This restaurant in Boston was life-changing.

I don't say that often. And it may be for reasons other than you're imagining.

But the Cornish Pasty Co. has changed my life.

You see, I wrote a book on pepperoni rolls, but during my entire research, I really never stumbled upon pasties. (PAST-TEES)

The history of the pasty sounds similar, no?

The Cornish Pasty (pronounced PASS-TEE) originates from Cornwall (Southwest England) and can be traced back as far as the 1200’s. Mining was once a thriving industry in Cornwall and at that time pasties were baked by the wives and mothers of the tin miners. Pasties were made with a thick crimped edge along one side so the miners could use the crimp as a handle to hold on to while eating. The miner’s hands would often be covered in arsenic from the mine, so the miners would discard the handle when they were done. The crusts were never thought to be wasted though, as many miners believed that spirits of former miners inhabited the mines and the leftover crusts would keep them content. At one time Cornwall had nearly 2000 flourishing tin mines, but by the 1880’s tin mining had become a rapidly declining industry. At this time, Cornish miners began immigrating to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for copper mining bringing pasties with them.    

I ordered the "Pilgrim Pasty," which had house-roasted chicken, sweet potato, grilled onion and homemade stuffing, served with red wine gravy and cranberry sauce. I love a good Thanksgiving mash-up.

But what I love more is this distant relative to the pepperoni roll. There are tons of foods created with a pastry coating and filling side, but this one had the same reasons behind that. And now I'm hooked.

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.

Birch was the grand finale for our Providence trip.

Modern American cuisine rooted in classical technique, made from the best of New England's seasonal environment.

It is perhaps the smallest restaurant I've ever been in.

There is one horseshoe-shaped table where parties sit, and the servers walk through the middle to serve drinks and dishes.

It is a prixe fixe menu, where you can choose which dish from each course you'd like to have.

There were four courses overall, with a few choices each. We had some homemade bread to enjoy.



The first bite was a gift from the chef that looked like a little plant.


My first dish was "lightly smoked sea robin with brocccoli, cherry blossom, and celery."

Then, I had squid with pole beans, pickled peppers and seaweed. Perhaps my favorite dish of the night.

Then, it was Rhode Island Duck with lettuce, herbs and greens, and fermented husk cherry.

Dessert was a yogurt with golden raspberries and nuts

Then, these little whoopie pies as a chef's gift!

Al Forno was one of our splurge meals while in Providence.

It's an Italian restaurant known for its pizza.

In fact, they invented the grilled pizza.

So, we waited outside for the restaurant to open (and there was already a line!).

We were seated, and there was a packed house already.

Looking over the menu, I knew I needed to try the originator of the grilled pizza.

But first, housemade bread.

They have a margarita, a pumpkin, a calamari, but Josh and I decided on the "Mushroom Duxelles - fresh herbs, two cheeses, extra virgin olive oil and sliced mushrooms."

We split this heart-shaped pizza and were both quit impressed.

It was light, super thin crust and very flavorful.

Have you been?