Tag Archives: Boston

Mystery Meet Boston: Tres Gatos

Posted on April 17, 2011 | 2 comments

Earlier this month I attended my second Mystery Meet Boston event. The group which is comprised of food lovers and bloggers, hosts a monthly meet-up at a location in and around Boston the second Tuesday of each month. If you are a food blogger or avid foodie living in and around Boston, I’d suggest you check out the group.

This month the group met at JP’s Tres Gatos, a funky Spanish tapas restaurant that also sells books and music. The tiny restaurant and bar has a definite cozy vibe and seems like a great addition to the neighborhood. Chef Marcos Sanchez was on hand to welcome us and cook the 4-course tasting menu for all of us. At the end of this entry I’ve included photos from each course. If curious, you can view the restaurant’s menu here.

1st Plate Assorted Tapas: I thought this was the most disappointing of the four plates. In particular the radish shown at the top of the plate was both lacking flavor and not satisfying.
2nd Plate Gambas A La Plancha: If we eat food with our eyes, than this was my favorite in terms of presentation. The over sized prawns in a cilantro coulis did not disappoint.
3rd Plate Fideos: This included chorizo, chicken liver, mussels and was extremely flavorful.
4th Plate Queso: This included three cheeses. My favorite was the manchego but all of it was good. My only complaint was the portions for this plate were ridiculously tiny.
Tres Gatos on Urbanspoon

2 Comments

Tagged , , , ,

Marathon weekend

Posted on April 16, 2011 | 3 comments

Its marathon weekend in Boston and although the rest of the world would have no idea (unless perhaps you are a marathon runner) this is one of the biggest sporting events in the city and one of my favorite weekends in the city. The Boston Marathon draws more than half a million spectators who line the 26.2 mile course and to cheer on the more than 25,000 runners every Patriot’s Day.

In addition to being one of the most difficult marathons in the world, it is one of the five world marathon majors and is the oldest annual marathon dating back to 1897 when the first Boston Marathon was run.

This weekend is the Boston Marathon Sports & Fitness Expo at the Hynes Auditorium (Saturday & Sunday) from 9:00am – 6:00pm. Nearly every athletic, fitness and nutrition firm you can imagine sets up booths to educate and sell their products. Vendors have special sales for the expo and there are usually some pretty cool freebies.

3 Comments

Tagged , ,

How F*cked is the T?

Posted on April 13, 2011 | 5 comments

How F*cked Is The T? is a new website application that provides real-time MBTA transit data and offers commuters using the Orange, Red, Blue and Green lines with useful information such as wait times and when trains are approaching T stations.

I give the creators bonus points for the cheeky name and its ease of use. According to the Boston Innovation site which first published the story, the application was created by Joey Brunelle and Goose Rock Design. A San Francisco firm that describes itself as a full-service web design & development company that excels at collaborating with small businesses and start-ups to create attractive, intuitive, awesome websites.

Want to check out the application? Click Here.

5 Comments

Posted in Free Stuff

Tagged , ,

Fenway Health Men’s Event 2011

Posted on April 10, 2011 | 1 comment


Check out this video from the Fenway Health Men’s Event in Boston last night. The sold out black tie event is a critical fund raiser for the Fenway Health Clinic. More than 1,300 gay men and their friends showed up to help raise money to support the Fenway.

Did you know? Fenway Health’s Ansin 10-story clinic is the largest facility ever constructed by an organization with a specific mission to serve the LGBT community.

Fenway Health Mission
The mission of Fenway Health is to enhance the well-being of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and all people in our neighborhoods and beyond through access to the highest quality health care, education, research and advocacy.

More about Fenway Health, www.FenwayHealth.org

1 Comment

Posted in Philanthropy

Tagged , , ,

Red Sox come home

Posted on April 7, 2011 | 4 comments

Although the Red Sox 0-5 start to the season is extremely disappointing, all can be forgiven if they sweep the NYY who come into town tomorrow (Friday) for a 3-game series at Fenway. So break out your rosary beads, start your chanting, do what ever you do, because the Red Sox are coming home starting Friday – and I can hardly wait.

4 Comments

Tagged , , ,

Max Brenner Boston restaurant & bar opens

Posted on April 3, 2011 | 6 comments

Max Brenner opened his first shop in Boston earlier this week. In lieu of his logo which any chocoholic worth their while would recognize, I opted to include a photo of Lee, one of the friendly bartenders at Max Brenner Boston. I figure Lee’s resemblance to the corporate logo and winning smile was reason enough, but truth be told I’ve known Lee quite a while and was pleasantly surprised to see him working there and happier still to have an excuse to post his handsome picture. I believe this is the first (perhaps only) Max Brenner location in North America that has a bar. Although it may be an anomaly for Max Brenner shops, this will probably guarantee a late night crowd will keep the store full and busy and help it remain profitable. There are approximately a half dozen other chocolate shops within blocks of this store, but none offer such a large menu or remain open quite so late.

Included below are a few photographs of the new location. Click on the image to enlarge. Apparently I’m not the only chocoholic, as this table of handsome guys from the South End shows. They appeared to be enjoying their afternoon meal and were good sports to smile pretty for the camera so I couldn’t resist including the photo.

6 Comments

Posted in Back Bay

Tagged , , ,

A tale of two towne’s

Posted on March 29, 2011 | 5 comments

Towne Stove and Spirits (known locally as towne) has generated a lot of buzz since it opened its doors in the summer of 2010. I’ve made two recent visits to towne and the experiences could not have been more different. To be blunt, your experience will vary based on where you are seated. A louder more raucous environment dominates the first floor; a slightly more subdued atmosphere exists on the main section of the second floor; and the most intimate experience is in front section of the second floor overlooking Boylston Street.

Comparing service from one dining room to the next is unfair since the experience is totally different. Because of this, when you make your reservation (because it is worth checking out), consider what kind of dining experience you want and request the section that seems most in line with your wishes.

Dinner at towne will run you approximately $50 / person (1 drink, an appetizer and main – not including tip). On my second visit, we shared mesclun greens salad and lobster popovers. Both were beautifully presented and equally delicious. Lydia Shire always seems to work magic with lobster so when you visit I would strongly recommend trying one of the many options with lobster. For dinner I selected the duck which has a mouthwatering sauce comprised of cane syrup, citrus and red currants and mashed potatoes on the side. I was pleasantly surprised by the size of the portion and wondered if I’d finish it. For the record the duck was devoured, and I soldiered on ordering the bittersweet chocolate bouchon, peanut butter sauce and mocha ice cream for dessert.

For food enthusiasts, I would certainly recommend trying towne. The dining experience and service varies depending on where you sit so take that into account and book your reservation accordingly. If you have eaten at towne, I’d be curious to hear your thoughts in my comments section.

The delicious duck
Towne Stove & Spirits on Urbanspoon

5 Comments

Posted in Back Bay

Tagged , , , ,

Learning to speak "Boston"

Posted on March 29, 2011 | 2 comments

People not born in or near Boston often get confused by a native’s accent and although I’ve successfully tamed my Boston accent (for the most part) my word choices are a dead give-away for anyone familiar with what I like to refer to as “Boston SLANGuage”.

In a previous post I explained why the correct phrase is “bubbler” often pronounced as “bubblah” when referring to a fountain or water fountain… Feel free to revisit this language lesson here.

Normally, I focus on one word per blog entry, because I know how hard it can be to learn to speak proper English, but this image which was from the Boston Globe originally was just too tempting to pass up. I also find it fascinating that it includes what other parts of the country use similar language.

2 Comments

Posted in Boston Slanguage

Tagged , ,

NOH8 Photo Shoot in Boston

Posted on March 28, 2011 | 4 comments

The NOH8 Campaign came to Boston today w/ celebrity photographer Adam Bouska snapping photographs. For a brief while the W Boston Hotel had the vibe of a very friendly Tea Dance with hundreds of people mingling and dancing to great music as DJs entertained everyone. I arrived with my Partner, Sergio, just after 4pm. I quickly found out that I was to be #374 photographed and that they would not photograph more than 700 – glad I was not fashionably late!

It was a fantastic way to spend an afternoon and I enjoyed meeting and chatting with people. My phone really does not take great pictures and Sergio’s phone died early so I’ve only included a handful of pictures from the day. I’ll proudly post the photograph Adam took when I receive it in approximately 6 weeks. Until then, these will have to do.
NOH8 DJs played an excellent mix that made the time fly

Adam snapping photos of people at W Hotel Boston

Everyone was happy to strike a pose


And the photo pulled when I tweeted: Would this be considered porn w a conscious?
I’d like to entitle this picture which I took from a particularly enthusiastic supporter of the NOH8 Campaign: Haters can kiss my ass

Mind you its NSFW – just barely
(Scroll down)


That’s all for now, but I’ll share a few more when I get my photo from Adam. To all those that showed up to express your support – thanks. It was really a fantastic day and something I’ll remember for quite awhile.

4 Comments

Tagged , , , ,

Cocktails with Alan

Posted on March 26, 2011 | 6 comments

Last night I was able to finally meet Alan Ilagan. I first started reading Alan’s blog about a year ago when I stumbled upon it quite by accident. At the time he was fixated on planning his wedding to his partner, Andy. I enjoyed reading about his dashes from Albany (where he and Andy live) to his pied-a-terre in Boston to tend to the endless list of details pertaining to the pending nuptials.

It is a strange thing when you meet someone who you know so much about but have never met in person. I’ve had the opportunity to meet a few bloggers since starting BosGuy and without fail it has always been a great experience. However, when you meet someone for the first time after reading about their life for a year, inevitably you end up referencing or inquiring about events blogged about from the past. While much of the conversation revolved around past posts, more time was spent chatting about the ridiculous ranging from urban myths to funny trips. I look forward to having cocktails with Alan in the near future again since he regularly makes visits to Boston.

6 Comments

Posted in Friends

Tagged , ,

2011 Boston Bacon and Beer Festival

Posted on March 25, 2011 | 3 comments

Saturday, April 30th from 1 PM to 3:30 PM the Bowery Boston (located in the Theater District) will host Boston’s 2nd Bacon & Beer Festival.

The event costs $35.00 w/ proceeds going to benefit the local hunger relief organizations Lovin’ Spoonfuls, Community Servings, and Share our Strength. Tickets go on sale Friday, April 1st. More information about the event is available here.

3 Comments

Posted in Philanthropy

Tagged , , ,

NOH8 campaign comes to Boston

Posted on March 20, 2011 | 4 comments

Sunday, March 27, 2011 the NOH8 campaign comes to Boston and will set up a temporary studio at the W Hotel Boston for an open photo shoot.

Supporters of the NOH8 campaign can come RSVP here to be photographed by celebrity photographer and NOH8 co-founder, Adam Bouska.

Photo Shoot Details
Date / Time: Sunday, March 27th from 4PM – 8PM
Location: W Hotel Boston
Solo Portraits: $40.00 / Group Portraits: $25.00 per person
More Information Here

4 Comments

Tagged , , , ,

Spring is in the air

Posted on March 18, 2011 | 5 comments

Recently there have been hints of spring after an unbelievably snowy January followed by a bitterly cold February. The first weekend of March was the first sustained warming trend. Since then the weather has been best described as two-steps forward, followed by one-step back. March has had its fill of cold, raw days with enough rain to make a Londoner feel right at home. However these days have been interspersed with just enough sun and warmth that buds are now appearing on the trees and the air is filled with the sound of birds chirping.

Walking to get coffee this morning I could smell spring in the air. Perhaps that sounds odd – I’ll chalk it up to living in NH for years where the air is cleaner and you can literally smell the change of seasons. Each season has its own distinct smell and its only noticeable to me when one is releasing its grip to give way to the next season. There will be cold days ahead of us (after all this is New England), but a mental switch has now clicked and I’m now firmly in the “Spring state of mind”; no longer wishing for it.

For those spending their first spring in Boston they will notice a distinct change in both the city and its resident’s disposition. Surly turns into smiles as people accustomed to bundling up and rushing down a street now start to actually look up, enjoy the sun and open up – much like the flowers that will be poking through the ground in a few short weeks.

The spring holds so much promise here. Its the start of a warming trend and longer days, but its so much more than that. Students (such a key element to the city’s personality) are now in their final weeks before finals then graduation ceremonies dominate each weekend in May. In April we welcome back our beloved Red Sox from spring training in Florida and the Boston Marathon takes place. For me its the home opener in Fenway and Boston Marathon run each Patriot’s Day that truly signals spring has arrived – and I can’t wait.

5 Comments

Tagged , ,

Urban limericks

Posted on March 16, 2011 | 4 comments

St. Patrick’s Day is around the corner and The Boston Globe has listed popular limericks submitted by readers from last year. Limericks are typically witty poems (sometimes naughty) that follow the A-A-B-B-A rhyme pattern.

I’m sure most Americans (certainly anyone from New England) are familiar with the notorious limerick, Man from Nantucket, but I opted to share one of my favorite limerick’s submitted to the Globe last year by Christopher Russo of Boston.

From A Red Sox Fan (an optimist)
A summer we’ll spend at old Fenway,
Watching our team win both night and day.
What pitching! What defense!
It’s only commonsense–
Print the World Series tickets today!

If you feel inspired, include a favorite limerick in the comments section.

4 Comments

Posted in People say the funniest things

Tagged , , ,

Going to towne

Posted on March 8, 2011 | 3 comments

This week was the start of Boston’s Restaurant Week and a friend has scored dinner reservations at towne. Located adjacent to the Hynes Convention Center in Boston’s BackBay neighborhood, this restaurant has received a lot of attention due in part to its size (its pretty darn big by Boston standards) and the two culinary directors, Lydia Shire and Jasper White are much loved local chefs. Earlier this year, I provided a restaurant review of one of Shire’s restaurants, Scampo.

I’m not sure what to expect, but I’ve been obsessing over the reservation; probably because tonight is theTaste of the South End and it has me thinking about food even more than usual. If you are in Boston or thinking of coming to Boston, restaurant week actually runs from March 6-11 and 13-18. There is more information about the event including participating restaurants, here.

3 Comments

Posted in Back Bay

Tagged , , ,