For some of us, heavy snow and severe coldness have a tendency to spark the temptation to avoid all human contact for the weekend aside from texting. It makes going out into the world seem unbearable and we submissively convince ourselves that there’s no other alternative than throwing on a cotton tuxedo, then rewatching the DVDs we’ve owned since before Netflix came out.
Next thing you know, you wake up the following morning in a blur, the title screen to Napoleon Dynamite has been on repeat for 5 hours making your brain feel like it’s about to explode, the pooled remains from a tipped bottle of Charles Shaw Cabernet are stained into the carpet next to your couch, and your dog is aggressively licking your hand, which has turned completely orange. And why is it orange?
Because you ate a whole 5 gallon drum of Cheesy Poofs by yourself last night, you fucking sicko.
Should the blizzardly bluster persist, don’t fall into this trap. There’s plenty worth exploring, like, perhaps the fairly new, edgy practice of the pop-up restaurant in Somerville this weekend. Coordinated by @eatboston, an online wealth of all things food in this city, and Garden at the Cellar head chef, Will Gilson, the Bloc 11 coffee shop in Union Square will be transformed into a fine dining arena for three nights in a row, January 14-16.
The idea behind the pop-up restaurant is to create a realm of ingestive elegance where it historically hasn’t been. As the second of its kind put on by the organizers, the first being held at the South End furniture shop Mohr + McPhearson last month, a team will swiftly enter Bloc 11 to equip it with table clothes, napkins, silverware, and whathaveyou, while the chef prepares the meal.
Filled with java inspired dishes, each night will start out with appetizers and then get down to business, seating people for a 5-course prix fixe meal. Friday and Saturday will entail such carnivorous succulence as whiskey cured/cigar smoked salmon and coffee rubbed pork tenderloin with beet mole, among other things, and then a little desert.
Throwing a bit of a culinary orientation curve-ball into the mix, Sunday night is strictly vegetarian. @eatboston founder, Aaron Cohen, noted a lack of such events tailored to our non-meat eating friends and, in response, helped to create a menu and a night as an ode to them. The list of dishes include things like roasted pumpkin salad with fried sage, pepitas and brown butter dressing, and winter vegetable and bean “cassoulet” with smoked mushrooms and marjoram.
If @eatboston’s past events, like the Boston Bacon and Beer Festival or the Ice Cream Showdown, serve as any indication of the tastiness of this one, then I say sign yourself up. Though, despite your preference, be it animal or vegetable, entrance is extremely limited, possibly considered rare by now, and will soon disappear from all ticket predators’ vision like a young Arnold covered in mud.
Bloc 11 is located at 11 Bow Street in Union Square. Tickets, $60, are available here. Follow @eatboston on Twitter for future events and Boston restaurant information.
