Cure for the Common Chaos...

...dinner with a good friend at a hole-in-the-wall Italian restaurant.

Share some pasta, a bottle of wine and a good conversation, and you'll soon forgot about all the other conversations from earlier in the day.

The Best Spot in Boston for Drinks

I'm actually afraid to share this bit of wisdom for fear that word will get out and my new favorite place will become the next see-and-be-seen spot, and I will not be able to get a seat at the bar, but I'll take my chances and plead that you, too, keep it a secret.

The best spot in Boston for drinks is The Bristol Lounge at the Four Seasons Hotel. 

Upon arriving at the lounge, the maitre d will kindly seat you and your party at a reasonable spot that accommodates your entourage. You might be seated at a table, a bar lounge or a sofa - it doesn't matter as there is no bad spot in this civilized place. You may choose to order a

 glass of wine from their extensive wine list, or have a martini made especially for the likes of those who frequent the Four Seasons. Order a cheese plate or the trio of fries and sit back and enjoy the atmosphere. And for those of you with a sweet tooth, fear not... every Friday and Saturday night there is a dessert buffet that rivals the likes of Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory and will put most pastry chefs to shame.

The Four Seasons is without a doubt one of the classiest hotels in the city and it should be noted that drunk, stumbling stragglers are not admitted. However, this little piece of luxury on the Boston Common treats its patrons with class, and that ain't so bad after a long week at the office.

Martha's Vineyard Food & Wine Festival

If you love wine, and you love the simple pleasures of Martha's Vineyard off-season, don't miss the 2008 Martha's Vineyard Food & Wine Festival, which starts Friday, Oct. 17. This year's guest of honor is Margrit Biever Mondavi, and over the weekend there will be 13 different culinary events to help pair wine and food.

Tickets are $100 and proceeds will benefit the Martha's Vineyard Museum.

The Boob Room

Last night was birthday dinner number two with friends. 

Reservations were at 33 Restaurant in Boston's Back Bay.

I walked in early with one friend and then immediately showed us to our table "in the lounge."

It was a private area, there were only a few tables around and we were a big party. One wall was a LCD screen that turned various colors on a timer and the mesh ceiling hid the ugliness of the real ceiling, but who looks up when they are eating?

We ordered a half bottle of Moet and toasted to birthdays, friends and good health and happiness. Halfway into our second glass of champagne, my friend inquisitively asked, "Are those women's breasts?"

I looked up at the wall and noticed that the photos surrounding the area were all boobs. Women's boobs. All sorts of them. I asked our server what the purpose of the boob photos were and she said, "Usually, this downstairs area is the lounge on Friday and Saturday nights. From about 9 o'clock on, it's just the bar and people mingling. We put tables down here tonight because we had a lot of reservations."

That makes sense. Until we realized that the purpose of the photos were to provide an erotic atmosphere for the "loungers". Imagine? Here you are, sipping a martini in the lounge, and up walks a gentleman to talk to you. Do you think he really wants to talk to you? Or do you think he wants to know if your boobs look like those along the walls of "the lounge" at 33 Restaurant? 

To be honest, the food and drinks were just so-so at 33 Restaurant. The atmosphere, however, was charming. We affectionately named this year The Year of the Boob, and off we went into the night.

Restaurant Week Dinner 2: Vintage Lounge

Restaurant Week Dinner #2:

Place: Vintage Lounge, Boston's Financial District

Purpose: We've never been and there's parking for those who were driving.

Scene: The VL is a modern affair. The lounge area features an L-shaped bar dressed in gold accents and high bar chairs on one side; leather couches and ottomans in various colors fill the remaining area for loungers to lay back with a martini and an appetizer. Section 2: Another bar with the same gold accents lead diners into a large dining room flanked with flowing velvet drapes and dining room tables with high-back brown leather chairs. Votive candles adorn the tables, but not in a romantic kind of way... the illusion is sensual and sexy. The parking lot located directly behind the window where we were seated reminded us we were still in the city. We watched as businessmen and women dragged their tired bodies over the trash in the streets and into their beaten up cars, while attempting to avoid the trash trucks and delivery cars that were making their final pass through the financial district before calling it a night.

The Food: Pre-prepared. That's the one bad thing about Restaurant Week -- many of the restaurants pre-prepare the food and just opt for a quick heat-up upon order. It's a chance you take, but in this case, we were pleasantly surprised. Skip the salad with tuna sashimi -- there are approximately three tiny pieces of sashimi mixed into a plate of baby arugula and drizzled with an overly salty balsamic dressing. I passed on finishing the first course because my ankles were swelling after two bites of the salty dish. The tomato soup was a hit among the rest of the table, and it was served steaming hot over cheese and a garlic crostini. Looked and smelled wonderful. The cornish hen, filet mignon and tomato gnocchi filled our table for the main course. Everyone was pleased. The meats were perfectly prepared and cooked to perfection and the servings were just the right size. The second course made up for the first course, and we finished our evening with creme brulee and chocolate cake.

Good job, Vintage Lounge. While I would recommend you chef lay off the salt, the overall appeal of the place is a winner.

Restaurant Week Boston: Dinner 1

Restaurant Week is one of my favorite weeks -- cheap ($33) three-course dinners at usually very expensive places. Tonight was dinner No. 1: Marco's.

I met my darling ladies for our party of four reservations at 6:30 p.m. We started with cocktails and then moved on to our first course. I had the caprese salad and it was wonderful -- the mozzarella was as soft as butter, the tomatoes were ripe and sweet and the balsamic dressing with thick and caramely. I chose the salmon for my main dish and I was unfortunately disappointed. The salmon filet was cold, but it was fresh -- seems like it was just cooked first and sat for a bit before the pastas were complete. The pasta dishes were amazing -- fresh, delicious and hot! I capped off my three-course with mango sorbet and finished my pinot grigio before heading home for the night.

Finally, something lovely to end the week from the hell.

Next up: Dinner No. 2 at Vintage Lounge.

Embracing a Little Europe in the U.S.

Still not quite ready to admit I'm back in the states, I opted for a Saturday night out with friends that started just a little later than usual: Cocktails followed by a late-night dinner - dining, ala Europe-style.

We choose one of the city's more eclectic restaurants, Eastern Standard. This French-fusion restaurant features some of the best delicacies in European culture, including foie gras, frog legs, ceviche, and escargot. I ordered a glass of red wine, which was generously poured into a long-stemmed glass, and a large plate of mussels cooked with fennel and tomato.

Before we knew it, 11:30 p.m. rolled around. I stayed for one last bite of my strawberry shortcake dessert before pouring myself into a cab for the ride home.

One thing I'm noticing about American restaurants: most of the food is pre-made and frozen until ordered. Maybe it's that way in Europe, too, but every dish I enjoyed in Italy tasted fresh, new and never frozen.

Mexican Night in Boston's South End

When the husband's away, the girls (plus one gay boy) will play!

MFTM cooked up a feast tonight! Homemade guacamole, veggie and chicken enchiladas, and plenty of wine. We all but licked the plates clean. It goes to show you don't have to go to South of the Border for good food... you just need a Mexican friend to cook up a feast!

If you're lucky, she might post her enchilada recipe here.

Feeding Your Soul

One of the best parts of traveling is experiencing new cuisine in a new city or country. And sometimes, the finest cuisine is in your own neighborhood.

After a long day, when your eyes are too strained to focus and your body is too heavy to get on the Stairmaster, a good glass of a wine and a big bowl of pasta is just good for the soul.

Boston's North End has some of the best Italian restaurants in the country (can't wait to test the Italian cuisine in Rome) and one of the best is Il Panino Express. I grabbed a bowl of tortellini pesto, opened a bottle of Cabernet and continued to feed my soul with salacious gossip on Entertainment Tonight.

Waga-My-Heart-Out

I realize I'm a little late in the game here, but understand that my diet consists of whatever isn't moldy, bruised, smelly or sticking in my fridge. I always have a Power Bar and a banana near my desk at work or in my bag on-the-go. So when my co-workers shout out, "I'm ordering lunch from _____" I usually perk up (if I haven't just stuffed a Power Bar in my mouth).

Today, the _____ was "Wagamama" -- a noodle bar in Faneuil Hall. Originally a UK company, Wagamama hit the Boston scene last year and like most restaurants in Faneuil Hall, I dismissed it as another tourist trap. In most cases I am spot on. Today, I admit I was wrong. Wagamama is my new favorite place.

I was skeptical at first. The section of the menu called "Ramen" brought me back to freshman year of college. The boxes of Ramen noodles were piled up along the wall -- three a day, one and a half minutes in the microwave. When you bought in bulk, the little noodle soups came to about 15 cents each. Not bad for a broke college kid. But after a year of Ramen noodles, you swear you'll never eat them again. Ever.

Today, I ordered the Vegetarian Ramen Noodle bowl. It arrived on my desk approximately one hour ago, and I'm still trying to get through the endless bowl of whole wheat noodles, vegetable broth and fresh vegetables. It's 32 ounces of pure veggie delight on a cold rainy day. It's healthy, and it has more taste than my Power Bar.

Flight Cancelled. Martini's Found.

It's the end of the day. 5 p.m. We're winding down (because that's what time they wind down in the UK) and we're looking forward to spending our last night snuggled up with a dry martini at Duke's. That's when it hits. The email. It's from American Airlines. This can't be good.

The email says, "There has been a cancellation on your forthcoming reservation with American Airlines." Unbelievable. It's been a long week of work in London and while I do love London, I was looking forward to getting home tomorrow. I need my bed, my shower, my candles, my pillows, my stuff. I also learned today that the neighborhood I live in suffered a massive power outage so I hope my apartment is in one piece, but fingers crossed...

I call the number American Airlines provides in the email and I wait patiently for 25 minutes. My patience level was reaching its max (I am now 25 minutes late for martinis) when finally, a representative gets on the line. Apparently, the plane is having "mechanical problems" and they've reschedule us for a later flight. Question: it's only noon in America... how do you know the plane is having mechanical problems for a flight that doesn't leave for another 24 hours, and wouldn't that give the airlines enough time to find another flight? Whatever.

News get worse: the flight is full and we're in the middle row. I tried to persuade the voice on the other line for an upgrade, but he wasn't budging. Wait, let me clarify that... he would gladly budge if I gave him $3,000 for an upgrade fee. I stopped short of begging for a business class seat -- there were still people in the office. Currently scheduled to leave London Friday night at 6 p.m. Stay tuned for more.

Later that night... about two hours later... we found ourselves at the Dukes Hotel ordering martinis and sucking on olives. If you ever find yourself in London for one night, head to Dukes Hotel and order a house martini. It's the best you've ever had, and the olives are to die for. The bill was 35 pounds (approximately $70) but don't think about that... ever.

England Dining: No Rush, No Problem

Some people in London think the restaurant service is horrible. I find it charming.

In the states, restaurants attempt to turn over tables in an effort to bring in the maximum revenue/tips for the night. Before you can finish you dinner salad server is already bringing over your entree and likely putting in your dessert order. More often then not, the food is cooked-to-order in the states, but it sits under a heat lamp until you're finished with your first course. Your salmon might be steamy, but your mashed potatoes are luke warm. And lingering around tables after the meal will garner dirty looks from servers working on tips.

In England, however, the dining experience is much different. For starters, stay seated as long as you like. In fact, you might not even see a server pass by your table for some time. This can be somewhat problematic when you've just finished a bottle of wine and need another for the table. But in that case, you simply get up and go order one. And they don't raise their eyebrows at you for staying past desert.

I had a lovely dinner at Cafe Caldessi, and frankly all my meals in London have been enjoyable. Makes me wonder why everyone in the U.S. is in such a hurry ... sit, relax, enjoy and savor.

The "Sex and the City" Single Syndrome

There are two schools of thought when it comes to single people: 1) They are sad and lonely. 2) They have a highly-active, extremely sexual dating life.

The reality is that in most cases, neither is true.

I'm a big believer in "when it happens it happens" so I don't worry so much about dating or finding "the one." Instead, I am confident that one day he'll be sitting next to me on an airplane or offer me a gelato at the top of the Spanish Steps. Yes, I realize that won't get me a house and kids any time soon, but sometimes idealism is a nice break from reality. That's why travel is so wonderful. When you leave your home base, you allow yourself the possibility to be free from conformity.

I am always up for new things so when the opportunity presented itself to cook erotic foods with a famous Boston chef, I jumped at the opportunity. And then came the dreaded words from my editor: "Ideally, you could end the story by cooking these foods for a date."

I could. But I don't have one. And where do I find one? And honestly, why is it expected that I would? Are we so programmed to associate eroticism with sex that the idea of doing something as a "single" is almost taboo?

It's the "Sex and the City" Single Syndrome -- if you're single, and you live in the city, you must be fabulously engrossed with various men for late-night rendezvous'. While there is a level of "sexiness" to this concept -- and on some Saturday night's it does happen -- the reality is that a good bottle of a wine and a John Hughes movie run a close second to most dates. Yes, I can see the unfortunate side of this, but I make no apologies for being picky about the men I date. I brought this topic up to my married friends and got the following responses:

"Maybe you should go to temple and meet a nice guy." (Obviously, this friend was joking, but she certainly channeled my mother).

"Can they do that?" asked another, who was questioning the integrity of the publication.

"I'm no prude, but don't give a 'fuck assignment' and call it journalism." Well said.

So OK -- here we are. I'm going to cook erotic foods with a Boston chef and write about it. I'll post the pictures here and also a link to the story. In the meantime, if you have a single male you want to pimp out for the occasion, let me know. Otherwise, take my advice and enjoy a little single-time for yourself with a good meal and a glass of wine.

Erotic Foods - Do You Dare?

Put chocolate and oysters aside - they're old school compared to what we're going to try.

Sometime in the next few weeks, I'm going to grab some girlfriends and we're going to get a private cooking lesson with one of Boston's top chefs. I'm told the experience will be orgasmic.
(Maybe I should rethink inviting my girlfriends...)

Do you dare to taste test?

Boston's Beehive

When in Rome...try new things. So we went for a taste at the 'hive.

An eclectic mixture of art and cuisine, Boston's South End eatery "The Beehive" is a funky conglomerate of culture. Most Bostonians will recognize the outside of the restaurant as the old "Cyclorama" and immediately feel a wave of nostalgia standing outside the restaurant, checking out the artists who cross the path. But once you're in The Beehive it's an entirely other world.

The designers did a great job of putting this place together. Red velvet drapes swoon the eating areas and larger-than-life murals hang in the shadow of antique chandeliers and sky lights. The bar area (where we were seated as a table of six) was open and easy to maneuver. The other seating areas were slightly more intimate, but no matter where you were seated you were not seated on top of the table next to you. (Of course, it's not always a bad things to sit so close to strangers, but when you're eating it can get a little messy.)

And speaking of the food...

Portions, people, portions! If you're on a diet, immediately ask for a take-home bag when your order arrives and put half of your meal away. The chef's don't skimp at this eatery. The menu items range from burgers and pastas to plates of pate, so there's something for everyone. Check out our friend The Missus' pork chop. We ordered the grilled artichokes to start and they were grilled to near perfection -- not too charred, not too soggy. For an entree I chose the baked pollenta, spinach, rataouille and ricotta and the only disappointing thing about it was that I couldn't finish. The pollenta was perfectly grilled and the rataouille was pure chunks of vegetables (and not a puree). Others at the table ordered paella, pasta and burgers, and one of my dining companions even went so far as to proclaim, "This is the best burger I've ever had in my life."

The only unfortunate part of our dining experience was the odd man who kept walking past our table and eyeing us as if we were about to take off with the silverware. We're not sure who he was (at best guess he was a manager), or why we might have looked suspicious, but if enjoying yourself at dinner is a crime then consider me guilty. (p.s. if the strange man is reading this, please note that it's not polite to stare at people when they eat).

Overall, the hive is a great place to hang.

Best Breakfast in Boston: Toro

Run, do not walk, to Toro Restaurant in Boston's South End. This funky little place serves a bull of a breakfast.

I met a girlfriend at 11 a.m. and it's a good thing we were both there on time. The place filled up within 15 minutes and for good reason. The brunch menu is beyond words. Choose from french toast, various egg dishes, empanadas and an exotic array of side dishes. I fell in love with my scrambled eggs, asparagus and avocado plate. But the way to my heart is through plantains, and Toro had them... baked, not fried, and perfectly arranged on a pretty white plate.

It's truly the little things in life that make a difference. After licking my plate clean we kept the indulgence going by treating ourselves to a pedicure. It's the perfect way to spend a Sunday.

Savory Sticks

Part of conforming to other cultures means trying new things, even if those new things are in your backyard. There's nothing wrong with a little eccentricity at home! So when you choose a restaurant location for a Saturday night out with your friends, make a point to try something new. Example: a dinner on sticks!

STIX is a new restaurant in Boston's Back Bay that serves its meals on (you guessed it) sticks. But it's more than a shish-kabob; it's foie gras on sticks, curried shrimp on sticks, duck a'Lorange on sticks, and sashimi tuna on sticks. Start with the plentiful cheese plate and a bottle of wine from the very reasonably-priced wine list. Each "stix" plate comes with three sticks -- a perfect amount of food for one person -- so get a few stix that everyone can share and enjoy. It's a great twist on the "family style" concept.

Pre-dinner p.s. Go early and have a drink at the bar. The Grey Goose Sparkling Pear cocktail is a nice start to a funky night.

Lala Lamb

Boston's Restaurant Week is one of the best weeks of the year. Hundreds of restaurants around town come up with new creations for a three-course meal that costs a mere $33.09. (Small caveat: This amount does not include alcohol, which can quickly turn your $33.09 meal into $103.09)

My goal is to try two new restaurants during Restaurant Week (which, incidentally, is a two-week period). The first was Lala Rokh, a Persian restaurant in Beacon Hill. I love the spices and smells of Middle Eastern food so I was looking forward to this meal. I met my friend, Public Relations Guru Tara, at 7:30 and we were promptly seated at our table. First up: the wine menu. We choose a nice Pinot Noir and eagerly awaited the cork being pulled out of that gorgeous black glass bottle. Following our first sip, we ordered our meal.

• Eggplant appetizer salad with chickpeas, mild goat cheese and a sauce so good you would lick it off the floor


• Tara's dinner: beef saute with spiced rice and couscous


• My dinner: Lamb shank.

Quick point: I don't eat lamb. But I wanted to try something new and I was feeling brave, so I ordered the lamb. I did not know the "lamb shank" was the muscle, thus creating a work-for-your-meal episode when attempting to get the mean from the bone into my mouth. I'll admit, I gave up. The Lala Lamb, in theory, was a bold choice. But I turned in the lamb leg for a nice piece of salmon. Sometimes, it's just best to stick with what you know.

Living in a Pasteurized World

I had dinner last night with a co-worker at a new organic raw food restaurant in Boston. The idea of a raw food diet is appealing, especially when you're trying to lose weight and "get healthy" but cheese made out of almonds is a bit peculiar. I digress...

As we were talking about her upcoming travels to Paris and Spain, we reminisced about our favorite restaurants in Europe. There is simply nothing like dining on a baguette and a cheese in Paris or a whole salted sea bass in Marbella. There's nothing fake about the food. It doesn't need to be organic or raw - it's healthy for being unpasteurized. We sipped some more of our macrobiotic wine and nursed our organic buzz a little longer before asking for the check.

Total amount for raw food made into molds and masquerading as real food: $200.00
Total amount for simply pure and un-hormonized food: priceless.

Moral of the story: Yes, the dollar sucks and it's expensive to travel overseas, but at least you know when you're there the food is fresh and cheese is made from milk (goat, cow or sheep is country depending).

We left the overly-expensive new restaurant and went up the street for a martini, and an appetizer.