On Friday night we had reservations for Pabu before seeing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Boston Opera House. We opted for the dining room since we planned to order a la carte. The Omakase at Pabu is just too wonderful to pass up. At Pabu the Omakase is an 8-course chef's choice meal that includes hot, cold, sushi, and dessert dishes. 

Our Omakase began with the Happy Spoon. The spoon was filled with an oyster, uni (sea urchin), salmon roe, and Tobiko. Greg's also included a creme fraiche but I wasn't missing out! The bite is briny, slightly floral, and the salmon roe added a touch of sweetness. The 2nd course was an uni cream for Greg while mine was
a lobster and mushroom Chawanmushi. A Chawanmushi is a creamy and umami-filled egg custard. The third dish was a seared trout dish with daikon (a type of radish) in a couple of forms. I can appreciate the crispy fish but I have come to realize that trout isn't for me. The 4th course was a fried dish that was delayed a bit. Greg received a type of croquette while I enjoyed a maitake mushroom tempura. The tempura was crisp while lightly battered. I enjoyed the green tea dust however the added salt was overpowering. Course number 5 was the oilier nigiri pieces. The next sushi course was the more common tuna belly, salmon etc. My favorite bite was the raw Octopus. The texture and subtle taste was delicious! My least favorite bite overall was the Icefish. Once you get past the eyes staring at you the taste is a little too much on the bitter side for me.

Next was the pre-dessert course. We had a sushi roll made with plums and Tamago. Tamago is a sweet egg omelet served like a piece of cake. Our final dish was dessert. My dessert was a sorbet but since they didn't have any pre-notice of my dairy allergy I can't complain. Greg received a mochi dessert similar to the one we received last month but with different flavors. Mochi is a steamed rice dessert and in this case filled with ice cream.  ​

When I broke my foot walking around for a short amount of time became tiresome and we ended up eating out a lot. I'm happy to say that I'm back to cooking, baking, and creating new dishes!

I am loving baking breads right now! Baking breads in all forms (to me) are a true art form! Taking these recipes and making them dairy free is fun to put my own spin on things. I have my croissants from France, biscuits from the southern United States, and sourdough from Europe. I'm looking forward to expanding on these!

In the fall, I made dairy free polenta with different toppings, mini desserts, and carbonara with fresh white truffles. 

During the holidays, I decorated a gingerbread house, made dairy free cookies, a cupcake Christmas tree, together with my family my grandmother's tamales, choux au craqueline, french macarons, and most recently curried duck "samosas" with pineapple/mango chutney.

I'll be continuing to cook, bake, and create would you like to see recipes on this site that coincide with our travels? Comment below if you would!

Our New Years Eve was pretty relaxed and casual with Porscha. We made reservations at Cafe du Pays and I'm glad we did. We were welcomed into the restaurant and shown to a high top upstairs. The restaurant is charming and feels welcoming. Our waitress was soft spoken, friendly, and helped make our evening enjoyable. 

We ordered a half dozen oysters, sourdough bread, foie  gras, smoked head cheese, and poutine to start. 

I didn't partake in the poutine but Porscha loved it. The oysters were slightly briny and shucked perfectly. We also loved the large portion of horseradish. The sourdough, foie gras, and headcheese were all enjoyable but we didn't taste much of the smoke flavor on teh headcheese. 

For entrees we ordered the swordfish, ham, and the half duck. My half duck was definitely too much for one person but I didn't mind because it was delicious!! The duck was perfectly cooked, and the roasted garlic was delicious. Greg loved the ham dish and was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't too salty. Porscha tried swordfish for the first time and thanks to the preparation loved it. 

For dessert Greg ordered the sugar pie, and Porscha ordered the special of the night. I did take a Lactaid pill and try a bite and they were delicious!

On a very chilly Saturday we headed into Boston to visit some of Porscha's favorite spots and enjoy lunch together. Our first stop was to The Boston Public Market to grab a donut for breakfast. Unfortunately, Union Square Donuts didn't have the variety of vegan donuts that they usually offer. 

We skipped donuts and made our way into the North End. We found a table inside Modern Pastry Shop to warm up at. We ordered a couple of double espresso's, tea, and cannoli's for Porscha. 

Heading back out into the cold we walked along the Rose Kennedy Greenway and took some pictures of Glow. Glow are vintage neon sign from Massachusetts 1925-1970. 

The hopes of walking to Chinatown were high until a really bitter blast of wind so we walked back to our car and drove to a closer parking garage. 

I didn't look up the hours of Shojo prior to walking over to the restaurant and I wish I did. Oops...they're closed on Sundays! Luckily, this caused us to step out of our comfort zone and enjoy Dim Sum at Hei La Moon Restaurant. 

We were seated right away but had a few seconds wait for the table to be set. You aren't given any menus or asked what drinks you would like. At this restaurant you have to use your voice! A pot of tea was served to us and as the carts came around we tried to pick out what we would like. We ordered pork ribs, shrimp rice rolls, beef rice rolls, meatballs, Chinese broccoli, chive dumplings, sticky rice in lotus leaf, and egg custard tarts. The pork ribs weren't to my liking but everything else was really good. The best dish of our lunch was the sticky rice in lotus leaf. This dish offers sticky rice, pork, sausage, and a sweet/salty taste that was well balanced. 

We're looking forward to returning!

I have wanted to try brunch at Ledger Restaurant in Salem for a while now and I was glad this past weekend worked out!

We had a reservation for 3 and were seated right away. The interior of the restaurant is terrific. A mix of the old bank, modern classic black and white tiles, and natural woods.

For our meal we ordered a brown butter donut, pastrami hash, chicken and waffles, a breakfast burger, and a side of the candied bacon.

The donut came to our table first and Greg and Porscha enjoyed it. I didn't partake due to my dairy intolerance. Our three entrees came out but unfortunately our bacon was forgotten. Greg's chicken and waffles was addictively good. Porscha's burger was very satisfying, My pastrami hash was delicious without being overly salty. I loved having the small lemony salad as well.

We were almost done with our entrees when the bacon came out. At this point I was full but did try a small piece. The candied bacon is actually a very tender candied piece of pork belly. Delicious!

After brunch we walked over to "El Punto" neighborhood to check out some street art. Last year I was following along on Instagram with the Punto Art Museum as well as the artist Hula.

I'm so glad I finally made it! I was blown away by the numerous incredible pieces of art! 

The weather was freezing cold but all three of us just kept walking back and forth to enjoy the paintings. I can't recommend a visit to this area enough!!

For date night we had tickets to the Boston Ballet's performance of The Nutcracker. Before the show we had dinner reservations for our 2nd visit to Pabu. I was happy that Greg and I were on the same wavelength and booked seats at the sushi counter. It's nice to interact with the sushi chefs, the staff, and have a more interesting view of what's happening in the restaurant.

Instead of cocktails we chose a carafe of Sake and thanks to our waiters recommendation we had a balanced drink to accompany our meal. For our meal we chose the Omakase option (surprise surprise).

Our meal started with spoons of oysters, uni, and tobiko, and a ponzu creme fraiche. The dish was bright and creamy. Our 2nd course was a poached egg atop crab and a dashi gelee. The beautiful dish was understated and delicious. The third course was a seared fish (I can't remember which) with daikon and gooseberries. The fish had a nice and crisp skin, and the sides were both tart and sweet. Our fourth dish was a tempura of shiso leaves stuffed with uni and I think shrimp along with an uni spuma. The dish was terrific in taste and texture!​

Next was our sushi course. The chef made us 6 nigiri, 1 1 maki, and 1 temaki. We enjoyed some favorites like spanish mackerel, uni, and tuna belly as well as some new pieces like icefish.

​We finished the sushi portion of our dinner with the traditional offering of tamago (egg omelette). 

A short 5 minute was from Pabu and we were at The Boston Opera House. We passed security quickly and entered into a sea of people. Before heading to our seats we purchased a couple of glasses of wine. I was glad that I opted for white wine as the staff fill your cups right to the top!

The Opera House itself is beautiful, classically decorated for the holidays, and their staff are very welcoming. 

The last time I saw The Nutcracker was when I was in high school so I was worried I wouldn't enjoy it as much as my memories. The Nutcracker was beautiful, touching, funny, and definitely is a must see! I can't recommend it enough. I can't wait to go to the upcoming Boston Ballet performances. 

This past weekend we finally got to try Saltie Girl in Boston. I have followed them on Instagram forever and was happy this weekend worked out. We went into the restaurant and unfortunately it was an hour and a half wait. We put in our name and phone number and continued on with shopping along Newbury Street. 

About an hour later, we got a call that our seats were ready. We headed back to the restaurant and found our 2 seats at the bar. We started with a cucumber cocktail and a Manhattan. Our first round of ordering was the Torched Salmon Belly, Sea Urchin, Warm Spicy King Crab Roll, and the Foie Gras Toast. All of the staff seemed friendly, offered suggestions, and timed our meal nicely.

The salmon belly was savory and velvety in texture, a perfect bite. The sea urchin was delicious especially with the addition of a squirt of lemon. Unfortunately, the seaweed sat too long and it became chewy. The king crab roll had a hint of heat and was tasty but the sesame seeds were everywhere. I had sesame seeds on my plate, my hands, and in my teeth lol! I did appreciate our server getting us fresh plates at this point.

Our next round of small plates weren't that small. We ordered the Shishito Peppers, The Steak Tartare, and another round of the Torched Salmon Belly.

The shishito peppers were perfectly cooked, had the right amount of salt, and came with a citrus aioli that was nice and bright. The steak tartare was outstanding! We received a large plate of steak tartare topped with toasted brioche, and a small mountain of reggiano cheese.  The Foie Gras was the sweet end to our meal. The foie gras was perfectly seared the combination of sweet and salty was delicious. 

We can't wait to return to Saltie Girl and highly recommend it to everyone!

Greg's mother was visiting us and asked to visit Maine. Naturally, we were happy to spend a weekend in Bar Harbor!

We rented a house for the three of us plus Fred and couldn't check in until 4 pm so we made a day of the drive. Our first stop was Kittery Maine for some shopping for winter clothing. Before leaving Kittery we popped in for some bread at When Pigs Fly Bakery. 

Our 2nd stop was Portland Maine. We braved the cold to visit the Portland Head Lighthouse and trails. Afterwards we called in a lunch order to Duck Fat. When traveling with a dog in the winter months there isn't any outdoor seating so we took our to go order and enjoyed it in the car. Our sandwiches were enormous and the absolute winner was the Duck Confit Panini. The sandwich offers a variety of textures, sweet notes, and savory bites! The french fries were hot, lightly salted and crispy. Delicious!

We finished our drive to Bar Harbor and popped into town for a little bit before heading to our house. We pulled up to our 2 bedroom 1 bath house and felt very comfortable. For dinner we decided to enjoy a spread of items we brought from home. I have fallen in love with the offerings for D'artagnan. We enjoyed foie gras torchon, French cold cuts, bread, oils, and blueberry preserves that I made. 

In the morning our breakfast was croissants that I made and brought with us. Before venturing into Acadia National Park we stopped at Choco Latte for coffee. 

We drove all through the park and stopped for pictures at Thunder Hole, Otter Cliffs, Otter Point, and drove up to the top of Cadillac Mountain (even though it was terribly foggy). We had never seen the ocean so stormy in Bar Harbor and while we were chilly it was thrilling to see. 

In the afternoon we bundled up and went shopping in Bar Harbor. We bought some tea, maple products, shirts, and more while enjoying conversation with the locals. 

For lunch we decided on Lobster rolls from Peekytoe Provisions. We ordered two Lobster rolls, one Crab roll, and a few extra bites for later in the day. 

At dinner time we had reservations for Havana (one of my favorite restaurants in the area) but with the dreary weather we decided to stay in. We opted for wine and pickies from the night before and enjoyed each others company. 

Sunday morning we woke up to the sun shining brightly. The temperature was cold and windy but it was better than the fog.

After we checked out of the house we decided to take another drive through Acadia. What a difference a day makes! The ocean was calm and serene, the sun was bright, and the scenery stunning. Unfortunately, we can only assume that the winds closed the road to the top of Cadillac Mountain. We'll just have to have Greg's mom out again to take in the amazing views. 

On our way back home we stopped for coffee again and then the 4 hour drive seemed much easier.