Food
Who moved my vegan cheese? – Peace o’ Pie in Allston
In my free time, I like to club cows and steal milk meant for adorable, doe-eyed little calves from their udders.
No. Not true. But I do eat real cheese. I have no qualms about dead animals and animal products. But I did, however, eat at THREE vegan places last weekend, with no morals attached. I’ll talk about one now.
So how is vegan pizza at relatively newly opened Peace o’ Pie in Allston? Suprisingly awesome, that’s what it’s like. It’s right next door to vegan powerhouse Grasshopper (which I also ate at) and it’s a small, brightly lit and cheery spot that has a sign declaring, “Please do not consume non-vegan food in here,” or something like that. I mean, is it really that offensive if I bring in a latte? Ummm. Ok.
The key here, kids, is that the crust must really hold the entire operation. Vegan cheese, no matter how artfully made, will never even begin to approximate the salty, gooey, stringy pleasures of the real thing. (I’d say this slice could use some more salt to compensate for the relative tastelessness of fake cheese.) Peace o’Pie, in this respect, wins. Their crust is on the thicker side, a good amount of pleasant chew and crunch in the crust, and has a rich, organically-made flavor all its own. I’d say it could be a little thinner and have a bit of extra sauce, to add some moistness to what’s a drier pie with the fake cheese and all, but very good overall.
Their cupcake was also a surprising win, made moist with pumpkin puree and Earth Balance vegan butter spread. The crumbs were all melding into each other in the most fabulous way, with a wisely small measure of frosting since the cake batter was so rich. Who knew that vegan baking could be better than the kind that exploits cows? My friend happily inhaled two.
Also pretty funky: instead of parmesean cheese, you get a shaker with walnut crumbs and nutritional yeast. It tastes terrible on its own, but lends a bit of extra flavor that helps spice up the (relatively inoffensive but unremarkable) cheese.
International food porn – Quails on sticks, donkey meat, prawns.
Some underwhelming prawns at Private Kitchen 44 in Beijing.
Donkey meat in Beijing at Noodle Loft… like beef, but with a gamier, greasier mouthfeel.
(more…)
$5 appetizers at KO Prime
In the theme of trying out economically-priced bar specials, here’s a tasting of KO Prime‘s Prime Time menu of $5 appetizers. Friend Crystal and I tried out:
| Pressed Prime Rib Sandwich Secret Sauce |
5 |
| Steak Taco Cola Marinated Skirt Steak, Radicchio slaw, Avocado |
5 |
| Calamari Shishito Peppers, Yuzu Aioli |
5 |
The prime rib sandwich was by far the winner – great, dressed up comfort food. The the citrusy yuzu aioli and katsuobushi (dried fish flakes, common in Japanese cooking) were a nice touch to the calamari, but I wish they’d been fried to a crispier finish. Coming in last was the steak tacos, which yielded mostly radicchio slaw, very little steak.
If you like offal, they’re known for having great odds and ends… so be sure to check that out. Oringer also owns Toro, which I am dying to go to so I can give their pig ear’s terrine a try (recommendation courtesy of Boston food writer MC Slim JB) and their crispy veal sweetbreads.
The Harvard Final Club punch bowl
Sometimes these all-male organizations have parties that serve some kind of mysterious jungle juice that should never be imbibed.
Actually, it looks like someone mistook the sink for the toilet… FML.
Ok, now back to blogging about chocolate and braised bunny rabbits.
Wait, so you actually read my Twitter?
I got an email from City Table restaurant which opened last week. I had written an unfavorable review on my Facebook page that fed into my Twitter:
Lingbo Li Tried out City Table, which just opened in the Lenox Hotel. While it serves food until 1am, the crab slider tasted more like old mashed potato, the lamb slider was dry, and the fig and duck pizza had underwhelming crust and oversalted duck. The oysters were ok… :(
Which got tweeted as:
LingboLi Tried out City Table, which just opened in the Lenox Hotel. While it serves food until 1am, the crab slider tasted… http://bit.ly/J0G9T
Then today I got this email:
Hi Lingbo,Thank you for trying City Table. A little bird (Twitter) told us you were underwhelmed. We would like to invite you back as our guest to try something else from our menu to show our commitment to continuous improvement as well as our appreciation.Please let us know if you would like to accept our invitation.Thank you!Dan on behalf of City Table.