Scampo, Boston

People are like onions. At first glance, they may seem plain on the outside, but on the inside, there are layers and layers to be discovered, and sometimes they may make you cry. That's exactly how I feel about my friend JM, who I appreciate more everytime we meet. I didn't have a very good impression of him when we first met, but I was proved wrong as I got to know him. He is a sweet person, extremely creative, and secretly likes musicals! On my last trip to Boston, JM (who is local) and I met up at Scampo to catch up. It is a great Italian resto in Beacon Hill's funky Liberty Hotel.

Liberty Hotel was once a jail. After having gone through a major face lift, it now has a very grandeur feel with extremely high ceilings, oversized metal chandeliers, and granite wall murals.

As an appetizer, JM and I split the caprese salad. The tomatoes in this dish were ok but they made sure it was fool-proof by sprinkling a generous amount of fleur de sel and by coating the cheese with a light layer of finely chopped red onions.

Caprese Salad

I ordered the special of the day which was a soft shell crab BLT sandwich with fries and coleslaw. The crab was delicious and I loved the idea, but the bread was a little too crispy for me to eat as a sandwich. I ended up breaking it up and eating the different parts separately.

Soft Shell Crab BLT

JM, who is Italian, wanted to try and critique the thinnest and lightest layered lasagna a la bugialli with cotechnino meatballs. JM was definitely impressed. Each layer was almost paper thing... I wonder how they do that!?

Thinnest and Lightest Layered Lasagna

For dessert, I had Lydia's tiramisu. It was awesome and the rock sugar and coffee beans added a nice touch.

Lydia's Tiramisu

Scampo (in Liberty Hotel)
215 Charles Street
Boston, Massachusetts
617-536-2100

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Figs, Boston

I wasn't feeling 100% on one of my evenings in Boston, so instead of going out to eat, I decided to have the food come to me. When I read that Figs delivered lunch and dinner, I called the restaurant and had pizza delivered to my hotel. That evening, I ate my pizza while learning all about Sawfish on the National Geographic Channel. It was kinda fun vegging out.

Figs is owned by celebrity chef and restaurateur, Todd English. He is best known for his show Food Trip with Todd English and his successful restaurant chain, Olives. In addition to these achievements, he has published three cookbooks, and has won several James Beard Foundation awards. If that's not enough, he was listed as one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People in 2001. That's one heck of a CV if you ask me.
Now that you know the man behind Figs, here is what I had:

To start, I had the roasted beet salad. The salad had red & chioggia beets, frisee, red onions, blue cheese, crispy shallots & toasted pecans. The salad was good but the beets didn't taste very roasted.

Beet Salad

For my main meal, I ordered a half and half pizza.

One half was the fig & prosciutto pizza. It had a crisp rosemary crust, fig & balsamic jam, prosciutto, and Gorgonzola cheese. I found the fig & balsamic jam too overpowering and a tad too sweet. The prosciutto taste got lost in the jam. I probably should have stuck to my instincts and ordered the spicy shrimp pizza instead.

Fig and Prosciutto Pizza

The other half of my pizza was the roasted pulled chicken pizza. In addition to the chicken, the pizza had provolone cheese, basil oil & caramelized onions. The basil oil definitely added a nice touch.

Pulled Chicken Pizza

Overall, my meal wasn't bad but it was hard to judge because of the take-out factor. I definitely think my meal would have been better had I dined at the restaurant instead. By the time my food arrived, the pizza was warm, and the cheese wasn't gooey anymore.

Figs (Beacon Hill)
42 Charles Street
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Telephone: 617-742-3447

Figs (Charlestown)
67 Main Street
Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA
Telephone: 617-242-2229

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The Boston Cream Pie

When I found out I was going to Boston, I contacted a fellow Boston food blogger, Rhymes With Hungry, to find out some good places to eat. When I told her that I was staying at the Omni Parker House Hotel, she ooh'ed and informed me that that was the birthplace of the Boston Cream Pie.

Lobby at Parker House Hotel, Boston

Boston is one of the oldest cities in the US, and its history dates back to the 1600's. I really enjoyed my stay, and found Boston to be a very charming city. I loved the energy and diversity of downtown Boston.

Back to the Boston Cream Pie. It was invented at the Parker House Hotel, in Parker's Restaurant, 1867. It is also the official dessert of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

A Boston cream pie is a round white cake with a layer of vanilla custard or cream in the middle, and topped with a thin layer of chocolate ganache. I had never tried Boston cream pie before, so I decided to order it one morning for breakfast. Yes, I had it delivered to my hotel room for breakfast, and I'm not ashamed of it :)

The verdict? It is now one of my favorite cakes! It is definitely up there with the strawberry shortcake.

Some fun facts about the hotel:

- Ho Chi Minh was a pastry chef at Parker's Restaurant from 1911-1913.
- Malcolm X, then known as Malcolm Little, was a bus boy at Parker's Restaurant in the 1940's.
- John F. Kennedy had his bachelor party at the Parker House Hotel. He also proposed to Jacqueline Bouvier in Parker's Restaurant.
- The Parker House roll was also invented at Parker's Restaurant, and the recipe was kept secret until 1933 when President Franklin Roosevelt requested it.

Here was the lovely view from my hotel room.

View from Room at Parker House Hotel, Boston

Oh yea, and if you ever hear the term "scrod", it means catch of the day (usually a white fish...likely cod). This term was also invented at Parker's Restaurant.

Parker's Restaurant

60 School Street

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Telephone: 617-227-8600

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Flour Bakery + Cafe, Boston

Right before my trip to Boston, I was chatting with a friend from Sydney. I started telling her about my upcoming trip to Boston, and she instantly replied with "OMG, you HAVE to go to Flour Bakery. It is soooo good". She raved about it so much that I had to put it on my list of places to check out.

I took a mid morning stroll, and headed to the Flour Bakery at Fort Point Channel. It was just after 11:00am and the place was already packed with a long line up.

This place reminded me of a modern hippy, go green, cafeteria style establishment. The staff here are very friendly, and it was both fun and torture waiting in line.

It was fun because you kept busy reading all the fun stuff they had posted on the boards. I especially enjoyed their quote of the day "All sorrows are less with bread" - Don Quixote. However, it was torture because you had to walk by counters and counters of baked goods while waiting very patiently to place your order. There were so many goodies, it was hard to choose.

When it was finally my turn, I ordered a light lunch with a dessert.

To start, I had the raspberry spritzer: a light and fizzy drink.

My lunch was the roast chicken sandwich with avocado and jicama. This was DELICIOUS. The chicken was prepared tandoori style, and the avocado was infused with lime and cilantro. It was healthy, fresh, and flavorful...loved it!

If you want your sandwich toasted, it is $1 extra.

For dessert, I had the chocolate banana bread. This was also very good. I loved that it was not overly sweet, and the cake was packed with bananas. I think I tasted more banana than cake, which was a nice surprise.

I desperately wanted to go back here for a second meal, but my friends wouldn't allow it. Everyone had their list of places to try and there just wasn't enough time.

This is a great casual place with excellent food.

Flour Bakery + Cafe (Fort Point Channel)
12 Farnsworth Street
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Telephone: 617-338-4333

Flour Bakery + Cafe (South End)
1595 Washington Street
Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Telephone: 617-267-4300

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