Teatro

If you are going to the theater, or movies, or just happen to be down by Tremont and Boylston Street, and are looking for a nice meal without breaking the bank (because we all know how pricy it can be down in the Theater District), I would recommend Teatro. It is great for dates or groups. It was a little on the loud side, I think because of the high ceilings and openness, but we were a group of 6 young woman and this didn't bother us at all; we had a blast!

We celebrated my friend Sarah’s 25^th birthday at Teatro last week. It was great! They offer a great variety of food with small plates to share or as starters, risottos and entrees. What I loved about the risotto is that you could choose an appetizer portion ($10) or entrée portion ($20). This is great if you like to try different things, and I tried two risottos. I wish I had also tried some of the small plates, but a girl can only eat so much!

I absolutely loved the wild mushroom and truffle oil risotto. It had great flavor and by far the best dish I tried. It was slightly cheesy, as risottos tend to be, but not overly so.

appetizer portion

I also really enjoyed the risotto with rock shrimp, tiny tomatoes and lemon butter. The shrimp dish is actually a pasta dish but they let me sub the risotto for pasta and I was thrilled! I love when restaurants do this and don’t give you a hard time or charge extra. This dish was a little heavier with the sauce but it was still very tasty and luckily it wasn’t a cream sauce (just slightly due to the cheese in the risotto) or else it definitely would have been too much. But the great thing about this was the amount of shrimp I got, so many, I was pleasantly surprised.

entree portion

Our server was great, very friendly, as was the rest of the staff. The wine list is a bit on the pricier side, but then again this is the Theater District, so what did we expect? I was not a fan of the white sangria, it was way too sweet for me. 

Gluten Free Menu Options:

Whipped ricotta w no crostini

·         Deviled Eggs

·         Marinated olives

·         Marinated mushrooms

·         Oysters

·         Tuna tartare

·         Beets

·         Octopus

·         Sausage

·         All the dry meets and cheeses with no crostini

·         Arugula salad

·         Caesar Salad no croutons

·         Carpaccio no croutons

·         Mussels no crostini

·         Tomato and mozzarella

·         Prosciutto and Melon

·         Risottos

·         Salmon

·         Rib eye

·         Scallops

Website: http://www.teatroboston.com/index.shtml#/home

Location:  177 Tremont Street, Boston (across from the Boylston T stop)

Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes (aka Mashed Cauliflower)

 My Aunt Cindy makes these at Thanksgiving. It started a few years ago when she was on the Atkins diet and she continued to make both regular mashed potatoes and these, because we (mostly me) liked them so much! I don’t eat mashed potatoes, I’ve never liked them, but this mashed cauliflower has so much flavor and I just absolutely love them!

In order to keep them a little chunky use a potato masher instead of a blender. If you like your mashed potatoes smooth, use the blender. 

Ingredients:

Raw Cauliflower – a medium head makes about a pound of florets
1 Tablespoon cream cheese softened
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese  (I use a little less)

¼ teaspoon minced fresh garlic
1 teaspoon chicken base or bouillon, you may substitute

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)

1 teaspoon Chives, chopped

1.     Separate the florets and chop the core finely

2.     Steam until tender (or microwave to save time). It is tender once you can easily pierce it with a fork, about 12-15 minutes. You can also boil the cauliflower for 6 minutes.
3.    Drain well but do not let cool.

4.    In a food processor, pulse the hot cauliflower with the cream cheese, Parmesan, garlic, chicken bouillon, and pepper until almost smooth. Pulse for even less time if you like your ''potatoes'' chunkier.     

5.     Garnish with chives and serve warm.

This will make about 4 servings.

Living Social Deal for Gluten Free Dinning at The Fireplace

Check out this great deal for The Fireplace in Washington Square Brookline!

The Fireplace has a great gluten free menu (brunch lunch and dinner!) and this deal is $38 for one appetizer and two entrees. I love the gluten free rolls here and can't wait to try the lobster roll app! I think this is a great deal because all entrees start at $26.

http://www.livingsocial.com/deals/443016?rpi=77317506&ref=personalized-link-box-77317506&rui=12657519

The Capital Grille, Chestnut Hill

The Capital Grille is not just a restaurant; it is an experience. I was super excited to go here last night with Jeremy to celebrate my new job. I have been once before to the old location on Newbury Street when I turned 21, but I have not been back since. This past winter I went to Morton’s during restaurant week, which was also amazing, but I do have to say my experience last night was far superior. I loved every minute of being there, every bite of food and every sip of wine.

Restaurant Week is great. For those of you unfamiliar with it, each participating restaurant offers a 3-course meal for $33.12. There is also a lunch 3 course and 2 course menu as well. You have the choice of one appetizer or salad, one entrée and one dessert. Restaurants will offer anywhere from 2-5 options in each category. This is a great way to explore and try those top notch and ridiculously expensive restaurants we don’t dine at on a regular basis.

I was pleasantly surprised that they offered gluten free bread. Even more surprising, is that they don’t offer dinner rolls, but raisin sandwich bread. I found this a little odd but I did love the bread, it was more like having a slice of toast before my meal.

It is one of my favorite kinds, both Rudi’s and Udi’s make it and I’ve seen it at my local Trader Joe’s.

For starters, I ordered the Field Greens, Seasonal Vegetables with Shallot Champagne Vinaigrette. Loved the dressing but the salad was only lettuce and tomatoes, no other vegetables. I did like the lettuce though, a lot, and I wish I knew what kind it was so I can buy it! Jeremy had the Cesar salad, which was just ok. The lettuce was a little welted. 

We both ordered the Bone-In Kona Crusted Aged Sirloin. This was without a doubt one of the best steaks I have ever eaten. It was exceptional, expertly prepared, and cooked to perfection. It was beautifully seasoned with coffee beans and peppercorns. The coffee bean flavor really came through and gave it a nice little aftertaste. It had a nice crisp, charred texture on the outside and was unbelievably juicy on the inside, and incredibly flavorful - mouthwatering. The Shallot butter had flour in it so it was left off, but it didn’t need it, I didn’t miss it one bit. The steak was impeccable on it’s own. Not much more I can say besides that it was amazing and Capital Grille really holds up to its name. I can’t wait for restaurant week next year!

Even though it was restaurant week, the portion was big, not downscaled at all, like some other restaurants serve during restaurant week.

For our sides we shared the mashed potatoes and Grilled Vegetables. The mashed potatoes were ok, Jeremy loved them, I’m not a big mashed potato fan but I liked the smooth and creamy texture. The vegetables were tasty and nicely seasoned. 

For dessert I had the Flourless Chocolate Espresso Cake. It was dense, rich and bitter sweet. It was thick like fudge and I really enjoyed it. I needed a glass of milk to go with it though! It was served with a scoop of cream, which I loved dipping the cake in and which gave it a nice balance. The thick fudge like texture might turn some people off, but as a chocolate lover, this was devine.

Jeremy had the Crème Brulee. It was also very rich, topped with fresh berries and vey nicely caramelized. It was good; it tasted like every other crème brulee I’ve ever tried, nothing outstanding.

Our waiter was great, and even remember Jeremy from the last time he was there with 11 of his friends, but who wouldn’t remember a group of 12 rowdy guys?  He was very knowledgeable about the menu, very polite and gave us just the right amount of attention, filling our wine glasses when empty but giving us plenty of time to ourselves. We never once felt rushed or neglected. This was one of the best dinning experiences I’ve had.

During the summer (July 9 - September 2) Capital Grille offers “The Generous Pour” Summer Wine Event. For $25 per person, you get to try nine remarkable wines, as many pours as you would like. This was such a great opportunity to enjoy and try different wines. I tried all 4 reds, one white and the rosé. The wines were good, nothing exceptional, but I did like trying so many different kinds and I would do this again.

I highly recommend checking out Capital Grille during restaurant week. They also have a gluten free menu. 

Website: http://www.thecapitalgrille.com/about/main.asp

Location:  250 Boylston Street, Chestnut Hill, MA 02467

                    900 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02115

Artu

When my sister turned 23 a few weeks ago we had a big family dinner at Artu in the North End (they also have a location in Beacon Hill). We all loved it. The food was great; everyone thoroughly enjoyed their meals. We went on a Sunday night and had the upstairs space all to ourselves.

I loved the ambiance here, semi modern but with the traditional Italian restaurant feel. Located on Price Street, right off of Hanover Street, it was little quieter than other restaurants right on Hanover.

Jeremy ordered the Veal Piccata was a flavorful dish of thin slices of veal, capers and mushrooms in a white wine lemon sauce. The veal was not breaded or coated in anything and was gluten free, as was the sauce.

I had the Frutti di Mare with gluten free penne. It was delicious! The penne was cooked to perfection, had great taste and texture.  The portion size was just right, not too big, and full of shrimp, calamari and little necks in a light tomato sauce.  The only down side is that they charge extra for the gluten free pasta but don’t tell you this ….until the bill comes, and it’s on there. But it was so delicious that this time I wasn’t too upset (and I wasn’t paying!)

My aunt also ordered gluten free pasta with her eggplant parmesan, which they made special for her without the breadcrumbs. The kitchen was very accommodating and I highly praise them for this.

My cousin ordered the Maple Glazed Salmon special served with mixed greens and balsamic vinaigrette. It was also deliciously, slightly pink in the middle, just the way we like it! He devoured his plate

My only complaint is that after telling the waitress we had two gluten allergies and talking with her about the menu options, we ordered 2 orders of the Mussels appetizers. The broth had flour in it. I was very surprised she didn’t tell the kitchen to omit it. She also told us she “thinks” the veal was gluten free, so of course we asked someone else to confirm this. She wasn’t the greatest waitress I’ve ever had, to put it nicely.

We brought our own gluten free chocolate cake ($35) from Modern Pastry. It was delicious! No one could tell that it was gluten free, and almost everyone ate their entire piece. One of the other waitresses came up to sing happy birthday and she was a riot! She was this little older Italian lady with such a great personality, I wish she had been our server that night! We even gave her a piece of cake! Just an FYI, they do serve a $2 cutting fee per person, but since this was a special occasion – and they won’t bring a knife to the table (so I’m not sure how else you could do it) – my mom did not mind paying for this extra service. 

Modern pastry also has gluten free muffins, whoopie pies, and biscotti. What they carry in store week to week varies.

Website: http://www.artuboston.com/
Location: 6 Prince Street (North End) and 89 Charles Street (Beacon Hill)

Forum

Last week I won a gift certificate to Forum. I’m not sure how because I don’t remember signing up for their mailing list. I was excited though, because I’ve been wanting to try it ever since it opened, about 2 years ago. So I decided to take my dad. 

It was a hot and extremely muggy day and we weren’t overly hungry so we decided to share a salad and entrée and a side and call it a meal.

The Grilled Shrimp Salad ($12) is now one of my favorite dishes in Boston. It comes with four decent sized grilled shrimp on top of a coleslaw-like jicama, avocado, and mango with a chimichurri dressing. It was to die for! It had a great kick from the cilantro – in the chimichurrti – beautifully presented and not overly dressed. The table next to use, the only other occupied table outside, ordered the Steak and Tomato Salad, which also looked to die for! 

The drink list looked really interesting, but seeing I had just walked 3.5 miles with my dad all I really wanted was an ice water and iced tea.

As an entrée we ordered the Salmon, I called that one the second I looked at the menu. My dad orders salmon 99% of the time we eat out. It had a crispy skin and was served on a bed of mixed pan roasted vegetables – brussel sprouts, green beans and carrots. Very oily. It was topped with an harissa sauce; hot peppers, garic, coriander, red chili peppers, and carway. Our waiter explained this to us, we had no idea what harissa was, and it was not spicy at all. I have a very low tolerance and I didn’t find it spicy, and it was so just so so, kind of bland. The salmon was cooked almost to perfection, I like mine a little bit more on the rare side. It was good, don’t get me wrong, but was it worth $26? No. For $26 I expected a delicious, savoring, full of flavor, melts in my mouth, piece of salmon. 

We also ordered a side of fingerling potatoes. Why? I don’t know, ask my dad. These were way over salted. And cost $5, really? I thought it was going to be a substitute for the couscous the salmon dish originally comes with, but we were wrong. My dad ate them so not all was lost. 

We left feeling full but not that gross overly stuffed feeling. I hate that. Would I recommend Forum? I would recommend having a drink and the Shrimp Salad. I’m glad we had the gift  certificate because I do not think it was worth as much as they were charging, especially with Atlantic Fish right next door, who knows how to cook a piece of fish. 

On the other hand, they do have gf buckwheat pancakes on their brunch menu. If I ever feel like paying $13 for pancakes - maybe a special occasion - I would like to try these.

Website: http://forumboston.com/index.php

Location: 755 Boylston Street, Boston

popchips!

Tasty and Healthy. Only 100 calories per bag, popchips make a great mid-day snack and fit easily into my desk drawer at work.

Great crunch and airy texture. I love the lightness and bold flavors. Not greasy at all, like most potato chips. I’m also a fan of the minimal saltiness.

My favorite is the sweet potato chips. They are a bit sweet, crispy and delicious!

All potato (14 flavors) and tortilla (4 flavors) chips are gluten free.