Well, they’re not quite old enough to drink yet, but they’re certainly old enough to celebrate a birthday in style. Cambridge Brewing Company is turning 20! On Friday, May 8, and Saturday, May 9, both beer and fun will be flowing at the CBC in Kendall Square from 5pm to closing time.
A night in Framingham and Natick offers a lot of perks: endless shopping opportunities, a multi-screen movie theater… and restaurants galore. However, many of the restaurants are old favorites, with emphasis on old over favorites. Who isn’t a little tired of eating at Chili’s or Legal’s? We are, and so we decided to give a shot to the new chain in town, British Beer Company. Located on Route 9 right in front of Jordan’s Furniture, the Framingham British Beer Company is hard to miss with its bright yellow building and enormous sign. The restaurant boasts ample parking and even free valet, at least on the Saturday night that we visited. Inside, you’re likely to encounter a wait on popular nights. However, BBC does have call-ahead placement that actually works: we called about an hour before arriving and were seated at once.
Bostonist couldn't restrain ourselves from eating a slice (or four) before taking a photo of this delicious pizza, the first to be delivered to our house from the new Bella Luna location. The Jamaica Plain restaurant, which had been chased out of its space on Centre Street by greedy landlords who must be loving the New Economy, moved via parade to a new space at the Brewery Complex last month. Bella Luna reopened at its new location yesterday.
It's tough being Ten Tables' next door neighbor. How do you compete with a buzzed-about romantic restaurant where it's impossible to get reservations and the chefs re-invent the menu every night? But Oleg Konovalov and Ibonne Zabala, the owners of Bon Savor in Jamaica Plain, have been quietly re-inventing their own Latin American menu with some interesting new dishes, including, most interestingly, an array of vegan crepes. But this week they up the ante: they've invited Alba Aranda, a celebrated Columbian chef who's just finished a stint at the American embassy in Colombia, to whip up a special menu on April 29.
Diner food is delicious. It's generally oozing with butter and grease, cheese and saccharine imitation maple syrup. These things taste good. However, many eaters these days are no longer ignorant enough of what goes into this food (the artery-clogging trans fats, the environment-destroying factory farmed meats) to partake in true, unadulterated diner-induced bliss. It may be simpler in a karmic way to live without consuming animal products (denial takes a lot of energy to maintain) but in a purely sensual way, it kinda sucks to live without bacon.
Yesterday, Bostonist had the privilege of touring Taza Chocolate in Somerville a week before its official open house and tour on May 2. Company founder Alex Whitmore and his colleagues led us through a day of super sweet education, covering the chocolate-making process all the way from bean roasting to bar wrapping, at which point the wonderful Albertine Press got involved, allowing us to letterpress chocolate bar wrappers in their shop. We ate chocolate for hours and took several bars home, but still weren’t sated. We just might have to return next week for another round of stone-ground goodness.
Charlie's Beer Garden Is Open Again
We visited last summer; now the beer garden at our beloved Charlie's is open again for the warm weather. Stop by today, tonight, and forever (well, maybe not forever; winter will come again, we fear) for delicious beer in an outdoor atmosphere. They've even added a restroom, so you don't have to go back indoors to relieve yourself anymore. Splendid!
Don't we all. But this is a uniquely romantic opportunity: spend a year in Parma, one of Italy's food hubs, studying sustainable agriculture at a university run by the Slow Food organization, with field trips to France, Greece and Spain, then produce a final project about it. This Bostonist smells a book deal.
The glass cube that sits just inside Post Office Square has seen some turnover in the past few years: Milk Street Cafe moved out and was replaced by Z Square, which recently closed all of its locations. One has to wonder why these reasonably-priced, high quality restaurants struggled in this gorgeous location, with its patio access and view of the oasis that is Post Office Square. High rent? Low margins? We can't be sure (although in Z Square's case, executive mismanagement and license violations may be partly to blame). But it makes us want to root for Sip, which opened yesterday in this space.
A hundred of North America's finest bartenders spent a weekend on top of a mountain with all the 'gnac-based liqueur they could drink, and Misty has lived to tell the tale.
Like a lady who likes her beer? Then you’ll love these women. This is a group of women who know their beer: know how to design it, make it, package it, write about it, and anything else you can think of that has to do with the brew. Who are these fabulous females, you ask? They are The Pink Boots Society.
Word of mouth is what brought this Bostonist to Taste Coffee House, while running errands in Newton. Taste is raved about by foodies and locals alike—and for good reason. Their pastries and breads are all local, hailing from Iggy’s in West Cambridge, and everything else on the menu is made in-house from the finest ingredients. Above all else, Taste is dedicated to brewing delicious coffee, which means that they only brew quality beans from local roasters such as George Howell and Barismo. The owner, twenty-four year old Nikolas Krankl, is also the barista—and a fine one he is too. He recently placed 2nd in the Northeast Regional Barista Competition a fact that is proudly displayed in a bright homemade sign behind the barista station.
The Boston food gods are smiling upon us today, for today is the day that Tupelo opens in Inman Square. Billed as "comfort food with a Southern drawl," the restaurant's fare is the product of two of our favorite Boston chefs: Rembs Layman, who's had a heavy hand in the rustic, textured, rich dishes at Matt Murphy's and Pomodoro, among others, and Renee McLeod of Petsi Pies, who's an expert in creating just-like-homemade desserts (if your home had a talented pastry chef living there). The potential of this delicious combo has had area Chowhounds buzzing with anticipation for days.
On Saturday night, a line of stylish 20-somethings - the men in blazers and Converse, the women in scarves and heels - snaked through the plaza outside the Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts. Nine hundred and fifty tickets had been sold for the Wine Riot, the first mass tasting of its kind in Boston, and the Cyclorama space was soon packed with people who may or may not have been attending their first tasting, ever. Tyler Balliet, editor of wine publication The Second Glass and one of the event’s organizers, said that the goal behind this event was to “get people to drink more wine,” and by these standards, the event was a success.
Next week the annual Craft Brewers Conference comes to Boston. This means nearly 2,600 people in the brewpub or brewery businesses descend upon the city to learn about brewing and share information about craft beer. This means a lot of lecturing, schmoozing, and, what else…? Oh, yeah: drinking.
Wellesley isn’t exactly what people think of when they are looking for a suburban food destination. The perception is that it’s difficult to get to by car or T, the people tend to be a little on the snobby side, it’s a dry town, and well, everything is really expensive. But this Bostonist has found a few gems that are well worth the trek out to Wellesley, and Susu bakery is one of them. Tucked away in a corner of Wellesley center, Susu is a sophisticated bakery with an elegant flare. Their delightful dining room boasts large tables with big comfortable chairs and booths, perfect for a lunch with the girls or a quiet moment to yourself. Their lunch menu is simple but covers most of the basics with soup, salad, quiche, and sandwiches. Their chicken salad is particularly fine and will have you craving more about a week after your first taste, but come early, as they do run out of it. Despite the delicious lunch fare, the real attraction here is the baked goods.
Today is Good Friday, a holiday very important to the Christian calendar. The holiday commemorates the unusual events following a feast at the home of Unconscious Pilot, a man living in a heavily tranqilized state after several tours in Iraq, and known for passing off tasty catered food from Friday's Chicken as his own. After the appetizers, twelve individuals witness a cooked chicken come to life, dance about in a circle of flames to the strains of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," and fall back on its platter. Next to the chicken on a palm frond, a chocolate egg appears. The guests chalk up the experience to weird fermentation in the bread products, which have caused outbreaks of mass hysteria in the past. Or, perhaps he was trying to hook them on a new drug for extra income in lieu of his inadequate veteran's benefits. Regardless, the rest of the guests abstain from partaking of the meal, leaving Unconscious Pilot to eat for himself the chicken and the chocolate egg.
Wine Riot, a wine-tasting extravaganza of epic proportions, is taking over the Cyclorama next weekend. Hipster wine mag The Second Glass and Boston’s Weekly Dig, the event’s organizers, promise that “This Isn't Your Parents' Wine Event.” With DJ Die Young on the decks, fake tattoos galore and a photobooth on-site, the Wine Riot may have more in common with popular club events like Paper or The Pill than with the overwhelming, cougarrific Boston Wine Expo. But with far better food, of course, provided by Savant Project, Mission Hill's newest hipster bar; Ronnarong, Union Square's brand-new Thai restaurant; Garden at the Cellar, Will Gilson's Central Square locavore paradise; and Sel de la Terre, L'Espalier's accessible little sibling.
Ketchup With This Crime
An Ohio man stole nearly 1000 bottles of ketchup that were intended for Fenway Franks. Monday's rainout may have saved us from a ketchup-free fate. But, since cutting out condiments can help you lose weight, maybe the thief was just trying to help us slim down.
You are frequently teased for being a beer snob. You are suspicious of any six-pack under $8.99. You will not go to a party if their keg is from a company that can afford Superbowl commercial slots. We suggest a movie to go to and drag any good (or bad) beer-loving friends to: Beer Wars: Brewed in America.
The bartenders at Drink, in South Boston, are friendly enough that they have indulged, on several occasions, Bostonist and our entourage when we posed a series of "garnish challenges," wholly unreasonable demands to match a cocktail to something outlandish or much less classy than their usual Luxardo cherries or Cynar ice cubes. Circus Peanuts or beef jerky, for example.
At the end of Moody Street, on the other side of the bridge from many of the regular Waltham haunts, there is a brick building nestled along the water. This old building used to house a fire station, but now it is home to Biagio, one of Waltham’s best Italian restaurants. Normally, when people talk of Moody Street they sing the virtues of the great Thai food, Pub food and Indian food that can be found there. Italian food is better left for the North End. But if you live in any of Waltham’s neighboring towns or even if you don’t, you owe it to yourself to pay Biagio a visit.
On Thursday, April 2, this Bostonist had the pleasure of attending this year’s Taste of the Nation Boston event at the Hynes Convention center. Managed by Share Our Strength, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending childhood hunger in America, this year’s Taste of the Nation Boston boasted the presence of more than seventy of Boston’s finest restaurants, over forty wineries, and Bombay Sapphire drinks galore. To put it simply, this event is foodie heaven.
Lick Your Sorrows with Dollar Scoops at JP Licks Tomorrow
In honor of opening day, JP Licks is reducing their prices to one dollar per scoop—the same as they were when the first store opened 28 years ago. Pay just a buck to get some ice cream or yogurt from noon to 9:00 pm on Monday, April 6, at any JP Licks location. If that weren't enough, you can also register to win free Sox tickets from JP Licks. Now that's a solid double for opening day.
It was exactly the kind of day that makes Bostonist not want to be outdoors: rainy, 40's, gray, Boston's March specialty. Yet, last Sunday we found ourselves walking up to the Arnold Arboretum's Hunnewell Visitor Center in Jamaica Plain to join a small crowd of would-be green thumbs in the name of gardening. We were there for Slow Food Boston's Seed Exchange & Container Gardening Workshop, an introduction for aspiring urban gardeners to the art of growing things you can eat with minimal square footage.
Bukowski Tavern, Harpoon, and The Weekly Dig have teamed up again for the “Pint and Pen” writing contest. The premise is simple: write a short-short story between 500 and 750 words long. The hard part is including these four essential words: pint, pen, Bukowski, and Harpoon. The harder part is competing against dozens of other word lovers who revel in the romantic notion of being a hard-drinking genius of letters.
March 27th marked the end of 2009's Winter Restaurant Week. Over the course of the past two weeks, this Bostonist visited several restaurants to take advantage of the occasion. A few of them delivered everything that Restaurant Week promises: a great value and delicious food. Unfortunately, several others were more than a bit disappointing. In a year with such a rough economy, you would expect that Restaurant Week would be a time for local eateries to go all out, giving customers a good reason to remember them once the great deals have ended. Instead, several places that we visited offered slow, mediocre service and dull, uninspired menus.
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