3 Little Figs has also been on my list of ‘go to’ places for quite some time. While Leah and I were doing a little tour of Somerville, we stopped in here for breakfast on a Saturday. Packed. Jam packed actually. Line outside the door.

Totally worth the wait. Leah and I grab a seat at the bar at the window and wait for our breakfast. Want an idea of what is on their menu:

SAUSAGE BREAKFAST PIE (weekends only) – local pork sausage from MF Dulock, egg, potato, cheddar, sun-dried tomatoes, flakey crust

SPINACH PIE (best ever!) – sheep’s milk feta, spinach, leeks, buttery phyllo dough

I chose the avocado torta because it reminded me of Chacarero. So this delicious sandwich may sound a little odd, but the flavor combination just works. Trust me. Avocado, green beans, muenster cheese, tomato and a spicy walnut chili pesto. This is like the more sophisticated version of the Chacarero sandwich.

3 Little Figs

278 Highland Ave., Somerville, MA

www.3littlefigs.com

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I can’t tell you how long 7Ate9 Bakery has been on my list. Far too long. So when Leah and I were in Somerville, I made it a point to stop in. What a cute little shop.

The shop serves two sizes of cakes, a 9″ that feeds about 16-20 and a 4″ size that serves about 4-6 slices, but frankly, i thought they were more of a personal sized cheesecake Don’t forget to take a selfie while you’re there with their cute props by the door!

I chose the classic cheesecake with chocolate chips on top. Other flavors they have include:

lemon cheesecake, cheesecake with fruit (blueberries, strawberries,raspberries, or blackberries), cheesecake with strawberry, raspberry or blackberry sauce, a Taza raspberry cheesecake, cookies n’ cream cheesecake, chocolate cheesecake, mocha cheesecake, and a peanut butter cheesecake. Seasonal flavors include pumpkin and orange cranberry.

7Ate9 Bakery 

199C Highland Avenue, Somerville, MA

www.7ate9bakery.com

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I’ve been on a poke kick lately. We decided to venture over to Manoa in Somerville to try out their bowls. I have to say that this place felt the most authentic out of all the places we have been to thus far. Poke is a raw fish salad that is generally served as an appetizer in Hawaiian cuisine. The fish is generally dressed with soy sauce or sesame oil.

Manoa is a small shop with a few seats, the line is out the door when we arrive but it moves at a decent pace – clearly a good sign that so many people are eating here.

A small poke bowl with one scoop of poke and your choice of base will run you $7.95. The regular that comes with two scoops of poke, your choice of base and your choice of a side is $11.95. If you’re feeling particularly hungry, try the big bowl with three scoops of poke and two sides for $15.95. So what kind of poke do they have? Ahi shoyu (tuna in sesame soy marinade with pickled onions and macadamia), Kilauea (spice tuna in kim chee aioli with house made furikake), soy boy (braised tofu in a teriyaki marinade with edamame and avocado), salmon shoyu (salmon in a sesame soy marinade with pickled onions and macadamia), and kelaguen (raw catch of the day in coconut milk and citrus marinade with crispy rice).

Not in the mood for raw fish? No problem. They have you covered with a chili bowl, a fried chicken plate and kalua pig. They offer some delicious sides as well, the kim chee cucumber is not to be missed. They also have a mac salad, rainbow slaw, chorizo slaw, edamame and a veggie special.  Those “kaboom legumes” you see above are also not to be missed, they are spicy roast chickpeas! If you’re like us and want a little bit of everything, go for the poke flight that is a tasting platter of ahi shoyu, salmon shoyu and kilauea and kelaguen with your choice of brown or white rice and two sides all for $19.95.

The kalua pig is a slow cooked heritage pork shoulder that comes with rice or a Portuguese sweet roll and is topped with crispy crackling and served with a side of chorizo slaw. SO GOOD!

While not poke, the fried chicken stole my heart. It’s a mochiko battered thigh served with rice and drizzled with a spiced honey.

There is something for everyone here, and they use tamari sauce so all of their fish poke can be made gluten free.

Where is your favorite poke spot?

Manoa Poke Shop

300 Beacon Street, Somerville, MA

https://manoa.fish

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I am always on the hunt for a new breakfast spot, and especially a new bagel spot! I had been eagerly awaiting the opening of Davis Square Donuts and Bagels ever since Leah and I went to Rosebud for lunch and I saw the sign that it was coming soon. The shop has some seats on the main floor and if you walk to the back, there are stairs to seating upstairs. Leah and I were the only ones there so we  had ample time to ogle all the goods.

I had the breakfast sandwich (bacon, egg and cheese $6.25) on an asiago bagel – super delicious. I would definitely come here every day if I lived closer. All the bagels are vegan except for the asiago, jalapeño cheddar and egg. Single bagels are priced right at $1 each.

The donuts are all sights to see. At $2.50 a piece, you can certainly try more than one! What flavors can you expect? Glazed, chocolate glazed, old fashioned, jelly, oreo cookie, peanut butter and jelly, nutella, bavarian cream, somerville cream, boston cream, butternut crunch, chocolate frosted, chocolate sprinkles, cinnamon sugar, strawberry frosted with sprinkles and fruity pebbles.

The donuts were pretty delicious. The nutella one was decadent and the lemon filled was sweet. I liked the textures of the donuts and the fact that they were light as air (calorie free right?).

What is your go to donut flavor?

Davis Square Donuts and Bagels

377 Summer Street, Somerville, MA

https://www.davissquaredonutsandbagels.com

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We stopped into Oath Craft Pizza one day to sample their new limited time flavor, “Mr. Crunch”. You’ve probably heard Bobby Flay talking about how he loves potato chips on sandwiches and burgers, but let’s be honest, what do potato chips taste bad on?

The Davis Square location appeared to do a lot of take out while we were there, but there are tables if you want to stay and eat. The kids loved watching the pizza being made, and I loved how the pizzas were ready in no time at all.

The Mr. Crunch pizza has creme fraiche/ricotta sauce, artisanal smoked ham, gruyere cheese, crushed Cape Cod potato chips and chives. And even better, 10% of the sales from this pizza help sponsor their Nantucket Project Scholar, Genevieve Liang, Executive Director of Cardborigami.

The pizza was all kinds of salty goodness, cheese, ham and chips? I was pleasantly surprised that the chips were still crunchy after being cooked in the oven. Stop in to one of their locations to try one for yourself (Nantucket, South Station, Chestnut Hill, Davis Square, Central Square, Coolidge Corner and they are coming soon to Fenway!)

Oath Craft Pizza

280 Elm Street, Somerville, MA

http://oathpizza.com

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With Juliet fresh of their win as Eater’s Restaurant of the Year, I figured it was time to post my review. I went back in March (GASP, I know, so behind!!) and loved it! Juliet is owned by Josh Lewin and Katrina Jazayeri. Lewin and Jazayeri founded Bread and Salt Hospitality and opened their first restaurant in 2014, Bread and Salt at Wink and Nod.

Pictured above: I love the open kitchen area, it really allows the chefs to interact with the customers. In addition to the bar seating there are a few low top tables near the window.

Josh was named a Zagat  “30 Under 30” award winner in 2013. What you might not know about him, he served in the USMC, and he is a competitive runner and boxer. Jazayeri, at only 26, is also the founder of Post Oak, a custom apron company that is gaining popularity among local chefs. She also designed the interior at Juliet and baked all the goodies you see in the case. It was hard to choose just one thing, so we didn’t – we picked out a few items to share!

Juliet serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. We went for lunch and started off with the roasted and pickled cauliflower ($9). I loved how the two types of cauliflower balanced each other out but especially enjoyed the flavor of the pickled cauliflower.

The lobster roll was perfection, the perfect roll (that remained un-soggy until the last bite), fresh lobster meat, and just the right amount of herbs and dressing.

I adore these plates, don’t you?

Everything was delicious, it was hard to pick a favorite. I am certainly going to head back there for dinner. Juliet offers some great specials like dollar oysters on Thursdays. They also have theme nights, so prime rib on Thursdays, whole fish on Fridays and steakhouse Saturdays.

Juliet

257 Washington Street, Somerville, MA

http://www.julietsomerville.com

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I had never been to Assembly Row until just recently. Leah, Kim and I decided to meet up for lunch at Southern Kin Cookhouse, a new restaurant featuring, you guessed it, good southern cuisine. We were there when they opened, so you can just see how far behind I am with posting this summer! Everyone was new, so service was attentive, to say the least. I think I took one sip of my water before someone was there to refill it.

So you can’t have southern food without trying their biscuits. The buttermilk biscuits come with honey butter and seasonal jam ($7). Let me let you in on a little secret: they have a biscuit lady…kind of like a Christmas elf, she comes in early in the morning to make the biscuits (and the pie)…. I’m currently trying to figure out how I can meet said biscuit lady.

Normally I’d steer clear of deviled eggs…but Souther Kin Cookhouse’s version are cayenne and truffle stuffed, topped with trout pearls, pickled shallot and Benton’s country ham ($9). The creole mustard gives it that extra kick (not like it needed it!). The presentation alone says, these aren’t your Aunt Sally’s deviled eggs.

The fried okra is lightly battered in cornmeal and dusted with a little pink peppercorn ($8), served with a black pepper parmesan buttermilk dressing.

I love the presentation of the small plates here, the mismatched dishes are so in right now. The pimento cheese fritters ($7) are house made pimento cheese with smoked tomato jalapeño marmalade and green onion sauce. Simple food, executed extremely well.

It was a toss up between the chicken sandwich (I’ll be back for you!) and the Dixon burger. I went with the burger because…well….pork belly. So the burger is topped with bbq glazed pork belly, pepper jack cheese, lettuce and a fried egg. Perfection. The potato wedges were perfect (cause you know that most places get them to the table and they’re soggy in the middle).

Leah had the chicken n’ waffles ($21), southern fried chicken over cheddar chive waffle, with fresno pepper-maple syrup (it has a kick) and Louisiana honey hot pepper sauce. I gained 10 lbs just looking at this photo again!

While I was stuffed, I felt obligated, for research purposes of course, to try their pie. I mean, they have a pie lady, and I’d probably be offending her if I didn’t at least TRY a slice. And it was a pretty hard choice, they have so many delicious flavors. You can get a slice for $7 or the whole pie for $36. Add a scoop of Bart’s homemade ice cream (they’re from Greenfield, MA) for $3, and yes, it’s worth it. Ice cream comes in: malted vanilla, maple cream, sea salt caramel swirl and mud pie. Pie flavors are: buttermilk, mud pie, peach crumble pie, key lime pie, coconut cream pie and brown butter bourbon pecan pie. We tried the brown butter bourbon pecan pie (say that 3 times fast) that was topped with chocolate ganache sauce and had it a la mode with the malted vanilla ice cream. I almost stabbed Leah and Kim with my fork because it was so delicious…

When we were there in June the patio hadn’t opened as of yet, but they were supposed to open it up shortly thereafter. I assume that it’s open now!

Southern Kin Cookhouse

Assembly Row – 500 Assembly Row, Somerville, MA

www.southernkincookhouse.com

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I love the cheese plate here, served with toasted Iggy’s bread. I can’t get enough of the guava, figs and oh that dulce de leche!!

We start with the bollos con jamon serrano con salsa de guayaba ($11) white polenta corn toast, serrano ham and guava sauce. I didn’t know how I would like the guava sauce on this, but it was really a nice compliment to the dish – it added just the right amount of sweetness to the salty ham.

Next up was the camarones rellenos de yuca envueltos en tocineta con salsa de cilantro y jengibre ($15) yucca stuffed shrimp wrapped in bacon + cilantro ginger dipping sauce. Bacon wrapped anything is right up my alley, these were so flavorful!

I saw one of these go out of the kitchen and HAD to have one. Give me some of that tres leches!! The tres leches pudín de leches (condensada, evaporada, crema), salsa de chocolate, merengue, canela ($12) three milk cake (condensed, evaporated, cream) with Taza Chocolate ganache, soft merengue + cinnamon is live heaven on a plate. The cake itself is drool worthy on its own, but add in the ganache and the house made merengue and you have a winner folks! I could have eaten 10 of these desserts! I highly recocommend stopping in, you won’t be disappointed with your meal – I’ve never been!

Casa B

253 Washington Street, Somerville, MA

http://casabrestaurant.com/

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Leah and I headed out well past my bedtime to check out the Stone and Skillet English muffin pizza throw down at Daddy Jones Bar in Somerville. Yup, you read that right, English muffin pizzas! There was old school hip hop playing and plenty of yo mama jokes to go around. Dan Crothers and Kyle Meekins of Stone and Skillet provided the muffins for the event.

The bar was packed, we got there early and scored a two top in the back.There were some all-star chefs participating, my mouth had been watering for a week with anticipation. Mark O’Leary started the night off – check out how cute those little pizza boxes are!

The Shojo chef came out with muffins blazing, serving up a mashed potato white pizza with bacon and scallions. Probably one of my favorites, the kind of thing I’d eat at home if I had the drive to do things like this…and by this I mean turn on my oven. Total comfort food. Not sure how carbs on carbs would be, let me tell you, delicious. Otto pizza makes a baked potato pizza that is pretty darn delicious, you should try it out.

Next up, the only girl in the game, Jade Elan Taylor who works at Asta. I met Jade at a pop up dinner, where she did some serious southern cooking. Jade cooked up a Lambchovy pizza with lambcetta and anchovies. Usually I am down for anchovies, they just add a salty taste to whatever you’re cooking, these babies were whole though…had a hard time wrapping my mind around little fish faces….needless to say, Leah got my anchovies, I’m a wimp.

Next up, Dougie Rodrigues, formerly of the Tip Tap Room, but now excited to have him join the Liquid Art House team, replacing Rachel Klein (who will be opening RFK Kitchen in Needham). Rodrigues made a porcini creme with chestnut, burgundy truffle and mache. I loved the flavors here, so rich and decadent! Apparently everyone else loved this as well, because Rodrigues won the gold plated English muffin!

Next up, Paulie Desrochers from Boston Chops brought his A game with his taco mac n cheese, smothered in a tomato habanero cheese sauce. There were a lot of things going on in this pizza muffin, but it all just worked. At this point, we were stuffed, but still had more to go. You always want to pace yourself at these events, eat a few bites of each and save room for the next ones, but they had all been so good, plus, 4 halves are only really 2 muffins, right?

Samuel Monsour, author of American Burger Revival, was back in town, and boy were we glad he was. Monsour brought game with a pate de champagne, smoked grafton, ocean spray, pickled fennel and mustard pizza on a pumpkin spiced muffin. Talk about decadent!

And last but certainly not least, Phil Tang of Banyan and Refuge. He finished the night off strong with a duck fat béchamel, duck fat, telaggio, apple and gremolata pizza. Man are those all the right words, and the pizza was phenomenal. Can’t wait to try out Banyan!

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I was invited to check out Beadkreative in Somerville this week. Check out the full post on my other blog, Sass and Sarcasm.

Disclaimer: I was invited as a guest to Beadkreative. I was given a Union Twist bracelet as a gift. All opinions are my own.

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