Today's 4th of July bonanza consisted of: Two veggie dogs (one with bun & fixins, one plain); an ear of grilled corn on the cob; four grilled sweet pepper wedges (i.e., roughly one whole pepper); a giant grilled sea scallop; a bottle of Sea Dog blueberry wheat beer, bought in Portland, and half a bottle of Sam Adams Summer Ale; a crazy dense chocolate oval dessert from Whole Foods; some WF berry, cake, & cream parfait with extra blueberries; and a cup of mango ceylon decaf tea.
This does not include what I had for breakfast or snack.
Al, Tony, and Maria substituted hamburgers and beer brats for my veggie dogs and had slightly different Whole Foods desserts, and I think all of them skipped the beer.
Like the Beaner, I'll be sad to leave tomorrow, but I can't wait to get home, work out, and clean out the refrigerator. I've had some lovely meals and treats on this vacation, but now I've got the urge to pare back a bit. The return to reality starts Saturday.
Al and Tony went shopping for our 4th of July cookout today, but I'll detail what they bought—lots of "Lori foods," Al says—tomorrow, when we actually eat the stuff. Today I want to talk about the dinner we had at Full Moon, a sophisticated restaurant in Cambridge that caters to families.
I don't think I've ever seen a restaurant with a play area (outside of McDonald's, that is), especially one that also looked like a neighborhood bistro and that served California cuisine. See for yourself:
I had two appetizers: The beet, goat cheese crostini, and arugula salad, and the cod cakes with caper mayonnaise. The former was delicious, with hot/warm beets; personally, I would have preferred the goat cheese sprinkled over the salad rather than on crostini, but the tastes were still absolutely right. The cod cakes exceeded my expectations in both taste and portion size; I was thinking two, and I got three. They were fresh, tasty, and had just the right amount of potato. The Beaner agreed that they were very good.
Al had the carne asada, which I didn't try (since I don't eat meat), and Tony had the penne puttanesca (sp?), which I did (yummy, and probably my choice next time, if I'm in a pasta mood). Maria had a bowl of mussels topped with frites; when I saw it placed in front of her, I wondered how I could have missed such an option on the menu until Tony noted that the dish involved chorizo. I probably saw that word and just skipped over the menu item associated with it, but on a future visit I might ask if I can get the mussels without the chorizo. They looked fabulous.
BigP had a hot dog, fries, and fruit, and the Beaner had quesadillas, fruit, and carrots, both from the kids menu. Both kids ate about half their meals (and as mentioned above, the Beaner ate about half of one of my cod cakes, plus most of the avocado that came with Al's dish), and both drank two sippy cups worth of apple juice mixed with water. (Sippy cups are on the menu (!), though I would just get the Beaner a regular juice next time. He was a bit offended when he was given an actual sippy cup rather than the straw version that we refer to as a sippy cup.)
I went over to the play area with the kids when I was finished eating, where I read Danny and the Dinosaur and a Dr. Seuss book about monkeys and drums twice each, first to a rapt Beaner and BigP, and then to the Beaner, BigP, a little blond boy who was probably just shy of 3, and even the kid who was probably around 6 who was reluctant to share the trains on the Thomas table. The little blond boy practically crawled into my lap he was so enchanted with my reading skillz. (I admit I step it up a bit when there's hope of drawing an audience of slack-jawed toddlers.)
Dessert was the only disappointment at Full Moon. Al loved his apple crisp with ice cream, but I didn't love my warm chocolate pudding cake. It was OK, but a little burn-y tasting around the edges. Next time I'll try the maple bread pudding.
Overall, it was a delightful meal, and the kid-friendly atmosphere was incredible. For those not dining with children, here's a tip: Most of the families are gone by 8pm. :-)
We started the morning in Portland, where we again visited the Standard Baking Company for both gifts for our Boston hosts and breakfast treats for ourselves. I tried the seasonal fruit buckle for the first time, and like the brownies, scones, and molasses cookies, it's outstanding.
We stopped at a rest area for coffee, where I was obliged to take advantage of Starbucks' "Your beverage should be right every time. If it isn't, we'll make it again" policy. The first decaf tall latte was undrinkable; the second, near-perfect. Glad the barista took the policy to heart and then put that heart into the second attempt.
Upon arriving here in Belmont, Mass, we placed an order for pickup at the local diner. I was surprised but thrilled to see that they offered not only breakfast all day—which meant that I could finally have the egg sandwich I'd been craving since we'd visited the bakery—but also veggie sausage among the meat options and goat among the cheese options. The egg-over-hard sandwich with veggie sausage and goat cheese on an english muffin could only have been made better by the addition of arugula. In the arugula's absence, it was still delicious.
Finally, we had for dinner what Al calls the best meal he's had all week: dinner at New Ginza in Watertown. I think Al had a shrimp tempura roll (it had a name, but I can't remember what it was), and I had another can't-remember-the-name roll that involved ebi, mango, spicy mayonnaise sauce, and tempura crumbles. I also got a spicy tuna roll with avocado instead of cucumber ("no problem," said the friendly waitress to several of our special requests) and an order of hotategai (scallop)—the latter so fresh and sweet that I immediately ordered a second set. It tasted great with the spicy mayo sauce from the mango roll.
There will likely be tales of more culinary indulgences through Saturday, and then the twelve days leading up to my trip to San Francisco (and BlogHer) will be filled with weigh-ins, remorse, calorie-counting, and tricks to get the most fill and flavor in the fewest number of Points (remembered from my Weight Watchers days in the late 90s and still used periodically today). Once in San Francisco, the talk will probably be all about cocktails and Mexican food. Stay tuned.
I was all set to write a lovely first-day-of-July post on this month's NaBloPoMo theme of FOOD, but the hotel Internet has gone down, and I'm stuck typing on my iPhone's virtual keyboard with one thumb. I'll come back tomorrow and add links, but for now I just need to recommend a few things to try if you find yourself in Portland, Maine.
Standard Baking Company - At the back of the parking lot next to the Hilton Garden Inn on Commercial Street. Try one of everything, especially the blueberry oatmeal scones, the molasses cookies (get a whole package of those), and the brownies.
Coastal Confections "Rivermill" bar - Dark chocolate with Maine sea salt. Outstanding! Like a chocolate covered pretzel, only with much better chocolate and without the pretzel getting in the way. Available at La Roux kitchen supply on Commercial Street.
The sandwich counter at the Public Market House - I had a grilled cheese on three-seeded bread with cheddar, smoked mozzarella, and tomato, and it was delicious. The market's at 28 Monument Square.
The Merry Table Creperie - I'm not usually a crepe person, but I was lured by the promise of a Nicoise salad and mission figs with mascarpone (the dessert special today). Both were excellent, and the leek, mushroom, and goat cheese crepe I also had was the very definition of savory. The Beaner's berry crepe was delicious, too. The restaurant is on Wharf Street, which is closed to cars.
I'm an introvert. You are a wonderful person and I like you. But now please shush.
Jonathan Rauch
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