Oh my goodness, Sarma.

This is a popular restaurant in Somerville known for small plates of Mediterranean food.








The menu is large, and I wanted to order everything.

And between the three of us, we may have.

Plus, they bring around delicious freshly made options to your table.

I think I ended up ordering five or six, plus nibbling on things from Josh & Kaitlynn.

But here are some of the ones I remember.






Pork belly biscuits jalapeño-whipped feta, cider

I'll admit, I'm not much a fan of dark chocolate.

Maybe it's a taste that comes with age or experience. But all I know is that the more sugar, the happier I am.

But Somerville - Kaitlynn's town - is home to their very own chocolate factory.

And how often do you get to visit a chocolate factory?

We took a tour of Taza Chocolate where we learned about the products they produce and how it was all inspired by this drinking chocolate the owner had.

So, of course, the shop has all sorts of drinking chocolates available.

They have flavors like ginger and coconut, but they also come in various percentages of cacao. 















The different flavors wer unique.

But, of course, my favorite ended up being the original with only 60% dark chocolate.

Have you taken a tour?

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.