Allston

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Wednesday nights are usually the tipping point for us, where we go from a few days of eating really healthy meals to wanting to curl up with some pizza and beer. This is especially the case in the winter and even more so the day after a 15 mile marathon training run.

Luckily, this past Wednesday, I was one of the lucky Boston bloggers able to attend a dinner hosted by Stone Hearth Pizza, Clown Shoes Beer, and Pete & Gerry’s Organic Eggs.

I had only tried Stone Hearth’s pizza once before, at the Taste of Cambridge in 2010, and I was really excited to be able to sit down to try not just their pizza, but some of their fantastic appetizers and salads as well, all washed down by some beer from Clown Shoes.

Let’s start with Stone Hearth as a business. They are doing some awesome things to be SOL, sustainable, organic, and local. Not only have they built sustainable building space, but they also use organic flour, tomatoes, and growth hormone free cheese. They also source their ingredients from local partners and give back to the communities they are in through charity involvement. I love it.

Stone Hearth Pizza

The Allston restaurant is a short walk from the Harvard Square T station (It’s also on a bunch of bus routes, but I passed the bus, stuck in traffic, while walking.), and I lucked out with a warm-ish night. The walk over provided a good stretch for my achy legs and revved up my appetite! I was excited about the guest list for the event; it included some of my favorite Boston bloggers.

Our table was set up with beer glasses, plates, and Clown Shoes pint glass souvenirs.

Stone Hearth Pizza

I was greeted with a pour of Clown Shoes Clementine, a beer I have had and enjoyed before. I love the citrus notes; they make it a refreshing aperitif.

Clown Shoes Clementine Clown Shoes Clementine

Then the food started coming. I could barely keep up with what everything was!

flatbread

We had parmesan flatbread with roasted eggplant spread and some spicy meatball poppers.

meatballs

And my favorite of the starters, cheddar covered olives. I thought they were fried, but the menu says baked. I like them even more now!

fried olives

Fresh salads galore filled the table. Stone Hearth is a great place for people of all dietary needs as they had lots of veggie options and some cool, creative, and delicious salads. No iceberg and sad shredded carrots here!

I had a few bites of the spinach and avocado salad.

spinach salad

And some of this crunchy celeriac which was definitely unexpected but really good. Clearly a ton of thought has gone into this menu.

salad

Then it was time for the main event, the pizza. I was actually ordering a pizza for my husband when these all came out, so I missed what some of them were. I just dove right in though.

Stone Hearth Pizza

I loved the bacon and blue which had a nice amount of smoky bacon and zucchini on it. I don’t think I have ever had zucchini on a pizza, but it is a good idea.

Stone Hearth Pizza

I also loved this special which featured curly kale, leeks, gouda, and sausage. Again, I haven’t had kale on a pizza before, but I will definitely have it again.

Stone Hearth Pizza

After all that food, there was also dessert, which I ended up missing. My husband and I made a deal that if he picked me up on his way home from work so I could avoid the T, I would bring him home a pizza. I ordered the buffalo chicken pizza about 20 minutes before he arrived, and it was hot and ready for me when I left.

You would think I would be too full for more, but I chowed down on two slices of this as soon as we got home. It was the best buffalo chicken pizza I have ever had.

I love the way that Stone Hearth tops their pizzas with creative ingredients, but most of all I love the thin crust. It is exactly the way pizza should be, in my opinion, with just enough crunch and dough to give you that chew, without being at all soggy or overwhelmingly doughy. We had a go-to pizza place with good crust for years but stopped eating there about a year and a half ago for ethical reasons. I miss it, but I am happy to have found pizza I actually like better from a company committed to being a good business.

buffalo chicken pizza

We all left with a six pack of heirloom eggs from Pete & Gerry’s along with some coupons for their other eggs, including the eggs we buy, Nellie’s Cage Free.

I love eggs and have been eating them pretty much every day during my training, so I will post about them soon.

I was super impressed with Stone Hearth’s food, and the Clown Shoes beer was a great accompaniment. I think the only downside, for us, is that it is a very kid friendly restaurant. We only like kids that are our blood relatives, so other people’s screaming kids are not what we want to hear at the end of the day. Luckily, the Allston Stone Hearth location is right off the Mass Pike and therefore on my husband’s commute home.

There will be a lot more salad and pizza in my future. In the meantime, Stone Hearth, please open a South Boston or Dorchester location! Smile

I dined at the Allston Stone Hearth location, but they also have restaurants in Belmont, Needham, and Cambridge. Dinner was complimentary, but my opinions are entirely my own.

Stone Hearth Pizza on Urbanspoon

Tags: Allston, beer, blogger events, Boston, Clown Shoes, Food, local, pizza, restaurant

Since moving out of the area years and years ago, I rarely ever head back to my old post-college neighborhood of Allston. This past Wednesday, however, a client I have been working on Public Relations and Social Media with, Good Parent, Inc. held an event at the Allston-Honan branch of the Boston Public Library. If you have kids or know someone with kids, definitely check out the Good Parent site; I love their books, and I love working with them.

After the event, I wandered in the warm summer evening air, with the sun slowly starting to set, down Harvard Ave in Allston, past all of my old stomping grounds which happen to be gone, for the most part. I knew that there was some sort of BBQ place in Allston, so I gave my husband a rough location to meet me at, and very soon I found Soulfire.

One whiff of the spicy smells coming from the restaurant was all I needed. I took a seat at the bar while I waited for my husband and took in the funky Soulfire vibe.

Soulfire BBQ

The place was completely packed and a little noisy, but it was just what I wanted that night. I grabbed a cold Brooklyn Lager and sipped away as I read and reread the menu, which is packed with BBQ goodness, especially sides, sauces, and appetizers. Those are the things I care about most.

Brooklyn Lager

Once the hubby arrived, we decided to share a bunch of items including pulled chicken on Texas toast, cole slaw, BBQ beans, corn bread, pickles, and the Spaghetti Western, which just happens to be creamy mac and cheese mixed with BBQ chili, topped with corn flakes. We couldn’t say no.

Soulfire BBQ

The restaurant also offers six packs of sauce at each setting, so I got to try their sauces in abundance. I am definitely a sauce girl, and while the signature Soulfire sauce was good, I went back time and again for the Fiery sauce. We devoured the tender, flavorful chicken on soft white bread, perfect for soaking up sauce. The cole slaw was crunchy, fresh, not overdressed, and a great addition to the spicy sauces. But the Spaghetti Western, as we imagined, filled us up and stole our hearts. Chunks of smoky BBQ meat were encased in the cheesy mac. I dipped my mac and chili in even more sauce, and my was it heavenly.

We left full, and I was happy that we had a long walk back to the car. It was the perfect way to end the evening. I had been craving BBQ, and Soulfire definitely delivered. We will be back!

SoulFire on Urbanspoon

Tags: Allston, BBQ, beer, Boston, Food, Restaurants

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