Living The Social Network

Me and GQ spent the last week working in MA.  I have been to MA once and spent a weekend in Boston partaking in all the typical touristy crap such as the hop-on/hop-off bus, walking the freedom trail, a bite at Faneuil Hall and a subpar meal at Legal Sea Foods - however, me and GQ take food very seriously and decided to turn our work trip into an opportunity to satisfy our foodie tendencies.  Our first 3 days were in Waltham, a suburb just outside of Boston.  GQ proactively scoured all the reviews on various websites and made reservations at Bergamot in Cambridge's Inman Square.  We drove around Harvard Square a bit and then decided to "pahk the cah" and get a pre-dinner drink at the "bah"(The Druid), where upon sitting down on a barstool, I was ID'd by the bartender (yes!).  Drinks at an Irish pub near Harvard reminded me of the opening scene in The Social Network, where the only woman  that appeared to have a brain in that movie dumped her obnoxious mogul-to-be (minus all the drunks in the background).  There was no such drama between me and GQ and we drank our "beeahs" and walked to the restaurant.  The interior of Bergamot is sleek and modern, but warmly candlelit - very nice.  We scanned the carefully edited menu and to start, GQ had a decadent risotto with rabbit and for me, a grilled Asian pear salad.  For our mains, GQ opted for the butter braised lobster and I had the seared scallops.

Whatever the creamy yellow sauce was made of (tasted hints of saffron) was DELICIOUS!  I ate every last bit of scallop-y goodness, squash and mushroom, trying to evenly distribute the yummy sauce on each bite.  Meanwhile, GQ sipped his glass of red watching as I ate having demolished his lobster - he must have enjoyed it since it was GONE.  We were full but had to indulge in this chocolatey thing with ice cream, caramel and pretzel:

(couldn't even finish it..)

Night two, realizing that the closet-sized gym at the Waltham Courtyard Marriott was full AGAIN - we drove to Harvard Square and parked to go for a long walk around the charming neighborhoods surrounding Harvard University, in anticipation of another major feed at Oleana.  The restaurant was cozy, with modern slate back-splashes and enough colorful ethnic decorations to indicate the mediterranean/middle-eastern theme but not so many to make it all just tacky.  We were seated (each in our plaid shirts ugh!) near the bar area where GQ noted there were a surprising number of well-dressed, "older" patrons.  Our waitress, who must be related to Spacey my yoga instructor, completely sold us on the burrata appetizer which was filled with lebne and served with dragon lingerie beans (?), chanterelle mushrooms and some kind of red pepper sauce (we still can't decipher the word she used).  We also ordered the fatoush salad and a couple glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon from the Bekka Valley in Lebanon.

This was followed by the lamb with Turkish spices for GQ and the roasted halibut with lentils for me.  The food was so great that I forgot to take the picture BEFORE plunging my fork into the dish - whoops.

The fish was perfectly cooked and the refreshing tart bursts of the pomegranate seeds went surprisingly well with the lentils and brussels sprouts.  We were beyond stuffed after our mains, but insisted on ordering dessert since the pastry chef had won awards for her creations.  Settling on the salted butter ice cream and pumpkin jam crepe with pumpkin seed granola, I managed 2 bites (which were heavenly), while the heavy man beside us took out a towering baked alaska.

Bloated from our meal, we were thankful for the considerable hike back to the car despite the cool chill of the New England air.  I felt even colder looking at GQ sans coat with the shirt sleeves of his plaid shirt casually rolled up like he was strolling around in Bermuda.  My plaid shirt was under wraps beneath my scarf and navy trench, preventing us from continuing to look like the plaid twins.

(night time on the Harvard Campus - no Mark Zuckerberg-alikes in flip flops spotted)

Night three, we gave our stomachs a bit of a break with a simple meal of pizza and pasta at Cambridge, 1.  I enjoyed the thin crust pizza while I think GQ enjoyed our waitress more.  After, we wandered up the street for cupcakes from Sweet and steaming cups of Gen-Mai Cha green tea from Tealuxe, a store with over 80 varieties of loose tea, scooped by angsty, heavily tattooed servers.

Our time in Cambridge was done and we had to drive to Devens that night, but I enjoyed my time moonlighting as a Harvard student.  I am envious of those who actually studied in high school and were able to go to school in such a great place.  While I experienced no Final club parties and saw nobody even remotely resembling a Winklevoss twin, I left feeling similar to how I left leaving that Facebook movie - satisfied, happy and with the urge to stop pronouncing the letter R.