Stoli Bar and Restaurant: From Russia, with Love

Honey, cranberry, and raspberry infused vodkas at Stoli

I still remember my first Russian meal in Brookline; a bunch of us slurping down bowls of borscht over lace tablecloths, while a fellow diner warbled Tchaikovsky over the tinny notes of an upright piano in the corner.

That place has since closed, and Stoli Bar and Restaurant is decidedly more posh than that restaurant of my memories. Stoli is a tiny place, with red leather booths and a TV looping rap performances over a bar that’s well-stocked with vodka. The housemade infused vodkas at Stoli, like black currant, cranberry, and mint, are smooth, juicy, and perfect for sipping. We loved the honey vodka, which was soft and sweet, but I’ve also heard that the horseradish vodka makes a killer bloody mary.

Start with an appetizer like Samsa ($7), pockets of puff pastry filled with lamb, beef, and onions served with fresh dill and a yogurt dressing. Or, enjoy the Russian tower ($12), an artful layering of favorite Russian elements that blend into lovely roundness of flavor. Each bite offers a bit of chewy blintz, smooth sour cream, the saltish depth of smoked salmon, and savory caviar, which linger gently together in the mouth.
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In Brookline, a Visit to the Cook's Illustrated Kitchen

The prep kitchen at Cook's Illustrated headquarters

Cook's Illustrated magazine founder Christopher Kimball likes to recount an anecdote about one reader who wrote in to complain about a recipe for chicken breasts, only to finally disclose a substitution of shrimp for the chicken.

“So of course the recipe didn't work!” Kimball chuckles.

As the driving force behind the magazine's characteristic preciseness, Kimball would gladly expound at length upon the reasons why that shrimp substitution failed.  From 1980, when it showed up on the racks in its original form as Cook's Magazine, and later in 1993 when it relaunched as Cook's Illustrated, this test kitchen empire has churned out precise yet approachable recipes, the kind that readers dub 'foolproof.'

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Welcome to America's Test Kitchen!

The Test Kitchen

Dishes stacked high, sorted by color, in the prop room

Super Fusion Cuisine: Balancing Quality and Value

It's not hard to find good sushi in Boston, this oceanfront seafood mecca, this polestar for fishermen and pescatarians alike.  But after dinner, I often find that I spent more than I intended on those perfect little strips of protein, and I still come away hungry.  It's a perpetual balancing act between fresh, good quality sushi and great value.

Super Fusion Cuisine has that balancing act figured out.  I've driven past this closet-sized restaurant underneath its gaudy red awning dozens of times, wondering with every pass what the appeal could be.  Is it bigger inside than it looks?  What could set this place apart from the many sushi places in Brookine?  And what exactly is “super fusion” sushi, anyway?

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Matt Murphy's Pub: Familiar Dishes, Recreated

There’s a certain charm, an almost disarming seduction, about a restaurant that takes food we all know and love and shows us a whole different side of it.  It’s a brilliant, really: we’re lured through the door with the promise of familiar dishes, and then sit a captive audience to the ensuing parade of creativity, as our culinary favorites trade up their old baseball caps for top hats and fascinators, or exchange silk sashes for warm woolen scarves—whatever the case may be.
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vegetable lasagna, deconstructed

I'll be honest here.  This deconstructed vegetable lasagna is only partly representative of what we've been eating in the past couple of weeks—due in part to the advent of apple cider-season and therefore, in my mind, the graceful exit of eggplant season, but mostly due to the fact that for nearly a week our refrigerator was filled to bursting with leftovers from Heidi's and Bill's wedding (you remember Heidi, from the purple bridal shower?), which is really just one of the many perks that come with having them for roommates.

But let me not pooh-pooh this faux-lasagna before you've even tried it, because it stole the show one evening, and, like a first date where everything just seems to click, I haven't been able to get it out of my mind since.  Roasted eggplant, garlicky tomatoes, creamy ricotta... it might be time for a second date.

The Elephant Walk: Plagued by Inconsistency

When a restaurant has thrived in Boston as long as the Elephant Walk, winning accolades and opening two new locations since opening in 1991, it earns a certain notoriety.  People talk about the Elephant Walk, and I’ve heard it all: the mix of French and Cambodian menus that reflect the owners’ international upbringings; the reputation for extensive vegetarian and gluten-free options; the amazing tastes of the food.

But what I found, over multiple visits, was an inconsistency in food and service, and a startling duality between reality and a longstanding reputation.
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Caramelized Fresh Figs with Honeyed Cream

One of the fascinating benefits to this interwebz we surf (for hours on end) is its power to connect people across the world.  Imagine my surprise (!) to find that there are people out there who, to date, have followed a meandering path similar to mine―meaning, first soprano-ing at music school, and then food bloggery.

Coco of Opera Girl Cooks is one of those people, and I have the pleasure of guest posting on her blog today.   I hope you'll click over to find a story and my recipe for Caramelized Fresh Figs with Honeyed Cream, which we've been enjoying here as summer tiptoes out of Boston.