Restaurant Week: Davio's

Restaurant Week is in full swing here in Boston. There are plenty of pros and cons to RW, and plenty of discussions over whether it's even worth eating out during this time period. Many restaurants do a miserable job, making bad impressions on diners who were using the $33 menu as a chance to experience a new place.

Some places, however, do an excellent job at showing what they can do. They either serve smaller portions of their regular dishes or make cheaper dishes in the style of their regular menu. Davio's goes off-menu with delicious and fresh ingredients, really showing off what they can do.


I started with the clams Casino were a great start to a great meal. The presentation was beautiful, with the clam shells perched on top of a little tangle of seaweed. The mixture of clams, chorizo, crabmeat, and breadcrumbs were savory and delicious. The smokiness and saltiness of the chorizo was well balanced by a squeeze of acidic lemon juice. The two clams were the perfect size to get me excited for the next dish.


For my entree, I chose the gnocchi alla Sorrentina. I have a hard time passing gnocchi up whenever it appears on a menu. The gnocchi were perfectly made little puffs of love. They literally melted in my mouth in little sighs of potato-y goodness. Mmmm. The tomato sauce was well-balanced, with plenty of oregano, and the fresh mozzarella was just stringy enough to serve as a chewy counterpart to the soft gnocchi. If this is what Davio's can do with tomatoes, I'd be curious to try their regular gnocchi dish with wild mushrooms and truffle oil. (Coincidentally, Davio's is the first place I really enjoyed mushrooms, so I know they do them well).


There was no choice for dessert on the RW menu, but instead, everyone received the same 3-piece sampler. I like this tactic, as it gives more of a chance to try the different offerings of the restaurant. My favorite of the bunch was a piece of puff pastry with custard, cream, and raspberries. The raspberries were very flavorful, not the crappy things you find in the supermarket at this time of year. Plus, I'm a sucker for anything with puff pastry. The carrot cake was also tasty and very moist. The "molten" chocolate cake, on the other hand, was no good. It was more like a dry mini-cupcake. Most likely, this was caused by scaling down the dish and serving it at room temperature - I'm sure a full-sized cake would be gooey and warm and much better. But then again, if there's puff pastry to be had, I won't be opting for the chocolate cake.

Overall, Davio's does an excellent job handling Restaurant Week. The chefs are able to prove their capabilities in the kitchen while the waitstaff shows exceptional courtesy to people dining below the price point of the restaurant. I definitely want to try Davio's regular menu sometime soon.

Eggs-elent

I'm not much for eggs. The taste just sticks with me, and that's not a meal I want to be remembering hours down the line. Someone at Harry and David must be thinking the same way... how else can you explain gummi fried eggs?


Apparently, these eggs are only available as part of a basket online, but they carry individual bags at Harry and David outlet stores (these were found in Florida). They were the first thing I saw when I walked into the store, and I started obsessing over how weird they were. My friend bought a bag, probably because I wouldn't shut up about them or move away from the display.

The taste? Vaguely fruity, but nothing to write home about. Thank God they didn't taste like the real thing...

Yum in the Sun

I just got back from a long weekend in Florida, spending time with some of my best friends, watching the Red Sox, enjoying the beach, getting my ass kicked in mini-golf, shopping up a storm... and drinking the best damn orange juice ever.

I'm done with the crappy stuff from the supermarket.

Foooood Fight!

I saw this last week and kept meaning to post a link (mostly because I know my brother will love it). "Food Fight" is a brilliant look at recent world history portrayed through the foods of the nations involved. If you need a cheat sheet on what foods belong to which countries, look here.

I'm a big fan of the pickle projectiles and the Cold War segment.

London Comes to Boston

My Blogging By Mail package arrived yesterday from the wonderful Antonia at Food, Glorious Food! She packed a box full of great stuff from London, and I couldn't be more excited to make my through all the items. All the pieces were very thoughtful and, for the most part, evocative of Britain. She also paid great attention to the kinds of things I post, and none of these gifts could have been more perfect for me.

In the box were:

• a butterfly cookie cutter (a very intricate cutter to match the butterfly wrapping paper that I tore off all too quickly)
  
• a teapot cookie cutter, which she deemed "very British"
  
• crystalized rose and violet petals (I don't think I've mentioned how much I love rose, but she picked up on it anyway)
  
• a Green and Blacks Maya Gold chocolate bar - I might use her suggestion of making brownies with this chocolate...
  
• Shortbread (yum!)
  
• Jaffa Cakes, plus a whole explaination of the "are Jaffa cakes a cake or a biscuit/cookie" question (reminded me of the "are burritos sandwiches" argument from last year).
  
• Bouquet Garni sachets for red meat and for white meat (this is awesome because I'm not always the best at seasoning dishes correctly)
  
• Freeze-dried Kaffir lime leaves (ideal for Thai food, but I had a great martini with a lime leaf as a garnish the other day, so I might have to try that at home as well)
  
• Cadbury Caramel Egg (British Cadbury is so different than what you can get in the states, so I'm eager to eat this one)
  
• "The Little Book of Chefs Tips" (every cook can use more tips, or at the very least, a refresher)
  
• a mini grater (possibly the smallest one I've ever seen)
  
• a french bean slicer, Antonia's favorite little gadget (I might have to go buy some beans just to give it a try!)
  
• a rose-scented melt for the bath (because you need to relax a little after standing over a hot stove)
  
• some food and wine pairing notes (so helpful, because I know close to nothing about wine)
  
• BBC Good Food "101 Cakes and Bakes" (the recipes look awesome, and I'm sure you'll see some of my attempts soon)
  

Making the recipe book even better, Antonia stuck some post-it notes on some particularly interesting or typical recipes. It was great fun to flip through the book, looking for the next one.


As for the Jaffa Cakes, they have a very odd consistancy, but just from eating that small package, I can understand why people get so addicted to them. The cake is weirdly dense, and the combination of the orange jelly and the chocolate with the cake is fantastic. Definitely a unique snack. I won't be calling that number yet, but that's because there were only three in the package ;)

So thanks again to Antonia for all the thoughtful gifts and to Stephanie for putting together the whole Blogging By Mail event!

Cheap Eats: Spike's Junkyard Dogs

I tend not to eat at places with the word “junkyard” in their name, but when the food is as good as at Spike’s Junkyard Dogs, rules can be broken. Spike’s offers up hot dogs, chicken sandwiches, subs, salads, and wings (plus burgers at the Somerville and Boylston branches) that are quick, inventive, and delicious.

The obvious order is a hot dog, but there are so many toppings to choose from. You can order a named dog, such as the Junkyard Dog (mustard, tomato, pickle, hot pepper rings, and chopped scallions) or the Patriot Dog (mustard, bacon, and cheddar), or you can pick and choose from a long list of options. The all-beef hotdogs are well spiced and contain no fillers. They are not served on the typical white-bread buns, but on something closer to French bread – crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside. With the heartier bread and loads of toppings, one hot dog makes a filling meal. Hot dogs are $2.75 to $3.45, or you can order a combo with fries and a drink for $5.69. Veggie dogs are also available.

And what meal isn’t made better by curly fries, the more playful cousin of the French fry? The fries ($1.79, $2.19) are crispy, with plenty of salt and a touch of pepper, and can be topped with cheese or chili as well. The onion rings ($2.99) are just a little sweet, and the crunchy coating is a nice contrast to the cooked onion.

Spike’s has three branches in Massachusetts – Davis Square, Allston, and Boylston Street. They are all open 11 am to 1 am (Boylston stays open until 2am on the weekends) and are perfect for a quick snack or meal.

Originally posted at Bostonist

A New Battle Cry

The Tick has a culinary battle cry (although I was always a little more partial to Arthur's). Why shouldn't I have one of my own?

I was at a friend's house for dinner, and she suggested trying profiteroles for dessert. She had never made them before, and it's probably been 10 years or more since the last time I made them, so it sounded like a fun challenge. A quick search found Thomas Keller's recipe, and I fell to work.

Now, I know there are a lot of words in that recipe, and usually, lengthy recipes turn me off. But this recipe works beautifully, forming choux dough with little work. The hardest part was scooping the ice cream to fill them with.

So where do battle cries fit into the recipe? The word "profiterole" is similar to "profiteor," Latin for "to profess or declare publicly." (More likely, profiteroles derive from the French for "to profit.") Just say the word "profiteroles" out loud (a booming voice helps). Shake your fist a little if that gets you into the mood. Isn't it just a great battle cry?

I know it will be my battle cry the next time I'm fighting to open a jar or I'm angry at my oven.