Boston You're My Home

OK, admittedly, that's Cambridge in the photo. Anyway.

I’m getting to spend a wonderful decompression and relaxation period of almost two weeks here in Boston. Many thanks for all of you who got to hang out with me; it was awesome seeing all of you. The photo above is a snapshot I took at Porter Square Station—it’s a great demonstration of what I consider quick indicators that I will like a city: public art and public transportation. Out of curiosity, I looked up the wind sculpture outside the station: it is Gift of the Wind by Susumu Shingu (1983).

As is probably obvious from my roundness, I love food. Especially good food in familiar places that I know and love. So a big part of this trip has been to go to some of my favorite restaurants around town with friends. Here’s my list: if any of you are non-Bostonians and/or are unfamiliar with these places, I give all of them a strong recommendation.

• Brehznev’s (a.k.a. King Fung Garden; Chinatown)
  
• Cambridge Brewing Company (Kendall Square; their beer is great; food is ok)
  
• Chang Sho (Mass Ave between Harvard and Porter—excellent classy Chinese)
  
• Bartley’s Gourmet Burgers (Harvard Square)
  
• Bombay Classic Indian Cuisine (Arlington Center)
  
• Diva Indian Bistro (Davis Square)
  
• Redbones (Davis Square; note—sadly, their new Texas chili is not worth it—mostly watery beef stew)
  
• Anna’s Taqueria (Porter Square; side note—there was a great New York Times article about a writer homesick for Boston coming up to town on the Fung Wah bus just to have a super burrito at Anna’s (A Shuttle Between Chinatowns)
  
• 1369 Coffeehouse (Central Square)
  
• Emma’s Pizza (Kendall Square)
  
• Toscanini’s Ice Cream (Central Square)
  
• Ramen noodles at Porter Exchange (Japanese food court)
  
• Mary Chung’s (Central Square)
  
• Helmand (Lechmere/Cambridgeside Galleria area)

Of course, there are always new places to explore. I had dinner at a restaurant called Sauce (in Davis Square)—they serve small appetizers to share; kinda tapas-style presentation. It opened only recently; there was about a 10-minute wait on a Tuesday evening. It was definitely a good “impress the date” kind of place (excellent atmosphere; I liked the design)—and (more importantly) very tasty. Their butternut risotto kicks some ass: butternut, sage, and bacon… what a great combination of flavors.

I also went to the Grafton Street Pub and Grill in Harvard Square, where the Bow and Arrow used to be. Can’t say it’s a strong recommendation—we sent back the appetizer plate of mussels: they had definitely seen better days. It’s another reason to heed Anthony Bourdain’s warning from Kitchen Confidential to avoid seafood on Mondays.

In addition to eating, here are some other items that I’ve done during this visit that reflect the fact that Boston is my home, and will be the place I will be coming back to in two years, if my life manages to go as planned:

• Did laundry at the Roost using my own detergent (a box of Seventh Generation brand suds that I left behind when I moved out)
  
• Went to the optometrist to update the prescription in my safety glasses—I just had to tell them, “Look up my file, and make these glasses match what I’m wearing now.”
  
• Went to the Cambridge Public Library outside of Harvard Square; took out a book (Jonathan Franzen), and even got a new library card.
  
• Sent out a round of postcards from Boston—hey, I’m actually a visitor here now!
  
• Rode the Red Line from one end to the other (Braintree to Alewife). (No, I wasn’t exhibiting some variety of obsessive-compulsive disorder here; I was just getting back to Cambridge from Weymouth).
  
• Sent out Christmas cards—after this semester, it was really nice to know that I have no pressing priorities greater than writing up cards to my friends.

Well, I'm heading down to New York on Friday, to see my folks (on Long Island), and to hang out with various people in the city. Bird and Jen are giving me a ride down to NY; I'm planning on meeting up with Probe and Becca there.

Anyway, happy holidays to everyone, and a safe and happy New Year!