Interrupting my Dominican Republic series to share some more recent joy …

This summer has been busy so far, and I love it! Between work, sunny days spent by the pool, family gatherings and, well, life, it’s been a great change of pace compared to this time around last year.

Nathan and I hosted two of our closest friends over the holiday weekend, filled with grilled comfort food, laughter, sun and more delicious food, ha! We picked them up from Hamilton Station on Friday evening and spent a lovely night at home, catching up, cooking together and playing board games.

We started off our “foodie weekend” with a homemade baked pasta dish with turkey meatballs, whole grain penne, mushrooms, zucchini and lots of bright and fresh ingredients. It was, without a doubt, exquisite! A fun fact about us: We all worked at a coffee house, so, of course, we had to introduce them to our newly found local gem. So we woke up early the next day and walked to and from breakfast there, and I’m happy to report they were not disappointed.

We had hoped to spend some time by the pool that day, but the weather wasn’t in our favor; we took the opportunity to instead finally give Moshulu a try. I heard wonderful things about the food, ambiance and service, so reading about my colleague Haley Fogarty’s experience there in one of her fairly recent blogs solidified our decision.

In spite of the pouring rain that broke out shortly after we were seated, we loved everything about the restaurant. I personally loved the sense of history you feel as you walk from reception up to the deck to where the outside bar is . . . and all around, really.

We opted to share our appetizers and ordered the Korean fried chicken and mac and cheese, and the former was delicious! So was the mac, but the chicken and the cabbage slaw that accompanied it stood out the most for me. I savored every single bite of my entrée, Pacific halibut over corn pilaf, roasted heirloom tomatoes, zucchini dressed with a lovely spinach pesto and chili oil … chef’s kiss. The white sangria was just as good as our meals!

We went to the top deck to watch the sunset and take a few pictures; it was truly a beautiful sight. We walked around South Street for a bit and caught some fireworks while enjoying some Rita’s frozen custard before heading home.

We wrapped up the weekend with an early workout and coffee run on Sunday morning and spent most of the afternoon by the pool and then grilled for dinner. Luckily, our neighboring town put on a fireworks show we were able to enjoy from the comfort of our couch.

These are the type of weekends I look forward to the most during the summer, and it’s been exciting to see cities spark up again. I told myself we need to try two new restaurants before the end of the summer; I’ll definitely report back on that.

— Yasser Ogando, advertising & production manager