A Boston Meal

The quintessential Boston meal at the Parker Restaurant.

Dining at the Parker Restaurant of the Parker House Hotel is such an incredible and delightful opportunity to learn about American Cuisine and local history.  The hotel itself is chock-full of history, but that's a separate entry.

The restaurant has no sign, it's just there. There's a "P" on the hostess podium and that's about it.

5  Entrance to the Parker Restaurant

The restaurant is wood paneled with carved detail.  The crystal chandeliers are by Waterford.  This is pretty much how it looked like in 1855.  

It's important to understand that the Parker Hotel was one of the first hotels in the U.S. to offer a European plan, this is when the hotel charged separately for meals and lodging.  Previous to this, hotels were meals and lodging, so the food was basically the cheapest (and often bad food) the hotel could serve  in order to turn a profit. So having a separate restaurant to serve the meals meant they can serve better food and charge for it accordingly.

5  The Dining Hall

The first item of historic importance is Table 40.  What is so significant about Table 40?  Table 40 is where Jack Kennedy proposed to Jackie Kennedy, right in this restaurant! 

5  Table 40 is shown above on the rear upper left.

Ever heard of Parker House Rolls?  They were first served here.  The restaurant also served unique and specialty dishes not served in fine dining establishments like Jonah Crab Cakes, which must have been considered exotic at the time.

5  Parker House rolls and variations

5  Jonah Crab Cakes

The Parker Restaurant is also said to have introduced Scrod to the world.  Scrod is not a type of fish.  It's actually either Cod or Haddock topped with a bread crumb crust and served with beurre blanc.  The Parker House uses skin-on baby cod and a ritz cracker and bread crumb topping.  So why is it called scrod?  Oftentimes, the maitre'd had to produce a menu before the chef came back from the market so he did not know what the fish of the day was.  So he wrote S.C.R.O.D which stood for Special Catch Right On Day.  And it stuck!

5  The famous Scrod

The most famous Boston dessert and the official dessert of Massachusetts is the Boston Cream Pie.  This was created by the Parker Restaurant chef Monsieur Sanzian when the restaurant opened in 1855.  It's basically two layers of sponge cake with creme filling and topped with chocolate.  I think the nuts were a later addition.

5  Boston Creme Pie

5  Bon Appetit!

I'm finding out that Boston is jam-packed with History at every turn.  Sometimes, you don't have to go further than the hotel you're staying in!

Blogging in Boston

It's very cold.

Part One: West Holly-weenie 2008

The annual Carnavale of West Hollywood.

I always come to Carnavale  with the impression that the costumes keep getting worse every year but I always find a gem or two at the end of the evening.

It's always fun to see what people can come up with.  The recession certainly affected the glam factor (for the straight people at least).  And the upcoming election was a very prominent theme.  Still, there were a lot who came in "throw-on" costumes and some who wore the same costumes from last year - but they still get an A for coming down and having fun.

THE LICENSED CHARACTERS!

Is it the recession that causes people to seek comfort in familiar faces from childhood?  Licensed characters were everywhere including pre-school huggables and super heroes.

First up are the muppets and sesame street.  There was Bert and Ernie conducting themselves in a lewd and lascivious manner:

There was an Oscar the Grouch.  I also saw Cookie Monster but he ran away before I could snap a pic:

Here's Marvin the Martian.  His costume was actually outlined in "neon" lights but the flash ruined the effect:

Then there are the Disneyana divas:

5  Little Mermaid, Peter Pan, Tinkerbell and Ursula

Standard issue Storm Troopers from Star Wars (yawn):

Here's a larger-than-life Freddy:

The best part are the superheroes doing what they do best. (Yeah, you just know that slut Wonder Woman slept with everybody!)

To see Part Two, CLICK HERE.

Part Two: West Holly-weenie 2008

Poli-tickle follies.

Politics was a big theme this year.

Here's the Barack-the-Vote group:

Some people dramatized the California propositions also in the ballot for the elections.  Prop 8 bans gay marriages in California:

Prop 2 is about stopping cruelty to animals bred for food:

Barack was very popular, this version was particularly cute:

5  Watch that other hand, Obama!

This was a weird take on Hillary. I'm still trying to figure it out:

I was surprised there wern't more Sarah Palins.  It took some time before I ran into this incarnation:

And of course - Larry the Plumber!

Everybody wants to be President!  This one is from the Smurf Party:

As always, the protesters.  This year they were surrounded by a phalanx of sheriffs:

To see Part Three, CLICK HERE.

Part Three: West Holly-weenie 2008

Hunka hunka burnin' luuuuv!

This year provided a decent amount of man eye-candy.

The Gladiator and the woman who loves them:

Walk like an Egyptian (or Egyptians!):

If you have a nice body, the costume is beside the point:

Keeping it TIGHT!
Keep the Satyrs satiated!

To see Part Four, CLICK HERE.

Part Four: West Holly-weenie 2008

The Creative and The Originals.

My favorite part are the people who build upon a concept or come up with something completely different and fun.

Here's an attempt at being a Blue Man Group trouper.  Unfortunately, he ran out of blue paint so we did not get to see his blue balls:

The trannies were out in force, as always:

Harajuku girls come in regular and jumbo size:

Butt pirates!  This is how the gays do pirates - impeccable fabrication and carefully studied aesthetics:

Refugee from New Orleans Mardi Gras:

The fifties housewife.  I guess all that multi-tasking, Miltown tranquilizers and vodka martinis finally drove her to vacuum the streets on her way to a bake sale:

Pucci!

There was a number of Mayan/Aztec dancers. This one looks authentic:

And this is the Cher version:

Most clever costume of the evening is Boy On A Swing.  Took a while to figure out the "trick":

And how weird is this - SwingBoy, Aunt Jemima and Barack!

Best ensemble costume goes to Tranny Air!

They came with their own refreshment cart....

.....and ground crew!  

This is how my evening ended....

That's one big greasy 12-inch piece-a-meat!

To see Part One, CLICK HERE.

Happy Halloween 2008

Be afraid, be very afraid.




This year I decided to dress up for Halloween.

This year's costume consist of bedsheet turned into a tunic with 700 plastic lids. The lids are takeout sauce lids, the kind you get from La Salsa or Baja Fresh or El Pollo Loco to put your salsa in.

The mask is modified store bought mask. I cut the rest of the face out to accomodate my glasses. Trust me, my face is scarier than the mask - mwahahaaaa!

So what is this costume exactly? It was supposed to be a ghost, but when people asked me I just told them I was Cher on her farewell tour after the holocaust.

Some people didn't get it.

So, I just said "Boo, I'm a ghost!"