About a month ago, I was invited to check out Committee’s new patio. Committee is a new Mediterranean restaurant in the Seaport.

The afternoon was a blast, check out my instagram videos here and here. The party featured tiki drinks from the patio bar, bites from Chef Geoff Lukas and live music.

The patio has some really great lounge furniture and cool reclaimed wood cocktail tables.

I had the sangria and the lamb.

Let’s take a closer look at the lamb – it was so tender with a nice smoke flavor from the grill.

Here is a closer look at the chicken.

The regular dinner menu has a great selection of both warm and cold small plates. They have flavorful options like: Carrot and Date Salad  almonds, ginger, Moroccan herbs, Grape Leaf Dolmades  rice, sumac, pine nut, Gemisti Melitzana  stuffed eggplant, spiced tomatoes, feta, fried onions and Batata Mahshi  sweet potato, cumin-scented pork, tamarind, Aleppo.

Committee

50 Northern Ave., Boston, MA

http://committeeboston.com

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Last week I headed into Downtown Crossing for a very special evening. The weather was perfect so I walked around a bit and snapped a few photos before I headed in.

The event was Malbec and Mushrooms and it was held at Sip Wine Bar and Kitchen. Sip has been open since 2012 and is part of the Legendary Restaurant Group that also owns Papagayo, Scollay Square and Burger Dive. Our host for the evening was co-owner of Legendary Restaurant Group, Chef Chris Damian.

The wines for the evening were provided by Catena, who has the top selling Agentine Malbec, with over fifteen 90+ ratings in the past 6 vintages. On hand was winery managing director, Dr. Laura Catena. Dr. Catena is an amazing woman, not only is she a fourth generation Argentine vintner, but she is also an emergency room doctor out in San Francisco and the author of the first book about Argentine wine in English.

The event featured dishes by three top chefs from Boston. The first dish was made by Chef Rachel Klein of Liquid Art house. Chef Klein will be opening up her own restaurant in Needham, MA in the spring – I can’t wait! Chef Klein has worked as the Executive Chef at XO in Providence, she opened OM restaurant in Harvard Square, and was the Executive Chef at the Mandarin Oriental and Asana. Her dish this evening was a wild mushroom toast with a quail egg, candied bacon, Parmigiano-Reggiano and Medjool dates. It was so delicious, I may have had two! Catena gave each chef who participated in the evening a donation for their charity of choice. Chef Klein chose ROCKs,  an initiative in partnership with Boston Children’s Hospital that brings together patients, families, and local culinary leaders.

The second dish was made by Chef Josh Lewin of Bread and Salt Hospitality. He and his partner Katrina Jazayeri will be opening Juliet in Somerville. Check out my previous posts on Josh’s cooking here. Chef Lewin started off at Beacon Hill Bistro in 2010 and in just two years, became Executive Chef. He left in 2014 to focus on Bread and Salt and opened Bread and Salt at Wink and Nod for 7 months. Chef Lewin made a beautiful consommé with brown butter creamed mushrooms, pain perdue, mirepoix. The consommé was so flavorful and the presentation was beautiful. Chef Lewin’s charity for the evening was the Boston’s Wounded Vet Run, with proceeds going towards housing modifications to suite disabled veterans.

And last but certainly not least, Chef Jason Bond of Bondir Concord and Bondir Cambridge, served up a delicious roasted black futsu squash with Hen of the Wood mushrooms, smoked prune and lamb jus. His charity of choice was Faith Kitchen, a soup kitchen that brings together volunteers and people in need.

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Thursday night I was invited to a cocktail class at Therapy, the private dining room at Ames Street Deli and Study.

Ames Street Deli is the more casual spot to hang out, grab a bite to eat or get a drink at the bar. Study is the more formal dining experience next door.

Both are owned by Sam Treadway, pictured above. He’s a talented and accomplished bartender, competing all across the country. Check out Sam taking home the first place win at the 2015 Shake it Up competition.

I first met Sam at the GrandTen tasting at Journeyman, the sister restaurant to Study and Ames Street Deli, and we had a chance to meet again when the Good Ones had an event at Therapy not too long ago.

Check out the cool drink matrix and menu at Ames Street Deli here.

Sam started off the evening by showing everyone how he makes his ideal martini.

He gave a brief history of the martini and explained why James Bond was wrong, asking for his shaken not stirred. Next time you stop into Ames Street Deli or BackBar, ask him why!

There were about 20 or so participants and everyone had the chance to customize their own martini, choosing their gin, vermouth and garnish (and whether or not to add bitters).

Sam explained that it is important to peel the fruit over the cocktail so that when the oil from the fruit mists, it lands in your drink.

Some people chose to garnish with a lemon, an orange or a grapefruit. I found it interesting that only one person chose to garnish with an olive!

Pictured, Rafiq Abdus Sabur.

Look who we ran into, Mr. Opus himself, Graham Wright!

The lovely Rose Drucker.

Guests carefully measured out their alcohol in jiggers, an hourglass measuring device you see at many bars.

After the drink was stirred, guests poured their drinks into chilled glasses.

Pictured, Ryan Lee.

Eric Klotch, Sam Treadway, Catherine Owens, Director of Food Sourcing, Social Media and Design at Journeyman.

Guests were invited to sample the different types of vermouth available – tasting the difference between the sweet and dry varieties.

Three guests were mixing drinks at any give time. While they were mixing, other guests were snacking on a delicious charcuterie board and fried cheese curds.

Miss this class? Sam will be teaching another one on September 3rd – this time he’ll be mixing up some tiki drinks! Get tickets here.

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Good Ones Christine Prouty (wearing an original piece by Ty) with featured guest and Womenswear designer Ty Sinnett.

After Ty graduated Bard College in 2010 with a degree in Liberal Arts, she enrolled at the School of Fashion Design in Boston. She now produces seasonal ready-to-wear collections from her Boston-based atelier. Her eponymous collection is steeped in New England tradition, a luxe suite of classic silhouettes that are as refined as they are relaxed.

(L-R) Janak Joshi, Chief Product Officer of TactusTV.com and Janeen McCormick, Manager Market Applications at Abiomed.

(L-R) News Anchor at Channel 7 News, Janet Wu with Designer Candice Wu.

(L-R) Featured guest Ty Sinnett, Good One Christine Prouty, featured guest Hanadi Hamzeh, Abby Capobianco, and Co-founder of The Good Ones, Carolyn Kim.

Hanadi Hamzeh is the owner of the new South Boston clothing boutique, Covet, a unique shop offering high quality consignments and hand selected designer pieces. Since opening last year, Covet has received numerous accolades including the Improper Bostonian’s “Boston’s Best” award for best consignment shop, the Boston Globe’s “Best of the New” and recently being featured on Channel 5’s “Chronicle”.

(L-R) Hermann Spicker, VP, Brand Development at Brand Institute and Alex Rosenblum, Founder of Pairwell Foods.

(L-R) Valerie Morando, Events Specialist at Life is good; Stephanie Miranda Harold; Dave Micalizzi, VP, Client Services at Mobiquity, Inc.; Jason Shuman,Founder, Cat5BoatShoes.com

Good Ones Christine Prouty (in an original piece by Ty) with featured guest and Womenswear designer Ty Sinnett.

(L-R) Featured guest Debra Folz; Katy Dugan, Associate at Bingham McCutchen; Sheila Erimez, Art Director at Massachusetts Department of Public Health; Co-founder of The Good Ones, Jennifer Brooke.

Debra  has an undergraduate degree in Interior Design from Suffolk University and a Masters degree in Furniture Design from the Rhode Island School of Design. Recent partnerships of note include collaborations with Tommy Hilfiger, Helmut Lang, and Williams New York. Debra’s work has been featured in both national and international publications to include The New York Times, Fast Company, Dwell magazine, InStyle Magazine, New York Magazine, and more. Recent awards and recognition include New England Home magazine’s 5 under 40 award, nominated representative for Massachusetts: Women to Watch exhibition, and inclusion by Boston Globe Top 25 Most Stylish Bostonians.

(L-R) Designer Candice Wu with Stuart Comerford, Director FX Sales at Royal Bank of Scotland.

(L-R) Alan Rouleau, Entrepreneur with Jewelry Designer Heloisa Fitzgerald.

(L-R) Elena Kazlas, Principal with ConsultEcon, Inc. headquartered in Cambridge with Jewelry Designer Heloisa Fitzgerald.

To be invited to future events, submit your personality snapshot online: http://thegoodones.co/membership/

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See my previous post on Marc Hall here.

Guests were treated to Taza chocolate.

Even the Hint water came dressed up in costume!

Everywhere you looked there were fun Halloween surprises!

One of the evenings featured guests was Danny Mazzursky, founder of SoCo Creamery. Danny brought 6 flavors for guests to sample: Vanilla, Dirty Chocolate, Espresso Cookie, Mexicali Chocolate, Burnt Sugar Gelato, and Mango Sorbet. My personal favorite is the Mexicali Chocolate!

Angel’s Envy whiskey was on site mixing up a special cocktail just for the event.

Raymond Tremblay and Sarah Bramhall from Angel’s Envy.

Motto was a sponsor of this evenings event. Haven’t tried it yet? It might be one of my favorite new beverages!

Even “wicked witches” love Motto! Heloisa Fitzgerald as Elphaba.

The lovely ladies of Bee’s Knees Supply Co were serving up gourmet treats and wine throughout the evening.

Jason Owens, owner of Bee’s Knees Supply Co., who supplied all of the food, wine, beer and cider for the evening with Monika Riley.

I loved the enthusiasm for the event, people really put a lot of effort into their costumes!

The staff at Marc Hall all dressed up like mimes. Dave DiCicco, design and sales manager at Marc Hall.

Another featured guest for this evening was Pamela Paquin, owner of Petite Mort ethical fur. (L-R) Danny Canton Jr., Christine Prouty, Pamela Paquin and Chelsey Angers.

(L-R) Christine Prouty in a one of kind tail stole, Lindsey Nico in fox gauntlets, Pamela Paquin in leg warmers and Chelsea Angers in a bear neck muff.

(L-R) Pamela Paquin, Joeimy Gonzalez, Jennifer Brooke, co founder of the Good Ones and Carolyn Kim, co founder of the Good Ones.

Designer Candice Wu of Candice Wu Couture and Noel McKinnon – and yes, Noel made that costume out of cards the night before!!!

Mark Andrus, Stacey Wasserman, Pamela Paquin, Bryan Morell as Thor and Lauren Creedon as Black Widow. If you ask me, Bryan and Lauren killed it with their costumes!

The lovely ladies of Liquid Art House: Ruta Laukien, owner, looking as stunning as ever with her Venetian mask and LAH manager (and owner of Y/A Apparel) Yuna Asriyan as a Bond girl.

Christine Prouty in a one of kind tail stole, Lindsey Nico in fox gauntlets by Petite Mort.

Bryan Morrell and Lauren Creedon.

Ruta Laukien (owner of Liquid Art House), Stacey Wasserman, Iya Khalil (founder of Via Science and GNS Healthcare), Heloisa Fitzgerald (owner of Heloisa Fitzgerald Jewelry), Yuna Asriyan (owner of Y/A Apparel), Carolyn Kim (co-founder of the Good Ones).

Chris Gagnon (center) (Owner of Cross Cycle Fitness) probably took the cake for scariest costume with Olivia McDermott Vanni (right) (Business Development Representative at NetSuite).

Meg Frazier as Holly Golightly  and Kristen McGlone as Cruella de Vil.

Wilfred Hirst and Corey Peterson.

The lovely ladies of Liquid Art House: Ruta Laukien, owner, and LAH manager (and owner of Y/A Apparel) Yuna Asriyan with (center) Max Winthorp (Sunlife Financial).

Beccah Stains, Abby Butler, Carolyn Kim, Zeina Ouais, Oula Asa’ad.

For an invitation to future parties, submit your personality snapshot here: http://thegoodones.co/membership/

Who wore it best? Left, Pamela Paquin of Petite Mort and right, Thang Ho, founder of Thang Ho Arts and Entertainment.

Robert Nicol, Director, Technology Labs at Broad Institute (MIT and Harvard).

Kurt Flionis, Vice President of Credit at STAG Industrial and Carolyn Kim, co-founder of the Good Ones.

Thang Ho, founder of Thang Ho Arts and Entertainment.

Heloisa Fitzgerald, founder of Heloisa Fitzgerald Jewelry.

Molly Siegel, owner of Athlete by Design and Jordan Lee Pollard.

Galen Moore, Editor in Chief of BostInno (photo credit: Anastasia Sierra)

(L-R)     ​Julian Jung, Investor at Alden & Harlow, Investor at Drizly and CEO & Founder at Tablelist; Carolyn Kim, co-founder of the Good Ones, Shant Baran, Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon; Yuna Asriyan, owner of Y/A Apparel. (photo credit: Anastasia Sierra)

And the party continued on my ride home – my driver picked me up in a SUV that had blue party lights on inside – and couldn’t wait to get his picture taken.

For an invitation to future parties, submit your personality snapshot here: http://thegoodones.co/membership/

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Guests were greeted with a honey infused champagne cocktail.

The cocktail reception started at 6pm. Servers came around with a green cleanse and a peekytoe crostini. The creaminess of the avocado paired nicely with the saltiness of the crab.

There was an observation hive on display for guests to view. Did you know that in the summertime bees cool down their hive and in the wintertime they heat up the hive to a constant temperature?

This is how the trays come out of the hive – they harvest honey twice a year at the Intercontinental.

The color of the honey depends on the nectar source – they plants and flowers bees visit. Honey color can vary from almost colorless to a deep brown. Generally, lighter colored honey has a milder flavor and darker honey has a bolder flavor.

The other appetizer was a chilled honey and lemon glazed jumbo shrimp.

I was pleased to see my friend Noah, of Best Bees, at the event. Noah’s company took over the care of the bees this year for the hotel. See my previous post on Best Bees here. Noah gave a a brief overview about bees – including information on the different types of bees and which cities are the most “bee friendly”.

The first course  was a shaved pear, fennel, zucchini salad with truffle honey dressing. A really nice way to start the meal, a little sweet with a little tang.

The entree was Georges Bank scallops and squab, wrapped with Maine smoked bacon with celery root gratin, vegetable tagliatelle and a honey beure blanc. The beure blanc sauce was divine – rich and flavorful. The scallops were a tad overdone, but still quite tasty. The squab, or pigeon, tastes like dark meat chicken. The bacon added a nice salty quality to the dish.

Dessert was a goat cheese ice cream with warmed seasonal berries and honey. This was probably my favorite part of the meal. The goat cheese ice cream was cool and light – not too goaty. To me, nothing is better than honey and fresh berries. Dinner was $65 per person and Miel will be doing more of these types of dinners in the future. They have a wine dinner coming up, a cheese dinner, a seafood dinner and a steak dinner all on the books. Check out their website and social media channels for more information.

Miel at the Intercontinental Hotel

510 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, MA

Visit their website here

The post Honey Harvest Dinner at Miel in the Intercontinental appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

Guests were greeted with a honey infused champagne cocktail.

The cocktail reception started at 6pm. Servers came around with a green cleanse and a peekytoe crostini. The creaminess of the avocado paired nicely with the saltiness of the crab.

There was an observation hive on display for guests to view. Did you know that in the summertime bees cool down their hive and in the wintertime they heat up the hive to a constant temperature?

This is how the trays come out of the hive – they harvest honey twice a year at the Intercontinental.

The color of the honey depends on the nectar source – they plants and flowers bees visit. Honey color can vary from almost colorless to a deep brown. Generally, lighter colored honey has a milder flavor and darker honey has a bolder flavor.

The other appetizer was a chilled honey and lemon glazed jumbo shrimp.

I was pleased to see my friend Noah, of Best Bees, at the event. Noah’s company took over the care of the bees this year for the hotel. See my previous post on Best Bees here. Noah gave a a brief overview about bees – including information on the different types of bees and which cities are the most “bee friendly”.

The first course  was a shaved pear, fennel, zucchini salad with truffle honey dressing. A really nice way to start the meal, a little sweet with a little tang.

The entree was Georges Bank scallops and squab, wrapped with Maine smoked bacon with celery root gratin, vegetable tagliatelle and a honey beure blanc. The beure blanc sauce was divine – rich and flavorful. The scallops were a tad overdone, but still quite tasty. The squab, or pigeon, tastes like dark meat chicken. The bacon added a nice salty quality to the dish.

Dessert was a goat cheese ice cream with warmed seasonal berries and honey. This was probably my favorite part of the meal. The goat cheese ice cream was cool and light – not too goaty. To me, nothing is better than honey and fresh berries. Dinner was $65 per person and Miel will be doing more of these types of dinners in the future. They have a wine dinner coming up, a cheese dinner, a seafood dinner and a steak dinner all on the books. Check out their website and social media channels for more information.

Miel at the Intercontinental Hotel

510 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, MA

Visit their website here

The post Honey Harvest Dinner at Miel in the Intercontinental appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

One of the featured guests for the evening was Jonathan Moreira, Sous Chef at Post 390.

Chef Moreira participated in The Good Ones chef battle a few weeks ago. This Sunday see reigning champ Brendan Burke go head to head with Ben Harwood, the Sous Chef at Tico Boston. Moreira tempted guests tonight with his delicious bites.

The chef battle this weekend is invite only, if you would like to request and invite, email Carolyn at Carolyn@thegoodonesboston.com

Moreira is a graduate of Johnson and Whales and he was previously at Hemenway’s Seafood & Grill, Aspire Restaurant at the Hotel Providence, and at Excelsior Restaurant.

Another featured guest was the talented Mark Penta. Penta is a freelance illustrator that draws caricatures of guests at private parties and corporate events. Penta’s works have been used by Google, Celebrity Cruises, Neiman Marcus, Harvard and  Barnes & Noble.

When he’s not caricaturing, Mark creates fine art pencil portraits and books. He is the author/illustrator of two traditionally published books, Cape Cod Invasion! (Commonwealth Editions) and Young Jesus Chronicles (Andrews McMeel). His most recent book for kids is called Wicked Weird Story Starters, co-authored with writer T.M. Murphy. It’s a self-published project (available on Amazon.com) that Mark will promote at schools with the goal of inspiring kids to write, draw, and use their imaginations.

Featured guest Shannon O’Brien is the Founder of Whole U. – an agency that supports clients’ personal, professional, and civic development. She is also the Producer and Host of Whole U. TV, interviewing experts on topics of Wellness, Career Satisfaction, and Service.

Good One Tau Zaman checking out Mark’s artwork.

Good Ones Kimberly Giardino (left), Naz Senaldi (middle) and Carolyn Meenan (right).

(From left to right) Good Ones co-founder Jennifer Brooke, Good Ones co-founder Carolyn Meenan, featured guest and founder of Zoos Tea, Kristina Tsipouras.

Thanks to all of the event sponsors for the evening: Motto, Maple Water, Organic Living Superfoods, Mozzarella House, Clif Bar, Super Digital, Team Sayles Music and Lighting, Mark Penta Caricatures, and Lumenmuse.com

For more information about The Good Ones, please visit their website here.

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Some restaurants came to serve non burger items, like Bronwyn, that had a chilled peach “Solyanka,” an Eastern European fruit and pickle soup.

No. 8 Kitchen and spirits served up a compressed watermelon salad.

Petit Robert made delicious French macarons.

Pangea Shellfish was back for the second night in a row, sampling some of their fresh seafood.

Defending champions from the Blue Ox prepared their “sin burger” with applewood smoked bacon, Swiss cheese, truffle aioli, lettuce, and tomato.

The Precinct burger was made with dry aged beef seasoned with cracked black pepper and fleur de sel, Vermont cheddar cheese, Nueske’s bacon and served on a fresh brioche bun

The Boston Burger Company brought their “hot mess” made from certified angus beef, American cheese, homemade 1000 island, bacon, red onion, pickles, jalapeno’s and shredded lettuce.

Foundry on Elm cooking up mini sliders.

Their burger was an andouille buger: a grilled andouille and beef burger, charred smoked paprika red onions, local honeycomb, dijon whole grain aioli on a black pepper brioche bun.

At these types of events you really  have to pace yourselves, as consuming this much meat (or if you’re me, this is your second night in a row doing this) in a short period of time will make you feel like you’re a walking heart attack waiting to happen.

Smokey Bones provided a unique smoked burger topped with house made caramelized onion bacon jam, creamy havarti cheese, pickled shaved sweet onions, sea salt and cracked pepper, tomato, and bib lettuce on a house baked butter grilled roll.

Davio’s burger, was simple yet delicious:cheddar cheese, onion rings, pickles and steak sauce.

Lincoln Tavern and Restaurant brought kobe sliders: American Wagyu, muenster cheese, bacon aioli and a sunny-side up quail egg on a Rob Roy’s bun. This was probably one of my favorites of the night – how cute are those quail eggs? Everything really melded together nicely for this burger.

The MET bar came with their farm burger: Secret blend beef burger with Vermont Tarentaise cheese, candied maple pork belly and onions with tempura avocado, fried egg, sriracha mayo served on a housemade onion brioche bun. There were a lot of things going on with this burger, but it all worked. I loved the fried egg and avocado combination.

Kings brought their Texas burger: a delicious brisket, sirloin and chuck burger grilled to perfection and topped with house-smoked pulled pork, pepper jack cheese, bacon, pickles, homemade coleslaw and smokey BBQ sauce, served on a soft potato roll.

Joe’s American Bar and Grill came to the event with their burger named, “The Cure”, a ground steak burger, aged cheddar, Joe’s famous baby back ribs, tobacco onions, sunny-side-up egg, chipotle onion jam, arugula on a brioche bun. The jam is what really made this burger!

Union brought their Harissa lamb burger with Narragansett ‘Salty Sea’ feta, tzatziki, pickled red onions and frisee on a buttery brioche roll.

5 Napkin Burger brought their pimento burger: Pimento cheese burger with bacon, griddled onions and pickled jalapenos.

A&B Salem brought their Double Scotty burger, two 5 oz. patties served with sliced Red Delicious apples, smoked gouda cheese, Niman Ranch applewood smoked bacon and arugula on a toasted potato roll. The combination of sweet, smoke and salt on this burger was really quite good.

Amstel Light was the presenting sponsor for the evening – they had a fun booth where people could instagram photos to win prizes.

Saloon went a different route with their fatty pollo: a chicken burger with avocado relish, chermoula aioli, and candied bacon served on a brioche roll.

Wahlburgers brought their own camera crew and were filming for their show at the event.

Wahlburgers was originally going to do their OFD (originally from Dorchester) but decided to do a surf and turf burger instead: black angus beef topped with lobster salad, lemon chive mayo, cheddar cheese and bacon. I liked the idea of this burger, but there was something a little off for me with this one.

Tasty Burger came with a full sized American classic: the bacon cheeseburger, all Natural certified humane beef patty, melted cheese, crispy certified humane bacon, lettuce, tomato, pickles,onion,ketchup and mustard on a fresh baked bun.

The guys from Dillon’s were at it for a second night in a row with their grilled corn! Pictured above, Travis “Tbone” Talbot.

Chef Brendan Pelley from Zebra’s bistro was there with his challah slider: a Kinnealey proprietary blend burger topped with aged Vermont cheddar, crispy house-smoked bacon, miso aioli, and pickled red onions served on a fresh challah bun. Hoping to make out to Zebra’s one of these days – I’ve been hearing good things!

Shake Shack came to the competition with their MeisterShack, a 100% all-natural Angus beef cheeseburger topped with crispy ShackMeister Ale-marinated shallots and ShackSauce.

Grill 23‘s chef Jay Murray was there serving mini milk shakes with kettle chips and horseradish pub cheese, charcuterie, toasts and condiments.

A closer look at Grill 23 setting the bar high for the evening.

Pauli’s‘ brought their “Big Boy Burger” with 100% ground beef burger layered with onion rings, American cheese, bacon & BBQ sauce and served on a fresh baked roll.

Not pictured is Ceia’s kobe burger: Kobe Beef with Manchego, Serrano, heirloom tomato, housemade paprika aioli and Chef Soucy’s Farmer’s Reserve Ketchup, and

Salvatore’s Bruschetta Burger: 100% Angus beef topped with chopped tomato, basil, garlic, red onion and evoo, fresh mozzarella, arugula and vin cotto, served on a grilled garlic-butter brioche bun

Infiniti was the exclusive auto sponsor for the evening. Guests were invited to hop inside and get a feel for the cars and enter for the chance to win a car!

The live entertainment for the night was killer – Sweet Tooth and the Sugar Babies rocked out all night long.

Congratulations to all the chefs! Here were the winners of the night:

Champion (for the second year in a row): The Blue Ox: The Sin Burger by Chef Matt O’Neil

1st Runner Up: Joe’s American Bar & Grill: The Cure by Chef David Forbes

2nd Runner Up: Lincoln Tavern & Restaurant: Kobe Sliders by Chef Nicholas Dixon

 Boston Magazine’s Battle of the Burger

http://www.bostonmagazine.com/cookout/burger/

Disclaimer: I was given two complimentary tickets to this event, all opinions are my own.

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Guests were greeted with a small welcome drink while they got to know the other guests.

The first pairing was Angelica mixed with Sake and Berentzen.

The Angelica paired with uni har gow with white onion and pickled ginger.

The space is small but it’s charming. There is great light and the service is top notch. The chefs took turns coming out and speaking with the guests, describing the dishes in more detail while Lonnie from GTD talked about the drink pairings. Pictured above Chef Diana (co-owner of Journeyman).

Now THAT’S what I call shaking up a cocktail! Sam Treadway, the bar manager and co-owner of Backbar.

Wireworks Gin was the next pairing – served two ways, the first in a cucumber cup. Above Catherine Owens (GM at Journeyman).

The gin was mixed with Aveze and cucumber bohemian.

This was paired with salmon roe, avocado, dill, grapefruit and olive oil snow playfully presented as a push pop.

The drink was also served sans cucumber cup.

Prepping for the next course, the corn soup.

I have never seen a quieter kitchen, and they consider this the loudest kitchen they have been in. Watching the chefs is amazing, not only are the extremely focused, the intensity and precision that goes into ever dish is impressive. Above, Chef Kelvin.

A closer look at the blow torched hen.

The corn soup with calaminth and black garlic – really quite delicious.

More prep on the hen.

The corn soup was paired with the Medford Rum.

A complex drink for this pairing, it was a saffron foamed Dirt and Diesel. So tasty, I could get used to coming home to a drink like this, too bad it was so labor intensive! The bartender was crushing the ice by hand!

Prepping for the next pairing with Craneberry, a cranberry liquer.

Guinea Hen and Coxcomb crepinette with cranberry mole and corn.

A closer look at the hen.

The craneberry and mile champagne cocktail – I do love me a champagne cocktail!

So pretty!

Lonnie (right) has been with GrandTen Distilling for 2 years. Spencer (right) was making a rare evening appearance, congrats Spencer on the birth of your son!

The South Boston Irish Whiskey was mixed up as old fashioned in small mason jars!

The Old Fashioned paired with porcelet, brioche, spice sphere, ginger and citrus gel.

A closer look at the dish.

Prep for the final course.

Prepping for the rabbit course.

Chef preparing the final course.

The sixth pairing was Fire Puncher Black (vodka) made into a Southern Point.

Rabbit offal, mincemeat, brown butter shortbread.

For the final pairing an Amandine sorbet float.

The finished product.

The final pairing was a blueberry noodle with black and white sesame and caramelized banana. So beautiful. It was almost like a blueberry fruit roll up with blueberries and sesame mochi.

On regular evenings, Journeyman offers a chefs tasting menu for $85. Menu items change daily depending on what is available. Try and grab a seat at the bar area, where you can get an up close show of your food being prepared.

Journeyman

9 Sanborn Court, Somerville, MA

http://www.journeymanrestaurant.com/

Make a reservation with SoonSpoon at www.soonspoon.com

Grand Ten Distilling http://www.grandten.com/

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