BostonZest

Nature's Design

Weekend walks are a wonderful time to admire the designs that nature adds to our streetscapes.  Earlier this week a Commonwealth Avenue front door had a pink carpet of petals arranged  on it from by cherry tree.

Falafel King Report #2 Chicken Combo Plate

When we posted report #1 on Falafel King, we received a bunch of recommendations from folks about their favorite items. The chicken and lamb sandwiches received high marks but, since I was doing take out for Ed's supper, I opted for a chicken kebob plate.

Of course, I had to taste the chicken while it was hot from the grill.  There was another piece of chicken in the combo plate photographed above, when it was handed over, but the photographer ate it.

The chicken was fresh, juicy, full flavored and nicely seared with great caramelization and grill marks on the surface. The rice soaks up that lovely dressing they put on the chicken and salad and develops a rich, almost risotto-like flavor.

The Falafel King Chicken is a hit around here! We plan to eat our way through the menu and will let you in on each discovery.

Here is a photo of the outside of the Winter Street Market. Falafel King is all the way at the back of this food court on the left. Their line may very well begin in front of another stall.

Details:

Falafel King                                 
48 Winter St
Boston, MA 02108
(617) 338-8355

Map to Falafel King and Google research links

Related Post:

http://bostonzest.typepad.com/bostonzest/2008/05/falafel-king--.html 

Other Opinions:

Yelp is filled with sonnets and anthems to this place. There is some great praise and great writing to be found at the link below.

www.yelp.com/biz/falafel-king-boston

This is also a Chowhound favorite.

Chowhound search for Falafel King

Lexington Gardens- Worth the Trip

Yesterday I accepted a friend's offer of a ride to Lexington MA. We made three stops that made it a most worthwhile trip. You'll hear about all three this week. Today we'll start with Lexington Gardens.

Our purpose was that of a city gardener –to replace a window box and fill it with plants to bring freshness and color to a shady window.

Fortunately for the result, my job was the pull the little wagon and my friend used her considerable skill to select her plants and test the arrangement in the container.

Naturally, I also used the opportunity to take photos while in this lovely setting.

As they proudly say on their website:
"Lexington Gardens was established over 55 years ago as the Lexington Botanic Garden. Its purpose was to grow and display perennials for the rock garden, bog, borders and herbs. From that small beginning, it became a full scale garden center and greenhouse operation that is known throughout New England. It is owned and operated by the Hess family.

We are also the Northeast home of the PBS TV program, "The Victory Garden" hosted through the years by famous gardeners Jim Crockett, Bob Thompson and Roger Swain."

I was very impressed with the selection and the healthy looking plants that fill row after row of greenhouses. The shop seemed to have everything you might need for gardening. (They also still had some holiday items at good prices for bargain shoppers.)

Details:

www.lexingtongardencenter.com

      

Lexington Gardens
93 Hancock Ave.
Lexington, MA 02173
Telephone: 781-862-7000
Fax: 781-862-6887

Rhode Island Clam Chowder

The topic of clam chowder came up in conversation at an event tonight and I mentioned the real RI chowder in all its simple, clear and flavorful glory.

Those of us who spent a lot of years in RI, learned there are three recognized clam chowders down there. RI chefs serve the white New England style, the tomato based Manhattan version and the traditional, clear Rhode Island style.

Last summer we conducted a search for the best lobster roll in the Greater Boston area. This brought us to many seaside clam shacks and restaurants.

Along the way we samples a few clam chowders. We found two versions of the clear Rhode Island version.

The first was at Jake's Seafood Restaurant and Market at Nantasket Beach in Hull, MA and it was a special-- their chowder of the day. It was excellent and should be promoted to the main menu. If you are headed to Hull or vicinity, you may want to call ahead to see if they're serving it.

The second was at Evelyn's Drive-In on Nannaquaket Pond in Tiverton RI. They normally have creamy and Rhode Island Chowder on their menu. This one was not as refined as Jakes but still full of clam goodness.

Details

www.jakesseafoods.com

www.evelynsdrivein.com

Get Out and Enjoy the Blossoms!

Spring is nature's way of saying, "Let's party!" ~ Robin Williams

It look like tomorrow is going to be a perfect day to get out and walk the neighborhoods and enjoy the trees in Spring bloom.

The crabapple trees are in glorious bloom right now. Get out and enjoy the party!

They're keeping the bees busy. The ones below are on Marlborough Street in the Back Bay but they were all around town when were out in a ZipCar on Saturday.

Auditioning Books Before You Buy

When you live in a small space, you have to be careful about adding things to your life--even books. That's why I try to audition books before I buy them.

We are fortunate to have a great library system at our disposal in Boston. Your library card is the key to so many ways to save time and space.

Since I began doing the a series of architectural photos for the Back Bay Sun, my hunger for information on that topic has been insatiable. My solution was to visit the Copley Square library and decide what books from their collection might enable me to write informative captions. I borrowed a few, used them for a couple of weeks and have now purchased the ones that proved their worth.

 

You can see how many pages I have marked on the Boston Public Library's (BPL) copy of this one. Today I recommend:

Illustrated Dictionary of Architectural Preservation (Paperback)
by Ernest Burden

This appears to be out-of-stock at Amazon right now, but I bought it last week so it will probably return to normal pricing soon. And, you can always borrow it from the BPL.

This book will help you identify details on Boston's beautiful buildings. With it in hand, you can become a student of architecture and make every walk down neighborhood streets an adventure of discovery.

River Street Whole Foods has Pomelos

In late March, I read about Pomelos on SeriousEats.Com and decided to add them to the dessert tray for a Southern Italian food and wine evening. We all enjoyed our introduction to this ancient fruit. Wikipedia says, "It may have been introduced into China around 100 B.C."

Since that evening, I hunt for these over-sized citrus in every produce department I visit.

Today they were available at Whole Foods on River Street in Cambridge. These were smaller than the ones I've had before-- about a quarter larger than a grapefruit –versus the size of a small soccer ball.

We had one tonight with bread, olives, cheese and a surprisingly good Sonoma, 2006 Magnolia Lane, Savignon Blanc from Kunde Estate. The citrus tones of the wine where a good match for the fruit  – which is both sweeter and milder than a grapefruit. 

More information from the article that stirred my interest and the basics from Wikipedia.

Serious Eats March 31, 2008

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomelo