Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Boston and Grezzo


Lots of construction going on in Boston,
out with the old, in with the new?

The trip to Boston was short, but sweet.
Again, I can't say enough about Boltbus.
As we were riding back last night, I was comparing
the bus experience to flying on a plane.
Check this out....

1. You get to bring your own water. YEEESSS!
2. You are free to use the bathroom whenever you please.
3. There is wifi the entire time, and you can use your computer
and all electronic equipment the entire time as well.
4. There is no demeaning and redundant security checks.
5. You can use your cell phone whenever you please.
6. You can arrive at the bus station 10 minutes before the bus departs.
7. The bus leaves from the city center, and drops you off in the city center,
which means you don't have to transfer AGAIN to a shuttle or taxi
from the airport, which adds more time and money to your trip.
8. The time difference can actually be better on the bus, if the trip is around
four hours or less away. Anything further and it diminishes, but if you have wifi
and your cell phone the whole time, it would make it more bearable for
many passengers. Or there is always the good ol' books to read.

I think these buses are the future. Trains are still WAAAY too expensive.
The bus had about 60-70 passengers, which is the size of medium plane.
I am such a fan, and for a $35 round trip, Im REALLY a fan.

Ok...on to the goods...

Boston is really nice. So much cleaner and way tamer than NYC.
I felt like I was walking through a J Crew catalog though...
never seen so many polo shirts!



We were lucky to find a farmer's market in the City Hall plaza
and had a great breakfast of blueberries and cucumbers.

What a great breakfast...and those blueberries were INSANE.

I've been to Boston before, and honestly Im just not really
into all the tourist stuff anymore.
This dead white guy did this...this dead white guy did that.
Generalizing? Maybe...

Onto Grezzo...the real reason we went there.

We did the tasting menu, since we arent likely going to
be back up there for quite a while.
Glad we did it. Here is how it went.

Cream of Fennel with
Honey Tangerine and Hearts of Palm
EXCELLENT. Creamy yet light. Great texture.

Summer Melon Stew
with Mango, Lavender, and Thai Coconut Noodles.
Super refreshing and original. Loved it too.

The Grezzo Slider with real potato chips.
We LOVED this and are now trying to duplicate.
I liked the chips, Dawn did not.

Gnocchi Carbonara! These were great...
Hand rolled dumplings in a rawmesan cheese sauce.
Instead of bacon bits, they used marinated eggplant
which was then dehydrated...totally new for us.

These were the raviolis which were like candy.
The filling was fig, vanilla, and walnut.
Covered in a cashew cream sauce with some
hydroponic watercress on top.
SO good...nice to see a sweet twist on raviolis.

The seaweed salad...pretty good.
I liked the Wasabi Vinaigrette.

The breadsticks. OMG!!!
We ordered 3 servings to take home!
Check goneraw.com for the 411 on these...
totally wonderful, and I kid you not, they
tasted just like cheez-its! Is that even a good thing anymore??
I totally loved them.

This was a weekly special...the lobster pasta.
Lobster mushrooms in a saffron cream sauce...WHA???
Crazy good.
No...this is not SALMON! This was the marinated papaya steak!
You've got to be kidding me!! Marinated in nama shoyu
and agave, then dehydrated for a while to get the right texture.
There was a great star anise flavor too.
SUPER original. PAY ATTENTION RAW RESTAURATEURS!

Jamaican Key Lime Pie. Pretty good on its own.
I liked it more than Dawn. The allspice on the bottom
was nice, but the two flavors canceled each other.
And when you are eating the next item, its hard to compete.

Crowing achievement, the Rich Brownie Sundae.
I rank it #3 after the Pure Classic Sundae and
Au Lac's Chocolate X-tasy Pie.
Dawn might have a new favorite.
The brownie was warm too...unreal.
Pecans, dates, and cacao. So simple, so divine.
Don't you love the presentation too?

All in all, we were totally happy with it.
Grezzo seats about 25 people, and they get a good
deal of walk-ins from tourist traffic, so call ahead.

Ask for Fabiola if you can, she is AMAZING,
and knows a menu like no other server I've met.

Its efficient, and the menu is so progressive.
Leah Dubois is the chef and she likely deserves
most of the credit for this astounding menu.

HUGE props to her and Alissa for making this the
jewel that it is...hope they do really well.

That sums it up...hope everyone enjoyed the pics!


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