So clearly, my life was event-free for just one night (tonight is another one) but that’s not so bad because last night I had the opportunity to attend the Taste of Beacon Hill event at the Liberty Hotel. The concept was similar to the Taste of the Nation event; this time all proceeds benefited the Future Chefs program.

Future Chefs uses a youth development model in which youth participate in planning, leading and evaluating the program. Students earn scholarships and apprenticeships for post secondary training. Young participants develop a career plan and receive coaching through caring and supportive relationships with educators, staff and industry mentors.

Every year, as a result of the Taste of Beacon Hill event, 2 students get full scholarships. We were actually able to chat with one of the winners from last year (left). She was extremely grateful for this program and although she’s close to graduating from culinary school at this point, Future Chefs continues to provide her support and mentoring. What a great way to directly change someone’s life and ensure they have a bright future ahead of them!

I was able to score 2 press tickets for Adam and me but it looks like they did quite well this year. There were a lot of guests in attendance and everyone seemed to have a good time. Hopefully that means the tradition will continue on with its 11-year!

As mentioned, the event took place at the Liberty Hotel. I’ve talked about the hotel before but last time I didn’t get a chance to snap photos of the gorgeous space. How crazy amazing is this? The chandeliers are sick.

  

Floors 4 and 5 were dedicated to Taste of Beacon Hill. There were tables everywhere, with over 25 Beacon Hill restaurants and shops sharing little samples of their fare.

Here are the highlights in photos. BHBB, Lala Rokh, Bin 26, Panificio were my favorites of the night. Fig’s chocolate mousse cupcake and Whole Foods (yes Whole Foods) cheesecakes were amazing as well. What a night!

Savenor’s Market

Sangria from Upper Crust pizza

Beacon Hill Hotel & Bistro (BHHB) – my absolute favorite of the night!!!

The Seventh Ale House – Adam had this and enjoyed it

Bin 26 Enoteca

Roasted red peppers with anchovy dipping sauce (awesome!)

Marinaded anchovies – see a theme here? It was Healthy and Sane approved.

Lala Rokh (Persian)

Spinach in yogurt – I was surprised that it was cold but man, was it creamy and flavorful!

The eggplant, tomato and garlic dish (bottom left) was another winner. I’ve never had Persian food before and now I realize that a trip to Lala Rokh needs to happen asap.

Harvard Gardens

Moo – they always serve grass-fed beef. We love Moo in our household!

Hampshire House

Risotto with roasted red peppers – pretty yummy

Hi Adam!

At some point I purchased a glass of cabernet (it was a cash bar – my only negative comment about the event. If I spent $75/ticket, I’d want booze to be included. Just sayin’ )

A little rest for the feet and the belly

No. 9 Park

I hate oysters but No. 9 Park actually did it right. They were awesome!

Panificio

Heirloom tomatoes and mozzarella on garlic toast. Simplicity at its best. The tomatoes were bursting with flavor. Definitely one of the best bites of the night!

Zen Sushi

Scampo

I am a huge Scampo fan after tasting their pizzas at the Healthworks Blogger Bash event and meeting Lydia Shire (the chef) made me like the place even better. She was quite the character! The line for Scampo was always long because she took here time with the dish (there were so many components!!) and chatted everyone up.

So many flavors and textures. I enjoyed the one bite that I took but I didn’t have time to ask Lydia about their lamb source so I let Adam do most of the eating on this one. He was stuffed by this point but still licked the plate clean.

Scampo dessert – chocolate mousse with Kahlua – meh (tasted like supermarket Jello brand stuff)

Sangria #2

Fig’s (cupcake shop to come)

Whole Foods

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake

Chocolate cheesecake

Not bad, eh? I love blogging! Adam and I had a really good time. I love tasting events – this one gave us the opportunity to try so many Beacon Hill favorites in just a few hours! I hope they raised a lot of money for the Future Chefs program. Those kids deserve it.

And now a question for you – have you ever had Persian food? This is the one that blew me away last night. I’ve been missing out all these years!