Summer Menu At Aragosta

Patio dining is one of my favorite summer activities, and Aragosta Bar + Bistro, located at the Fairmont Battery Wharf, has a great patio for just such an activity. I had to trek through the bustling North End to get there, but once I arrived, I felt like I was in a different world. The area was quiet and calm, and the white-light-trimmed trees provided a bit of privacy and a serene feeling.

I met Daisy just outside the patio area, and once we got in, we were seated on a cushioned bench surrounding a fire pit. We were invited to a blogger party to preview Aragosta's summer menu, and I settled in for what I was sure was going to be quite a treat, based on my past visits to the restaurant.

I ordered a Pisco Sour to start. The frothy drink was incredibly light and refreshing.

Then we were served small samples of the smoked watermelon cocktail with serrano-infused syrup and muddled watermelon. This had a light kick to it, but nothing I couldn't handle.

We snacked on truffled popcorn as we sipped our cocktails.

And then one of my favorite Aragosta appetizers appeared. The lobster and truffle crostini features chunks of fresh lobster over a white bean puree. With faint notes of truffle, the creamy bean spread, and generous lobster chunks, it's always a hit.

We next sampled the pomegranate mojito, which is a perfect sweet, minty summer drink.

A cute dish of veal and pancetta meatballs with polenta that was topped with fresh mozzarella arrived next and was maybe a little too heavy for a hot night on the patio but is something I'd definitely look for on the winter menu because it's so tasty.

The ahi tuna flatbread with thinly sliced vine-ripe tomatoes, arugula, truffle mayo, and Parmesan definitely made me a bit apprehensive. But oddly, the combination just worked. I would never have thought to put tuna on flatbread. It was awesome. And the raw tuna made the traditionally heavy fare seem a little lighter... and a little cooler.

I noticed others really enjoying the warm oysters oreganato with spinach and bechamel, and I gave one a shot, but I'm a raw oyster girl, so I wasn't a big fan. If you like warm oysters in creamy sauce, you should give them a try.

The watermelon and feta salad, on the other hand, was just my thing. I loved the cool, refreshing chunks of melon with the salty, firm cheese. A drizzle of olive oil tied it all together. I could eat this dish all summer long.

At this point, I switched to my go-to drink at Aragosta: the settante cinque (which I now know means 75 -- we've been doing Drive Time Italian lessons to prepare for our honeymoon). Switching out the gin for Aperol, the settante cinque is in fact an Italian version of the French 75, one of my favorite cocktails.

The seared sea bass, accompanied by white beans and pancetta, was tender and flavorful, while a sample of peach sangria offered another sweet, summery beverage option.

A scallop served over short rib farro gave us a small taste of one of Aragosta's entree options. I think the scallop serves to lighten this dish for the summer menu, but I gave my scallop to a friend (I've never liked them) and dug into the short rib farro. I'll take a whole bowl of that in the wintertime.

After we sampled all the savory items we could fit, we turned to dessert. We made our way through an array of them from cakes to panna cotta to sorbet and gelato.

And then, even though it was a very warm evening, we wanted to try making s'mores on the fire pits we'd been sitting around, so we asked our waiter if he would fire them up.

And then we grabbed our s'mores fixings -- jumbo marshmallows, graham crackers, Hershey's bars, and miniature tubs of peanut butter  -- and got to work. (P.S. If you have not gotten on the peanut butter chocolate s'more bandwagon, get on it! My friends brought Reese's PB Cups for our s'more making at my bachelorette party, and it was like a whole new world!)

I had a really lovely evening at Aragosta and hope I get a chance to spend more time on the patio there before the summer is over.

This evening was complimentary, but, as always, my opinions are my own.

What are some of your favorite summer menu items?

Grilled Balsamic Chicken With Fusilli With Raw Tomato Sauce

A trip to the farmers' market, a surplus of plum tomatoes, and an intriguing recipe in Bon Appetit led to a simple dinner of grilled balsamic-marinated chicken and pasta with raw tomato sauce. Grilled zucchini and broccoli, roasted fairytale eggplants, and grilled bread rounded out the meal.

After the tomatoes and chicken finish marinating, this meal can be put together in as long as it takes to grill the chicken and boil pasta. The pasta gets a 15-minute rest and then everything can be served together at room temperature. Luckily, I had Jeff to go out and grill the chicken for me while I made the pasta. If you're doing everything yourself, you may just have to let the chicken rest a bit longer while you deal with the pasta. With or without help, it's a pretty simple meal. And it was really flavorful too. I loved being able to enhance the plum tomatoes with vinegars but still enjoy them raw. And it's amazing how the pasta soaks up all the flavors.

Grilled Balsamic Chicken With Fusilli With Raw Tomato Sauce (adapted from Bon Appetit, August 2012)
Serves 2 to 4, with plenty of pasta to spare

Ingredients

2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup plus 1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tablespoon cabernet vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
1 1/2 pounds plum tomatoes, halved, pulp discarded, flesh cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1/4 cup fresh basil, torn
Kosher salt and pepper
8 ounces fusilli

Preparation

Place chicken breasts in zipper-lock bag with 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar. Refrigerate and marinate for 1 hour, turning occasionally.

Meanwhile, whisk together olive oil, remaining 1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, and cabernet vinegar in large bowl.

Stir in tomatoes and lightly crush with back of spoon.

Stir in basil and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Cover and marinate at room temperature for 1 hour.

After chicken has marinated for an hour, heat grill and bring a large pot of salted water to a boil on the stove.

Remove chicken from bag, letting excess marinade drip off. Grill over a medium-hot fire, about 5 to 10 minutes per side, or until breasts register 160 degrees. Transfer to plate or cutting board to rest and tent with foil.

Cook fusilli in boiling salted water (follow time on package). Drain, return to pot, and stir in tomato mixture.

Let pasta stand at room temperature, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes to allow flavors to meld. Transfer to serving bowl.

Slice the chicken and serve it with the pasta. (The pasta is definitely best the day it's made, but I ate it at room temperature 1 and 2 days later and thought it was still really good.)

It's easy enough to throw some veggies on the grill when you make the chicken if you want to add a little something more to the meal. I went overboard buying squash and eggplant at the farmers' market, so we grilled the squash (and some broccoli for Jeff). And I simply roasted the eggplant in the oven.

I like to think of this dinner as the perfect Italian summer meal.

What's been catching your attention at the farmers' market lately?

Lone Star Taco Bar, Allston, Mass.

One of the nicest job perks I get (you know, besides sampling food all day) is half-day Fridays during the summer. Because we're living way outside of the city now, I usually spend my Friday afternoons (when I'm not running off to Portsmouth, Vermont, or the Cape for the weekend) lunching with friends and running errands while I wait for Jeff to get out of work so we can head home.

From hitting up the Staff Meal truck with Lin and Daisy to eating panini with Erica to snacking poolside at The Colonnade with Sara to enjoying the Blue Room lunch grill with Emily or just wandering around the farmers' market or getting a pedicure, I think I've done a pretty good job of making the most of these free Friday afternoons.

Most recently my friend Molly and I decided to finally check out Lone Star Taco Bar. Since we were done with work for the day, we figured there's nothing wrong with a little day drinking and ordered a couple of margaritas.

I got the Paloma, which features blanco tequila, grapefruit, lime, and salt and is topped with Mexican grapefruit soda. The soda really made this drink. I've had plenty of paloma margaritas before, but I loved the subtle bubbles in this one.

Molly went with the El Diablo Margarita, a concoction of reposado tequila, mezcal, lime, and jalapeño and habanero agave syrup that's served over ice with a chili-lime salt rim. It was subtly smoky and had a nice background kick of heat.

We decided to order a bunch of stuff to share -- my favorite way to dine -- and Lone Star makes this pretty easy by offering an array of tacos for only $4 each. First, we tried the beef barbacoa taco, which had smoked brisket, pickled red onions, avocado crema, and cotija. We thought this one was just OK. It could use a little more flavor or some sort of sauce for the brisket, but the other components were tasty and helped complement the meat.

We were big fans of the fish taco we tasted next. The fish of the day was pollock, and the taco featured lightly fried, beer-battered chunks of it along with pickled cabbage slaw and chili-mango aioli. The cabbage added bright color and lots of crunch.

Some chips and salsa provided a good break between tacos. The chips were salty and crunchy and the salsa nice and chunky.

The grilled avocado taco with griddled queso was our absolute favorite. The queso and avocado were topped with salsa verde and corn relish. All the flavors and textures came together nicely and made for a very satisfying dish. I almost wanted to order another one!

Lastly, we tried the carnitas pork taco. This taco had confit pork shoulder, salsa verde, cilantro, and queso fresco. The tender pork contrasted nicely with the crunchy salsa and was just the right note to end on.

We both agreed that Lone Star Taco Bar was a nice spot for lunch, and four tacos and some chips and salsa was plenty filling for us. The restaurant is very small and has a casual, bar-like atmosphere. There were a few other diners in there when we went around 1:30 in the afternoon. It wouldn't be somewhere I'd trek to for a nice dinner, but we enjoyed having lunch there and found the tacos interesting and well-composed for the most part.

Have you been to Lone Star Taco Bar yet? What did you think?

2nd St. Creamery Ice Cream Party

2nd St. Creamery is a new super-premium ice cream that recently made its debut in Boston. To help spread the word about the newly available ice cream, 2nd St. Creamery offered to send me some pints to try. After looking over their website, checking out the flavors, and learning that each flavor has a story behind it (their motto is "the best stories make the best flavors"), I definitely wanted to sample some of their ice cream. I requested eight different flavors to try and was sent 13 pints, which I shared with Jeff's family one evening after we enjoyed a light dinner.

2nd St. Creamery sent me a gift card along with the ice cream, so I used it to buy some adorable, colorful bowls at Anthropologie -- to make our sampling more fun. I lined up all eight flavors on the table, and everyone tried whichever flavors they wanted and then made sundaes with their favorites. (Jeff's sister picked up real chocolate sprinkles and hot fudge from Crescent Ridge, and his mother made whipped cream to top our sundaes and some brownies for brownie sundaes.)

One of my favorites was Limerick Cherry Chocolate, which combines dark sweet cherry ice cream with cherries and chocolate chunks. It's like a more intensely cherry version of Cherry Garcia and it's incredibly creamy. The idea for the ice cream came from a limerick created during a long car ride.

Tons of Brownies was the crowd-pleaser of the night. What's not to love about vanilla ice cream with chewy chocolate chip brownies and fudge sauce?

The vanilla ice cream was simple, as one would expect, and super-creamy like the other flavors. It's called Vanilla #178 because it was the 178th batch of this ice cream that passed muster and became the version 2nd St. now makes and sells.

We all found Mint Chocolate Victory a little odd. I loved the minty flavor of the ice cream (though some weren't fans), but the ice cream is chock-full of fudge sauce, fudge cookies, and chewy brownies. I think we're all a little more used to chips in our mint chocolate ice cream, and the chunky, crunchy cookies and chewy brownies were a bit too unusual for our tastes.

Almond butter hazelnut fudge was my other favorite. The base is almond butter ice cream, which has a hazelnut fudge swirl. I just loved the texture of the ice cream and the nutty flavors. And the story behind it is quite funny and something that I'm sure would happen to me.

Sweet Ol' Joe is 2nd St.'s coffee ice cream, and it's definitely perfect for the coffee lover, especially with a little hot fudge on top.

The two sweetest flavors in the bunch were Copper Kettle Caramel and Cannoli di Nonni. Copper Kettle Caramel features caramel ice cream with a caramel ribbon and sea salt fudge truffles. Those little truffles were amazing. The ice cream overall is very tasty, but be prepared for the super-sweet caramel swirl.

That same caramel swirl is the downfall of Cannoli di Nonni. I expected to love the mascarpone-flavored ice cream with pistachios, fudge and caramel swirls, and cannoli pieces, but it was just way too sweet. I started thinking about it afterward and realized that if it lost the caramel swirl, it would probably be really good. (I've never had a cannoli with caramel anyways.)

Overall, we enjoyed the interesting flavors and creamy ice cream bases. Vanilla #178, Tons of Brownies, and Copper Kettle Caramel were big hits. And I would definitely get the Limerick Chocolate Cherry and Almond Butter Hazelnut Fudge again -- if we ever get through the pints still left in the freezer!

Which flavor of 2nd St. Creamery ice cream would you most want to try?

2nd St. Creamery sent me 13 complimentary pints of ice cream to try, along with a gift card to throw an ice cream party. As always, the opinions here are my own.

Tomatoes Galore At Upstairs On The Square

About two years ago, I met a group of girls -- whom I had been getting to know through their blogs and numerous blog events we all attended -- for a tomato-themed dinner at Upstairs on the Square. It may well have been the first time we were getting together outside of blog events, and it was the day that we all remember being significant to building our friendship. We learned we had much in common with each other, even besides our love for tomatoes.

We tried to go back the following year, but Upstairs on the Square was promoting its new chef's counter (which we scoped out on this visit) and not hosting the tomato dinner. This year, we saw that it was back on the events calendar and immediately made reservations.

Last Tuesday after work I met Meghan at the bar and we caught up over bubbly cocktails (hers the Violette Royale and mine the Hits of Sunshine, a drink with house-made elderflower liqueur, raspberry puree, and bubbly). Daisy joined us soon after, and Michelle, who had to battle some traffic getting into the city, met us just before dinner.

As we were led upstairs to the Soiree Dining Room, we remembered how we had sat at the corner table with the plush purple throne-like bench and how Alicia had been with us the first time we feasted on course after course of tomatoes together. We thought about how much had changed in our lives over the past two years: Three of us have different jobs, three of us live in different places, and two of us are planning weddings. (Add one more to each of those categories to include Alicia.)

This year's dinner featured three courses plus an amuse-bouche and dessert for $44 (with wine pairings for $62). We all added on the wine pairings and settled in for what we knew from past experience would be a creative and interesting spread of tomato-laden dishes.

The amuse-bouche was a piece of toast topped with pork rilletes and tomatoes. It was definitely one mouthwatering, appetite-inducing little bite. The pork rilletes were so tender and just about melted in my mouth.

The first course, paired with Bonny Doon Albarino, was Green Zebra tomato gazpacho with green olive oil and what I believe was creme fraiche to tie it all together. The chilled soup was garnished with rosemary and chives, which added their well-known flavor profiles to it. We all cleaned our bowls.

A Brandywine tomato, peach, and lobster salad garnished with nasturtiums made for a light but flavorful second course. I'm not sure why I've never thought to pair peaches and lobster before. The combination is interesting and flavorful, especially with the peaches being so sweet, ripe, and juicy. This was paired with Sybille Kuntz Riesling.

The main course, paired with Occhipinti Frappato, featured tender, fire-roasted Berkshire pork with fresh fennel pollen and smoked tomato molasses. Some greens on the side were a little too bitter for my tastes, but the rest of the dish was right up my alley. I loved the smoky-sweet flavor of the tomato molasses.

Dessert was a simple bowl of tomato sorbet with candied pine nuts and a glass of de Trafford "Straw Wine." We enjoyed the tomato sorbet at our first tomato dinner at Upstairs on the Square, but the dessert we had then completely blew this one away. Along with the two components above, it had olive oil ice cream, a red wine reduction, and lemon-thyme shortbread. I loved how this year's dessert was reminiscent of that one with the easily recognizable tomato sorbet and those candied pine nuts I learned to love last time, but I wished it had those other complementary components as well.

At the end of the meal, the sommelier sent us out some macarons and dried fruit-studded white chocolate bark -- perhaps because we were so interested in knowing about the wines we were having. It was a thoughtful gesture.

The evening was a great way to celebrate our friendship and all the changes in our lives over the past two years, while enjoying dishes featuring one of my favorite summer ingredients.

If you're interested in the history of Upstairs on the Square, read Charlotte au Chocolat, a memoir written by the owner's daughter about growing up in the restaurant.

If you'd like to check out some single ingredient-themed dinners in the area, 80 Thoreau and Bistro 5 are both hosting some. I've been to both restaurants and highly recommend checking out these dinners.

• Chef Carolyn Johnson of 80 Thoreau is featuring a Corn and Tomato Festival Menu from August 2 to 18. The four-course menu is $39 and will showcase local tomatoes and corn from Verrill Farm, Yellow Stalk Farm, Brigham's Farm, and Blue Heron Farm. Possible courses include a griddled johnnycake with lobster, tomatoes, and tarragon and pan-roasted local hake with charred cherry tomatoes, clams, and corn puree.
• Chef Vittorio Ettore of Bistro 5 will be offering a Peach Tasting Menu (three courses for $45 or five courses for $65) on Tuesday through Saturday through August 11. Some highlights from the menu: a peach gazpacho with mint-cucumber water and a cilantro-avocado sorbet, peach risotto with prosciutto di Parma, and a baked peach with zabaglione and vanilla-lavender ice cream.

On what ingredient would you want a whole dinner focused?