Flights and Flatbreads at Seasons 52

Last week, I met up with my cousins for dinner in Burlington. We were all eager to go to Seasons 52 (after all, I had quite the meal there the last time I visited), so that's where we decided to meet.

Upon arriving, one of my cousins informed me of their Flights & Flatbreads deal - and I was immediately on board. Basically, it's Seasons 52's version of happy hour. You get to try a flight of three Remarkable Reds or Spectacular Whites, followed by a full pour of your favorite. You also get to pair your wine choices with one of Seasons 52's flatbreads - all for $15. (Or, you can get a flight and full pour of their Acclaimed Wine Series plus a flatbread for $20). Yeah...it's a good deal.

On this particular night, we all went with the Spectacular Whites (the chardonnay ended up being my favorite/my full pour).

For my flatbread, I went with the Spicy Chipotle Shrimp Flatbread, topped with grilled pineapple, feta cheese, and roasted poblano peppers.

I mean, look how gigantic this flatbread was:

I think that plus [basically] two glasses of wine for $15 is quite the deal. It also helps that everything was good - including the service!

The best part about this evening - and all of last week, for that matter - was that I drove a Buick Encore to and from the restaurant. (Don't worry, mom - I only had two glasses of wine and an entire flatbread. I was responsible!). My friends at General Motors sent me this beauty to drive around in last week:

The car also came in mighty handy when we were moving everything back into our basement after getting it redone.

Yeah...let's just say this car made my poor little 2008 Ford Fusion look pretty darn boring.

Have you discovered any good restaurant deals lately? 

What's your dream car?

My Buick Encore rental was complimentary; all opinions are my own. 

Weekly Taco + Beer Deal at Bukowski Tavern

Last week, Z discovered this website, which lists all of the weekly cheap eats deals - by day - in Boston. Pretty cool, right? One we knew we immediately had to try out was the deal at Bukowski Tavern in Cambridge on Tuesday evenings: $4 for a taco and a can of Mexican lager, or $5 for a taco and a margarita.

Over the course of the night, I had three Tecate beers and three veggie tacos. To say I was stuffed would be an understatement, but I only paid $12 to be that full. Worth it.

The picture above does the veggie tacos no justice (Bukowski's also serves chicken, pork, and beef tacos, although their selection can change each week). The tacos were filled with a variety of fresh veggies, black beans, and some addicting chipotle sauce, all wrapped in a warm, slightly crisp soft taco.

This is one great bargain where you really get more than what you pay for. No one at my table tried the margarita, but...what can be bad about a margarita?

*One note: this deal is only valid at Bukowski's Inman Square location.

Also, we have a MorningStar Farms' giveaway winner (I chose the winner using Random.org): Kelly R.! Congrats, Kelly! 

I hope everyone has a safe and relaxing long weekend! What are your plans?

50 Cent Dumplings at The Ginger Exchange

On Tuesdays, dumplings only cost $0.50 at The Ginger Exchange in Inman Square (if you spend at least $6 on drinks). Guess where I was this past Tuesday?

My friend, Amy, lives right in Inman Square, and invited me out for drinks and cheap dumplings at this Japanese sushi bar and restaurant. I happily obliged, met her at the bar, and quickly ordered a Southern Tier "Unearthly" IPA ($6).

The Ginger Exchange serves pork and vegetable versions of their MaMa's Dumplings. I went with the vegetable; Amy went with the pork.

The dumplings were cooked perfectly; I fell in love with the crispy exterior. The vegetable filling, however, could have used some more spices, but, thankfully, the soy sauce helped to bring the dumplings to life. 

Since I had been having craving sushi all week, I also decided to order some Avo-cucumber makimono ($4.75) to wash down my dumplings with. 

This sushi definitely fulfilled my week-long craving. The avocado, cucumber and wasabi were incredibly fresh, and the sprinkling of black and white sesame seeds added a necessary nuttiness to the maki. 

Although we only sat at the bar, I enjoyed the vibe at The Ginger Exchange. A surprising number of younger patrons were also sitting down and enjoying a later dinner (and probably $0.50 dumplings), and our waitress/bartender was friendly and knowledgeable about the menu. I'll definitely go back for some fresh Japanese fare - and not just on a Tuesday.

How you can eat at a fancy restaurant in Boston for under $35 a person

Talk about bargain shopping: Earlier this week, I went to Brasserie Jo at the Colonnade Hotel in downtown Boston with my friend, Dave (@davidgallant). My goal in going there was two-fold: To have a “nicer” dinner, without having to call my bank for a loan. I admit, the prices on the menu were a bit frightening at first ($32.95 for a steak, anyone?), but I was eventually pleasantly surprised at all the options I had to make my meal and overall experience financially realistic for me. Plus, the waitstaff was extremely attentive and informative, and helped us choose dishes that were delicious, yet cost effective. This results in a big thumbs up from me, as I’ve been to upscale restaurants that are immediately inconsiderate if you don’t leave with a large bill.           

Now, on to the review. To start, our waiter brought us a warm, crispy baguette with butter, as well as carrot sticks that were coated in a sweet sauce with fresh herbs (carrots not pictured).

For a cocktail, I ordered the Stoli Doli martini ($10), made with Stolichnaya infused pineapples.

The martini was refreshing, and had the perfect balance between natural sweetness from the fruit and kick from the booze. Now, normally I’d get two glasses of wine during an entire meal out, but the average cost of a glass of wine at Brasserie Jo’s is between $8 and $14. None of the $8 glasses struck my fancy, so to save a few bucks, I opted for the martini and got a beer later on during the night ($5.50).

As an entrée, Dave and I decided to split one of the least expensive things on Brasserie Jo's menu: the Tarte Flambee Spinach ($9.95), made with Gruyere and crispy garlic chips. 

We also split the Roasted Sea Bass ($24.95), which was highly recommended by our waiter and the manager of the restaurant.  

The tarte was more than enough for two people, and it had a great bite from the cheese, with a lingering flavor of fresh garlic. The sea bass also exceeded my and Dave's expectations, and was cooked so perfectly it fell apart with the touch of my fork. The fresh vegetables and creamy sauce that accompanied the fish totally rounded out the dish, too. Bonus: The chef split the sea bass into two plates, so we didn’t have to fight over the fish with our forks. According to the restaurant manager, the chef always tries to split the entrée into several plates if he knows people are sharing. More thumbs up!

Finally, for dessert, Dave and I split the Chocolate Mousse ($7.95), which  our waiter prepared  right at our table. The dish was ungodly creamy, and was served with white chocolate sauce and dark and white chocolate shavings. Thankfully, the dessert wasn't too intense, either - I'm not a big dessert person, but I could have eaten five more plates of this mousse.

Dave and I were even fortunate enough to dine at Brasserie Jo on a night when Chef Joho was visiting. Chef Joho is a world renowned chef, and it was an honor to meet him. He was even generous enough to bring us a second dessert, profiteroles, which the restaurant manager told us people drive all the way from Maine to eat. The profiteroles were chocked full of vanilla bean ice cream and smothered in homemade hot fudge sauce, poured on right at your table.

All in all, Dave and I had one amazing dinner - and between the two of us, we spent $69.35, or just under $35 per person. If we had both gotten an entree and a dessert each, our bill would have easily been over $100. Just by sharing an appetizer, entree and dessert, and getting reasonably priced cocktails, we were able to save, at minimum, $30 on our bill. Not bad for a fancy night out in downtown!

Where to get $12 wine for under $8

For wine drinkers like me that enjoy good, cheap wine, North Andover's got a new shop that not only sells an endless variety of brands for cheap, but the bottles also come with a whole lot of information.

I love wine, but I don't know much about the different varietals and what wine goes well with what food - I just eat and drink whatever feels good to me at the time. My lack of wine knowledge is why I am a big supporter of local wine shops, where the owners are informative and the wine is high quality - and reasonably priced. The Wine Connextion is one of the newest additions to the N. Andover's Main Street, and carries row upon row of wine varietals, separated by region. Above each wine is a piece of paper that lists information about the wine, including: acidity, body, food to pair it with, and drinkability (meaning whether you should drink the wine today, or if it will be at its best in 2012). The list also includes the original price of the bottle to compare the current price to. For instance, a lot of the bottles I was looking at should have cost $12, but at Wine Connextion, they're only being sold for $7.99. The shop owner confessed that they can sell the wine at such a low price because they buy the vino in bulk. I'm guessing they won't have any trouble selling their stock.

I settled on a bottle of Four Vines Naked Chardonnay ($8.99), and a large bottle of CK Mondavi Pinot Grigio ($8.79). I plan to break into both of these this weekend at various holiday gatherings - I'll let you know if the taste is worth saving the extra dollars.

Four courses, five beers, sensible price tag

I have eaten many meals (and slugged back quite a few beers) at Cambridge Common in my day, but Monday night was the first beer dinner I've ever attended. Cambridge Common holds their popular beer pairing events at least once a month, and trust me when I say, it’s worth trying out. On Monday, the brewery featured was Clipper City out of Maryland, the same guys who made brew pubs legal in their native state. The folks at Clipper City pride themselves on integrating traditional brewing conditions with modern techniques. The beer dinners at Cambridge Common always feature a specific local brewery, and are set up family-style; yup, you sit right at the table with other beer snobs, foodies, people from the featured brewery, and the owners of Cambridge Common themselves. Suzanne Scholow and Kate Baker are the masterminds behind this comfortable downtown eatery with over 30 beers on tap at a time. Baker pairs the food for these events with the beer, and after tasting just the first course, you’d think she attained a master’s in the trade. For an appetizer, we enjoyed Maryland crab cakes with chipotle aioli, paired with a Loose Cannon Hop3 Ale Cask as well as its un-cask'd counterpart. The pairing was good, but I found the significant difference between the cask and the ale the most interesting. Next was a salad of tomatoes, romano cheese, and arugula, which provided a needed pepper-y flavor, and which was cut nicely with the subtle, sweet Uber Pils it was paired with.

For an entrée, I opted for the pumpkin ravioli with the Imperial Pumpkin Ale, which was a little too much nutmeg and sugar for me in one dish. However, the ravioli had a needed savory touch with red peppers, which paired much better with the other entrée’s beer – the Oxford Organic Amber. The other entrée, cranberry apple stuffed pork loin, just happened to taste better with the pumpkin beer, too.

Dessert, however, I am still dreaming about. Chocolate crème brulee with a Below Decks Barleywine (2007). The barleywine had well-rounded tones of cherry flavor, which paired perfectly with the otherwise-too-sweet crème brulee.

Tickets for the beer dinners are about $50, but for four courses and five or six beers, you’re getting a deal. Next month: Magic Hat’s bringing their brews on 11/10. I suggest you be there.