I have been in Vegas for the past 10 days for work and finally got back on the red-eye Wednesday morning. After a full two days of recovery I am finally starting to get back to normal!!

Right before I left I got invited to Not Your Average Joe’s in Watertown for a tasting of their spring menu. I love Not Your Average Joe’s because of their huge menu, their happy hour specials, and their bread basket so I was really excited to receive the invite. Jaime and I headed to Watertown on a rainy Tuesday night and had a delicious meal while learning about each course directly from Chef Hallett. Sorry for the yellow tint to the pictures. I took them on my camera phone and there was not good lighting.

While we waited for the dinner to start we enjoyed the breadbasket with the olive oil, parmesan cheese and crushed red pepper flakes.

I knew as soon as I saw the menu I was going to be a fan of the Pork Pretzel Bites. Pulled pork and coleslaw over a pretzel bread crostini topped with a house made barbecue sauce and onion strings? YUM.

Next up was the Pan-seared Scallops with basil pesto over a edamame, corn, red onion and tomato succotash. The scallop was cooked perfectly and I loved the crunch on the outside of it.

We were served tasting plates but Chef Hallett brought out full size portions so we could see how they are served to the guests.

For entrees we sampled the Chicken Parmesan Tower which was another one of my favorites of the night. The chicken was not dried out at all and I loved how it was served with spaghetti squash instead of spaghetti like a typical chicken parm dinner.

A much lighter entree option we tried was the Chicken Caprese. This is a great summer recipe featuring chicken marinated in lemon, grilled, and served over a summer salad of heirloom tomatoes, arugula, mozzarella and shaved romano cheese. The salad has a lemon vinaigrette as well.

This dish was really light and fresh, it just had a little too much dressing on the salad for my liking.

Our next entree taste was the Mediterranean Turkey Kabobs. Marinated in a spicy yogurt and grilled by the skewer they are served over an artichoke and feta orzo and drizzled with curried zizki sauce and pesto.

I am not a big fan of curry but it was very subtle in this dish and the whole meal was packed full of flavor!

Our last entree was the Shrimp Fettuccine with Goat Cheese Pesto. A grilled shrimp on a rosemary skewer sat atop fettuccine coated in a goat cheese pesto sauce with grilled corn, sugar snap peas, red onions and grape tomatoes. This was another one of my faves.

Although we were already stuffed we had to make room for desert. We got a small sampling featuring key lime pie, cheesecake and a molten chocolate cake. While all were really good I was eyeing the table next to me who ordered the s’mores creme brulee. I need to try that next time!!

I think if I had to pick my absolute faves of the night it would be the Pork Pretzel Bites, Pan-Seared Scallop and the Chicken Parmesan Tower. I loved how the full size portions were all large enough to take home leftovers as well 🙂

Thank you to Will, Chef Hallett and the team at Not Your Average Joe’s in Watertown for inviting me to such a fun night. I can’t wait to come visit you all again soon!!

Not Your Average Joe’s in Watertown is located at:

55 Main Street
Watertown, MA 02472

T: 617.926.9229

Mon-Thur: 11:30am – 10:00pm
Fri-Sat: 11:30am – 11:00pm
Sunday: 12:00pm – 10:00pm