Thursday Sips & Nibbles

I am back again with a new edition of Thursday Sips & Nibbles, my regular column where I highlight some interesting, upcoming food & drink events.
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1) The Chamber Collaborative of Greater Portsmouth is pleased to announce that Restaurant Week Portsmouth & The Seacoast will be held November 2-11.  More than 40 restaurants and breweries are participating in this event during a New England autumns, with fall foliage in the mountains and plentiful fall bounty on the tables. Chefs from Greater Portsmouth, including Portsmouth, Dover, Hampton, New Castle, Rye, Exeter and Kittery, Maine are creating special prix fix menus celebrating the season.

Restaurant Week menus are offered at $16.95/lunch, $29.95/dinner per person; and some restaurants extend the $16.95 value price for dinner as well.

From viewing the menus, I'm especially interested in restaurants such as Agave Mexican Bistro, The Franklin, Black Trumpet, and Moxy.

2) On Sunday, November 12, from 12pm-2pm, Post 390 invites Bostonians with a sweet tooth to the annual Rise and Rumble Donut Throwdown where guests will be able to sample and vote on a variety of creative donut and ice cream flavors for the coveted title of Rise & Rumble Champion.

The event will feature creative donut creations from Boston’s top pastry chefs including Lauren Kroesser (Honeycomb Hamilton), Joshua Livsey (Harvest), Christina Larson (Bar Mezzana), Danica Lockett (Post 390), Valerie Nin (Grill 23 & Bar), Meg Thompson (SRV), Ellie Wallock (Puritan & Co.), Craig Williams (Williams Family Baking Co.) and ice cream from JP Licks, FOMU, Gracie’s, Honeycomb Creamery, Parlor Ice Cream Co., Picco, and Rancatore's Ice Cream & Yogurt.

Tickets are available for $35 per person (inclusive of Post 390 brunch buffet and coffee bar). To purchase tickets, visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rise-and-rumble-donut-throwdown-2017-tickets-38872720353

3) Boston’s first Hunanese restaurant, Sumiao Hunan Kitchen, is debuting seasonal menu additions on both their lunch and all-day menus. Sumiao’s weekday midday menu offers up 16 creations ($13 each) that come with a choice of hot & sour or tomato-mushroom soup. Newcomers include the vegetarian Cinderella, a dish with pumpkin and lily, and the Twice-Cooked Avocado Meatballs packed with ground pork, egg, tofu, green peppers and fermented black soybean.

Available on the all-day menu, there are starters like the Melted Gold Soup with pumpkin and millet ($5); the hometown favorite Spicy Dried Baby Fish with dried anchovy, red chili and fermented black soybean ($8); the popular Sumiao Gyoza with pork and a five-spice dipping sauce ($8); and, Sumiao Shang Gan with chili bean sauce, dried chili, garlic and scallion ($8). Noodles ($12) are hot off the wok, like the new Beef & Egg Rice Noodles with hard-boiled egg, Shanghai green homemade pickles, cilantro and peanut in addition to the Scallion-Flavored Noodles with lard, cucumber and chili bean sauce.

Sumiao Hunan Kitchen also is debuting a collection of chef-created specials that celebrate some of the province’s most popular dishes with modern twists. For adventurous palates, order up the Angry Frog, a dish with bullfrog, duojiao, shiso, red peppers, garlic, scallion and chili oyster sauce (MP). For seafood lovers, there is Steamed Duojiao Tilapia which is caught fresh daily and served from skin to fin with seasoned soy sauce (MP); Steamed Garlic Butterfly Shrimp with aged orange peel, garlic and pepper ($28); and the classic Daikon Radish Fish Ball in Broth finished with seedless red dates, vermicelli and chicken broth ($20).

Carnivores can get their meat fix by chowing down on two types of racks, Hot Ginger Ribs ($22) and BBQ Rib Festival ($26); the intensely-flavored House Crispy Duck with steamed buns, cucumber, pepper, scallion and seafood sauce ($36); Pork Tripe with green and serrano peppers ($16); and the Free-Style Meatballs with ground pork, fish, egg, vermicelli and black pepper ($18).

4) On Thursday, November 2, become immersed in the flavors of fall at Bar Boulud with an exclusive five-course harvest-themed menu, crafted by Chef Daniel Boulud and Chef de Cuisine Michael Denk, which will pay homage to New England’s seasonal bounty.

The Harvest Dinner menu will be served as follows:
First Course
Wild Mushroom Tarte Flambée
Second Course
Sunchoke & Leek Soup (porcini cream, espresso cocoa dust)
or
Chicory and Choux Salad (apples, Brussels sprouts, kale, pancetta-mustard vinaigrette, hazelnuts)
Third Course
Daniel’s Stuffed Pumpkin Grand-Mère (Gruyère, bacon lardon, sourdough)
Fourth Course
Saumon au Syrah (baked in fig leaves, fennel confit, beurre rouge)
or
Tourte de Saison (veal sweetbreads, baked foie gras and pork puff pastry, huckleberry)
Dessert
Poire Belle-Hélène (poached pears, black walnut ice cream, dark chocolate sauce, pear tuile)

COST: $65 per person (beverages, tax and gratuity not included)
To make a reservation, please call 617-535-8800