Sunday Brunch at Elephant Walk

On Saturday night, I was lucky enough to indulge in a few (or a lot) of drinks with some of my favorite people in Boston.  Even though we are only moving to the suburbs, I wanted to have one last night in the city where we could all let loose and live it up one last time.  We went to a few of our favorite spots, including the Grand Canal and the Green Dragon.  Photos from the night are blurry, sweaty and hysterical.  In other words, they are not suitable for posting.  But, I had a fabulous time and I'm so grateful for all of the wonderful people in my life who were happy to celebrate all of the changes in my life!

Of course, after an amazing Saturday night, you have to deal with the not-so-amazing recovery the following morning.  Thankfully, Bret and I already had planned to head to Elephant Walk in Cambridge for brunch.

I've never been to any of the Elephant Walk locations but I was very excited to have brunch options that incorporated both French and Cambodian cuisines.  We arrived there just as the restaurant was opening and I got a chance to take a few photos while we waited to be seated.

We got a lovely table right by the window, which gave my some wonderful natural light to take photographs.

Bret and I both started our brunch with plenty of water and fresh-squeezed orange juice.

We were both absolutely famished and decided to order appetizers to share.  I was craving fresh fruit so we ordered a very simple fresh fruit plate.

Bret was craving something more savory so he ordered the Rouleaux.  These Cambodian spring rolls are meant to eaten by hand in a lettuce wrap.  These were definitely fun to eat and seriously outstanding!

For our entrees, I opted for the Crepes Gourmandes Aux Champignons.  This savory crepe was filled with wild mushroom, scallions and creme fraiche.  Honestly, this was the best crepe I've had in quite some time.  The crepe was light and spongy but it could still hold the savory filling well. 

Bret was equally pleased with his meal, the Loc Lac.  This cubed beef tenderloin dish was definitely more of a lunch dish than a breakfast dish!

Even though we were both pretty full, we couldn't resist their tempting dessert menu.  We split a slice of Marjolaine.  This dessert was intense with almond dacquoise layered with coffee praline buttercream, chocolate chiffon cake and chantilly cream topped with chocolate ganache and served with coffee creme Anglaise.  I actually found the chocolate chiffon cake to be a little dry but the coffee creme Anglaise added the right moisture to this dessert.

Typically, we wouldn't order this intense of a meal for brunch but we were both recovering from the night before and still in a bit of a celebratory mood.  This huge brunch also helped fuel us as we spent the day continuing to pack and to throw out some furniture, which definitely required some energy!

Elephant Walk has several locations in Massachusetts.  We dined at 2067 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA.

Celebration Brunch at Foundry on Elm

After finishing my first 5K on Sunday morning, I went home for a shower and a change of clothes to get ready for Sunday brunch.  Bret made reservations for us at Foundry on Elm to celebrate completing my first road race.  We decided on Foundry on Elm because we wanted to try someplace new for brunch but we also wanted to get away from the marathon crowds downtown.  We took a quick trip on the T to Davis Square and arrived at the restaurant just in time for our 11 AM reservations.

Neither of us have been to Foundry on Elm before but I really liked the vibe of the place.  The restaurant had a distinct brasserie look with red leather banquette and booth seats.  We were seated immediately and we drooled over the menu as we were both famished.

To start, I sipped on a mimosa.  I normally go with a Bloody Mary for brunch but I felt a craving for some bubbly.

Everyone around us were served complimentary bread baskets but our server didn't bring us one until we asked.  Normally we wouldn't fill ourselves up with bread before our meal but we were both so hungry and happy to indulge in the cherry almond scones and slices of banana bread.

We waited a bit and our meals finally arrived.  I normally opt for breakfast dishes but I saw that they had a Croque Madame sandwich and I knew that was what I wanted.  This yummy sandwich had Neuske's ham, gruyere cheese and a fried egg.  It was ridiculously rich and delicious and I easily put away half the sandwich without hesitation.

All of the sandwiches come with either fries or a salad.  I asked if there was any possibility for me to have half fries and half salad.  Our server seemed puzzled by this request so I told her to just bring me fries.  Luckily, Bret got the burger and ordered the salad so we could split the fries and the salad.  I didn't get a photo of Bret's burger but it was unbelievably juicy.  The salad wasn't anything special but fries were nicely thin and crispy.

Davis Square isn't our usual neighborhood for brunch but we're glad we decided to try something new.  Have you tried any place new for brunch lately?

Foundry on Elm is located at 255 Elm Street, Somerville, MA.

Fun and Fearless Friday Five

After battling a nasty cold all week, I am so ready for a weekend filled with sunshine!  As I go into the weekend, I wanted to share five things that I'm really excited about:

1.  Drinking for Charity: The Boston Lupus Charity Pub Crawl is happening this Saturday and I've been getting my liver ready for it all year long.  My friend Kim (one of the committee members) introduced me to this fun day-long event that combines drinking with raising awareness and funds for a great cause.  I've been participating in this pub crawl for three or four years now and I've been battling my cold all week for it!  To learn more about the pub crawl, please head to Kim's blog here.

One of MANY photos from last year's pub crawl.

2.  Vote for me!  The poll is still open for the Boston A-List's Best Local Blogger and I'm currently in fourth place.  If you've already voted, thank you so much...and if you haven't, please click here to vote for me.  Every vote counts until voting closes on December 22nd and I'd really appreciate your support!

3.  Boston Food Bloggers:  Speaking of blogging, are you a Boston-area food blogger?  My friend Rachel (creator of Fork it over, Boston!) has launched a new website - Boston Food Bloggers.  Her goal is to put together a resource for food and beverage bloggers in the area - to share ideas, contact information, and events.  It is pretty interesting and Rachel's put a lot of work into it...so if you get a chance, stop by and check it out!

4.  Dr. Oetker's Quattro Formaggi Pizza:  On Wednesday night, I came home to a shipment of sample of Dr. Oetker's Quattro Formaggi frozen pizza.  I'm not a big fan of frozen pizzas but I thought I'd give it a try.  While you can definitely tell that pizza wasn't homemade, the quality of the cheeses used in this pizza was pretty impressive. The combination of mozzarella, edam, emmental and blue cheese worked, even though I was first skeptical about the use of blue cheese when I read the box.  Dr. Oetker's frozen pizzas can currently be purchased in New England Shaws, Demoulas and Big Y store.

5.  Sunday Brunch:  In September, Renee of Eat.Live.Blog, organized a fabulous bloggers' brunch at Lord Hobo.  Thanks to Renee's organization, a group of us are heading to East Coast Grill for brunch this weekend.  Although I've previously had brunch there, I'm still really excited about this brunch because East Coast Grill puts on a FANTASTIC brunch.  Of course, I'll be re-capping it all here next week!

What's on plan for the weekend? Any good cooking/eating/drinking planned?