Guest Blogger on Spiga in Needham, MA

My mom, who is a foodie and a trained chef, is guest blogging-enjoy:

Many people follow the lives of sports figures or movie stars- foodies keep track of their favorite chefs, I am no exception.  I can tell you where Barbara Lynch started or recount tales of Gordon Hammersley at the original location.  I am constantly on the look out for any chef once enjoyed and now disappeared from the restaurant scene.  A few days ago I saw a mention of Marisa Iocca cooking at a new venue- my taste buds perked up.

My first encounter with Marisa was many years ago at the wonderful Galleria Italiana- I never did discover the reason for its demise.  Her food was simply delicious and her deft hand with pasta extraordinary.  I couldn’t wait to see what she was cooking today.

Since April Marisa has taken over the kitchen at a modest size restaurant in Needham, Spiga.  We wasted no time making reservations and going forth on an adventure. 

 Spiga is an attractive free standing building off Highland Street in Needham.  A very appealing outdoor area boded well if the weather cooperated.  High ceilings and a warm Italian influenced décor made for a cozy atmosphere and the very low noise level was greatly appreciated.  However it’s really about the food which we were anxious to try.  

The menu is large enough for variety and features a good selection of the pasta we were looking forward to tasting .After ordering a bottle of wine and sipping on the first glass we were ready.  I started with Marisa’s version of the classic Caesar salad.  Fresh crispy Romaine studded with hard boiled quail eggs, a few white anchovies and lightly bathed with a flavorful dressing.  My companion began with a half order of one of the pastas- a ravioli filled with spinach and ricotta and with a duck ragu.   Both appetizers were winners and the pasta lived up to my good memories.  I was happy that I had ordered a pasta course for my entrée.  The lobster agnolotti was terrific.  Lovely tender pasta, succulent lobster with bits of crabmeat, shrimp and tomato in a light saffron  bèchamel.  The other entrée was the 7 spiced chicken with mashed  Yukon gold potatoes that had a touch of heat, perhaps a little cayenne-true comfort food but prepared so beautifully that the dish was elevated to a higher level.

We hardly needed dessert but were curious to try something and settled on the tiramisu.  This version was more custard than the classic soaked lady fingers.  The coffee component came in the form of small chunks of espresso flavored granité.  Interesting but I prefer the classic.  Two cups of cappuccino completed the evening. 

 It was a pleasure to be enjoying Marisa’s cooking again.  We look forward to working our way through the menu and feasting on the little pizzetta, carpaccio, panzanella salad, osso buco, risotto, rack of lamb and of course, every pasta on the menu.  Hopefully we’ll get to Spiga on a beautiful evening and be able to enjoy our dinner on the outside patio.

My Favorite New Baking Book

I love to cook and I also love to Bake.  Fortunately I have several places to take a batch of baked goods so that they are not in my house!  I have been baking a lot lately and it’s partly due to the Book “Baking” by Dorie Greenspan.  Dorie is a great Baker- she isn’t a pastry chef, she is an all American Baker.  I don’t mean that she doesn’t use technique or that she can’t make a napoleon- but the recipes in this book are what you make at home or wish you could find at a corner bakery (maybe if you live in New York City or the South End of Boston you can…). In the wilds of Carlisle, there is no local bakery.

Anyway, I have made two blondie recipes, an oatmeal cookie recipe,and chocolate cupcakes. I have my eye on several more including; chocolate rice pudding, some Madelaine variations, and some other cookies.  All of the recipes have been enourmously successful and the second blondie recipe solicited a request for the recipe.

Happy Baking!

Stir it up

I went to Stir in Boston, last week.  Stir is Barbara Lynch’s “kitchen” eatery… it is a particpatory dining experience where you sit (all 12 at the most) around the kitchen island and the chefs cook in front of you explaining as they go.  I suppose that this kind of casual interaction would not appeal to everyone, but I had a blast.  The menu that night was from a cookbook called ‘Urban Italian’ by Andrew Carmellini.

We had a Calamari Salad to start, Meatballs (not at all typical they have foie gras in them), Ligurian Bass which was nice but not outstanding, and gnocchi with Lamb Ragu.  The deal with the Gnocchi is that Andrew makes his with a baked potato and Barbara makes hers with the traditional boiled potato.  We had both for a taste test and I think everyone acknowledged that the boiled potato was lighter, and better flavored.

Here is the link to Stir- if you are interested. I recommend it to those who are into casual evenings where you do in fact think a bit with your dinner.

Update to Troquet

So I wound up there for dinner again. Before dinner we tried to get a drink at the bar… boy was that hard. Is there a drink list we say…”no” ok can you make a daquiri we ask? “no, this is a wine bar I have a wine list” Says the bartender standing in front of fully stocked liquor shelves. How about beer? ” I can tell you what we have, mentioning 4 uninspired selections… We finally manage Gin and Tonics. Later after dinner which was good. We discover that in fact they have a very nice selection of Beers including some Belgians… I”m willing to bet that they also had the ingredients for a Daquiri. Anyway, go for the food and wine, don’t try and order a bar drink.

Troquet- Still a Standby but…

Troquet on Boylston St in Boston is a favorite of mine.  They have really good food, the portions are appropriate, you can do all that wine pairing and tasting.  I made a reservation there in order to have dinner with college friends I haven’t seen in so many years I won’t admit to it. When I made the reservation I asked to be seated some where quiet- thank god.  We were seated near the stairs, almost not in the dining room which was loud- really loud.  I think that they should consider perhaps some soft surfaces… fabric on the ceiling or walls?  A cone of silence available?  At any rate, our table was fine Dinner was really nice, Striped Bass is in season.  The service was fine ,but we had a cheese course and I have two complaints.  Number 1, they usually have a selection of some local New England cheeses on the trolley and there were none; number 2, more severe, we were served the last piece of a cheese on the board that clearly had been sitting like that for some time… it was dry.  So  a bit more attention to the cheeses please, but it continues to be a standby.

It’s 90 out in April

I have been resisting the 3 ice cream stands I pass almost every day… for several weeks now.  Tonight I finally gave in.  My local ice cream stand is Kimball’s Farm, an outpost of the big Kimball’s Farm the next town over. The local high school kids are the staff and even at 8:30 on a weeknight there was a kids soccer team there.  Being a born and bred New Englander, I always had a neighborhood ice cream stand nearby.  In my current location I have as I said three of them, actually 4 of them in really close proximity but I don’t usually go in the direction of the 4th one.  The Ice cream is good, it isn’t gourmet, I make better ice cream at home for the most part, but it is a whole experience that I can’t resist.  I had a kiddie cone- this is because like most things ice cream servings have been super sized.  The kiddie cone is easily a half pint of ice cream, I am astounded when I see people order large cones.  The only thing that really is annoyingly different from my childhood is that the damn cones are paper wrapped- I guess they are sterile, but the paper also never comes off all the way and you have to give up part of your cone to it.

Summer Drink Time

So last night I went out to dinner at the always fabulous No. 9 Park – part of the Barbara Lynch restaurant empire here in the Boston area.  It is a very refined place with complex small portions, and they usually serve an amuse buche.  They also have a nice bar with a fancy drink menu.  My parents usually get palmyras a citrus and mint concoction good for warmer weather.  I like the drinks with heat to them but they didn’t have my favorite with orange and cayenne.  So I tried a new drink, a Bone, with tequila and a ground black pepper rim.  It was very nice.  So we resolved to make up a supply of infused vodka’s and flavored simple syrups so that this summer we could easily have fun complicated drinks at home.  I made a batch of ginger lemon simple syrup this morning, and since it is well into the 80’s the next few days, we just might try it out this weekend.

Support your Neighborhood Restaurants!

I live out in carlisle- we have no restaurants.  Well ok, Ferns country store makes sandwiches and soup, but for a real sit down restaurant I have to go at least as far as Concord or Acton.  Now there isn’t much to choose from even there so we treasure the few that we like.  My friend Jill and I frequent the Atlantic Sea Grille on route 119, we call it Captain FishHooks but this isnt a story about them really.  This is a story about how when your favorite local place isn’t open you realize the awful consequences.

So Jill and I plan last minute to go to dinner at Captain FishHooks- it’s a Monday night also not great to go out.  When we arrive it is closed, due to roof repairs.  quelle disastre…. Plan B- go to the little French place down the road for crepes… drive by… it’s dark… continue up road on right to Scupperjacks. 

Here is the real story- Scupperjacks, never a first choice in any case, has turned into an overpriced, complicated, annoying place with horrid food.  We should have left as soon as we walked in and stood in front of the lobby podium for like 5 minutes, eyeing empty tables and told “Donny will be right out”.  Whoever the heck Donnie is – he controls who sits where I guess- he was more concerned that he control that then that his customers got to sit down.

Finally seated, the menu is horrifyingly pricey particularly versus our favorite aforementioned Captain FishHooks.  We order, they still have that quaint institution the salad bar so we have to get up to get our salads.  If I want to get up to get my salad I can make one at home.  Food arrives.  I am working on my overcooked and possible refrozen sworfish, when I notice Jill picking disdainfully at her lobster pie.  She sent it back- said it was like dried out tasteless breadcrumbs. 

We get an alternative which is acceptable and finish our meals… The service was fine, although they kept taking away silverware and not bringing new… and they did remove the lobster pie from the check without being asked…

Nonetheless we are never going to set foot in there again.  And we are going to make sure to doubly support the Atlantic Sea Grille because I have no idea what will happen if it were to close for more than an evening.