Finale Summer Cocktail Session

Last Tuesday I got my fix of sweet treats at yet another fantastic Finale Desserts tasting event. You may recall I attended the Craft Beer Tasting back in May and embraced the unique concept of pairing beer with pastries. This time around Nicole Cody - Finale's pastry chef extraordinaire paired five of her signature desserts with summer cocktails crafted by Tim Murphy of Horizon Beverage.Tonight I was joined by Mindy, Megan and Emily who were just as excited to have dessert for dinner as I was. The pairings flowed from cocktails and desserts that were light, fruity, creamy and custardy to ones that were rich and decadent with flavors of coffee and chocolate.

First up - the Tropical Sunset Cocktail blends X-Rated Fusion liqueur with pineapple juice, raspberry puree and a splash of soda water. This fruity libation was paired with a light fluffy crust free version of Cheesecake that I unexpectedly adored. If this were a competition, cocktail versus dessert, the dessert wins this round hands down. The Lemon Tart in a handmade sugar dough shell complimented a Wild Berry Mojito with sweet mixed berry puree, brut cava, peach schnapps and a splash of sprite. I wasn't the biggest fan of this mojito - perhaps because it strayed too far from a typical rum based version with muddled mint and sugar. But the tart was pretty good - I'm sensing a trend....The third paring of a St. Germain Sparkler with with a traditional Creme Brulee was one of my overall favorites. A super sweet sip of the ever popular elderflower liqueur mixed with Nivole Moscato was balanced by a similar level of sweetness in the caramelized vanilla custard. The Chocolate Bliss Cocktail tasted like a grown up version of chocolate milk! The decadent blend of Godiva Caramel, Godiva Dark, Creme de Cacao and Finale Chocolate Ganache went with a classic Tiramisu, layering coffee soaked ladyfingers, rich mascarpone mousse and a dusting of Valhorona cocoa powder. Lastly, the rich fudge like flourless Chocolate Decadence cake was paired off with a strong blend of Svedka Vodka shaken with Godiva Dark, Kahlua and espresso - none other than the Espresso Martini. Dessert for dinner? Definitely a good idea every once in awhile, especially when enjoyed with cocktails. This particular tasting will also take place on August 2nd and 9th from 6:30 - 8:00pm at Finale Coolidge Corner located at 1306 Beacon Street. My tasting was complimentary since I attended as a media guest, but at only $20 per person it's an inexpensive and fun way to switch up your summer after work routine!

A Night at The Golden Temple

One of my best friends recently accepted a job in Milwaukee so on Saturday night we threw her a farewell party. When we graduated college Trica and I moved to Brookline together, our beloved Reservoir Court apartment was just up the street from Golden Temple. The restaurant served as the location for her send off dinner party; providing a hint of nostalgia, delicious Chinese food, strong tropical drinks, sake bombs and an evening of dancing to top 40 hits. Might I also announce before I begin the photo recap, that I am the proud new owner of a Canon Rebel T3!! After over a year with my Canon Powershot point and shoot, (which I still love) I was ready to upgrade, DSLR style. The other night at the Golden Temple saw her first outing and so far I am super impressed with the resulting photos. The evening started on a high note with Asian drinks of Sapporo, Mai Thais and Singapore Slings. The setting in the Golden Temple dining room was intimate with dim lighting so I decided to take some photos without the flash, at least for a little while. Balloons and confetti served as table decor.
Warm colors and seductive lighting set the scene. Our table was positioned along the back wall in the main dining room looking out to the bar complete with a DJ booth and dance floor. The festivities continued with a few Sake Bombs.For dinner I ordered the Special Pad Thai ($19.95) boasting a heaping plate of noodles with chicken, shrimp, broccoli, mushrooms, pea pods, carrots, bean sprouts, scallions, organic eggs and crushed peanuts. Friends look on as Tricia opens her present...A group of us chipped in for a little something to line the walls of her new apartment. A stunning four foot canvas of the Boston skyline. Obligatory shot of the college roommates!I'm certainly going to miss this girl! I envision a Milwaukee visit in my to be determined future. I should also add we were extremely pleased with Golden Temple as a venue choice. We received spot on service and the transition from dinner party to dance party atmosphere was perfect, everyone had a blast.

Finale Craft Beer Tasting

Ever since I returned home from New Orleans on Monday night I've had a slew of non-stop weekday events and dinners. Luckily, I took Tuesday off from work in advance so I could have a day to breath / unpack / upload photos before going at it again. On Tuesday evening I met my friend Michelle at Coolidge Corner in Brookline to attend a Craft Beer Tasting Event at Finale Desserterie & Bakery. Hosted by their pastry chef Nicole Cody and Craft Brewers beer expert Erika Soucy, these ladies did a fantastic job of planning the pairings and leading us through the tasting; which showcased five flavored craft beers each with a decadent pastry. They encouraged us to taste the dessert first, then sip beer and vise versa. Switching up the order surprises the palate and allows you to determine which order you like better with which pair. My favorite just so happened to be the first pairing of Lindeman’s Peche with a fresh Seasonal Fruit Tart. I love Lindeman's Framboise, but I had no idea they made a peach flavor! This light and fruity beer balanced nicely with the richness of the tahitian vanilla and bavarian cream in the tart. The next paring was an 8% alcohol, full bodied Bosteel’s Tripel Karmeliet which enhanced the very simple, cold and custardy Crème Brulee. The third pairing introduced me to a beer I can't wait to try again, a Wells Banana Bread which is a traditional ale from England. The bready mouthfeel and prevalent banana notes complimented the Bavarian cream, yellow cake and semi sweet chocolate icing in the Boston Cream Pie. The Schneider Aventinus Eisbock delivered a strong (12% alcohol) Germain ale with a hint of clove and spiciness. The Chocolate Symphony Squares offered three layers of sweet mousse to stand up to the beer with a Dark Chocolate first, followed by a white chocolate and finally a milk chocolate mousse. For the final round we tasted Atwater Vanilla Java Porter. It was lighter than I expected - a well rounded porter that was smooth and easy to drink. The pairing with the rich, flourless Dark Chocolate Decadence worked out well. I was actually pretty full at this point!

The event was well organized; with the pairings evenly paced and passionately spoken about. I enjoyed the exposure to some unconventional craft beers and who can argue with dessert for dinner?! Finale Coolidge Corner holds different tasting events on certain Tuesday evenings throughout the summer. If you are interested, check out the schedule for details about upcoming happenings.

Special thanks to Mindy Valone at CM Communications for the warm welcome and of course Michelle for inviting me as her guest!

New Eats in Brookline: The Abbey

Opened on September 21st in the former Dalia's Bistro and Wine Bar, The Abbey serving new American comforts, specialty cocktails, draft and bottled micro brews, domestic beers and an ample selection of Irish Whiskey and single malt scotch, finds a home in Washington Square. GBG, LB and I met at D's apartment where we sipped sake before heading outbound on the green line. We arrived at 1657 Beacon Street, stepping into an extremely dim lit space roaring with conversation. The space which was once occupied by intimate velvet booths, rich chocolate wood table tops, gray walls and carpeted floors, is completely redone with exposed brick walls, rows of square wooden tables and hardwood floors. We put our names in and grabbed the next available seats to open up at the glossy wood bar and ordered ourselves some wine. Its opening no secret, The Abbey was packed with patrons on this warm September Friday evening. I sipped on an unoaked Chardonnay (they also offer oaked.) Once we were seated, the menu was perused in anticipation as the wine, cocktails and conversations continued to flow. I ordered a Galliano Sour ($10) Galliano, brandy, bitters, lemon juice, simple syrup and one egg white. Unexpectedly more sweet compared to sour or bitter, I just now learned / (googled) / refreshed my mind regarding Galliano. Adventurous in my drink choices, but not always informed, Gallliano is a sweet herbal Italian liqueur. We were served bread with a zesty garlic hummus and started with a few small appetizer plates. The Fried Halloumi Cheese ($4) is an unusual and tasty appetizer served with a tangy yogurt dipping sauce. Halloumi is made with sheeps and goats milk and can be pan-fried without melting. This creates an incredibly unique texture where the light crispy batter breaks exposing warm, dry and salty cheese crumbles. We enjoyed side dishes including the Spicy Julienned Snow Peas ($4.50) which were sauteed and flavored with a bold kick and an unpictured plate of Hoisin BBQ Broccoli ($4.50). Our entrees were served when we realized the waitress forgot about our Lamb Lollipops. Disappointing only for a minute, as I was excited to try the dish, it seemed a blessing in disguise as the ladies and I knew we ordered plenty of food otherwise. We also shared the Truffle Fries ($4.50) A beautiful plate of crispy well seasoned with parsley and parmesan fries were enjoyed dipped in the side of roasted garlic mayo. And for the finale of foods - my entree the Bison Bolognese ($17) served with fresh linguine and romano cheese was a just right portion size of a really excellent dish. Not too overwhelming, a thoughtful and fun presentation, I was thoroughly satisfied by the tender pasta and the plentiful chunks of ground bison. Bison is just a tad sweeter and provides a fuller, more rich taste compared to ground beef.

The team behind the Abbey - Washington Square Tavern alums Chef Josh Sherman and bartender Damian Dowling, combined with Gina Medaglia owner and operator of Dalia's have a launched a near flawless establishment in less than a week. They don't take reservations, but they are open for lunch, dinner, and late night eats so there is ample opportunity to check out the new digs. They don't plan to compete with established bars across the street (The Publick House, American Craft) but instead strive to bring something different to the block. I used to live on Beacon and Engelwood not to far up the road, so I'm impressed to see positive change and reasonably priced food in a neighborhood near and dear to my heart.

The girls and I headed off to Delux for a few more drinks. I called it an earlier night than usual when Delux closed up shop at 1:ooam. An early wake-up call for a day at the spa awaited!

Sea To You Sushi

100th post!!

Pretty cool, right? A quick moment to express my appreciation for my followers and commenters. Thank you for your insights, your humor, your good nature and in general thanks for reading. You guys are the best. Now prepare to feast your eyes on the most incredible Sushi platter ever to grace the blog world.
Happy Birthday Leah! This sushi platter worth $120 was actually purchased with a Groupon that my sister Leah's boyfriend Tray bought sometime ago. I believe the platter ended up costing $60 in total. That is a steal. Sea To You Sushi & Asian Foods is located at 5 Kendal Street in Brookline. They are a take-out only establishment.
It was a unique and fun experience to eat sushi in the comfort of Leah and Trays new apartment. It's funny because last year the five of us (Leah, Tray, Adam, myself and Mom) ate out at Haru for Leah's birthday. Haru is a modern Japanese sushi restaurant located in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood at the Prudential Center. We all had a fantastic experience there. (Maybe I'll even do a flashback blog post about it sometime.) This year, we sure saved ourselves a lot of money. Plus, it's good to switch things up a bit.
We drank a bottle of Nigori Genshu Sake with our sushi. I have a relatively new obsession with cold unfiltered sake. If you are a sake lover I highly recommend you try some.

I mean seriously, look at this platter.

We were extremely pleased with the variety of sushi they provided. There was an impressive selection of maki rolls, an assortment of nigiri sushi, sashimi and salads. We had salmon, tuna, unagi, shrimp and scallops as well as seaweed salad and octopus salad. Holy amazing.I have never seen so much wasabi and ginger on one plate before.Not sure if you can tell from my 800 snapshots, the sushi was incredibly fresh. I would definitely recommend Sea To You Sushi catering service for a special event. For the platters they prefer two days advanced notice. You can pick up at their Brookline location, or they offer a delivery service at an extra charge. They also offer professional Sushi Chefs for hire! Throw a sushi party and their chef(s) will make sushi fresh for your guests. How fun!!

mmm I love mountains of crunchy fish roe.

The row of maki in the back were sweet potato rolls. I had been wanting to try those as I had seen them popping up on blogs and menus recently. They were quite tasty.
My favorite roll was the spicy tuna (far right corner.) Actually, I am pretty sure that was everyone's favorite, we love spicy tuna for sure. My least favorite was the scallop roll (left center) because it was rather bland and unexciting. I am guessing as evidenced by the picture below that they were others least favorite as well.

How on earth did five of us eat all that?

I am kind of still in shock that we did. When there were a few maki remaining, we pressed on and told ourselves there was no point in letting the last few stragglers go to waste. In other words, we stuffed our faces.

After dinner we walked off our meal and adopted a stray cat.

My sister has been an animal lover from a young age and could never leave a meowing cat behind.

The poor kitty was skin and bones and obviously confused, lost and scared. I am unsure if Leah and Tray will end up keeping the cat, however the last few nights they have provided the little guy with food and water.He or she is quite striking, with beautiful colors on her coat and pretty blue eyes. And with a huge tail that could give their cat Sadie a run for her money. Since cats are very territorial we were not sure how Sadie would react. That night they were kept in separate rooms. I did hear that both cats have since met and have officially been "getting along". I use the term loosely to mean there have been no reported cat fights. After we situated kitty with food and water, it was time for cake and beer. Is that your I just adopted a stray cat face? The cake is from Buckie's Bakery in Dennis Port, Cape Cod. Their cakes are amazing and longstanding birthday traditions in our family.

The birthday celebrations aren't over yet. Saturday night at the Atlantic Beer Garden coming soon!