Lingbo Li
Taste of Iceland at Rustic Kitchen, Boston, March 11-17
Icelandic Arctic char, potato and herb puree, pineapple
As part of Boston’s Taste of Iceland event (March 11-17!), there was much insanely delicious food and drink at Rustic Kitchen for a kickoff on Tuesday. Chef Thorarinn Eggertsson of Orange served up melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness, although he left out crazier proteins Icelanders eat. Here are my belated photos from the event, which I attended courtesy of the ineffable Christine of Citysearch. It made me miss my trip to Iceland a bit as I reminisced about the whale steak and rotten shark I ate there, along with things like geothermal pools and lack of daylight. And great exchange rates.
It was lovely meeting freelance writer Cheryl Fenton, Trish, and JustinCanCook – who gave me an awesome pizza recipe that I’m hoping to try out next week.
Giving Raw Food the College Try
I began to worry after I’d eaten my seventh banana in two days.
I had embarked on a three-day raw food veganism challenge, relying on fruit, salads, and some unroasted convenience store nuts to fill my uncooked days.
I had no blender, knives, or kitchen. I did, however, have a lot of homework, social commitments at restaurants, and HUDS produce. I already knew that gourmet raw food—which I had sampled at all-raw Grezzo in the North End—was a sensory delight. But my DIY approach smacked of banana-infested, blender-lacking monotony.
Toro Restaurant in Boston: Ken Oringer’s tapas
The streets are slush. It’s late, past 9pm, and the MBTA’s 1 bus is late, too – lumbering around the corner like the crankiest of grandfathers, bearing nothing but ill will and obligation. It wheels through Cambridge to Boston, ribbed rubber floor collecting more slush as passengers board. I have dinner plans for Toro in Boston. My dining partner boards at Commonwealth and Mass Ave, half grin, hat pulled over eyebrows. Off we go.
It’s late, but Boston’s Toro is busy. It is a Tuesday night, the kitchen closes in a half-hour, and the place is still humming with all the might of a scenester beehive. We wait as diners linger. Waiters zip through the crowd, dropping off fried treats: a platter of patatas bravas, crisp and golden, in front of a lucky diner at the bar. I’m jealous.
The bartender offers us a drink menu; I peer at it, but want to hold every last inch of stomach space for the food. The hostess apologizes for the wait and brings a peace offering: two perfect bites. I miss the explanation, but pop it into my mouth. Not bad. Then our table opens up.
I like Oringer’s restaurants a lot so far. Viscerally speaking: they’re slick, they’re full of people, and they have plenty of offal on the menu. He has this way of knowing, mysteriously, precisely what I want to eat. Or maybe he teaches me. The lows are not so low, and the highs are very high – an octopus dish at Coppa, recommended by the waitress, was so well composed it sang. My favorite bartender, Asher, keeps vigil over the swank environs at KO Prime and mixes a mean martini. Tonight, it’s a chance add-on of Erizos En Suquet, a catalan stew of sea urchin, lobster and crab meat. It comes red, velvety, and proves luscious on the tongue.
Russell House Tavern to open in Harvard Square
Chef Michael Scelfo
Update: Check out my Russell House review.
Word on the Internet is that Harvard Square will soon have another restaurant to add to its roster – Russell House Tavern, headed by Chef Michael Scelfo from Temple Bar. Its opening is set for late March or early April.
Their Twitter account is currently silent, although following and being followed by well over a 1,000 tweeps. What kind of food will it serve? According to a Craiglist ad calling for service staff, the eatery will have “seasonally-changing, classic American fare with contemporary influences, carefully-designed cocktails and a resolute selection of American wines and local craft beers.” Expect a focus on local, seasonal ingredients.
Scelfo’s Twitter chronicles a bit of the excitement: “confirmed on 1st equipment delivery for this thurs -my highlights: double hearth oven, large cabinet (cold/hot) smoker, immersion circulator,” he wrote yesterday.
It looks like he’s got some good people helping out with his new baby as well: “solid 1st impression from new crew at RH, everyone on board showed up to clean & organize. 3 weeks of cleaning ahead, always rule number 1” says a tweet from February 25th.
A recent blog post really gives away nothing about the restaurants menu, except that it won’t veer too wildly far from Temple Bar’s spirit – “I followed was to be mindful and respectful of Temple Bar’s style,” he writes, trying to balance competing interests.
Well, I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s got in store!
Lana Lingbo Li
I'm a world traveler / enthusiastic eater who's now blogging and producing videos over at HelloLana.com. Visit me there!
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