Today, I had VIP tickets to the
New England Dessert Showcase 2012, set in
Sheraton Boston Hotel.
After parking at the
Boston Common Garage in the morning, I still had a ton of time, so I decided to walk the entire Commonwealth Avenue Mall. I passed by several interesting buildings along the way as well. Pictures of the mall, which I walked from the Public Garden all the way to the Kenmore T-Station, and the buildings I passed by, follow.
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| Commonwealth Avenue Mall |
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| Alexander Hamilton |
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| John Glover |
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| Patrick Andrew Collins |
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| William Lloyd Garrison |
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| Vendome Fire Memorial |
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| Boston Women's Memorial |
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| Samuel Eliot Morison |
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| Domingo Faustino Sarmiento |
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| End of Commonwealth Avenue Mall |
At the end, I ventured further to Kenmore Square to take a few more pictures.
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At Charlesgate Park,
Kenmore Street and Commonwealth Avenue |
From here, I decided to take the Boylston Street route back to the Sheraton Hotel to attend the Dessert Showcase.
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Charles River by the HH Richardson Bridge,
Boylston Street near Charlesgate |
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| The Charles River |
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| Memorial on Richardson Bridge |
Finally at the Sheraton, it is really beautiful on the inside. I had a little trouble finding where the showcase was, finally finding it at the Republic Ballroom.
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| Inside the hotel |
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| Inside the showroom |
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| At the Dessert Showcase |
There were several companies displaying the desserts they got, including
Fratelli's Pastry Shop,
Cookie Lady Treats,
Konditor Meister,
Chocolate Therapy and
Golden Cannoli Shells.
Some of the desserts I had are shown below. I especially liked the swan-shaped cream puffs from Konditor Meister.
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| Limoncello |
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| Cupcakes |
Konditor Meister Desserts
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| Golden Cannoli Shell Treat |
Finally stuffed with dessert, I decided to leave to do more sightseeing in Boston. I decided to use my groupon deal at
Soulfire in Allston.
I first went to the
Christian Science Plaza area, where there was a beautiful fountain and a reflecting pool filled with water. I then headed to Beacon Street, which I then walked all the way back to my car.
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| The fountain |
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| Reflecting Pool |
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Engine #33, Ladder 15,
941 Boylston Street |
After getting the groupon from my car, I decided to head to the
Charles River Explanade area, passing by the
Liberty Hotel and
Charles/MGH T-Station.
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| Charles/MGH T-Station |
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| Liberty Hotel |
I tried to walk the
Longfellow Bridge to get to the Esplanade, but there was no way down, so I had to backtrack to get back on course.
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| On the Longfellow Bridge |
Finally on the Esplanade, I took more pictures of the Salt and Pepper Bridge and some memorials I missed out on
the last time I was here.
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| The Salt and Pepper Bridge |
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| Memorial in the middle of the Esplanade |
Walking all the way past the
Harvard Bridge, I took a few pictures of the buildings across the river in Cambridge.
At the Dewolfe Boathouse area, there was an overhead bridge heading to the Marsh Chapel area of the
Boston University, and I went over after noticing the tower in the School of Theology.
I did a bit of sightseeing here on the way to Allston.
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| Harry Agganis Statue |
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| School of Theology |
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| Nickerson Field |
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| Marsh Chapel |
Heading into Allston, I passed by a few places before reaching Soulfire.
Soulfire was a pretty much typical BBQ place, just a little nicer with a bar-like atmosphere. I had a $25 coupon here, so I decided to get the Soulfire Chilli, and the 3 Meat Combo with Chopped Brisket, Pulled Chicken and Beef Ribs, with collard greens and baked beans on the side.
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| Soulfire Chilli |
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| 3 Meat Combo |
All the dishes except for the collard greens were pretty good, although I could not finish my meat after all the desserts I had eaten.
After leaving the place, I headed back to explore the Boston University a little more.
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| BU Grounds West |
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| Fountain outside College of Communication |
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| Alfred L Morse Auditorium |
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| Sculpture outside College of Engineering |
Heading back along Beacon Street, I passed by Church Court, an old church converted into condominiums on the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Beacon Street.
Next, I headed back to the
Prudential Center area to take a few pictures of buildings I missed.
After finally getting back to my car, I decided it was time to head out to Brookline to do some sightseeing there before going to dinner at
Oishii with my friends.
Here are a few of the places I managed to go to before it got too dark.
After picking up my friend along Chandler Street back in Boston, we headed to Oishii to have dinner. My chef friend had complimentary stuff for us to eat as always, on top of what we ordered.
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| Rainbow Trout Terrine |
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| Tuna with vanilla gelato on pineapple |
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| Another Complimentary Dish |
We decided to get the Tuna Mango with Baby Ginger on Crispy Seaweed Squares and the Kumamoto Oyster Tempura Maki, with tempura fried oysters, orange zest and lemon foam in a ginger balsamic reduction, for appetizers.
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| Tuna Mango with Baby Ginger in Crispy Seaweed Squares |
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| Kumamoto Oyster Tempura Maki |
On top of the delicious dishes, my friend got the Steamed Lobster Tail, which was topped with a crispy Filo net, garlic lobster sauce and grilled pineapple, while I got the Uni Pasta with egg.
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| Steamed Lobster Tail |
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| Uni Pasta with Egg |
At this point, I had to go get my friend coming from New York from
South Station.
After coming back from a harrowing ride in Boston traffic, I ordered my friend the Rock Shrimp Explosion Maki, which he liked a lot.
We finished everything off with the green tea triamisu dessert, which was the only disappointing part of the dinner as it tasted kinda weird.
With that, we waited for our chef friend to get off work, then we set off for The Forks, ME, where we were to go white water rafting tomorrow morning on the
Kennebec River.
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