Lunch in the North End with the Family!

Hello! I hope that everyone had a great Father's Day. My grandfather flew down from New Jersey Saturday morning and is staying until Thursday. We picked up my grandfather (Nonno, which is grandfather in Italian) and headed to the North End. As you may have guessed the North End is one of our favorite neighborhoods in Boston. We were planning on going to Quattro (which Mom and I went to last summer), but there was an hour wait. The five of us then walked down the block to Ristorante Fiore, which we had never been to. We sat on the roof deck and browsed through the menu.

Mom and I chose to split an arugula salad with lemon juice and shaved parmesan. It was a perfect light start to a carb based meal. 

Both Dad and Nonno got the arancini (rice balls) stuffed with sausage and cheese. They both loved it, and I was happy to sample some of Dad's!

While we waited for our entrées to arrive (which took longer than we had anticipated) we discussed some of the work that Mom and I have been doing tracing our family tree. We have since worked on it, and now the tree has 140 people on it dating back to 1837. It has been a lot of fun and I can't wait to find out more about our family!

Emma ate spaghetti and meatballs! Classic and delicious.

I chose the Maccaroni al Forno. An amazing mixture of rigatoni pasta with spicy sausage and goat cheese. It was huge and I could not finish it all!

Mom got the Penne al Pollo, which had artichoke hearts, chicken, cherry tomatoes, in a light cream sauce. Like mine it was huge and she could not finish it, but she loved it nonetheless.

Lastly, Dad and Nonno got the gnocchi with sausage and mushrooms. I'm not a big fan of either gnocchi or mushrooms, but I got to say that it was pretty good! Not something that I would order for myself. 

Even after all of that we could not say no to dessert! Mom, Nonno, and I got cappuccino, while Dad got his usual double espresso. We got two tiramisus to split between the four of us (Emma does not like tiramisu) and it was so good! I love tiramisu. I have made it many times and I have had it at many restaurants. My french host mother even made me a speculoos tiramisu! Out of all of those tiramisus, this one is in the top five. It had a really good coffee flavor, that can be lost with the mascarpone filling and chocolate.

We then walked by the harbor before heading back home! All in all another very successful meal in the North End.

See you next time,

Kara

Breakfast With Dad: Country Chef Restaurant, Wilmington MA

Hello! As you guys may know breakfast is my second favorite meal, with brunch being my favorite because I can sleep in and eat breakfast foods! So I love going out to breakfast every other Friday with Dad. We usually try to find a different restaurant or diner each week (although we haven't always stuck to that rule). So far we have tried Agawam Diner in Rowley and Shawsheen Luncheonette in Andover (which we have gone to twice and is apparently an Andover favorite because there is always a line out of the door). 

Yesterday we went to the Country Chef Restaurant in Wilmington. It is a cute little place where a lot of locals were getting their breakfast, which is always a good sign.

Upon arrival we were offered a fruit salad to eat while choosing our entrée. It consisted of pineapple, honeydew, and cantelope. The fruit was yummy and fresh, even though none of those fruits are my favorite.

The menu has egg dishes, pancakes, waffles, French toast, and more. It took me a while to decide but I got there in the end! Dad got the Linguicia special omelette, which had Linguicia sausage, feta cheese, American cheese, spinach, and tomatoes. It was served with home fries and wheat toast. He really liked it and would have it again.

I had the Boston Breakfast, which is two eggs served any style (I chose sunny side up), choice of meat (I chose sausage), home fries, toast and a small juice (I got orange juice). It was yummy but I wished that the home fries were crispier. Next time I really want to try the pancakes with chocolate chips!!

Overall I liked the place. As we were leaving there were a good number of cars pulling in, making it look like the place to get breakfast in Wilmington. I can't wait to try the next place!!

See you next time,

Kara