Restaurant Review: Flat Bread Company

Restaurant: Flat Bread Company
Location: Amesbury, MA; Portland, ME; North Conway, NH; Portsmouth, NH; Canton, VT; Bedford, MA; Paia Maui, HI
Website: www.flatbreadcompany.com
Grade: B+

My friend Reppin and his girlfriend recently moved from New York City to Portland, ME (obviously for a graduate program, not the free birth control). Seeing as food is more of a lifestyle than a hobby in the greater 212 area code, I knew I could depend on Reppin to pick out a restaurant that served food "almost as good as they have in New York" (heaven forbid a New Yorker admit that something outside the City actually tastes decent). We decided on the Flat Break Company located 138 Congress Street in Portsmouth (NH).

The decor is typical North Country, complete with futons peppered with "Legalize Marijuana" leaflets and exposed wooden beams. I immediately wondered which charity a portion of the proceeds from my meal would be funding. The rustic look is completed with solid-looking wood tables and a large brick-oven stove in the middle of the dining room.

Naturally, all of the ingredients served at Flat Bread are either organic or free-range, which is a nice touch. We decided on a large Community Pizza (caramelized onions, mushrooms, roasted tomato sauce, cheese, herbs) and a small Punctuated Equalibrium (kalamata olives, rosemary, red onions, oven roasted peppers, goat cheese, mozzarella, garlic cheese, herbs). Both pizzas were complimented with a wonderful, smoky taste courtesy of being baked in a brick-oven. Seeing as my only brick-oven experience has been with Bertucci's and Upper Crust, I was pleasantly surprised by how wonderful and non-commercial everything tasted.

As far as service goes, the Flat Bread got everything right. Crushed red pepper was already on the table (I generally have to ask for it more than once) and the waiter brought a second round of Diet Cokes without being prompted. Also, nobody seemed to mind the fact that the three of us sat around for almost two hours catching up. I seriously wish that the closest location wasn't 45 minutes away.

Flat Bread Company has multiple locations throughout northern New England. According to their website Flat Bread hasn't announced any plans to move in on the Boston area, though there is a location in Bedford for those of you who work/live between the Pike and 495. The location in Portsmouth offered metered street parking or (if you're feeling like a high roller) you can park in the city garage for $1.50 on a weekend afternoon.

Grab a Pen, I'm Giving Advice

This week MSN's "Gut Check America" is dedicated to the Middle Class Squeeze or Why the Whiney Brat Pack Generation Can't Get Everything They Want. I understand that stagnant incomes and rising home prices force a lot of us to make tough financial decisions. However, I think complaining that this generation has it worse than our parents is a bit of a stretch.

I wasn't around 30 years ago, but from what I've read in history books and old magazines, the world was a lot different than it is today. A lot of the stuff that we take for granted, such as dishwashers, air conditioning, and microwave ovens were luxuries owned only by the very well-to-do. Calling someone "long distance" was a special event. Color TV's were a steep investment; cable and the Internet hadn't even been invented yet.

In terms of how primitive our parents grew up, our generation has it pretty good. So why do we feel so "squeezed"? Are housing prices really to blame?

I'm no economist (on the contrary, I barely scraped by with a C in micro and macro) but I'm pretty sick of people hemming and hawing about how tough things are. Compared to the rest of the nation, Boston has always been an expensive place to live and surely this recent housing boom didn't help. But taking out a risky interest only loan for a house that you can't afford? Are you serious? And now you expect me to listen to your sob story and for our government to bail you out?

As as whole we are paying for luxuries that are so ingrained into our culture that we now feel as if they are basic necessities. A seperate bedroom for every child? A necessity (personally, I believe that giving each kid their own bedroom breeds self-centered behavior but I'll blog about that at a later date)! These days it seems like every housing ad I read advertises "master bedroom suites", "hardwood floors throughout", and "industrial kitchens with granite countertops". Since when did stainless steel appliances become the minimum standard for homes? No wonder why we are so house poor.

I have always been a strong believer in social programs to help those who are seriously struggling to make it in this state. People who have been dealt a lousy hand and use assistance to better their lives have always been heroes of mine. However, people that have degrees and make decent salaries but are living way beyond their means and then bitch about it do not get my sympathy.

If you have the cash to finance that type of lifestyle then good for you. However, if you categorize yourself as "middle class" (as 90% of Americans do) then the sense of entitlement needs to end. As many of us were taught as children, you can't always get what you want so we had better learn to make do with what we've got. It's about time that people take full responsibility for their financial decisions in lieu of a government bailout. After all, with our expensive health insurance premiums, at least we have our health, right?

Aliens in America

Thanks to DVR, I'm watching about a billion hours of additional television per week. While I wasn't much of a TV junkie before, there have been a number of decent shows that have graced our airwaves this Fall season. One of the better (and my opinion, truly under-rated) sitcoms to debut has been the CW's Aliens in America.

16 year old Justin Tolchuck's main goal in life is to fly under the radar screen of high school just long enough to graduate and attend college far, far away. Fearing that her son isn't out-going enough, Franny Tolchuck is on a mission to host a foreign exchange student that in her mind will win her son instant popularity at his suburban Wisconsin high school. Her dreams of taking in a Nordic, athletic genius are quickly shattered when learns that she will be hosting Raja Musharraf from Pakistan as her adopted son.

The interactions between Raja and his stereo-typical American hosts are hilarious. A devout Muslim who dresses in traditional garb, Raja is wide-eyed to the pecularities and flat-out ignorance of most Americans. During his first day of school, a fellow student calls him out on the fact that Pakistan was responsible for the events of Sept 11 (obviously not true). When he refuses pork chops in the school cafeteria a lunch lady bemoans that "now she's seen everything". During last night's episode Raja attempts to buy supplies for the rocket club and is interrogated by local police, fearing that he must be a terrorist.

With his good manners and desire to become part of our society, Raja manages to rise above the fray during each cultural hiccup. He is helpful around the house, an outstanding student, and is slowly giving Justin the confidence he needs to scrape through his high school tenure.

In 2007, being a television geek is almost cool. However, for anyone that's ever been considered a geek and also happens be part of a religious, race, or cultural minority, Aliens in America will likely be resemble the biography of your high school existance. Aliens follows the hit show Everybody Hates Chris on Mondays at 8:30 on Channel 56. After watching back-to-back episodes of Chris and Aliens, you'll be very happy that you somehow managed to survive the tenth grade.

Who Wants to Become a Citizen?

Most of us didn't have to do anything besides be born here to become a US citizen. However, hundreds of thousands of Americans (including many of our ancestors) had to take a written or oral examination in order to claim the rights we now take for granted. The Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration services recently changed the exam to reflect our changing time. So, my proud, flag-waving fellow American, do you have the brainpower to pass the new exam? Be honest....Bonus points if you can sing the Star Spangled Banner without tripping up the words!

When it comes to dating, I'm woman enough to proclaim that I've definitely got some issues. Living in a city with an overwhelming number of good-looking, highly educated men can be an underwhelming experience, to say the least. I've definitely never been the type of girl that needs a man in my life in order to feel complete. While companionship with the right person would be great, after what seems like a million first dates I've come to the conclusion that I'm much better off single than subject myself to a miserable relationship.

As Michelle Singletary often says, "Prince Charming ain't coming", therefore it's up to me to use my survival instincts for the greater good. I've thrown myself into my career because if the time does come to have a family a secure career will equal more options. I surround myself with good, moral people who are driven, and more importantly, the best friends you could ever ask for. I take pride on my Yankee values of hard work and loyalty and then generally find a guy with polar opposite traits, date him, and then wonder where I fucked up.

I've definitely dated my fair share of people who raise alarming issues and then resent them for it later, which is completely selfish and unfair. People are who they are and nothing I say or do is ever going to change that. Every once in a while I wonder if I'm holding the people I date to an impossible standard but to be honest I don't think that seeking someone who's confident and of good character is reaching.

I am trying to be optimistic on the dating scene. I've given up on JDate (seriously? For the $35 a month membership I could either go on bad dates OR buy a bottle of Glenlivet. In general, scotch makes me happier) but I am pretty certain what I'm looking for. Obviously any good relationship is a never ending struggle of "give and take" which is great, so long as I am not forced to kick my values to the curb. Believing the old Yiddish theory of "hey, you never know?", I'm throwing a challenge out to my Pahkcah02 readers: I challenge you to find me a good looking Jewish guy. Ideally, this man is between 25 and 32, has a job with clear career goals (goals = sexy), lives in his own place (roommates are fine), and like a West Point cadet doesn't lie, cheat, or steal (or tolerate those who do). Bonus points if he cooks and enjoys Married With Children reruns. Think this sounds simple? Well, if it was I probably wouldn't blantantly announce my frustration on a blog. Good luck to all of those Bridget Jones-worshipping singletons out there - I am proud to be among your ranks.

Ocean State of Mind

I just got back from a two day conference in Providence. After driving down the Pawtucket to Providence S-curves for the past decade I think that I finally have the hang of it. While coasting down I-95 I used to slam on my brakes everytime I hit an S-curve, which caused Rhode Islanders to take one look at my Massachusetts plates, shake their heads, and mutter "you fucking pussy". Incidentally there are more accidents that happen along that stretch of I-95 than any other part of the interstate. The trick is to go about 50-55 miles an hour and glide through the turns, much like how a figure skater glides around a hockey rink.

Because I was a bit early for my luncheon I popped into Nordstrom at the Providence Place Mall and finally bought a new pair of jeans. I have an expensive jean habit that is a bit hard to quit, though part of me wishes that I could simply go back to wearing Old Navy denim and be happy about it. One of the sales girls made it her mission to find every pair of jeans in my size in Nordstrom and keep bringing them to the fitting room. After trying on approximately 50 pairs in the last two weeks I found a pair of Sevens that I absolutely love. Best of all, Nordstrom will hem them free of charge. That my friends, is service.

The theme of the luncheon was "Rhode Island" and featured foods that people outside of New England have never seen, such as lobster sandwiches, RI clam chowder, and quahogs. Out-of-state people who were not fortunate enough to grow up in Little Portugal like me kept pointing at the quahogs and asking me what they were. "They're quahogs", I explained. "Quahogs?". "Yes, quahogs. Large clams stuffed with breading and linguisa. You know, like Quahog, RI from the Family Guy". "Ohhhhhh.....".

Sadly, the bar did not serve Narragansett beer so I had a Sam Adams instead. After all, this Boston girl's gotta represent!

Life Is (too) Good

Lately I've been living well, a little too well in fact. After losing 35 pounds on Weight Watchers last year, I noticed while scarfing down Spanish food in Baltimore that my suits were a heck of a lot snugger than I could last recall. Good bye tapas, welcome back point system. Beer, chicken fingers, and ravioli are exiting for the moment as well.

Truth be told, I really don't have that much weight to lose - 6 pounds to be exact. Yeah, it's not earth shattering and a lot of you are probably scratching your head and thinking "shut the fuck up about your measly six pounds" but for me it's kind of a big deal. While it's definitely a lot more fun to gain weight (I seriously miss scotch and Shaw's cookie Tuesdays), I worked pretty damn hard to shed my double digit pant size. Thanks to long, romantic walks (by myself) during lunch, I've managed to ditch the Weight Watchers prescribed 2 pounds since last week.

I should reach my target weight by November 1, then the easy part is over. The hard part is going to be maintaining my weight throughout the cold New England winter. While I shudder at the thought of joining a gym (using equipment that someone just sweated on is fucking gross) I may have to suck it up and deal. I know that a lot of you are members of fancy gyms in the Back Bay/Beacon Hill/Brookline but if anyone knows of a good gym in the Canton/Stoughton/Norwood area or perhaps a magic pill then I'm all ears.