Seafood and Absinthe Go Swimmingly Good at Waypoint (Harvard Square, Cambridge)

Waypoint is the seafood-focused restaurant from Chef Michael Scelfo from Alden & Harlow. Tucked between Central Square and Harvard Square, it has become one of my favorite restaurants to go to for seafood.

One time, I went for the chef's counter tasting menu using a Gilt City voucher (seriously, Boston's Gilt City has some great restaurant deals listed from time to time).

For the tasting menu, we started with some oysters with pickled fennel mignonette, and fish pepper cocktail sauce

this was paired with Ca Di Rajo's Le Moss Pet Nat

We loved the wine. Le Moss is an unfiltered sparkling Glera Pet-nat (Petillant Naturel). Unlike champagne, these wines are bottled before fully completing its first fermentation.

The second course was the steak tartare, 3 minute egg, smoked trout roe, toast

This was one of the better steak tartare in the city, in my opinion. The flavor and texture of the meat was spot on, and the slightly runny egg yolk added a nice touch.

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Sneak Preview of Radio Room #2: Tonight at The Edison!

Radio Room at The Edison is back on tonight (Tuesday, March 30).

Last night we got a sneak preview of the drinks, seafood, and talk to the bartender (the night wasn't just for Radio Room, it was also for The Edison to announce that they are opening another Edison - in New York City!)

Before you head over there at 8 PM, here's what you can look forward to:

1. Cocktails from some of the best bartenders.

"Wild Orchid" - Giuseppe Gonzalez
(gin, almond, elderflower, red wine)

"Infante" - Giuseppe Gonzalez
(tequila, lime, orgeat, orange blossom water, nutmeg)
I think this was my favorite

Don Lee (Momofuku, NY) & Zane Harris (Rob Roy, Seattle)

Giuseppe Gonzalez (Dutch Kills/Painkiller, NY)

Simon Ford of Pernod Ricard (London/NY)

2. Fruity absinthe shots and "martinis" from the Green Fairy.

Mini "potion" bottles of absinthe-pineapple and absinthe-pom shots.
(Yes, I kept the bottle. She said I can and it was so cute!)

3. And last but not least, treats fresh from the sea from Maitre Ecailler, Chef Christophe Happillon. Last Radio Room had oysters, this time he's also adding crab claws!

Crab Claws

Fanny Bay Oysters from British Columbia
(with an awesome cocktail sauce!)

Radio Room at The Edison
Tuesday, March 30
8 PM
108 W 2nd St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
www.edisondowntown.com

Meet Me at The Edison

A few weeks ago we LA-based bloggers had a nice little get together organized by CarolineOnCrack. The setting was The Edison Bar in downtown, during one of their Tuesday Speakeasy nights. Everyone else was already there by the time I got there, and were sitting on a long table. The people I managed to talk to on my end of the table included LA&OC Foodie, Joz, travalex, javajunkee, and estarla.

I saw their menu online and decided to eat dinner there, but since they are not normally open on Tuesdays they had a limited menu. Fortunately though, they still had enough for a real dinner.

While waiting for the food I started with their Golden Lillet Martini, a strong, yellow, buttery concoction. Their cocktails are served in these gorgeous vintage glasses. They're so pretty that I want to put them in my purse, but luckily I was sober enough not to.

We started with some heirloom tomato salad.
A simple dish that focuses on the nice, fresh tomatoes. Nice flavor combination with the burrata, baby arugula, and olive oil.

We also had the 20th Century sliders: Kobe beef, arugula, onion marmalade, and blue cheese.
There are two sliders in each order. I really liked them - juicy, flavorful patties between delicious buns. They use good ingredients here and it really shows.

Also, we all had an order of sweet potato fries to share.

I can't remember what else they had food-wise, everyone seemed to order the same things.

So. Speakeasy Night. I had heard that there would be cabaret, and the entertainment we got was a pleasant surprise. First there was a lady strutting around in tight leather outfit singing and making jokes in a Russian accent.

She also went UP ON our table and danced there!

(I tried cropping the photo so as not to show us bloggers' faces)

Then they also had a Japanese belly dancer who did a couple of great acts. I thought she was pretty good, and it was quite unique from other belly dancings I've seen (in Moroccan restaurants).
There was also a magician who performed some fun tricks involving an audience.


Towards the end of the night, I scored a sip of the Pisco Punch from a FoodDigger.

This drink contains Pisco, pineapple juice, and a bit of the green fairy (absinthe).
Amazing drink. I wish I had ordered this earlier on. Not overly sweet but goes smoothly and was just delicioussss.

Drinks were $14 so not cheap, but I was really happy with my experience there. I am scared of the weekend crowd, but I will definitely be back for some food and drinks, and perhaps even some unique entertainment!

The Edison
108 W 2nd St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 613-0000

www.edisondowntown.com

Savor the Season and the End of Summer

Savor the Season this past Sunday marks the end of summer for me and it was a great ending although I stuffed myself silly!
A charity event benefiting Break The Cycle - to end domestic violence - Savor the Season features a great lineup of restaurants+more, silent and live auctions throughout the night!

It was held at the Vibiana cathedral in downtown LA, a charming little place and a nice garden.The arches were also beautiful as the night progresses, especially with the lighting that they've set up.
Our only problem with it is that it wasn't air conditioned. Although it didn't get stifling hot, we definitely did not wear the sweaters/jackets we had brought along.

I got there pretty early so I was able to start grabbing food without a long line. First thing I grabbed was the raw lobster salad in Filo cups from Geoffrey's.
I had 2 pounds of lobster the day before but lobster is still good for me anyday!


Cocktails for the night were provided by The Edison. They were offering two ginger beer-based drinks: English Afterthought (below) and Dark and Stormy.
Muddled fresh blueberries+ginger - not too sweet but deliciously refreshing!

They also had this gorgeous green fairy pushing the absinthe cart around (partly to promote their Lucent Dossier on Wednesdays).
They were giving miniature bottles of absinthe and also some absinthe chocolate made by Madame Chocolat (more on her later).

Both Jer-ne from the Ritz in Marina and Brix@1601 were offering trufflepops and both were offering a spicy flavor as part of it.
Below are the ones from Brix@1601. They had a mango-chili flavor that was nicely spiced.
On the other hand Jer-ne had flavors like spicy peanut, caramel fleur de sel, and mayan chocolate that was very cinnamony :)

Bacon-wrapped stuffed shrimp and Brant Beef from Salt Creek Grille.
Pretty nice and flavorful although the beef is cold by this point.



The avocado bisque and chicken tandoori croquette from Catering by Field.

I thought this catering company did a great job - the presentation of these two items were probably the best of the night (besides the green fairy cart!) What cute little plastic dishes.

Other dishes that I really liked were the Fried Mac n' Cheese Fritters from Boneyard Bistro.
Fried cheesy goodness! Mmm . I thought it would be too fatty and overbearing but it was not so. Liked it a lot. It would be a very addicting snack.

They also had lemongrass and lavender soda from Dry Soda, a fairly new soda company. Their sodas are not that sweet so it's really nice and refreshing!

The VIP Section has, of course, even more goodness to offer (I was there with a press pass and so was able to get into the VIP area. Yes!)

Right when you walk in you will see Saltistry's booth, featuring a nice variety of flavored salts and fruits/veggies to dip into it. My favorite is this one, and I'm sure you can imagine why!
The truffle salt was amazing! The truffle aroma was definitely there and makes me drool so .... They also had other nice and interesting ones like Six Peppers, etc. I'm gonna have to work my way through their offerings ...
Beverly Hills Caviar were serving these 4 types of caviar:
They were very busy replenishing the tray and couldn't tell us what each individual piece was, but in the end I still like the salmon roe the best.

Also in the VIP section was a great cheese booth from Andrew's Cheese Company who were giving out cards about the different cheeses.

Besides champagne, they of course had to have chocolates! Madame Chocolat was giving out dark/milk chocolate malt balls, chocolate covered cornflakes. She had other things that apparently had run out by the time we got there.
Tutti Gelati had a gelato booth and had a nice combination of dark chocolate, strawberries, and balsamic vinegar.

They also had a very nice limoncello made with venutra lemons from Ventura Limoncello Company. Stronger than other limoncellos I had, but very delicious!

These are all little tastes but *sigh* it really added up and after a while I couldn't remain standing. I had to sit down and rest my stomach for a bit. Other bloggers including LA&OC Foodie, CarolineOnCrack, and EatingLA were there and I think I can safely say we all stuffed ourselves!

Luckily for us we managed to go into the VIP section where they had tables and chairs - the main dining room did not which was rather a bummer for people in high heels like I was! But it was such a great event, and benefiting a great cause too! I would definitely keep this event in mind for next year also!
I tried bidding on the silent auction, although I didn't win anything. We all had fun and great food and drinks.