A select group of Good Ones headed out to Beacon Hill to mingle, shop and meet some amazing founders at Follain.

The name Follain is Gaelic for “healthy, wholesome and sound”.

There aren’t a lot of restrictions in the beauty industry in the United States. Follain carries only the highest quality healthy beauty products available.

Check out this list of brands that they carry.

Tau Zaman and Dr. Nada Milosavljevic  (founder SageTonic.com) checking out the Sage Tonic mobile app. From the website:

The Sage Tonic mobile app is a modern sensory platform, which supports common mind-body conditions with the touch of your finger. Whether you are on the road, or at home, you can login on your mobile device to create a customized treatment just right for you. 

Our sensory platform provides a sense specific therapy to target common symptoms such as stress, fatigue, poor focus, etc. Each of your senses: sight, smell, sound, taste, and touch can be engaged in a personalized session you help to design. Based on your sensory selections a program is created to target your current condition.

Sage Tonic is an innovative hollistic program for wellness. The products are specially formulated, all natural and non GMO. High quality teas and tisanes include: Relax – lemon balm and passion flower; Happiness – green tea and St. John’s wort; Sleep – lavender and valerian; Clear Head – cinnamon and peppermint; Energy – black tea and grapefruit; and Focus – green tea and ginseng. They also have a line of essential oil towelettes. The line includes: Relax – lavender and neroli; Happiness – bergamot and clary sage;  Sleep – lavender and patchouli; Clear Head – peppermint and geranium; Energy – grapefruit and lime and Focus – basil and rosemary. I was lucky enough to take home a sample of the Relax towelettes and it was like having a spa moment on the go. You open up the packet and release the essential oils and breathe it all in – you can feel the stress melting away!

Ali Jawin, Adrian Wong (owner of Beta Burger), Suvd Tsolmon​. Check out my recent review of Beta Burger here.

Dr. Nada Milosavljevic and Christina Wang, Founder of Six Tomatoes, an international strategy and business development company providing strategic advice to clients in food & beverage, education, and non-profit sectors.

Katie Dolaher​, Jenni, Iva.

On left and right (Founders of Organic Bath Co.), Jay ​& Gianne, center is Follain Brand Ambassador.

Organic Bath Co makes a full line of body scrubs, body butter, body oil, body wash and more. When I’m looking for something scented, I love the “Stress Less” organic body scrub, made with almond, apricot, sunflower and calming lavender oils. When I’m just in the mood for the scrub, without the scent, they have a “naked” body scrub that is unscented but still exfoliates and hydrates, leaving your skin super smooth.

Matthew Tambiah​, Jen Burney (Founder Amber Blue)​. Amber Blue is an environmentally friendly organic skincare line. Jen is a master herbalist and aromatherapist – she makes all of the products in small batches and packages everything by hand.

Regan Cleminson and Dr. Nada.

Steve Osemwenkhae, the Good Ones super talented videographer, who is currently working on a no makeup series.

Dr. Nada​, Tara Foley, founder ShopFollain.com​, Carolyn, founder thegoodones.co.

Want to join the Good Ones in 2016? Check out their website: https://thegoodones.co

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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

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I received these as a gift – they are equally good looking as they were delicious. You can taste the quality ingredients used to make these chocolates – these would make a great gift for any occasion.

Paradis: Milk chocolate gianduja topped with crunchy hazelnut pieces. This piece was my favorite in the box. I love the mix of smooth chocolate with crunchy pieces.

A soft caramel dipped in chocolate. The caramel was buttery and smooth.

Piccolo: Classic milk gianduja wrapped inside a festive cone with a sprinkle of sugar.

This was solid milk chocolate with almonds I believe.

Prunelle: hazelnut buttercream, topped with a hazelnut and dipped in milk chocolate.

Chocolate brownie was probably my least favorite of the box.

Another salted caramel.

Honeycomb: French dark chocolate ganache infused with delicate honey inside a dark chocolate shell with honeycomb design. Honey sweetened chocolate seems to be all the rage these days.

What is your favorite type of chocolate?

Beacon Hill Chocolates

91 Charles Street, Boston, MA

www.beaconhillchocolates.com

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We took a leisurely walk through the Boston Common on our way over to Beacon Hill to the Soon Spoon/Opus Affair Paint the Hill event. First stop the Sloane Merrill Gallery at 75 Charles Street to meet Conor, co-founder of Soon Spoon, and pick up our maps. 30 local artists were stationed around the Hill while Soon Spoon and Opus Affair were at three locations with pastries and coffee by Kate Holowchik, pastry chef at jm Curley/Bogie’s Place.

First stop 1 & 2 Mount Vernon Square (off River Street) where Kelly Carmody and Dave Poutre were painting. Travis, co-founder of Soon Spoon was also there with lemon poppy seed bars with a balsamic strawberry swirl. Super tasty. We huffed up Mount Vernon Street and worked off some calories from the lemon poppy seed bars…

Second stop was 55 Mount Vernon Street (Nichols House Museum) where Greg Horwitch and Vcevy Strekalovsky (above) were painting and Graham Wright, founder of Opus Affair, was there with our next dessert.

Carrot cake cheesecake with pickled pineapple.

The beginning of Greg’s painting.

Flowers at the Nichols House Museum.

And finally stop #3, 32 South Russell (Peter Faneuil House, back garden off of South Russell Street.) Chef Kate Holowchik was there with her bacon s’mores brownies. Sally Casper was in the courtyard painting.

Kate previously worked at Les Zygomates in the Leather District before taking the newly created pastry chef position at jm Curley. Did I mention that she didn’t use any butter in this recipe, just the bacon fat she rendered from the bacon on top of the brownie….yum!

Check out Soon Spoon’s next pop up dinner! They’re partnering with Kitchensurfing!

What: Indonesian Family Style Dinner

SoonSpoon and Kitchensurfing are teaming up to bring you a 5 course family style Indonesian dinner by Chef Retno Pratiwi with 5 beers paired by Gabe Bellegard Bastos (beer writer for Eater).  Please join us on Saturday, June 14th to explore, share, and enjoy this authentic Indonesian meal. The menu will feature traditional and unique dishes such as Combro (deep fried grated cassava filled with a spicy sambal tempeh) and Krim Mangga Ketan Item (mango coconut cream with sweet black rice). 

When: June 14, 6pm Where: Private Home, Brookline How Much: $55 Tickets: http://bit.ly/1pGJJys

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We headed over to No. 9 Park to try out their tasting menu. At $112, you get six courses, with the option of adding the prune stuffed gnocchi, the foie gras and the artisanal cheese courses. We ended up doing the foie gras and the prune stuffed gnocchi, but by the time we got to the option of having the cheese course, we just didn’t have room (as much as we wanted to).

We started off with the peekytoe crab with hears of palm, pumpkin and apple. It was paired with a 2010 Chidaine Montlouis – sur Loire “Les Choisilles”. This dish came beautifully plated with a little ash on the top near the peekytoe crab. The dish was light, a great way to start off the meal. The wine was crisp and had a mineral taste to it that I really enjoyed.

Second course was the Scottish salmon with potato mille-feuille, pistou and cannelini beans paired with a 2009 Livon Ribolla Gialla “Ronc Alto”. I have to admit that generally, I don’t like salmon. I was hesitant to try this dish, but I ended up loving it! The skin was cooked, so you could eat it, and the potato underneath was delicious. Mille feuille is French for “thousand layers” and the term is generally used when talking about pastry. These thin layers of potato were so delicate and paired quite nicely with the fish. The wine they paired with this dish had a rounded earthy flavor. The white grapes from this wine come from Friuli

The housemade bigoli with celeriac, smoked salt cod, and calabrian chili paired with the 2011 COS Grecanico en Amphora “Pithos”. The name of the wine “COS” comes from three friends: Giambattista Cilia, Giusto Occhipinti and Pinuccia Strano. The (Sicilian)wine itself is almost orange in color which comes from putting grapes in clay pots and bury them in the ground – it is the most organic process of making wine. You can almost taste the clay along with some apricot notes.

The prune stuffed gnocchi with foie gras, almonds and vin santo paired with NV Veuve Cliquot Demi Sec Champagne. Our waiter tells us a story about Julia Child and Barbara Lynch, and how Julia told Barbara that she didn’t think this was a good pairing. The prunes are sweet and the gnocchi is light as air. I missed the photo of the seared Hudson Valley foie gras with black walnut, sweet potato and clotted cream paired with the Rare Wine Co. Modeira “Boston Bual”. I think at this point I hit a wall. I was stuffed. The food thus far was delicious, and so rich! What I can tell you is that the foie gras was delicious. I only managed a bite or two, but it just melted in your mouth. Our waiter tells us that back in the day, each port had it’s own variety of Modeira – which started when the grapes were being heated on the decks of ships.

The roasted quail with lentils, sanguinaccio (sausage) and chestnut, paired with 2010 Domaine de la Chapelle de Bois Fleurie “Grand Pre“. If I wasn’t full before, I am now stuffed, and feel like I should take a nap! The quail is tender – perfectly cooked. I think the sausage is a matter of personal preference – not my favorite, but that’s ok. I miss taking a photo of the local baby lamb with black garlic, broccoli and blood orange. I may be a bit tipsy at this point. The lamb is prepared three ways and is paired with a 2008 Mugo Rioja Riserva.

A little pear palette cleanser before dessert.

And as a finale, a dark chocolate bete noire with mint, meyer lemon, and cynar (a liqueur). The bete noire, translated as “the black beast” is a flourless chocolate cake served with a peppermint patty. The strong mint flavors really balance the richness of the chocolate cake. This dish is paired with  a 2007 Castello di Volpaia Santo del Chianti Classico.

And just when you think you can’t have any more, they bring out some delicious gingerbread cookies with toffee.

All in all it was a great night, exceptional food paired with good friends (and a few tasty cocktails). The service was excellent – our waiter was knowledgeable and gave us a great background on all of the wine pairings – each course was explained in detail when it was brought out. We are already looking forward to our next visit!

No. 9 Park

9 Park Street, Boston, MA

http://no9park.com/

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Vanilla Bean – Vanilla cake, vanilla pastry cream filling, vanilla buttercream frosting, white pate de glace drizzle, white chocolate shavings.

Oreo Cookie -Chocolate cupcake, Oreo filling, topped with Oreo frosting and Oreo pieces. Love that the frosting is inside the cupcake, how cute is the presentation?

Isabelle’s CurlyCakes

81 Charles St., Boston, MA 02113

1-617-720-2260

Sun – Wed: 10:00 am – 8:00 pm; Thu – Sat: 10:00 am – 9:00 pm

http://isabellescurlycakes.com 

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I really liked Mooo the last time we were there. This time, we were sat at a huge banquette in the front of the house, but in the corner by the hotel entrance. It was a little chilly every time the door opened and we had a prime view of the waiter’s station.

Located in the XV Beacon hotel in Beacon Hill, Mooo is a very modern steakhouse. I love the light fixtures.

We went for a celebration on a weekday. The restaurant and bar were both busy, I would recommend making a reservation.

Our waitress looked like she was a bartender, she arrived in a short dress and over the knee boots, not what we expected, but ok. We started off with the calamari, $16, that came with sweet and hot peppers. Really nice, really crispy with good flavors.

I had the lobster bisque, $14, that had one little piece of lobster inside, and was a little thin for my taste.

One of my favorite parts about this place are the sides. The Mooo mac and cheese ($12) never disappoints, really creamy and delicious. And I love the presentation.

The rolls, so delicious, come brushed with butter in a cast iron dish.

We had the mixed market vegetables ($10) which were tasty.

We all had the steak. I went with the  rib eye ($39) which was far too much for me to eat. We also had the steak frites ($38) and the 14oz sirloin ($43)

I love the presentation of the marrow butter and the herbs.

The steak is perfection. Juicy and pink on the inside, with a nice crust on the outside. One of the better steaks I have had.

For dessert, we share the bananas foster ($14) which is enormous!

We also have the apple pie ($10) which just hit the spot. At the end of the meal, we had eaten so much that you literally should have rolled us out of there. The service could have been better. I feel like sitting tucked away, you could easily be forgotten about. There were times when it seemed like our waitress had just disappeared. We had hoped that at this price point that the service would have been a little more spot on, but perhaps they were having an off night.

Mooo

15 Beacon Street
Boston, MA 02108

617.670.2515

http://mooorestaurant.com

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