Tag Archives: brunch

What I Ate in Charleston

Once again, I am extremely guilty of going MIA from this blog for way too long. I’ve simply been lacking in both both time and inspiration to blog. But today I hope to make it up to you with a fun post about the awesome food and drink I experienced when I visited Charleston, South Carolina for a wedding over Labor Day weekend with my family!

I arrived first out of the five of us, but kept myself plenty entertained by heading to a solo lunch at Butcher & Bee. My coworker went to college in Charleston, so she had sent me a long list of recommendations that I knew I could trust…and this place was on the list. I was sure it was a solid spot the second they served my sparkling wine in a coupe glass – my favorite way to drink bubbles.

I loved that the lunch menu featured an option to try three of their many mezze dishes. I picked the heirloom beans with soft boiled egg, eggplant with olives and green tahini, and whipped feta with fermented honey and cracked black pepper. Everything was absolutely scrumptious!

As you can probably guess, I saved my favorite – the feta – for last.

Some adorable decor at the entrance of Butcher & Bee.

After my family arrived and got settled into our Airbnb, we called an Uber to King Street, Charleston’s bustling downtown area. There we stopped into The Cocktail Club, a place on my must-visit list. My boyfriend Jeff’s good friend and former coworker Tyler is actually a bartender there, so it was great to meet him and try some of his cocktails. My mom and sister were over the moon happy with their Cosmopolitans, my mom calling it the best she’d ever had. My dad and I both went with vodka martinis. We all had a great time chatting with Tyler and taking in the bar scene. I even bought a cigar…yes, they sell them in the restaurant!

After our drinks were gone (long gone), we headed out to The Cocktail Club’s roof deck area to take some pictures before running off to the next stop, a welcome reception for the wedding.

The welcome reception was fun but wine-filled, which left us VERY hungry. Thank goodness for Domino’s. Ordering pizza from there while in Charleston, land of amazing restaurants, may have been a faux pas…but it was also a necessity. And really, it was so nice to hang out with my family and eat pizza while watching Netflix and drinking red wine. Talk about relaxing!

I was right back on the restaurant grind the next morning, though. After swinging by Pure Barre for a really good class, I met my family for brunch at The Rarebit, another spot recommended by my coworker. She said they had the best Moscow Mules in the city, but I’m not a mule girl, so I went with a Southside. This is a refreshing gin cocktail and Rarebit’s version was absolutely the best one I’ve ever had! For my meal I selected a dish on special, a shrimp cake Benedict. I really wish I’d taken a picture of it because it was stellar, but alas, I was too busy hamming it up with the fam to do so. We were all beyond impressed by both the quality and price of the food, though!

Later that night it was wedding time. I once again had an amazing experience using Boston’s in-store dress rental service, Best Dressed. I can’t recommend them enough, and paid for this rental in full (no #sponsored situation here). I know this post is about food and drink, but I had to throw them a shout-out. I will say, though, that the Southern food at the wedding was the best wedding food I’ve ever had, by far. The open bar was also rather enjoyable.

You know you’re a blogger when you’ve trained your mom to take solo pics for you.

The day after the wedding, the whole family was moving a little slowly. My parents and sister opted to spend the day at the beach, but my brother and I both had flights to catch back to New England. (Am I the only one who prefers to leave a “gap day” between a trip and going back to work? I wanted to fly back on Sunday so I’d have Monday to relax at home.) I really wanted to squeeze in one more restaurant though, so I took myself and my book to brunch at another place on King Street, called Prohibition.

I rarely ever order the same drink twice in a row, but the above pictured Charleston Fizz was so good that I had to do just that. It contained Brugal Extra Dry Rum, Tito’s Vodka, lime, cream, egg white, lemon bitters, and seltzer. The cream makes it sound heavy, but it really wasn’t. It was like drinking a key lime cloud.

For brunch I went with the avocado benedict, which consisted of avocado and heirloom tomato on english muffin, topped with a poached egg and dill hollandaise sauce. I wanted to go with something a bit lighter so I wouldn’t be dragging on my flight. I was overall really pleased with my last choice of restaurant to visit while in Charleston, but am also already itching to go back and try MORE places…as well as return to some of these.

Oh, and of course my dinner on the plane ride home consisted of cheese and meat with Stacy’s Pita chips and bad red wine…because, travel.

Have you ever been to Charleston? What are some of your favorite spots?

Did you travel for Labor Day weekend, lay low at home, or a mix of both?

May Recap

May is over and it was a great month. You already know I went to Nantucket, but I’ve also tried some new restaurants, fallen into a good fitness groove, cooked a few dishes, and spent time with Jeff, friends, and family. All of that hasn’t been quite enough to distract me from the fact that summer has taken its time to show up, but it’s come close.

A (rare) warm May day.

I thankfully didn’t have to worry about cooking the night I got back from Nantucket, because I had a dinner invite to Aqua Pazza, a new restaurant in the North End. There my friend Cristen and I enjoyed a fantastic multi-course meal at a spot that I’d call perfect for date night or an evening out with some girlfriends. The Bolognese di Maiale was particularly a dish to write home about.

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Brunch at Plan B Glastonbury

I received the food and drink in this post free of charge. However (and longtime readers already know this), I’ve been a fan and paying customer of Plan B for a very long time! They even named a burger after me back in the day.

I went home to Connecticut this past weekend to celebrate my dad’s retirement, but made sure to spend time with old friends as well. On Sunday morning, Jeff and I had the chance to enjoy Plan B Glastonbury‘s brunch with Kat and Plan B’s marketing director, Shannon. We arrived at 10:30am on the dot, which brings me to my first positive note about the brunch…it starts at 10am. Jeff and I are huge fans of early brunch, because sometimes you just get up and can’t wait until noon.

(Not) fun fact about Boston: there are no bottomless beverages and no happy hours. So when I saw that Plan B offered bottomless bourbon sours at their brunch – and for $15 no less – I had to jump on that deal. When in Rome, right?!

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Recent Boston Eats

It’s been awhile since I shared some of the good food I’ve experienced here in Boston, so I figured I’d comb through my camera roll and highlight anything I found in there that was taken recently. In my eyes, if I took a picture then the food must have been good (the exception, of course, being if the lighting was awful…in that case, no photographs are taken).

Bar Mezzana: Pasta

If you haven’t tried Bar Mezzana yet, drop what you are doing and go there now. You don’t even have to read the rest of this post; I’m confident the experience you end up having will tell you why I’m recommending it. The restaurant is located in the South End’s luxury Ink Block apartment complex and focuses on pastas, raw seafood, fresh crusty bread topped with all varieties of spreads, and prosciutto with house mozz. LOTS of house mozz.

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I personally cannot stay away from the pastas. I’ve sampled three so far and can’t wait to return for more. I’d recommend all of those three: orecchiette with sausage and fennel, paccheri with lobster, and another variety with rabbit that looks like it’s off the menu now (darn). For dessert, go for an espresso martini. Bar Mezzana’s bar staff is super knowledgeable and this espresso martini is probably the best I’ve ever had.

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Journey to Western Mass: Part 2

Did you miss part one of my recap? Click here to read! Also, for any of my readers who live in Boston and love fitness, I’m hosting an Instagram giveaway for two tickets to the Jimmy Fund Fit Fest taking place this Saturday on the Esplanade. Enter here!

When I last left off, my boyfriend Jeff and I were convening with our friends Matt and Dave in the lobby of the Hotel Northampton for dinner. One of the best parts about our trip was the fact that our hotel was located right in the center of town, and we could walk everywhere! We took a short stroll to Bistro Les Gras, a farm to table restaurant with menus that change daily. First we got a round of appetizers, including a fantastic steak tartare.

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Three out of four of us went with the burger as our entree, thanks to recommendations from many locals we’d talk to throughout the day. The burger lived up to its reputation, and its flavor made it obvious that it was ground in-house.

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Weekend Trades

I haven’t been up for doing much writing lately, so I’ve been fairly absent recently – my bad. But if I’ve learned anything, it’s that forcing myself to write is a whole lot more frustrating than letting this blog go post-less for a week or so. Good has been happening lately, but a whole lot of bad on the emotional front as well. Sounds like a prime time for Trade Em Up Tuesday.

Seems I'm not alone!

Seems I’m not alone!

I would not trade…trying out a tasty new-to-me restaurant. Friday night I selected Marliave for a girls night with Jeannie and Allie. The menu looked super promising and I’m always down for starting my weekend with a good meal out. Despite some iffy service, we all really enjoyed our food and drinks! French restaurants do damn good French fries.

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Long Newport Weekend

Once I got going writing yesterday’s post, I knew this recap of the long July 4th weekend in Newport, RI would have to be a two-parter. So many photos and so much to say! Thankfully I woke up at 5:30AM for no reason this morning, actually feeling quite well rested, so I was able to sneak in a quick run and sit down here to blog before starting my work day. Let’s pick up where we left off:

Sunday 7/6

So I woke up and despite feeling guilty about what I’d eaten/drank the day prior, I also just didn’t feel like going running or doing cardio of any kind. Our timeshare complex had a gym that I walked into and said…wtf? It had three machines, dumbbells that maxed out at 10lbs (not that I’m strong man or anything, but come on!), and not even a space to do abs and no bench. So I basically did arms for 20 minutes, abs from the now-longer-than-30-days ab challenge, and called it a day. I was happy to be able to hightail it to Mokka Coffeehouse down the street to get some work done!

The shop was adorable as you can see from the above photo, and the iced coffee DELICIOUS. I had it a few other days on my trip and definitely recommend this place, though Coffee Grinder is still my favorite coffee place in Newport simply because of the waterfront seating (unfair advantage). After plugging away for a couple of hours I got hungry and found out my family was having lunch at a diner. I just didn’t really feel like eating diner food, and OK I was having anxiety over it, so I decided to take my current read and check out Newport’s newest farm-to-table (this term is, to me, becoming overused) restaurant – Stoneacre Pantry.

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Boston Brunchers Ride-N-Dine

Psst…Tina is hosting a giveaway today on behalf of my employer 90+ Cellars! She’s giving away two tickets to our Boston Rose Cruise, so if you’re nearby or want to plan a weekend in Boston be sure to enter. She also is sharing a discount code!

I received the fitness class and meal in this post free of charge. All opinions of my experiences are my own. This is not a sponsored post.

As I mentioned last Friday, this past Sunday was my first Boston Brunchers event, featuring one of my favorite pairings: fitness and food! Or riding and dining, as the name of the event would suggest. Bloggers and social media gurus gathered in the gorgeous Chestnut Hill Square for a Soul Cycle class, followed by a sampling of the Brio brunch menu.

The workout ended up being perfectly timed because I was out and about the day/night prior and I stayed in bed right up until it was time to get ready to leave! Jeannie (of course she joined me!) and I were running a bit late but thankfully the ride actually began at 11:45AM. Just like my last Soul Cycle visit, I had a great experience. I loved both instructors but actually found this one, Molly, to be my favorite overall (Erin, you’re still awesome!).

My favorite part of the class was when Molly encouraged us to make it “not about losing 5 pounds, not about toned triceps”, but about what of SUBSTANCE we wanted to gain from being there. (Source)

The playlist was out of this world, and the arm portion killer on the shoulders! The 45 minute class was just what I was in the mood for and made me feel empowered and strong. I was going to perhaps splurge on a pricey tank top, but I had taken a cab home the night before and that was $20 gone, so I just couldn’t let myself do it! Some day!

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MIMM (Heavy on the Friday)

The winner of the Talcott Mountain Music Festival ticket giveaway winner is Tiffany! Your tickets are in the mail 🙂 Thank you to all who entered and remember that you can still purchase tickets to the next two shows here!

Happy Marvelous In My Monday! Last night I was COMPLETELY wiped from a weekend of fun…and still felt wiped this morning (hello, Monday). I had one night of not enough sleep (Friday) and one good night’s sleep (Saturday), but that good night was not enough to make up for Friday. Friday was definitely the most energy-exerting, fun, friend-filled, delicious part of my weekend. The rest was great too, but you will find today’s MIMM post heavy on the Friday.

Thanks Katie for the marvelous mindset!

Marvelous is…a chef’s tasting at Pond House GrilleMy good friend Jill and I had the privilege of experiencing a tasting of small plates, prepared for us by Executive Chef Jordan Stein, for dinner on Friday night. We also sipped on some magnificently crafted cocktails and experienced a floral course, involving dry ice! I will be doing a full blog post this week about the experience so stay tuned. For now I’ll be a tease (though some of you may have gotten a sneak peek of more photos on Instagram).

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For Love of Fairfield

I’ve already showed Kaitlin (of For Love of Carrots) my turf, and the time came this past weekend for her to show me hers – Fairfield County! I visited her from Saturday evening to Sunday afternoon and she showed me a great time. Then again, I knew she would since our tastes are so similar! Prime example number one – we both wore black tops, black shoes, jeans, and statement necklaces to dinner.

Saturday Night

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I borrowed the necklace from Kaitlin, the queen of statement necklaces!

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