Boston for grownups. BostonZest is your guide for enjoying a full-flavored life in an unbeatable city. We'll show you that there is life in Boston beyond the "club kids" and students.
Whether you live in Boston, plan to visit Boston, or you are moving to Boston; we'll help you locate great food, fun events, and reliable resources.
This cool Asian style salad is perfect for the warmer days of spring and summer. It started out with Penny searching the refrigerator to figure out what to serve with some chicken breasts that had been sous vided with garlic, ginger, scallion, and a touch of toasted sesame oil.
She found napa cabbage, carrot, cucumber, scallions, radishes and pickled ginger. The herb vase on the kitchen counter had Thai basil, mint, parsley, and flowering chives. Since we both love Bun Thit Nuong, that was her inspiration.
She decided to julienne the vegetables to take the place of the noodles and make a dressing with the same flavor profile as the chicken. That had seasoned rice vinegar, avocado oil, finely sliced pickled ginger, and a touch of toasted sesame oil. The chive flowers were sprinkled on top for color and fun.
Since this was just a salad for two, Penny used her Kuhn Rikon Julienne Peeler to shred a carrot and cucumber. If she were making it for a crowd, she might have taken out a mandoline or used our food processor. The cabbage, radishes, and scallions were sliced thin with a new Wusthof Nakiri knife that we bought on vacation this year.
We both love it and are slowly learning the chopping technique that works best with this style of knife.
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For those of us with dogs, our daily routine includes a number of short walks to take care of their needs. Somewhere in that schedule is a longer walk to give you and your dog some exercise and perhaps a bit of fun. On weekends or vacations, these walks may turn into adventures in new settings with great things to see, hear, and for your dog to sniff!
Two year old Sam loves his early morning walk. He practiced his sit when I met him. His person said this daily routine gets her going too!
One friend calls this “the long walk.” We call it Poppy’s exercise because she will gladly go inside on her puppy pads to avoid being outside. But she does need to move her little body and get her pulse rate up at least once a day, so we take her for a mile or two trot around the neighborhood.
A Study on Walking the Dog
A recent study titled, “(Just) a Walk with the Dog? Animal Geographies and Negotiating Walking Spaces,” argues that “... walking with dogs represents a potentially important cultural space for making sense of human–animal relations. We show how the personalities of both dog and walker can shape not only walking practices, but also the human–animal bond. We contend that the walk is a significant arena where relations of power between animal and human are consciously mediated.”
It makes you think about the interactions you see as people walk their dogs. Is the dog having fun? Are the dog and human interacting or are they on separate missions? Who is training whom?
Be A Dog!
One command you should regularly give your pal on the other end of the leash is, “Be a Dog!” To us that means Poppy can follow her nose, sniff at the corners, or hop up on a bench and relax. She gets a turn to do what she wants on the walk.
Other times we may need some faster-paced exercise and she will have to walk along with us to allow us to get what we need from the walk.
Occasionally our nervous little pup may need to have one of us pick her up and hold her because some evil noisemaker has her scared witless. We try to do whatever it takes to keep her moving and feeling safer outside.
While other dogs romp in the off leash area on the Boston Common, this gentle giant prefers to observe from the sidelines.
Win-Win
There are aspects of your daily walks that can be win-wins for you and your dog. If you gather friends and walk in a pack, that can be a perfect outing with good conversation among the humans and socializing companionship and play among the dogs.
If you have a highly energetic dog, a long walk can help the dog settle better when you return home. You might find that increasing the length and speed of your walks can alleviate destructive behavior and lessen hyperactivity. It could result in everyone getting a better night’s sleep, as well.
Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.
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Thanks to finding a great puppy sitter, we were able to dine out in Provincetown on our recent spring visit. Naturally our first choice for a test run was brunch at Ross' Grill.
We want to put you on alert – grabbing a couple of seats at the bar in-season won't be as easy as it was for us in April. So go to the site and make a reservation before you arrive in town or call them as soon as you land in Ptown.
This is exactly what we recommended to a friend going to Provincetown for Memorial Day weekend. Why not insure an outstanding meal with great hospitality?
A bonus is the great harbor view.
And a wonderful deck where you can relax with a drink while waiting for friends or a table.
These wine specials are in addition to a fabulous and extensive wine list with more than 75 different wines served by the glass.
We actually have a tradition of choosing a pinot noir for our Thanksgiving meal at while sitting and sipping at this bar. Someone has a great taste in pinot and we love to let experts educate us and select the best wine.
Ross' has a history of outstanding bartenders. We asked for a recommendation and knew we were in the hands of a talented server with our first sips. In fact, one of our favorite bartenders over the years, César Gerena, now owns the restaurant.
Ed makes it easy for us to pick a pinot by ordering his favorite "Blackened Tuna Sandwich with Black Olive Tapenade." He loves a good pinot with that dish.
The "Chicken Liver and Pistachio Paté" is the perfect appetizer to share with the table or your dining companion. We both enjoyed this platter of delicious accoutrements that let us make each slice of bread spread with paté slightly different from the last.
Ross' Grill is at the end of Whaler's Wharf on the second floor.
You can check the current menu on line or on this menu board near at the entrance to the wharf complex.
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We love visiting beaches in the shoulder seasons. Sometimes this means we have some surprisingly warm days, but often it means we deal with a bit of cold and wind.
For those days, Penny has found a solution. Or rather, she has taken a lesson from some wise neighbors at the beach.
Last April she was sitting inside reading while sharing the window seat with Poppy. It was too cold and windy to be out on the deck where Penny would spend every waking hour if she could.
Through the window she saw two women come out from one of the other apartments, spread sleeping bags on the chaise lounges on the deck, zip themselves in, and start to read. Brilliant Women! Women to be emulated!
Not only does it work like a charm on cool windy days, but it also opens into a queen size comforter, if we want to use it that way. This one is a nice, soft, flannel fabric and doesn't have any of the noisy, crinkly nylon that many other bags have.
When the sun warmed up the deck, the sleeping bag was still welcomed to keep toes warm and to serve as a comfy cushion.
It was "Poppy Approved" for sharing ...
Both outdoors on sunny days and inside on rainy ones.
You might consider this as a great gift for anyone with a beach house, especially if they love to spend time outside in spring and fall or on chilly summer nights.
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All products featured on BostonZest are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
When one spring vegetable dish would not fit with an allergy, our server at Coppa suggested a new menu item – Piselli (Roasted snap peas, chermoula vinaigrette with fried shallot.)
Between bites and wipes of the sauce with bits of bread, we sipped a pink Glera. It was such a great combination that when a friend stopped to chat, we offered to order another round to share with him so he could taste it.
Any day on the patio at Coppa is a good day. We always order a few small plates and try to mix up our old favorites with new temptations.
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This picture was a stare down with an arch enemy (for Poppy that's anything with back up sounds) after we returned from our quiet place at lands end.
We try to make a spring visit to someplace where our little girl can walk the beach and enjoy sniffing the sand. It makes the perfect birthday gift for her and her loyal servants.
Here are more of her birthday reports. You can see how she's matured.
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Here's a rundown of what's open and what's closed in Boston and the MBTA schedules for Memorial Day – Monday, May 29, 2017. This is now a permanent resource page that we will update from year-to-year.
We publish these reminders before a holiday to give our readers a nudge to finalize their holiday plans. This is the first big weekend of the summer. Get going on some fun plans! And plan your shopping for adult beverages because this is one of those Blue Law holidays!
Will you stay in the city or enjoy a holiday weekend at a great beach house with a view like this on the harbor in Provincetown? Or will you put the boat in the water and get out on your favorite bay?
Restaurants, bars: Open
Convenience stores: Open
Supermarkets: Open
Retail stores: Are allowed to open if the owners choose
Plan ahead if you need wine, beer, or spirits for your holiday event.
City, Town, State, and Federal offices and facilities are closed:This includes Schools, Libraries and the Postal Service (express mail will be delivered). Only emergency services are available.
Financial Services:As the British would say, this is a Bank Holiday with both Banks and the stock markets in the U.S. closed. Some international markets are open.
Boston Parking: You don't have to feed the meters on Monday. Other parking rules apply.
Street Sweeping:The city site says: "On City holidays, we suspend street sweeping during the day, but we still sweep streets at night. On the weekends, we sweep some streets at night. Please always check posted street sweeping signs for information. If you still have questions, please contact 311."
More information after this ad
Save storage space with these collapsible coolers. Perfect for small city homes. We had many years of use from an older version of the Arctic Zone 30 model. It was amazing at keeping things chilled. We not only used it for picnics, but also grabbed it to go grocery shopping.
Boston Trash Collection
The city has changed the way it publishes the schedule for holidays so that you now have to go to thecity site and look up your specific addressin order to get information.
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