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    Tacos and Beers with CityGusto

    by Alaina on April 11, 2013 · 5 comments

    This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Craft Beer and Taco tasting at Patron’s Mexican Kitchen in Allston, MA put on by CityGusto. Last month I was contacted by Matt at CityGusto to see if I would be interested in contributing my restaurant reviews and be a possible featured blogger. I was more than happy to jump on board!

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    To kick off their new site, they had a taco and craft beer tasting at the new Patron’s. It was open to contributing bloggers as well as the general public. I ran into Marie and finally got to meet Erica!

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    When I found Erica, I planted myself at the end of the bar. I got there at 3pm but they weren’t starting the tasting until 4pm. We received two free beer tickets and I had the Founders IPA to try. It was light and caramel-y. Very tasty!

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    They were passing around some appetizers to start. They were offering plantains and goat cheese quesadillas.

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    Both items were delicious and I think I should start using goat cheese more often for quesadillas!

    The tasting started just after 4pm. They had us walk around to the two tables that were offering tacos. And there were the most amazing tortilla chips ever. I could have eaten my weight in tortilla chips. The two tacos were mahi mahi (L) and shredded pork with refried beans (R). The beer pairing with the mahi was Allagash White and the pork tacos were paired with the Slumbrew IPA.

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    The tacos tasted delicious, albeit very tiny. But the ingredients were of a high quality, and I would certainly go the respective restaurants to try more of their menu. The mahi tacos were from El Pelon Taqueria in Boston and the pork tacos were from Patron’s.

    The afternoon was very enjoyable; getting to try new food, beer and catching up and meeting some local bloggers. My only gripe was the bar staff. Some of the bartenders just didn’t seem like they wanted to be there, and it took a while for me to get someone’s attention to get a beer.. But otherwise, I had a great time. Thank you so much for inviting me Matt!!

    This event was complimentary but my opinions are 100% my own.

    Patron’s is located at 138 Brighton Ave in Allston, MA.

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    Lunch At Eastern Standard

    by Alaina on April 6, 2013 · 1 comment

    During the last week of Restaurant Week, a few colleagues and I decided to check out one of the participating restaurants for lunch. We went back and forth on a few options and finally decided on Eastern Standard in Kenmore Square. I had been there once for drinks at my sister in law’s bachelorette party but never for food. From what I had heard, I was excited to try it out.

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    Their pre-fixe menu had some amazing options, and I decided on the Caesar salad, fried chicken sandwich with cole slaw, and the coconut cheesecake-like dessert (unfortunately the name is escaping me).

    The Caesar salad was delicious. It came out as full romaine leaves with shaved parmesan and a cheese encrusted crostini. And the dressing was light and delicious.

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    The others had the soba noodles with scallops dish and absolutely loved it! They wanted another plate of it!

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    For my entrée, I had the fried chicken sandwich. It may not look like much in the picture but the flavor was amazing. I especially loved the mustard and cole slaw. And it was lightly fried so it definitely wasn’t a heavy dish. The slaw made it a bit messy though, but it was delicious!

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    For dessert, we were treated to a complimentary – little – cup of their hot chocolate. So good! I loved the little spoon! And the dessert was amazing. The cake had a cheesecake consistency topped with rhubarb and toasted almonds. That little pink strip? Candied rhubarb. And did I mention toasted almonds? Oh my gosh, so good!

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    In the past I’ve been hesitant to try out a restaurant during Restaurant Week. I’ve read reviews that the food is subpar and the service is rushed due to the influx of diners during those two weeks in March and in August. But this was an extremely enjoyable experience with top notch food. Our lunch took longer than we had expected but the service was always friendly. And my water was always filled.

    Eastern Standard is located at 528 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA.

    Eastern Standard on Urbanspoon

    Have you ever dined out during Restaurant Week?

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    Run Hundred – Top 10 Workout Songs for April 2013

    by Alaina on April 4, 2013 · 0 comments

    I need, nay, WANT to start running. My husband asked if I wanted to get up at 4:45 this morning to go run and that just seemed so early…and dark! But as long as I’m running with him, and reflectors, we should be ok. Maybe tomorrow morning. ;-) Granted I won’t be running with any music, but these tunes would be great for the after-work-still-sunny-out run.

    The Top 10 Workout Songs For April

    Fort Wayne, IN – April 1, 2013 – Collaborations reign in this month’s workout playlist. Justin Bieber lent Will.I.Am a hand on the latter’s latest. Italian super producer Alex Gaudino turned the mic over to Jordin Sparks. Lastly, Pitbull and Christina Aguilera urged folks to seize the day–while seizing, for themselves, the hook from ’80s classic “Take On Me.”

    Here’s the full list, according to votes placed at Run Hundred–the web’s most popular workout music blog.

    Alex Gaudino & Jordin Sparks – Is This Love – 129 BPM

    Miranda Lambert – Mama’s Broken Heart – 112 BPM

    Of Monsters and Men – Little Talks – 107 BPM

    Will.I.Am & Justin Bieber – #thatPOWER – 129 BPM

    Kylie Minogue – Timebomb – 128 BPM

    Afrojack & Chris Brown – As Your Friend – 128 BPM

    One Direction – One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks) – 163 BPM

    Pitbull & Christina Aguilera – Feel This Moment – 137 BPM

    Avicii – Silhouettes (Syn Cole Creamfields Mix Radio Edit) – 128 BPM

    Macklemore, Ryan Lewis & Ray Dalton – Can’t Hold Us – 148 BPM

    To find more workout songs, folks can check out the free database at RunHundred.com. Visitors can browse the song selections there by genre, tempo, and era—to find the music that best fits with their particular workout routine.

    As always, I have not been compensated for this release. Run Hundred is always free to use.

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