|
| RESTAURANTS
|
February 06 - February 19, 2012 |
|
Archived Events
A Great Taste
TASTE OF THE BACK BAY With so many fine restaurants in Boston’s popular Back Bay neighborhood, it’s a challenge to choose just one for dinner. Thankfully, on April 8, the dilemma gets a lot easier with an opportunity to try more than 30 of the neighborhood’s top eateries while supporting a great cause. Foodies are invited to enjoy breathtaking views of the Hub and exquisite food and drink at the 15th annual Taste of the Back Bay. Top restaurants like Da Vinci Ristorante, Bistro du Midi, Vlora (pictured above), Turner Fisheries, Kashmir and others offer delicious cuisine, while proceeds from the event benefit community programs like the Clarendon Street Playground Fund. Sweet charity, indeed. For more information, call 617-247-3961. 
(Gluten) Free-for-All
Eating out in Boston is an embarrassment of riches for most of us, but for those
who suffer from celiac disease the options aren't nearly as limitless. Thankfully,
some area restaurants have taken notice and crafted special gluten-free menus that
don't contain wheat, rye, barley or oats. The Legal Sea Foods chain (various
locations, including Park Square, the Shops at Prudential Center, and Long Wharf)
offers variations on many of its popular appetizers, entrees, sides and desserts.
Myers + Chang (1145 Washington St., 617-542-5200) in the South End makes
Asian cuisine available to all with dishes like Thai ginger chicken salad, oyster
wokked omelettes and nasi goring (Indonesian fried rice). And lovers of Italian
can eat without fear at Davio's (75 Arlington St., 617-357-4810), where the
baby spinach and warm eggplant caponata and the grilled seasonal vegetables in fresh
herbs and balsamic vinaigrette (pictured) are served for lunch and dinner. Thanks
to these restaurants, and a growing number of others, no appetite has to be left
unsatisfied in the Hub. 
Soul Food
GOSPEL BRUNCH
Since 1992, House of Blues locations nationwide have been satisfying souls and appetites
with the popular Gospel Brunches. The newest HOB-right here in Boston-has embraced
the tradition as well. Every Sunday, lovers of great food and stirring gospel music
can enjoy a delicious southern-style buffet of dishes like fried chicken, waffles,
biscuits and gravy, jambalaya and more while testifying to the uplifting sounds
of some of the best gospel music around. Look Out, Colonel Sanders
—Meredith Wilson A Cut Above
Beginning January 28, foodies in Downtown Crossing have a brand-new option for delicious
cuisine and diverse libations with the arrival of Stoddard’s Fine Food &
Ale. The new gastropub offers a dining and drinking experience which satisfies those
with a thirst for the finer things as well as a taste for history—the building
itself is a former 19th-century cutlery shop featuring authentic period architecture,
including a manually operated antique elevator. The menu, created by chef Mark Cina,
showcases upscale American comfort foods like cask ale/smoked gouda bread pudding
and chicken pot pie as well as 110 different beers and a full assortment of craft
cocktails (some popularized in the 1800s), complete with ice hand-shaved and chipped
from a massive block. Stoddard’s celebrates both the past and future of Boston’s
culinary scene. Cheer Leaders
When you’re out doing all that holiday shopping (or, post-Christmas/Hanukkah,
the dreaded holiday returning—thanks a bunch, Aunt Maude!), it’s important
to take a moment to refuel and refresh with something tasty. That’s why, throughout
the month of December, North 26 restaurant is offering up a bit of “Holiday
Cheer.” Every afternoon from 3–6 p.m., the restaurant (located
adjacent to bustling Faneuil Hall Marketplace) offers a selection of seasonal treats—including
gingerbread cookies, eggnog crème brulee and candy cane cupcakes—free of charge
with the purchase of a seasonal cocktail like the Cider House 26 (Myers dark rum
and amaretto mixed with hot apple cider) or the Toffee Coffee (butterscotch schnapps
and Kahlua with espresso, steamed milk, whipped cream and nutmeg).
Park’s Got Spark
During the last two years of economic freefall, people have almost become accustomed
to seeing banks disappear from the landscape. However, it’s a sure bet they’ve
left nothing as delicious in their wake as new South End eatery Ginger Park, which
now resides in the spot vacated by its chic culinary predecessor, BanQ. Acclaimed
New York chef Patricia Yeo looks to expand her epicurian empire with this stylish
new restaurant that boasts a menu of Thai-, Malaysian- and Chinese-influenced small
plates, moderately priced from $7–19, including everything from short rib,
sweetbread and leek potstickers to duck meatballs to five-vegetable spring rolls
with carrot ketchup.
Haute Hotel Cuisine Boston’s come a long way since the days when hotel dining consisted of a burger and shake at a Howard Johnson’s. This fall, the city’s hottest new eateries are springing up in hotels old and new. Here’s some places to check out as you’re checking in.
—Meredith Wilson
Cooking Classes
Chefs of all levels tackling any of the season’s many impending holiday dinners
are sure to flock to BiNA Alimentari in Downtown Crossing to pick up special high-end
ingredients like house-made breads and pasta, imported olive oils and fine wines.
This year, the foodies at BiNA also encourage you to embrace your inner “Top
Chef” and sign up for one of their cooking classes and workshops ($10 per
participant) designed to help you wow your dinner guests. Get tips on making creative
holiday pies (November 21), crafting delicious gingerbread men and houses
(December 5) and choosing the best sparkling wines (December 12).
’Tis the season to satisfy both your appetite and your budget while you learn
tricks of the culinary trade.
Cocktail of the Week
Whether we’re dissing the Yankees or ignoring the “r” as a valuable
letter of the alphabet, Bostonians are never shy about expressing our hometown pride.
Now, M Bar & Lounge at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel has found a new and refreshing
way to pay tribute to our “wicked awesome” city with its line of Absolut
Boston Revolutionary Cocktails. Choose from six Boston-themed drinks (each based
around Absolut’s limited edition Boston vodka, flavored with a blend of black
tea and elderflower), including the Boston Tea Party with lemon juice, mint and
simple syrup and the Dirty Water (pictured), made with blackberry, agave nectar
and lemon. Sipping one of these signature libations will Absolut-ly have you feeling
like a true Bostonian.
Post 390
For those that believe that comfort food should aspire to so much more than a pint
of Haagen-Dazs and a bucket of the Colonel’s extra crispy, new eatery Post
390 has heard your pleas. Combining the glitz of a night on the town with all the
soothing, delicious delights of Mom’s home cooking, Post 390 allows guests
to grab a corner table with panoramic views of Back Bay landmarks or cozy up next
to one of three welcoming fireplaces. There, diners in this urban tavern can savor
upscale comfort food like the half-pound Kobe beef hot dog, turkey pot pie or the
beer and bacon fried mac ’n’ cheese. With dishes catering to most every
palate, Post 390 is sure to quickly put its stamp on the Boston culinary scene.
Dish of The Day
As a rule, modeling your diet after Elvis Presley’s isn’t highly recommended.
However, after a Saturday night of debauchery, how much harm can one giant, carb-crammed
Sunday brunch really do? Toss dietary concerns and common sense to the wind and
head to funky, kitschy Kendall Square newcomer The Friendly Toast for their signature
King Cakes. This breakfast-y version of Elvis’s favorite sandwich is a pair
of huge banana and chocolate chip pancakes served with a generous smear of peanut
butter in between them and real whipped cream on top. The coup de grace? A side
of bacon encircling the flapjacks (or veggie bacon—you know, just in case
you’re watching your cholesterol).
A CHOC-ING TOUR OF BOSTON The Chocolate Bar Langham Hotel 250 Franklin St. 617-451-1900, Ext. 7125 Saturdays at 11 and 11:30 a.m., 1 and 1:30 p.m.
Mollusk Madness
Ordinarily, Bostonians don’t put much stock in the letter “r”
(“Paahk the caah”), but we know that when “r” shows up in
a month—September, October, etc.—it’s prime oyster time. Legal
Sea Foods celebrates everyone’s favorite mollusk with a series of bivalve-based
events this fall. During this “Half-Shell Hedonism,” oyster lovers can
“Sip, Slurp and Sup” a five-course dinner of oysters paired with wines
from the 10,000-bottle wine cellar at Park Square (September 24); enjoy a
multi-course oyster and craft beer dinner at the Prudential Center (September 30);
or indulge in a traditional New England clambake and raw bar on the tip of the Boston
Fish Pier (October 4). Don’t miss these chances to satisfy your oyster
cravings while they’re in peak season.
Phood and Phun in the Phenway
There’ll be a whole lot more than peanuts and Cracker Jack to chow down upon
outside Fenway Park on September 26—that’s when the annual Phantom
Gourmet Food Festival turns the streets around the ballyard into the city’s
biggest buffet. This year’s fete features 80 of the top-rated foods seen on
the regional TV restaurant review show—everything from pizza and barbecue,
to ice cream and whoopee pies, to burgers, fries, seafood and much more. A ticket
entitles you to all you can eat, as well as admission to private parties at popular
Lansdowne Street bars like Game On!, The Lansdowne, House of Blues and Bleacher
Bar. Bring an appetite for good food and good times, and you and the Phantom will
hit it off phamously.
For one night only, the restaurants of the Park Square neighborhood hold a virtual
“Monopoly” on phenomenal dining deals, as five exceptional eateries—Fleming’s,
Davio’s (pictured above), Da Vinci Ristorante, Legal Sea Foods and Via Matta—team
up to offer a five-course prix-fixe meal for $50 (exactly the price of Park Place
on a Monopoly board). Start your tour of Park Square at Davio’s, where you’ll
receive a schedule and map of the square, before heading off to sample some of Boston’s
most delicious steakhouse, seafood and Italian fare. Top-notch cuisine and the chance
to walk off some of the calories between courses? The only thing that could make
it better is that other staple of the Monopoly board: “free parking.”
The three-course prix-fixe meal is a staple of the restaurant industry. But when
a one-of-a-kind date that makes numerologists’ toes curl in delight comes
along— such as September 9, 2009 (09/09/09)—something extra special
is called for. That’s why Asana, the restaurant at swanky Back Bay hotel the
Mandarin Oriental, is offering a spectacular nine-course dinner for $99. For one
night only, Executive Chef Nicolas Boutin exceeds all sensible gastronomical boundaries
and serves up irresistible delicacies like pan-fried duck foie gras, seared Georges
Bank scallops, roasted jumbo quail and, for dessert, poached figs and a not-to-be-missed
guanaja chocolate molten cake. So get yourself dressed to the nines and enjoy a
sophisticated and decadent meal that doesn’t come along everyday.
It’s $6.06 Somewhere
At the end of a sultry summer day in the Hub, there’s nothing more refreshing
than enjoying a cool drink or a light nibble along Boston Harbor. Lovers of delicious
food and drink flock to 606 Congress, the popular eatery on the South Boston waterfront,
every Friday from 5–8 p.m., where they can choose either a bucket of
brews, a chilled cocktail or a sampling of fresh seafood for the primo price of
(what else?) $6.06. Enjoy fine fare on the restaurant’s patio facing picturesque
Maritime Park or, if a summer storm comes rolling by, step inside the sleek and
comfy confines of the Capiz Lounge. This delightful deal ends September 4,
so make sure to savor summer along the seaside while it lasts.
|
Stoddard’s Fine Food & Ale
Holiday Cheer
Ginger
Park 
Season’s
Eatings
For 20 years, Boston chocoholics have been
exquisitely tempted by the Langham Hotel’s Chocolate Bar, an extravagant buffet
of chocolate treats offered each Saturday at Café Fleuri. This year, head pastry
chef Jed Hackney has taken the Chocolate Bar in a new direction as he unveils Boston’s
Chocolate Trail, a mouthwatering collection of gourmet creations inspired by our
city’s neighborhoods. Chocolate connoisseurs can taste the Italian-centric
North End in the Zuccotto (a layered pastry cream and sponge cake dish), explore
Chinatown with the zesty Five Spice Chocolate Soup and dessert sushi, or swing by
Fenway Park to sample homemade crackerjacks and chocolate-covered peanuts. It’s
an opportunity to experience Boston as you never have before—bite-sized and
coated in decadent, delicious chocolate.
Legal Sea Foods Oyster Festival
Phantom Gourmet Food Festival
|
|