Kaitlynn and Josh are olive oil lovers.

So when we had a few moments, we stopped by Salt & Olive.

This shop is a chef's dream.

From salt and olive oil to balsamic oils, I wanted to try a bit of everything.

They have ones with mushrooms infused! And garlic! So good.



They had a fig balsamic that was soo good.

It comes at a price, though, and I didn't want to deal with checking a bag. So I had to skip on purchasing for now.

Kaitlynn, however, has a punch card for how often they buy the olive oil.

Whenever I visit Boston, I usually have a huge long list of places I want to eat. Because Boston is a foodie mecca.

But I wanted Kaitlynn to choose one of her favorite places to go for a change. And she went with Loyal Nine.

This place is a like a trendy New England restaurant specializing in brunch. That sounds about right.

I went with the most Boston thing I could think of: the lobster popover with a poached egg and smoked pork fat hollandaise.

But first, we started with a pastry basket. It's like a little surprise, so that was fun to try.

And just look at this popover! I mean. Goodness.

Boston's favorite burger joint is a no-frills, beer-serving, late-night piece of deliciousness. Tasty Burger has a few different locations throughout the city, and we made it a point to stop at one nearby before I headed out of town.

Born behind Fenway Park in Boston, Tasty Burger instantly became one of Boston’s favorite neighborhood Burger joints. Tasty Burger represents the fruition of our goal to create a Modern Fast Food Burger restaurant with the old school sensibilities of the great early places that created the genre. We took a look back in time to the late forties and fifties to study the process, energy and enthusiasm that made the humble hamburger America’s favorite food. We studied hard in our attempt to give this national sandwich a Boston relevance and vernacular. 

In the process we learned to love the burger world and the entrepreneurial spirit that drives it. Our Mission is to create a fresh flavorful flat patty burger, made from the finest all natural American beef. We have visited the pastures of family ranches where our cattle graze to get a first hand understanding of where great beef comes from. Our all natural beef meets HFAC third party review standards at all stages and is NEVER given any growth hormones or antibiotics. The steer are grass fed and finished on a 100% grass and grain diet, for an uniquely savory steak flavor. We apply this same level of care to our homemade Buns made in the old Sunbeam Bread factory, from scratch sauces, proprietary Hot Dogs made locally and all of our fresh daily ingredients. All this with the goal in mind of offering a complete menu with similar options and price point to the most familiar fast food places, but prepared with a more individual attention to quality ingredients. We wish to operate with professionalism, focus on details and quality at a fair price (Tasty Burger).

Tasty Burger has a few menu items - the 1/3 lb. certified all natural beef burgers, the "sack of 5 burgers," crispy chicken sandwiches, all beef dogs, salads and side items like nuggets, onion rings, french fries and tater tots.

The location we went to had an upstairs that looked like a retro diner, and then a darker downstairs that had games -- and served alcohol. Clearly, that's where we headed. The tables were stocked with Tasty Fry Seasoning and Spicy Tomato Ketchup - neither of which I was impressed with. The seasoning had some cinnamon and brown sugar, and the ketchup had a little zip.

I ordered "The Big Tasty," which came with cheese, lettuce, pickle, red onion, tomato, and Tasty sauce. I also got an order of the tater tots, which are "deep fried, grated potato." The burger was pretty good. I liked the toppings, and there was plenty of cheese. I wish the burger had a touch more seasoning; a bit more flavor. But, not bad.

The tots were good. Definitely on the greasier side, but a nice thick crunch to them was certainly satisfying. Overall, a pretty decent burger joint. Not the best I've ever had, but a solid contender.

Grade: B

Toro is an award-winning Spanish tapas restaurant in Boston. It's rustic, it's chic and it's busy. And it feels like you've been transported to beautiful Barcelona.

Toro is a Barcelona-style tapas restaurant located in Boston’s South End. We serve traditional and modern Spanish-style small plates made with locally sourced and sustainable ingredients.

Hailed as Boston's best kept secret, Toro is a Spanish tapas restaurant and bar that has been serving the South End since 2005. Created by James Beard Award-winning Chefs Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette, the menu features Barcelona-inspired hot and cold small plates, designed to be served and enjoyed tapas-style. The beverage program features classic-inspired cocktails and an eclectic, carefully curated wine list. Toro is open seven days a week for dinner, serves lunch on the weekdays and features a special brunch on Sunday. Due to our small size we are unable to accommodate dinner reservations and seat all parties on a first-come, first serve basis. We do accept lunch reservations of any size and take brunch reservations for parties of 6 or more.

We were seated on this awkward little corner at the end of the booth seating and beginning of window seating. We were right behind this one, elderly gentleman eating alone who seemed to come here often, as he knew the servers by name. This is Jack Truslow.

Kaitlynn and I were having a bit of a heart-to-heart, as it was our last day together for probably months. We talked about our respective futures and where we see things going, and we talked about changes ahead. I lamented how I feel such a strong connection to West Virginia, and how I don't want to be "one of the ones who leave." Even though I totally understand why people do. I told her how I love the bustling city and how full of life it is, but there are things about home that you just can't get elsewhere.

In the midst of this deep conversation, we put in some orders from the menu. Tapas necessitates ordering a few different bites and sharing them amongst the table. We ordered a handful and soon enough, fresh baked bread was delivered to our table. It was yeasty, porous and divine.

Kaitlynn's "Pan con Tomate" came out, which is toasted bread, tomato, garlic, Spanish olive oil, sea salt and anchovies. Next, my "Maíz Asado con Alioli y Queso Cotija" was grilled corn with aioli, lime, espelette pepper and aged cheese. I don't say this often - but this was life-changing. I didn't know that corn could taste this good. IT's hidden under this mound of cheesy creamy deliciousness. The corn is perfectly grilled, the little lime just enhances the flavors. Like, you must get this. Please get this so we can talk about it. There's nothing else like this. Amazing.

OK, I also got the "Uni Bocadillo," which is a pressed uni (sea urchin) sandwich with miso butter and pickled mustard seeds. Also, quite good. Small, light, flavorful.

We took bites of everything, exclaiming how incredible each of these small plates were, while carrying on our conversation about real-world adult shit. It was then that Jack Truslow apologized and interrupted our conversation. He was from North Carolina, but fell in love with Boston. He loved the city and overheard it was my last day (and heard me saying city folk are not super nice), so he wanted to prove Boston is lovely. He ordered us one more small plate - "pimientos del Padron," which are spicy green peppers and sea salt.

It's a very simple, but beautiful dish full of vibrant flavors - like each of these plates. I was overwhelmed with his generosity. We continued to talk, and he knew of all the great places in town and asked how I was liking things. He caught my name and then mentioned Candice Bergen (who my mother got inspiration from in naming me), and he was delighted to hear that fact. Jack Truslow became the unintended, but very welcomed third party at our table.

If I felt before that Boston wasn't overly friendly, he completely changed my mind. That was exactly what he intended to do - to show Boston could be friendly. He carried on a long conversation with us about food once he found out I was a blogger, and we talked about the incredible meal we all had just had.

Toro really is an incredible place. Flavors I haven't had before - all prepared fresh and full of vibrancy. And the customers, well, they are pretty great, too.

Grade: A

My flight out of Boston back to Pittsburgh was really early in the morning, but that wasn't going to stop me from finding something delicious to eat. As I looked around to see what was in my terminal, I decided that Wahlburgers would be my best bet for something that wasn't a HUGE chain.

So, I found the bright green chairs and was seated for breakfast. I didn't get to try an actual burger, so I went for the next best thing: a breakfast sandwich with two eggs, government cheese, housemade tomato jam, with sausage. I also got a side of tater tots because, I dunno, why not?


So, this sandwich was just OK. My biggest problem is the bun is SO light and fluffy, it just gets completely soggy. The tomato jam became the remnants of some tomato-based sauce that just soaked up in the bun. So, definitely a lack of flavor and some texture issues. Tough to say if their burgers would be better - but if they are using this same bun, it can't be that great.

Grade: C

I'm gonna make this one short and sweet because I didn't spend too much time here, but I did absolutely fall in love with the design and concept.





Sugarfina has this "candy bento" concept where you select one of the perfectly packaged square boxes of candies and put them in a container so you have a nice variety of candies to choose from. I super love this idea because of how beautifully packaged it is and how you can pick and choose.

They have berry-flavored gummy lips, gummy ice cream cones, rose-infused gummy roses, olive-shaped white chocolate almonds, peach-flavored gummy hearts, berry-flavored jellybeans, champagne-flavored gummy bears, apple-flavored caramels and so much more.

So, I tried one of the salted caramel chocolates and fell in love. Granted, this is like my favorite candy. But, it was really, really good.

Eataly has a few locations: Chicago, New York City, LA and Boston. I was first introduced to this concept in Chicago, and then I stumbled upon the Boston location by chance.

So, I walked in and the first section I saw was coffee at Lavazza. When it's cold and rainy, I can think of no better solution than a hot beverage. I ordered a hot chocolate, which was delicious.

Boasting over 120 years of history, Lavazza was created by the tenacious and intuitive Luigi Lavazza, the first to create coffee blends from beans of different origins. In 1895, he acquired a small grocery store in the heart of Turin. The location is still open today, while the company has grown to be the symbol of Italian espresso worldwide. Lavazza shares Eataly’s passion for quality. Our caffè offers a wide menu of Lavazza’s traditional Italian espresso-based drinks, American coffee drinks, and housemade pastries for an authentic “colazione all’italiana,” or Italian breakfast. 

Then, venturing upstairs, there are tons of small counters and open shops that have all sorts of specialty goods: seafood, meat, cheese, breads, cooking utensils, produce, oils, just literally anything you can think of.

And this Boston store is huge! It's so beautiful, and if I lived locally, I would definitely be buying lots of delicious items here.

I wish there was a market like this nearby. I do love the farmers market, but this takes it up a few notches.

They even have prepared foods in addition to ingredients so you can eat AND shop.

Best of both worlds.