A Refined Lunch at The Grill on the Alley (Westlake Village)

Despite the long-standing status of The Grill on the Alley (30 years!), especially the original Beverly Hills location, I actually have not dined there until recently, when I was invited for a lunch at the Westlake Village location.

The Grill on the Alley is a white tablecloth American steakhouse, so naturally we started lunch with some shrimp cocktails. Leave it to The Grill to get some fresh jumbo shrimp. Sometimes shrimp cocktail sauce is too tangy for me, but this one was nicely balanced.

We also got some oysters on the half shell.

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Seafood and Drinks at The Hourly Oyster House (Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA)

Grafton Group, which has a good hold on Harvard Square with restaurants like Russell House Tavern and Grafton Street, opened another spot last year.

The Hourly is a seafood-focused restaurant. It was named after the horse-drawn carriages that used to transport people from Cambridge to Boston on the hour back in the day - in 1826. The cozy patio features a painting that shows one of the "hourly'.

I recently attended a blogger tasting at The Hourly and tried some of their most popular offerings.

We started with some raw East Coast oysters served with fennel mignonette. Among the oysters we tried were from Cuttyhunk - an island off of Martha's Vineyard, Island Creek oysters from Duxbury, Mookie Blues from Maine, and Warren's Cove from Plymouth, MA.

The oysters were paired with some Tuck Bekstoffer Hogwash Rose of Grenache from Napa. This was just one of the fun wines that they offer at The Hourly.

Next we had some New England clam chowder paired with Barrel House Z's Sunny and 79' Pilsner (MA)

We had a small cup of the chowder to taste, but of course, the regular order is a full bowl. The Hourly also makes their own saltine crackers for the chowder, which was filled with chunks of clams. The beer is quite a unique one. It is a ginned pilsner made using juniper berries and it was aged in used tequila barrel. They paired this with the chowder because tequila works well with seafood.

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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