Tapas Tasting at Toro, a Boston Mainstay

I have long wanted to try Toro. This tapas bar from duo Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette has been around for many years (since 2005), but there's still always a long wait every night since they don't take reservations, even after they've opened other locations in New York and Bangkok. I finally went to try it when I saw a Gilt City voucher for it. The voucher for a tasting menu wasn't cheap at $100 but it was 8 courses including wine pairing, but the best part is that it allows you to make a reservation! If you've never used Gilt City, you can save $25 off your first order with my invite link.

The tapas tasting started with a Tortilla Espanola (egg, onion, potato, nettle, aioli). A nice rendition of the traditional Spanish dish. The ratio between egg and potato is just right.

Uni Bocadillo (pressed uni sandwich, miso butter, pickled mustard seeds)

This is similar to the uni sandwich at Coppa. Of course, I'm always happy to get uni on a tasting menu.

Since my friend is kosher, we got different third courses - I wanted at least one porky dish. I got the Jamon Blanco (Toast with lardo, marinated Jonah crab, black garlic, crispy shallots and avocado)

While this wasn't what I had in mind when I wanted a "pork" dish, I enjoyed the toast regardless.

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5 TV Shows That Are Suprisingly Filled with Food Porn

You don't have to watch food reality TV or food shows to be enticed by food porn on the screen. In fact, there are quite a few TV series that don't revolve around food yet is surprisingly filled with some amazing scenes foodies would gawk at and salivate over. A lot of these shows are available for free or on demand to stream if you have Verizon Fios account (even if they're not, you'll still want Fios' near-gigabit internet speed so you can stream seamlessly!). Now that summer is here, it's a great time to check out theses shows, if you haven't yet. Just be sure your fridge is stocked when you do.


Hannibal

OK, so this show has beautifully shot and amazing looking food scenes, thanks to the supervising of Chef Jose Andres. Hannibal is a food connoisseur and a great cook, but of course, each food scene is a bit unnerving, especially when Hannibal is cooking a meat dish. Could it be human meat? Knowing Hannibal, probably! That's why Gillian Anderson's character will only eat oysters - though I think lobster would be fine too ;) Still, even with the underlying unease, the cooking and dining scenes in this show are some of the best out there.

Master of None

credit: Popsugar

Aziz Ansari's character Dev takes an impromptu weekend trip to Nashville and was late catching his flight home to go get BBQ. He lies to his parents and skips out on prayers to go binge out on more BBQ at Smorgasburg. He's basically just eating around Italy in the beginning of the second season, because "eating in Italy is my favorite thing!" Hats off to Aziz for somehow getting a dinner at Osteria Francescana in the show and making it a business expense.

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WaterFire Lighting in Providence, RI

WaterFire has become one of the top attractions in Providence, Rhode Island in the summer. WaterFire is a sculpture/art installation by Barnaby Evans on the three rivers in downtown Providence, creating a line of bonfires on the water.

Over the years, the installation has been expanded to 100 braziers, and there are multiple lighting events throughout the summer, taking place at sunset (mainly on the weekends).

Most of the lighting activities take place in the basin at Waterplace Park, surrounded by the Providence Place mall and the visitor center. During the lighting, boats with firewood receives fire from a mime, and the braziers are lit one by one as fire acrobats perform on the boats and music is piped all long the river.

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Pangea Nutrition, the Mediterranean Diet Meal Kit Delivery

I recently tried a new meal kit service called Pangea Nutrition. Pangea Nutrition is started by two Boston-based doctors. Dr. Christos Mantzoros (Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, as well as Director of the Human Nutrition Unit of the Division of Endocrinology Diabetes and Metabolism at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center) and Dr. Jason Paruthi, who completed his residency at Harvard Medical School as well as entrepeneurship courses at MIT Sloan School of Management. They combined their medical and nutrition knowledge with the entrepreneurial streak in Pangea Nutrition.

Pangea Nutrition abides by the Mediterranean diet to make it easier for people to adopt this healthier lifestyle.

Different from other meal kit services, Pangea Nutrition actually utilizes Amazon Fresh for their deliveries, while the recipe cards come separately in the mail. This means you can get Pangea Nutrition if there's Amazon Fresh service in your area.

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Solo Travel and Meet Locals with Homestay.com

Solo travelers have plenty of accommodation options these days: hotels, hostels, AirBnBs, Couchsurfing ... but have you considered a homestay? Homestay.com is a website dedicated for that.

Unlike AirBnBs where these days you have people buying properties exclusive to rent out, or people who rent out their homes while they are away, with Homestay.com each home will have a host present during your stay. This way, travelers will get to interact with a local, who are happy to share their knowledge of the area. The room price also includes a "light breakfast" although some hosts may provide more meals as well that will be detailed on their page.

This website provides more personality information of the hosts than AirBnBs (think Couchsurfing) such as their hobbies, so you can find hosts with common interests, or what they like to do when they're hosting or how involved they like to be.

Homestay is based in Ireland but currently has hosts in more than 150 countries and the price ranges widely depending on location, from a $10/ night in Seville, Spain to a $248 beachfront room in San Diego (much cheaper options in San Diego are also available).

The website typically charges 15% fee to guests (based on what the host charges) but if you book via this link you will get a discount, bringing the fee down to 10%!
How this normally works is that you will pay 15% deposit to Homestay.com (10% with the link above), and the remaining balance will be paid directly to your host. Hosts can set their preference on payment methods, such as Paypal, bank transfer, etc.

If you're looking for a more local experience during your upcoming travels, give Homestay.com a look!

Thai AYCE Brunch Picnic at So Long, Hi! (Downtown LA)

Brunch is all about indulgence, and there are quite a few bottomless mimosa brunches around LA, but what about bottomless food? How about some bottomless Thai food?

So Long, Hi! in downtown LA started just that with their brunch picnic on Sundays. For those who aren't familiar, So Long, Hi! is the latest restaurant from David Tewasart (Sticky Rice, Side Chick) and Bryan Sharafkhah-Sharp (White Guy Pad Thai).

The picnic is $25 per person and it's an all-you-can-eat family-style affair, where the kitchen sends out food as it is prepared. The picnic menu will range from old favorites to off-the-menu specials. This is also a chance for the kitchen to prepare special dishes they don't normally serve on the menu and play around with their cooking. Either way, there will be more than enough food.

You may not expect it in downtown LA, but So Long Hi has a big sunny patio in the back that's perfect for a picnic.
We sampled some dishes that might be on future picnic menus, like the Thai beef jerky

There were noodles and roti served with green curry.

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Travel Tips: Summer Road Trip to Maine!

It's summer! (or SUMMAH, as some would say). Summer is the time for road trips and summer TV. With Verizon Fios Mobile app, it's easy to keep the whole family entertained on a long road trip, since you can download movies and TV shows to stream offline (or online without eating up your data allowance if you have Verizon wireless service).

Going up to Maine to eat lobsters is one of my favorite trips to do in the summer from Boston, both for the food and for the coastal views. You can drive all the way up to Acadia National Park and stop at various great spots along the way! It's a long ways, but with some movies or TV shows streaming, it will fly by.

Stop at Footbridge Lobster in Ogunquit or The Clam Shack in Kennebunkport. The lobster roll at The Clam Shack has won multiple awards, but honestly I prefer lobster rolls at other places in Maine, though I still highly recommend their whole lobster.

Portland, Maine is a must stop and there are a lot of options here, including my favorite lobster roll at Bite Into Maine. You can enjoy your lobster roll here with a view of the Portland Head Light at Cape Elizabeth.

Unless you stay overnight, you'll likely miss the amazing sourdough bagels at Scratch Baking Co, but you can still get some potato donuts at Holy Donuts, oysters and more lobster rolls at Eventide Oyster Co, or duck fat milkshake at - where else- Duck Fat.

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Thompson Island, a Private Event Venue that Educates Public School Students

Summer is eventually coming to Boston, and when it does, it's time for harbor cruises and visits to the Boston Harbor Islands. Thompson Island is also gearing up for the season. Thompson Island is open for one of two purposes: 1) a private event on the island, or 2) Outward Bound, an experiential education program for students.

The two are connected, and I recently visited the island on their Open House to learn more about both and the great cause the island is supporting! While the education center provides educational programs for students of all ages (corporate team building included), the private events that are booked on the island provide the funds needed for Outward Bound to offer FREE summer programs to Boston public school students!

The wonderful cause isn't the only draw for having your event on this island, though. Let's take a look at what they offer. The island is a mile off of downtown Boston and takes about 30 minutes with the Boston Harbor Cruises ship.

It was nice to get off the boat and head to our own private island - at least for the evening.

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