Eat Boutique

Old-fashioned banquet halls aren’t typically my thing. I go a bit more for chic lounge-style and moody dining rooms. So when a friend suggested we eat lunch at Venezia Waterfront Restaurant, I freaked. This friend is about 20 years older than me and remembers Venezia as the place to enjoy high-end cuisine in a family-style setting years and years ago. The restaurant’s website didn’t picture anything to convince me otherwise.

When I told my husband of my intentions to lunch there, his look made me freak even more. “That place is so not your style,” he repeated. He detailed the numerous times his parents had dragged him there for what they thought was great food back in the day. Needless to say, my freaking was reach all time high levels.

I pulled into Venezia’s parking lot, after driving around this sleepy neck of Dorchester, and noticed two other cars. Ugh. I was prepared to stick this lunch with a bad review, and I hadn’t even entered the spot. I took a few deep breaths, wandered inside and sat at a table at the window, sitting right on the water.

A good view lifted my spirits, as did a nice glass of white wine. We ordered two appetizers - the calamari and the stuffed mushrooms. The calamari arrived first, dressed with sliced hot peppers (my favorite) and no dipping sauce. Perplexed by the lack of sauce, I took a bite and realized that the squid was so moist it didn’t need a sauce. Those chefs know a thing or two about calamari. The stuffed mushrooms were equally divine and so sweetly propped on a pristine rectangle plate with long slices of chives.

Our entrees were tremendous and HUGE. My friend had veal piccata and I opted for a baked pasta dish filled with chicken and red peppers. I was fairly full after our starters, so abandoned my entree after only 3 bites. No worries - my husband devoured every last bite later in the evening and couldn’t believe that a chef at Venezia had created it. He was very impressed, as was I.

Venezia’s staff was so professional and accessible, and anticipated every need. I had a hard time finding fault with much of anything actually. While Venezia may not be a hot spot to meet friends for drinks, it’s a great place for a week day lunch or dinner to impress the parents. The view alone is worth the price of admission.

Venezia is located at 20 Ericsson St, Dorchester, MA; (617) 436-3120.

After the flower show, I met a friend for dinner at Toro in Boston’s South End. Toro is a Spanish wine bar and tapas joint that caters to the young and fabulous. I’ve got the “young” part down and visited with a “fabulous” creative friend of mine. The wine list was long and substantial. The chalk board reminded me of the gigantic homemade one my husband dedicated to me as he hung it in the kitchen (old kitchen) last year. I miss the daily love scribbles to me, and the dinner party menus posted each weekend. Though we never had the talent to draw one of those bulls, below.

The food was perfect, little bursts of flavor that popped alongside the many different wines I tasted.

The decor was casual, dressed in rough blond wood and dark metals. These stools looked homemade and made me think I need to inspire the husband with a weekend project to make some of these for our back deck. I can imagine summers of rain pounding that roughness into the grain, forcing them to curve more closely to our bodies year to year.

The bathroom was dark and lovely, as a bar that caters to the young and fabulous should have. I was pleased with the wallpaper, dark and moody, of those gorgeous matador and his wild bull.

Toro is located at 1704 Washington Street, Boston, MA, 617-536-4300. 

There’s a great spot in London where life is always a beach. The Haymarket Hotel has a fancy bar right by the gigantic pool. We had drinks in a side room, but marveled at the vastness of the pool room, the luscious sofas, the beautiful colors and twinkling lights.

After drinks, we headed next door to an absolutely divine Indian restaurant. Mint Leaf is dark, exotic and oddly familiar. Contrary to Hakkasan (scroll down), Mint Leaf felt more established, more comfortable in its own skin, less inclined to show off. I loved it and we lingered a long while. Of course, the lingering could have had something to do with the seven porn stars that graced our table. Porn star cocktails, that is. This tart mix of vanilla vodka, passion fruit, passao and a side shot of champagne nicely complimented all that spicy food. The photos don’t do it justice. Floating in the martini glass was a little shot of passion fruit puree mixed with brown sugar. Our server recommended we eat the fruit puree, sip the champagne and then sip the tart vodka-passion fruit drink. I wish I could convey the tart, freshing taste. I’ll have to crack the recipe and make them at home.

Today was my first full day in London. And today’s lunch was at Great Queen Street, around the corner from my employer’s London office. I couldn’t agree more with The Independent’s review from last year. They said it better than I ever could. That said, isn’t the ambiance just charming? That’s my ideal dinner table - raw, rustic wood, communal seating, small glasses for wine, salt and pepper bowls, piles of homemade bread and butter. More from me soon… until then, shall I share some photos from Trafalgar Square?

And in the next photo, I explore my artsy side in the middle of Trafalgar Square. Or rather, the camera went a bit nuts and did this cool thing.

Sometimes you just want good pizza. Sometimes you want fancy, gourmet and unique pizza. But sometimes you just want good, reliable pizza. Today was a great day for good pizza.

I’ve visited Angela’s Coal Fired Pizza in Saugus, Massachusetts a few times. Each visit has gotten progressively better. Early on, there were too many toppings, loads of thick sauce and barely any cheese. Who wants a pizza that has every square inch covered in meatballs, with only a few specks of cheese here and there?

Today, Angela’s pizza finally hit its stride. We decided to stop ordering the specials and simply go for a regular pepperoni pizza. It was lovely, not too thin and not too thick. (I prefer thin style but the husband loves Sicilian thick pizza; this was a good compromise.) I also prefer less sauce and more cheese and pepperoni. I believe the sauce should just provide a light blanket, like those used during warm Summer months. I don’t want to taste sauce. I just want to know it’s there and ready to support whatever is put on top.

The cheese on Angela’s pizza was perfect. It provided a layer of medium-depth, with some great flavor. I tasted mozzarella and sharp parmasean. The pepperoni was also ample; I got a taste in every bite. But there was some nice space between pieces, such that the cheese really sparkled through.

Is everyone this serious about pizza? Maybe they don’t speak about it in depth like I am, but I think all folks have very specific preferences for their pizza. I even have preferences for different purposes:

• Sometimes I just want to feel light as air after scarfing down a few slices. In that case, I visit Flatbread in Bedford, Massachusetts (with locations all over New England and one in Hawaii!).
• Sometimes I want to remember my Italian upbringing in Northern New Jersey, where the pizza was a bit thicker and the service very familiar. That’s when I’ll venture to Santarpios in East Boston, Massachusetts. (In fact, I’m overdue for a trip there.)
• And other times, I want fancy, gourmet flavors of figs, truffle oil and gorgonzola with a nice glass of non-Italian wine. In that case, I’ll visit Za in Arlington, Massachusetts.

Today, I wanted good, hearty, regular pizza, and Angela’s pulled through for me. The pizza was perfect. The wings beforehand were delicious - smothered in olive oil, spices, lemon juice and caramelized onions, with juices dripping over thin pieces of dough. The service wasn’t awesome; there are lots of young, inexperienced kids working the front of house. (I always marvel when inexperienced staff is put at the host station. In my mind, you’d want the best there to greet, seat and get to know your customers.) But the pizza was fast and good, and made us forgive our slow, uninformed, less-than-smooth server who actually said, “We’re not supposed to tell you what’s in the sangria.”

Don’t order the sangria. Do order the pizza. It’s lovely.

Angela’s Coal Fire Pizza is located at 880 Broadway, Route 1, Saugus, Massachusetts, 01906. You may reach them at: 781-941-COAL. The photo below is from their website.