62. April 15th, 2011 Picture.

Friday after work I had plans to go out for dinner and drinks with my cousin Sue.  We have a long history of fun nights out and April 15th was no exception.  I headed over to Sue's office, which is right down the street from my apartment, and hung out with her and some coworkers while drinking a few beers and doodling on their awesome white board table.

This had been the first time I'd seen Sue since Ratty and I signed our lease for our brand new apartment, so I spent a good sharing our trials and tribulations.  Since most of Sue's coworkers are 20-something's, we all started sharing our apartment stories, some horror some not, even drawing the layouts on the white board tables and getting totally jealous when someone else's apartment sounded better than ours.  Thankfully, most people were jealous of my new apartment, which was totally justified, I think it's awesome!

 

After hanging out at her office for a bit, we headed over to a new restaurant, Local 149, on the East Side of Southie.  It had replaced a long standing Southie favorite, the Farragut House, and we were interested to see what they had done with the place.  They kept a lot of the 'charm' from the original bar, but definitely gave it a much needed face lift.  The Farragut House was what some people might call kitschy, covered from floor to ceiling in tchotchkes, trinkets and other flair, so the new sleek decor was a welcomed change.  For me, at least.

Local 149 is best described as a hipster restaurant, at least that's the only way I can think to describe it.  Southie is filled with a lot of bars, most owned by the same parent company, meaning the layout, decor and menus are all pretty much the same.  Local 149 brought a much needed change to the neighborhood, with menu items focusing on artisanal cheeses, charcuterie, and local produce.  Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of places like that in Boston, that focus on where the food comes from, the quality and presentation, but places like this were lacking in Southie.  If you wanted a Bud Light and a burger, you had your pick, but if you wanted some cured meats and a Delirium Tremens, then you were outta luck.  For the record, I went right down the middle, ordering the burger AND Tremens.  I'm so crazy.


Local 149 did their best to try and incorporate the blue collar vibe of Southie into their menu, and even their name.  I don't think I'm make a huge leap to assume that Local 149 is meant to sound like a union, considering everything on their menus is referred to nuts and bolts.  It's a cool concept, except that I couldn't tell what a nut and/or bolt was - entree?  appetizer?  Who knows!

Per our usual routine, we got a seat right at the bar and camped out for the rest of the night.  We were seated right on the corner, my favorite spot at any bar - great for chatting AND people watching, smack in front of the charcuterie guy.  Maybe he has a more official title, but all I know is that he was shucking oysters, clams AND slicing meats and putting together cheese trays.  The man could do it all - I wonder if you can hire him for parties...hmm.  Sue and I sat entranced just watching this guy do his work.    

Sue and I had a great dinner, she claimed that her fish and chips might be the best she has ever had in her life, which I think is a HUGE compliment!  I gave up fried food for lent [seriously, doesn't that sound like torture?!] so I unfortch couldn't sample it, but I'll take her word for it.

Sue and I have such a great time when we are together.  We chat for hours and the time literally flies by.  Before we knew it, our waitress was sitting next to us, sharing a beer, and the rest of the staff was cleaning up and turning lights on.  We are becoming WAY too famous at closing places down - even when we don't mean to!

{I just thought this wall was cute, it's a bunch of vintage colored glass seltzer bottles against a mirrored wall.}