Restaurant & Bar Reviews

After a long day of touring the Island of Orleans and a driving tour of Quebec City we walked up to Le Sam for dinner. The energy in this restaurant is great, a unique mix of dressy and casual depending on the motivation of the customer. They had a customized menu ‘for the bee’s’ paying respect to a very necessary creature! I started the night with a ‘Bee’s Knees’ which was a lavender/gin cocktail and was delicious as well as beautifully garnished!  They customized the maple glazed salmon for me (replaced the polenta with a sweet potato puree) it was one of the best pieces of salmon I have ever had! We also ordered the club sandwich with frites which wasn’t on the same level as my salmon but did the job. I had foolishly started the meal with the cheeseboard which was a meal in and of itself that was hard to stop picking at! Checkout the Bistro Le Sam website for more details!
Fairmont Le Château Frontenac
1, rue des Carrières | Quebec City (Québec)  G1R 4P5 | 418 692-3861

Bee’s Knees Gin based lavender cocktail

Club Sandwich with Frites

Maple Glazed Salmon

Deluxe Cheeseboard

You couldn’t tell from the exterior how trendy this spot actually is. As you walk in you think you are entering an old style in with an old style atmosphere at the other end. Much to my surprise the restaurant has a lovely external seating area with bistro lights, fire pit and bar. The food is farm to table and was delicious. The staff were excellent at suggesting options that did not include allium, another person in my party had a gluten intolerance which they supplied her with a unique menu to choose from. They customized a dish for me of grilled trout, broccoli & roasted potatoes that was delicious. The cheeseboard had a lovely selection and I heard the peanut butter hummus was a great twist on a standard appetizer. Checkout the Farmer’s Daughter website for more details.

Luma in Toronto is an Oliver and Bonacini restaurant that I stopped into for lunch this past October.

The restaurant is located on the second floor of what looks like a cinema, there is a huge video displayed on an open white wall as you enter the complex. Find the stars on the right of the entrance and walk up, you’ll then find  LUMA!

The food and experience at the restaurant were top notch even though we stepped in just before lunch closed for the day.We were welcomed with open arms and a pleasant smile, the fresh prepared organic food that followed was delicious.

Our lunch consisted of the calamari and scallop special:

And the Mushroom flatbread with the soup of the day.

Both hit the spot and I would highly recommend stopping into LUMA for a meal or a drink if you have an hour to fill and an empty stomach!

Since the renovation of the Pump Room Public Chicago, we’ve been a handful of times to experience the new space and taste the work of restauranteur Jean-Georges Vongerichten. This spot is sure to deliver a great scene with delicious food and phenomenal service. The Pump Room in Chicago has an extensive history for celeb spotting.

Be sure to start with a glass of wine or a cocktail, the selection was deluxe.

For appetizers try the Tuna Tartar, Salmon Crispy Sushi Rice with Chipotle Aioli or the Pretzel Dusted Calamari, all were delicious and didn’t last long enough to get a picture of. Every dish we had was fantastic, for an Entree it’s really up to your preference, the menu for the Pump Room has a great selection that won’t leave you disappointed.

pump room entrance from Public hotel lobby.

Cocktail Menu at Pump Room ~ Try the Moscow Mule!

Who would have thought the local movement would hit Puerto Rico?  It has and with over the top taste and service that you can experience first hand at 1919 Restaurant in San Juan Puerto Rico! This newly renovated spot is in the Vanderbilt Hotel and will deliver an experience to remember.

1919 Restaurant was recommended to us by our contact at the Hotel El San Juan, thankfully we both ended up getting dressed up otherwise we probably would have felt out of place (it was only suggested business casual.)

The service boarded on what we have received at spots like L’ESPALIER in Boston, very fine and exceptional food! It doesn’t stop there though, the food is locally sourced and organic when possible which kept the wife happy.

Everything was delicious, the service was impeccable and we found out they do an express style lunch for business type traffic during the day, so if you’re not up for an evening out, take a taste during lunch hour! The two dishes that stand out from our order; Scallops (the broth was fantastic) and the Tuna Tartar had a unique rice wafer.

Make a reservation at 1919 Restaurant in San Juan

CONDADO VANDERBILT HOTEL : SAN JUAN : PORTO RICO : 787.724.1919

Just had a great Sunday brunch at Amrheins in South Boston

Irish Coffee was great to start with, they also had the Francis Coppola Zinfandel on the menu.

The buffet selection was extensive, with your standard american breakfast options and everything from shrimp to steak. Our plates were filled twice!

Meat lovers will be happy if they stop into Amrheins restaurant as well as the standard breakfast lover too!

At the time of our dining Zagat rating for this restaurant was 26 (out of 30) we arrived in between meals and had access to the bar menu which did not disappoint.

We took up two seats at the end of the bar and quickly made friends with the bar tender, who used to be a wine distributer. We started with an Irish Coffee and a nice Pinot Noir (I forget the name, started with an S and was fantastic!)

For our meals we had the Turkey BLT with delicious fresh chips (image above) and the Watermelon Salad with Greek Yogurt Sorbet, Feta, Mint, Olive Oil, accompanied by the Tuna Taco which was Chili Marinated Ahi, Guacamole, Pickled Jicama. I was certainly full by the end of it. Important to note the taco’s are very small. Also I found it charming that they offer many gluten free options as well as gluten free bread to start!

This restaurant is somewhat of an establishment in Boston, great service, excellent food and a fantastically comfortable atmosphere. Stop into Boston Four Seasons Bristol Lounge at any hour and you won’t be disappointed.

We actually started the evening with a few drinks at ‘The Lobby Bar’ in the atrium of the Liberty Hotel. This building was previously “Boston’s Charles Street Jail which had been opened in 1851 as an experiment in prison reformation and closed more than a century later after a judge ruled conditions there were inhumane.” (NPR article)

The building re-opened in September of 2007 after a five-year, $150 million renovation, as the Liberty Hotel. Our night started with a ‘Harvest Margarita’ pictured below and a Besame, both were delicious.

We then moved into CLINK. to commence our dinner.

I was very happy to see they offered gluten free bread to start our dinner (along with normal bread)

We also found an exquisite bottle of wine to take us through the evening, it’s called Darioush (neither of us had it previously and it pleasantly surprised us.)

In regard to food, we started with the Beef Tartar (a little too pureed for our preference) though the ice cream on top was a unique pairing that went well with the overall dish.

When asked between the Tuna Sashimi and the Octopus with Yucca, the waiter said, hands down if you like Octopus this is the best in Boston. While it was good especially when compared with others I’ve had in Boston, I have had better in Argentina.

Our main dishes were another beef dish, and the scallops, both were good, but nothing off the chart. My scallops were especially interesting as they were accompanied by a mix of raw mushrooms and carrots, thankfully I like raw, for those who don’t this may be a little to overpowering to be bearable.

Overall, dinner was nice, the atmosphere entertaining and the wine and cocktails even better. We arrived for a 6pm reservation, the place was packed (Saturday night) by the time we left which was around 9PM. I recommend booking a reservation for CLINK. and heading over early to get a drink at the Lobby Bar and take the architecture and crowd in at your leisure.

Woodward is a happening spot for tasty food with an old feel, it is named for a tavern once housed in the Ames family home, Woodward is a modern-day tavern that incorporates local fresh foods and a dynamic beverage selection.

“Located at 1 Court Street and Washington Mall in downtown Boston, the Ames Building was designed by the architectural firm of Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge in Richardsonian Romanesque and paid for by Frederick L. Ames. It is the second tallest masonry load bearing-wall structure in the world, exceeded only by the Monadnock Building in Chicago, completed that same year.” (Quoted from Wikipedia)

I started with the Steak Tartar (topped with an egg, not a usual choice for me but the dish was delicious none the less)

The Simple greens salad was topped with pumpkin seeds, cucumber, dill yogurt and a cider vinaigrette, fantastic!

Also at the table we tried the Steamed mussels, pork belly, fennel, garlic and Woodward Ale! Unforgettable!

This is a common stop for us when we have people in town and want to show them a comfortable setting with deluxe food and as dressy as you want to make it. I highly recommend stopping into Woodward at the Ames hotel if you are in Boston.

A fantastic find for the vegetarian organic food lover!!! The taste of freshness in this food will stay with you for at least a week after you’ve eaten here. I went on a late Sunday afternoon and the place was pack with a line nearly out the door! The vegetarian menu of deluxe organic options is also supported with a robust smoothie menu.

I started with ‘The Innocent’ a flaxy Nutri-Nama sauce seasoning sweet corn, shredded carrots, broccoli, kelpy yeast & tamari almonds over quinoa.

My friend also had the Flourish Alive smoothie, a blend of berry kombucha, blueberries, mango, lemon, avocado and maca, it was DELICIOUS!

While you can’t make a reservation as it’s similar to walking into a Starbuck’s, putting in your order and having it rrive at your table in 10 minutes, you can order takeout!!!

They have locations in Lowell, Salem and Cambridge MA, I’ve only been to the Cambridge location:

Life Alive – CAMBRIDGE, MA:
765 Mass Ave
617-354-5433