As C and I prepare to move across the country next week, the next few days will be spent having farewell dinners with friends. Here are our stories (and a guest post):
My friend Amy and I have been friends now for about 5 years give or take a month. She and I met in the closet. The coat closet. Good story, huh? Anyway, we both worked in the restaurant industry and our paths crossed at the opening of Great Bay in Kenmore Square. This was when the Hotel Commonwealth was still only 1/2 open and more stores and restaurants were a pipe dream. I mean, they DID start the bus station project then and look how far THAT has come?!?!
All joking aside, it was a new terrain for fine dining - how were we going to get foot traffic that wasn't students? Weren't Red Sox fans? Weren't homeless asking for change for the bus? It wasn't easy and it wasn't totally profitable either, but Amy and I made the most of it and were psyched to find each other - whether in the closet or out - and had lots of fun, foodie moments over the years.
It was only fitting that we head to Great Bay for my sendoff and our "last supper" together. We both love the food from The Island, so we started with some halibut tacos (ceviche style) with roasted corn and radishes - delicious. Then we opted for tuna sashimi topped with marinated Thai chilis and a mango, yuzu sauce. Def could have opted for more acid, less mango, but the tuna was fresh and I love the spicy Thai chilis.
My favorite option that we tried was the tuna "maki" - a creative twist on the regular maki rolls with the tuna wrapping a collection of vegetables, sticky rice, and avocado. The ponzu or soy/yuzu dipping sauces was delicious...I could eat another few of those right now, since I'm thinking of it...Anyway, for a few hot options, we split an order of the shrimp and lobster dumplings - one of which squirted it's little life out on my shoulder. Mmm Eau de Shellfish. They were what we wanted though, warm and crispy.
As our last (and perennial) favorite, we split an order of the famous clam chowder. Little bits of turnip and potato, bacon, clam and topped with chervil. My favorite chowder since it's actually more milky, rather than cream-y and it doesn't feel super heavy. I can't stand chowder that is like pudding...that's not soup, it's dessert. With clams. Gross.
What a great meal with great company - look forward to visiting GB again in our future Boston dining...love it!
3 hours ago