August 16th 2026: Failing to Escape a Room, Worcester

 Today, we started out with a meal at the Fuel America location

 at the Grove Village Lofts in Worcester,

this time getting the Iced Matcha Latte,

the Southwest Salad (lettuce, tomatoes, corn, wontons, chicken, avocado, chipotle aioli dressing),

the Pesto BLT (bacon, tomato, lettuce, mayo, nut-free green pesto)

and the Classic Mac and Cheese (white cheddar cheese sauce).

The salad and mac and cheese were alright by me, although there was too little sauce and too much lettuce on the sandwich.

My other half thought the food was terrible though, and wished we had gone to Fix instead.

After our meal, we headed to Escape Games Worcester,

having to solve a 60s style mystery. We failed in our attempt to escape the room, despite all the clues provided.  At least we were able to solve some puzzles and get to the first door key of 2.

Next we went to check out the Somos Boricuas Festival happening on the Worcester Common.

Dinner was at Vivienne Coastal Mediterranean, a new upscale restaurant in downtown Worcester. Really fancy inside.

We got the DITALINI AI BROCCOLI (roasted broccoli, pesto cream, parmiganio reggiano, chili flakes, lemon)

and the Meze Tour, consisting of the DIP TRIO (Melitzanosalata (smoky eggplant, red onion, olive oil, lemon, kalamata olive) Hummus (sumac, spiced chickpeas), and Whipped Feta (creamy feta, olive oil, oregano) Served with rice crackers, crudites, and pita chips),

the FOCACCIA (served with whipped butter),

the INSALATA DI ZUCCHINE (raw zucchini, toasted pine nuts, strawberries, charred red onion, arugula, yogurt dressing),

the GRILLED RAPINI (spiced chickpea purée, piquillo, and pecorino),

the GRILLED LAMB CHOPS (smoked eggplant, parsley, sweet onion, sumac, green chermoula),

and the SEARED SCALLOPS (pearl couscous, green onion emulsion, aleppo).

Really delicious, especially the tender lamb chops, buttery scallops and pasta.

We also got THE TIRAMISU (Italian savoiardi cookies, dipped in sweetened espresso and layered with cassata cream and cocoa powder) for dessert.

Unfortunately, the dessert left more to be desired, being soggy and nothing special. So yeah, if you want to check this place out, don't get the dessert.