Bacon, Beer, myers + chang, Beer and more Beer…

My friend and I went to the @eatBoston & SoWa Bacon/Beer Fest last saturday in Boston……

While it was fun [and filled with tons and tons of beer] the bacon part just wasn’t up to par to what we expected – especially after just having gone to the Bacon Fest Chicago…. In general it just wasn’t bacon-y enough :[

Fav of the event:

The Fireplace’s Bacon and Succotash

The midst of a million crazy beer/bacon people :] With my trusty beer cup :D

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We were still starving – and a tiny bit tipsy – afterwards so we decided to get some lunch at Myers+Chang [esp after the Banh Mi from the Bacon/Beer Fest] since we were in the neighborhood…

“Like a Dinner Party at Home with Close Friends..”

Welcome to the first Miss Tiffie & R [he’s in green] reviewed blog entry :] ENJOY!!!

I’ve been waiting for the right time to go to Craigie on Main for awhile.. every time I think of it, it’s already booked for the weekend [boo] so thankfully I booked about 5 days ahead of time – and even then it was full til 9pm. Well, the ONLY opening was 9pm. Or 5pm [R got a reso for that time] — anyways. We decided to go to the 9pm since we wanted to go to Tea Time. After wanting everything and then some from the menu we decided that the best way to go this time was the Chef’s 10-Course tasting.. with additions of course [it’s how we roll]

Eat out and feel at home. Chef Tony Maws – James Beard Nominee for Best Chef, Northeast – combines French-inspired “nose -to-tail refined rusticity” with a ”no exceptions” commitment to local, seasonal, & organic or natural ingredients.

I love everything about this place. The food, the atmosphere, the people… they cook sustainably and cook what they find that day that’s fresh – which is why their menu changes daily…. even their DRINKS are made from only the freshest in-season ingredient… so awesome :] I’m such a huge supporter of places like this…. [read more about them here] this place is easily one of my favorite places to go in Boston now :]

R: Into Craigie with a huge appetite (we spent a lot of energy shopping
after tea time). A restaurant with a menu changing daily and large
supporters of local farmers. We quickly scan the menu and see the
obvious items that pop out at us. Towards the bottom we see the 10
course chef’s choice tasting menu and decided we wanted to be
surprised. We had some additional items just make sure we covered all
our bases on our Craigie experience.

Montlouis Brut – Francois Chidaine

R: As always we like to start off with some bubbly to wake our taste buds
and get our appetites ready.

Tea Party @ L’Espalier

Every weekend L’Espalier has Tea Time…. Which, as much of you guys know, is my favorite luxury……. some of it might have to do with my crazy Alice in Wonderland obsessed syndrome [and this was BEFORE the Johnny Depp movie mind you…]

Continuing on…. in Boston, L’Espalier is my fav place to go get it [another option: Taj Lounge but I insist you come here first if you haven’t yet….]

Goal: Corn + Sangria = Best Drunkenness…

Toro is one of those happening places that are still crazy busy late at night… and in Boston, that means it’s good stuff. We got there right before 9 and had to wait about an hour before we could eat. That means sitting at the bar and downing some bubbly before getting seated. We chitted and chatted and got hungrier and hungrier seeing and smelling all the great foods being passed around us.

It’s one thing for me to think a restaurant is delicious, but it’s another to have me want to go there over and over again. Toro is one of those places. I think I could come here once every week or two for the rest of my life and be sooo sooo happy. I know I wrote about this place pretty recent… but I had a craving for them the other night so made R go with me as soon as he set foot outside my house Friday night :]

Since I was soooo hungry and it was sooo late by then I just had one goal in mind… Corn + Sangria and  a drunkingly good time….

We started off with one of our favorites at Toro.

Uni Bocadillo

Pressed uni sandwich with miso butter and pickled mustard seeds
How could anything with uni be bad? Unless the uni is bad…. The creamy uni and miso butter… and then the crunchy pickled mustard seeds that add even more texture to it. NOT TO MENTION… perfect bread. PERFECTLY TOASTED BREAD!!! With sandwiches bread is SO key… you need perfect ratio of breads to innards and this is so perfect.

brunch at nightwood …

There was much discussion over where to get brunch Sunday…. Should we go old school, new school, and what would feel good in our stomachs after a weekend of delicious fooding and boozing at Primehouse, Baconfest & Green Zebra….

Thanks to the recommendation of  hottie Chef Brian Enyart [Chef de Cuisine of Topolobampo & Frontera Grill – yes Rick Bayless’ creations] on my plea for good brunch in Chicago, I decided on nightwood :]

Another reason why Primehouse is a MUST when you’re in Chicago…

Everytime with PH is like the first time ;D

When you’re in Chicago the your first stop  should be… well the James Hotel cuz you should be staying there bitches ;D…. For three reasons… 1. It’s in the center of everything :] 2. It’s GORGEOUS.. lovely rooms and staff… 3. It’s home of one of the bestest restaurants in Chi….Primehouse… we’ll get to that in a second though…

SO AFTER you’ve settled in… put on your best shoes and head over to Primehouse [if you’re NOT staying at the James Hotel, I forgive you but you need to get a drink at  J Bar and eat some of their truffle chocolate popcorn… MUST, got it? So get there early and mingle…have a glass of champagne or two [they have great cocktails as well] and then get ready to eat [and drink] your heart out.

Me all dressed up and ready to eat [I gots my gameface on] in our GORGEOUS suite at the James…

After sitting us down [the place was packed] and being welcomed back [yay they remember me!!!] we met out waitress, Heather, our sommelier for the night [Ms. Rachael Johnson Hussar] and I got to catch up with the most awesome Chef Rick Gresh – Exec Chef at PH :]

EASTER Lunch at The Modern @ MOMA

Inbetween blogging about all the crazy fun in Chicago the past weekend I realized that I had to hurry up and blog about Easter before I get way too lazy and just pass it over. My food life is just overwhelming lately :] Lots to eat and lots to blog about.

When I was choosing a place for Easter Brunch it came quite easy… after quickly going through a couple of choices… I settled on Cafe Boulud…. until I landed on Modern [see how Modern comes after Boulud in the alphabet… hahaha]

Going Veg for the Night at Green Zebra

After a day of Baconfest and Beer… and then more and more Beer at the Gabriel Iglesias Fluffy Shop Tour show at the Chicago Theater…. we decided to go with some wine and some vegetarian food at Green Zebra.  We had reservations for 10 but we actually had to wait for a table for about 10-20 min… so we had a glass of champagne at the standing bar….

Baconfest Chicago 2010

The shirt I picked to wear to BACONFEST… I thought it was hilarious.

PLEASE DON’T EAT ME…

Well it was funny until on one of the tv interviews we did…. the guy asked me if I was a vegetarian. No, seriously. He asked me if I was a vegetarian….. okay… end rant… cuz I’m too excited to talk about BaconFest :D Yep, so now, back to BaconFest….

Yes, My travel buddy and I traveled from the East Coast to the… errr.. Mid…dle North Part of America… just to come to BaconFest[well and for me to see Rick and Carlos, but that’s for the next entry or so… AND I wanted to show my buddy-in-crime just why Chi-town was so awesome… esp in their food scene] but going to BaconFest was highly motivating.

Good Boyfriends, Cupcakes & the Attack of the BEAN

“What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t take you [to Molly’s Cupcakes]?”

Almost a year later, I finally got to go. Just with a different guy…. who pretty much said something similar when he found out I was dragging him to Chicago for Baconfest.  Hey some guys are all talk, and others are all do.

The day before we were leaving for Chi my travel buddy excitedly told me that we HAD to go to Molly’s Cupcakes to feed my cupcake addiction. I giggled, he thought I’d already been and hated the place. I said no I always really wanted to go…. and decided that it would be quite a funny way to start a blog entry about Molly’s…

So, just to catch you guys up since I’m blogging events backwards… [last thing first] Our weekend has been filled with excitement that you guys will soon be reading about :] Sorry that I’m putting a few older posts on hold [like Easter lunch] but trust me it’s worth it….. Primehouse was Friday, Baconfest, Gabriel Iglesias, Green Zebra on Saturday…. brunch earlier today but this really was the icing… er… frosting on the cake aka CUPCAKE :D Snicker….

So after a delicious brunch at nightwood we headed straight over to Molly’s Cupcakes…