Daniel R.

Its been a busy weekend.

The Tour de France wrapped up this weekend with an everything on the line time trial on Saturday and another fabulous sprint finish on the Champs Elysee on Sunday. Congratulations to Carlos Sastre, this year's winner. My DVR can rest for awhile now that I don't have 4-5 hours of live coverage to zoom through each night. Versus' prime time coverage just can't compare to Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen.

Saturday also included an outing to Midwest Grill followed by games in celebration of Craig's birthday. Way too much yummy food and gaming but a great way to spend the rest of the day.

Sunday consisted of helping Erin and Pete move into an apartment down the street, but was mostly taken up by painting my entryway. Stephanie has been helping me pick out colors and look for deals on paint. A couple of months ago she came across this great peach color which fit with the overall scheme. Problem is, now that I've got one room done, I'm itching to do the rest.

Tags: gilmanmanor life photos

Posted by Daniel Rinehart at 12:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just outside of Davis Square Kickass Cupcakes has opened their doors. While walking back last night I stopped in to sample their wares. Tasty. A little over priced and it didn't look like there were discounts for buying in quantity. Be aware that they also sell cupcakes designed for cats and dogs although the labeling on them (especially after a pint or two) isn't immediately obvious.

From left to right, top: The Mojito, Strawberry Shortcake, and Vanilla; bottom: Chocolate, Cinnamon Chai Pecan Sticky, and Lucky Cupcake.

Tags: food

Posted by Daniel Rinehart at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Too much good food today!

Had lunch at 33, oh so yummy.

Ended up at Rustic Kitchen for dinner.

If I keep meals like this up, I might actually gain some weight :)

Posted by Daniel Rinehart at 11:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Since today was the last day for another member of the Boston Ruckus team along with being only a week away for the rest of us, we sojourned to The Other Side Cafe. Normally I'd just include this in one of my restaurant lists, but it feels like it deserves more than a passing mention. I think the last time I ate there was about 9 years ago. I visited it a few times when I first moved to the Fenway area to attend Northeastern, but then despite passing by it many times I never went back in. That was a mistake.

One of the things that I remember from those visits many years ago were all of the cool non-alcoholic drinks that they have. They do also have a descent beer collection, but if I'm in that neck of the woods I'll just head over to Bukowski's instead. I have an apple, banana, lemon, and pear smoothie. Yummy! They also have a great selection of syrups for Italian or French soda. All the usual coffee and tea stuff. And lots of options that you can add wheatgrass to. I didn't go with any wheatgrass.

As for food, all very good with many vegetarian options. The soup of the day was even a vegetarian french onion soup (which you don't find that often). Overall a great place to go.

Posted by Daniel Rinehart at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A few more restaurants and places to try if you have the chance:

Kaze a newer Shabu-Shabu restaurant in Chinatown.

Skipjack's good quality seafood. Some of the best calamari I've had in awhile.

Martsa’s on Elm Tibetan food.

Monday Club one of many great upscale places to eat that is part of Upstairs on the Square.

Ruby Room great lounge in the North End, part of the Onyx Hotel.

Eat, Drink, and Enjoy!

Posted by Daniel Rinehart at 10:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Friends and I went to East Coast Grill's Hell Night for supper tonight. I left last time not having found anything that really overpowered me so this time I decided to try the Pasta From Hell. I have met my match. The pasta tastes great. However about 20 minutes after starting to eat it I got cramps in my stomach. I ate some more but then decided it was time to stop. The cramps got worse. My vision got funky. My main course came. I couldn't eat much of any of it, even the non spicy bits. I got the shakes. It took me a good ten minutes to eat a slice of corn bread. The shakes lasted for most of the rest of the evening.

This is one of those strange experiences. I'm glad I did it, because hell I can say I ate a bowl of the Pasta from Hell. It's also good to test your limits every now and again in a safe way. Given the cramps I don't know how safe it was but I doubt there will be any permanent damage (Penn & Teller motto). Wow, what a dish. And I didn't even have to sign the waiver form you the menu said I would. I'm still too wired to go to bed now. I think I'll watch some M*A*S*H drink some more flat ginger ale and hope that the Pepto Bismol does the trick.

Posted by Daniel Rinehart at 11:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I love the Boston area. Others will lobby for other places that they feel are better than Boston. For me right now Boston is wonderful. One reason I really like Boston is that I've been eating out frequently and really enjoying food. This is a random selection of places that I've eaten recently and recommend all of them:

• Ma soba (well not recently, but I will this Saturday) Sushi and asian-fusion
• Tu Y Yo Authenticate mexican food. Things like cuitlacoche (corn’s black mushroom) and cactus paddles
• Parish Cafe Great sandwiches and during the summer a great outdoor patio
• Sol Azteca Spanish cuisine and a great atmosphere
• Fugakyu Wonderful sushi and sake (very busy though)
• 9 Tastes Great thai food and good dinner box specials
• Shabu-Zen Japanese "Shabu-Shabu" (cook your food in a big community pot)
• Yoshi's Inexpensive good quality sushi
• Lucy's Great brunch
• Orleans Upscale atmosphere great for drinks
• Khao Sarn Another great Thai restaurant (Their website is on the fritz)
• Grasshopper Yummy vegetarian (Can't find their website)
• Sushi Island Sushi and jazz

That's all that comes to mind right now. Go out, eat enjoy!

Posted by Daniel Rinehart at 10:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An awesome flash based electronic music guide with samples and some great copy.

Posted by Daniel Rinehart at 7:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been on the search for some new tea lately and rediscovered Republic of Tea while browsing in Cardullo's over the weekend. In particular I was looking for caffeine free teas. I ran across three that are all very yummy.

• 
  Lemon Wintergreen: A great mint based tea with the kick of lemon grass. Great for sipping after lunch.


• Republic Red Chai: The best non-caffeinated chai tea I've had. Very flavorful.


• Cedarberg Organic Red Tea: Wonderful substitute for black tea and a great base for mixing with lemons, honey, or both.

Posted by Daniel Rinehart at 10:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I've now found a new mecca of sake in Boston: Mall Discount Liquors out at the Fresh Pond Mall. By far the best selection of sake I've seen in a long time. They even have write-ups on the shelves about many of the sakes. One neat thing is that the back of many bottles included a quality scale from eSake.com.

Besides picking up a new bottle of sake to try, I also found some cool glasses by Riedel. They will make a nice edition to the sake drinking set I already have.

Posted by Daniel Rinehart at 4:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

More Fake Food

Food Companies Test Flavorings That Can Mimic Sugar, Salt or MSG.

While I'm sure that the product is safe, it's just scary what companies are doing to food these days.

Posted by Daniel Rinehart at 10:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

How Hangovers Work

Cool, I didn't know How Stuff Works added a health section. This article on hangovers is a good read. Not that I actually have a hangover, but I was trying to remember the chemical in alcohol that doesn't really exist in sake, making it less prone to give you a hangover. Turns out it is congeners. Another handy URL is a list of all their articles.

Posted by Daniel Rinehart at 9:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Idea to sink your teeth into

This guy is working on a project to create an MP3 player that looks like a PEZ dispenser. Brilliant!

Posted by Daniel Rinehart at 9:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Addis Red Sea Ethiopian Restaurant

I've been down to Addis twice now and have really enjoyed the unique cuisine they have to offer. Their sampler for two is a great way to try a bunch of the dishes they offer and get a better feel for what you might want to order in the future.

Posted by Daniel Rinehart at 8:50 AM | Permalink