First stop after landing in Boston (saying goodbye to the sunshine of Colorado and hello to the gloomy cloudy drizzle of the east coast)? Off to a shared appetizer Russell House Tavern in Cambridge, basically in Harvard Square area. While we worked we nibbled on an appetizer of Melted Cambozola Cheese, Caramelized Onions & Mushrooms, which you can then spoon atop Thyme Garlic Flatbread. We each also ordered small plates for dinner. I’m not sure what was on the scallop dish, but that was one mega sized scallop.

I went with was the Crispy Soft Poached Chip-In Farm Egg with  Pecorino Aioli, Toasted Brioche, House Pancetta, which turned out to wonderfully balance the soft texture with runny yolk of a poached egg with the crispness of a frying it slightly with the same crust you would find in a salad topped with pan-fried goat cheese. Most adventerous was the Crispy Pigs Head Cake  with Soft Poached Egg and Ginger-Maple Aioli, in which it supposedly tastes a bit like breakfast from the savory meat combined with the yolk of the poached egg and maple from the aioli giving it a tinge of sweetness.

On Thursdays at Masa Southwest, you can get the happy hour special of 10 different bites of tapas for a mere $10 on an even more extra special price of $5! It is only served in the bar area. From left to right, top row to bottom row:

1. Queso Fundido Empanada with Jalapeno and Cilantro was kicking spicy and my favorite of the bites
2. Chili Almond Stuffed Date wrapped in Bacon, Ancho Crema underneath also rated quite high, I could have had a whole plate of these and ate them like popcorn
3. Pork Spring Roll with BBQ Sauce and it was perfectly fried so it was crispy and not oily
4. Shredded Chicken Taquito with Chipotle Aioli underneath, that aioli was nice and spicy
5. Yucca con Puerco with Cilantro Aioli, my second favorite bite of the combo platter
6. Grilled Chorizo with Cranberry Chutney to give a bit of sweetness to the spicy slice of sausage
7. Poached Shrimp with tostones and Salsa Gulf
8. Cucumber with cottage cheese and Mango Dill Sauce was a bit of cool relief from the heat of the bites in the top row, and is a genius appetizer I may recreate as a little hors’dourves in the future
9. Bruscheta de queso with Tomato Cilantro Pesto was the plainest, with not enough pesto go balance out the chewy bread and watery tomatoes that pale in comparison to the tastier tomatoes I’ve been enjoying from local farmers’ market.
10. Crudita del Dia with Poblano Ranch Dressing also offered a bit of cool cream to balance the bits of spice in the other bites

We also ate dinner there, as we were intrigued by a special Oktoberfest menu they were offering that seemed quite a bargain at $35 for three courses that also included a 6oz beer with each course from Smuttynose.

Jasper White’s Summer Shack– prepare to get messy eating the famous lobsters here. The best part to the mussels appetizer is the garlic rubbed grilled bread soaking up the sauce of wine, garlic & herbs, but the lobster potstickers are not worth it.

Jasper’s pan roasted lobster in 1 1/4 lb totally is- it’s the signature dish here. When they just place a bucket on the table for your shells, you know it’s time to get down. Is there any other vehicle for butter that celebrates it so openly that you are cracking open and wrenching meat out with butter and  dripping through 10 fingers to your wrists and requires a bib to catch the various chervil and chive drippings and 2 wet-naps. Perhaps I tied my hair back but inevitably might have brushed or flicked some butter into my long side bangs. Or maybe I am a messy eater. Ha ha, “maybe”. 

Even as you wrestle the sweet meat from the shells, you are also taking some of the rolls and dunking them or rolling your corn on the cob into the “soup” of decadent sauce? You can’t argue that the lobster epitomizes Jasper White’s philosophy of “Food is Love”

Flour Bakery, we stopped at the Central Square location- adorable logo, and their baked goods of snacks of cheddar scallion + brioche au sucre. I also got to try bite of the fresh mozzarella  basil pesto & tomato sandwich and those fresh ingredients with their own bread is moist and probably healthier then the baked goods, but hey. Maybe next time I’ll try their grilled tofu with olive and red pepper tapenade, or grilled roast chicken with brie arugula roasted red peppers and caramelized onions- sounds like a lot of potential.

Thanks L for all the recommendations of the above food destinations. Next stop: New York