One of my favorite parts of having lived in several different cities is the opportunity it has given me to explore each place through food. It’s unofficially become my technique for tackling a new home: make a list of coffee shops, book stores, and restaurants by neighborhood, and slowly wind my way through. I not only learn public transportation routes in the process, but usually get to meet some really great people along the way, too.
Even though I’m not actively thinking about these places in other cities (most of the time), when my friends or family members are planning a trip to Boston, driving through Chicago, or flying out to visit Jon and I in San Francisco, I have the opportunity to share some of my ideas. These may not be the top restaurants in your mind, but at them I found the cups of coffee and slices of peanut butter toast that helped each city feel like home.
I typed out a list for Boston earlier today (my sister is going there next month), and while I was working my way through the South End and Cambridge, Flour Bakery came to mind. There’s a lot on the menu to love – the roasted chicken sandwich “as salad” for one – but my favorite is their meringue. There’s two varieties – almond, and chocolate – crunchy on the exterior and chewy inside, flecked with bits of toasted sliced almonds and shaved dark chocolate respectively. After I adding the Massachusetts Ave. location to my sisters’ list, I decided to make some chocolate chip meringues at home.
Since I don’t yet own the Flour cookbook, I decided to use a recipe from Smitten Kitchen, which you can find here. If you’d like to know some of my other favorite places, just ask and I would be more than happy to share! Until next time, Boston.
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