FoodPrint-Boston: Stella

Restaurant:
Stella

Address:
1525 Washington St
Boston, MA 02118
b/t Mystic St & Brookline St in South End

Category:
Italian

Average:
$40/person

Review:

This is an unexpected dining experience I had in Boston. After my awful visit to Boston's South end Giacomo's, I decided to find a restaurant nearby to had dinner with my friends. Stella was the one that we picked based on its relatively decent review in the south end area. 

When we arrived at this restaurant, we were seated immediately even without a reservation. This was pretty unusual for a restaurant on Sunday night. The inside decoration was very modern and neat. It looked pretty nice but lacked the authentic Italian element. The service there was very satisfying and all waiters were very passionate. 

We ordered Seafood Risotto to share with each other. This dish was very nicely arranged and served. However, after tasting it, I had to say that this was pretty disappointing. The sour flavor from tomato was too strong, which almost completely covered the flavor from mussels and fish. Risotto was too soft and watery and made this whole dish more like a soup. 

In addition, I ordered Braised Short Rib for my entree. This was a pizza with short rib on top. The appearance of this dish was not quite attractive but its taste totally surprised me. The short rib was well cooked and had a sweet flavor. But only the sweet rib couldn't make it an amazing dish. The most surprising part was the bitterness came from kale, which matched really well with the sweetness from its rib. The combination of sweetness and bitterness really enriched the layers of flavor in this dish. Even though the bread was a little overcooked, I would still say this is a pretty nice dish.

In general, Stella is a decent restaurant with a lot of space for improvement. 

FoodPrint-New York City: Pates Et Traditions

Restaurant:
Pates Et Traditions

Address:
52 Havemeyer StBrooklyn, 
NY 11211
b/t 7th St & 6th St in Williamsburg - North Side

Category:
French, brunch

Average:
$25/person

Review:

Pates Et Traditions is a little restaurant for brunch located in Williamsburg. Right around the corner, there is this little restaurant with a nice outdoor setting that serves fantastic crepe. 

There is practically no limit on what kind of crepe you can order. While ordering, you can ask for all kinds of extra ingredients combination you want to put on your crepe. As a greedy eater myself, I had sundry tomatoes, salmon, Italian sausage, egg, ham and cheese added into my crepe and this magical mix turned out to be great. 

The crepe was very thin and crispy. It was not overcooked but had a quite hard texture. However, the most amazing part is their cooking of the inside stuffing. Sundry tomato perfectly blended with eggs and sausage, which brought a little sour taste to the whole crepe and this really helped its flavor as a brunch dish. The little amount of salmon also added some depth into its favor.

In general, this is a nice little restaurant to go to in NYC for some interesting tasting Crepes if you are full of creativity.