Tag Archives: pop up
September 19, 2014 Party of Two: Stacked Donuts and Trademark Tarts – A Behind the Scenes Look
I recently met up with Stephanie Cmar and Justin Burke Samson of Stacked Donuts and Trademark Tarts. They have officially become Party of Two! We chatted at Fairsted Kitchen before their pop up event. You would think that they had been best friends since first grade (they complete each other’s sentences!), but really, they became friends when Stephanie started Stacked Donuts at the beginning of the year. What is amazing to me is that Justin is self taught – his creations are delicious. Here he is making a chocolate cookies and cream pop tart with Bailey’s frosting – perfect for the boozy themed evening.
And let me tell you, he didn’t skimp on the Bailey’s! Justin always thought that he would do this kind of thing later in life – like when he was 50. I’m glad he didn’t wait that long! I asked him if leaving a 9-5 and steady paycheck to focus on Party of Two was scary – and he said of course it is, but would it be worth it if it wasn’t scary?
Justin said that they learn something new with each pop up they do and that the best pop ups are the ones where the host restaurant really gets involved and excited (but they have all been good)!
Justin is definitely a baker – very detail oriented. He was telling me that one time he had to make the donuts using Stephanie’s recipe. She took one bite and said they were AMAZING, what did he do? To which he simply replied, “I followed the recipe”.
His second treat was a strawberry Rosé tart.
I asked where his flavors come from, are they genius ideas that come to him in the middle of the night? Do loyal fans request flavors? Are they crowd-sourced? He said all of the above! Did you know that Trademark Tarts is a finalist in the Martha Steward American Made awards. Please vote for him! The prize is $10K that will all be put towards opening a brick and mortar business! http://www.marthastewart.com/americanmade/nominee/94057/food/trademark-tarts
For the event at Fairsted, Stephanie made about 40 donuts. For events on the weekend, she makes more. Even at 10pm, when those donuts were put on the table, there was a very decent line of fans patiently waiting (if not frothing a little at the mouth).
You may recognize Stephanie from Top Chef Season 11.
Stephanie is a 2007 graduate of Johnson and Whales. She returned to Boston after graduation and started her career at Top of the Hub. From there she moved on to Ivy Restaurant. In 2009 she began working with the Barbara Lynch Gruppo, first at B&G and then at Stir. Most recently she was at No. 9 Park.
While they are focused on their craft, they also manage to have some fun along the way. Check out their instagram photos, Stephanie and Justin have a slew of selfies.
The lavender sugar donuts smelled amazing.
Rosé donuts were a big hit!
Check them out on social media to see where they will be next. They are at State Park today at 2, Moody’s in Waltham on Saturday from 2-6pm and Mei Mei Street Kitchen on Sunday at 11am.
Party of Two https://www.facebook.com/PartyOfTwoBoston
Stacked Donuts https://twitter.com/StackedDonuts
Trademark Tarts https://twitter.com/trademarktarts
Tags: celebrity chef, dessert, good ones, pop up
September 7, 2014 Party of Two Pop Up at State Park
By now you may have heard that Stephanie Cmar (Stacked Donuts) and Justin Burke Samson (Trademark Tarts) have officially partnered up and re-branded to Party of Two LLC.
What have they been up to this summer? They have been on a whirlwind tour – taking their sweets on the road to LA, Las Vegas, Chicago, Brooklyn and Portland, ME. And they have been getting some great coverage: Boston Magazine in April, again in July, Lux and Concord, and Eater.
I stopped by State Park on Friday to chat and get some treats. Justin made fruity pebble pop tarts.
And cookie dough candy bars…a little melty/messy but boy was is tasty.
Stephanie rolled out a chocolate Guinness stout donut.
She also made a white chocolate cherry donut and a sugar bruleee donut (not pictured). Did you miss them on Friday? Don’t worry, they will be at Fairsted Kitchen on Monday, September 8th at 10pm serving up boozy versions of tarts and donuts!
Tags: cambridge, celebrity chef, events, pop up
August 15, 2014 Waban Kitchen
Monday night I attended a tequila dinner at Waban Kitchen, owned and operated by Chef Jeff Fournier. Fournier previously worked at the Linwood Grill, Locke Ober, Excelsior, The Metropolitan Club, and Sophia’s. In 1996 he opened up his first restaurant, 51 Lincoln which has won numerous awards over the years.
Waban Kitchen is located right next to my favorite shoe repair guy that I have been going to for years – little did I know that this gem was just a few doors down. Waban Kitchen in conveniently located just steps away from the Waban stop on the green line.
Not only is Fournier a talented chef, but he is also an artist. Many of his pieces are displayed at Waban Kitchen. He has a website that has not been formally launched yet, but there are a few pieces up for sale: www.jeffreyfournier.com I asked him when he sleeps, and he just laughs.
A great table with seats between the bar and the open kitchen. Waban Kitchen has these types of pairing dinners once a month – check out their website to see what is on tap next.
Guests can see the chefs work in the kitchen from the dining room.
Chef Fournier comes out and thanks everyone for coming – he explains each dish in detail as the dishes are presented.
The bartenders squeezing fresh lime juice for the welcome cocktail.
We start with a tequila cabeza silver margarita. The flavor is smooth and clean, not too sweet with just the right amount of salt.
All the tequilas tonight are made with 100% blue agave – other tequilas, “mixto”, are when 51% of the sugar comes from agave and the rest is made with sugar from another source. Silver tequila is aged up to 59 days as opposed to anejo that has been aged up to a year in small oak barrels or extra anejo that has been aged 3 years + in oak barrels. Tim Murphy is on hand to school us on the tequila choices.
The margarita is paired with a three citrus shrimp and squid ceviche with cilantro, chili, tomato, cucumber and plantain chips. Ceviche is a dish made up of raw seafood that is cured in citrus juices. This dish was made with lemon, lime and orange juice. It was really tasty – bright and acidic with clean and fresh flavors.
The Pierde Almas Mezcal was served straight up. Mezcal generally has a smoky flavor and this is no exception.
The mezcal is paired with traditional chicharrones, a hearts of palm salad with carrot, red cabbage, jicama, toasted coriander and Mexicana crema. Chicharrones are traditionally made by marinating the pork belly skin on and then frying it. The resulting texture is usually quite tough. Fournier’s version is quite the opposite. They braised the pork belly and fried it with a saison mix. The salad was tart and acidic, really nicely balancing the saltiness and the crisp texture of the pork belly. The Mexicana Crema, similar to sour cream, added a nice creamy texture to the dish.
Next pairing featured the Corzo tequila silver, a really delightful flavor and it was quite smooth.
This was paired with the chicken sancocho, potatoes, tomato, cumin, fried yuca and cilantro. Sancocho is a broth based dish that Fournier also likes to cook for family meals in the kitchen.There was a very generous portion of chicken in the dish which balanced out the salty tomato based soup.
The final dish was paired with the herradura tequila resposado. Resposados have been aged a minimum of 2 months, but less than a year.
The resposado has been pared with the vaca frita, refried pinto beans, rice and salsa verde. The beans have been prepared by Stephen Hoddinott, Chef de Cuisine at Waban Kitchen. He and Chef Fournier have been working together for years now – they are a great pair and work really well together. Vaca Frita is traditionally a fried skirt steak or other tough piece of meat. This dish was tenderized top round marinated with raw garlic, tomato and dredged in oil and then a mixture of corn starch and semolina. At this point, I was stuffed to the gills. I wanted to power through this, but had to take half of it home!
And finally, for dessert, a tres leches cake with grilled pineapple and smoked pepita salt. This was paired with a herradura tequila anejo. A really wonderful dessert traditionally made by whipping egg whites and folding in the yolks and flour. The condensed milk and cream are poured over the cake while it is still warm to retain the moisture in the cake. It was the perfect dessert – light, creamy, a little sweet mixed with a little salt and smoke (from the grilled pineapple).
The service was excellent, the servers paid attention to detail and were very personable. The meal had a good flow to it and everything went smoothly.
Disclaimer: My dinner was provided compliments of Waban Kitchen, all opinions are my own.
Waban Kitchen
1649 Beacon Street, Waban, MA
Tags: casual dining, outdoor seating, pop up, restaurant, seafood
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- Posted under Events, Restaurants
July 30, 2014 Super Burger Bros. Pop Up: Level 3
On June 17th, diners headed out to Commonwealth in Cambridge for Super Burger Bros.: Level 3. For those of you that are unfamiliar with this pop up series, Chef Samuel Monsour, formerly of jm Curley and current brains behind “The future of junk food” pop up series and Richard Chudy, creator of Boston Burger Blog and co owner of the Skinny Beet, have teamed up to host these events that will lead up to the release of their new cookbook. A lot of fun people were at Commonwealth, including Rachel Blumenthal, Editor of Eater Boston and my fellow blogger Hungry Tommy.
The “Juicy Lucy” ($10) came with queso American, spicy ketchup, picked watermelon, and radishes on an S+S English muffin. The pickled watermelon really made this burger for me! We ordered the onion strings to go along with the burgers, there were thin, crispy, salty and delicious.
The “Mason Dixon Mashup” came with Johnny Cake Oysters, mignonette ketchup, pops slaw, and crispy leeks on a sesame seed bun. This burger was a little messy, but the oysters made it worth every bite. They offered a third burger that I didn’t order, Hungry Tommy puts me to shame as he always orders one of each burger!! It was a chicken fried pork belly club with red remoulade, smoked heirloom tomatoes, grilled romaine, and vidalia jam on white bread. I saw a few of these come out, and MAN were they ENORMOUS!
And of course I had to have dessert, just a simple scoop of strawberry in a waffle cup. YUM!
Missed this event, check out their event tomorrow, 7/31 at KO Pies: https://www.facebook.com/events/472219329548433/
Commonwealth
11 Broad Canal Way
Cambridge MA
http://commonwealthcambridge.com/
Tags: burger, cambridge, casual dining, pop up, restaurant
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July 27, 2014 Lend an Ear Corn Dinner at Sloane Merrill Gallery
Last Sunday I met up with my friend Melissa at Sloane Merrill Gallery for a dinner prepared by Josh Lewin of Bread and Salt Hospitality. Lewin is the former Executive Chef of Beacon Hill Bistro, and his business partner, Katrina Jazayeri, was named by Zagat’s as one of Boston’s up and coming bartenders (Belly Wine Bar, Cuisine En Locale).
Sloane Merrill is located on Charles Street in Beacon Hill. The multi level gallery was a great backdrop for tonight’s supper.
Guests were greeted with a welcome drink, perfect on such a warm evening. Guests ate at tall cocktail style tables – and roamed the gallery browsing all of the great art.
Lewin served us the famous popcorn that I was fortunate enough to have tried a few nights earlier at the SoonSpoon/Opus Affair movie night. It was seasoned with cheddar, sriracha and curry leaf ash.
Melissa and I both loved the corn and coconut soup with shrimp and saffron. It was served cold and was so light and refreshing.
Deviled eggs were made with corn aioli.
The tandoori spiced squid tamale were delicious – I love a good tamale.
Cornbread with cardamom and black pepper.
Tacos with smoked lamb shank, corn salsa and mango bbq sauce with corn on the cob served with persian lime and sumac butter.
The charred and raw corn salad was served with fennel lime and roasted garlic was one of the highlights of the night for me. It was light and summery, simple and yet flavorful and delicious.
The special dessert for the evening was a tumeric macaron with corn ganache. These were amazing, Katrina really outdid herself. They were so delicate and light, and bursting with flavor without being too overpowering.
Lewin had a fun surprise for Garry, two special desserts and all the guests sang him happy birthday! He turned 65, but didn’t look it – sharply dressed in his searsucker and lobsters!
Sloane Merrill Gallery 75 Charles Street, Boston, MA http://sloanemerrillgallery.com/
SoonSpoon http://www.soonspoon.com/
Follow Josh Lewin on Twitter
Follow Katrina Jazayeri on Twitter
Tags: beacon hill, bread and salt hospitality, josh lewin, pop up, soonspoon
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July 1, 2014 SoonSpoon Pop Up: Modern French Cuisine, Progressive Wines and Classical Music
Sunday night Opus Affair teamed up with SoonSpoon to put on a pop up featuring modern French food, progressive wines and classical cello music. Clio Sous Chef Stephen Marcaurelle (left) headed up the kitchen with his sous chef for the evening, Ryan Day (right), formerly of Sycamore. Brittany Casos (center), Assistant General Manager and Beverage Director of Coppa, was there to take us through the progressive wines chosen by Clio wine director Jonathan Fenelon.
The tables were simply set with butcher paper, letting the food be the star of the table.
The wine pairings for the evening.
The team arrived early to prep for the event – many of the ingredients were bought earlier in the day from the farmers market.
I was able to get a great preview of the night’s meal – check out that pork!
Potatoes for the main course.
Ryan prepping for the oysters.
Blueberry Tyme Lemonade was served out on the roof deck as guests were arriving.
Deviled Eggs with shaved asparagus, preserved meyer lemon and smoked trout roe were passed as guests mingled outside.
Cellist Shirley Hunt performed Bach’s cello suites 1, 2 and 3 in between courses.
1st course. Jonah Crab dumplings black vinegar, bitter almond and opal basil paired with NV Grolleau Gris, Haut Bourg Grandlieu, Loire
I was impressed with the level of detail put into each dish.
2nd course. Island Creek Oysters baby leeks, urfa pepper and sea urchin with truffle glacage paired with a 2012 Field blend, Cantina Furlani ‘Bianco Aplino’
3rd course. Burgundy Snails hazelnuts, green garlic and puff pastry paired with a 2011 Rose of Spatburgunder, Riedlin, Spatlese, Baden, Germany
4th course. Kurobuta Pork spring peas and rhubarb with onion-mint jus paired with a 2010 Grenache/Sciaccarellu/Niellecciu, Domaine Maestracci ‘E Prove Rouge’, Calvi, Corsica or a 2011 Xinomavro, Thiolomopoulos, ‘Uranos’, Nuassa, Greece
5th course. Pain Perdu milk jam, toasted oats and strawberries with assorted sorrels paired with a 2010 Chenin Blanc, Pithon-Paille ‘Belargus des Treilles,’ Coteaux du Layon, Loire Valley, France
Missed this event? SoonSpoon is taking the next two weeks off from pop ups, but check out tickets for Opus Affair’s “Big Party” on July 13th.
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June 16, 2014 SoonSpoon & Kitchensurfing Indonesian Pop Up Dinner
SoonSpoon and Kitchensurfing teamed up to host an Indonesian Pop Up dinner on Saturday night. Dishes were prepared by chef Retno Pratiwi and beer pairings were provided by Gabe Bellegard Bastos, beer writer for Eater. Chef Retno’s company is Kaki Lima. She describes where the name came from in the Kitchensurfing website:
Kaki Lima literally means “Five Legs,” a reference to the two feet and three wheels that make up the traditional, and moveable, street food stalls popular in Java. Kaki Lima roam the streets, the vendors calling out their singular specialties for all to hear. If they find a customer, they stop and start cooking. In my opinion, it’s the most fun way to eat. So like the Kaki Lima of my hometown Jakarta, I will come and cook for you!
The weather looked as though it might be a little iffy…but it held out, and we were able to have welcome drinks and light bites out on the roof deck.
Chef had prepared some delicious lemongrass iced tea.
We served shrimp with spicy pineapple as we greeted guests.
The menu called for 5 beers, but SoonSpoon added an additional welcome beer at the last minute. We started off with the Oude Gueuze Tilquin à L’Ancienne.
Kitchensurfing generously gave all the diners a $50 off coupon.
Here are the beers in order for the evening.
Chef Retno Pratiwi and her husband/sous chef Peter Gelling. Retno and Peter met overseas when Peter was writing for a major newspaper, she helped translate for him and helped with logistics. He joked that now that they are back in the states, the roles are reversed. Peter and Retno couldn’t have been nicer! It was a real pleasure having them cook for us!
The first course was Bubur Ayam: savory rice porrige with chicken, crispy soybeans and sweet soy sauce. Retno said that this is a dish you would typically eat for breakfast.
This was a great starter dish – sweet and salty, smooth and crunchy…yum! This was paired with the De la Senne Crushable Saison.
Second course was the Combro: grated cassave filled with spicy sambal tempe and deep fried. These were delicious, and not too spicy at all!
This course was paired with the Andechser Weissbier Hell.
Next course was the Urap: spicy vegetable salad topped with coconut – Retno’s mom’s recipe. This was served with the Anderson Valley Gose.
The next dishes were served together. Above is the Nasi Campur Kuning: aromatic yellow rice.
Sate Lilit Ayam: skewers of minced chicken with lemongrass and coconut.
Kering Tempe: crispy, sweet and spicy tempe. So delicious, and again, not too spicy – the spice was very well balanced.
A cucumber and onion salad.
Telur Balado: fried hard boiled eggs with a fiery hot sambal. All these dishes were paired with the Firestone Walker Double Jack.
For dessert we had Krim Mangga Ketan Item: mango coconut cream with sweet black rice. I think this was my favorite part of the meal. I wasn’t sure if I would like the mango, but it was smooth and sweet, simple and elegant. This was paired with the De Dolle Oerbier.
How do you find out about pop ups around town?
Missed this event? SoonSpoon’s next event is June 22nd. See the Eventbrite page here.
Kitchensurfing: https://www.kitchensurfing.com/boston
SoonSpoon: http://www.soonspoon.com/
Tags: indonesian, kitchensurfing, pop up, soonspoon
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June 11, 2014 The Good Ones: The Power Hour 2
Week 2 of The Good Ones Power Hour, where women come to network and make lasting friendships. See last week’s event here.
We headed over to the WeWork South Station, located at 745 Atlantic Ave. Check out the cool wall art in the lobby.
As I had mentioned in my previous post, all WeWork spaces have common threads, but each has their own distinct personalities. The conference rooms here are inspired by nature – love these glass doors!
All the offices have glass walls to make the space feel open and bright. I love this little meeting nook.
The sign at the reception desk.
The elevator bank makes a statement!
How amazing is this conference room table? Swings!! I’m pretty sure I would never get any work done here!
This weeks theme was nautical inspired outfits! Ariana Zadek Morris from Monster.com and Jennifer Brooke, co-founder of The Good Ones.
Ak Maral (Designer and Entrepreneur – Akmaral Design); Kimberly Giardino (Actress/Model with The Good Ones); Melissa Choi (Entrepreneur and Educator at Harvard).
Motto sparkling matcha tea was at the event, man is this stuff good!
Jeff Venuti, field marketing manager for Hint Water was there with samples of their new flavors.
Delicious cocktails courtesy of Deep Eddy vodka.
Organic Bath Co. was at the event with their Stress Less lavender sugar scrub and their naked body scrub. The 11oz scrubs retail for $27 and for every purchase made, Organic Bath Co. will donate to 1% for the Planet and other charitable organizations.
And Cocomama Foods was sampling their new line, Crunched Out. It comes in two tasty flavors, vanilla cinnamon and fudgy chocolate. The clusters are made from 7 ancient grains and the best part is, it’s gluten free!
Have a closer look at those amazing clusters!
Want to attend the next Good Ones networking event? It’s Tuesday, June 17th from 6pm-7:30pm. Email Carolyn for an invite to the party: Carolyn@TheGoodOnesBoston.com.
Tags: financial district, good ones, pop up
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June 4, 2014 The Salo Project
My friend Carolyn, of the Good Ones, invited me to cover a dinner put on by The Salo Project. What? Who? Huh? Yana Gilbuena is the founder of the Salo Project, an amazing Filipino chef. What is Salo? It means “large gathering”. Yana travels across the country, hosting a pop up in every state. This year, she is doing 50 cities in 50 weeks (you can email her if you want to open your home to the Salo Project).
So I signed up for the event (tickets are $50) and the address was released the morning of the event. I trekked out to a private home in Southie. Not sure what to expect when I walked in, I was pleasantly surprised by welcoming strangers.
We sat at long tables covered in banana leaves and we were going to eat only with our hands. Narragansett beer hosted the event, but it was BYOB if you wanted something else with dinner. Yana was in the kitchen, cooking away. She is a talented chef with a young spirit, a kind smile and an infectious laugh.
We start with rice…
Yana comes around to each table and adds to the rice that runs down the center of the table.
Atchara – Pickled Green Papaya, Carrots and Onions Salad with spiced Cane Vinegar. They had a kick to them!
Matamis Anghang na Dilis – Sweet and spicy anchovies.
Inasal na Manok – lemongrass stuffed chicken, glazed with a soy sugar and marinated with ginger. My fellow table-mates talk about other pop ups they’ve been to, their love of food and travel and their favorite ethnic cuisines. I walked out with 5 new restaurants I want to try.
Lechon Kawali – deep fried pork belly. By the time we get to this course, most of the people at my table are stuffed!
Inasal na Manok – grilled stuffed fish. This was a little tough to maneuver without utensils, but it was so delicious.
For dessert we were supposed to have purple yam ice cream, but Yana couldn’t find purple yams anywhere. So we had sweet yam and coconut ‘ice cream’, which was more like a tapioca consistency.
Check out Yana’s next events on her Facebook page. Next up Maine on June 8th, New Hampshire on June 15th and Vermont on June 22nd.
To learn more, check out her website.
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May 26, 2014 Langham Lobster Pop Up
Last Wednesday, May 21st, the Langham Hotel debuted their new lobster pop up on their patio – kicking the season off with a lobster roll eating competition. The weather could not have been more perfect.
Local celebrities were in attendance along with Radio BDC, who was broadcasting the event live.
Guests at the event were served mini versions of the lobster rolls.
The menu for the patio at lunchtime has three items: Creamy clam chowder, lobster rolls on a New England style bun, and strawberry shortcake. You can stop by Monday – Friday from 11:30am – 2:30 pm.
Our local celebrities competing today were: Planitz Collide – co captain of the Nutcrackers and a Boston Derby Dame, Henry Santoro of Radio BDC and Jenny Johnson from NESN’s Dining Playbook. They faced off against two contest winners from Radio BDC.
Their mission, to eat as many lobster rolls as they could in 5 minutes. Each lobster roll had the meat from a 1lb of lobster!
The Langham’s Executive Chef, Mark Sapienza was in attendance to judge the competition.
Planitz killed it, she had it down to a system! She came in a bite shy at the end of 5 minutes, with 3 lobster rolls under her belt! They crowned Radio BDC personality Henry Santoro the winner of the competition! Congrats to all! Check out the video on Instagram.
The patio will also be open after work as well, Monday – Friday 4:30-pm – 8:30pm and will offer the same menu as lunch in addition to dishes like lobster guacamole, chilled colossal shrimp and Mediterranean olive misto.
The Terrace at the Langham Hotel
250 Franklin Street, Boston, MA
http://boston.langhamhotels.com/restaurants/langham-boston-terrace.htm
Tags: casual dining, financial district, lobster roll, outdoor seating, patio, pop up, restaurant
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A Little Bit About a Lot of Things 