It's only down from here

A momentous Eating Club moment... on Monday, August 2nd, we ate the best meal that ever was.

Paula and Matthew graciously invited Eating Club to their beautiful home in Charlestown to eat a 7 course meal of what can only be described as pure heaven. As in, if one could eat bites of heaven, surely this is what it would be like.

Unfortunately, I gobbled up the first course salad before a picture was taken, but I didn't make that mistake again with the rest of the evening. Behold! And don't read the rest of this post lest you wish to ever enjoy any meal you'll ever eat again. Because, although we had an amazing time, as we walked out the door, we felt a little sad that nothing we eat in our normal lowly lives will ever taste satisfactory again. I must add my gratitude that each meat-oriented dish was altered for a personal vegetarian experience (as reflected in the pics). This was one ridiculously planned culinary adventure. The dishes featured items from Paula and Matthew's own garden, to boot.

First, here's the menu that Paula sent out to get our palettes prepared:

eating club
monday, aug 02

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snake sashimi

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lizards on a stick

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poison ivy salad, dirt vinaigrette

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horseshoe crab soup, grasshopper croutons

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spider meatballs with earthworm spaghetti

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baked alaskan with flaming moths


And now the pictures!















introducing... the finger lime. a most delicious and fun palette cleanser hailing from the foreign land of australia.















chef Matthew cleaning up the dry ice

Eating Club heads south

Breaking the slight blog hiatus... here are some pictures from the DELICIOUS Tupelo which Eating Club took over (well, maybe only took up half the restaurant) on June 30th. Inman Square delivers again! We'd eat here forever if it wasn't going to give us premature pulmonary issues. see exhibits a, b, c, d...



Fried oysters



Something else fried



Chicken and waffles



Jambalaya



Crepes



Fish something with cheesy grits


And now for the action shots!










Happiness is...

Helmand 'Cream Pudding', Will You Accept this Rose?

Admission from Gazelle: in addition to eating I have a minor obsession with the Bachelorette (not Ali specifically, just the franchise itself). This post about Helmand's amazing cream pudding is inspired by Ali's performance on tonight's Bachelorette.

With the guys dressing for the Cocktail Reception, Ali informed host Chris Harrison that there will be no reception because she has made up her mind on which guy she would no longer like to receive. (Sidebar spoiler alert: apparently winning an olive oil wrestling match against other men is no guarantee for future romantic spoils).

She told Chris we are going right to the Rose Ceremony. That's what I'm doing with my post - we are going right to the end, my other meals need not be described, as I'm in love with Helmand's Cream Pudding!

Don't get me wrong, this is all so hard, I mean all of my Helmand meals and the afghani meals of my eating club friends have changed my life in such profound ways and have all the qualities that many diners want in a four-course dinner but when you meet a dessert like this, you realize this is why you contribute to a food blog!

You can read a lot about Helman's kabobs and other entree dishes on yelp but not enough people praising their cream pudding. I would go there again just to get the cream pudding.

I don't need many paragraphs to convince you only this sentence - It's the perfect cross between creme brulee (a little too rich) and yogurt (a little too bland).

Next week...the most dramatic Eating Club post EVER!

Bring out the Helmand and bring out the best

Eating Club saw its largest turn-out ever this week (#3) to visit Helmand, a Cambridge establishment serving Afghan food. We welcomed newbies Andrew "Laney" and Naveen, plus all the original club members were present. (See pictured from left to right: Evadne, Naveen, Liz, Rachel, Andrew, Moose, Christine and Gazelle).

Overall, we had a positive experience. They were able to accommodate our group perfectly at their table-of-grandeur... a domineering dining table fit for royalty. Evadne and Andrew were bestowed the honor of sitting at the heads while simultaneously cursed with the honor of shouting back and forth.

Some communal tidbits: Service was very attentive and prompt. The menu provides a great variety of dishes making it difficult to choose among what seem like equally delicious selections -- perfect for Eating Club who likes to order diversely and share. They open up with delicious/plentiful flatbread served with butter and a variety of 3 sauces ... which could distilled to the descriptors of yogurt, mint, and spicy.

A number of appetizers were ordered - all devoured relatively quickly. Everyone ordered a different dish, though 4 members all ordered some variety of lamb. We might have some trouble recalling the exact names of dishes, but I hope people will take on the challenge of describing theirs well enough to be sorted from the others. Although there was a momentary scare that dessert would be foregone, Andrew and Gazelle stepped up to the challenge.

individual assessment:

I ordered a vegetarian appetizer (2 puff pastries, one with leek and scallion, the other with potato), as well as the Vegetarian Special dish (which comes with 4 elements plus rice). I would absolutely order the app again - it came with a yogurt sauce and was generously portioned. My Special was good - not great - but perhaps just overshadowed by Naveen's dish, which offered up a little more punch (spiciness) and taste. I'd probably stray from the Special on my next visit. However, the highlight of the dish was the pumpkin, which, fittingly, can be ordered on its own. So, having gotten my inaugural attempt out of the way, a mix-and-match approach to Helmand would be the best for the future. App, side, entree to share to start. Add onto that as appropriate for the numbers you're bringing. I partook in the carafe of red house wine which was worth its price though not particularly impressive. I also shared Gazelle's cream pudding dessert which was an excellent conclusion to the meal -- light, tasty and heavily fresh fruited, it fulfilled its role of dessert to a T (I've heard that the idea is for the sugar to help cleanse your palette and settle your stomach from a large meal).

We haven't implemented a number system, but I find them helpful... so here goes. Food: 8/10, Atmosphere: 7.5/10, Overall: 8/10 (+ factors: bread service)(- factors: they take your bread & plate away when your entrees arrive)

four words to sum up oleana.

sultan's delight & baked alaska.

although eating club had it's third meeting last night, we have all failed to sufficiently honor the second meeting hosted by our new friends at Oleana. the food was delicious, the service could have been better.. (mostly makimoose's service), and the decor though lovely a little air circulation would have been greatly appreciated (this could just be the jealousy speaking after nosing around to look at the patio as well as the fact that it was a perfect night to eat outside.)

i think the baked alaska deserves a special mention. not only was it delicious and the perfect size for five to share, but i think it was the perfect end to a great meal. i will admit that as the resident unit 10 baker i certainly have more of a sweet tooth than some of the other founding eating club members. however i see a pattern even in these first three meetings.. we all eat and share a wonderful meal and then hem and haw over whether anyone will get desert. i move that rule number 4, 5... i don't remember how many rules we have yet.. should be that we always order one desert (at least) for the table to share.

i think the past two weeks have proven that no matter how full you think you are, there is always room for a bite or two of baked alaska.

miniature update

Seeing as many of us are probably scared of posting after gazelle's megawesome inaugural post, i'm deliberately writing a short but sweet post that is semi-eating club related to break the ice.

at this very moment, i'm enjoying one of my free drinks at cafe zing (porter square). it's a sumo (large) soy mocha latte and it's delicious.

also, as a marker, this week, eating club visited Oleana (inman square). i was sadly not in attendance due to a previously booked engagement at the wellesley country club (where i ate a buffet plate of salads and side-vegetables -- plus a buffet ice cream sundae for dessert!)

did anyone snag a pic of the alleged baked alaska?

Henrietta the First

If you think back to your first eating club, it probably happened around noon in the early days of first grade. Sitting with your friends at a big table in the cafeteria and out came the PBJs, little bags of carrots, fruit roll-ups, maybe potato chips and oreos. Most with thermoses, some with juice boxes, the envied Capri Sun. You could upgrade through a trade or the hot lunch line but sound negotiation skills and cash are often in short supply for first graders.

With the launch of The Eating Club, let me be the first to say how great it is to be an adult. Walking into any restaurant, in any neighborhood, ordering any delicious dish, sharing and exploring the menu with friends, well, that's pretty much Goonies for adults.

The day you can trade in the cafeteria table for Henrietta’s Table is a milestone of epic portions. Especially when those portions are slow cooked in native beans and apple brandy reduction sauces.

The Eating Club chose Henrietta’s Table (Charles Hotel, Harvard Square) as its inaugural Monday meet-up because it represents the values we aspire to in our culinary and social lives – fresh and honest, welcoming atmosphere and quality time with local New England farmers.

We arrived for our 7:00 pm reservations and were immediately seated. Menus passed around like the down card of a blackjack hand and the wine list flopped over like an ace in the hole. [Note: Gazelle doesn’t know anything about wines so vin-related reviews will be held until one of my co-founders weighs in or when Vin Diesel joins Eating Club.]



You are immediately confronted by a tough decision: go for one of the tempting array of specials or order off the yard sale menu. It’s a tough decision until you find out everything you can get at the yard sale. You get to choose any of the starters PLUS any of the entrees PLUS any side for $25.

As Maki said, “You’d have to be an idiot not to get the yard sale.”

An idiot or a vegetarian. As a meat-eater, you can earn a $13 spread on the yard sale if you maximize your starter-entrée-side combo. With those savings even George Costanza would say to his date “Get the Maine Rock Crab Cake, go on get it, I want you to.”

The Starters: The Crab Cake was the way to go and Evadne was the big winner. She also was the big winner in best question asked of our waitress - “The crab cake – is it more bready or more crabby?” To Henrietta’s credit it was more crabby - in the good way. Three of us welcomed a hearty Rock Crab and Corn Chowder with smoked bacon. The crab and bacon were subdued supporting actors in this cast iron handle that set up the corn to shine – unfortunately the corn wasn’t fully up to the challenge. The fresh and honest scale is where the chowder collects its accolades, as does the Spinach salad Strawberries, Westfield Farm Chevre, and Spicy Maple Pecan Vinaigrette.

Bread & Bathrooms: An odd a pairing to group together I realize but I go back to places that have a great bread and give me architecture ideas for my bathroom. I always use the bathroom in a restaurant even if I don't have to go. The bread is OUTSTANDING - variety of breads including a cranberry walnut and cornbread that came right out of the oven. The bathrooms are maintained by the Charles Hotel and fairly non descript.

The Entrees - let them eat meat!: Everyone was a winner though I experienced slight entree-regret when two of my fellow eating clubbers were delivered their House Maple Smoked and Grilled Free Range Duck Breast. That was some delectable duck, not to mention the native cranberry chutney. And that port wine reduction its cooked in? Should be considered an addition. The Barbeque Ale Braised Pulled Lamb Shank was braised as advertised and the native beans gave the lamb a proper finish. The Ozark Mountain Grilled Smoked Pork Chop delivered mouth-watering bites touched with apple brandy reduction sauce.

The Finale: No desserts for us. A wrinkle on the Yard Sale is that you can add any dessert for $7. But all of the desserts COSTS seven dollars anyway. Hey, what happened to the yard sale?

The Verdict: As its Web site states - "Henrietta’s Table opened its doors to a diverse and adoring public nearly 13 years ago. In that time the restaurant has come to be the dining room of Nobel laureates, celebrities, and New England Farmers." Count the Eating Club among its adoring public.

In time, we hope Henrietta recognizes the Eating Club among the laureates, celebrities and farmers who dined at her table.