Sunday Brunch Series: The Elephant Walk

Weekend mornings consist of being hung over, crabby and starving. Nothing combats all three issues better than an incredible brunch. Several Boston restaurants do brunch well, and The Elephant Walk is one of them.

Voted best fusion restaurant for Best of Boston 2007 , The Elephant Walk offers a tasty variety of French and Cambodian dishes. Items on its brunch menu range from plum tomato, goat cheese and basil omelettes; ham and Gruyere crepes; to ground pork spring rolls; and crispy Asian grouper. Not to mention, the bar-tender makes a mighty-fine mimosa.

The restaurant, which is filled with natural sunlight, has this sort of warmth to it. The French-Cambodian influence is apparent here: the restaurant is very clean and tastefully decorated, with lines of elephant statuettes positioned in every nook and cranny as if they were on parade.

What's most impressive about The Elephant Walk is that there's something for everyone -- there's even a separate vegan menu!

For me, that something was the spicy Poulet a la Citronnelle, as pictured below. Chicken sauteed with lemongrass, peppers, onions, and scallions, and it was all topped off with freshly ground peanuts. And there's no better way to describe it other than awesome!



The Elephant Walk is located at 900 Beacon Street Boston, MA 02215. Other locations include 2067 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02140 and 663 Main Street Waltham, MA 02451.

For those chili winter nights

Boston winters can be brutal. People around here invest a serious amount of time trying to master the art of walking on ice, only to be blown over by a gust of wind. And although there's no way to escape the cold outside, you can seek out warmth in the kitchen by cooking up a pot of chili.

Chef Tyler Florence, host of the Food Network's Food 911, turns up the heat with his Texas Chili recipe.

The recipe, which calls for shredded beef, two cans of whole tomatoes, three types of peppers, a hefty blend of spices and chocolate, helps to make a hearty chili with the perfect balance of sweet and spicy.

Try Tyler's Texas Chili on a bed of tortilla chips with Vermont cheddar cheese sprinkled on top, or even try serving it up with Stoned Wheat Thins and Montrachet goat cheese!

To view this and other Tyler Florence recipes, visit foodnetwork.com or tune into his show, Food 911, Thursdays and Fridays at 3:30 p.m.

Thanks to Tyler Florence for creating such a manly dish. And even more thanks to Will Liberis for keeping me well fed!

Pho Sure!

Boston's South End is arguably the best neighborhood in the city. Aside from being noted for its brownstones and tree-lined streets, the South End is famous for its array of fantastic eateries. Pho Republique, a Vietnamese-inspired restaurant and bar, is definitely worthy of its space on Washington Street; it's as chic and fabulous as the people inhabiting its surrounding neighborhood. And even better (and perhaps more importantly) - the food is incredible!

Kicking-off my Pho Republique experience were the crispy tuna sashimi springrolls. Stuffed with slices of raw tuna, sticky rice, avocado and lettuce, these springrolls made for the perfect introduction.

Following the springrolls, I tried the sesame crusted tuna steak. The tuna was lightly seared on the outside and topped off with a soy-mustard butter. It was absolutely delectable and I will definitely be ordering it again.

Pho Republique is located at 1415 Washington Street. It's open Sunday thru Saturday; 5:30 pm - 1:30 am.

those who can't do, teach. those who can't cook, eat.

Several months ago I started living.

I don't mean inhaling and exhaling - I've been doing that habitually for a little over 20 years now. I mean really living:

I had just gotten out of a very taxing, tiresome relationship and I was craving something fresh and exciting, something new. I wanted to feel an exuberant, (overwhelming, even), amount of positivity: I wanted to eat new foods; try new activities; explore new places; hang with new people. Basically, I wanted to do everything and anything, just as long as it was new.

So I did. Each and every one of those things.

Upon my journey, I've found something I am incredibly passionate about - food. Over the past few months, my appreciation for food has sky-rocketed, literally grown exponentially! I've gone from grimacing at the smell of fried flounder to downing succulent, flaky pieces of salmon sashimi; from eating chicken fingers to nibbling on alligator bites. And so now I'd like to share that appreciation, that positivity I so desperately needed.

And so I proudly present Salute! my (quite possibly, sad) attempt to document Boston's restaurants. With this blog, I hope to share my food experiences with you and ultimately intrigue you into doing the same thing I did months ago: try new things.

In the future, you can expect a lot to come out of this blog. Along with my reviews, I intend to include photos of the food I consume and maybe even a recipe here or there. My plan is to eventually select one dish every month, go to all of the restaurants in the Boston area that prepare a variation of it and seek out the best one. Until then, however, (meaning until I have the money to finance going to dinner at least twice a week), I will write as I eat.

Please note that I am not a professional food critic. I have never taken a culinary class and am honestly a terrible cook. I'm just someone wanting to do something. And so I am.