Dining In a Rut

Has your dining out become a rut? Do you go to the same restaurants all of the time? Do you get the same dish everytime you go to a restaurant?

If so, break out of your rut and try something new!

Try going out to a new restaurant. Try a different dish. Do something different and take a risk. You never know what treasures you might find. You might stumble upon a new favorite restaurant or dish. You might find a new culinary pleasure. But you won't do so unless you take that risk.

Sure, you might find a dud as well. You might go to a new restaurant that you dislike, or try a new dish that is horrible. But that is part of the risk.

You can lessen that risk to some degree though. You can check reviews on new restaurants or dishes. You can speak to friends that have already eaten there. But, I think the risk is worth the potential bad meal you might get. For the immense pleasure you get when you find a culinary gem is well worth it.

I love trying new restaurants and new dishes. And the number of successes I have had far outweigh the disappointments. I have found so many new pleasures from trying different dishes. Just think past weekend, I tried a new bakery, the Danish Pastry House, and a new restaurant, Toro. And both were absolute successes.

With summer here, people travel a lot. You may end up in cities and towns where you don't know the restaurants. Or you may only know a couple. Well, take a chance. Try something new! Even if you don't go anywhere, try a new local restaurant. Break out of your rut.

L'Andana

A new Italian restaurant, L'Andana, should be opening this September in Burlington.

Famed Chef Jamie Mammano created the Commonwealth Restaurant Group which owns a number of exciting restaurants, including Mistral (French/Mediterranean bistro), Teatro (casual Italian bistro), Sorellina (regional Italian-Mediterranean cuisine), and The Federalist (fine French-American cuisine). L'Andana will be his fifth restaurant and is said to be an Italian country grill, possibly a higher end dining destination. Chef David Blessing, who has cooked at Mistral and Sorellina, will be the chef de cuisine at L'Andana.

As Chef Mammano's restaurants are both popular and well reviewed, it bodes well for L'Andana.

Customer Appreciation Day--Grapevine Travelers

Grapevine Travelers won the 2007 WBZ A-List "Best Wine Shop of Boston." As their thanks to old and new customers alike, the store is inviting everyone to their "Customer Appreciation Day" on Sunday, July 29, from 12pm-6:00pm. Everyone will receive 10% OFF their entire purchase of wine and beer, with a $20 minimum purchase. This cannot be combined with any other sale or promotion item.

This would be a good time to check out this wine store and maybe find something new. They do have an excellent selection of wines from all over the world.

Grapevine Travelers
18 High Street
Medford, MA
Phone: (781) 396-8463

2002 Onyx Kroon

The 2002 Darling Cellars Onyx Kroon ($25) is from the Groenekloof region of South Africa. "Kroon" means "Crown." It is a Cape blend made of 55% Shiraz, 35% Pinotage, 5% Grenache, and 5% Cinsault. This is their Flagship wine so they use only their best grapes for this blend. It is also supposed to be a low production wine.

This evening, I opened a bottle with my dinner, a couple Kobe beef burgers (bought from the Butcher Shop in the South End). The wine is dark and rich, a powerful wine with a spicy finish with touches of smoke and even bacon. It is a bold wine and definitely paired well with the Kobe. Though I enjoyed this wine, I am not sure it is worth its price. For though it is very good, it is not exceptional. I would definitely Drink this wine anytime, but I don't think I would buy it again. The Hill & Dale Pinotage ($8-10) is a much better value from South Africa.

Toro

While in the South End, we were going to stop at Seiyo, to check out their wines and get some sushi. But it was closed. Luckily I noted that Toro was open. I was a bit surprised as I had thought that Toro was only open for dinner. Well, it was open for Sunday brunch too. So we eagerly went there.

Toro is one of Chef Ken Oringer's restaurants and is well known as an excellent place for Spanish food, especially Tapas. I had not yet been to Toro though it certainly was on my To Do list. I guess this was my Chef Oringer weekend, as I had also been to Clio on Friday night. This weekend has certainly given me a greater appreciation for Chef Oringer.

There were several tables outside Toro and most of them were filled. Inside, most of the tables were taken as well. It certainly was a popular spot. We sat at some empty chairs at one end of the bar. The mood in the restaurant seemed jovial and friendly.

I checked out the drink and wine list. There are about 16 Spanish wines available by the glass ($5-10) plus a number of Sherries. There are many more wines available by the bottle, starting at $20 and rising to $625 for a bottle of the Vega Sicilia Unico. There are plenty of affordable and good tasting wines on the list, covering many different Spanish D.O.'s. They also have beers and specialty cocktails.

I had a glass of the 2005 Vi de Nulles Tempranillo Rose from Tarragona ($8). This was a refreshing Rose, with a nice strawberry flavor. The fruit did not overpower and it was perfect for the summer day. I had never had this wine before but would definitely order it again.

As we had already been eating this day, we decided just to order light. We had a Tortilla Espanola, the Spanish omelet. It came with an intriguing salad that had greens, pine nuts and sweet yellow raisins. Everything was excellent and plentiful. We also had the Kobe burgers, two small sliders, that came with potatoes. The burgers were very juicy and tasty. I had also ordered a side of patatas bravas so we had plenty of potatoes. The patatas bravas though came in a spicy mojo sauce. These potatoes were cooked perfectly, nice and crisp on the outside and soft inside. There were all relatively simple dishes but done very well. Prices were reasonable.

Our server, Christina, was personable and attentive. We had no complaints at all about our service. The rest of the staff were very nice as well.

I view this Brunch as bit of a teaser as to the quality of Toro. It certainly whetted my appetite to return for dinner very soon. It certainly is a very good place for a Sunday brunch. I recommend that you check out Toro.

Toro
1704 Washington St.
Boston, MA
Phone: (617) 536-4300