I see Cornell has a a dairy bar, too.
Bostonian here!
I grew up in Boston in the 70s and 80s and a hip friend’s dad took us to Steve’s the week it opened for their “smoosh-ins” - we waited in line for forever and it was really special.
I think Flour is really overrated - we spent Father’s Day in the seaport and got stuff to go on our way out - it was all too sweet and lacking depth. I love Joanne Chang and her books but it’s gone downhill.
I’ve eaten at Sofra, Sarma, and Oleana in the last six weeks! They’re my favorite. I also took a cooking class with Ana Sortun who’s amazing. I hadn’t been to Oleana in about 10 years - last experience was meh - and it was outstanding. I was celebrating professional milestones with two other couples and we sat on the outdoor patio. Incredible. Sarma is always always outstanding. The Black Sea cornbread is to die for. I got the halloumi breakfast sandwich at Sofra and it was fantastic.
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Locally produced cream is something I always want to try, given the chance. The style at a particular place may or may not be my thing. I have fun finding out!
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^ Whoops, I meant ice cream.
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I’d go for both, cream and ice cream!
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Sally, so glad you had good experiences recently at the Ana Sortun local marvels. What would your group recommend from the current menus at Oleana and Sarma? I know almost everything is good; still, I’d love to hear about your experiences. We got that cornbread several times when they were doing take out during the pandemic. Just superb.
We had what seemed like a sub par meal at Oleana, our only less than extraordinary ever, at least 20 years ago, I think. Ana Sortun was not in the kitchen that night. We didn’t complain and so we were amazed when a server recognized us (we didn’t go that often) and said, “you don’t seem as excited as you usually are, could we offer you a free dessert or another drink?” . We settled for an extra glass of wine.
If you sit in the Oleana bar, you can see Ana Sotun through a window…she is so intent, so serious, so deliberate. Or at least you used to be able to to see her from the bar; we haven’t eaten in house for a very long time. I saw her once in Harvard Square, long ago. Her daughter Siena was in a stroller, maybe 2 years old at most?, and Ana was offering her a small bite of a something from the Hi-Rise Bakery, which used to be on Brattle St. in Harvard Square. Huge fangirl that I am, I wanted to say something to her but decided she and her daughter deserved privacy. I hope Ana is taking some seriously well-earned time off from the active cooking after decades now.
My husband and I first encountered her at the Aigo Bistro in Concord decades ago, then found her at 8 Holyoke in Harvard Square, then at Casablanca in Harvard Square, and were thrilled to be there in the very early days when Oleana opened.
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Thank you all for your recs. We did not get to many of your recs, sadly. I’m apparently a slow learner, and I keep forgetting that when your trip has a purpose and a lot of moving parts, destination dining is nearly impossible. Especially with a group of 4, where people aren’t always on the same page about what they want to eat.
That said, we had a few memorable meals. We probably ate best in Boston (no surprise). The og Regina’s pizza on Thatcher was really sublime pizza. Big menu so everyone can be satisfied. I got one with tomato sauce, ricotta, fried eggplant slices, basil and mozz. Delish. We also tried Tiffany Faison’s Sweet Cheeks bbq, and it was pretty great. The biscuits and okra were a step above the typical bbq joint. The ribs were fall off the bone. The pulled pork was a bit greasy as was the brisket, but I understand some like it that way 
We also tried the coleslaw, collards, and baked beans. All great. Not overly mayo’d. Not overly sugared. Collards were vinegary and helped cut through the heavy other things. Solid.
We also tried Far Out icecream, which is apparently a New Zealand spot where you pick a vanilla or chocolate, then one of 6 or so fruits, and they blend it up. Then there are mixins, toppings, and drizzles. Very tasty.
I’m a little sad that on the day we went to Quincy market and I really wanted a lobster roll, my little forced us to go to Wagamama instead. He’s not been feeling too stomach happy, so I tend to defer to him a lot. It’s your typical corporate lunch type of spot. Good enough, but not that good. Expensive for what you get. But it was a nice spot to sit and chill after a busy day.
We didn’t eat around Dartmouth (off campus anyway), but spent the night in Manchester VT and went to Christo’s for dinner. Nice little red sauce Italian joint. I believe the pasta was made in house. Tasty pastas all around, and the ambience was nice except for one guy out to eat with his (mom?) who was hard of hearing, so he was yelling his conversation all night.
While visiting Cornell, we actually stayed 2 nights in Binghamton. The town is less fun, but we had 2 good meals there. Moon Star Chinese. Everything was delicious. The shrimp we had in our shrimp and cabbage were huge and fresh tasting and properly cleaned and no tails. That was a really nice surprise. The mu shu was tasty. Kid 1 had to sub his fave mongolian beef out because they said they make it with peanuts. Why? Weird. I feel like I have to cook him some this week to compensate.
The second night we went to Caciattore’s and again, some nice pasta dishes. It felt like the entire town was there. Friday night though.
For lunch that day, we tried Hawi Ethiopian. My kids are injera fanatics, so they were happy. The best was the chicken tibs. It was weird though that they were not prepared with any beef dishes (they had 4ish on the menu) and also didn’t have a couple of their side dishes. We came just as it opened. I would’ve though they’d prep before they let the people in.
Near Rensellaer (Troy NY), we only had lunch. Running late and grabbed some poke and some korean beef bowls at Bespoki. Not impressed. I’d pass on them, unless it just wasn’t a good day or a good choice. For instance, the greens in their poke bowl are iceberg. Blech. And I got the spicy tuna, which ended up as a mince, rather than cubes, so the whole time I was eating I felt like it was trimmings.
Near UConn is a wasteland, as folks have said. Mooyah had some pretty good ice cream shakes as we were perpetually suffering much more heat, humidity, and smoke than we have at home in the PNW.
Visiting some family near Springfield, we were pleased with Mint Vietnamese restaurant. Kids had bahn mi. H and I shared a noodle and rice dish.
Near Brown, we went to Geoff’s which a friend in the area had recommended. It was a hot mess. They were so crowded, they were bad at managing their crowd, and they were out of certain meats so after taking 15 minutes to peruse their giant menu and finally picking something, our pickiest eater had to have something different anyway, and with no real time to re-choose. The food was ok.
I won’t bore you with the boring and bad meals, and there were plenty of those with 10 days on the road. And I don’t have pix. We are glad to be home now, and I’m on meals duty again! Wahwah…
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Thanks for reporting back! You are a trooper! I hope the college visits yielded better information than the meals!
Thanks! I think he learned a lot about what he does and doesn’t like. And fell in love with one of them. Which is an application stretch for him and a $$ stretch for us. We shall see!
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Yeah… Geoff’s heyday was 40 years ago in their old location on Benefit Street. You can do a lot better.
The OG Regina’s is awesome!
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