BostonZest

Mei Mei Street Kitchen: Food Truck Tracking

As these rolling restaurants expand their reach and numbers throughout the Boston area, we’re Food Truck Tracking– here's a profile of one of the newest additions to the food truck scene. -The BostonZest Team!

Name: Mei Mei Street Kitchen

Do you want to be the first kid on the block to try a new food truck? We do, so we were on hand for their first lunch service! Tell us what you think when you try the food from this team.

Truck Description: Bright White Truck with Yellow and Blue Graphics

      

Founding Team: Mei, Andy & Irene Li. (click on a photo for a larger version)

What’s on the Menu: They call it, "...Creative Chinese-American cuisine made from locally sourced, sustainable ingredients."

Drinks: Bottled water or Crimson Berry Iced Tea

Known for/must try/signature dish: It's early days, but we're betting they will have a problem taking the Beef and Cheese Dumplings w/soy-vinegar sauce off the menu. We returned for seconds.

They say: "We pride ourselves on serving humanely raised meat and some of the most creatively delicious street food out there. Handmade braised beef dumplings with red wine and cheese, yes please! Mac & cheese with Chinese spiced pork, enough said. Steamed pork belly bun with crispy crackling, seasonal pickles, sesame chili aioli and local apple hoisin sauce? Yup, we’ll treat you right. "

 

Nice Touch: They'll try to have something vegetarian on the menu every day. We noticed their careful attention to the needs of those with restricted diets. The counter has liquid sweetener to mix into your iced tea. And, there's a big bottle of Sriracha for those who want a bit more heat.

Philosophy/Mission: "Grow well, eat well, be well: It’s what we want for ourselves, our family, our business, and our guests." Here's what they are doing to back up these words.

History: They tell us, "We’ve taken food we have eaten and loved as children in the past, added modern elements and experiences of the present, and also incorporated practices that fit with our vision of how to do business for a sustainable future.  With Andy’s many years in fine dining management, Mei’s experience as a successful entrepreneur and MBA, Irene’s time living on a farm and working as a line chef and our combined love of good times and great eats, we have crafted a deeply personal venture that we hope you’ll enjoy as much as we do."

Here's Steve Leibowitz ready to order another round. 

Regulars say: We ran into Steve Leibowitz from www.hubfoodtrucks.com who works at Northeastern and was all smiles after his first Mei Mei meal. "I think it's fantastic!" he said. "I had the Beef & Cheese Dumplings and they were great." A friend of his, who had the same thing, offered the perfect description, "It’s like prime rib in a dumpling!”

And, a customer named Lisa went up to the truck and ordered, "One of Everything!"

Did you know? "Mei Mei" is Chinese for "little sister" and the founders are Andy and his Mei Meis.

They were treating customers to some wonderful French green tea macarons.

Order and Pick up routine: Step up near the back of the truck, next to the menu board, to order and pay. Pick up is on the other side of the window near the front door. They'll call your name when your food is ready. 

Payment: Cash, Major Credit Cards, and LevelUp

Website: www.meimeiboston.com

Twitter: @meimeifoodtruck

Facebook: Meimeisk 

Pinterest: Mei Mei Street Kitchen

Since the city food truck schedule is not up-to-date, right now, here's where to find Mei Mei!

For more of our Food Truck/Street Food coverage: click here. Or, anytime you visit BostonZest, you can click on the Food Truck/Street Food tab at the top of the page.

Link: Boston Food Truck Location Map 

What's on your environmentally responsible shopping list? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

 

Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

Samantha Golden– One Sweet Sunday Dog

While “sweet” may be an overused term, it is without a doubt the best way to describe Sunday Dog, Samantha. Wait, I take that back. By adding her breed name, it would be: Sweet Samantha Golden, perfect!

In the end, though, I fully realize that if you were to meet this lovely canine, you might use another superlative– I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.



At a year-and-half old, Samantha was plucked from an Alabama kill shelter with the help of petfinder.

When she first arrived home, her people described her as really friendly with people, but afraid of all dogs. Since moving to the city, this beauty has adjusted very well and now has many furry, four-legged friends.



Samantha never fetched or played with a ball until two months ago, when suddenly, at seven-and-a-half, she began running and chasing balls! While no one seems to know why, she told us privately, that she simply has acquired a taste for them...



Favorite Toy? Stuffed Animals– she has about 20. If someone pets her and has a scarf on, she’ll grab it and try to walk away with the prize.
 
She sleeps with her people every night, no matter how hot it is. And, like so many of her friends, is not a fan of thunder.



However, this gentle, loving girl is a big fan of pats, and lots of them! They’re just part of the perks of being Sweet Samantha Golden.

Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.

Would you like to adopt a beautiful companion like Samantha? There are some resources to help you make your decision and get your life together off to a great start. This book from PetFinder, Petfinder.com The Adopted Dog Bible: Your One-Stop Resource for Choosing, Training, and Caring for Your Sheltered or Rescued Dog is one of our favorites.

 
Details:
Words: Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny Cherubino  

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads out of comments.

 

Thanks to Faithful Trustees

In big ways and small they preserve our heritage by caring for historic properties.

"These old buildings do not belong to us only, they belong to our forefathers and they will belong to our descendants unless we play them false. They are not in any sense our own property to do with as we like with them. We are only trustees for those that come after us."  William Morris

What's on your  Boston historic tour shopping list? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:
Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny  Cherubino  

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

Edible Boston Spring 2012 Issue

Have you picked up your copy of the Spring 2012 Issue of Edible Boston yet? 

I look forward to each new issue of this quarterly collection of great writing, wonderful photography, locavore lessons, and down-to-earth philosophy. I learn something from every article.

This time, publisher Ilene Bezahler and her team have shined their spotlight on those who produce our local food and on those who want to be our next generation of farmers but need the land to do it.

Describing this issue, Ilene says, "... you will read about a young generation who wants to farm, wants to help provide us with local produce but are struggling with how to afford to do it. And about dairy farmers who are committed to keeping their farms full service dairies in their families’ tradition."

You can also read the magazine at their website. If you do that, I suggest you filp through the full print edition so you will see one of the tastiest group of advertisers around. Please support these people who make it possible for us to have this great publication. 

We are a small local business too. So, if you do have to shop for something online, remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

 

Details:
Words: Penny Cherubino
Screenshot: Courtesy of Edible Boston   

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

Domaine du Salvard, Cheverny from Kermit Lynch

One of the wines in a recent sampler case from importer Kermit Lynch was the Domaine du Salvard, Cheverny. 

 

We love wines from the Loire, as a rule. This one is 85% Sauvignon Blanc and 15% Chardonnay. The folks at Kermit Lynch say, "We continue to tout the domaine’s wine as one of the greatest values for Sauvignon Blanc perfection." They use words like simple and elegant to describe it. We agree and we applaud the blend. The Chardonnay moderates the grapefruit quality of the Savignon Blanc.

What’s more, this “meant-for-each-other” marriage of grapes graciously enhanced our main course– pan-fried (breaded) fish. A side of goat cheese drizzled with olive oil went well with this Cheverney’s acidity. We did go to Provence to add some olives and Herbes de Provence, and they were all nice neighbors and played well together.

When we see this label, we know we have a treat in store.

And, while the front label is important, we've learned to look at the back label to see who brought the wine into this country. We've developed a list of favorite importers that we trust to supply us with wines we'll love. Kermit Lynch is one of them and we'll tell you more about him soon.

Love wine? Join our Our Sparkling Resolution

Check Out: Our Wine List

Here's an easy way to Expand Your Wine Comfort Zone: Sampler Cases

Want to learn more about wine? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site! Take a look at, The Food Lover's Guide to Wine– the latest addition to our wine reference shelf. Here's a great interview and review of this book over on Taste of the Past.

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

Expand Your Wine Comfort Zone: Sampler Cases

In February, we bought a sampler case of Kermit Lynch wines from Bauer Wine & Spirits. We are long-time fans of both the ledgendary importer and of our neighborhood wine shop where Howie Rubin has been pointing us to great wines for 20 years. 

Sampler cases are a good way to expand your wine comfort zone.

When curated by an able wine merchant, sampler cases can be an education about a country, an importer, or a type of wine. If you shop stores that offer these attractive sets of wine, sign up for emails on their offerings. 

Bauer offers samplers on a regular schedule. Their customers have explored the Iberian wines (Portugal & Spain), rosés, single vineyards like Montes in Chile, seasonal selections for warm and cold days, and holiday samplers that put the right wines in your rack for a variety of guests.

These selections are often outstanding values because the store can purchase in greater quantity knowing that they will sell this group of wines quickly. The Kermit Lynch case, two bottles each of six wines, was offered at sale price plus an additional 15% discount. 

We plan to feature other sampler opportunities in the weeks ahead. If you have a favorite wine shop sampler, let us know in the comments below or send us an email. Some shops do full cases, others offer 6-packs.

And, we have an upcoming post scheduled about one of the wines in this sampler.

 

Love wine? Join our Our Sparkling Resolution

Check Out: Our wine List

Want to learn more about wine? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site! Here's, The Food Lover's Guide to Wine the latest addition to our wine reference shelf. Here's a great interview and review of this book over on Taste of the Past.

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino  

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

Financial District, Milk & Kilby: Where to Find Food Trucks

As these rolling restaurants expand their reach and numbers throughout the Boston area, we’re Food Truck Tracking– checking out some of their favorite nesting spots, and what you’ll find when you get there. -The BostonZest Team!

Financial District, Milk & Kilby

Location: Walk across the street to the traffic island at the intersection of Milk & Kilby and order up. (map)

MBTA LINK: Close to State Street, Downtown Crossing, and Aquarium T-Stops.

More info @ Boston Food Truck Schedule

How many trucks? One or two-at-a-time are scheduled here with different trucks on different days and each day of the week. This spot has trucks Tuesdays through Fridays.

Who's scheduled here? Go Fish!, Cupcakory, Momogoose, Roxy's Grilled Cheese, Kick**s Cupcakes, Froyo Truck, Redbones Barbeque, Bon Me

What we had: Fish & Chips, Miso Seared Salmon Rice Paper Wrap with ginger/wasabi dressed Asian Greens, Radish and sesame shiitake mushrooms and lemonade from Go Fish. For dessert, we shared a Lemon and a Salted Caramel Cupcake from the Cupcakory. 

Update: Go Fish is no longer servign up food on the Boston Streets.

Hours and dates: No mornings here. This spot has trucks Tuesdays through Fridays.

 

Tips: Figure out what side of the hulking advertising sign is the order line and which is the waiting-for-pick up line. We almost cut the line by mistake because we approached from the wrong side.

Where to Eat: The wonderful Norman B. Leventhal Park at Post Office Square is just a block away. As the weather warms, they'll have cushions and books you can borrow at lunch time. And, 12:00 Noon – 2:00 PM, June through August they have a summer music program. There's even free WIFI if you want to surf while you eat.

Three blocks to the East is the Greenway with benchs and some tables and chairs. Beyond that is the HarborWalk. 

Where to eat inside! The nearest spot on cold or rainy days is South Station, about half a mile from these trucks. 

Restrooms: South Station. And, you can always use Universal Hub's Guide to Boston Restrooms to add a few other places if you know of them.

 

Bonus points for: Making the best use yet of an unattractive traffic island. Now, if one of the nearby businesses whose employees enjoy this food truck spot would add a bit of greenery and maybe a couple of tables, this could be a pocket park!

For more of our Food Truck/Street Food coverage: click here. Or, anytime you visit BostonZest you can click on the "Food Truck/Street Food" tab at the top of the page.

Link: Boston Food Truck Location Map 

Did you know you can buy groceries from Amazon? Have them ship what you need and have more time to check out food trucks.

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Ed & Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We reserve the right to edit ads out of comments.