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

Mom Came to Visit!

Two weekends ago my mom came to visit me at college. This has been the first time I had seen anyone from my family since August when Mom moved me in. She arrived on Friday in time to attend a meeting about something I will be doing next semester . . . Going on a research trip to Northern Ireland! How amazing is that!? But more about that when it is actually happening.

After the meeting, Mom and I went to lunch at Nando's to have lunch. I have been wanting to go to Nando's since I arrived here. And it was so good!! I got a chicken thigh with mild sauce and portuguese rice and corn on the cob as sides.

That night Mom and I went to Jaleo for dinner with my roommate's parents and grandmother. As always it was amazing, but I didn't take any photos because I was too busy socializing and having a good time. You can read about my past trip to Jaleo in this post. 

Saturday was a full on mother-daughter day. We started the day with brunch at Founding Farmers. I have heard great things about the restaurant from Ashley and my Mom, so I was excited to be finally going there.

The inside was really neat and home-y looking. And while it seated a lot of people, it had the feel of a small restaurant. 

Since we had reservations (which I totally suggest because it can get really busy), we were seated pretty quickly. Our seats were by a window and the smells from the tables around us made my stomach growl. 

Of course I got English Breakfast tea as my morning drink before consulting the menu to decide (with some difficulty) what I wanted to eat. Chicken & waffles? Pancakes? French toast? Eggs? Too many choices!

I ended up getting the steak & eggs with grilled ciabatta and grits. Not my healthiest meal, but a damn good one!

And Mom got the chicken & waffles with two poached eggs. Oh my god. It looked amazing and it tasted as good as it looked!

Photo Cred to Mom!

All in all, it was a very satisfying meal and I need to go again to try those beignets with a trio of sauces. And I'll probably also need to try the banana foster pancakes!

After brunch we went to Tyson's Corner Mall to do some clothes shopping and then to Target to stock up on food and toiletries. For dinner we went to Olazzo in Bethesda for some really great Italian food. I didn't take any photos because the lighting was not that good. 

The next morning Mom and I had a quick breakfast at Le Pain Quotidien before I headed back to campus and Mom left to drive back to Boston. It was great weekend and now I am impatient to go home and see Dad and Emma!

Until next time! Where I will writing about my own meal of chicken & waffles!

Love,

Kara

New York Day Four

My last day in NYC started with a beautiful stroll through Central Park with my aunt. We got our Starbucks (an Awake tea for me) and walked first through Strawberry Fields, passing by the Imagine mosaic. There was someone incorrectly singing “Let It Be” and tourists in Beatles shirts taking pictures with it.

My aunt and I then just wandered through the park chatting about high school, college, summer, family and friends. It was really nice to be able to catch up while walking through such a beautiful park. I could spend hours exploring all the paths and gardens in Central Park.

Due to our very filling dinner the night before, we did not eat breakfast that morning in anticipation of lunch at the “mysterious location.” After dressing up, my aunt and I walked a dozen blocks to the restaurant . . . Jean-Georges at Trump Tower.

I had never eaten at such a fancy restaurant with different waiters for bread, drinks, and the meals. Our plates were set down and taken away at the same time by two waiters. It was like a well-oiled machine. We decided to choose the prix fixe menu for our lunch. My appetizer was fried calamari with an aerated chili sauce and my aunt got the tuna tartare. Both were delicious!

For the entrée I got the fresh rigatoni with lamb meatballs and smoked tomato sauce, and my aunt got the golden sea bass. Yummy!

There were only two desserts so we got one of each. The first one was the Jean-Georges molten chocolate cake with homemade vanilla ice cream. The second one was a strawberry shortcake with crème fraîche and strawberry tea. Both were amazing, but I like the chocolate one more.

Overall, Jean-Georges had some of the best food that I have ever eaten. I would love to go again and try more of their food! It was also another opportunity to talk with my aunt about anything that came to mind.

Soon after lunch, Mom picked me up to head back to Boston. We got out of the city before rush hour but hit it in Hartford. Before that, however, we stopped at the Connecticut welcome rest area and it was surprisingly beautiful. I certainly felt welcomed there.

When we got home, it marked the last road trip until Dad and I drive back down to Florida in a month. But I still have exciting things in the meantime with bike tours, movies, afternoon tea, Washington, D.C. and more. Thanks for reading and check back again soon!