Sofra.. So Delicious

The first I heard of Ana Sortun was about 4 years ago, when she won a James Beard award for Best Chef in the Northeast. I was intrigued by Oleana's Mediterranean and Turkish influenced menu. I eventually bought the chef's cookbook Spice: Flavors of the Eastern Mediterranean, but it languished on the bookshelf. I was way too intimidated by the shopping list required to tackle the exotic recipes in my kitchen.

Fast forward to June 2009. I headed to Beantown for conference and finally ate at Oleana! It was such a remarkable meal, filled with wonderful new flavors. Doug & Sip also mentioned the chef has a casual cafe in Cambridge serving wonderful baked goods, mezzes and flatbreads. I tried to visit before I left Boston, but it wasn't meant to be. Doug was busy (working, of all things), the rain was endless and it seemed awfully out of my way for lunch.

I've been plotting a trip to Sofra ever since my train pulled out of the Back Bay. Last week, just in the nick of time, I convinced Chrsitine we should make a detour before heading back from KW's baby shower. We sampled 5 mezzes and the lamb schwarma with cousa squash and yogurt and washed everything a perfect glass of mint iced tea. Next time I'm going to try the iced tea with pine nuts! My favorite dish is still the Moroccan carrot salad (also on the menu at Oleana). You can buy other prepared foods to-go and more ambitous home cooks may want to pick up spice packs and try re-creating a little Oleana magic at home.

Sofra Bakery

1 Belmont St
Cambridge, MA 02138-4404
(617) 661-3161
http://www.sofrabakery.com/

Oleana
134 Hampshire St
Cambridge, MA 02139-1421
(617) 661-0505
http://www.oleanarestaurant.com/

Baby M

On Saturday, I grabbed two hazelnut iced coffees and hopped into Christine's
car for a road trip to Boston for a baby shower. There were a few sprinkles
along the MassPike, but we got to Brookline well in advance of the Red Sox
traffic.

KW got a loads of adorable gifts to welcome her new arrival, due in October.
Back in the day, I had many a great misadventure with this mommy-to-be,
but it all began when we met in Morrow House in college.

No word on boy or girl, so we could have a future Smithie on our hands!




















On the way home we stopped for a bite at Sofra Bakery in Cambridge, more on this little neighborhood gem next.

ica boston

I spent a wet and rainy Sunday afternoon at the ICA. It's in a newly developed waterfront area in the Boston and was the first Diller Scofidio + Renfro building built in the United States. Unfortunately it was so generally miserable out that I thought I was going to blow away when I tried to spend time along the waterfront exterior of the building.

The Shep Fairey: Supply & Demand exhibit is showing through mid-August. This post starts with a photo from his book Obey, as photography was forbidden in the galleries. You may not recognize the name, but he is the artist behind the famous Obama poster in 2008.

Institute of Contemporary Art
100 Northern Avenue
Boston, MA
http://www.icaboston.org/

at home in boston

I haven't been inside Louis of Boston in 15 years or more? I love their beautiful selection of home wares on the first floor.























The first time I stepped inside Bliss Home in Boston it was a fiercely cold and blustery day on Newbury Street.


















That year, the Alessi Michael Graves tea kettle (2 shelves above the champagne/ice bucket) was my Valentine's Day gift. There's a wonderful 20% off Alessi sale going on now at Bliss. I bought the matching creamer to go with my sugar bowl.


Louis Boston
234 Berkeley St
Boston, MA 02116-3186
http://www.louisboston.com/

Bliss Home
225 Newbury St
Boston, MA 02116-2522
http://www.blisshome.com/