * Area Four

I need garlic knots. I found out about the garlic knots at Area Four and I couldn't think of anything else for a week. Somehow, I ended up skipping lunch this day (that never happens... I would keel over) so really, I was hallucinating garlic knots by the end of the work day. My Mr. and I raced over at 5:00PM and ordered garlic knots as fast as possible. I think we ordered pizza too. Gorgeous day for some al fresco garlic knots!

 

 

I mean, just look at these beautiful things! Giant, fluffy balls of sourdough bread topped with all kinds of dreaminess. I totally filled up on these and didn't regret it. I managed to eat a slice of their margherita pizza which was also super delicious. GARLIC KNOTS!

Area Four
500 Technology Square
Cambridge, MA 02139

Eats * Catalyst

My Mr. and I usually hang out in Boston so we admittedly we don't know much about the food scene on the other side of the river. But my Mr. recently started a new job in Kendall Square and we're learning that Cambridge has some really great food. Feeling adventurous, we hopped on our bikes and had a dinner date at Catalyst.

We were really impressed. Love the modern but comfortable style of the dining room. There's also a beautiful bar and a fireplace which would be nice and cozy for cold New England winters. The food was delicious, inventive but not in a frightening way (you know what I mean right?). And the staff was so friendly and welcoming. It was way warmer than we thought it would be so when we entered, we were kind of gross, sweaty and out of breath. They still greeted us with a smile and patiently waited for us to settle in and take off our helmets.

Fried green tomatoes with pickled jalepenos, arugula and buttermilk-dill dressing.
I was all set to order potato puffs but then our waitress said that the fried green tomatoes were her favorite and well... I'm easily swayed. The breading was perfectly crisp and the jalapenos nice and hot. But the best part... the buttermilk-dill dressing. The cool dressing went really nicely with the tartness of the tomatoes.

Grilled polenta with baby artichokes, king oyster mushrooms, roasted red pepper Sicillian pesto.
My Mr. took this photo and he wanted his drink into the photo. He usually a pretty solid meat eater but this dish grew on him. He loved the mushrooms. The pesto was really flavorful and the grilled polenta was a good base for it.

Corn ravioli with swiss chard, roasted peppers, basil, ricotta salata.
This is one of those dishes that changes your life a little. I've never had anything like it. I'm a midwest girl. I love my corn. I know good corn. This is good corn. The ravioli filling has a creamy filling with crisp, fresh off the cob, sweet corn kernels. The roasted peppers, swiss chard and seasonings bring in the savory and keep the overall dish from being too sweet. So much flavor! They were little bundles of tasty joy.

Catalyst's menu changes based on the seasons so everything tastes very fresh and real. I'll be back a few more times before summer ends to get my hands on some more corn ravioli but I can't wait to see what they have planned for fall and winter.

Catalyst
Kendall Square
300 Technology Square
Cambridge, MA 02139

Eats * San Francisco

Last September, my Mr. and I took a trip to SF for a wedding. We took a few extra days off to enjoy SF with some of our friends. And by enjoy, I mean eat the entire city. I am always amazed at how good the food in SF is. Everything is so fresh! I don't think I've ever had a bad meal here and we were averaging about six meals a day.

Ike's Place

3489 16th Street

San Francisco CA

Sandwiches galore! Our friend took us to this place right after he picked us up from the airport and it was the perfect meal. Their menu is massive! I wish I worked by this place so that I could try a new sandwich a day. The sandwiches are generously packed with fresh ingredients and there's something for everyone.

 

Hard Knox Cafe

2526 3rd Street
San Francisco, CA 94107 

I had a random craving for chicken and waffles and lo and behold, our friends live right around the corner from an awesome southern comfort food place! Their chicken and waffles were lovely. The waffles were fluffy, the chicken crisp and juicy. And their sides... so tasty. I accidentally filled up on their cornbread before my chicken and waffles came out but I didn't even regret it. It was that good.

Bi-Rite Creamery

2526 3rd Street
San Francisco, CA 94107  

Salted caramel. Lives up to the hype.

 

Little Sheep Mongolian Hot Pot

215 S. Ellsworth Ave

San Mateo, CA 94401 

I'm pretty sure that their broth is made of crack. Usually when you eat hot pot, you have a little sauce on the side to dip whatever you fish out of the broth into before popping it into your mouth. No sauce necessary at this place. The broth is so flavorful and anything you put into the pot just soaks up all that deliciousness. It's a must eat for us when we visit SF.  My favorite add-ins are a-tsai and dduk (rice cakes) and my Mr.'s is fish tofu.

MissionPie

2901 Mission St

San Francisco, CA 94110

Pie! It's the new cupcake. Super charming place and friendly staff that are happy to point you to their favorites. We bought a mixed berry to share with our friends and a turkey pot pie for a snack. Delicious!

This was only a handful of the places we ate at during our trip. Can't wait to go back and discover more tasty things to eat!

garnish

have i mentioned my love of garnish yet? they have all the packaging basics, all like a blank canvas just begging to be filled with loving made baked goods or a thoughtful "just because" gift. and now they have an online magazine too! they share several wonderful ideas just in case you need a little inspiration to get you going.

some of my favs include...

berry boxes

little white (and kraft!) boxes

perfect for mailing baked goods to starving college students ^_~

paper straws

glassine bags

oh i love that natural burlap one too!

away to taiwan

RT and i took a rather last minute trip to taiwan to spend some time with his family.

fo guang shan in khaoshiung

night market and the plague that is scooters in taiwan.

stinky tofu. a must try if you travel to taiwan.

good morning

din tai fung? xioa long bao?? yes please!!!

standard udon but i had to share a photo of my ridiculously cute fish cakes

private hot spring <3

wisteria

calla lilies at miau-ban garden

lotus ferns. can't find these in the states :( really delicious, light and crisp

steam rising from cracks in the mountains at yangminshan. if you walk closer, you can see the yellow sulfur building up around the cracks.

new haircut :) 

 beef noodle/dumpling soup. possibly my all time favorite taiwanese food.

tsong yo bing (scallion pancake). i know this looks very "meh" but it was so delicious and completely unavailable in the states. it's not even widely available throughout taiwan! it's a new style of making scallion pancakes... i am in love!

bizarre dusty haze in tokyo... lots of turbulence as we flew into narita. by the time i got off the plane my knees were weak and i was all shaky! 

hm... there are an awful lot of food photos here. strange because i had no appetite the entire trip! my jet lag and all the bumpy bus rides we went on really took a toll on my ability to eat. i was only able to nibble on all of these delicious things. but now that i look at them... i'm getting really hungry...

green onions

did you know that if you take the white ends (with the roots) of your green onions and put them in some water, they'll keep growing new greens for you? and they grow fast! grow little onions grow!

happy weekend ^_^

summer food... black bean + corn salsa

black bean + corn salsa. here's what i used... roughly... i didn't measure anything :P

1 tomato, diced

1/4 c red onion, diced

half a 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

2/3 c frozen corn, thawed

1 garlic clove, minced

juice of half a lime

cilantro, chopped or torn

salt + pepper

tumble it all together and adjust everything to your liking! a minced jalepeno would be nice too if you'd like to add some heat. RT and i love corn so i added lots of it. it's even better if you let it hang out in the fridge for awhile so that the flavors can all sink in and it's nice and cold. we had this with fajitas last night. such a yummy, easy summer dinner!

banana zucchini bread with chocolate chips and walnuts

i know, it almost sounds like too much but i LOVE this bread. it's not overly sweet so i can snack on it all day long. super moist with a little crunch from the nuts... <3 make a loaf for the weekend and i promise it'll make you happy. the recipe is by noshings and can be found here.

greek style mac and cheese

weekend dinner... delicious greek style mac and cheese with feta, harvati with dill, spinach, sun dried tomatoes, and olives. i only used half the amount of feta because i ran out but i increased the amount of harvati which made me happy since i love harvati with dill. i also cut the amount of olives a bit and the next time i'll add more sun dried tomatoes. recipe via steamy kitchen.

egg rolls + deep thoughts

last weekend, i finally got around to making a mountain of egg rolls. i rolled 50 of these babies. and then i ate a third of them. it's nice to make a big batch at once and freeze them in portions to fry up on a lazy day. i used this recipe from the steamy kitchen, substituting the chicken for the pork. super tasty! RT prefers egg rolls with lots of filling, i like lots of crunchy wrapper. next time i'll double the filling so that we're both happy. i got into a zen-like state rolling egg roll after egg roll and thought about life, the future, the decisions i've made in my life thus far, and things that i'm thankful for. apparently, egg rolls make me pensive.