Puritan & Co {SNAPSHOT}

This is a {Snapshot} of Puritan & Co. The original, detailed post about the restaurant as a whole is here.

Bryan and I stopped by Puritan & Co. for the first time this year. We'd visited it a few times last winter, but it somehow fell off our radars for the first half of this year. Even though Will Gilson wasn't in the house (he was at the Nantucket Wine Festival all weekend), the rest of the staff held down the fort admirably in his absence. Service was great, the food was all very good, and we walked away wondering, "why don't we come here more often?"

We started with the citrus marinated scallop (as an amuse bouche), and it was fantastic. The scallop was so sweet, and everything just came together very nicely in that tiny bite. I really was wishing I had actually ordered the appetizer portion of that dish.

Maybe next time.

We had a lovely starter soup that consisted of smoked pork belly, various beans, and a puree made out of . . . ramps perhaps? Alas, I cannot remember. I should have taken notes, but I did not. In any event, it was very, very good. We polished the whole thing off quite quickly. Of course, it was lovely to break that egg open and mix the yolk around with all the other flavorful elements of the dish.

We also tried a Crispy Pig's Head Torchon, which is made by mixing and rolling together various parts of a pig's head (organs are removed!) such as the cheeks, skin, etc. It was a tad rich for me, but Bryan enjoyed it quite a bit.
 Black Pepper Pasta ($17) with dandelion greens, guanciale, and spring garlic was absolutely fantastic. I loved the bitterness of the dandelion greens (my first time trying it!) and the pungent "bite" from the garlic. The freshly made pasta was lovely as well. I would most definitely order this dish again.
We were flabbergasted at how "rare" the lamb was cooked (a very, very good thing) in our entree, called Lamb Three Way. It consisted of lamb belly, lamb loin, and I can't remember the third one, maybe lamb tenderloin? The entire dish was incredibly tender and not too gamey at all. I'm going to hazard a guess that it's American lamb, which has a much milder taste than New Zealand or Australian lamb. Overall, the dish was excellent, with a lovely balance of flavors from fresh, seasonal spring vegetables.

If I go back, I definitely want to order more of that citrus cured scallop, as well as the pasta.

Gosh, I love spring ingredients.

Related Posts
Puritan & Co.
Garden at the Cellar
Cooking Class with Will Gilson
Tomato Vine Tasting Tour with Will Gilson

Puritan & Co.
1166 Cambridge St
Cambridge, MA

East Coast Grill (brunch)

Back when I was in college, there was a restaurant called Jae's Cafe in Inman Square that served Japanese inspired dishes, sushi, and the like. It had a sign right outside its door that said, "Eat at Jae's, Live Forever."

Next door to Jae's was an old sign from Dixie's BBQ (now part of East Coast Grill), which said, "Eat BBQ here, die happy."

Since then, Jae's Cafe (which used to have multiple locations in Chestnut Hill, Cambridge, etc) has shrunken down to a single location in Boston. The "healthy" sign is no longer in Cambridge.

East Coast Grill changed its focus to seafood in 1996. Though the "die happy" sign is still on the wall,  the window reflects perhaps a motto truer to their current focus: "East Oysters, Love Longer."

There was a time when we visited East Coast Grill all the time. How could you not? Their barbecue is excellent, they dabble in all sorts of interesting flavors (especially more exotic hot peppers!), and they even have a cool vegetarian platter that's really good.

Maybe it was the difficulty of parking in Inman Square, or perhaps the fact that you could never just show up and get in since it's so popular. It somehow fell off our radar for the last couple years (I know, terrible, can you believe it?).

Just a couple weeks ago Bryan and I got out of church early because of a special earlier worship service they were doing for the Christmas holiday. We showed up at East Coast Grill just a hair past their opening time of 11AM and easily got seated without a wait.

Of course, within half an hour, the place was packed. Thanksfully, by that time, we were well into enjoying some really fun, creative, and downright delicious brunch.

One of the most fun things to get at East Coast Grill is the "make your own Bloody Mary." They give you a TALL glass filled with ice, vodka, and a little spiced salt around the rim. A small costs $9, a large costs $11 (I'm pretty sure that's a large that you see in that pic).

Then you get to go to the "bar" and add whatever you want. The choices are dazzling and seemingly endless. Check it out - from left to right: Ghost Chile Jam, "Inner Beauty" Hot Sauce (Scotch Bonnet Chile and fruit puree), Smoked Chipotle Puree (smoked jalapenos in adobo sauce) . . .

Sambal Olek (Southeast Asian raw chili paste), Chile-Garlic Puree, Banana Guava Ketchup, East Coast Grill BBQ Sauce  . . .

Plus all sorts of pickles and hot peppers.

Add whatever you want to your glass filled with vodka. You are the bartender. Of course they give you a huge pitcher of tomato juice, which acts as your starting base.

Voila! I loved the Bloody Mary that Bryan made. It was packed with flavors and tons of heat from the various chilies and other ingredients that he added.

We enjoyed the Monterey Jack Grits which came with crispy smoked bacon and toasted hazelnuts.
Sweet Chili Glazed Smoked Pineapples ($2) came gorgeously seared and definitely had a slight kick, though the sweetness of the pineapple was much more pronounced than the spiciness.

Banana Rellena ($6) is one unique dish, comprised of a smoked pork stuffed banana topped with a generous helping of Inner Beauty Hot Sauce. Made from scotch bonnet, this sauce is really, really spicy. The sweetness of the banana is a welcomed relief to the intense heat of the rest of the dish. It's very good, but you definitely need to have heat tolerance. I could only eat a little before needing a break. Bryan loved it.

Two "Wicked Hot Links" ($4) were most definitely spicy and very good. They also sell normal sausage links if you don't like heat. Please ignore the weird neon green reflections. There was a green light above me that cast a funny reflection in all my photos. Rest assured the food is not psychedelic!

Special Breakfast platter of the day ($10) consisted of 3 eggs (scrambled), roasted sweet potatoes & red peppers, a sweet Italian sausage link, grilled toast, and garlic-sauteed kale.

I absolutely loved the kale, which was seasoned really well and had a hefty garlic flavor to it. The grilled bread was lovely, having an intense smoky flavor that I just can't recreate in the toaster oven. Everything else was solid as well.

Overall, we really enjoyed our meal. We especially liked trying so many different kinds of hot sauces and chili peppers. Even with that huge Bloody Mary, our entire meal cost only around $40, which we thought was extremely reasonably considering how much extra food we ended up taking home.

It's quite clear why there's always a wait here. East Cost Grill has fantastic food at very reasonable prices. It's rare that I get to come here, but I'm thrilled I had a chance to enjoy a fantastic brunch here.

If you're really into spicy foods, you should try their "Hell Night", a night when only "wicked hot food" is served. You'll most likely get to try the "Pasta from Hell", made from the super hot Inner Beauty hot sauce. Rumor has it that you have to sign a waiver in order to participate - the food is that hot.

Even if you're not into such spicy food, everything at East Coast Grill is executed well. We've never had a bad meal there, and more often than not, I come away pleasantly surprised at the interesting and unusual combinations of flavors that come out of that kitchen.

East Coast Grill
1271 Cambridge St
Cambridge, MA 02139

All Star Sandwich Bar Global Street Foods

Bryan and I are polar opposites when it comes to the way we eat.

Bryan never snacks; eats three square meals a day right on time (ahem, that is, if you count a cup of espresso as breakfast); and demands a proper, "real" meal for dinner. No sandwiches for dinner, please.

I'm the complete opposite. I love snacking throughout the day. In fact, my ideal day would consist of little bites every two hours or so. I don't have any such "no sandwiches" rule. In fact, I'm a sucker for casual street foods and love exploring them when I travel.

Imagine my delight when I found out about All Star Sandwich Bar's month long special on street foods.  Each week features a new specials menu full of sandwiches inspired by global street foods. Some menu items are obvious "sandwich-like" options, like banh mi (Vietnamese sandwich), whereas other items are more esoteric interpretations, like the tofu pad thai sandwich.

Chicken Schawarma
The owners are Greek brothers, so it's no surprise that they would have a classic Greek sandwich, the chicken schawarma (known as gyros in Greece), on their menu. This particular version has grilled chicken breast, lettuce, mint, feta cheese, citrus yogurt, charred tomato-cucumber relish, and mango tahini sauce.

The pita is nice and thick, very reminiscent of the fresh kind I saw in Greece. Frankly, I think many of the flavors (such as the mango or the citrus), are pretty subtle. This sandwich was reasonably tasty enough, but I couldn't stop thinking about the amazing gyros I had in Greece. These are still a far cry from the best ones I had in Greece, but they are definitely better than a typical Greek gyro you'd find at many local grinders here in Boston.

Jamaican Jerk Fried Chicken
The Jamaican Jerk fried chicken sandwich consists of hot sauce-buttermilk fried chicken drizzled with spicy habanero mango pineapple jam, applewood smoked bacon, jack cheese, watercress, red onions, and coconut ranch dressing on grilled sourdough bread. It was quite flavorful, although a bit too sweet and salty for me. I'm not sure how much I cared for the creamy dressing on the watercress, though it probably helped cut the strong flavors (e.g., spicy, salty, and sweet!) of the sandwich.

Kentucky Hot Brown
What is a Kentucky Hot Brown?
The Hot Brown Sandwich was invented at the Brown Hotel in Louisville, Kentucky in 1926 by Fred K. Schmidt. The original Hot Brown was an open-faced sandwich consisting of oven roasted turkey, bacon, and Parmesan cheese baked with white bread and topped with Mornay sauce (a béchamel sauce with shredded cheese such as Gruyere and/or Parmesan).  At the time, sliced roasted turkey was usually reserved for Thanksgiving, so the idea of using it in a sandwich was quite novel and unique. The Hot Brown became insanely popular and quickly became the top choice for most diners at the hotel (95% of orders!).

Although I've never had a real Hot Brown, I must say that the version at All Star is excellent. It was by far both of our favorites out of the three sandwiches that we tried. We loved the use of French toast for the bread. All Star's version also has thick-cut oven roasted turkey breast, along with arugula, vine-ripen tomatoes, applewood smoked bacon (also thick cut!), sharp cheddar cheese, and herbed Mornay sauce. It's fantastic and we both loved it.

Bryan said, "I would totally order that one again."

From Mr. "No Sandwiches for Dinner" guy? That's quite a compliment!

Like I mentioned before, the Global Street Foods specials change every week. On the one hand, it's fun to keep trying new ones. On the other hand, it's rough to see your favorites go.

Grilled Cilantro Lime Corn
We tried a couple classic sides, such as the grilled cilantro lime corn, which was fine, though the unevenly scattered cheese on top meant that some bites were much more flavorful than others.

Hush Puppies
I loved the hush puppies, which are jalapeno filled fried corn fritters served with a tabasco remoulade. They were crispy on the outside, moist on the inside, and definitely had a kick from the jalapenos! I'm pretty sure we polished off that entire plate.

7 layer bar
We were offered a 7-layer bar for dessert. I believe the bottom layer is a graham cracker crust (1), which is then topped with condensed milk (2), chocolate chips (3), peanuts (4), white chocolate chips (5), coconut flakes (6), and maybe butterscotch chips?? (7)

It was crazy sweet. I guess I can see why the server kept trying to offer us milk (are you sure you don't want some milk?). If only I had listened. It was OK, but I personally wasn't a huge fan, mostly because of the crazy amounts of sugar!

Epilogue
All in all, we had a fun time trying out the Global Street Food specials. I'm curious to see what sandwiches they come up with next. Supposedly they did a banh mi last week, and will be doing a Big Mac next. I'm sure they've got lots of other globally inspired sandwiches up their sleeve!

Now if only I could convince Bryan to come out with me and have sandwiches again for dinner.

Disclaimer: this meal was paid for by All Star Sandwich Bar

All Star Sandwich Bar
1245 cambridge st
Cambridge, MA