ladysprite (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ladysprite) wrote2011-01-05 04:23 pm
ladysprite) wrote2011-01-05 04:23 pm
Entry tags:
New Year, New Project
So, having spent the past two years with a project to push me and intrigue me and keep me thinking and excited, finishing the Cookbook Project left me feeling a little bit lost and bored. So when it was finished, I spent a little time tossing around new ideas. I thought about cooking my way through a book, but that didn't seem particularly interesting, somehow - no one book is all winners, and I know I'd get frustrated and give up about 3/4 of the way through when I hit a run of similar and boring recipes. I thought about cooking a recipe from every magazine that I own, and I'm likely to tackle that at some point, but it was a little too similar to what I just finished.
And then a woman I work with mentioned a project that a friend of a family member of a friend had taken on with her social group (how's that for tangential relationships?), and it just clicked, and sounded like a heck of a lot of fun, and enough of a change of pace to keep me entertained and interested.
So I am about to take on the Alphabetical Restaurant Project.
Over the next no-idea-how-long, I am going to go to 26 different restaurants, one starting with each letter of the alphabet, in order. No chains. For the purpose of this project, at least to start, I am defining chains as restaurants with more than two branches in more than two distant cities - I may need to revise this, but at the moment that's what seems to make sense.
I'm giving myself an open-ended time period for this, because it's going to be a little more expensive and time-consuming than the last project. But![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
umbran and I don't go out to eat too often, and at the moment I think our funds are such that we can take on a challenge like this. Plus, it'll help us expand the field of restaurants we're familiar with beyond the half-dozen that we tend to wind up at most often.
And that's where I'm going to need help, in all of this. I'm not a restaurant kind of person; I don't know a lot of what's out there, even when "out there" is within five miles of my own house. I want to learn about new places, and try new things, with this project, so I'm going to ask you guys reading this for recommendations. Even if you're not local, please feel free to chime in - I never know when I might wind up traveling and want to find someplace fun to go. Besides, half the fun of a project like this is sharing experiences, and that goes both ways.
Right now, though, what I need is ideas for restaurants that start with "A."
Any suggestions?
And then a woman I work with mentioned a project that a friend of a family member of a friend had taken on with her social group (how's that for tangential relationships?), and it just clicked, and sounded like a heck of a lot of fun, and enough of a change of pace to keep me entertained and interested.
So I am about to take on the Alphabetical Restaurant Project.
Over the next no-idea-how-long, I am going to go to 26 different restaurants, one starting with each letter of the alphabet, in order. No chains. For the purpose of this project, at least to start, I am defining chains as restaurants with more than two branches in more than two distant cities - I may need to revise this, but at the moment that's what seems to make sense.
I'm giving myself an open-ended time period for this, because it's going to be a little more expensive and time-consuming than the last project. But
umbran and I don't go out to eat too often, and at the moment I think our funds are such that we can take on a challenge like this. Plus, it'll help us expand the field of restaurants we're familiar with beyond the half-dozen that we tend to wind up at most often.And that's where I'm going to need help, in all of this. I'm not a restaurant kind of person; I don't know a lot of what's out there, even when "out there" is within five miles of my own house. I want to learn about new places, and try new things, with this project, so I'm going to ask you guys reading this for recommendations. Even if you're not local, please feel free to chime in - I never know when I might wind up traveling and want to find someplace fun to go. Besides, half the fun of a project like this is sharing experiences, and that goes both ways.
Right now, though, what I need is ideas for restaurants that start with "A."
Any suggestions?
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http://atasca.com/
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I'll be in Boston area (Marlboro) next week for work, and we should do a restaurant together... and it could even be "A"!
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When are you getting here? Restaurants are fun, but I think I owe you a home-cooked dinner, too....
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A home-cooked dinner would be for the win. If tomorrow works, that might be best -- drive to your place from Logan. If not -- any of Mon-Thur will work, though dinner time would have to account for driving time, as I won't be right next door the way I was last time I was down there.
I'm actually only at Arisia because of this business trip bringing me to Boston (area) the week before Arisia. Otherwise, I don't think I'd have added the extra travel to my schedule.
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And I know I've asked this before, but I can't find the answer saved in my email - any allergies or food restrictions?
Edited to add: I think I remember that peanut butter is a no-go; what about other nuts?
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I'm allergic to peanuts, but not to any other nuts. I don't worry about "may contain traces of peanuts", just about peanuts or peanut oil as an actual ingredient.
I am picky about vegetables, but will eat around what I don't like. I am not a fan of seafood, though fish is fine. I am fine with spicy.
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OT has three key benefits:
1) Make reservations online. No credit card (you never give OT a credit card). Last minute canceling with no penalty. Last minute reservations. Searching through geographic areas to see "where is there an open table right now, near me." Search by price range, locale (granulations as fine as by neighborhood, e.e. "Harvard Square"), etc.
2) The review system is more granular than Yelp's or anybody else's: diners are asked after every kept reservation to rate the restaurant on several things, including how noisy/vivacious it was. If you care about certain specific things, you can look them up.
3) By making and keeping reservations, you earn points. Earn 2000 points, you get a $20 gift certificate for any OT restaurant. Most reservations are worth 100 points, but restaurants which are trying to drum up customers in less popular times stage 1000 point promotions. There are lots of these, at excellent places, typically on weeknights and early and late Fri, Sat and Sunday.
Oh, and I forgot: 4) As mentioned above, you get a little survey in your email to fill out (optional, encouraged) when you keep an OT reservation. Not only can you rate the place and write a little text review, there is also a box for writing a message directly to the restaurant, which is not part of your public review. This is a much more convenient and reliable way of communicating directly with the restaurant; it doesn't betray your email address to them and doesn't wind up with the not going to the restaurant's spam filter. So if you were thinking, "Hey, that server was really wonderful, I should let her boss know," it's suddenly that convenient.
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It was a lot of fun!
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Two resources for finding restaurants: www.egullet.org and www.chow.com . Both have discussion forums grouped by location, and I'm sure folks will enjoy trying to come up with places for the oddball letters. :) I'm a member on egullet and an occasional lurker on chowhound.
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Also, to ease the budget, I recommend maybe signing up for Groupon. They very regularly have restaurant coupons, and there is never an obligation to get anything if you don't want it.
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"A" is for "Ahhhhh", the sound of a sigh of satisfaction. Which was about all I could do after my dinner at Antico Forno in the North End. http://www.anticofornoboston.com/ The quantities served weren't excessive, but the dishes were delicious, and the owner very warm and gracious.
I haven't tried Amrhein's in South Boston, but it has a good reputation. http://www.amrheinsboston.com/
There's another one lurking in the dim recesses of what passes for my mind, but it's refusing to come forward at the moment.
Edited to add: Aha! Got it! This one's been on my "to try" list for years, but I've had trouble finding folks both flexible enough and adventuresome enough to go with me. That's because, at least when they first opened, it was a "sit on floor cushions" kind of place. Also because you eat with your hands. The food is Ethiopian. The restaurant is Addis Red Sea, with locations in the South End and on Mass Ave in Cambridge. http://www.addisredsea.com/
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Or also Asmara, which is Eritrean and in Central Square on Mass Ave. (Both have chairs, although you still do eat from one central platter with your hands.)
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I've only been to Asmara, in Central, one time, a long time ago, but it was way to spicy for me and so I haven't been back.
Also, Al Fresco Restorante, at 382 Highland Avenue, was surprisingly wonderful. It's just outside Davis Square and serves Italian.
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One that comes to mind is Amelia's Kitchen in Teele Square.
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