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/

The post GrandTen: A Better Cocktail Party at Journeyman appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

They kicked off the first course in the parking lot while guests enjoyed the bee bearding show. Profiteroles with honey herb goat cheese and lemon balm filled (Clumsydog Apiary, Cambridge, Beekeeper Mel Gadd)

A bee sanctuary.

The room that the event was being held in was spacious, guests had assigned seating in tables or 8 or 10.

Aren’t the place settings just lovely?

Alex’s ugly sauce was on the table – love his hot sauce!

The night featured a cash bar with some lovely honey inspired cocktails.

Honey braised lamb belly taco with mint crema, arugula and grated Eat Local propolis (Autumn Morning Farm, Barre, Beekeeper George O’Neil)

Peekabucha drink, Bar Hill Honey Vodka, with Cucumber Calaminth, Moroccan Mint, Honey Simple, and Kombucha!

Poulet en Pot – braised chicken with honey, vegetables, and verbena. (Best Bees, Boston, Beekeeper Dr. Noah Wilson-Rich) This was a really nice dish. I couldn’t quite put my finger on the flavor that this soup reminded me of, but I loved this soup. I was lucky enough to sit next to Noah at dinner and we had a really great conversation. I’m hoping to plan a time where I can head over and take a look at his bees up close and in person!

Lobster with Bee Pollen – vanilla butter and calaminth over fresh peas and corn. (Eat Local Honey, Jamaica Plain, Beekeeper Mike Graney) Such a wonderful dish – the lobster was delicious, a lot of bright clean flavors.

Green salad with Honey Cimb – roast beef and African Blue basil (Eat Local Honey, Somerville, Beekeeper Mike Graney)

In between courses, different beekeepers got up and spoke, along with poet Toni Bee. The speeches started to slow down the time between courses, but they recovered before the end of the night and the event ended on time. One memorable part of the evening was the “yellow is the new black” contest. Guests were asked to dress up in their most inventive outfits to win prizes.

Arepa de Pernil – honeyed pork shoulder, bacon, prescott cheese and fresh herb chimichurri (Carlisle honey, Tyngsboro, Beekeeper Rick Reault)

Mead poached scallops with wood sorrel and cyser reduction. (Green river Ambrosia, Greenfield, brewer Garth Shaneyfelt Brewed with Warm Colors Apiary Honey, Deerfield, Beekeepers Dan and Bonita Conlan). There was a palate cleanser in the middle of the scallops and the ribs, which didn’t photograph well. It was  a cucumber blueberry sorbet with Tulsi basil.

 Moroccan style lamb ribs with honey sauce and calaminth (Benevolent Bee, Jamaica Plain, Beekeepers Stephanie Elson and Emile Bruneau) The meat all but melted off the bone and in your mouth, a really lovely dish.

Raspberries with vanilla honey whipped marscapone, lemon balm and Mary’s honey oat cake (Baer’s Bees, Cambridge, Beekeeper Andy Baer). Those cookies were OUT OF THIS WORLD!

Thanks to Cuisine en Locale for being such great hosts! The evening was amazing and I walked away stuffed (but in a great way).

Cuisine en Locale

156 Highland Ave., Somerville, MA

http://cuisineenlocale.com/

The post O.N.C.E Follow the Honey appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

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

The post Lend an Ear Corn Dinner at Sloane Merrill Gallery appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

Even though we are here after regular business hours, we can tell that the folks at Workbar like to have fun! Just check out their chalkboard.

SoonSpoon, a last minute reservation company, teamed up with Opus Affair for tonight’s event. (L-R) Graham Wright, Founder, Opus Affair; Conor Clary and Travis Lowry, Co-Founders, SoonSpoon.

Grillo’s pickles started in 2008 with a family recipe. In 2009, Travis Grillo was selling pickled out of  a wooden cart in Boston Common. Today, Grillo’s has grown by leaps and bounds and can be found in Whole Foods, Wegman’s and other major retailers (as well as SOWA and other farmers markets).

Grillo’s Pickles also has a brick and mortar location at 1075 Cambridge Street in Cambridge.

PhaDe Food labs is a collaboration between Jose Ordovas (L) and Chris Borges (R), PhD students by day – chefs by night.

PHaDe food labs provided savory chicken nachos that were a big hit! They were charred baharat spiced chicken with house pickled Siena Farms squash and radish, manchego and Spaniard made sauce romesco. Follow PhaDe on Twitter here.

Check Chris out in action!

…and close up.

The extremely talented Josh Lewin, formerly of Beacon Hill Bistro, was at the event with his gourmet popcorn. Lewin is now focusing on his new venture, Bread and Salt Hospitality, with his business partner Katrina Jazayeri.

Lewin made popcorn in delicious flavors like clothbound cheddar, sriracha and curry leaf ash. Follow Lewin on Twitter here and Bread and Salt here.

I was most looking forward to Kate Holowchik’s home made sodas! Kate is the pastry chef at jm Curley,  see previous post here. Follow Kate on Twitter here.

(L-R) Homemade cola with cherry shrub (fancy cherry coke), Watermelon basil spritzer, and orange carrot ginger crush. I had the cola on Kate’s recommendation, and is was delicious!

NESN’s  Kayla Harrity of Wicked Bites was in the house interviewing all the chefs.

Harpoon Brewery provided the beers for the evening.

Taza Chocolate was at the event, sampling chocolate and each guest got one full size bar to snack on.

Flavors included Toffee Almond & Sea Salt, Cacao Nib Crunch, Sea Salt & Almond, Raspberry Nib Crunch and Coconut.

Devin Thomas (top right), of the popular Twitter handle Only in BOS, was in the house. Follow him on Twitter for all the latest news.

After an hour or so of eating and chatting, guests sat down to watch George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead.

Workbar 45 Prospect Street, Cambridge, MA

The post SoonSpoon and Opus Affair Movie Night appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

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.

The post SoonSpoon Pop Up: Modern French Cuisine, Progressive Wines and Classical Music appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

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/

The post SoonSpoon & Kitchensurfing Indonesian Pop Up Dinner appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.

First course: Hooligan and pistachio tartlets – Hooligan cheese is a soft cows milk cheese. These were so savory and delicious.

Pickled shrimp with sauce gribiche. I loved this dish, it was really bright and light with a little zip at the end – a really nice summertime dish.

Chicken in aspic with ramp jam – another really nice summer time dish and the ramp jam knocked it out of the park!

The table was simply set – the tulips were just lovely.

Jade’s sous chef Peter was in the kitchen helping with all the prep work!

Jonathan Fenelon, Assistant General Manager at Clio/Uni provided the wines for the night. When we were gathering before dinner, we sipped on cremant du jura. As we sat down to dinner, we drank a 2012 Hanzell Sebella Chardonnay; moved on to a Chilean wine, a 2012 Mayu Pedro Ximenez that was quite dry and paired well with the seafood; with the meat we moved on to a 2010 Domaine Maestracci Corse Calve E Provi. And for dessert we had a 2003 Otter Muscat from Alsace.

I don’t usually like vegetables, but how can you resist a dish this colorful? The carrot salad was dressed with tarragon and cucumber and had raw milk cottage cheese that was creamy and salty.

The main course was slow roasted beef brisket with black eyed peas and pork shank. The brisket was served with Louisiana mustard sauce and fish pepper hot sauce (home made of course).

The amazing chef, Jade Taylor, with her sour cream pound cake covered in a caramel sauce and served with a sassafras jelly and rhubarb.

Hoe beautiful is this cake? I have to admit that by the time that we got to dessert, I twas completely full, but the cake was too good to pass up!

One of the guests requested gluten free offerings, which the chef accommodated – check out how amazing these brownies look!

So check out SoonSpoon and make your reservation today! http://www.soonspoon.com/

Follow Chef Jade Taylor on Twitter and visit her at Bondir.

And Jade will also be hosting an event on June 15th at Merrill and Co., a southern buffet of sorts called “Supper Y’all“. I heard a rumor that there will be grilled oysters!

The post Soon Spoon Pop Up Event: Southern Family Dinner appeared first on A Little Bit About a Lot of Things.