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Patio & Picnic Season Means More Dining Out Options

As the temperatures rise, our dining options increase. We love dining on the patio at a select group of area restaurants and we are dedicated to picnics in parks, on a bench, on an oceanside deck, or high above the city on our roof deck.

We admit we prefer picnics that include a glass of great wine. Even simple fare, some bread, cheese, olives and fruit seem elegant with a splash of bubbly.

One of our favorite patios is the one at Coppa in the South End. It's where we can be sure that the food will be as wonderful as the lovely days that draw us to outdoor dining. That's Coppa's "Ricotta gnocchi with nasturtium butter-cacio e pepe," in the photo above.

We'll often pick up a picnic to go from a place like Bacco's Wine + Cheese and try to find a spot in the Public Garden away from the noise where we can relax and nibble an hour away. There, the sparkle has to be sparkling water but that's okay with us.

We're hoping to win a table on the patio at the new Tatte Bakery & Café on Charles Street one of these days. So far, we've had to order our food to go and make our way back to the Garden to dine.

We'll often make a stop at Thinking Cup on Newbury for breakfast while we're out walking. They make great breakfast sandwiches.

While our selection of patios for dining is narrow, Eater Boston has put together a much more comprehensive map of options. Here's a link to their piece: These Patios Are Officially Open for the Season. They have pointed out a few places we've been meaning to try and the possibility of sitting outside will move them up on our list.

Happy Spring, get out and enjoy an al fresco meal at one of your favorite places.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012-2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

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May 7, 2015
Patio & Picnic Season Means More Dining Out Options

As the temperatures rise, our dining options increase. We love dining on the patio at a select group of area restaurants and we are dedicated to picnics in parks, on a bench, on an oceanside deck, or high above the city on our roof deck.

We admit we prefer picnics that include a glass of great wine. Even simple fare, some bread, cheese, olives and fruit seem elegant with a splash of bubbly.

One of our favorite patios is the one at Coppa in the South End. It's where we can be sure that the food will be as wonderful as the lovely days that draw us to outdoor dining. That's Coppa's "Ricotta gnocchi with nasturtium butter-cacio e pepe," in the photo above.

We'll often pick up a picnic to go from a place like Bacco's Wine + Cheese and try to find a spot in the Public Garden away from the noise where we can relax and nibble an hour away. There, the sparkle has to be sparkling water but that's okay with us.

We're hoping to win a table on the patio at the new Tatte Bakery & Café on Charles Street one of these days. So far, we've had to order our food to go and make our way back to the Garden to dine.

We'll often make a stop at Thinking Cup on Newbury for breakfast while we're out walking. They make great breakfast sandwiches.

While our selection of patios for dining is narrow, Eater Boston has put together a much more comprehensive map of options. Here's a link to their piece: These Patios Are Officially Open for the Season. They have pointed out a few places we've been meaning to try and the possibility of sitting outside will move them up on our list.

Happy Spring, get out and enjoy an al fresco meal at one of your favorite places.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012-2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

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May 7, 2015
The Good Side of a Long, Cool Spring …

While waiting for it to finally warm up, we did muse about the good side of this long, cool spring.

The magnolias held their bloom far longer than usual. We had the early white blooms, the middle pink blooms, and some of the deep purple blooms all out together.

The birds have been singing their hearts out trying to set up their summer family and nests.

Gardeners have had cool days to do the heavy work of spring clean up.

Yes, we've done a lot of complaining about the lack of warm days. But being optimists at heart, we did try to find a good side to April's weather.

Would you rather have it warmer or have you found a few aspects of this slow move towards warmer days that you like?

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2015 Penny & Ed Cherubino

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May 5, 2015
Our Favorite May 2015 Activities and Events

May is one of those months when we like to get out and enjoy our city and perhaps schedule a few day trips or short getaways to places around the area. After this winter, we have worked to get our assignments ahead and will now take some time off to enjoy spring.

We already gave you the lowdown on What's happening around Boston in May 2015. That post puts the month into a planning perspective for you. This one is about our faves.

When if comes to events, we tend to enjoy the quieter side of the happenings roster. Lilac Sunday at the Arnold Arboretum on May 10th is more our style. It is the only day you are allowed to picnic on the grounds and they now have a small fleet of food trucks available for the event.

Food Truck Season

Speaking of food trucks, by May it's normally warm enough to dine al fresco and that means we can do more food truck sampling. The city seems to have lost interest in supporting this great aspect of Boston. So rather than recommend you use the city's site, we suggest you depend on Steve Leibowitz's site, Hub Food Trucks.

One of our favorite food truck spots is near the fountain at the Christian Science Plaza. It's listed as Belvidere on the schedules. In addition to more trucks and more choices, it has great seating for eating and fun people watching. Here's a link to the Hub Food Trucks schedule.

Community Gardens

It's planting and sprucing up season at community gardens throughout the area. We always plan a walk and photo shoot in the Fenway Victory Gardens in May. Here are some scenes from a past walk. From the Boston Natural Areas Network, here's a community garden locator.

For Other Tastes

Over on TripAdvisor's Boston Forum, Penny starts a monthly conversation on what's happening in Boston. The local volunteers who answer questions for visitors and share information among themselves add their favorites to that discussion. If you prefer big organized events, sports, and celebrity events to our quieter tastes, you may find great ideas at this link.

What's your favorite pastime or event in May?

Add your thoughts in the comments below. Tweet them to @BostonZest or send us an email and we'll add your suggestions to this post as an update.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012-2014 Penny & Ed Cherubino

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May 4, 2015
Once Upon a Time Dogs Sold Soap

If you explore the Boston Public Library's Collection of trade cards, you find that dogs were often used to sell soap. (And, a lot of other things.)

This Buchan's Carbolic Disinfecting Soap ad touted the brand as, "THE BEST DOG SOAP IN THE WORLD." (Here's a link to this image.)

David's Prize Soap claimed to be the cheapest and best and seemed to use dogs as their delivery engines. (Here's a link to this image.)

I wonder which soap this couple was using "Giving Prince a Wash" in this stereograph? (Here's a link to this image.)

Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.

Thanks to everyone who Hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support.

Details:
Words: Penny Cherubino
Images: From the Boston Public Library Stock Trade Card Collection and Stereograph Collection

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May 3, 2015
Once Upon a Time Dogs Sold Soap

If you explore the Boston Public Library's Collection of trade cards, you find that dogs were often used to sell soap. (And, a lot of other things.)

This Buchan's Carbolic Disinfecting Soap ad touted the brand as, "THE BEST DOG SOAP IN THE WORLD." (Here's a link to this image.)

David's Prize Soap claimed to be the cheapest and best and seemed to use dogs as their delivery engines. (Here's a link to this image.)

I wonder which soap this couple was using "Giving Prince a Wash" in this stereograph? (Here's a link to this image.)

Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.

Thanks to everyone who Hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support.

Details:
Words: Penny Cherubino
Images: From the Boston Public Library Stock Trade Card Collection and Stereograph Collection

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May 3, 2015
We Toast the Month of May with Nino Franco Faive Rosé Brut

This month, we’ll toast the start of another calendar page and say “Happy New Month” with a Faive Rosé Brut from the wonderful family at Nino Franco.

In reading some of the great reviews of this wine, we found someone who agrees with our sparkling wine philosophy.

Charles Scicolone, a wine consultant that the New York Times called “The Maestro of Italian Wines,” includes Nino Franco Faive Rosé in a list of some of his favorite sparklers,

“Most of us think of sparkling wine as something that should only be drunk on special occasions or at Christmas and New Years, but I don’t agree. Sparkling wine can be enjoyed all year round and I especially like it in the summer and always with food.”

Last October, we first tasted this sparkling wine along with others from the Nino Franco line at Brix Wine Shop. At the tasting, we added a couple of bottles to our order because we have friends who we suspect will love this wine and we wanted to have some on hand when they visit.

Then, we opened a bottle at home and had it with food and without sharing our attention with some of our all time favorite Proseccos. We discovered that we love this Nino Franco wine for a whole set of different reasons. We added a few bottles to our next order from Brix to be sure to have some for our pals despite dipping into the supply from time to time.

Rosé as a Rite of Spring

We browsed our wine rack to pick a sparkler for May and remembered the strawberry notes and clean dry finish of the Faive. It seemed a perfect choice. Others agree.

Wine & Spirits 2013: “More red than rosé, this has the dark flavor of pomegranate …. There’s something oddly refreshing in it, a quirky rosé to chill for the beach, to serve with grilled shellfish.”

Independent Wine Review: “This “Faive” Rosé bubbles on across an impressive length. Drier than most rosé sparkling wines made in the Prosecco zone of production and purer in flavour.”

Sommelier’s Choice: “In many ways a wine that defies classification (not legally permitted to be labelled Prosecco, drier than most rosé sparkling wines made in the Prosecco zone of production and purer in flavour and made differently to rosé Champagne) this “Faive” Rosé Spumante is defined by flavours of strawberries, wild raspberries and freshly picked nectarines. Almost completely dry and underpinned by an ever-present but subtle and nicely integrated mousse, this “Faive” Rosé bubbles on across an impressive length.”

Charles Scicolone: “The wine is light salmon in color, with good bubbles, nice red fruit and a hint of pear.”

Tidbits About Faive Rosé Brut

Pronunciation: Fie-EE-vay

Blend: 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc

ABV: 12%

Importer’s serving suggestions: Faive should be enjoyed from the first spring days, over the summer until late autumn. Serve with small appetizing bites ranging from cheese, to lightly steamed shrimp and cheese straws.

What Does the Name Mean?

Faive: from the Venetian dialect, are the small gilded red tongues of flame and sparks rising towards the sky from a great fire, lightly and freely carried by the wind.

It certainly sparked some smiles around here. Happy new month!

Related Posts:

Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post : Join Us as We Toast …

A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

Here are all the wines we’ve covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

Want to learn more about wine? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site! Here are three of our favorite wine books.

The Food Lover’s Guide to Wine

The New Wine Lover’s Companion

The Wine Bible

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014-2015 Penny & Ed Cherubino with the bottle alone courtesy of Nino Franco.

May 1, 2015
We Toast the Month of May with Nino Franco Faive Rosé Brut

This month, we’ll toast the start of another calendar page and say “Happy New Month” with a Faive Rosé Brut from the wonderful family at Nino Franco.

In reading some of the great reviews of this wine, we found someone who agrees with our sparkling wine philosophy.

Charles Scicolone, a wine consultant that the New York Times called “The Maestro of Italian Wines,” includes Nino Franco Faive Rosé in a list of some of his favorite sparklers,

“Most of us think of sparkling wine as something that should only be drunk on special occasions or at Christmas and New Years, but I don’t agree. Sparkling wine can be enjoyed all year round and I especially like it in the summer and always with food.”

Last October, we first tasted this sparkling wine along with others from the Nino Franco line at Brix Wine Shop. At the tasting, we added a couple of bottles to our order because we have friends who we suspect will love this wine and we wanted to have some on hand when they visit.

Then, we opened a bottle at home and had it with food and without sharing our attention with some of our all time favorite Proseccos. We discovered that we love this Nino Franco wine for a whole set of different reasons. We added a few bottles to our next order from Brix to be sure to have some for our pals despite dipping into the supply from time to time.

Rosé as a Rite of Spring

We browsed our wine rack to pick a sparkler for May and remembered the strawberry notes and clean dry finish of the Faive. It seemed a perfect choice. Others agree.

Wine & Spirits 2013: “More red than rosé, this has the dark flavor of pomegranate …. There’s something oddly refreshing in it, a quirky rosé to chill for the beach, to serve with grilled shellfish.”

Independent Wine Review: “This “Faive” Rosé bubbles on across an impressive length. Drier than most rosé sparkling wines made in the Prosecco zone of production and purer in flavour.”

Sommelier’s Choice: “In many ways a wine that defies classification (not legally permitted to be labelled Prosecco, drier than most rosé sparkling wines made in the Prosecco zone of production and purer in flavour and made differently to rosé Champagne) this “Faive” Rosé Spumante is defined by flavours of strawberries, wild raspberries and freshly picked nectarines. Almost completely dry and underpinned by an ever-present but subtle and nicely integrated mousse, this “Faive” Rosé bubbles on across an impressive length.”

Charles Scicolone: “The wine is light salmon in color, with good bubbles, nice red fruit and a hint of pear.”

Tidbits About Faive Rosé Brut

Pronunciation: Fie-EE-vay

Blend: 80% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc

ABV: 12%

Importer’s serving suggestions: Faive should be enjoyed from the first spring days, over the summer until late autumn. Serve with small appetizing bites ranging from cheese, to lightly steamed shrimp and cheese straws.

What Does the Name Mean?

Faive: from the Venetian dialect, are the small gilded red tongues of flame and sparks rising towards the sky from a great fire, lightly and freely carried by the wind.

It certainly sparked some smiles around here. Happy new month!

Related Posts:

Our Sparkling Resolution is covered in this post : Join Us as We Toast …

A Few of Our Favorite Gifts for Wine Lovers

Here are all the wines we’ve covered. Since this is a category, this post may appear at the top. Just scroll down for more.

Want to learn more about wine? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site! Here are three of our favorite wine books.

The Food Lover’s Guide to Wine

The New Wine Lover’s Companion

The Wine Bible

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2014-2015 Penny & Ed Cherubino with the bottle alone courtesy of Nino Franco.

May 1, 2015
What’s Happening Around Boston in May 2015

May in Boston is dominated by what we call “Graduation Season.” This is the time of year when students graduate from more than 100 colleges and universities in the Greater Boston area. Friends and families arrive to attend the ceremonies and treat the new grads to meals around town.

Families also come to Boston to pick up and move out many of the 250,000 students who spend the academic year around here. That can mean traffic issues and parking headaches in some neighborhoods.

All year long, the locals who volunteer to assist visitors over on the Boston Trip Advisor forum explain that these May happenings and other events explain the scarcity and high cost of hotel rooms.

Here is our post with all dates for many of this year’s graduations.

Boston Area Commencement Dates, Spring 2015

Farmers Markets Start Opening In May

This is one of the very best things about May. We look forward to great local food and the wonderful community that exists at our local farmers markets. The tremendously popular and busy Copley Square Farmers Market opened on May12th.

We have a post with all the dates: Market Report: Summer Farmers Markets Opening Dates 2015

Make May Restaurant Reservations

Reservations at area restaurants will be harder to find May 8th through 11th with Mother's Day and 5 commencements, and scarce May 15th through 18th when 15 schools, including BU and BC, will hold ceremonies. Harvard commencement is May 28th and MIT June 5th – each of these schools is large enough to have an impact on its own.

Holidays in May

Mother’s Day is Sunday May 10th. You have a short time to make plans to celebrate if that day is on your calendar. On Mother’s Day, you'll find special menus in many restaurants. If you have suggestions for places not doing this or alternative dining suggestions for Mother’s Day please add them. Here's a link to our post with suggestions for places to dine on Mother's Day.

Memorial Day is Monday, May 25. That means the long weekend to kick off summer will begin on Friday May 22nd. If you are staying in Boston consider taking advantage of the Museum of Fine Arts annual Memorial Day Open House with free admission and special programs throughout the day.

Conventions that Impact Hotel Pricing & Availability

April 29-May 2: American College of Physicians Internal Medicine 2015, estimated attendees: 7,000

May 6-7: UBM Canon – BIOMEDevice / Design & Manufacturing New England / Electronics New England 2015, estimated attendees: 6,050

May 14-16: Heart Rhythm Society – 2015 Annual Scientific Sessions, estimated attendees: 15,000

May 26-28: NAFSA: Association of International Educators 2015 Annual Conference & International Education Expo, estimated attendees: 7,000

Watch for our upcoming post on what we’re looking forward to in May. We'd love to include some of your suggestions. Add your thoughts in the comments below. Tweet them to @BostonZest or send us an email.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012-2015 Penny & Ed Cherubino, Graduation photo from iStockphoto.com

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April 30, 2015
What’s Happening Around Boston in May 2015

May in Boston is dominated by what we call “Graduation Season.” This is the time of year when students graduate from more than 100 colleges and universities in the Greater Boston area. Friends and families arrive to attend the ceremonies and treat the new grads to meals around town.

Families also come to Boston to pick up and move out many of the 250,000 students who spend the academic year around here. That can mean traffic issues and parking headaches in some neighborhoods.

All year long, the locals who volunteer to assist visitors over on the Boston Trip Advisor forum explain that these May happenings and other events explain the scarcity and high cost of hotel rooms.

Here is our post with all dates for many of this year’s graduations.

Boston Area Commencement Dates, Spring 2015

Farmers Markets Start Opening In May

This is one of the very best things about May. We look forward to great local food and the wonderful community that exists at our local farmers markets. The tremendously popular and busy Copley Square Farmers Market opened on May12th.

We have a post with all the dates: Market Report: Summer Farmers Markets Opening Dates 2015

Make May Restaurant Reservations

Reservations at area restaurants will be harder to find May 8th through 11th with Mother's Day and 5 commencements, and scarce May 15th through 18th when 15 schools, including BU and BC, will hold ceremonies. Harvard commencement is May 28th and MIT June 5th – each of these schools is large enough to have an impact on its own.

Holidays in May

Mother’s Day is Sunday May 10th. You have a short time to make plans to celebrate if that day is on your calendar. On Mother’s Day, you'll find special menus in many restaurants. If you have suggestions for places not doing this or alternative dining suggestions for Mother’s Day please add them. Here's a link to our post with suggestions for places to dine on Mother's Day.

Memorial Day is Monday, May 25. That means the long weekend to kick off summer will begin on Friday May 22nd. If you are staying in Boston consider taking advantage of the Museum of Fine Arts annual Memorial Day Open House with free admission and special programs throughout the day.

Conventions that Impact Hotel Pricing & Availability

April 29-May 2: American College of Physicians Internal Medicine 2015, estimated attendees: 7,000

May 6-7: UBM Canon – BIOMEDevice / Design & Manufacturing New England / Electronics New England 2015, estimated attendees: 6,050

May 14-16: Heart Rhythm Society – 2015 Annual Scientific Sessions, estimated attendees: 15,000

May 26-28: NAFSA: Association of International Educators 2015 Annual Conference & International Education Expo, estimated attendees: 7,000

Watch for our upcoming post on what we’re looking forward to in May. We'd love to include some of your suggestions. Add your thoughts in the comments below. Tweet them to @BostonZest or send us an email.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012-2015 Penny & Ed Cherubino, Graduation photo from iStockphoto.com

Related articles

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Boston Area Commencement Dates, Spring 2014 – BostonZest

Changes in Boston Dog Licensing for 2015

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