All Set in Massachusetts

Boston Mayors Holiday Special - Dining Deals

Check out the 2009 MayorsHolidaySpecial.com featuring special deals at 45 Boston-area restaurants

The site is the City of Boston’s one-stop holiday planning website, the 6th Annual Mayor's Holiday Special is your invitation to a festive day and holiday-season dining at an affordable price. 

Nearly four dozen restaurants -- mostly in Boston and Cambridge -- are offering Mayor's Holiday Special discounts that include free appetizers, free desserts, 20% off each entrée, and a variety of other delicious deals.  Choices ranges from the elegant to the casual.

Be sure to let us know the best dining deal you find!

Boston Vegetarian Food Festival

Boston Vegetarian Food Festival

Now Expanded to Two Days!

Saturday, October 31, 2009, 10 AM - 6 PM
and
Sunday, November 1, 2009, 10 AM - 4 PM

Reggie Lewis Athletic Center
1350 Tremont Street, Boston, Massachusetts

Cocoa Metro: Chocolate Milk Grows Up

Lately, we have been indulging in chocolate milk and had the opportunity to try Cocoa Metro -- created by Mike Dunford, a fellow Babson evening MBA student, and his wife, Elizabeth. Positioned as "dark drinking chocolate," Cocoa Metro was recently launched in a few select stores in the Boston area. The milk is made with premium Callebaut natural Belgian chocolate and has five times more chocolate than any other chocolate milk on the market. The milk is sourced from cows in Fairfield, Vermont, and is rBGH-free and bottled locally in Sharon, Massachusetts.

The milk is creamy and the cocoa flavor strong and rich, so this is definitely an indulgent treat that is best consumed in small quantities. We tried it first after a visit to the gym, and again while watching the Pats dismantle the Bucs in London. For dessert, we mixed it with vanilla ice cream to make a chocolate milk float. Alice, who is not much of a milk drinker but loves chocolate ice cream, enjoyed the milk best ice cold and served by itself. Thadd also liked it blended with vanilla ice cream, but Alice found the sweetness too overpowering. Cocoa Metro definitely puts a grown-up twist on traditional chocolate milk.

It retails for $4.99 plus a $1.50 bottle deposit. Currently sold at Russo's in Watertown and Bread & Chocolate in Newtonville.

13th Annual Holiday Wine Tasting -- 11/14/09

Join Curtis Liquors on Saturday, November 14, 2009  from 2-5pm for an all Italian affair.

 120+ offerings from Sicily to the Alps - and everything in between.

Curtis Liquors - South Weymouth, Mass

Carone Bin 33 Quebec Red Wine - Grapes of the Great White North

We didn't know that wine was produced in Quebec until we ventured to Hudson, Quebec to attend our friends Jen's and Matt's engagement party. All night, they were pouring Carone wine, and one of our favorites was the Bin 33 dry red wine. We enjoyed it with Mexican food that night, but have since found it just as drinkable it with Italian food and pork tenderloin. With berry aromas and soft tannins, it makes for a great fall drinking wine.  So next time you're in The Great White North, definitely give the "local flavor" a try!

A&T Ranking: 7.5/10

Dining In Recession-Style with Dr. Oetker Frozen Pizza

I've heard the buzz and even seen the commercials, so tonight I was looking forward to trying Italy's number one frozen pizza, which has now arrived in Boston area supermarkets. We sampled two styles (Funghi and Vegetale) of Dr. Oetker's Frozen Pizza for dinner tonight. We were impressed with the freshness and abundance of vegetables and mushrooms on each pizza. The thin crust was crispy and crunchy, and the Funghi pizza had hints of garlic and other seasonings that added flavor but weren't overwhelming.

We enjoyed the mushroom pizza more than the vegetable one, but both were extremely tasty and some of the best frozen pizza we have ever had - although we're less impressed with the packaging and brand name. The pizzas sell for a quite reasonable $4.99-$5.99. CPK and Digorno better figure out a way to compete with Oetker, because they have the potential to lose market share quickly.

Perla's: Gulf Seafood Deep in the Heart of Austin

Last time we were in Austin, we had apps and cocktails on the deck of the previous incarnation of Perla's. If I recall correctly, the menu was Asian and marginal, and the cocktails were good but overpriced. But what I really loved about the spot was the outdoor deck, the vibe, people watching, and the massive oak trees that shaded us form the brutal Texas afternoon sun.

Now Perla's has taken over the space and enhanced the deck and ditched the trendy Asian cuisine for Gulf seafood and an oyster bar. While the raw oysters are mainly from Massachusetts and Maine, I would try a Gulf Fried Oyster Po-Boy and a double order of Fried Okra. I've noticed a recent uptick in upscale, yet down-home, raw bar-type establishments opening up around the USA. The Asian-influenced dining trend that started earlier this decade seems like it might be waning, and the raw bar is ready to take its place.

Boot Camp, Body Combat, Body Pump....Burgundy!

Jean-Luc & Paul Aegerter

Nuits-Saint-Georges

Reserve Pesonelle, 2004

Today, we pushed our workouts to a new level - doing three hours of consecutive exercise classes, starting at 7 AM!  We rewarded ourselves tonight with beef tenderloin and Jean-Luc & Paul Aegerter Reserve Personnelle. Alice picked up this Burgundy when she visited France last year on business, and we'd been waiting for the right occasion to enjoy it. We found this wine to be pretty mellow for a French wine, with a smooth blend of spices and a distinctive earth flavor and aroma (which seems common to many French wines we've tried). It was easy to drink and complemented the flavors of the tenderloin nicely.

A&T Ranking: 7.5/10

Fine Dining In Paris

Next time you are in Paris here is a to do list of some of the 3-star Michelin restaurants in Paris. There are 10 three-star establishments in Paris.

Meurice

L'Astrance

Le Bristol

Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athenee

Les Ambassadeurs

Pieree Gagnaire

Guy Savoy

My first stop would be L'Astrance followed by Pieree Gagnaire.

The Crusher Part 1: Viognier - A Great Pairing for Asian Food

The Crusher

Wilson Vineyard Viognier, 2007

Clarksburg, CA

A few months ago, Alice was working from home when a surprise delivery came to the door - eight bottles of The Crusher wine by Don Sebastiani & Sons for our review. We received two bottles each of Viognier, Chardonnay, Petite Sirah, and Cabernet Sauvignon. One of our immediate favorites of the group was the 2007 Viognier, which we first tried with Indian food, and again tonight with an all-American meal of chicken, green beans, and mixed grains.

The Wilson Vineyard Viognier is a fun wine because it can be enjoyed by itself or with a meal. We enjoyed a glass as we were preparing our Friday night dinner, and drank the rest of the bottle while we ate. It is a fruit-forward wine, with scents of apricot and pears, blended with a hint of oak and cloves. While has soft nectar flavors, the sweetness of this wine is not overpowering (we're not big fans of sweet wines). This is definitely a good one to pair with Asian dishes! Our first glass was very cold, but we actually think this wine is better as it warms a little.

A&T Ranking: 7.5/10