"Bucket of balls"
I was born and raised in Worcester, but I’ve been spending time in western Massachusetts since the fall of 1999, when I met people from the Springfield area who would become lifelong friends – and introduce me to my future husband that Thanksgiving weekend. Awww.
Reminiscing aside, this piece of trivia is important. It means that I’ve been familiar with the area for 12 years – and until Saturday night, had never eaten at The Federal in Agawam. For. Shame.
Tornado damage in Monson, Mass. (BETTINA HANSEN/ HARTFORD COURANT)
“It’ll never happen here,” you think. And then, it does.
Wednesday’s weather warnings for western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut seemed like your average early summer thunderstorm. It’s not uncommon to hear a meteorologist utter, “tornado watch,” but few take it too seriously. After all, this is a population much more familiar with blizzards.
But around 4:30 p.m., the funnel cloud started to form. It rotated ominously over the Connecticut River, sucking up waves of water with it in a scene straight out of a blockbuster movie. And it blew ferociously across a major interstate before tearing through downtown Springfield at peak rush hour, ripping through buildings, crushing homes and sending roofs flying. It obliterated neighborhoods in West Springfield, where two deaths were reported, and decimated the center of small-town Monson.
I was having dinner with my mother in Enfield when the calls and texts started coming in from Hartford Courant colleagues, asking if I was okay. They had to explain what had happened, as the storm hadn’t blown through our area. But we’re just 10 minutes south of downtown. And many of my friends live and work in Springfield proper, as teachers, mental health counselors and social workers. I started texting frantically.
I found out later that these friends couldn’t get home for hours, due to traffic and blocked, impassable streets. Cell phone service was spotty, and people couldn’t reach their spouses and families. One friend loaded an injured coworker into her car, in an attempt to get to the woman’s young son in daycare. Another friend had a gut feeling before the storm hit and fled with her four-year-old to the basement, listening to breaking windows and crashing trees.
And when I heard what time the tornado had blown across Interstate 91, I realized my mother had missed it by about 10 minutes. She’d just happened to get in the car early.
These were the lucky ones. No major damage to their homes; just power outages. But they’re still traumatized, shell-shocked. They saw firsthand how life can change in an instant.
I never thought I’d see a tornado destroy a Northeastern city, though 94 people died in a twister that pummeled my hometown of Worcester in 1953. I certainly didn’t think I’d ever see such familiar neighborhoods and landmarks making international news headlines. And to be honest, I’m feeling guilt – this could have so easily shifted five miles south and slammed into our neighborhood. What would we have done in a situation like this? We don’t have a plan.
I’ll be eternally grateful that the tornado spared my loved ones’ lives and their homes. In the meantime, we’ve been trying to help by welcoming friends here to eat, relax, catch up on news and charge their electronics. “You’re better than FEMA!” they said. “They wouldn’t give out beer.”
I made a personal donation to the Pioneer Valley Red Cross yesterday (link here if you’d like to donate, too.) Here are some other opportunities to give, courtesy of local blogger friends. Alicia of The Clean Plate Club (a Ludlow native) is hosting a “blog bake sale” with all proceeds going to tornado victims. Dave of Dave’s Cupboard, whose daughter’s classmate’s mother died trying to save her younger child, is helping collect donations for the devastated family.
This disaster is sobering proof that weather can strike at any time, anywhere. I’m going to be more mindful of my own safety, for one. And I’m certainly going to hug my family and friends a lot tighter. You should, too.
Tornado coverage from the Hartford Courant
Tornado coverage from MassLive.com
This past weekend, I visited my parents in the Worcester area. We woke up to this on Friday morning:
Six inches of snow on April 1. April effing fool!
But that evening’s dinner took some of the sting out of our “spring” weather. We headed to Sonoma in Princeton, Mass., a beautiful restaurant with inspired global cuisine. It’s a place I’ve been hearing about for years. The menu blew me away – selections that would be at home at a cosmopolitan Boston or New York eatery. While the Worcester area’s upscale dining options have grown by leaps and bounds, it’s still yet not seen as a destination.
Sonoma may just change that. The intimate restaurant projects an atmosphere that’s simultaneously sophisticated and comfortable, where you can wear “dress jeans” while ordering a $190 bottle of Opus One. The waitstaff is warm, friendly, knowledgeable and extremely professional – even when dealing with the likes of the insufferable snob at the table next to us. (If the restaurant isn’t executing their dishes to the standards of what you ate in Paris, then please kindly go back to Paris, d-bag.)
I only have one problem with restaurants like this, and it’s that I want everything on the menu. But by the time we sat down, I wanted beef. The coffee-scented filet mignon was an easy choice.
We started with two appetizers – a lobster and goat cheese puff-pastry tart, accented by caramelized onions, mushrooms, spinach and truffle oil:
You’re right to assume I gave away the mushrooms. But this tart was just spectacular. I expected the puff pastry to be too rich, but it was surprisingly light and complemented the sweet onions, buttery lobster and piquant goat cheese.
This crab and smoked Swiss bisque, topped with a crab fritter and tarragon-infused butter, is the stuff of dreams. Like the tart, it was lighter and less overwhelming than its heavy ingredients would suggest, but simply unbelievable. It’s a good thing Sonoma is a relaxed place, because my dad used dinner roll after dinner roll to mop up every last bit of the soup.
I had the filet in a coffee-herb marinade, topped with a tangy “chimichurri” of what looked like shallots and red bell pepper. The marinade itself was zingy, but without any distinctive java taste. (I think this was a good thing.) My only complaint was that the filet was definitely more medium than medium rare.
My mom’s Colorado lamb chops, coated with dijon mustard, rosemary, garlic and parsley. They were rolled in fresh panko crumbs and served with a roasted shallot demi-glace. Verdict: Tender and delicious, just too small of a portion (certainly for the price.)
Dad kept with the seafood theme, ordering “Haddock Princess” – butter-poached haddock in a bouillabaisse broth, topped with an asparagus-lobster sauce. As you can see, “sauce” translates to “chunks of meat from a one-pound lobster.” Fantastic.
We had two excellent desserts – a layered tiramisu with white and dark chocolate cream and a Boston cream cake with homemade cherry-orange ice cream – but I didn’t snap any pictures. After a while, you just need to sit back and process a beautiful meal.
The one thing Northampton needed was a tapas restaurant.
It was the one gap in the Paradise City’s otherwise robust dining scene, where you can find everything from local grass-fed beef burgers to Tibetan yak and sushi, Thai curries and duck-confit banh mi in between.
Apparently they heard my laments all the way down in New Haven, because the owners of Ibiza Tapas and Wine Bar (with another location in Hamden) decided to bring their delectable small plates over the border. Ibiza Northampton opened at 7 Strong Ave., in the former Smokin Lil’s BBQ space, in early November.
I’d heard good things from credible sources – a local wine guru with a particular passion for Riojas, and a friend’s girlfriend who’s traveled to Spain on many occasions. So we were excited to make the trip on Thanksgiving weekend.
The vibe: As you can see from the picture, it’s dark. Dark, moody and sexy. Dim to the point where it’s hard to see your menu. Which is all well and good if you’re trying to attract a “beautiful-people” crowd, but Northampton’s just not that kind of city. And the angular tables and chairs – meant to convey a modern look – were not so comfortable, and not conducive to a lounge atmosphere. (My all-time favorite tapas restaurant, Bocado in Worcester, does it right with leather banquettes and fancy throw pillows.)
The food: The good news: It’s really excellent. The menu’s organized by hot and cold tapas – modern and traditional – and every dish sounds better than the next. And each tastes even better than it sounds.
We sampled:
Braised short ribs in a caramelized garlic and oatmeal beer sauce with smoked bacon potato purèe
"Paella" with seafood, chorizo, peas and peppers
Green lipped mussels sautéed with white wine, olive oil, garlic, parsley and shallot
Grilled hanger steak with roasted tomato and chimichurri sauce, served over toast
And some other plates I failed to photograph: an assortment of Spanish cheeses with quince paste; codfish croquettes with aioli and duck confit croquettes with couscous salad. Everything was outstanding.
The not-so-good news: The portions are TINY. Even for tapas. If you’re sharing plates among four people, the food goes fast. The “large tapas” plates are more what you’d expect out of a traditional portion, and those are all $9.75 per plate. That adds up quickly. I was really hungry that night and couldn’t get full until I finally broke down and asked for an order of the paella special.
The wine: Oh, we had plenty of that. Between three of us, we downed a bottle of Salvenal Albarino ($28) and Cristalino Brut ($27.)
The wine list is almost entirely Spanish, with white varietals like Viura, Verdejo, Macabeo, Ribeiro and Godello. (And five Albarinos. Yesssss.) The red list is heavy on tempranillo, with Mencia (Bierzo), Monastrell and Grenache for good measure. You’ll find a few assorted bottles from Uruguay, Argentina and Portugal – sauvignon blanc, Malbec and vinho verde, respectively. There’s also bottled beer and a small selection of sherries.
The Connecticut locations have full liquor licenses, so they’re doing margaritas, caipirinhas and martinis. Not sure if Ibiza Northampton will have that capability in the future.
The service: No issues. Our main waitress was prompt, helpful and sweet, if a little unsure of herself. (The restaurant just opened.) Some of our plates arrived within five minutes – and kept on coming.
After dinner, we went to Sierra Grille for drinks and then went back to Ibiza to meet friends who were in the area, having wine after their meal at Eastside Grill. It was then I realized that I’d probably be patronizing Ibiza in the future as a wine bar with great snacks, not as a place to have a filling and satisfying dinner.
But don’t get me wrong. This is still just what Northampton needed, and I’ll be working my way through that excellent Spanish wine list in the months to come.
A La Carte
Leeanne Griffin is a freelance writer and food enthusiast.