On Sunday, May 6th, I ran the Broad Street Run for the third year in a row.  I ran, along with a lot of my friends…Christina, Harry, Lauren, Pat, Brittany, Kevan, Lindsey, Stef, Hannah, Mikey & Todd!  Broad Street is such a fun event and I look forward to it every Spring.  I headed to the starting line with Christina and Harry and right away we ran into Todd, one of Christina’s good friends from high school and college, and his Mom! A little while later Lindsey spotted me walking by and I jumped in the corral with her. For some strange reason I always seem to run into Lindsey at the starting line of races.  I also planned to meet up with my friend Pat and we were able to find each other among the 40,000 other participants.

Going into the race I was pretty unsure of myself.  I hadn’t necessarily trained for Broad Street…however I guess it’s safe to say I was still in good shape from running Boston a few weeks ago.  Last year I ran Broad Street with Pat and I ended up getting a pretty big PR.  I wasn’t quite sure that I was capable of pulling off a time close to my PR of 1:11:40 so I decided to just set off at a pace near 7:25 to see how I felt and run the remainder of the race based on feel.  Turns out that I ran my first mile or so with Pat so a 7:25 clearly didn’t happen and from mile 2 on I just ran and when I looked down at my watch, my pace was pretty much where I had hoped it would be.  I was able to keep a pretty steady pace and the race seemed to go by rather quickly.  It felt good and I was having a fun time out there.  Just before mile 7, Todd was sitting at the end of his street cheering on the runners (ha) and waiting for me so he could hand me Tina’s car keys.  Luckily (or not so lucky), my shoe came untied around mile 6 so I waited to tie it until I saw Todd.  At just about the same time I was starting to feel pretty tired but I was able to pump myself back up so I could finish the race strong.  Just before the mile 9 mark, I spotted Pat just ahead of me and I was able to run with Pat for most of mile 9 before he beat me to the finish line by 9 seconds! haha Pat finished with a 4 second PR and I finished with a 40 second PR.  In my opinion, a PR is a PR and it’s a step in the right direction!  I’m really happy with my results and I’m much more confident in my ability to break 1:10 someday soon!  Congratulations to all of my friends who also participated in Broad Street.  I’m so proud of everyone especially the first-timers who completely kicked butt…Harry, Brittany, & Kevan!

Tina & Harold

Check out that girl in the background…yea girl…you eat that pretzel!

My official stats:

…and some finish line photos….

Hello Hello…it has been awhile!  I have another great recipe from How Sweet Eats!  I seriously love Jessica’s blog so much…she always posts such great recipes and her blog is funny to read too!  win win! haha im a LOSER…. anywayyyy Harry and I really didnt feel up to going out last night…I was just so pooped by friday…wanted to stay in and relaxxxx for once.  We were planning on studying a little too but hardly got anything done hehhehe….I dont hate it.  Anyway…I found a really good recipe for Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas…so we decided to try that out…we also made guacamole and had some brewskis too.  okay fine…I only had one beer.  I just realized this afternoon that we made a mexican dish and today is Cinco de Mayo…I’ll pretend that I did that on purpose….

Judging by the photo below (minus the stink bug…more on that soon)…Harry liked his enchiladas! Except the cilantro…come to find out…he HATES cilantro.  Isn’t that weird that some people DESPISE the stuff and some people (like me) LOVE it?  He said cilantro smelled like STINK BUGS TO HIM! hahah True story though… I did a little research and found this NY Times article…seems that Harry isn’t crazy after all. I think some people are just genetically predisposed to disliking cilantro and equating it to smelling like bugs or soap!!!  hahahah like my little stink bug down below!?  I kinda can see a resemblance between Harry and the bug…hmmmm.

Ingredients

makes 8 enchiladas

• 8 large  tortillas
• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (I used Rotisserie to make it easier)
• 28 ounce can red enchilada sauce
• 1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce (+ more depending on your tastebuds)
• 1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
• 4 ounces gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
• 5 green onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped
• ***next time I will add black beans to the chicken/green onion/cheese mixture!

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2. Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick spray. Pour enchilada sauce in a bowl and begin by whisking in 1/4 cup buffalo wing sauce. Taste and adjust according to your desired level of heat – I added in 1/2 cup total. Set aside
3. Add shredded chicken to a bowl with 2 green onions and 1/2 cup monterey jack cheese. Pour in about a 1/2 cup of enchilada/buffalo sauce mixture and mix thoroughly. Stir until mixture comes together.
4. Pour a drizzle of enchilada/buffalo sauce in the bottom of the baking dish. Take each tortilla and fill it with a few heaping tablespoons of the chicken mixture. Roll each up and set it in the baking dish, seam side down. Pour another 1/2 cup or more of enchilada/buffalo sauce on top of tortillas and add remaining monterey jack cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Immediately after taking enchiladas out of the oven, add crumbled gorgonzola on top. Garnish with the remaining onions and cilantro and serve. Store the remaining sauce in the fridge for 1-2 weeks, and use if reheating enchiladas.

Tomorrow Mary, Harry, our friend Lauren and our friends Lindsey, Steph, Pat, Brittany, and Kevan and I are running the 10 mile Broad Street run! I am excited… it will be fun!  This is Harry’s first real race, too!  Minus the Tough Mudder we did last weekend but that isnt really a race, ya know?  He is excited. Have no idea what pace we plan on running…might just go with the flow and see what happens! Tonight we are making a nice little pre-race dinner with Harry, Lauren and Todd…venison meatballs  LOVE that stuff…yum yum…

how we wished we looked running across the finish line

This past Monday I ran the Boston Marathon for the third time in a row and my older sister, Danielle, ran Boston for her first time!  This time around was much different than the other two times that I have ran Boston.  This was definitely the most challenging marathon I have run to date due to the temperature, which hit 89 degrees around 12:30 p.m.  The Boston Marathon has a late start and we did not cross the starting line until around 10:30.  By this time the temperature was already in the low 80′s and we were already sweating…before we even began!  So we knew we would be in for a hot one!

Prior to the marathon, we received all sorts of emails from the Boston Athletic Association regarding the weather.  They were strongly encouraging inexperienced marathoners and individuals with health conditions to not participate.  Ultimately, they offered runners an option to defer their entries until the 2013 Boston Marathon so runners did not feel that they had to participate considering to some this may be a once in a lifetime opportunity.  I did not even consider this option.  After training all winter, the expenses of traveling, and having my family up to watch me, deferring my entry was not even a consideration in my mind.  I was ready, pumped, and nervous to run Boston.  After all, I think adjusting to the conditions that you are given is part of being a runner.  Given the hot temperatures, it was really difficult for me to decide how I was going to run Boston.  I knew that my original plans of racing Boston were out the window and I was okay with that.  So I decided to have fun with Boston (at least what I consider to be fun).  I decided that I was not racing Boston and that I would instead make my goal to keep myself hydrated and finish the Boston Marathon.  I had planned to start off the marathon with 8:45′s for the first 6 miles and then I would evaluate how I felt and possibly stay at 8:45′s.

Although I think I should have held on to a slower pace for a little longer than I did, I think I did a pretty good job with pacing.  I felt relatively good the entire time.  I had been taking a cup of water and Gatorade at almost every water station (I probably only missed 2).  I was really being careful to take in enough fluids and to replace my electrolytes.  I was also dumping cups of water on my head and back of my neck to stay cool.  The fire stations had these awesome misting stations that runners could run through, fire hydrants were on spraying water at runners, residents and businesses hosed down the runners, and spectators provided oranges, twizzlers, popsicles, water, ice, etc. for all of the runners along the way.  The support was tremendous and I am so amazed how everyone comes together to support one another.  It was truly amazing.  I was able to see my parents in Natick around mile 10 and Todd and his parents around 21.5!  Although I felt like death around mile 21.5 they said that I still looked like I had energy compared to others on the course…yeah, I’m not quite sure about that!

mile 10

Danielle- mile 10

After cresting Heartbreak Hill, it is mostly downhill to the finish line.  During these downhills, I began to get cramping in my legs.  The cramps weren’t too terrible yet and I knew I could hang on to the end.  The worst part about having leg cramps is trying to get water/gatorade at a water station.  Many people were walking at the stations towards the end which forced me to slow down and move around them.  The problem is that when you have leg cramps, your legs practically seize up when you come to a stop or slow suddenly.  There were a couple of times when I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to get back into my rhythm or if my legs would just give out.  I saw lots of runners going down with cramps and they just could not hold themselves up.  I was hoping and praying that I could carry myself to the finish.  I have gotten leg cramps before in other marathons so I knew that I could do it.  I just kept my head up, focused on my form, and looked forward to turning onto Boylston Street to the finish line.  I knew I would not be pushing it towards the finish line.  At around mile 21 I told myself to just jog to the finish, just like a short 5 mile training run.  I imagined the typical 5 mile run that I go on in Philadelphia and that made it a little easier for me.  I know a lot of people have issues towards the very end of the marathon and I was definitely not putting myself at a bigger risk by pushing myself when it wasn’t necessary.  I just wanted to finish!

mile 10

As I was running around mile 22 or so I was looking at all of the runners around me and thinking how awesome it was that they were all still running or walking, still pushing to the finish line with any energy they had, despite the terrible conditions.  There were so many determined individuals out on the course on Monday which made the experience so much better.  As I was running, somehow I spotted one of my running buddies from Philly, Lindsey!  I was so excited to see a familiar face so far into the marathon.  I think we both needed each other at that point.  She was a little ahead of me and I was calling her name but she didn’t hear me.  Eventually I caught up and we helped each other get our butts across the finish line!  This was her first Boston and I know that she was thrilled to get to the finish line!  Congrats Lindsey!

I ended up finishing my 8th marathon in 3:41:13…which by my surprise is not my slowest marathon.  I only wonder how I could have done if the temperatures were much lower!  I was very happy with my Boston Marathon experience.  I had an absolutely incredible time out there and I am very happy with my time!

my biggest supporter and I!

Danielle & Mom!

My Dad, Danielle, and I

Thank you so much to all of the spectators, runners, & volunteers.  Everything was wonderfully executed despite the unexpected hot weather.  I think that Boston Athletic Association did top-notch work.  It was amazing how many volunteers were out on the course Monday.  They worked so hard and I was truly so thankful for each of them.  They are great contributors to the overall experience of the Boston Marathon.  I am also so thankful for my family who came to support me…my Mom and Dad, Todd, and his parents.  It truly means a lot to me and  I couldn’t have done it without you!

I am also so proud of my older sister, Danielle.  She completed her 3rd marathon and first Boston Marathon.  I ran with Danielle in the beginning of the marathon and we later separated.  The whole time I kept worrying that she would be okay.  It was a tough run out there today and she had been having some IT band issues which thankfully did not bother her during Boston (thanks to PT!).  Even though I worried for her, I knew that she would make it to the finish line because she is not one to quit.  I was just hoping that she was having a good and fun run like she had planned for.  It is so nice to have a good marathon experience…especially in Boston.  I was so happy to have shared this experience with her and I am once again very proud of her!  She is an orthopedic resident and doesn’t have much free time but still found time to train for Boston.  She is very inspiring and I’m happy to have a big sister like her that I can look up to.  Congratulations once again Danielle!  Very proud!!!

Howdy folks!  Today I had 2 over-ripened bananas laying around.  They were sitting there staring at me in the face, slowly rotting right in front of my eyes..poor little guys I usually either freeze over ripe bananas (*side-note: when you freeze bananas- take peel off first- and make smoothies with them- it makes the smoothie creamier!) or I make Hillary’s awesome granola bars .  But I already had a lot of bananas in the freezer and just didn’t feel like making more granola bars and so I decided to try out a new recipe! WOO! HOW EXCITING!!!  So I searched the internet and found this really simple, healthy, and delicious recipe I from the blog Simple Being Mommy. The muffins turned out great!  They are perfect for a healthy snack (and smothered in peaannutttt buttterrrrrrrrr ahhhh) or to have with breakfast!  Hope you enjoy

This is the best cake I have ever had and the best cake I have ever made.  Now, I know I am not a cake-baking expert by any means and I can count on my two hands how many times I have baked a cake from scratch…but I have eaten a lot of cakes, and I have to say that this is one of the tastiest cakes that I have had.  I first made this cake for my sister’s birthday in January and I decided to make it again for my Pop-Pop’s 87th birthday.  When I first made this cake, I followed this recipe exactly.  While it was good and all, I knew that I had a better recipe for chocolate cake.  It’s funny because both her recipe and the recipe that I like are Ina Garten recipes.  However, the recipe of Ina Garten’s that I think takes the cake (hardy har har) is her Beatty’s Chocolate Cake recipe….which I have made several times all with great success.  As for the frosting…don’t change a thing!  It is perfect and I literally can’t help but eat spoonful after spoonful of it.

make.this.cake.

The only unfortunate part of this whole cake process was that we weren’t even able to celebrate my Pop-Pop’s 87th Birthday because the night before his birthday he went to the Emergency Room.  Thankfully, everything seems to be under control right now and there are no major issues.  He is still in the hospital but should be able to go home any day now.  We felt bad about eating the cake without him, but we weren’t going to let this delicious cake go to waste! haha

Boy oh boy do I have a GOOD RECIPE FOR YOU!!!  A couple of weeks ago, one of my best friends, Jen, made Buffalo Chicken pizza for her husband Adam, Harry, and myself (and herself of course haha).  Anyway- the pizza was SO good…I absolutely loved it! Funny story about that night- Jen is a vegetarian and so she used fake chicken (that actually tasted good if I do say so myself…first experience with that stuff).  Jen made this pizza on a Friday night and Harry is sitting there munching away on his pizza and I could tell he was trying to push the “chicken” to the side at first because it was Friday (aka NO MEAT!) and then I leaned over and said hey babe?  Its fake chicken. you can eat it! hahaha he looked relieved to hear that.  Anywayyyyy where was I? oh yes, the recipe!  Jen told me that she got the recipe from the blog Taste and Tell….it is actually a 30 minute meal Rachel Ray recipe!  When I looked it up online when I got home I was so surprised as to how quick this pizza is to make! It really takes NO TIME AT ALL to make!  Perfect dinner to whip up during the busy week!  And the result makes you appear as if you were a great cook haha.

I actually bought fresh dough from a pizza place in town (many pizza places will sell you raw dough…just ask!) and I used rotisserie chicken (saves time, it is moist, and easy to pull apart…win, win, win).  Oh and also- when you roll out the dough make sure you roll it out on top of some flour AND make sure you put corn meal on your pizza peel (or whatever you use to prepare your pizza on) before placing it into the oven.  I have a pizza stone in my oven that I place the pizza onto…so I used a pizza peel with cornmeal on it and placed the the pizza directly onto the pizza stone in the oven.  But if you have a pizza pan that will work fine, too!  Or if you want to make it EVEN easier- they sell those crusts that are already semi-baked and shaped.  Not as fresh but hey it is still tasty!

Question: what is your favorite kind of pizza? 

I know that I am very delayed in posting this, but for Valentine’s Day this year, Todd and I stayed in and cooked together (yes, Todd actually helped me for once!).  We made Cioppino which is basically a fish stew.   I saw this recipe in Bon Appetit and I immediately wanted to make it.  Todd and I both love seafood so we thought it would be the perfect thing to make for Valentine’s Day.  This is a very healthy meal full of protein-packed seafood.  It is also very warm and comforting so it is perfect for the cold winter months…but would still be fantastic in the warmer months!  You can really be creative with this recipe and add/subtract any seafood that you prefer or don’t prefer.  For our stew, Todd and I chose to use haddock, shrimp, clams, and squid.  Other options would be to include mussels, lobster, king crab legs, or crabs…and I’m sure there are others that I’m just not thinking of.  Since making this for Valentine’s Day, I have made it once more and added lobster the second time around…which only makes this dish better.  If you wanted to make this meal more complete you could also add potatoes (just make sure they are cooked properly..they will need more time!) or even cous cous.  In the summer months, a juicy piece of corn on the cob would be a perfect match for this dish.  No matter what you decide to do, a good-quality, crusty loaf of bread is absolutely necessary.

Cioppino (from Bon Appetit)

Serves ~6

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 small (or 1/2 large) fennel bulb, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand, juices reserved
• 1 1/2 cups dry white wine
• 1 8-ounce bottle clam juice
• 1 pound skinless fillets haddock or U.S. Pacific cod, cut into 1″ pieces
• 1 pound mussels, scrubbed, debearded
• 1 pound large uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined, or frozen king crab legs, thawed
• 1 pound cleaned squid, thawed if frozen, bodies cut into 1/2″ rings, tentacles left whole
• Country-style bread

Directions

• Toast fennel seeds in a small skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Finely grind in a spice mill; set aside.
• Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, fennel, garlic, bay leaves, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Season with salt and pepper. Cover, and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion and fennel are soft, about 12 minutes.
• Stir in ground fennel seeds, tomatoes with juices, wine, clam juice, and 1 cup water. Cover, bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook, stirring often, until flavors meld, about 15 minutes. Stir in fish, mussels, and shrimp and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook for 2 minutes. Add squid, cover, and cook until mussels open and seafood is cooked through, about 5 minutes (discard mussels that do not open). Serve with bread.

A couple of weeks ago, my family and I went to Mexico for 6 days.  This was my first time to Mexico and my first time staying at an all-inclusive resort.  We had an incredible time and it was so nice to be in hot, sunny weather.  The sun was incredibly strong and I got burnt really bad on the first day out in the sun. I was also using spray sunscreen which I will never use again.  I am absolutely horrible at applying it and I ended up with circles all over my stomach and the tops of my legs.  It was actually quite funny looking.  So for the rest of the trip I stuck to the good old sunscreen lotion which I think does a better job at covering every inch of my skin.  Am I the only one who has trouble with spray sunscreen?

my sister, Danielle & I relaxing by the Caribbean Sea

Dad golfing in Mexico

Mom catchin' a bonito

Danielle with her mahi mahi catch!

just takin' a snooze in someones reserved cabana on the beach

We had such a great time in Mexico.  I didn’t go a day without guacamole, chips, fresh fruit, smoothies, seafood, or homemade ice cream.  It was an extremely relaxing vacation and made me really excited for summer to come!  One of the restaurants at the resort cooked up our fish for us the night we caught it.  We left the preparation of the mahi mahi in the hands of the chef and he ended up preparing an appetizer and an entree with the fish.  The appetizer he prepared was Mahi Mahi 3 ways…fried, blackened, & mahi mahi ceviche with mango & avocado.  This was absolutely amazing and so flavorful.  I wish I could eat this everyday of my life.  I’m sure it helps that the fish was caught only hours before.

Mahi Mahi appetizer

For the main dish, the chef prepared a simple grilled Mahi Mahi served over rice & vegetables.  The sauce that accompanied the fish is a cilantro yogurt sauce that I will definitely be recreating at home because it went so well with the fish.

Mahi Mahi main entree

Fresh fish is hard to beat.

We had a great time in Mexico and it was nice to be able to soak up some sun in the middle of the winter.  Thankfully it is already March…the warmer weather will be here before you know it!

 What is your favorite kind of fish?

Happy Birthday Mom!!!!  My Mom’s birthday was yesterday, March 2nd.  To celebrate, my family had a small dinner party at my parents house with our Aunt and Uncle.  For dinner, I made a filet mignon roast, roasted brussels sprouts, baked potatoes, and a salad.  We had a really great time and it was nice to be together with everyone for the night.

Mom golfing in Cancun

Growing up, the Duncan Hines Yellow Cake mix with canned Chocolate Frosting was a staple for most of our birthday celebrations.  However, in the summer months, for me and my Dad’s birthdays, my Mom would make her Strawberry Shortcake with fresh Jersey berries.  When I asked my Mom earlier this week what kind of cake she wanted I knew that she would request yellow cake with chocolate frosting as she always does.  I decided that instead of making the Duncan Hines cake that I would make a yellow cake from scratch.  It didn’t take me long to settle on a recipe that I came across on Smitten Kitchen.  The cake had rave reviews and hundreds of wonderful comments from people who have tried the recipe.  The frosting that she made with her yellow cake did not really sound so great to me and also did not get the best reviews so I decided to use a different chocolate frosting recipe from Savory Sweet Life (I also made her Classic Vanilla Buttercream frosting earlier this year and it rocked).

I was a little nervous that the cake wouldn’t turn out since I had never tried this recipe before.  However, I had high hopes from the taste of the cake batter…which I may have had a little too much of.  The cake turned out to be perfect and much, much better than the Duncan Hines boxed mix.  This Yellow Cake recipe was honestly very simple and does not require much more work than a boxed mix.  My family is done with buying the Duncan Hines boxed mix…it doesn’t even compare to how great this cake is.  Everyone loved the cake and it was hard to just eat one slice.  In fact, I may have just had two slices as a mid-morning snack.

Yellow Birthday Layer Cake (from Smitten Kitchen)

Ingredients

• 4 cups plus 2 tablespoons (480 grams) cake flour (not self-rising)
• 2 teaspoons (10 grams) baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon (5 grams) table salt
• 2 sticks (1 cup, 1/2 pound or 225 grams) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 cups (400 grams) sugar
• 2 teaspoons (10 ml) pure vanilla extract
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups buttermilk (475 ml), well-shaken

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter two 9-inch round cake pans and line with circles of parchment paper, then butter parchment. (Alternately, you can use a cooking spray, either with just butter or butter and flour to speed this process up.)
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well and scraping down the bowl after each addition. At low speed, beat in buttermilk until just combined (mixture will look curdled). Add flour mixture in three batches, mixing until each addition is just Incorporated.
3. Spread batter evenly in cake pan, then rap pan on counter several times to eliminate air bubbles. (I like to drop mine a few times from two inches up, making a great big noisy fuss.) Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes, then run a knife around edge of pan. Invert onto rack and discard parchment, then cool completely, about 1 hour.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (from Savory Sweet Life)

Ingredients

• 1 cup unsalted butter (2 sticks or 1/2 pound), softened (but not melted!)
• 3 1/2 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar
• 1/2 cup cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon almond extract (I used Vanilla Extract)
• 4 tablespoons milk or heavy cream (I used Heavy Cream)

Directions

1. Cream butter for a few minutes in a mixer with the paddle attachment on medium speed. Turn off the mixer. Sift 3 cups powdered sugar and cocoa into the mixing bowl. Turn your mixer on the lowest speed (so the dry ingredients do not blow everywhere) until the sugar and cocoa are absorbed by the butter. Increase mixer speed to medium and add vanilla extract, salt, and milk/cream and beat for 3 minutes. If your frosting needs a more stiff consistency, add a little more sugar. If your frosting needs to be thinned out, add additional milk 1 tablespoon at a time.

the cake batter all ready to go.

the cakes cooling in their pans on racks.

1410 Mt Vernon St
Philadelphia, PA 19130
215-600-0017

This week Marc Vetri opened his newest restaurant, Alla Spina.  I am a huge fan of Marc Vetri and have dined at his three other restaurants in Philadelphia many times (Amis, Osteria, and the famous Vetri).  I absolutely love all of his restaurants and definitely consider them to be the best in Philadelphia.  His newest, Alla Spina translates to “on tap,” and the restaurant is a considered an Italian beer bar.  They have a wide selection of beers…twenty beers on tap and more than 50 bottled beers.  The food at Alla Spina features cured meats, small snacks (housemade pretzels, baked oysters, polenta, etc.), paninis, baked pasta dishes, a variety of fried small plates, and whole pig heads, pork shoulders, chicken, and fish for sharing, and of course, dessert.

We were able to check out Alla Spina on the third night that it was open to the public.  Alla Spina is much different than Vetri’s three other restaurants in the city…and I expected it to be.  At Alla Spina the atmosphere and the food  are much more causal than his other restaurants, and I was excited to try this style of food from Marc Vetri.  We started out with a spread of food and then ordered a second spread of food…all of which we shared.

Smoke mackerel, meyer lemon

lamb speck with horseradish butter

razor clams with salsa verde

housemade pretzel with spicy beer cheese

testina “pig sticks” with salsa rossa

bufala milk ricotta mac n cheese

swordfish “blt” with basil and guanciale

mortadella hotdog with spicy pickles and cabbage relish

taleggio grilled cheese with roasted red peppers and green tomato conserva

crespelle della Mamma Pina

oyster mushrooms trifolati

pig pot pie

nutella and hazelnut zuppa inglese

fried focaccia with stoudts fat dog hotchocolate

fiordilatte e chocolate soft serve twist

It is honestly so hard to choose which dishes I liked the best.  They were each unique in their own way.  The boys were in love with the pig pot pie, the mortadella hotdog, and the pig sticks.  I personally was partial to the paninis, baked pasta dishes (both were awesome), & the pretzels with beer cheese.  But I also loved the razor clams, speck, and, of course, dessert.  Even the potato chips that came with the paninis were amazing.  My favorite dessert was by far the nutella and hazelnut zuppa inglese.  On the dessert menu there was also a doughnut bread pudding that also caught my eye.

I also did not drink beer…yes, I was at a beer bar.  I did drink a glass of Nebbiolo from the Piemonte region…which I happen to love.  The others who I was with did order several different types of beer and everyone seemed to enjoy their picks.  I’m not big on beer but I did try the del borgo, genziana which I really liked!  Maybe next time I’ll be more open to experimenting with all of the different beers.

We definitely enjoyed ourselves at Alla Spina.  Everyone enjoyed the food and the drinks.  Furthermore, we had excellent service and our waitress did a superb job.  We will certainly be back for more!