Wild Willy's

The Rio Grande Burger - Roasted Green Chilies and Cheddar Cheese

I love it when I learn cool and interesting things from the community of readers of this blog. Close to a year ago, I conducted a giveaway where the question was, "what is your favorite steak and/or burger place?"

Two places showed up over and over again - enough for me to notice. One was Peter Luger in New York City (not a surprise, considering it actually won a Michelin star in 2011!! - post coming soon!). The other was this humble little burger place in Watertown called Wild Willy's.

I finally had a chance to try Wild Willy's the other day to see what all the loyalty and hype was about.

French Fries

I soon discovered that Wild Willy's is unique in that it is one of the few (cheaper) places that serves grass-fed beef. For an extra $1.50, you can substitute grass-fed beef in any of the burgers on the menu. Grass-fed beef is a great option for a variety of reasons. Most notably, grass-fed beef is healthier. It's reported to be lower in saturated fat and have higher omega-3 content and than traditional corn-fed beef. I really like having the option to pay just a bit more for it.

"The Spicy Cactus" - Black Bean Veggie Burger

On top of the classic burgers, their menu offers various other interesting burgers such as the Annie Oakley (blue cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions) or the Rio Grande (roasted New Mexico green chilies and cheddar cheese). They even have a surprisingly delicious black bean veggie burger called The Spicy Cactus. I was surprised at how tasty it was - it had a crusty grilled edge just like a normal meat burger, and somehow the patty had tons of umami flavor. The salsa that was paired with the burger added juiciness and a kick to the burger. I was very pleasantly surprised.

Onion Rings
The burgers may not be as creative as, say Bartley's (still my favorite!) or the recently opened 5 Napkin burger. However, the menu has a solid variety that's sufficient for most people. Additionally, at around $6 a burger (or closer to $8 if you want grass-fed), it's definitely cheaper than Bartley's, where burgers run closer to $10.

I would probably say it's somewhere between Five Guys and Bartley's in terms of "fast-foodness" (you order at a counter and they bring it to you), though taste-wise I'm not sure if it's actually better than Five Guys. Bryan still says he much prefers the burgers from In & Out in California, which cost about the same (if not less).

The French fries and onion rings were quite solid, though the mac & cheese was forgettable.

Mac & Cheese

Overall, Wild Willy's has a good concept and executes it solidly: they provide no-frills high quality burgers at reasonable prices. Granted, there are better burgers Boston. However, if you're just looking for a solid burger and you're not looking to spend too much, Wild Willy's is a fine option.

If I ever find myself in Watertown again, I would most definitely be happy to return.

Wild Willy's
46 Arsenal St
Watertown, MA 02472

A Belated Happy Mother's Day

5-Spice Dried Tofu (Jen's mom)

Man, time really flies doesn't it?

I can't believe it's already been a year since I wrote my first Mother's Day post. As I get older, I appreciate more and more what our mothers have done and still do for us. Many of my friends are young mothers right now, and it amazes me how much work goes into raising good, happy, and healthy children. It's a bummer it takes us so long to realize and truly appreciate it.

5-Spice Soy Braised Beef Shank and Tendon (Bryan's Mom)

This post is dedicated to our moms (Bryan's mom and my mom). Last year I had highlighted some favorite family recipes that our moms made. I ended the post by pointing out two special ones that had been passed down through multiple generations. At the time, I had no recipe to share. Ha ha, in fact, I had never tried making those dearly-loved family treasures!

Soy Braised Pigs Feet - Jen's Mom

Thankfully, since then, I have not only successfully conquered the dishes, I have written blog posts about them as well! (both were entries in Project Food Blog). In case you missed it last fall, below are two of our favorite family recipes, passed down through many generations from China and Taiwan.

Chinese Rice Dumplings (Bah-Tzang) 

My mom makes the yummiest Bah-Tzangs (Chinese rice dumplings), tweaked and modified to suit our tastes. This particular rice dumpling is a mix of various regional nuances. It incorporates chestnuts, peanuts, and also the classics ingredients (pork, mushrooms, shrimp). My mom's version is healthier because it removes some of the pork fat which was used in my grandmother's original version. Of course, there's tons of flexibility in how you fill this thing, so it's really up to you! Add back in the fei zhu ro (fatty pork) if you want. :)

It took years to perfect this, but I'm finally pretty comfortable making these dumplings from start to finish. Click here to see step-by-step instructions for the fillings as well as how to wrap these Taiwanese Rice Dumplings (Bah-Tzang).

Savory Pan Fried Pumpkin Cakes

Bryan's mom makes these awesome pumpkin cakes every year for the extended family. She's the only one who knows how to make them, after learning the art from Bryan's paternal grandmother. Bryan's grandmother learned it years before from her own mom, who brought the recipe over from Xiamen (Amoy Island) in Southern China.

This is one of the most popular dishes in the extended Che family, and everybody requests it all the time. I finally buckled down and learned how to make it myself this past fall. Click below for the full details on how make these famous Che Family Pumpkin Cakes.

In loving memory of . . .
Finally, I wanted especially to honor Bryan's maternal grandmother, who passed away in March. She was an amazing mom of SEVEN kids! (Six girls no less!) She lived a full and wonderful 90 years, growing up in China and then eventually moving to the US. I was privileged to know her and had many chances to talk to her this past decade while she was living in California. It's funny, she only speaks Chinese, and since Bryan's Chinese is awful but mine's decent, she actually talked to me a lot more than she talked to Bryan.

Soon after she passed away, one of the aunts found her handwritten recipe collection. She was so kind to scan each page and send it to all of us! I can't wait to try some of the dishes in that notebook. I'll be sure to share some of them with you.

Heh, but first thing's first. I can't really read Chinese very well. Ha ha, I guess I should get working on those translations.

Rest in peace Grandma, and Happy Mother's Day to you too.

Chen Tuan Chao
December 20, 1920 to March 14, 2011

Tiny Urban Tidbits #19: My Visit to NPR's Studios in Boston

Some of you might remember that I had my first radio interview last fall. It was during the tense, final round of Project Food Blog when Boston's NPR station, WBUR invited me to come in for a radio interview. They were interested in interviewing me because I had made this animated stop-motion video of Boston out of vegetables. They even called me and asked me to bring some radishes so they could eat them on air!

I've been meaning to share that experience with you, since I found it quite interesting. I'd never been inside a radio station before, and it was really cool to watch them stitch together live programs on the fly.



The radio world moves very quickly since many of the programs are time-sensitive. Although I was originally slated to come in early in the week, important news on Tuesday took precedent and pushed my interview back to Thursday.

Thursday Noon
I arrived at the studio around 1PM. I stared in awe as I took in my surroundings: multiple soundproof, glass-walled rooms filled with people conducting live interviews and shows! You could hear the live broadcast of the station throughout the hallways. I was tickled by this one live interview because the host was trying so hard to diplomatically tell the interviewee that his time was up!

I then met Sacha Pfeiffer, the host of Radio Boston, who was really really nice! She found out I lived in Cambridge and we chatted for quite some time about our favorite restaurants in the area.

I had no idea what she was going to ask me during the interview, so I was a bit nervous. However, she totally put me at ease.

"Just talk as if we're having a conversation."

Thankfully, the interview was going to be recorded (not live!) and broadcast a couple hours later. If I totally screwed up, we could always retake something.

Well, we ended up not having to re-record anything! Sacha made everything so natural I really felt like we were just chatting.  I was shocked she actually ate one of my little MBTA radishes right on air (which, honestly, weren't flavored at all and probably didn't taste so good!).  She's such a good sport.

I was surprised how much fun I had at the interview. It was even more interesting afterwards to hear how they edited the simple interview into a produced clip, with music and everything! I can't imagine how they do it for the live interviews . .  .

If you missed it the first time around, you can hear the interview at the link below.

Holy Eggplant! Is that the Pru?
Article: Holy Eggplant! Is that the Pru?
Listen Now: Holy Eggplant! Is that the Pru?

Have a wonderful weekend!

Grilled Halloumi Cheese and Meyer Lemons with Spring Greens

Spring is finally, finally here. After a rough, rough winter, it really feels like a sigh of relief.

As you may know, I was in Greece a couple weeks ago. If any of you are thinking about getting away to "warm and sunny" Greece during the spring - forget it! It was just as cold there, if not colder than Boston. I ended up wearing all my warm clothes that I had intended for London (the first portion of my Europe trip). Ironically, London was warm and balmy by comparison.

Yes, I guess freaks of nature happen.

Anyway, when I was in Greece, I got to try one of my favorite cheeses there. Halloumi (or χαλούμι in Greek), is a traditional cheese originating from Cyprus. It is made from a combination of sheep's milk and goat's milk. What's unique about halloumi cheese is that it has a really high melting point, so you can safely grill it without it melting!

I am so in love with this cheese. It reminds me a bit of mozarella, but much more aged, complex, briny, and dense. It's almost squeaks a bit when you bite it, sort to like cheese curds.

Although this cheese used to be hard to find and only available locally in the Mediterranean region, it has become very popular more recently. Nowadays, you can find halloumi in many specialty markets all around the world. I bought mine at Broadway Market in Cambridge, but I'm pretty certain you can find it in other places like Whole Foods and the like.

Grilled Halloumi cheese from a restaurant in Delphi, Greece

If you can find halloumi cheese, it's really easy to prepare. Frankly, if you just grill it and serve it, it will already taste really really good. That's how I had it in Greece (see photo above), accompanied by a simple lemon wedge and some fresh vegetables.

If you feel inspired, you can also bring it up a level by grilling some Meyer lemon slices and stacking it all up into one pretty tower, layering spring greens with the cheese and the lemons.

Of course, if you don't feel like taking the time to stack, the dish will taste just as good simply thrown together like a salad.


This "recipe" is so simple there's really no need for one. However, for those of you who like some direction, feel free to use the "recipe" below.

Grilled Halloumi Cheese and Meyer Lemons with Spring Greens
1 package of halloumi cheese, cut into 1/4 inch thick slices  (about 8 oz)
Mixed spring greens (2-4 cups)
1-2 Meyer lemons, sliced thinly 1/4 inch thick

Put the cheese and lemons directly on a hot grill ( I used a preheated grill pan) and cook until nicely charred and slightly golden brown, flipping the cheese and lemons once (after about 3-4 minutes for the cheese and 4-6 minutes for the lemon).

If making a salad, toss the greens with Meyer lemon vinaigrette and top with grilled lemons and halloumi cheese. If serving in stacks, starting with a bed of greens on the bottom, layer the cheese, lemons, and greens in an alternating fashion in a stack.

Serve!

Michelin Stars Gallery

I just wanted to let you know that I've set up a new Michelin Star Gallery. It's a quick way for you to see all the Michelin starred restaurants that I've written about on this blog. The above collage is just a sneak preview. To see the whole thing (plus names & links to all the restaurants), click here.

Explore, and enjoy!

Trattoria Il Panino

It has been close to two years since one of our favorite neighborhood Italian haunt closed due to exorbitant rent increases. We always knew that Il Panino Express had another outpost in the North End. However, it's hard to choose a casual sandwich shop for dinner when you're literally steps away from the likes of Mamma Maria, Prezza, and Monica's.

So we never went.

But nostalgia can be a pretty strong force, and eventually I convinced Bryan to try Trattoria Il Panino "for old time's sake."

He finally relented and agreed.

Gnocchi with Basil Pesto and Pine nuts $15.95

Instead of actually going into the casual sandwich shop (Il Panino Express), we instead opted to go to their restaurant (Trattoria Il Panino).

One of my favorite dishes from Il Panino in Cambridge was the gnocchi pesto. I wouldn't even say it's THAT amazing from an objective point of view (they use pre-bagged gnocchi, not homemade), yet I always loved the thick chewy texture and the deliciously rich pesto sauce.Ah, such good memories.

I didn't exactly see my gnocchi pesto on the menu, although I did see a pesto pasta and a gnocchi Sorrentina. Bryan encouraged me to ask them to custom-make my favorite dish, which they happily agreed to do.

The verdict? It was very close to the original that I remembered from the old Cambridge location, so I blissfully enjoyed every bite while remembering the good old days.

Carpaccio Di Bresaola dried cured beef with arugula salad - $13.95
This simple starter of cured beef was quite nice as well. I really liked how the pungent arugula provided the peppery balance to the salty beef and cheese.

Baby Octopus Affogato garlic, white wine & cherry tomatoes - $14.95
The waiter strongly recommended that we try the octopus. The flavors were nice, though the octopus could have been cooked just a tiny bit less. I personally found the dish a tad salty for my tastes, although Bryan thought it was fine. We ended up taking a portion home to save room for our entrees.

Ossobuco Alla Milanese braised veal shank served with saffron risotto $28.95
Bryan very much enjoyed his osso buco. We were both tremendously impressed with the texture of the risotto, which was beautifully al dente and infused with a lovely saffron essence.

Lemon Cake
We ended with a simple lemon layered cake, which was very nice.

Overall, our meal at Trattoria Il Panino was pretty good, with all the dishes solidly executed. Nothing's particularly unusual or creative. Instead, the restaurants churns out solid, traditional Italian food.

It's not anywhere close to being in the same league as the really nice restaurants, such as Mamma Maria, Prezza, or Monica's. However, its prices are also lower (e.g. Osso Buco at Mamma Maria is $36), so it's unfair to do a direct comparison. Appetizers go from $10.95 to $14.95, pastas range between $12.95 and $18.95, while main entrees start at $19.95 and go up to $29.95.

It was a lovely meal and a great trip down memory lane. However, I'm not sure when we'll be back again. When you're in the North End, there are just too many other tempting places competing for my attention. Nostalgia aside, Trattoria Il Panino really can't compete with the likes of our other favorites, even if it costs slightly less.

Trattoria Il Panino
11 Parmenter St
Boston, MA 02113

Towne Stove & Spirits

Typically, if I see lamb souvlaki, Yangzhou fried rice, pappardelle with housemade ricotta,and lobster tempura all on the same menu, I get very very scared.

There's no way one restaurant could pull off all those dishes well . . .  or is there?

If you've shopped near the Prudential Center anytime in the last year, you must have noticed the brand new space right near the the main entrance of the mall. Towne Stove and Spirits is one of the newest ventures of Lydia Shire and Jasper White, arguably amongst some of the most famous chefs in Boston.

Towne bills itself as a warm, welcoming place where "people relax and enjoy steaks to share, lobster done eleven ways, and plenty of unexpected culinary surprises from around the globe."

One look at the interesting ingredients that dot the multi-national flag filled menu and it's clear - this is not your typical suburban chain restaurant unsuccessfully trying the multi-ethnic thing.

The menu at Towne is dotted with flags indicating the country that inspired each dish. Most of the dishes are not authentic. Instead, they are creative, upscale interpretations of dishes that borrow flavors from a country's cuisine. Dishes with names like "english pea soup with pork belly bap" clearly incorporate ideas from both England and Korea. Similarly, the lobster tempura is very New England in nature, yet is influenced by Japan.

The types of dishes on the menu are not a surprise. The bar menu alone has multiple different renditions of lobster, a nod to Jasper White's seafood expertise. The dinner menu reminded me a lot of Scampo, Lydia Shire's other restaurant at the Liberty Hotel.

I guess we weren't feeling too ethnic that day, and mostly picked dishes that were reasonably Western in nature.

Note - the menu has changed since I dined there, so my descriptions of the dishes are not word for word from the menu, but just my personal summary!

Pan seared scallops with pork belly cracklings over parsnip puree

Roasted beets with whipped goat cheese, watercress, and crushed hazelnuts

Duo of tartare (steak and tuna) with watermelon radish, deep fried capers, taro strings, microgreens, potato crisps

Skirt steak Wagyu

Key lime tart with macadamia nut crust, candied lemon peel, and sorbet

General First Impressions
Overall, we were impressed with the execution of the dishes. The scallops and the steak were cooked perfectly, and the overall flavors of all the dishes were very solid. I especially enjoyed the deep fried capers in my duo of tartare, which added a surprising zing to the muted tartare.  I like how there are many types of dishes at various price points on the menu. You can choose to order a $42 sirloin or a $16 pasta or pizza. Alternatively, you can nibble at the bar, where menu items range between $6 and $24 (most items around $12). The choice is yours.

Upstairs of Towne

The ambiance is festive, and I can imagine it getting pretty loud on the first floor (which has the bar). The upstairs is gorgeous, with an impressive view of the open kitchen. This space would be perfect for a corporate Christmas party or some other sort of celebratory group dinner.

Overall, Towne has the winning combination of good food, a nice space, and an excellent location which will keep it humming along for quite some time.

And really, who can resist such awesome water glasses?


Towne Stove and Spirits
900 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02115

Pinkberry

Bryan's family is from Southern California, so every Christmas we get the privilege of  enjoying a week of sunshine before returning to snow-piled-high Boston for the rest of the winter.

The past several Christmases, we never failed to seek out and visit (multiple times) the nearest Pinkberry we could find (usually about 7 miles away). Although I've tried many other frozen yogurt places, for some reason I have always liked Pinkberry the best.

Perhaps it's the bright, crisp yogurt flavor or the high quality of their fresh cut fruit. Whatever the reason, I always looked forward to Pinkberry as a treat - a once a year indulgence during my annual holiday trek out to California.

Imagine my sheer excitement when I found out that Pinkberry was finally coming to Boston! Not only that, a location just opened up right in Harvard Square a couple weeks ago.


Of course I was super excited when I found out the great news. Better yet, I had the wonderful privilege of attending the launch party, where frozen yogurt flowed and flowed. I've always been a fan of the plain yogurt (I actually most prefer it without any toppings! yes, call me boring, but I'm a purist). At times I'll venture out and get mochi or kiwi topping, which I like quite a bit as well.

Unlike me, most people love toppings, and the norm is to try several. You can be healthy and pick between a huge variety of fresh cut fruit. Or, if you prefer, there's no shortage of candy, crushed cookies, or various types of cereal from which to choose.
 
Mochi, pomegranate, and mango

I tried their new parfait, which mixes yogurt with granola and fruit. I have always been a huge fan of normal yogurt parfait, so of course I enjoyed this unique Pinkberry version.

Pinkberry was also introducing Lychee, their newest flavor. Although I thought it was pretty good, I still stand by the plain yogurt as my all-time favorite flavor.My friend actually thought the lychee was too tart and much preferred the plain yogurt which, ironically, was labeled as "tart."

All in all, I totally think Harvard Square can support several more ice cream/frozen yogurt places (still mourning the loss of my favorite ice cream place from Harvard Square). The more the merrier!

Welcome to the neighborhood Pinkberry!!!