Last night, I was lucky enough to get to check out the Marathon Patriot Gala hosted by the Newbury Street League. Once again, people coming together to help others by eating. My kind of event for the food, but I missed the memo on the fancy level.

I’m decidedly causal pretty much all the time, while people at this event were wearing ballgowns (I congratulate myself when I make it more than an hour in heels).  Whoops.

There was even a live band.  They were really classy too.

Either way, the way I was dressed certainly didn’t affect the food.  And it was glorious.

Some favorites were the oxtail tacos with spicy crema, baby cilantro, and pickled shallots from Met Bar:

It was a flavor explosion.

I also liked the cornmeal–crusted cod with eggplant capenade from Papa Razzi. The fish was perfectly cooked and flaky.

I thought the yellowtail sashimi from Forum was super fresh, and didn’t even need the citrus sauce it came with (the sauce was delicious though):

Speaking of fish, I have to represent Cafeteria Boston, which served rock shrimp ceviche.  Super bright and fresh with the veggies with a hint of spice, and of course the tortilla chips are addicting.

Then there were the ribs from Joe’s American Bar and Grill.  I love sweet BBQ, and the sauce really hit the nail on the head for me. 

I forgot all about looking nice pretty quickly after taking my first bite.

Other honorable mentions included the Greeen Goat pizza from The Proper Slice with pesto, fresh tomatoes and goat cheese:

The paella from Tapeo; while super tasty, the paella I had in Spain ruined all others for me (I’m a paella snob though).

The seasonal sangria from Forum was also very tasty, but Spain still kinda ruined it for me.

Overall, most things were really tasty.  The only thing I wasn’t really about were the samosas from Kashmir: They were a bit dry for my linking, but the flavor was still good.

 

I’m always excited to go to events, and this time was no different. I had a lot of fun, and will try to remember to check the dress code next time I go somewhere.

-L