Welcome to this week’s edition of Flavor Buffet! In the spirit of summer, and upcoming Fourth of July, I have options that will help you navigate the Boston dining scene, enhance your summer BBQs, and improve your poolside snacking. Also, a little travel, in case you’re planning a vacation. Lucky you! 😉

Enjoy! 

1.  The 2018 Best of Boston results are in! This yearly feature declares the best of our city in every category, including restaurants, which is divided up by cuisine, neighborhood, and more. Take a peek to see if any of your favorites won and find some inspiration for where to go this weekend! Of course, ignore the “best beer,” but you already knew that. ;)

2.  Did you know about the Readable Feast awards? I certainly did not, but now that I do, I can’t wait to get my hands on some of these award-winning, food-focused books. These are books about food and people’s relationships with food, not cookbooks. I suppose you could call it food literature. I like the sound of that - sounds delicious. :)

3. There’s a new column in Boston magazine’s food/restaurant section called Ask the Editor, and this week’s question is all about food allergies! The reader asked where she would suggest going in Boston when one of the guests in your party has specific food allergies. How timely!

Now, Celiac isn’t an allergy, it’s an autoimmune disorder, but regardless I tend to say “allergy” when we go out to alert my server (not ideal but it works). This list has so many great suggestions and several new to me! Check it out. :)

4. I have not shied away from declaring my enjoyment of grilled hot dogs, #treatyoself, but this technique is entirely new to me: spiralize the hot dogs before grilling them for ultimate grilled results! What?! I had to investigate. And now that I’ve read this piece, I’m definitely trying this out for one of our Fourth of July gatherings. How could you resist? I’m intrigued... 

5. I tend to daydream about vacations that require airline travel. No, this is not an impossible feat, but life's busy and it's tough to nail down an exact date in which our schedules will allow for such an adventure. Of course, some would say we should just plan ahead, but just pretend that’s not an option right now.

Until we do take our next flight, I’m going to study this guide to the expansive food scene in Los Angeles and countdown the days until I can eat all of the fish tacos in the city. 

Bonus! 

Do you remember the childhood favorite Cheez Balls (correct spelling) from the Planters company? Well, they were my go-to snack when I was very, very little and to this day remember eating them right out of the can. Well, they’re coming back!!

As of July 1, they will be available online and in select stores. I’m going to see if they will be safe to eat and if so, consider it a staple of my summer snacking (responsibly of course). 😎

Have a wonderful weekend! 

Eat, well. 

Mollie  

GFMD