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The Circus Comes to Towne



Lions and tigers and bears, oh my? We may have skipped the animalia this runaround, but the Elite circus that came to Towne sent 300 Boston yelpers on a wild ride!

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Cheflebrities Lydia Shire and Jasper White invited the spry bunch to their latest culinary destination, Towne Stove & Spirits in Back Bay. The 13,000 sq ft eatery, which opened its doors mid-2010, rose from largely unused office space of the Hynes Convention Center, giving developers the liberties of open floor plans and mile-high ceilings. Dark woods, polished brass and immaculate glass housed waves and waves of unimaginably creative hors d'oeuvres, Hangar One cocktails and, arguably, the Greatest Show on Earth.

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Executive chef Mario Capone pulled no punches with his neverending menu, a few highlights including lobster popovers, seared sushi grade tuna in crisped bean thread noodles, made-to-order frybread with spicy roast baby pig, Peking chicken with scallion pancake, truffled lobster mac & cheese, peppered Wagyu sirloin on tater tots and a freshly shucked raw bar of Cape Cod oysters and littlenecks. Color Nicole S impressed, claiming the spread was "the best food I have ever had at an Elite event. All venues put out the best but Towne really showed they have the Big Guns." Not forgetting dessert, Towne spun their famous vanilla cotton candy, crackled peanut brittle and scooped super premium caramel ice cream in to warm waffle cones. Pearl Harbor popsicles quenched even the booziest of sweet teeth, with Melissa M proclaiming "LOVE LOVE LOOOOOOOVE" for "pineapple and Midori!"

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The mingling crowds enjoyed the solace of the restaurants entire upper level and marveled at the acrobatics, antics and contact juggling of The Boston Circus Guild, while being baffled by Eventful Magic's mystical mentalism and slight of hand. Balloon animals (and maybe a Yelp Burst or two) brought out your inner Elite Jr. and the costumed snapshots from the Photo Fun Box ensured everyone had photographic evidence of the night's clowning. Good thing too, as the Bearded Ladies featuring Hangar One vodka and Towne's own lime-rose syrup may have left things fuzzy. And we're not talking "performing bear" fuzzy, ifyaknowwhatImean.

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Lydia and Jasper joined in the fun, serving the star-struck superfans and posing for pics, expertly provided by Yelp photographer extraordinaire, Tatsu I. Be sure to check out the entire album here! This incredible five-star event (still the Talk of the Towne!) couldn't have been possible without the young and adventurous spirit of Richard, Ivan, Lauren and the entire Towne staff, the wonderful support of Ms. Yelp Chicagoland herself, Jelena Z, Yelp Boston's lovely intern Lydo R, A/V guru David and all the terrific sponsors. And of course, the kids-at-heart of our Elite Squad. What say you Andrew R? "Hands down (and up and out and sideways) the best event yet!"

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Everleading the Ring,

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Damien S

 

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