Drew V.'s Profile

My water heater stopped working.  I called them, explained my problem, and they said they'd call me to setup a time.  Never heard back.  Call them again, two days later, again they said someone would call back and I never heard.  I ended up going with another plumber.

Tried Recette for the first time tonight.  Interesting, inventive food and overall a good meal.  The service was ok.  Our server knew nothing about food and mispronounced many of the items on the menu (including foie gras), but was friendly and efficient.

All of the food looks amazing and there's a lot of creative dishes as well as standards; for example they have a good charcuterie plate.  The arugula salad was really great; good balance of flavors and very fresh, spicy arugula.  The pork belly looked amazing and was a very good blend of different flavors, though not very memorable.  

The desserts were fun and tasty.  Their version of smores comes with a really great, spicy chocolate sauce which wasn't overpowering.

Overall, a very good meal, though I'm not dieing to go back.

Nice addition to the Kendall scene.   Za's pizza isn't the absolute best I've ever had, but it's very good.  And it makes a great, reasonably-priced place for a sit-down lunch.

Unpretentious bistro food in a comfortable setting with good service.  I end up here with my lady-friend a lot; great place for an easy, good meal.

I went to Joint Ventures for PT for my patellofemoral syndrome (runner's knee), as it was one of the few places in Boston my health plan let me use.

I think your experience really depends on which therapist you get.  The first one I worked with was awesome.  She really knew her stuff and did a great job each session of massaging my leg, stretching it out, and then evaluating my progress. Unfortunately, she ended up leaving to work somewhere else and the next therapist I worked with was lousy.  She basically just held a clipboard and watched me do the exercises I was doing each day.

No surprise, my progress plateaued.  I read up about it online and realized there were a bunch of a stretches I should be doing.  Since adding them in, I've progressed and gotten back to being able to run (and haven't been back to  Joint Ventures).

This is the best restaurant I've ever been to.  Each time, the food was inventive, interesting and tasted amazing.  The service was perfect: very efficient but not stuffy.

tl;dr version: Wouldn't make it in N.C. and skip the ribs, but best pulled pork I've found in Boston.

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I had a late-morning meeting in Waltham recently which I scheduled, in part, because I knew it would be a good excuse to get lunch at Blue Ribbon's West Newton location. I've been to the Blue Ribbon in Arlington a number of times and still consider it the best barbecue you can get at a restaurant (ie, not at a competition or at a friend's house) in the Boston area. I was excited to try their other location.

I got a pulled pork sandwich with greens and rice and beans at the sides, along with a half rack of ribs. The collards were good, if unmemorable. The rice and beans were spicy and had decent flavor, but the rice was still crunchy.

Onto the important stuff: the ribs smelled amazing and I was excited to dive in. Opening them up, they had a nice smoke ring and looked great. Unfortunately, the meat didn't have a lot of smoke taste. I talked to the cashier who said they smoke everything a different site and then move the barbecue to their storefront. Reheating and keeping barbecue warm in a steam bath can draw a lot of the flavor out of it and I wonder if that's the issue in this case.

The texture was good, but also not great. Usually, barbecue places up north overdue it and you end up with meat that's mushy and completely detached from the bones. These had the opposite problem: they were still stringy and too chewy. Also, the ribs had a thick bark on them, which I often like, but (I would guess from sitting too long) it was too tough and chewy; almost like jerky. With the smaller ribs on the end, it made it a good workout to get through.

They provide a few different kinds of sauces, but I get the feeling that it's more due to customer demand than how they'd prefer you to enjoy it. The ribs didn't have any noticeably sauce on them and the pulled pork had a just the right amount of vinegar and red pepper flakes mixed in (Carolina-style).

Speaking of which: the sandwich was great. My favorite barbecue in the universe is Carolina-style chop pork. And this was not a bad rendition: the meat was tender, but not overly mushy and had good flavor.

I don't care about ambiance. I'm there for one thing: the barbecue. For those who do: the store is simple and open, though it feels a bit like a Disney version of a "Southern Barbecue Joint". This is exacerbated by the fact that's the store is in West Newton, overlooking the Mass Pike. But again; it's about the 'que and their setup works well for what it needs to do: feed HubQ when he's coming back on the Pike.

Great local place.  I live nearby and end up here a lot.  The food is always good and reasonably priced, with a number of good options for vegetarians and a few gluton-free as well.

It's in the first floor of an artists' co-op and attached to an art gallery.  And the vibe is very low-key and relaxed.

In his blog, John described my neighborhood (Fort Point), as a mess that needed to be bulldozed.  Not a great way to get fans.  But also very wrong.  Fort Point is a great neighborhood where everyone knows each other.  It's close to everything and it's a one of the best collections of historic buildings in Boston.  And we also have a number of great restaurants (Sportello, Drink, Lucky's, Channel Cafe, Menton, ...).  

From reading his blog a little further, it's clear he has little understanding of Boston and no appreciation for good neighborhoods or architecture.  He cares only about getting his name in the newspaper and pimping his blog.

I would never work with him or even sell a place I had on the market to one of his clients.  Life is too short to do business with someone like him.

My favorite coffee spot in Harvard Square. They serve coffee from a micro-roaster in Acton called Terrior Coffee, which is my favorite coffee on Earth.

The one big downside is that the space is small and it's usually pretty crowded.