Event Recap: Boston Food Bloggers at UFood Grill

On Monday, March 28, a couple dozen Boston food bloggers descended on the Fenway location of UFood Grill to sample the menu and learn about the company's goal of providing (relatively) healthy fast food that tastes great. There are several locations elsewhere in the country, but UFood Grill actually began in Massachusetts. If you were in the area in the early 2000s, you might remember it as Lo Fat No Fat, originally in Watertown.

Treated to an open bar and a seemingly never-ending stream of food and smoothie samples, bloggers mingled and ate...and ate some more...while listening to Tom Mackey, Senior VP of Operations, explain the history and philosophy of UFood Grill.

It was a pleasure, as always, to spend time with such a wonderful group of bloggers, and it was great to see several new faces! I know this was the very first blogger event for some of you; welcome to the community and I hope to see you again soon!

I'll leave the detailed food reviews to the other attendees - check out the list of links at the bottom of this post - but here are some photos that I took at the event:

UFood Grill's motto: feel great

Kathy (Kathy Can Cook), Katy (Recipe Can), Amanda (Tales From A Kitchen Misfit), Megan (Cooking Whims), Elizabeth (Don't (White) Sugar-Coat It), and Nicole (I am a honey bee)

UnFries

UFood Bistro Salad

Fire-Grilled Sirloin Tips (my personal favorite!)

Turkey Sausage Pizza

Better Bacon Cheeseburger with UnFries

Fire-Roasted Turkey & Swiss

The soft serve yogurt and smoothies (Smuuthies) - too good for me to stop and take photos, apparently! - were a big hit all around. There was also more pizza, a tofu dish, paninis...we probably tasted almost the entire menu. A big thanks to UFood Grill for hosting this event and providing us with a complimentary (and absurdly large) sampling of food and drink! Check out these recaps for more details:

• Boston Restaurant: UFood Grill (happy hour honeys) - "UFood bakes their fries ("unfries"-get it?) so you don't have to feel bad when you're stuffing them in your mouth one after another like I was. They were nice and crispy (not soggy like the baked fries I've tried to make at home) and not at all greasy. Definitely my favorite food of the night."
• An Evening at UFood Grill (Indulge Inspire Imbibe) - "Make no mistake, I'm not about to forgo some greasy McDonald's as my fast and cheap go-to hangover cure; but for a healthy alternative on the go, the folks at UFood Grill are definitely onto something."
• An Evening with U....food Grill (BeantownEats) - "When you choose UFood Grill, will you pay more than McDonalds? Yes. Will you get higher-quality, more nutritious meal? Definitely."
• Healthy food, fast, and surprisingly delicious! (frugal foodista) - "I am happy to say that I advocate this restaurant for all its fastness, freshness and well...tastiness!"  
• He Said, She Said: The Skinny on UFood Grill (WineDineWith.us) - "UFood’s menu is diverse for a “fast food” type of restaurant and has something for almost everybody."
• A Night Out At UFood Grill (Cooking Whims) - "One thing I liked about UFood Grill was the sheer variety of food they offer on their menu."
• Sampling the Menu at UFood Grill (The Foodies At Work) - "Ufood does not claim to be the healthiest choice in town; they do claim to be healthier than most other fast food chains, to taste great, and to have your order ready in 3.5 minutes.  The Boston Food Bloggers were lucky to experience all three of these claims."  
• UFood Grill Event (Recipe Can) - "Ufood grill offers healthy fast food. They realize that nobody wants to give up their pizza and cheeseburgers so they try to make them better for you. I love that they acknowledge that eating fries will not help you lose weight, but if you are going to eat them anyway, this is your healthiest option." 
• UFood Grill with Boston Food Bloggers (Tales From A Kitchen Misfit) - "Overall I really enjoyed UFood Grill. There are definitely some hit and misses on the menu, but it’s nice to be able to find some good and healthy food that’s fast." 

Event Recap: Geoff & Drew's Cookies & Brownies Tasting

Elizabeth of Free Food Boston visited Geoff and Drew's Malden headquarters last month - that's a gourmet cookie and brownie company if you haven't heard of it yet - and liked it so much that she organized a small blogger tasting so more of us could get a taste. Clover (the new Harvard Square location) was nice enough to let us convene there and taste someone else's food. Pretty sweet.

President and Chief Cookie Girl (best title ever, yes?) Carol talked to us about the history of the company and shared a whole lot of cookies and brownies with us. Yum!

Some photos follow, and be sure to check out all the other wonderful recaps of the event, linked at the bottom of this post!

Back row, left to right: Kathy (Kathy Can Cook), Fiona (A Boston Food Diary), Meghan (Travel, Wine, and Dine), Emily (A Cambridge Story), Rachel (Fork it over, Boston!); front row, left to right: Megan (Delicious Dishings), Jen (Beantown Baker), Katie (The Small Boston Kitchen), Elizabeth (Free Food Boston), Daisy (Indulge Inspire Imbibe)

Katie photographs some cookies as Jen looks on.

Daisy and Meghan live-tweet from the event!

Katie has her camera at the ready!

Clover has a gigantic Christmas tree.

Clover has a bright, clean two-level set-up.

Cookies cover the table...yum!

This M+M brownie was rich and delicious.

One of several cookies that I devoured...

I think I ate this one, too...

Megan and Jen examine the cookies.

Megan takes a picture.

Recaps

• Baking People Happy by Daisy (Indulge Inspire Imbibe) - "I am about to proclaim a bold statement, but just take my word for it...Geoff & Drew's a local gourmet cookie & brownie company bakes hands down the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever tasted."
• Blogger Events and a Cookie Swap! by Kathy (Kathy Can Cook) - "There were ten of us and I think we ate 20 or 25 cookies before most had had dinner.  I'm just saying these were delicious. WORTH IT."
• Cocktails, Clover, and Cookies by Meghan (Travel, Wine, and Dine) - "I was especially enamored with the peppermint chocolate brownie which married fudgey chocolate with cool peppermint, a flavor combo that I can’t get enough of. The chocolate chunk cookies were also delicious with big chunks of chocolate and chewy cookie."
• Cookies at Clover by Elizabeth (Free Food Boston) - "Clover has the most wonderful holiday decorations right now. We got to enjoy our treats alongside Clover’s massive Christmas tree, accompanied by an electric toy train."
• Geoff and Drew's Cookies (+ a special offer!) by Katie (The Small Boston Kitchen) - "It's the type of cookie you wish you could make all the time.  Heck, it's the type of cookie that you wish you could eat all the time.  This is the way cookies should taste."
• Geoff and Drew's cookies and a bite at Noir by Emily (A Cambridge Story) - "By far, my favorites were the cranberry oatmeal - chewy, buttery, with a burst of tartness - and the peppermint brownie - decadent fudge laced with a peppermint patty that cools your mouth."
• Geoff and Drews, Gourmet Cookies and Brownies- Perfect for the holidays! by Fiona (A Boston Food Diary) - "Cooookies... They are everywhere right now. Everywhere I look there seems to be a plate of cookies just waiting to be devoured- it must be the holidays huh?"

Event Recap: Whole Foods Affordable Holiday Entertaining

On December 8th, a large group of bloggers gathered at the Whole Foods on River Street in Cambridge (@WholeFoodsRVR on Twitter). We were there to learn about their affordable holiday offerings. Many other bloggers have posted wonderful recaps, so I'm just going to share a few photos with you and then link to all the other accounts of the evening. Unfortunately, I didn't get any photos of bloggers - the room was way too crowded to get a decent shot - but here's some food!

Beef satay

Chicken and spinach arancini

The very popular goat cheese logs

Sean manned the cheese table, which proved very popular.

Swedish meatballs

Cupcakes

Other desserts

Recaps

• Affordable Entertaining at Whole Foods - Cambridge from The Foodies at Work: "The broad assortment of both fresh and prepared foods was no surprise to me.  The surprise was that Whole Foods, an upscale and rather pricey food store, wanted to provide us with information on affordable entertaining."
• Affordable Holiday Entertaining with Whole Foods from Straight Up with Olives: "There's something about the Holidays that makes people crazy. I think it's because they try to be super-human. Cooking, cleaning, decorating, shopping, wrapping, addressing cards, baking, giving to charity, etc. It's all too much for one person to do - somethings gotta give."
• Celebrating the Holidays with Whole Foods from Indulge Inspire Imbibe: "The Whole Foods expert staff members were as welcoming and friendly as they were knowledgeable about the products and prices."
• Delicious Discovery | Whole Foods for Holiday Parties from Just Add Cheese!: "If after taking one step into [Whole Foods], and upon seeing the hundreds of delicious finger foods on display at every corner, you don’t immediately think to yourself “I need all of this for the impromptu holiday party I’ve just been inspired to plan…” well then I fear a huge chunk of coal awaits you in the future."
• An Evening at Whole Foods from Travel, Wine, and Dine: "It’s no secret that food bloggers are generally in love with Whole Foods Market. It was perhaps one of the first places that I shopped where I started to think food was art; I can still just wander around looking at their unique displays and hard-to-find goodies. I love it so much, Whole Foods even gets a shout-out in my About page."
• Holiday Entertaining With Whole Foods from Delicious Dishings: "While I think it's great that you can pick up already prepared appetizers for your holiday parties, I love making my own dishes, so I was happiest learning all the things I could make with a log of goat cheese." 
• Holiday Entertaining with Whole Foods from Free Food Boston: "Whole Foods has so many options for your entertaining needs, whether you plan to make it all on your own, or if you are in a pinch need to buy something already prepared. I know I will be hitting them up for cheeses and cheese platters."
• Recap of the Whole Foods Affordable Entertaining Party from The Economical Eater: "I love Whole Foods. I love the taste tests they give you around the store and the high quality, endless food options. What I don't love: Thinking I can't shop there on a weekly basis because of the price tags...It was really great to see how many affordable options Whole Foods has - prices I never would have expected to see in their store."
• Whole Foods for the Holidays from Yogurt and Berries: "I don’t think most people associated the word “affordable” with “Whole Foods”, but if you look for their specials and deals you really don’t have to spend a fortune on their high quality food!  I think we all learned new ideas and money saving tips for entertaining that night."

Signpost Launch Party Recap

Signpost, an online community for finding and sharing deals (food and otherwise), recently launched its Boston site, and many Boston food bloggers attended the November 30th launch party at The Green Briar Pub in Brighton, which provided plenty of munchies. Also on the scene: Magners Cider and Mix Bakery cupcakes. Yum!

Find Signpost on Twitter and Facebook, The Green Briar Pub on Twitter and Facebook, Magners Cider on Twitter and Facebook, and Mix Bakery on Twitter and Facebook.

Some photos from the event:

Katie (The Small Boston Kitchen) and Fiona (A Boston Food Diary) photograph the cupcakes

Left to right: Nicole (I am a honey bee), Melissa (The Foodies at Work), Jacki and Meesh (Just Add Cheese!)

Left to right: Amanda's husband Joe, Amanda (Tales From A Kitchen Misfit), Melissa (The Foodies at Work), and Molly (Cheap Beets)

Back left to right: Jacki and Meesh (Just Add Cheese!), Fiona (A Boston Food Diary), and Katie (The Small Boston Kitchen); front left to right: Nicole (I am a honey bee) and me (Fork it over, Boston!)

Check out the following recaps for more stories about the night:
The Economical Eater
The Foodies At Work
Indulge Inspire Imbibe
Signpost