Top 5 Summer Food Finds in the City

{A big thanks to Fun and Fearless in Beantown!}

When Colleen asked me to write a guest blog post while she is away in Ireland, I immediately accepted her invitation. I am a huge fan of Colleen’s blog and her tweets, so I’m thrilled to be writing to her readers!  To tell you a little about myself, I’ll start out by saying that although I do write about other things on occasion, my blog, Fun and Fearless in Beantown, tends to stick to a subject matter that most of us enjoy – food! I love to write about my experiences in the kitchen along with dining reviews of local restaurants.  Since summer officially arrived last week, I wanted to share my top five summer food finds in the city!

Cupcakes from Mix Bakery

This past year, I discovered one of Boston’s newest bakeries – Mix Bakery.  I first discovered them when I was searching for vegan desserts for my fiance’s birthday party.  Since a few of his friends were vegans, I wanted to make sure they had something sweet to indulge in but I didn’t have time to make a separate vegan cake!  Mix Bakery came to the rescue and helped make my party a success.  Since then, I’ve also had Mix Bakery’s regular (i.e. non-vegan) cupcakes and they are all fantastic but the strawberry rhubarb is definitely my favorite!

Since the owner, Kelly, is operating out of a home studio right now, she will deliver cupcakes to you for a small delivery charge, which makes Mix Bakery an easy go-to for your summer barbecues and Fourth of July parties!

Banh Mi Sandwiches from New Saigon Sandwich Shop

During the summer, I love eating outdoors as much as possible.  Often times, I’ll head to New Saigon Sandwich Shop on Washington Street in Chinatown.  This place is an absolutely tiny store but the food is big in both size and flavor! Banh mi is a sandwich made of a Vietnamese baguette with thinly sliced pickled carrots, daikon, onions, cilantro and hot peppers.  There are different types of meat for the sandwiches but my favorite is the curry chicken.  Best of all, the sandwiches only cost a few bucks! Since the store has limited seating, I like to grab my sandwich and head to the Common to indulge in the sunshine.

Government Center Farmers Market

I absolutely love eating and cooking with local and sustainable ingredients.  From June to November, I make several trips every week to the Government Center Farmers Market, which is conveniently located on my walk home from work.  I’ve picked up some delicious finds already, including the first cherries of the season from Keown Orchards in Sutton, MA.

If you want to find out more about where and when you can find a farmers market near you, check out the Mass Farmers Market website!

 Olive Oil Tasting at Miel

I love eating (and drinking) at the Intercontinental Hotel during the summer because a lot of their restaurants offer such amazing waterfront patio seating.  Miel is one of my favorite spots because in addition to their delicious French bistro fare, they also offer a complimentary olive oil tasting to anyone who asks.  A server will tell you all about the different olive oils, why they taste differently and of course offer you lots of different breads to dip with.   I can’t wait to return back this summer to get my fill!

 The Patio at Alibi

Now that it is warm out, I’m definitely excited about sipping a few cocktails on Alibi’s patio.  Although this hotel bar isn’t exactly new to the scene, I wanted to mention Alibi because they have recently done a major re-vamp of their bar menu.  From what I understand, their food was previously made by a neighboring restaurant across the street and from my personal opinion – it wasn’t anything special.  But recently, they have done a complete overhaul and the food is now coming straight from the Lydia Shire’ kitchen at Scampo.  I went there a few weeks ago to sample some of their new menu items and my favorites included the ciccio (a flatbread-like quesadilla) and their truffled polenta fries.  Of course, I also indulged in a cocktail or two – including their Dirty Harry martini (dirty martini with blue cheese stuffed olives!).

I think this last photo is a perfect note to end this blog on!  I want to thank Colleen for giving me the opportunity to guest blog and wish her safe travels!