.::|TheDish|::.

Mela

Rating: 4 forks

The South End's cry for tasty Indian cuisine has finally been answered: Mela. Located on Tremont Street, occupying the former space of The Nightingale and situated next to Metropolis, this little nook of a space is pleasantly designed with warm shades of rose and red, long mesh curtains seeping light through the over-sized street-level windows, cream bulbous light fixtures, and an ornate copper wall. We had a romantic table-for-two, tucked in the far corner.

The friendly waitress brought over a complimentary tasting from the chef: fried cauliflower in a tangy, spicy sauce. From the well-priced menu, as an appetizer, we shared the Mustard Lamb ($13), consisting of three lollipops served with mint chutney and a spicy brown sauce. As an entree, I had my signature Tikka Masala dish, diced boneless, white meat chicken tandoori style and cooked in rich tomato cream sauce ($16). Mike enjoyed his favorite Beef Biryani, comprised of basmati rice and spicy beef chunks cooked with nuts and flavored with saffron ($14). I recommend a crisp glass of Pinot Grigio to wash down the "medium" spice, which was definitely on the spicier side of the medium scale.

The meal was spectacular and the service was impeccable. I can see how it may get very loud in the tiny space, and the limited seating may yield quite a wait. Regardless, I strongly recommend a visit, and am eager to try out the Sunday brunch buffet.

Mela
578 Tremont St
Boston, MA 02118
617.859.4805

banQ: The Next New Kid on the Block

Us South Enders are always asking: who will be the next "new kid on the block" eatery to take the South End foodie survival test? This year, we have seen a few newbies captivate out attention and tantalize our taste-buds: Rocca, Gaslight, Sage (a transplant), and Meyers + Chang. Well, next up: banQ (site coming soon now live). Currently with construction well under way, and set to open very soon, this French restaurant with an Asian twist will occupy 6,600 sq/ft of the old Penny Savings Bank, located on the corner of Union Street and Washington Street. Perched above the restaurant will be boutique residential condos, and to the right, another suitable fit, a CitiBank branch.

banQ is co-owned by Hemant Chowdry, formerly of Mantra, and Mark Raab of the SoWa Restaurant Group (or that's my understanding to date, though I have read some conflicting content). I am eager to see if this large space will offer a bit of a lounge atmosphere (we all know what happened to Mantra!), if done tastefully, would attract the hip, fashion forward SoWa/So End crowd and would be a refreshing change to the existing restaurant mix.

If anyone has any more specifics, please let me know!

banQ
22 Union Park St.
Penny Savings Bank
South End, Boston

One Gargantuan Gourd

The weekend before last, the beau and I traveled out to Palo Alto, CA to attend a wedding in the hills. After the fabulous festivities, we selected the more scenic route to San Francisco, and made our way through the winding mountain roads, twisting and turning towards the Pacific Coast Highway.

As with most scenic routes, time is inevitably sacrificed for beauty, but you wouldn't expect to hit traffic on the rural mountain and coastal roads. Well, we found ourselves growing increasingly frustrated as we sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic for an hour plus, inching forward slowly through the small town centers peppered along the coast... to find out the cause was not a catastrophic accident, the President was not in for a rare visit, but the culprit was a 1,524lb pumpkin!! The winner of the 34th annual Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California, stay-at home-dad Thad Starr from Pleasant Hill, OR, was displaying is gem of a gourd at the Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival. His secret recipe? Organic compost, consisting of fish fertilizer, seaweed, nitrogen, potassium and phosphate, plus  "yards and yards" of chicken manure and, as Starr states, a lot-o-love:

You'll see me kiss all my pumpkins. It kind of sounds corny, but you develop a bond with your pumpkins. ... They're almost your friends.

Awww. No, I did not see the pumpkin, as it was hidden behind an over-sized wall *sniff*. I want to know how they are going to carve that bad boy for Halloween next week? :)

Alibi

This weekend was girls weekend, and I finally had the chance to check out Alibi with the ladies, located on the ground floor of the historical Charles Street Jail that closed its doors in 1990, underwent $150 mm in renovations and opened as the swanky Liberty Hotel just a few months ago. On Charles St. in Beacon Hill, in close proximity to Mass General Hospital, Alibi is the latest hot spot attracting Boston yuppies, 30-somethings, and socialites alike.

The space was once a cellblock, apparent immediately when you walk in: original iron bars & cell doors, bricks, small rooms, and even framed mug shots of famous celebrities in the slammer (Paris, Lindsay, etc). It's a cool spot, unique in character, but definitely has a few drawbacks. First, it was packed at the bar, with very little wiggle room, but there was ample standing room and seating in the back rooms; yet, there still was a huge line out front. Rather annoying. (Take note: we arrived at 9 or so, and managed to just miss the long line that snaked around the boutique hotel's entrance soon thereafter.) And secondly, this place has a few too many nooks n' crannies. If you are with a group, and just want to chill out with your friends or colleagues after work for a drink, then the low couches and stools in one of the small rooms is fine. If you want to socialize and take-in some quality people watching, it's not quite the place. And finally, there is no food. To a foodie, and probably to most folks enjoying cocktails, thats a huge drawback, and simply rather bizarre.

We are headed to Clink, the restaurant upstairs above Alibi, in a couple weeks, so I'll have another review to share.

Alibi - The Liberty Hotel
215 Charles Street
Boston, MA 02114
617.224.4000
http://www.libertyhotel.com

<photo courtesy of Boston.com>

The Luckiest

To those of you who feel like you are the luckiest person around - for reasons of love, happiness, or whatever your personal reason is - here is my favorite tune in celebration of just feeling....lucky. No video, just lyrics and melody, by Ben Folds.

Buy Shoes from Zappos

This morning, via the Beyond Madison Avenue blog, I linked to and read this touching story on a woman's experiences with the online shoe store, Zappos. Here is the full story:

I Heart Zappos

I really do.

One bright, extraordinary note in all of the sad stuff of the last few weeks - in May we had ordered several pairs of shoes from Zappos for my mom. She’d lost a lot of weight, and her old shoes were all too big. She had a whole new wardrobe of clothes in pretty colors, that fit, so I wanted her to have some pretty shoes that fit, too, when I took her up to Oregon to stay where her sister is. Out of seven pairs, only two fit. Not bad considering she’d never been this thin, so I was winging it, and the return shipping is free.

The rest were here waiting to be returned. Because of various circumstances - lost label, my mom being hospitalized and me being away, the shoes were never sent back. There’s a time limit on the return of 15 days. Remember this. When you do a return to them, they pay the shipping, but you have to get the shoes to UPS yourself. Remember this, also.

When I came home this last time, I had an email from Zappos asking about the shoes, since they hadn’t received them. I was just back and not ready to deal with that, so I replied that my mom had died but that I’d send the shoes as soon as I could. They emailed back that they had arranged with UPS to pick up the shoes, so I wouldn’t have to take the time to do it myself. I was so touched. That’s going against corporate policy.

Yesterday, when I came home from town, a florist delivery man was just leaving. It was a beautiful arrangement in a basket with white lilies and roses and carnations. Big and lush and fragrant. I opened the card, and it was from Zappos. I burst into tears. I’m a sucker for kindness, and if that isn’t one of the nicest things I’ve ever had happen to me, I don’t know what is. So…

IF YOU BUY SHOES ONLINE, GET THEM FROM ZAPPOS.

With hearts like theirs, you know they’re good to do business with.

The folks over at BMA commented, "...and what does Zappos get from this? Technically nothing. Unless you take into account the 100+ comments and countless links that this woman’s blog has received from this story."

I think we all "get" something from this story, and I wish there were more brands out there like Zappos (update: Danny from BMA - I didn't mean to come across as saying you guys don't get it -- thanks for the comment, and yes we are totally on the same page!). I don't believe that Zappos' objective here was to further brand loyalty via brand-to-consumer connection, and I'd like to think that they did not see this as an opportunity to "create" a viral or word-of-mouth marketing campaign (us marketers should never have this as a strategy!); but, I do commend the folks at Zappos for adding the powerful human touch back to a brand. At the end of the day, after all the strategizing, planning, execution and optimization... we are all humans. Although this story has so many elements of a brand marketer's dream, it's not about that for the woman who lost her Mom, or for the folks behind the Zappos brand. It's about the power of human connection, be it between friends, family, colleagues, and yes... even those brands that market to us every day.

Cole Haan & Soles4Souls

Cole Haan is running a fabulous program now through Oct  21st, whereby you can drop-off a "gently worn" pair of duds and receive 20% off your purchase at Cole Haan. The program is in partnership with Soles4Souls, an international non-profit charity organization that provides footwear to unfortunate people in third world countries as well as disaster areas. There are also ways that you can donate directly to the charity, including donating your time.

An Amazing Wiikend

This weekend, the beau and I traveled to Westchester County, NY to spend some long overdue time with one of my best friends and her husband. There, we were introduced to the Nintendo Wii; I am not at all a gamer, but the Wii kicks ass! Yes, its primitive from a graphics perspective - no life-like Halo 3 for sure - but its physical, interactive, somewhat unpredictable, and most definitely addictive entertainment!!! Oops, I forgot to say dangerous!

We played golf, bowling and tennis- I know you are asking, "how dangerous can that be"? Well, I am now battling the "Wii Arm", a sharp pain in my shoulder blade and arm as though I forgot to stretch before an intense workout. Thankfully, all the pain managed to yield some reward - I won one tennis match against those damn Wii characters. In chatting with other Wii-ers, I caught wind of a few websites devoted to Wii related incidents, accidents and foolery such as Wii Injury and Wii Have a Problem. And its clear that my injuries are wii ones in comparison to these por folks - ouch (image courtesy of Engadget):

It's hilarious, and painful. I am the first to say that Wii brought out the spastic, accident-prone best in myself and I can't wait to bring that excitement to my living room soon!

El Triunfo

Rating: 4 forks

I must have driven by this hole-in-the wall Mexican joint a million times without noticing it; in fact, it wasn't until I complained that there is no good Mexican in these parts that a friend opened my eyes to this gem: El Triunfo. It's an itsy bitsy taqueria, thats been recently remodeled, located a mere couple blocks from me, on East Berkley Street in SoWa. I think there are a couple 2-tops inside, but the primary business is take-out, I assume servicing the mix of artists, business-folk, and construction workers during the weekday lunch hour. Just dont go there for a sit down dining experience; you'll be disappointed.

The space is clean with ornate, brightly painted walls, the counter service is uber-fast, its cheap, and the ingredients are fresh and dishes are made to order. I chose a chicken burrito with everything (not sure what "everything" is but it was tasty) and black beans. Yum! They even packaged it nicely in one of those thermo bags to trap in the heat.

This foodie was pleasantly surprised to learn - after all that complaining - a killer Mexican eatery was just around the corner.

Check out the menu here.

El Triunfo
147 E Berkeley St
Boston, MA 02118
617.542.8499

A Warm Welcome to Myers + Chang

Rating: 4 forks

"Dragons Make Nice Pets"

"The Great Wall of China is one big ASS wall...
But, is it great?!?"

These are the writings on the wall - literally - at SoWa's freshest restaurant, Myers + Chang. I finally dropped in to pay them a visit this past Sunday, early evening. I dined solo, Phantom Gourmet style, at the high tops facing Washington Street and the East Berkley Silverline stop. This is a "colorful" place to be seated, as passersby from The Pine Street Inn are commonplace. The inside space was larger than I expected, and  was bustling when I arrived at 6pm, and packed when I left about an hour later. The room has a funky diner feel, with 50's era white leather chairs around simple tables, chrome high-top tables towards the front half of the space, street light accent lamps, a mosaic floor, and paper menus and place-mats that appear to be actual Chinese newspapers. The second, back half of the restaurant, features an open-air kitchen with bar seating in front. The music was rockin', people were chatting, and it was quite a lively scene with a great vibe.

Christopher Myers himself was making his rounds, asking guests if they were enjoying their meal and their experience, clearing tabletops, and he even delivered my meal. I just went in for a taste, as I was SO eager to check it out and not patient enough to wait to dine with friends! The waitstaff, sporting unique vests with splattered paint and Chinese writing, were undeniably a tad mystified and green, as to be expected at the new joint on the block; I was fine with it, and Meyers was there to smooth out any bumps if needed. I ordered a signature favorite of mine, the Chicken Lettuce Wraps ($9). The sauce was a tad heavy, but overall the dish was very tasty and the perfect size for the not-too-hungry me, and I washed it down with a chilled glass of Prosecco, pleasantly served in a stemless flute. I glanced around frequently, and the other diner's meal selections looked fresh and quite appealing.

All dishes are under $17 but are designed as "tastings", so expect to get a couple per person. Additionally, they have a  beer and wine (including Sake) license only. Take-out is available and delivery is coming soon.

I can't wait to go back, as I really loved the overall experience. Its unparalleled in Boston, and a warm welcome to my burgeoning SoWa neighborhood.

Myers + Chang
1145 Washington St
South End, Boston
617.542.5200
http://myersandchang.com