Ice Skating @ Boston Common’s Frog Pond

By admin, 22 June, 2009, No Comment

Boston Common is the first gem in the city’s so-called Emerald Necklace, a series of linked green spaces. Come November, the Frog Pond (on the Beacon Street side of the Common, 617-635-2120) fills with ice skaters. The rink makes its own ice, so skaters can glide even in relatively balmy temperatures (admission is $3 for adults; skate rental, $7).

If the ice seems too crowded, pause for a moment to gaze at the Common from Boylston and Tremont Streets: the gauzy, lamplight scene inspired Childe Hassam’s ”Boston Common at Twilight,” which you can catch indoors at the Museum of Fine Arts the next morning.

Southie: Brownstones By Bicycle or Foot

By admin, 22 June, 2009, No Comment

Stretch your post-trip legs by walking around and checking out the striking brownstones. Boston’s South End has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places as having the largest Victorian brick-row-house district in the United States (www.southendhistoricalsociety.org).

Southie: Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston (ICA)

By admin, 22 June, 2009, No Comment

Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston
100 Northern Avenue, 617-478-3101
www.icaboston.org

ICA is a visionary glass box designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro that cantilevers over the waterfront, the neighborhood is finally emerging as a vibrant arts district, with destination restaurants, green parks and condos.

As Boston’s first new art museum in decades, the I.C.A. is already a cultural cornerstone, with rotating exhibitions and a permanent collection with works by Nan Goldin, Cornelia Parker and Julian Opie.

Visitors can dine at its Water Cafe (run by Wolfgang Puck Catering), and the adjacent plaza merges with the newly expanded Boston HarborWalk, designed to reconnect the harbor to the rest of the city (though immediately surrounding the museum itself are a number of vast parking lots).

Boston Liberty Hotel (Former Jail Gone Upscale)

By admin, 22 June, 2009, No Comment

OVERVIEW

The completion of the Charles Street Jail in 1851 was a milestone of design, bringing the architect Gridley James Fox Bryant’s stately, rough-hewn granite style to the edge of the Charles River. The jail closed in 1990 and has been transformed into a luxury hotel after a $150 million restoration.

The result preserved much of the original stone and brickwork while adding touches like Gothic-style chandeliers that tower over a lobby lounge. Many cell bars remain as well, cleverly backlighted by ever-changing shades of lavender and chartreuse. And while most of the 298 rooms are stacked in a new tower, 18 are in the original jail, connected by catwalk-like terraces that guards once patrolled.

BEACON HILL LOCATION

Situated at the northern edge of Beacon Hill, overlooking the Charles River. It’s an easy walk to the Boston Common and the Back Bay neighborhood, and a stone’s throw from a subway station (Charles Street/Massachusetts General Hospital on the Red Line).

THE ROOMS

Book “Basic Jail” or “Breathtaking Jail.” The “jails” are both cozy and oddly airy, with exposed-brick walls and floor-to-ceiling windows that offered river and city views. The modern furnishings included an off-white divan, black lacquered desk and dresser and an earthy merino throw at the foot of the plush white bed. A 32-inch flat-panel TV sat above the mini-bar, and an elegant vase was filled with flowers. Instead of the typical “Do not disturb” card, the doorknob sign read: “Solitary.”

THE BATHROOM

Spacious and well-equipped, including a large bathtub, glass-doored shower with excellent water pressure, plenty of towels, Molton Brown products, two luffas and a couple of silky, terry-cloth lined robes. A granite floor matched the overall design.

RESTAURANTS

Scampo, the hotel’s upscale Italian restaurant whereas Clink, a cool and casual place with a lot of exposed brick and original cell bars, offered a delicious array of small plates, including artisanal cheeses served with grilled cranberry-pecan bread ($10 to $15). The same menu is also served at the atmospheric lobby bar, a clutch of red velvet banquettes and leather ottomans popular with post-work crowds in business attire.

Later, the cocktail action moves to the Alibi bar, housed in the former drunk tank that now features real, blown-up mug shots of celebrities like Mick Jagger (who was spotted at Clink in September) and Lindsay Lohan.

AMENITIES

The gym is small, and there’s no spa. The hotel offers Wi-Fi ($10.99 a day), local car service in rush hour at no extra charge and, remote airport baggage check-in screened by the Transportation Security Administration.

ROOM SERVICE

Very good room service. Try the tasty Cheddar and asparagus frittata ($20) came with delicious potatoes and copious toast triangles.

THE BOTTOM LINE

It’s a well-done theme hotel that plays its schtick to perfection, making you feel like one privileged inmate. Doubles start at $319. Liberty Hotel, 215 Charles Street, Boston; (617) 224-4000; www.libertyhotel.com.

Southie: Live Music, Drinks, & Dinner @ The Beehive

By admin, 22 June, 2009, No Comment

The Beehive
541 Tremont Street; (617) 423-0069.

The Beehive, one of the city’s newest nightspots pulses with live music, mostly jazz, seven nights a week. Most performers are local, with the nearby Berklee College of Music providing a steady supply. You might catch a jazz organ trio, a bluesy jam band or a bossa nova chanteuse in the cavernous space, a former boiler room with exposed brick walls, red velvet curtains and funky chandeliers. Drinks like the Beehive Julep and the Moscow Mule (vodka, ginger beer and lime) will help you stay toasty.

Nestled in the Boston Center for the Arts complex, the Beehive’s space dates from 1884 and was most recently occupied by a black-box theater at street level and a dilapidated basement. Now, a dining room on the upper level overlooks “the pit,” where round cafe tables surround a slightly elevated stage. Live jazz, soul or R&B is featured nightly.

If snow is falling, walk less than two blocks south to Union Park Street to glimpse a scene from 19th-century Boston before calling it a night. The narrow park, surrounded by cast-iron fences and gas lamps, will be lovely and still, a perfect precursor to sleep.

GETTING IN
No cover. Make a reservation or get in line. If you don’t plan to eat and a table opens up, take the table and a menu.

DRESS CODE
Retro T-shirts, sports jerseys or button-downs with top buttons undone for men. Baby-doll dresses, anything lace-trimmed, slingbacks for women.

SIGNATURE DRINK
Beehive Julep (muddled mint, orange and lime slices, sugar water, Rhum Clément Liqueur Créole Shrubb and white rum, splash of fresh orange juice, splash of fresh citrus), $10.

Uni @ Eliot Hotel (Sashimi Bar)

By admin, 22 May, 2009, No Comment

Uni
Eliot Hotel, 370 Commonwealth Avenue, 617-536-7200

The city is thick with restaurants that say they serve flopping-fresh seafood, but few are brave enough to dispense with the plastic bibs and drawn butter.

In its low-slung confines, the chef Ken Oringer serves sublime fish with inventive accompaniments that actually work. Peppery onion seeds and Amarillo vinaigrette cut the richness of sea urchin and hamachi ($16); the Chinese black beans on wild king salmon come off like caviar ($14). No reservations, and no humdrum soy sauce either.

Canestaro’s Restaurant and Pizzeria

By admin, 22 May, 2009, No Comment

Canestaro’s Restaurant and Pizzeria, 16 Peterborough Street, (617) 266-8997, www.canestaros.com, just a few blocks from Fenway Park, has a nice outdoor patio, good pizza, and big pasta dishes.

Entrees range from fettuccine Alfredo ($11.95) to grilled sirloin ($18.95), or dig into a chicken Parmesan or a meatball Parmesan sandwich ($6.95), a large plain pizza for $11.50, or pasta entrees for $11.95 to $13.95.

Nine Zero Hotel (Bring Your Pooch)

By admin, 22 May, 2009, No Comment

Nine Zero
90 Tremont Street, (617) 772-5800
www.ninezero.com.

OVERVIEW

A fabulous Kimpton hotel!

Finally, a hotel for dog-loving, yoga-practicing, environmentally conscious history buffs. Nine Zero, near the Beacon Hill area of Boston and within easy walking distance of the city’s Freedom Trail, is part of the Kimpton hotel chain, which promotes itself as offering a “premium guest experience through nonintrusive, high-quality, eco-friendly products and services.” Thus, the hotel says it uses environmentally friendly cleaning products, prints its materials on recycled paper with soy-based ink and that its coffee is “organic, shade-grown and/or fair-trade.” Oh, and you’re expected to do your part as well: Guests are reminded that it helps the environment if you reuse your towels.

THE LOOK

Sleekly designed and kind of hip (particularly by Boston standards), the 190-room, 19-story, red-brick and limestone hotel is fronted by a discreet — in fact, almost easy to miss — facade on bustling Tremont Street, and the coolly elegant lobby is dominated by polished marble floors, dark wood finishes and boldly striped club chairs in an inviting sitting area. (The sitting area looks, in fact, like a great place to hang out and read a good book, but avoid doing so from 5 to 6 p.m., when the hotel offers glasses of wine to guests and the place is jammed.) Guest rooms continue the design theme of dark woods and boldly patterned fabrics, and some on the upper floors have sweeping views of downtown Boston.

THE ROOMS

Elegantly appointed, but a little cramped for space, especially the standard-size rooms, which are dominated by large beds and ergonomic chairs and desks. A somewhat uncomfortable side chair is more suitable as a holding space for discarded clothes than as a place to sit while you’re watching TV. The marble bathrooms, though, are huge, with a large, glassed-enclosed shower big enough for two. The minibar, in addition to offering the usual snacks and drinks, also sells Stirrings brand Lemon Drop and cosmo mixes ($25 each).

AMENITIES

In your room you’ll find an “In-Room Mind, Body, Spa” guide, which, among other things, includes five illustrated yoga poses to try out, along with offers of a yoga mat and core-strengths bands from the concierge.

Guests who bring their dogs are provided an in-room pet bed at no extra charge, as well as a pet bowl and a “welcome treat.”

The hotel’s small fitness center has only free weights and a few treadmills, but guests can also get a daily pass to the Bally’s gym, one block away. The hotel’s restaurant, KO Prime, is among the city’s most highly regarded steakhouses.

ROOM SERVICE

A breakfast of pancakes ($11) and grapefruit juice ($3) ordered at 9:25 a.m. and promised “within 20 minutes” arrived exactly 13 minutes later. Room-service orders come with a built-in 18 percent tip and a $3 delivery charge.

THE CROWD

During the week, visiting business executives looking for a conveniently located and slightly hipper alternative to the Intercontinental or the Four Seasons. On the weekend, young couples who want to be near the city’s night life, families who want easy access to its tourist attractions (Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market are just a few blocks away) and dog owners who want to take their pets for a romp in nearby Boston Common.

THE BOTTOM LINE

Even if you care nothing about staying in a “green hotel” and the notion of traveling with a dog seems like the worst idea in the world, Nine Zero still offers a pleasant diversion in a city that isn’t exactly overflowing with innovative hotels. Standard rooms (called “deluxe”) start at around $329 on week nights, $279 weekends.

Nine Zero, 90 Tremont Street, (617) 772-5800, www.ninezero.com.

Sibling Rivalry Restaurant (Fine Dining)

By admin, 22 May, 2009, No Comment

Sibling Rivalry
525 Tremont St.
Boston, MA 02116
617.338.5338
www.siblingrivalryboston.com

Sibling Rivalry, an upscale restaurant run by two brothers who create “dueling” menus with one set of main ingredients each season. The fall menu featured scallops, mushrooms, artichokes, bacon and beets — one brother concocted a salad of roasted beets with goat cheese fondue, walnuts and bibb lettuce, for example, while the other offered boneless short ribs of beef with roasted beets, ragout of salsify, pearl onions and carrots.

Chef David Kinkead:

Growing up in a family of 10 children it is not a surprise that David Kinkead was inspired by his older brother at an early age. David, brother to renowned chef Bob Kinkead, was struck by his brother’s talent and passion for creating remarkable cuisine. It was Bob who first introduced David to the restaurant scene and ever since then David has been living his dream.

David is a native of Massachusetts, growing up outside of Boston in Wellesley. David attended Providence College and landed his first culinary job as a prep cook in Nantucket at 21 Federal Restaurant. David soon found is way back to Boston and worked with distinguished chefs and James Beard Award winner, Lydia Shire. While working with Shire, David honed his skill, and continued to advance. He has worked in such upscale restaurants as Park Avenue Cafe in New York, and Chicago Park Avenue in Chicago with chef David Burke. Kinkead has also had the honor of working for Jean Joho at Everest in Chicago.

In 2000 Kinkead opened Todd English’s second seafood restaurant Kingfish Hall. Subsequently, Kinkead helped English open his seafood restaurants across the country.

Kinkead’s most recent venture, Sibling Rivalry, will be run in conjunction with his brother, Bob Kinkead. David is excited about Sibling Rivalry because after working for so many high profile chefs, he likes the idea of being able to execute food exactly as he wants. Integrating the diverse styles of all the chefs he has worked with and incorporating them into his own style also appeals to David.

In his spare time David enjoys exercising, watching sports, traveling, dining out and collecting antique egg cups.

Chef Bob Kinkead

Named in 1983 to Food and Wine Magazine’s Honor Roll of sixty of the nation’s most promising culinary talents, Bob Kinkead is a self-trained chef who began his career as a teenager, working summers in restaurants in Cape Cod. He continued his career in the food service industry, gaining first hand experience in several of New England’s finer restaurants and hotels, including Chillingsworth in Brewster on Cape Cod and the Harvest Restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In April of 1985, Bob signed on as a consulting chef of 21 Federal in Nantucket, Massachusetts, later becoming the executive chef and partner. In 1987 Bob moved to Washington, DC to supervise the planning, design, and construction of Twenty-One Federal. As chef and partner, Bob was responsible for the start up operation and the ongoing management of all aspects of the business.

In October of 1993, Mr. Kinkead opened Kinkead’s, an American brasserie-style restaurant featuring fresh seafood. The 240-seat restaurant features daily changing menus, a 40 seat bar and lounge area, and nightly piano entertainment. In April of 1997, Kinkead’s added a seafood and raw bar serving a selection of made-to-order soups, stews, salads, and a large selection of daily changing clams, oysters, and other shellfish.

Bob has received numerous local and national awards including four James Beard Award nominations for “Best American Chef, Mid-Atlantic Region”. He was the 1995 winner of the James Beard Award as “Best American Chef, Mid-Atlantic Region”. Since January of 1995, Bob and his restaurant Kinkead’s, have received the Restaurants and Institutions Ivy Award, Food Art’s Silver Spoon and Nation’s Restaurant News Fine Dining Hall of Fame Award.

Bob Kinkead opened his second restaurant Colvin Run Tavern at Fairfax Square in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia in October of 2002. The 168-seat Colvin Run Tavern features four dining rooms, each with a unique decor and a modern American menu featuring Meat, Game, Seafood, and regional foods.Chef Bob Kinkead Named in 1983 to Food and Wine Magazine’s Honor Roll of sixty of the nation’s most promising culinary talents, Bob Kinkead is a self-trained chef who began his career as a teenager, working summers in restaurants in Cape Cod. He continued his career in the food service industry, gaining first hand experience in several of New England’s finer restaurants and hotels, including Chillingsworth in Brewster on Cape Cod and the Harvest Restaurant in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

In April of 1985, Bob signed on as a consulting chef of 21 Federal in Nantucket, Massachusetts, later becoming the executive chef and partner. In 1987 Bob moved to Washington, DC to supervise the planning, design, and construction of Twenty-One Federal. As chef and partner, Bob was responsible for the start up operation and the ongoing management of all aspects of the business.
In October of 1993, Mr. Kinkead opened Kinkead’s, an American brasserie-style restaurant featuring fresh seafood. The 240-seat restaurant features daily changing menus, a 40 seat bar and lounge area, and nightly piano entertainment. In April of 1997, Kinkead’s added a seafood and raw bar serving a selection of made-to-order soups, stews, salads, and a large selection of daily changing clams, oysters, and other shellfish.

Bob has received numerous local and national awards including four James Beard Award nominations for “Best American Chef, Mid-Atlantic Region”. He was the 1995 winner of the James Beard Award as “Best American Chef, Mid-Atlantic Region”. Since January of 1995, Bob and his restaurant Kinkead’s, have received the Restaurants and Institutions Ivy Award, Food Art’s Silver Spoon and Nation’s Restaurant News Fine Dining Hall of Fame Award.
Bob Kinkead opened his second restaurant Colvin Run Tavern at Fairfax Square in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia in October of 2002. The 168-seat Colvin Run Tavern features four dining rooms, each with a unique decor and a modern American menu featuring Meat, Game, Seafood, and regional foods.

Sibling Rivalry, Bob’s third restaurant is in partnership with his younger brother David. The restaurant opened on October 25, 2004 and features a menu showcasing the cusine of both chefs. Sibling Rivalry is located at 525 Tremont Street in Boston’s South End. It is a 147-seat facility with outdoor seating for 50, a 12-seat bar and 16 seat lounge. The open kitchen features an 8 seat dining bar that will begin chef tastings in the months ahead. Dinner is served seven nights a week.
Bob has written his first cookbook, Kinkead’s Cookbook to be published by Ten Speed Press. The seafood cookbook is available at most fine book stores and now at Sibling Rivalry and Kinkead’s.

Sibling Rivalry, Bob’s third restaurant is in partnership with his younger brother David. The restaurant opened on October 25, 2004 and features a menu showcasing the cusine of both chefs. Sibling Rivalry is located at 525 Tremont Street in Boston’s South End. It is a 147-seat facility with outdoor seating for 50, a 12-seat bar and 16 seat lounge. The open kitchen features an 8 seat dining bar that will begin chef tastings in the months ahead. Dinner is served seven nights a week.

Bob has written his first cookbook, Kinkead’s Cookbook to be published by Ten Speed Press. The seafood cookbook is available at most fine book stores and now at Sibling Rivalry and Kinkead’s.

Musuem of Fine Arts, Boston

By admin, 22 April, 2009, No Comment

Museum of Fine Arts
465 Huntington Avenue, 617-267-9300

Where Boston Common is always snow-covered as the sun fades in Hassam’s painting, which hangs in the Art of the Americas gallery on the first floor. The museum has strong collections of Asian and American works, portraits and landscapes by John Singer Sargent and a collection of silver teapots by Paul Revere. On weekends, there are screenings of foreign and classic films.