The James Beard semifinalists were announced last week and we are revisiting a few of our favorites from Massachusetts.  Nominated for Rising Star of the Year is Irene Li from Mei Mei in Boston.  We visited the Mei Mei Street Kitchen before they had an actual space.  We can’t wait to go back as the food from the truck was out of this world.  Hungry Ghost, our favorite bread bakery, was nominated for outstanding bakers.  We visited for the fist time in 2011.  Five years later it is still our favorite stop for fresh bread.  Our final favorite, L’Espalier, was nominated for outstanding service.  L’Espalier holds a special place in our hearts as it is where we ate for our wedding dinner in 2009.  We can tell you first hand- that night our service was absolutely outstanding.  We sat at the Chef’s Table and were spoiled with our own host for the night.  We will never forget it and I’m hoping we return to that table to celebrate an anniversary…or two.

Final nominees will be announced on Tuesday, March 15.  We can’t wait to see who makes the cut!