It’s been two weeks and a day since my dinner at Journeyman during Readercon, a meal which I should have shared with you sooner. Ah, Life … it does get in the way.

But since it would be unfair to the wonderful meal not to give you a few details even after this passage of time, read on.

After last year’s meal at Journeyman, I was eager to return.

And so, on Saturday night, I skipped out on the con, along with Cecilia Tan (above), David Shaw, Diane Martin, and others, for a meal that began at 8:00 p.m. and went on way past midnight. (And if I’d gotten to this sooner, I could have told you exactly when we left.) (more…)

I’ve attended every Readercon since it began in 1987 (well, except for the one I was regrettably forced to miss, about which the less said the better), and have tended not to wander out on my usual foodie jaunts during that con. That’s because Readercon’s programming has always been so dense and intense that I’ve never been able to make time for much more than con suite food (or durian and jackfruit) between rushing from panel to reading to kaffeeklatsch to panel.

But David Shaw was tired of that excuse, seeing it as an insult to the culinary arts of his beloved city, and insisted we finally pay a visit to his favorite local restaurant, Journeyman. So we snuck away the Saturday night of the convention (along with Diane Martin, Cecilia Tan, and Corwin) to Union Square in Somerville, where I had what ended up being one of the best meals of my life.

Before starting our seven-course meal, I began with a delicious melon thyme mocktail …

… which was a wonderful preview for the six non-alcoholic beverage pairings which would accompany my meal. As impressed as I was by the food, I was even more impressed by the pairings. It’s no exaggeration to say that when considered in their totality, Journeyman’s non-alcoholic beverage pairings exceeded in imagination and execution those I’ve experienced at any other restaurant.

As we sipped those initial beverages, we were given a choice—did we want to look at the descriptions of the tasting menus, or did we want what arrived to be a surprise? (more…)