Day 24 Breakfast at Sweet Life Bakery & Cafe in Lower Mills, Dorchester.

 Buttermilk pancake

 French Toast with fruit compote

 Menu for Sweet Life Bakery and Cafe

On a cold and rainy Friday in December i had just finished running errands on the last day of my vacation from work and i found myself in the lower Mills area of Dorchester. Growing up my dad used to do a lot of work in the area and it always smelled of chocolate from the chocolate factory that was open there at the time.  We ducked into a bakery/cafe that looked warm and inviting to get out of the rain. 

The owner of this establishment is married to the owner of another local restaurant, The Ledge. 

I must say on looks alone i was very impressed with The Sweet Life, its a very long restaurant that breaks up the establishment into 3 categories, the bakery , the counter for dining and the dining room. We ate in the dining room after browsing in the bakery briefly. The dining area has a nice cozy feel to it with a woking fireplace. The wait staff was very friendly & attentive.  The coffee mugs are large and the coffee is delicious and very hot. I had the french toast with challah bread with fruit compote (apples) and it was thoroughly enjoyable.  Served hot and a good size portion. My dining companion had the pancakes and they were light and fluffy but cooked right and served nice and hot.  I can tolerate other meals not piping hot, but never breakfast. 

The prices are reasonable , at least for meals the bakery seemed a lil high but no more than other upscale bakeries in Boston. I would recommend The Sweet Life cafe to anyone and i look forward to my next visit here, and i might have to try the eggs and grits the next time.

Have a good night and a good meal.

Kevin Boyle

  cheese puffs (complimentary at Brasserie Ruhlmann )

Jalapeño Mashed potatoes 

 The 14oz New York Steak au Poivre (with       cognac-green peppercorn sauce, butter lettuce and Boursin cheese )  cooked medium well , just a little pink

Bavette a l'Echalote (skirt steak, shallots and gratin dauphinois (potatoes) )

chocolate ice cream with macaroons

http://www.brasserieruhlmann.com/?page_id=152

Brasserie Ruhlmann

 Crowne spiked coffee (2nd item on menu below)

 Hotel bar drink menu

http://www.stagedoordeli.net/menu2.html

 complimentary pickles (you get 4, 2 dill and 2 gerkins) and cole slaw with each meal

 matzo ball soup , with chicken and noodles

 an open faced ruben sandwich

a corned beef sandwich on a sub roll with yellow mustard

 1 salted carmel cupcake and 1 double chocolate cupcake with coffee and a Hot cocoa from Dean & Deluca's  

http://www.deandeluca.com

I love the city of Boston , and i am a proud Bostonian. Having said that, the city of New York might just be the best place on earth to visit during the Christmas season other than visiting the North Pole. and Santa's workshop itself.  The whole city seems to engulf the christmas season.  I loved watching the skaters at Rockefeller center. Seeing the amazing Christmas tree and the beautifully decorated area around the  center. Seeing the spectacular Christmas show at Radio City Music City would really put you in the Christmas spirit, and those Rockettes put on a show that is just fabulous. The routines they put on is a display in synchronized perfection.  Random buildings around 5th & 6th ave had beautiful light displays and decorations. You could almost taste the christmas spirit in the air. 

With a restaurant on almost every corner, finding a great place to eat was no easy task. Trying to find the perfect place to eat after the Radio City christmas spectacular , we had to look around for somewhere with the right christmas atmosphere. Well after much debate we decided on Brasserie Ruhlmann. An elegant restaurant within walking distance of Radio City Music Hall. The staff is very attentative, with someone greeting you at the door when you walk in. The restaurant has a lovely oak wood decor and a first class wait staff that is courteous and helpful. When you sit down and are looking over the menu they bring you some nice fresh bread and butter for the table, and also some cheese puffs, these are not filling but an amusing way to tickle the palate.

The waiter gave a beautiful description of the meals we questioned, and it was based on his recommendation that i ordered the 14oz NY Steak. The steak is served to your table in the pan its cooked in, so the juices are still in the pan and is piping hot the way a steak should always be served. It comes with a leaf of butter lettuce on top and some boursin cheese on top, very flavorful. On a whim I decided to order the jalapeño mashed potatoes, not sure what to expect, i was a little surprised to see the above pictured bowl of green whipped potatoes put before me. I thought they brought me the wrong dish, this looked like creamed peas. But i have to say looks aside, these were delicious. I am tempted to add jalapeños to my mashed spuds at home. 

We split a lovely dish of chocolate ice cream with crushed up macaroon. A very delightful way to end a meal, not too heavy and great combination of the ice cream with the macaroons. 

On a cold brisk December afternoon, i highly recommend popping into 1 of NY's many cafes or bakeries for a nice hot beverage and something sweet. We tried to get into several bakeries to no avail (no seating available) but were lucky enough to stumble on Dean & Deluca's as the lunch crowd was leaving. They have a wonderful pastry selection, but we decided on the cupcakes. Double chocolate and Salted Caramel...both were exceptional, the icing was just the right amount of sugary and creamy. 

The place was a little pricey, but its NY and lets face it things are a little pricier there than most places.

Now everyone has a list of things they hope to accomplish in life, i  have a foodie bucket list. On that list is to eat at a real NY deli. Now i know Boston has some great sandwich shops, like Sam LaGrassas. But i have heard some wonderful things about a NY Deli corned beef sandwich.  I tried 2 NY deli's. one was a chain The Bread Factory, very good i was quite impressed. I would love it if they came to Boston, but in my heart i couldn't consider it a NY Deli, so i was thrilled when i found myself standing outside the Stage Door Deli outside Penn Station. I couldn't resist getting a matza ball soup and an open faced Ruben, Wow...it was everything i hoped to get from a sandwich. Plenty of meat and sauerkraut , and that meat was perectly lean and scrumptious. My only complain and its a small 1, is that a Ruben should come with russian dressing and this had none, they said i had to tell them when ordering, but why would i think to order it if i would assume it should already be on the sandwich. But otherwise it was a beautiful meal, and just what i had always wanted to try. I also had a bite of the corned beef and yellow mustard sandwich, and that was quite heavenly.  I suppose its a good thing there's not too many places in Boston that can serve food that wonderful, i would be eating out for lunch almost daily. 

New York is an amazing city, and i think i could spend a week there and not hit 1/2 the sites and shows that are happening every day. But if you go and have any recommendations, i would love to hear back from you,  for my next visit. If i like the place you recommend, i will give you a shout out in the blog and make sure you get the credit you deserve. 

Have a very merry Christmas and a Happy New years to all my readers.  Thank you for following me this year, i am very grateful for you all.

Kevin M. W. Boyle I 

XOXO