Boston Re-cap: The Eats

If you are anything like me one of the first things you think about when planning a trip somewhere is: where am I going to eat?  Well, that task certainly fell to me when thinking about Boston and I must say, I was ready to take on that challenge!  While I won't say that we ended up eating at all the places I wrote down, or that some of them turned out to seem like quite duds, we did ultimately have a good array of yummy meals.  There wasn't one I truly hated (well, except for lunch at a museum...).

The first dinner was accidentally a restaurant that I had put on my original list.  We were heading for a different place, but saw this restaurant, realized we were all starving and decided to give it a go!  It was The Parish Cafe.  They had a lovely outdoor seating patio/deck, but since it was raining lightly when we arrived, we opted to eat inside, which was perfectly lovely!

I got a mushroom sandwich with white bean salad on mixed greens.  It was all really good, but the white bean salad was my favorite part of the meal!

The next day we went to a simple diner for breakfast.  It was close to our hotel and we all started the day out starving, so it seemed like a good choice!

We ended up having a table with a great view of Newbury Street.  Definitely one of the highlights of the meal!

For breakfast I got an omelette with spinach and mushrooms.  It came with toasted whole wheat bread and home fries. 

Looks quite a bit like the previous meal, no?

After breakfast we headed to Caffe L'Aroma for a quick coffee.  Which I obviously need to start my day.

Again, they had a lovely outdoor seating area, but since it was full, we opted to have our coffees inside.

My mom got a cappuccino (and gave me the schiuma, thanks mom!), my dad got an espresso and I got a cafe au lait.  Or at least, I got one at first.  It tasted like dirty water so I went back and got a latte instead.

It was much MUCH better.

For lunch that day we ate an (unphotographed) lunch from the cafeteria at the Museum of Fine Arts.  I was way unimpressed by the choices and ending up only having a little bit from the salad bar and eating a Clif z bar I brought with me.

Luckily that afternoon they were handing out free peanuts near the harbor.

We rallied for the food department with dinner, however.  We found that Boston has Wagamama!  I was totally thrilled.  Once again, no photos, but I got the Yasai Yaki Soba with yasai gyoza as a starter and a melon juice that I split with my mom.  Wonderful.

The next day for breakfast we opted for the cafe route.  We went to Espresso Royale Cafe on Newbury street.

I got a croissant, my mom got a poppy seed bagel with butter and my dad got an everything bagel with peanut butter.

My croissant was good, but a little on the sweet side; I generally prefer them flaky and buttery.  My dad's peanut butter bagel was definitely the winner out of this lot!

Being from New York, my family is definitely bagel snobs, so to say that these were good is quite the compliment!

Of course, I had to get some coffee, another latte!  I'm usually a cappuccino girl, but this trip I seemed to morph into a latte lover.

For dinner that night we went out to Figs.  I don't have any photos—I was positively ravenous by the time our meal arrived—but if you are ever in Boston go to Figs.  Seriously, it was phenomenal.  My parents and I split a half mushroom half eggplant pizza and loved every bite of it.  Brilliant, truly brilliant.

Overall, we only ended up eating at a couple of the restaurants I listed (Figs, Parish Cafe and L'Aroma), but enjoyed every dining experience, museum excluded.  Still, I would recommend doing some advance research; it will always pay to have a list of places you'd like to try!  My favorite meal was at Figs, followed by my mushroom sandwich on the first night.  Totally brilliant.

Have you ever been to Boston?  What was your favorite meal?  Do you enjoy finding restaurants on vacation?

Back from Boston

Just got back from an absolutely lovely long weekend in Boston.  The city was pretty and the weather was spectacular!  Certainly a good time.

Some of my favorite photos from the trip...

Here's to a good week!

E's Take: Alexander McQueen, Savage Beauty

There are hour queues to get into see The Costume Institute's new show Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty.  Reviewers seem to love it.  The audiences seem to love it.  But is it worth paying entrance (this means a dollar if you are poor/cheap like me) and actually waiting to see this show?

Yes it is.

You may be disappointed when you leave and you may be annoyed when walking through the exhibit, but the ability to see McQueen's brilliant and inspiring creations will be worth at least a fraction of the effort, if not more.  The reason Alexander McQueen was and is popular has less to do with his unfortunate death and more to do with his brilliant designs.  This exhibit does not only show clothing, it shows garments that are more-like artwork than anything you would find on the shelves of Bloomingdales.

Yet, the presentation does not do the clothing justice.  Instead of presenting the clothing in a cohesive and inspiring manner, one feels that the Costume Institute got carried away with quantity, sorely forgetting quality.  This focus on quantity over quality permeates the show, leaving the museum-goer with a disjointed feeling.  You will be impressed by what you see, but you will most likely fail to see McQueen's unique point-of-view, highlighted only by the tag line, Savage Beauty.

I didn't read the placards going through.  Mainly because it would be impossible.  The show is so saturated with people piled in like a delayed subway during rush hour that you can barely move.  Forget seeing reading the descriptions, getting a proper view of the clothing is distinctly difficult.  This could be excusable if the museum had not anticipated huge crowds; I highly doubt this is the case.  Since McQueen is widely recognized as one of the most creative designers in recent memory—his popularity, unfortunately, bolstered by his death—the MET should have made proper adjustments to create an effective blockbuster show.

Yet, that is exactly it.  After the exhibit one sense that the museum is exploiting McQueen in order to create a high-grossing popular exhibit.  I understand that New York City is cutting funding for cultural institutions, but does that give a museum the right to use whatever method possible to gain money?  No.  There must be a line that gives a cultural institution boundaries for what they can and can't use to draw in crowds and money.  It is not the fact that they are putting up a show about Alexander McQueen, rather it is the manner in which they have chosen to exhibit all the pieces.

Walking through the exhibit I felt like I was in an amusement park.  In one room, they have a sound clip of blowing wind on rotation.  That combined with the decor properly made me feel like I was in the Disney World Haunted Mansion ride.  A museum should never make me think I am in an amusement park.  Where is the line between a brilliant show and pure entertainment?

I want a museum to show me something that encourages me to think, as opposed to bombarding me with sensory overload.  If large cultural institutions begin to present each new show as a spectacle, where does it end?  There needs to be a defined line that allows a dialogue to ensue between the museum and the viewer.  While the McQueen show displays breathtaking garments, it does not encourage the museum-goers to think about what they have seen in a deeper manner than they could by viewing the original runway show.

Ultimately, that is exactly what the McQueen show is, a glorified compilation of a variety of different runway shows.  There is no denying that the MET has gone above and beyond.  There is no arguing that the garments are beautiful.  The show falls short when one leaves, without being truly aware of what they have just seen.

What kind of museum shows do you like?  Have you seen the McQueen show?  What did you think?


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Cafe Chronicles: Pret a Manger

I love Pret.  The food, the small little tables, the coffee, oh my gosh the coffee.  When their promised store opens at Heathrow Terminal 3, they will seriously be the pretty much the most perfect chain (strongly tied with Le Pain Quotidien, of course!).  This cafe chronicle is for the American version of the chain as they serve different food and have unique ambiances in both England and America.  I'll probably do a British edition when I go back to uni!

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Pret is pretty much my go-to place for good, fresh and clean food wherever I am in the world.  Of course, I spend the majority of my time in New York and Southern England, where the chain has a massive stronghold.  They have a good variety of sandwiches, baguettes, wraps, salads, hot sandwiches and coffee. I'm not a fan of everything on their menu, sometimes they add a bit too much mayo/meat to their products to have much of an option, but the products there that I do eat always impress me.

Basically, this place is class-ified fast food.  You choose your meal from a large cooled display case, pay at the till, where you can also order hot beverages, and eat in or take away.  Pretty simple and pretty standard for a grab and go lunch.  The atmosphere at the majority of the locations is quite fast-paced as they cater mostly to a business lunch clientele (just look at their new york locations!).  I don't mind this, the cafes usually get very crowded during standard business lunchtimes, however!

The major problem at the most of Pret's locations is the availability of seating.  Since they cater to a mostly business clientele, they don't provide extensive tables.  This means, even outside of lunchtime hours, it can be extraordinarily difficult to find a seat.  The only location that generally evades this problem is my favorite, their Union Square cafe.  It has two stories with extensive seating on both.  Still, during lunchtime, finding a place can get difficult.

Another problem that can arise with the size and traffic of their cafes, is the availability of the food they make.  You can view their full menu online, but they rarely have such extensive options at a single location.  Some things they have online I have never seen in any store.  That being said, they always have some good option.  Beware during lunch hours, they tend to run out of some of their more popular items.  After lunch the shelves are near depleted.

Okay, so I've stated that I have quite a few problems with Pret.  Yet these problems are positively small compared to the reasons I love this place.  The reasons why I go back and back, not only whilst I am in New York, but also when I am in England.  I go back for the food, the coffee, the locations and the atmosphere.  That's right, the reasons I go completely overlap with the reasons that I might choose to stay away.

Simply put, the food at Pret is amazing.  Even though their extensive online menu is rarely found in stores, there is always something I want when I visit that fits my vegetarian preferences.  Their sandwiches are made on lovely whole wheat, granary bread.  It's tasty and soft and I always enjoy it when I eat a sandwich from there.  The wraps are also excellent.  I've found it quite difficult to find a good wrap in America (they are every where in England), but this British chain usually hits it right on the money.  The wrap bread is soft and yields lovely to the rest of the fillings, which are usually excellent themselves.  My favorite must be the avocado and pine nut wrap, an awesome blend of ingredients with excellent seasonings.

I also love their salads.  Okay, so they aren't always fresh, but they are the most of the time and when they are they are fantastic.  There is quite a variety here to satisfy whatever type of salad you are in the mood for.  Meat lover?  Salad for you.  Classic salad sound good?  Check!  Seasonal?  Of course.  The only thing the american pret lacks?  They don't include dressing and only sell it in double serving non-resealable packs.  Annoying, but bearable.

Overall, I love pret.  It's not perfect, but compared to the other options for a quick healthy lunch, pret is excellent for it's locations, food, coffee and atmosphere.

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Atmosphere: 2 out of 5 coffee cups.  Pret doesn't really have an atmosphere of which to speak of.  It's fast paced and that's about it.  Not unpleasant to sit in, but definitely not something you are ever going to seek out.  I like it, but I don't go for this reason.

Food: 4 out of 5 coffee cups.  This isn't high quality restaurant, so it's not the best you are ever going to eat, but for the price and everything, it's awesome.  Seasonal changes, made fresh daily, what's not to like?

Coffee: 3 out of 5 coffee cups.  I am always surprised at how good the coffee is at Pret.  It's not high quality, but it's a nice meeting place between Starbucks and gourmet coffee places.  I wish they put chocolate on the cappuccini in America, though.

Prices: 5 out of 5 coffee cups.  Not crazy expensive.  I'm not going to eat lunch out here everyday, but when I do, I don't feel as if I'm breaking the bank.  A happy medium that makes me happy.

Location:  4 out of 5 coffee cups.  Even though their locations are undoubtedly central, the bulk of them are in business areas and are, therefore, closed on weekends.  The two biggest NYC locations are Union Square and Bryant Park, which are open all week.  There aren't that many when you venture too far uptown or any area around where people live.

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Interested in Pret a Manger?  Here are some useful links!

Pret a Manger website



Serious Eats


Yelp


Urban Spoon

Cupcake Friday: The Best Cupcakes in New York City

It's hot here.  Like really hot.  So hot that I don't even want to turn on the oven and bake cupcakes this week.  Instead, let's talk about my favorite places to eat cupcakes in New York.  There are so many options, it helps to sort through the muck and find the truly quality cupcake-eries.

Emilia's Top 5 Cupcake Shops in New York.

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1. Crumbs.  Does this really come as a surprise?  I adore Crumb's cupcakes for their interesting flavor combinations, the perfect ratio of frosting to cake and the cake itself.  Try them once and you'll keep coming back, I guarantee.

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2. Magnolia Bakery.  There's a reason that this bakery has lines snaking around the block, their cupcakes are good!  The vanilla frosting is absolutely brilliant, sweet but not too buttery.  Try vanilla vanilla here, it's a winner!  Plus, the cupcakes are completely adorable.

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3. Sugar Sweet Sunshine.  A friend introduced me to these cupcakes a couple of years ago and I've never looked back.  They are positively delicious.  What makes these truly stand out are the deep rich flavors.  Everything tastes spot on.  Not an ideal location, but worth going out of your way for.

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4. Buttercup Bake Shop.  Owned by the same people as Magnolia, but different enough to be put on the list as a separate entry.  The cupcakes are moist (though a touch dryer than Magnolia) with even more frosting. I prefer the chocolate frosting here, the vanilla gets a bit too sweet.

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5. Cupcake Cafe.  The real star of the show here is the cake part of the cupcake, an ideal combination of moist and crumbly.  I'm not a huge fan of the vanilla icing, which verges on too buttery for me, but the chocolate is fantastic.

What is your favorite cupcake flavor?  Do you like a lot of frosting or a little frosting?
I love chocolatey cupcakes with lots of frosting!


Un Bacione,

Emilia

Must Eat NYC

We've covered sights to see and places to shop, now places to eat!  This is a selection of restaurants, food shops and random places that are either a great bargain, must sees, unique or my personal favorites.  Although people say it's easy to find a great place to eat in New York, I've always found it quite challenging.  New York is big, so you generally have to travel far to get where you want to go.  My greatest hits are partly based on locations where I spend a lot of time around.

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Almondine- Probably my favorite cafe in New York, though I must admit I love it mostly for sentimental reasons.  That being said, it does have excellent croissants, a winning baguette and gorgeous desserts.  Definitely worth checking out, even if it means going out of your way.

Blue Ribbon Sushi- Amazing.  There is a reason why this is one of the best sushi restaurants in New York, and I say this as a vegetarian only having tried the vegetarian rolls.  Inventive, fresh, rolled nicely, a complete and total winner. (This place is quite pricey, but they charge less at their Brooklyn location!)

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Le Pain Quotidien- Yes, it's a chain.  That doesn't mean it's not fantastic.  I love their salads, their Quinoa and Arugula (or rocket!) one is probably my favorite.  They also have a nice selection of hot dishes and sandwiches, plus a soup of the day that is always interesting.  Their pastries are also really nice, though the star of the show are definitely their salads.  Plus, with a billion locations, you are always near one, which is definitely nice in this city!

Crumbs Cupcakes- Okay, Magnolia's may be more famous, but I'm a crumbs girl.  I find these less sweet, with more frosting and a cake that is moister.  They have fun flavors and usually have a special seasonal one too.  Again, they have several locations.  I'd recommend the cookies and cream cupcake for chocolate lovers and the vanilla sprinkle cupcake for vanilla lovers.

Eataly- Not just a tourist trap. Their selection of Italian food is unparalleled.  It's like a playground for lovers of Italian cuisine.  They have an enormous pasta selection, brilliant assortment of Italian biscuits and a huge wall of olive oils.  There are also places to eat in.  The best deal, however, is the bread area were they sell pieces of focaccia quite cheaply.

Dean and Deluca- Amazing fancy supermarket with a spectacular chocolate selection.  They have a good selection of prepared foods to grab for a (expensive) lunch.  My favorite part, however, is the chocolate and biscuit selection as they have a variety that is hard to find other places.  It's the only place I've found to buy Michel et Augustin biscuits in New York.  I also love to get Valrhona chocolate and Moo chocolate here.

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'sNice-A positively yum-licious vegetarian sandwich shop with several locations throughout the city.  They have a wide variety of sandwiches that totally go against the typical vegetarian sandwiches you may find at other places throughout the city.  Seriously, they have a vegetarian bbq sandwich, a sushi sandwich, along with the more traditional caprese sandwich.  You also get a small side salad with your order, which is a huge bonus if you ask me.

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This just scratches the surface of awesome places to eat in New York.  Wherever you land, there will be somewhere to eat, but that doesn't mean it's good.  In tourist areas, many eateries charge overpriced bad quality food, so use your brain!  Venturing a little further out from the traditional stomping grounds will introduce you to a wide variety of wonderful New York eats.

Un Bacione,

Emilia

Must Shop NYC

I love shopping.  Frankly, I think everyone does, at least a little bit.  Who doesn't want to try on a new look, experiment with a new food, or start a new book?  Although everyone says New York is an amazing city for shopping, it takes some strategy.  There are many days when I wish I could just drive on over to a mall and have all the stores right there.  New York isn't like that, every store you want to visit seems inconveniently placed and not at all close to each other.  Of course, I still love it.  Here are my personal favorites for New York shopping.

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Bloomingdales- Sure, Bergdorfs has the windows, but I'm a Bloomingdales girl.  Although they have plenty of fancy brands, they still stocking some affordable clothing.  Overall, the atmosphere is very welcoming, I don't feel silly going in there because I cannot afford to buy high fashion names.  The shoe galleries are excellent (second only to Selfridges in London) and they have some really lovely accessories.  There are two locations, one uptown and one in Soho.  They are both nice, but I'd recommend going to the uptown location first as they have a larger stock.

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The Strand- Just plain impressive.  Crammed bookshelves, stacks and stacks of books, good prices.  Definitely a New York institution.

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Kinokuniya- Japanese bookstore.  No, I don't speak japanese and have no intention of ever learning to, but the stationary selection here is fantastic.  They have so many cool pens, pencils, highlighters, folders, notebooks, I think I've gotten the majority of my back to school selection here for the past couple years.  Seriously awesome stuff.  Even if you aren't into japanese things, I'll bet you will be able to find something you like.

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Pearl River Market- Another asian selection, but they have so much more than just "asian stuff".  This place is seriously awesome for their selection of cheap dishes and cheap things you never knew you needed, but just have to have.  I've gotten everything from sushi rolling mats to cosmetic bags with french sayings here.  They seriously have everything you could ever think to want.

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Limelight Marketplace- Not a single store, rather a collection of small stalls from bigger brands.  Shopping here is fun just for the awesome location, it's in a converted church and is absolutely gorgeous.  They also have an interesting selection too with everything from Havianas and Hunter to Le Sportsac and French Connection.

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N.Y. Cake- If you like to bake, this place is seriously the bomb.  They have absolutely everything you could possibly want in your baking adventures and some things you won't even know how a person could use it.  Want a cake in the shape of hello kitty?  Go there to get the pan!  I've bought so many cookie cutters, pans and boxes of fondant here.  This place is impressive.

Rugby- Ralph Lauren's younger line.  My favorite things from here are definitely the rugby shirts, but this is an awesome place for sales.  I got an entire bathing suit from here for $40 with sales, complete win.  They sell preppy pieces with a twist.

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Madewell- J.Crew's younger line that has a more urban/undone aesthetic.  They have really great pieces that are simple, yet unexpected.  Check this place out for great jeans and other american casual pieces.

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Of course, there are plenty of other amazing places to shop in NYC, this list just scratches the tip of my best of iceberg!  Have fun, explore and you are sure to find a place that sells something you love.  Just, don't expect to find everything you want or find it easily!

Un Bacione,

Emilia

June Re-Cap

Can you believe it's July 2nd already?  I sure can't!  Part of me feels like summer is going by too fast, yet I still have so much time left.  Crazy.  Anyway, here are some of the highlights of this past (fun and super busy) month.

The month began with crazy amounts of studying in order to get ready for my Italian grammar exam!

Then progressed to days spent enjoying coffee at my favorite cafe and going to my university gym...

...while I searched for those ever elusive boxes.

In the midst of all this I took a day trip to London...

...where I ate plenty of macarons...

...and bought plenty of chocolate.

I've also consumed my weight in iced soy lattes (though I learnt to be careful when ordering them in American Starbucks!).

I even made myself some decent meals in my teeny tiny hall kitchen!

I lived in disarray while packing up my room before coming home for the summer.

All that packing and disarray made me want  to pull my hair out.

But I made it home to enjoy a croissant at my favorite bakery.

I made some intensely peanut-buttery peanut butter cups for my dad for father's day.

Though we also spent a nice day out together.

I didn't go to Le Pain Quotidien nearly enough (though did manage to go on two different continents!).

Certainly managed to get my (mostly vegan) bake on!

I tried, and loved, bubble tea.

Hope everyone had a great June!  Here's to an awesome July!!

Un Bacione,

Emilia