What a fantastic day off work I had today!  I got a call in the morning from Annie, a friend from work, to head over to a new little restaurant in Cambridge that has just opened call Canteen.  She read about it on Boston.GrubStreet.com, a great website to catch up on news in the Boston restaurant scene.

Annie and I met at Canteen near Central Square around 1 this afternoon.  I was pleased to see quite a crowd come and go in the half hour or so that we were there.  It seems they’re doing a “soft” opening – one that has been unpulicized more or less – just to get their land legs.

I arrived first and ordered the “Crafty.”  I sat and started to enjoy my sandwich while I waited for Annie.  I was hoping she would order something different and we could split half and half, but I also didn’t want to persuade her decision.  She ended up ordering the same sandwich that I did.  I guess great minds think alike!  I must confess however that I heard one of the owners (I think) tell another customer that it seemed to be the most popular so far.

The “Crafty” was served on good ciabatta bread and filled with roasted turkey, smokey bacon, creamy avocado, and dressed with a mildly spicy cherry pepper mayo.  It had nice texture from the chewy bread and the crispy bacon, and I liked the way that the fat from the avocado and mayo carried the intense flavor of the bacon and the subtle fruity spice of the cherry peppers.  I also really liked that I could still taste the turkey, even with all of the other flavors on the sandwich, since it could have easily been lost.  Great sandwich all around!

After Annie and I finished enjoyed our sandwiches, we decided that we needed ice cream.  It seemed like a logical progression on such a hot day, and we were relatively close to Christina’s, an Inman Square classic.  We both opted for sorbets feeling full from lunch.  I chose lemon rose and she had black cherry.  Both had a nice silky texture, and were bursting with tangy fruit flavors.  Annie remarked on the subtlety of the rose flavor in my sorbet.  It was just the right amount of a floral note so as not to overwhelm the delicate fresh lemon juice flavor of my sorbet.

I was disappointed that they were out of the coconut butterfinger ice cream that I love so much.  It sounds odd, but I’d venture to say that it might be the most delicious ice cream I’ve ever eaten.  The silver lining to that cloud, of course, is that it does justify another return to Christina’s… and soon.

Annie had to go to work, and I was left to my own devices with bulk of the afternoon ahead.  I couldn’t let the day go by without more adventure so I decided to head down to my new favorite hangout, Boston’s beautiful waterfront.  In a moment of serendipity, it turns out that my friend Teri had also chosen to spend the afternoon cooling off on the waterfront with a crossword puzzle in the shade.

Once Teri and I met up, I convinced her that we should go on a harbor cruise.  It was a perfect day to be out on the water – warm with blue skies and a light breeze.  We basked in the stunning scenic beauty of Boston Harbor and enjoyed relaxing while we were taken on a nice tour for the better part of an hour.  I snapped a number of photos, a few of which I am sharing with you below.

Teri and I wrapped up our afternoon at Sel de la Terre right on Long Wharf with a couple of refreshing adult beverages.  Some friends of mine work there, so we enjoyed telling them about our little adventure on the harbor, and they treated us to some delicious bites of food.  We had a tasty tomato salad and seared scallops with celery root puree.  We also succumbed to temptation by ordering the grand dessert – a sampler plate of sweets in miniature.

These kinds of days are the ones you wish you could relive over and over, but alas, all good things do come to an end.  Tomorrow it’s back to work and the busiest of all graduations of the year, Harvard.  Nevertheless, I will return refreshed and invigorated from a fantastic afternoon spent with dear friends in the town I love.