The Boil

Last week, our brother in law, Paul was here for business and we decided to meet up for dinner. Ken and I weren’t sure where to take Paul because he’s been to practically every restaurant in New York, but he suggested we go to The Boil because he had something similar in LA the previous week and was craving it. We’d never been to The Boil but I’ve walked by the place many times (and celebrated a friend’s birthday at a bar nearby) so we were down to check it out.

The restaurant sells seafood by the pound that’s doused with their special house sauce (you can get it mixed multiple ways, we chose The Boil special for all of the seafood we ordered, which uses: garlic butter, Old Bay and Lemon Pepper).

We started with fresh oysters:

And oyster sliders:

I didn’t like the oyster sliders (the oysters tasted a little dirty/not entirely fresh).

After you order, a waiter comes by to give you surgical gloves and a lobster bib because it gets super messy:

We ordered a pound of shrimp (with their heads on):

A pound of king crab legs:

And a pound of Dungeness crab:

We also ordered a side of corn on the cob:

And French fries:

The Boil sauce is really good – it’s very buttery and garlic-filled (the next day, I felt like I couldn’t shake the garlic breath!) We all enjoyed the food but I thought it was slightly disgusting – the sauce was leaking through the gloves and by the end of dinner, everyone was a mess. My favorite seafood item was the shrimp – they were easy to eat and easy to dip in extra sauce.

The restaurant only accepts cash and there usually isn’t a wait if you eat at the bar instead of asking for seats (we did the bar because we were ready to eat!) They also play 90’s R&B and rap while you eat! Worth a visit, don’t wear anything nice when you go!

Brindle Room

Over the weekend, Ken and I were in the mood for a burger so we walked to Brindle Room, a bar and restaurant in the East Village. Brindle Room has nightly specials (Saturday is ribeye night) but we were there specifically for the steakhouse burger. The location is right next to my old hair salon, Fox and Jane, on E 10th:

It’s a very small restaurant but they were able to accommodate some large parties (a party of six sat down as we were walking in). They have bar seating, similar to Pearl Oyster Bar, so you don’t have to wait a long time if you’re stilling to sit side by side instead of across from each other. Ken and I decided to get two seats at the bar since we were both hungry and we seated right away.

Ken ordered the steakhouse burger, which comes with pickles and fries:

The burger comes with caramelized onions and your choice of cheese (we went with the chef’s recommendation, American), and also a side of fries. While the meat was really juicy (but not too fatty), the bun was crumbly and couldn’t sustain the caramelized onions, meat juice, or pickle juice. The fries were a bit on the salty side, but I love restaurant fries so I couldn’t complain too much.

A shot of their open kitchen area:

I ordered the penne Bolognese, which came in a very large bowl:

The penne Bolognese was a blend of two different types of meat (pork and veal) and was so rich and delicious that Ken couldn’t stop eating it! I also really enjoyed how rich it was but wanted to save some of it for Sunday lunch (and had to stop Ken from eating it so I’d have enough for a meal!)

After dinner, we were given our check and charged incorrectly (they charged us for a spaghetti that was more than the penne) but luckily I caught it before we paid. The service took a little long (especially to fix the check) but they gave us some doughnut holes after we received our check:

We’d return for the Bolognese but the burger isn’t on my top 5 list simply because the bun couldn’t withstand the grease and juice from the burger accoutrements. It would’ve been better to have used a sturdier bun (maybe a potato bun!) but we enjoyed the pasta and want to try others the next time we visit.

Farmhouse Inn

While we were in Sonoma for John and Erin’s wedding, Ken’s client and his wife were also in Sonoma enjoying a long weekend. Owen and Jessica met up with us at Farmhouse Inn for dinner on Saturday night in the Russian Valley (we were both staying in the Sonoma-area). I made the reservation while we were still in New York and was contemplating whether we should go to Farmhouse Inn or the Thomas Keller popup that was closing a few weeks later, but decided to keep the reservation at Farmhouse Inn because the Thomas Keller popup sounded similar to Bouchon and it was in Napa.

We arrived right when the restaurant opened at 5:30 (actually, we arrived a little early because we didn’t want to be late) and walked around the grounds:

There’s a pool, an outdoor fire pit, hotel rooms and small cottages/suites you can rent. Ken and I thought it was so charming that we want to stay there the next time we’re in Sonoma! Owen and Jessica arrived soon after our walk around the property and we sat down to dinner.

When you walk into Farmhouse Inn, it feels like you’re walking into someone’s house, not a formal restaurant. It’s very warm and welcoming and the decor was very relaxed and California-esque. The restaurant offers two different tastings – you can do three or four courses (there’s the first course, second course, main course and dessert, if you do the three course option, you pick either a first or second course and if you do the four course you can do all four). We decided to do the four course tasting because the food all sounded delicious.

We started with an amuse bouche, – beets and a goat cheese panna cotta:

As well as some bread and butter:

For our first course, Jessica and I both ordered the Burrata a La Panna – Soda Rock Farm heirloom tomatoes, basil vinaigrette, Taggiasca olives and toasted brioche:

The burrata is delivered every day from a farm down the street and the tomatoes are from Soda Rock Farm, which is a family-owned farm not too far from Farmhouse Inn (the farm is located in Healdsburg, CA). The tomatoes were much more intense in flavor than the ones you buy in the grocery store – even compared to the ones you buy at the farmer’s market!

Ken and Owen’s first course was the sake cured ahi tuna with lemon cucumber, avocado, ginger vinaigrette, spicy soybean puree and seasame-nori-radish:

The ahi tuna was really delicious and very flavorful; I couldn’t taste the sake flavor but did taste fresh cucumber and lemon. The avocado also added a nice change in texture to the dish.

For our second course, I splurged with the Hudson Valley Foie Gras – Gravenstein apple puree, brown butter brioche, late harvest chardonnay and citrus gastrique, and pickled apple:

Foie gras is definitely one of my favorite dishes and this one was perfectly seared and paired very well with the sweet and tart apples. A great decision to order the foie gras!

Owen and Ken both ordered the grilled octopus with heirloom shelling beans, lime-jalapeno vinaigrette, and roasted lemon aioli:

The octopus tasted like it was barely cooked (maybe poached and then grilled?) and was soft in texture – not overly chewy/rubbery.

Jessica ordered the Atlantic scallop with crispy pork belly, Basque style vegetables and Jerez vinegar gastrique:

The second course was slightly better than the first (although I enjoyed my first course, I can’t resist the deliciousness of foie gras). Everything tasted light and fresh – a good thing because we still had two courses to go.

For Ken’s main course, he ordered the Snake River Farm pork rib chop with soffritto strwen wheat berry, sunflower, smoked king trumpet mushroom and essence of black garlic:

Owen ordered the rabbit rabbit rabbit, a signature entree from Farmhouse – it’s rabbit prepared three ways (applewood smoked bacon wrapped loin, roasted rack, confit of leg, yukon potato, and whole grain mustard cream sauce):

And Jessica and I both ordered the Bodega Bay black cod with miso braised hon shimeji, daikon, baby bok choy, and shellfish dashi:

The shellfish dashi is served tableside:

I enjoyed all of the main courses but thought the black cod was the best of the three we tried. The rabbit rabbit rabbit was an interesting preparation – I’ve had a similar concept (duck duck duck from Morimoto) but you don’t often see rabbit on dinner menus, much less three different preparations of rabbit. Ken’s dish was a bit too heavy and plain for me – he enjoyed it and the meat was very fragrant, but I thought it was a little too much.

For dessert, Owen ordered the verte verte with garden mint-grated Valrhona ice cream, matcha coulis, roasted pistachio, and Champagne biscuit:

Jessica and Ken ordered Theobroma – warm chocolate mousse, cocoa wafer, white chocolate chantilly, and olive oil-vanilla bean-anglaise:

I ordered the Blenheim Apricot souffle with apricot confiture filling, coconut macaroon, and pistachio financier:

All of the desserts were perfect – Ken thought his was the best (it might have been) and I really enjoyed mine because I love souffle (and usually have to order it when we go out to eat) and the apricot confiture filling was a nice tangy surprise.

Ken, Owen and Jessica did the wine pairings and the great thing about Farmhouse is the sommelier pairs each course with a different wine. All of them had different wines based on what they ordered – Ken had wines from Austria, the Russian River Valley, Carneros and Portugal. We thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the company and can’t wait to spend time with Owen and Jessica in New York! (next up for the four of us: dim sum in Chinatown!)

Viansa Winery

After Repris, we headed back to the house (a very quick drive along some back roads) and relaxed for a bit before the wedding. We got ready and took some photos – it felt like we were getting ready for the prom because we were taking photos in the backyard of the house, just like high school:

We headed to Viansa, the winery where John and Erin got married, and enjoyed the outdoor ceremony that was very short and sweet. After the ceremony, we headed to the back of the winery for the cocktail hour – Ken with Jordy, Drew, and the groom, John:

After the cocktail hour, we went to the barrel room for dinner, which was an intimate setting with two large tables and one table for the bride, groom and their family:

For the wedding cake, we went outdoors and enjoyed s’mores, music, cake and rice krispies:

After the wedding ended at 11, we all headed back to our house and had a slap cup party in the garage with the bride and groom:

Congratulations, John and Erin! Such a great weekend to celebrate your love for each other!

Repris Winery

After Gundlach Bundschu, we headed to Lagunitas Brewery for a barbecue lunch and beer tasting. They have a nice outdoor area and lots of people brought their kids and dogs while enjoying the beautiful afternoon. After Lagunitas, we went to the final winery, Sebastiani Winery, where we did our final tasting for the day. We didn’t drink much wine after all of the tastings, but did end up going to a nice dinner with Ken’s clients (more on that later this week!)

On Sunday, we had some time before the start of the wedding so Kristen and Drew took us to a winery they belong to – Repris. The winery was very close to the house we rented and it was quiet because it was a Sunday morning around 10am. They started the harvest two weeks early this year so the grapes had all been pulled from the stems already and were ready to begin the fermentation process. We also met the cat that lives on the property:

The grapes were all housed in a tent and in these plastic containers waiting to be processed:

We did a tour and tasting around the winery, which included a walk through the barrel room:

Because Kristen and Drew are members, they also took us to the actual vineyards, which were on a very steep mountain across the way from the winery – we took buggies there because it’s easier than walking:

The grape vines were planted by hippies and also by farmers (Repris at one point was a commune where hippies came to meditate, do yoga, and “farm”) – the ones that were planted by hippies aren’t in a straight line, but the ones that were planted after the hippies left are in a straight grid:

A view from the top:

After the buggy tour, we headed to the tasting room to try the last few wines. We ended up buying a bottle to take home with us (but drank it after the wedding when we hosted the after party!) Thanks for hosting us, Drew and Kristen!