seafood

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Last week I had the delicious opportunity to attend a blogger dinner to taste the newest menu at Turner Fisheries. When I was invited to the event, my first thought was, new menu already? I felt like I had just attended a new menu tasting. Time definitely flies, but more importantly, Turner’s updates its menu frequently to reflect the seasons and the ingredients available.

I joined a fun group of bloggers for a glass of wine prior to dinner, and then we proceeded to our table to get started on dinner. Turner’s General Manager, Wayne Wood, dined with us, and was able to walk us through the menu using his expert knowledge of the dishes to help us all order.

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First up was the Atlantic Shelf platter for the table to share.

The cold seafood platter was one of my favorite parts of the meal. I could pair the delicious Viognier we were sipping (Bridlewood), with cold seafood and spicy cocktail sauce for dinner every night. Mussels, clams,s callops,  oysters, and shrimp were all super fresh and delicious with a spicy cocktail sauce. As always, I dipped my bread in the mignonette. It makes for a zingy bread topping. Sometimes we make mignonette just to top lettuce or bread. This platter reminded me of summer in New England, just perfect.

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In the menu introduction, Wayne  recommended the tomato bisque, even as someone generally not a fan of tomato soup. The soup, in addition to being delicious, also happens to be vegan; the pureeing of the tomatoes creates the creaminess. It was smoky, basil-y, smooth and creamy, and clearly I hated it. Winking smile

It was a dreary soup kind of day, and this hit the spot big time.

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Turner’s has many tempting entrée options, and I literally went back and forth on a few until it was time to order. I just couldn’t resist the stuffed shrimp though. I love that you order them by the piece to decide how much you want to eat. I hate being super full after a meal or wasting food, so two of these large shrimp were perfect. The citrus cream underneath? To die for.

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By the time dessert rolled around, I was fairly full, but I still wanted to give dessert a try. I thought an espresso and the Boston Cream Pie would pair nicely, and I was right.

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The Boston Cream Pie was a delight, but it was Fiona’s dessert, the Meyer Lemon Puffs, that won me over.

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I loved the fresh, lemony cream and light pastry. It was perfect for warmer weather, and I will definitely be ordering these next time.

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Turner’s always does a really great job, and I was happy to be invited to try their latest menu. It’s great that they change things up seasonally; it doesn’t just guarantee the freshest ingredients, but it also keeps diners coming back to see what’s new.

*Dinner was provided by Turner’s, but as always, my opinions are my own.

Tags: blogger events, events, Food, restaurant, seafood, Turner Fisheries, wine

Happy Halloween! Do you have any fun plans for the holiday? I am excited to offload the giant bag of candy I bought last week. I am kind of obsessed with it, Bottle Caps, Sweet Tarts, and Laffy Taffy. I like chocolate every now and then, but I love sour candy! We’ll probably have some pumpkin beer with cinnamon sugar while watching some scary TV (Have you seen American Horror Story yet? Spooky!) and running up and down three flights of stairs to give out candy. It’ll be a Halloween workout for sure!

Whatever you do, have fun, be safe, and keep pets indoors!

If there’s one thing I really love, it’s a restaurant that changes up its menu according to seasonal availability of ingredients. Not only does it help us do our best to eat locally and in-season, but it also makes it fun to return to the same restaurant time and time again over the course of a year. There’s nothing worse than staring at a stale menu. When I was invited to attend Turner Fisheries’ blogger dinner to try out some of their new menu items, along with some of their favorites, I was very excited to see what they would have in store for us.

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We all met in the bar at Turner Fisheries to meet with some of the members of the Westin Copley team while sipping on drinks and learning about the commitment to sustainability that Turners has. Their ongoing efforts to source sustainable seafood are impressive, especially given recent scandals in the seafood world.  When it was time to sit down for dinner, each table had a group of bloggers, in addition to a representative from the Westin or their PR agency, 451 Marketing. Michelle, Rachel, and I got supremely lucky in sitting with Westin Director of Food and Beverage, Monika, who was an incredibly fun, interesting, and inspiring dining companion.

To go with our seafood feast, we all chose Bridlewood Estate Viognier. I love Viognier for its full body and slightly oily mouth feel and stone fruit flavors. It was a delicious pairing with every part of the meal. The food started coming, and it didn’t stop for a very long time. By the end, I definitely had a huge appreciation for the creative, inspired, and delicious work of Chef Armand Toutaint, who graciously came out to meet all of us.

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grilled island creek oysters, maitaki mushroom, riesling cream – Unforgettable. I need to eat these again and again. Hot, grilled oysters with a rich, warm, and earthy sauce combined the summery flavor of oysters that I love with a comforting warmth and texture perfect for fall and winter.

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lobster taco soft corn tortilla, ancho aioli, corn fennel pico – Another of my favorites, chunks of perfectly cooked lobster meat enveloped in warm tortillas with nice bite from corn and a little bit of smokiness from the aioli, these were an appetizer but would also be great as an entrée. I am always really impressed when lobster is cooked to perfection; so often it ends up rubbery and disappointing in restaurants!

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crispy calamarI , peppadew peppers, capers, roasted garlic aioli – We all loved the cornmeal crunch on this calamari, which again, was cooked to perfection. There was not a hint of the greasiness that can sometimes accompany calamari, just lots of flavor and welcome texture.

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poached golden beet , frisee, micro beet greens, goat cheese, basil oil, sherry vinaigrette – A wonderful example of a fall and winter salad done really well, this beet salad was beautiful to look at and even more appealing to eat. The flavors worked wonderfully together, and it was a nice, light addition to the table.

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tuna two ways: ginger-curry marinated yellow fin tuna,cumin seed crusted tuna, wasabi aioli – This was my choice for an appetizer, and it was definitely a good call. The tuna was so fresh, tender, and flavorful, and it was accompanied by fried asparagus. Why have I never had fried asparagus before?!

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seafood risotto, maine lobster, bay scallop, caribbean shrimp, reggiano parmesan – This was my entrée, and I won’t lie. By the time this came, I was slowing down big time, full of outstanding appetizers. I ate a few bites, loving every bit of the creamy but toothsome risotto and the really substantial amount of seafood that was, again, cooked to perfection. I had it packed up to take home, and enjoyed it for lunch for two days. It was definitely a sizeable portion!

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And then there was dessert. I could barely muster a bite of these beautiful treats, just tasting the butternut gelato and a bite of Turner’s take on the classic Boston Cream Pie.

warm bourbon glazed pecan pie
butternut gelato

gold dusted opera cake
raspberry coulis

boston cream pie
crème anglaisee, fresh seasonal berries

The meal was a mix of great food, great wine, and great conversation, all much-needed on an unnaturally cold and dreary Boston evening. Turners kindly hosted us for dinner, but I will definitely be returning soon. I have to have my husband try those oysters!

 

Westin Wedding to Remember

You may remember my visit to The Westin back in the spring to check out their beautiful new rooms. During that visit, I got to chat with Alice who is on the PR team for the hotel and restaurant. She told me about an amazing initiative that The Westin is hosting for 11-11-11. Their A Military Wedding to Remember contest is giving one lucky couple a beautiful Westin wedding while also helping two other couples make their honeymoon dreams come true. How sweet is that? I can’t wait to hear more about the wedding.

Turner Fisheries on Urbanspoon

Tags: Boston, events, Food, restaurant, seafood, Turner Fisheries, wine

Jersey Shore

When you hear Jersey Shore, what do you think? Most likely, the MTV train wreck (that I watch regularly) crosses your mind. And there is definitely that side of the Jersey Shore. With all of the bad Jersey TV shows I watch (Real Housewives, Jerseylicious) and having grown up in NJ, I can definitely say I have seen some similarities in people from my home state. But obviously, not everyone (or even many people) are reality-TV ridiculous, and not all of NJ is a hot mess.

NJ has lots of beautiful parts, great restaurants, and clean beaches with big waves. And, of course, it has boardwalks like no other. This past weekend I went with my sister, brother in law, and niece and nephew to Point Pleasant, NJ for a seafood festival and some time on the boardwalk.

First we made our way through the festival, checking out all of the offerings. Stand after stand featured all sorts of seafood dishes from paella to oysters to fish and chips. There was pretty much any type of seafood you could want. There were also a ton of people.

Seafood Festival

I didn’t eat much before the festival and didn’t really choose my lunch wisely. I went straight for a lobster roll, which ended up being $14 and not very good. I spent most of the time picking out shells.

lobster roll

My sister was smarter, and once we got a table, she got crab legs. And she was nice enough to share the sweet, buttery meat. Isabella got fish and chips, and I had some of that too.

crab legs

Jersey Shore

The festival also included a band, a wine and beer tent, and lots of handmade crafts and jewelry for sale.

Point Pleasant

While the festival was fun for adults, it wasn’t as fun for the little ones, and we promised them a trip to go on some rides. It was blustery out, but the boardwalk was teeming with those sights and sounds that are summer at the Jersey Shore.

Point Pleasant Beach

Tacky as it may be, the boardwalk is a lot of good old fashioned fun, complete with really good junk food. We waited on snacks until after the rides.

Point Pleasant

Dippin Dots

boardwalk

boardwalk

Love, love, love.

IsabellaPointPleasant

boardwalk

We went on the train, and Isabella went on a few other rides while I enjoyed photographing the bright amusements against the cloudy sky. Despite being freezing, on our way our, I had to have one of my favorite Jersey Shore treats, a cone of Kohr’s custard. Richer, creamier, and more delicious than ice cream, Kohr’s is a must-eat on the boardwalk.

Kohr's Custard

Back in the car, thawing out and bundled up, my sweet 10 month old nephew and my niece both instantly fell asleep. Aunt Meggie was pretty close too. It was one of my most favorite moments in a long time. Years from now I might not remember everything we did that day, but I will always remember how I felt with these two little ones I love.

Have you ever been to the Jersey Shore? I know summer is almost over, but what’s your favorite boardwalk or fair treat?

Tags: beach, boardwalk, crab legs, custard, Food, Jersey Shore, lobster, New Jersey, seafood, Travel

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