Bond Boston (Langham Hotel)

As I get older I am sometimes appalled at how inaccurate my memory is.

Has this happened to you before? You swear by a certain memory until a photograph from the time period totally proves you wrong - like 100% wrong. No wonder eyewitness testimonies only hold so much weight.

Having said that, there are certain memories - the types that induce a certain deja-vu moment - that remain long after your conscious memory has forgotten about it.

I swear this happened when I walked into Bond Boston a few weeks back.

Bond Boston is in the Langham Hotel. This building was formerly the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, which explains both the restaurant name and all the money references throughout (large dollar bill murals on the wall, a vault in the basement, etc).  I had been invited to attend a media tasting of Bond Boston's new spring menu here.

The moment I walked into Bond Boston, I instantly felt a sense of familiarity.

The super high ceilings, the chandeliers, the location right inside of a fancy hotel.

It all seemed so familiar. Then it hit me.

I turned to Bryan. "Doesn't this look like Julian? Look at the ceilings. Do you think it's the same space?"

We had gone to a restaurant called Julian for a special occasion dinner back in college. It was one of our first "fancy" dates. It was the first time we had ever enjoyed a free amuse bouche before a meal. I still remember being absolutely tickled by the the "free" grapefruit sorbet palate cleanser that they passed out between dinner and dessert.

The Sawbuck: Greygoose  la poire, domaine de canton, fresh lime juice, basil leaf

Bryan had wanted to go there because they had these cushy armchairs you could sit in. For some reason, he thought that was so cool.

"No. That was in another hotel," he quickly replied.

Seeing as he's often right, and I tend to doubt my memory so much anyway, I took him at his word.

It wasn't until much later, as we were talking to the chef at the end of the evening, that he happened to mention "Julian" in passing.

"Wait," I interrupted, "did you say Julian?"

Indeed he had. My hunch was correct. We were sitting in the very space that we sat in fourteen years ago on our first "fancy" date.

Fourteen years is a long time. The traditional high-society French restaurant with the high-backed armchairs that Bryan loved so much is long gone. In its place sits a trendy bar that serves excellent cocktails and decent bites where, if you just look up, elements of glamour from its former life still linger.

If you look down, you'll notice that the high backed armchairs have been replaced with all sorts of comfortable seating, from plush couches to soft leather chairs. It makes for a much more relaxed dining experience. You sort of feel like you're sitting in someone's living room enjoying cocktails and savory bites.

We started with some homemade kettle chips, which were fantastic.

I must confess. I was really late. Bryan (patient guy that he is), held off on eating all the mouthwatering plates of food that were piling up in front of him so that I could take pictures when I arrived. He refrained from everything except these delicious house made chips, which were wonderfully crunchy and all around fantastic.

Stracchino Cheese and Heirloom Tomatoes
Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic

We moved onto these beautifully presented heirloom tomatoes filled with Stracchino cheese. I enjoyed the bigger tomatoes because they were stuffed with more cheese, thus giving a better cheese to tomato ratio. The green tomatoes had a pretty tough exterior (I think they are like this by nature), which made the entire piece a bit more difficult to eat. Although these were decent, they suffered from the fact that tomatoes just don't taste that good in the spring here in Boston.  The tomatoes weren't super sweet, were a bit tough, and somewhat bland in flavor.

Grilled Baby Corn with Espelette
Cotija Cheese, Aioli, and Lime

I'd never seen fresh baby corn, so I was tickled at the idea of trying some here. These were nicely charred, though I thought perhaps they were a bit undersalted. Bryan didn't like the addition of the lime juice, which I accidentally squirted over the entire dish. Oops!

Sweet Soy and Ginger Chicken Wings

These sweet soy ginger chicken wings were perfectly charred and nicely seasoned. I really liked the addition of the crystallized ginger on each "lollipop", which added a nice gingery kick to the wing.

Crispy Point Judith Calamari
Sweet Chili, Black Sesame, and Cilantro

The crispy calamari definitely had Asian flavors, reminding me of the Thai style calamari from Legal Sea Foods. It was sweet, spicy, and was pretty flavorful. The texture was decent, and overall it was a pretty enjoyable dish.

Vietnamese Spring Rolls
Shrimp, Chicken and Spicy Peanut Sauce

The spring rolls were fine, although because it's so easy to make these at home, it wouldn't be the first thing I would be inclined to order.

Flat Bread Pizza
Great Hill Blue, Grilled Stone Fruit, Pancetta, Arugula

Neither of us were huge fans of the pizza. The crust was thin but a bit too chewy for my tastes. Additionally, I found the blue cheese flavor to be too overpowering. Finally, I found the pizza to be overall too salty. I would not order this.

Lobster and Chorizo Quesadilla


Queso blanco and Sweet Corn
The lobster and chorizo quesadilla was Bryan's favorite dish of the night. It was not particularly memorable to me, but I do remember thinking it was reasonably tasty.

Sticky Toffee Pudding
Brown Butter Ice Cream, Bookers Whiskey Caramel

The sticky toffee pudding was originally a winter menu item and was meant to be seasonal. However, it was so popular that the chef just could not bear to take it off the menu. I'm so glad he did not! This was by far our favorite dessert of the night. It is fantastic - the cake is super moist and gorgeously deep and rich with the Bookers whiskey caramel. It went perfectly with the decadent brown butter ice cream.

Strawberry Rhubarb Gratin
Marscapone Mousse, Mint, Black Pepper Sable

The bartender brought over this bright, vivid drink to pair with the strawberry rhubarb gratin, which was nice and refreshing.

Chocolate Tasting
Milk Chocolate Powder, Guanaja Ice Cream, White Chocolate Brulee, Smoked Chocolate Cake

The Langham Hotel is famous for their all-you-can-eat chocolate bar. I've done it once.  It's kind of crazy, and definitely not something you want to do too often! They gave us various tastes from the chocolate buffet. All the components were pretty tasty, though at the end of the day I was still dreaming about that sticky toffee pudding . . .

I also ran into some other local food bloggers. From left to right - Meghan from Travel, Wine, and Dine, Lindsey from Beantown Eats, Dean (Bill's guest), Bill from Boston Foodie, Daisy from Indulge Inspire Imbibe, and Megan from Delicious Dishings.

It was nice seeing the old space where Bryan and I had one of our first ever "fancy" dates. Though it brought back certain memories, I was also shocked at how little I remember. I tried digging up a photo, but I don't think we took one.

As for Bond Boston, it's kind of a fun place. There's jazz on Tuesday nights. The cocktails are quite good, and the food is not bad, with a few gems here and there. I probably wouldn't trek all the way out from Cambridge to come here. After all, aside from the cool space, the food doesn't necessary make it a destination-worthy location. However, if I'm staying at the Langham Hotel, or if I happen to be nearby and feel like having a drink, this is a perfectly acceptable place in which to sit back, listen to some jazz, and relax with a drink.

Bond
250 Franklin Street
Boston, MA 02110


Disclaimer - I did not pay for this meal.  All of the opinions expressed in this post are my own.

Shabu Ya

Sometimes I just feel like eating something light and simple.

An aromatic broth, thinly sliced meat, and an abundance of vegetables.

When I'm in that mood, I often seek out shabu shabu (Japanese), or hot pot (Chinese). Although shabu is much cheaper to make at home, sometimes it's just a lot less hassle to pay the $10-$20 and have someone else take care of all that slicing, chopping, and washing of ingredients (not to mention doing all the dishes afterwards!).

The other day while we were in Harvard Square, I was craving just that - something simple, hearty, healthy, and warm. Our favorite shabu place felt just a bit too far away that day, so we decided to check out this local one within walking distance of our home.

The interior is bright and colorful, with trendy lamps, modern furniture, and tons of light. There's a sushi bar to one side, a huge "shabu" bar in the middle, and tons of other seating. The place seems to be filled with Asians, not a surprise considering the cuisine.

Things look promising in the beginning. Tiny bits of condiments such as fresh horseradish, habanero peppers, scallions, and Chinese "Satsa" sauce (BBQ sauce) come on this cute, modern plate.

The tables are equipped with induction stoves on top, which you can control by touching the nifty flat buttons. We order a spicy hot broth (check out that color!).

Most of the shabu plates come with meat of your choice, assorted vegetables, tofu, and noodles. The prices range from $12.95 (vegetables) to $20.95 (surf and turf). Although the presentation of everything was nice, I was not particularly impressed with the quality of the produce. The carrots and the broccoli reminded me of pre-chopped refrigerated vegetables that come from a bag. The other vegetables were average - sort of like vegetables you'd get in Chinatown, not ones from your local organic farmers market.

If you really want to splurge, they even have Wagyu beef from Australia ($29.99) and Oregon ($39.99). Our server wasn't very knowledgeable, and had to go back several times to ask about the difference between the two types.

After one round of questions, we learned that the Oregon beef was "better".

Bryan said, "can you tell us why it's better?"

She looked a bit confused, and then said, "hold on a minute."

She came back a few minutes later and declared that the Oregon beef was "more marbled."

Although it wasn't much information to go by, Bryan decided to spring for it. He's predictable in that way.

After having tried it, we both agreed that it's worth skipping. The Oregon wagyu beef, although tasty, wasn't that earth-shattering and probably not worth the significant extra premium price. It's nothing like the incredible kobe beef shabu that I had in Japan, which I would argue, is well worth the money (even if it was over $100 a person).

Because I had ordered a Korean dish, I was thrilled to get all the "freebies" that always come at the beginning of a meal in a Korean restaurant. These were solid, and I enjoyed them quite a bit.

My simple tofu stew ("suntofu") was delicious. It had tons of seafood inside, making the soup super flavorful, rich, and very, very comforting. It was exactly what I was craving. I was even content to ignore the bits of dirt (probably from the clams?) at the bottom of my bowl.

At $12.95, it wasn't a bad price at all.

The sushi, on the other hand, was below average, especially considering the price. Almost all of the fish (with the exception of salmon) had virtually no flavor and were reasonably bland. At $8.95 for 5 pieces, you can definitely do better elsewhere.

It seems like their sushi bar focuses more on the fun, creative rolls that rely more on spicy mayonnaise, tobiko, and various sauces for flavor than the actual fish. If I ever had to order sushi here again, I would choose to order rolls instead of straight up nigiri, which really needs quality fish to taste good.

Concluding Thought
I guess we had mixed thoughts about Shabu Ya. I really enjoyed simple yet flavorful tofu stew, which perfectly hit the spot. For simple Korean food, I may considering coming back.

However, I really was not impressed with the sushi, and definitely would not order it again.

The shabu is average. It's serviceable, for sure, but overall we just were not super impressed with the quality of the ingredients. I definitely would not recommend springing for the Wagyu. I think you can get a lot better meals in Boston if you're willing to spend close to $50 for your entree!

If you're in the area and you're hankering for shabu, the place will deliver. The broths are OK, the condiments are authentic, and the produce is acceptable. It's not terribly expensive (as long as you don't get Wagyu), and it's reasonably authentic. You can get your hot pot fix.

However, if you're willing to travel just a bit (we're talking maybe 1-2 miles), there are definitely much better places in Boston for shabu.


Shabu Ya
57 JFK Street
Cambridge MA

Coi

This is part 7 and the final post of the Napa Valley Adventures series. Other posts in this series: Ad Hoc, Bottega Ristorante, Joseph Phelps Winery, Etoile, and Terra Restaurant.

My husband is from California, and like almost all Californians, thinks that California is "the promised land" and "the happiest place on earth."

"Why would you ever want to live anywhere else?"

Yes, it begs the question why he lives in Boston now. Let's just say there was this girl . . . ;)

Having lived my whole life either in the Midwest or the East Coast, I like to think I have a more balanced view of the world, including the ability to appreciate great things about all different regions.

Having said that, there is one thing I love about California more than any other place in the U.S.

The produce.

Yep, the produce in California is astounding. Trying stopping by the farmers market at the Ferry Building (where you're bound to see produce you've never seen before), or visit the Berkeley Bowl, one of the coolest markets ever.

The abundance of fantastic produce allows unique restaurants like Coi to exist in California. Coi is really interesting because the entire menu is built around foraged ingredients.

Chef Daniel Patterson has been doing the foraging thing long before it became in vogue. He began 18 years ago when he opened his first restaurant Babette in Sonoma County. At Coi, he continues his commitment to the concept, creating menus that are so focused on foraged ingredients, they would "fall apart" without them.

Patterson remarks, "once you go down that road [of foraging for your ingredients], it’s merciless. You can’t just call a purveyor for a delivery because it’s cold and raining. You do it, every day, under every condition."

I've always been a huge fan of vegetables and herbs, so of course I was intrigued to see how Patterson's philosophy would play out on the plate.

Before heading out to Napa Valley to cover the 10th annual S. Pellegrino Almost Famous Chef Competition, Bryan and I snuck in a meal at Coi after landing at SFO.

The atmosphere at Coi is zen-like and inviting. It's on the quiet side, but it doesn't necessary feel stuffy. The service is excellent, and we settle comfortably into our cozy seats in the small and intimate dining room.

We begin with a simple amuse - brown rice crisps accompanied by a light and airy goat cheese "dip." Thankfully, the goat flavor is subtle. In fact, the dip is bright and citrusy, its fluffy texture being the perfect match to the delicate crisps.

For our first course, we taste "celtuce," an ancestor to our common lettuce which has more stems than leaves. This light, crispy vegetable is enveloped by an airy romaine heart and smoked oil foam. Perched on top is a most delicate tuile made from seaweed and squid ink garam. A tart beginning ends with a rich and smoky finish.

Next we enjoy an East coast Virginium oyster ("locally" grown in Seattle) served with radish mignonette and a basil gelee (not pictured - I know, I can't believe I forgot!). The oyster is sweet, mild, and not too briny.

A gorgeous little mosaic of colors (reminding me of another even more intricate mosaic I'd had a few years earlier) appears next. Dark purple cubes of cocoa-roasted beets sit interspersed with bright pink cubes of rhubarb gelee. Beet powder, yogurt, hazelnuts, and tiny little cilantro leaves complete the plate.

The tartness from the rhubarb nicely balances out the deep richness from the cocoa. I like the additional contrast from the aromatic cilantro and the crunchy hazelnuts.

"Allium" is a general term that describes plants in the onion family. It's large enough to include leeks, scallions, all different kinds of garlic, and (of course), onions. This dish includes various types of allium, including green garlic, spring onion & lardon purée, "allium", toasted breadcrumbs, and fresh flowers. I love the intensely rich flavors between the strong allium components and the fatty lardon puree.

Continuing with the green theme, we next savor a velvety asparagus soup with coconut foam and "green" flavors (lemon balm and lemon grass).
The next course is a playful take on an all-American classic: the movie popcorn.  On the left: traditional movie-style butter popcorn. On the right: grits made from butter popcorn that have been smashed, ground up, and strained over and over to attain this consistency. This is whimsical, fun, and actually quite tasty (though I wonder what part of this dish is foraged?).

Delicate ribbons of abalone "a la plancha" (grilled) resemble noodles when served with shaved fennel and artichoke. The dish is perfectly seasoned - a balanced combination of bright tartness and savory umami.

The only true meat course is lamb served two-way. First, we try lamb tartare from Anderson Farms in Oregon served with fresh sprouts and wheatgrass purée. Bryan thinks the lamb could use more flavor, though I personally love the wheatgrass puree. It is wonderfully "grassy" and herbaceous, and probably helps cut any residual gaminess from the lamb.

We end with gorgeously tender lamb poached in olive oil, smoked over pine, and served with wood sorrel, yet another edible wild plant that has been eaten for thousands of years.

I loved the "cheese course", a sheep's milk yogurt tart made with a beeswax crust and gooseberry sauce.  Even though the yogurt is salty by itself, the overall dish tastes sweet and tart when eaten with the honey served on the side.

Oro blanco (a cross between pomelo and white grapefruit) and ginger ice cream becomes a sort of palate cleanser between the cheese course and the true dessert.

Finally, a delicate soy milk and white chocolate silk with kiwi and a faux tuile on top.

We end with litte nibbles of a raw almond and honey tuile. I find this to be satisfyingly delicious. Though a bit cold (as if it came out straight from the refrigerator), it is sweet, rich, and just slightly chewy.

Overall Thoughts
I personally really, really liked Coi. Chef Patterson is very creative with his use of foraged herbs. In general, there were no flaws in the execution of the entire evening. Dishes were perfectly seasoned, flavor combinations worked tremendously well, presentation was gorgeous, and service was impeccable.

It's not for everyone, that's for sure. There are hardly any meat courses, and many of the dishes are subtle in their flavors. Bryan got the wine pairing, and almost every course was paired with a white wine save for the final few. That tells you something about the overall "lightness" of the dishes.

However, I felt great when I finished our meal at Coi.

Frankly, I almost never feel this way. Typically, after a multi-course tasting menu at a fancy Michelin-starred restaurant, I'm stuffed, slightly uncomfortable, and vowing to Bryan that we won't ever eat tasting menus again.

This was different.

I walked out feeling perfectly satisfied, even healthy, and really, really happy. I remember telling Bryan, "I really, really enjoyed that meal."

Bryan, your more-typical guy who enjoys a balanced blend of meat and vegetables, thought Coi was good, but acknowledged, "I think you liked Coi a lot more than I did."

We both agreed that execution was fantastic, and at the end of the day, it comes down to personal preference whether you'll just like and respect Coi or absolutely fall in love with it. Me, I absolutely think they deserve their two Michelin stars.

This ends the Napa Valley Adventures Series! If you haven't had your fill of Northern California related posts, check out some of these!

French Laundry 
Ad Hoc
Bouchon Bakery
Bottega Ristorante
Etoile
Terra
Redd

Coi
373 Broadway
San Francisco, CA 94133