Thursday, November 16, 2017

The Kitchen- At the Heart of It

I've been thinking a lot about the idea that I mentioned last week- that food is home.  For me, it always has been.  Certain, many, tastes and smells can bring me the same comfort that being home does.  They can make me feel that same warmth, love and acceptance as being surrounded by family can do.  If that is the case, if food is truly the key to home, than in the physical home it comes as no surprise that the kitchen is the epicenter of the household.  

Some of my favorite memories as a child are watching my mom cook.  We had this great kitchen in my childhood home- where the stove sat on a peninsula separating the room.  We had put these two wooden stools, ones enhanced by stray paint brush marks from art projects and spray paint from Halloween costumes of past years, on the backside of the peninsula so when my mom was cooking I could talk to her.  I would sit there for as long as she cooked- trading stories about the day, observing her methods, breathing in the scents.   In a time when "open concept" wasn't a thing- we're talking the 80s here kids- we were ahead of the times.

Today so many homes are designed to create this exact feel.  Every renovation I see, and all of the new builds, have this central idea in mind- to open the kitchen to the living space.  We take down the dividing walls and create a flow- a flow of space to foster a flow of conversation, of camaraderie, of family.  All of this stems from having that kitchen open.  Islands and peninsulas are far more common now than missing in kitchen designs so that in our busy lives we still have time, even if we're multitasking making dinner, to trade stories and make plans.  

What do you think of the open concept idea?  Anyone miss the formal dining room (I do sometimes!)?  When you think of your dream home- is it open or more traditional?   

Monday, November 6, 2017

Food, Wine and Real Estate!

It's been almost TEN YEARS.  

No, not since my last post though it feels like it, but since this little space of A Boston Food Diary began.  Ten years.  On January 23rd, 2008 I hit publish for the first time and man...I cannot believe the journey its taken me on.  Hopefully it's taken you, my dear reader, on one as well.  Over these years we've walked into countless restaurants, we've eaten lord knows how many calories, we've had incredible kitchen successes, and some unmentionable failures.  We've tasted wine together.  We've gotten to understand its story, it's trials and jubilations and its become something so much more than alcohol.  A Boston Food Diary has been there through an incredible chunk of my adult life and now we're going to start a new path together.  

Are you ready?  This is a big one.

Several months ago I joined Unit Realty Group here in Boston.  I have plunged into the incredible world of Real Estate as a buyer/seller/rental agent.  I decided it was time to put all of my knowledge of this amazing city, every nook and cranny, every hidden gem, to even better use, and help people find their home here.  As you all are aware- I don't believe there is any better city in this country to live than Boston, and I cannot wait to help people experience all that it has to offer.

So what does that mean for A Boston Food Diary- it means exploring the market through the eyes of the food and wine world.  Looking at kitchens and finding the ones that make me swoon to entertain in them, revisiting old haunts and introducing the new ones as we traverse the neighborhoods, and going back to what made me start A Boston Food Diary in the first place.  

Food is home.  Food is family, and friends, and laughter, and comfort.  Your residence should be the same.  I can't wait to start this next part of the journey with you all.

Restaurant Reviews: A dead art?

Last December I declared 2023 the year I would return to food writing.  It was a bold statement (even now as I look at my last published dat...