mike & patty's

as promised, i will now fill you in on the best little sandwich shop i've ever encountered. since carl's dear friend micheal is one of the owner's of this adorable new hot spot in bay village, it was one of our prime destinations for our day in boston.


a quaint corner store front, johnny cake brand corn meal!
rave reviews for mike & patty's are all over yelp, carrots 'n' cake, among other places on the web, so don't just take my word for it. but believe me when i tell you that the croque madame sandwich michael prepared for me that day, completely spoiled me for the rest of the trip. every time we stopped for a bite to eat on the road home, all i could think about was gruyere and tangy dijon-crème-fraîche-collard-greens, permeated with soft yolk, on perfectly toasted, multi-grain, artisan bread...i will never forget that sandwich! i'm craving it now, but won't ever attempt to reproduce it. i know my culinary limits. oh, and the sandwich came with a tasty and refreshing celery root salad. from what i understand, everything on the menu reaches such heights! those who are lucky enough to have discovered this place, are willing to crowd themselves in, and wait their turn, day after day, for another tasty morsel from mike and patty's affordable breakfast and lunch menu.


outdoor seating, carl looks on as michael works his magic.

the place is tiny. it is little more than a stand, really. there is one long, high table and a counter inside, plus at least one table on the sidewalk. but oh! what they can do in such a small space! during peak times, i hear there's often overflow out into the streets of this charming neighborhood. take-out is always an option, but you'll probably want to eat your sandwich hot, so just pull up a curb and dig in!


that really is a thumbs up! heather + donuts

we arrived just around closing time, so we had the run of the place. carl was thrilled with his sandwich (something involving pulled pork and jicama slaw?), and heather kindly set cosmo up with a bowl of fresh blueberries, and sent us off with a bag of muffins and homemade donuts for breakfast.


peekin' in through the window

cosmo and i also had the exclusive privilege of visiting the employees-only bathroom, down in the basement. we descended through the cellar door, in the floor of the micro kitchen, down some treacherous spiral-type stairs to the crowded storeroom. then we found the step ladder leading up to the itsy-bitsy water closet. all the necessities were there, it was completely sanitary, and cosmo enjoyed being able to (finally!) check out where it all goes, thanks to the exposed (ancient) plumbing, and the ol' timey, elevated toilet tank.


the cellar door

we had some trouble finding church street, and asked a taxi driver. he didn't know, but a guy on the street overheard us and said, "are you looking for mike and patty's?" he told us how to find it, and highly recommended it. considering they have been open less than a year, they've already established quite a reputation. not surprising, the chef, michael fitzhenry, is nothing short of a culinary genius. a breakfast/sandwich shop may seem limited and simple, but whatever fitzhenry takes on, he hones to complete perfection. he goes to great lengths to use the finest ingredients, including organic eggs, and his unforgettable creations will blow you away. his loyal following at his former gig, formaggios, will attest to that.


cosmo, on church street

if you find yourself in the boston area, take the T to the new england medical center stop, and take the short walk (or bike ride) over to 12 church street, for the best sandwich of your life.

road trip '09

sheesh. sometimes life is so full, there's no chance to blog about it. we returned from our glorious road trip saturday night. sadly, i had come down with what could be the swine flu. don't think i will ever know for sure, but i took all the precautions, and didn't leave home for many days. it wasn't all that bad, and fortunately (knock on wood) carl and cosmo do not seem to have it. i am fully recovered now, and have finally processed all the vacation photos.





the road was long, and at times grueling, with traffic jams and rain. thankfully, cosmo was a superb traveler, taking naps, entertaining himself, and being easily entertained. we happened upon the world's most picturesque rest stop at lake Chatauqua NY, where we picked a few black raspberries, and identified some hypericum perforatum (st. john's wort).





we camped near corning, NY, home of the beautiful museum of glass, which we (sadly) only drove by. our goal was to get to martha's vineyard by the second night.



we were all happy to get out of the car, and head to the bus that would take us to the ferry, that would take us to the island, where our friends' parents have a lovely cottage.





the ferry ride was all we'd hoped for, complete with fog horns, and seagulls following along, catching bread crumbs mid-air (to the utter delight of cosmo).



martha's vineyard is filled with annoying rich people, and way too many cars, but it has it's charms. we hit the beach once or twice each day we were there. matt had masks and snorkels, and we found some beautiful creatures. this hermit crab had an entire eco-system living on his back. i love the dramatic colors of the whelk shell, and check out that awesome shell "door."


state beach

cosmo took to the water like his mama always has. i don't know that i have ever seen him so giddy in all of his little life. he loved playing in the calm clear waters at state beach, pretending to be a frog in the sand, shelling at edgarstown lighthouse (also known by mika as jingle shell beach) at dusk, and best of all, the crashing waves at gay head.


gay head (aquinnah)

i took him out into the deeper parts and held him in my arms as we rode over waves, or let them crash into us. cosmo squealed with delight-- every. single. time. that moment stands out as my favorite part of the whole trip. when we asked cosmo what his favorite part was, with out any coaxing, he chose the same moment.


on the way to jingle shell beach


searching for perfect scallop shells, and jingle shells

i fell in love with the tabernacle structure in the oak bluffs town center. such a beautiful open-air architecture, with excellent natural light. the kids had a ball in there. they also got to reach for brass rings on the oldest carousel in america, in oak bluffs, followed by pizza and ice cream. doesn't get much better than that.





lunch in the rocking chairs, on a porch near the beach, then an outdoor bath, back at the cottage, rounded out our martha's vineyard adventure. we were sad to say goodbye to our gracious hosts.





after our stay on the island, we headed into boston, to visit carl's ol' stompin' ground, and see some friends. cosmo also wanted to see the public gardens, the salt and pepper bridge, and the swan boats, on account of having checked out make way for ducklings, prior to our trip.





he really dug the big dig, but would have been content to ride the subway all day long. we stopped at the p.a., in somerville, to say hello to carl's ol' buddy jerry. at micheal's place, where we stayed the night, cosmo tried his first shower ever, and really warmed up to the idea. i think the hand-held fixture, and the lower-level sprays had something to do with it. in any case, he was happy to try it when we got home, and now loves it.



i always find that when we travel, cosmo learns so much, and seems to mature in some noticeable way. on this trip, besides the new openness to showers, it seemed like his communication skills blossomed. he now has a greater ability to really talk about things he's experienced, and express his opinions and observations. he thrives on novelty, and enjoyed checking out all the different kinds of bathrooms, trash cans, down spouts and other interesting bits of infrastructure in all the places we found ourselves.


i need to write about the spectacular place we went for lunch in boston, but i'm saving that for it's very own post.

see my garden blog for the astonishing harvest we came home to.