THE LADY OF SHALLOTS

This is primarily a cooking blog, but I've decided to start a new feature I will call "Memorable Meals." This will feature the occasional amazing meal I encounter at the many wonderful restaurants here in the greater Boston area. Our inaugural post features Journeyman Restaurant in Somerville, MA. Initially, the back alley entrance and low curbside profile kept this Somerville's best kept secret, but Journeyman has fast become a foodie Mecca with critical acclaim from a wide variety of sources. The food is prepared so expertly that even the most timid eater will want to step outside the box of culinary convention. The menu changes weekly, so if you are of the "variety is the spice of life" mindset, you will love this place. We chose the 5 course menu with pairings, which exists in both a vegetarian and omnivore version. A party of two is ideal here, especially if you are both omnivores. I went with the vegetarian version, but found that the staff was fl...

No, I'm not joking. I've been to a lot of nice restaurants and have had some amazing meals, but while I was in Quebec City a few weeks ago, I had the PERFECT dinner. Where? Restaurant Initiale Rather unassuming from the outside, you might walk right by it. My husband had made a reservation there and we were surprised when they told us that 6:30 was the only seating available (this was a Wednesday evening, not at the height of tourist season). We soon found out why. When we arrived at the restaurant, we were greeted graciously by the host, who was an elegant and classy woman whose responsibilities seemed like a cross between a host and a concierge. She showed us to our table and we soon understood that we were to be only one of four couples in the entire room for the rest of the evening. The room was dimly lit, but not so dark that we couldn't see our food, which would have been a tragedy given the presentation of each dish. We started with lovely cocktails (I had the Kir...