Turning Japanese
While Boston sports fans
spent 2007 deliriously excited about the Red
Sox’s new Japanese imports—pitchers Daisuke
Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima—foodies also
got their share of Pacific Rim delights as a
growing number of new and delicious Japanese
eateries took up residence in the Hub. From
the arrival of the first two U.S.
installations of popular international
noodle bar chain Wagamama
(Quincy Market Building at Faneuil Hall
Marketplace, 617-742-9242; 57 JFK St.,
Cambridge, 617-499-0930), to stylish
sit-down restaurants like
Haru (55 Huntington Ave.,
617-536-0770), O Ya (9
East St., 617-654-9900) and
Gari (187 Harvard St., Brookline,
617-277-2999) to the highly unique
Japanese-Mexican fusion of
Sushi-Teq (510 Atlantic Ave.,
617-227-5150), it seems Bostonians can’t get
enough of Far East flavors.
A Real Cowtown
Restaurant and food trends
may come and go, but it seems the primal
allure of a juicy hunk of red meat is
forever. Industry insiders might have
thought Boston was at the saturation point
for steakhouses two years ago, but that
hasn’t stopped diners from being presented
with ever-increasing new answers to the
age-old question “Where’s the beef?” Newest
names on the still-sizzling steak scene
include Ken Oringer’s high-end
KO Prime (90 Tremont
St., 617-772-0202), Jamie Mammano’s
whimsically monikered Mooo
(15 Beacon St., 617-670-2515), Pino Maffeo’s
Boston Public (234
Berkeley St., 617-266-4680) and a second
Boston outpost for Morton’s
The Steakhouse (Two Seaport Lane,
617-526-0410).
It’s Good to be
Kingston
For
Financial District drones, it’s a place to
grab cocktails and a bite with co-workers
after the whistle blows. For theater lovers,
it’s a cozy spot to nosh before or after
checking out a show at the nearby Opera
House. In essence, Kingston
Station (25 Kingston St.,
617-482-6282) has been all things to all
diners since opening last fall, succeeding
at pleasing customers with a satisfying menu
of brasserie-influenced dishes without
pigeonholing itself as a French restaurant.
The white-tiled archway that connects dining
room with bar area calls to mind
architecture befitting a train station, but
the relaxing atmosphere makes for none of
the hustle and bustle of one. Creative
cocktails that recall classic libations
while adding a contemporary twist complement
comfort food like pork ribs and baked beans
as well as upscale takes on tuna nicoise
salad and steak frites—all of which makes
this Station a pleasant place to find
oneself waylaid between ports of call.
The More, The
Merrier
Was Colonel Sanders
satisfied with just one restaurant? Or Dave
Thomas? Or even the Burger King? Heck, no,
and neither are a growing number of Boston’s
top chefs/restaurateurs who have made it
their business to branch out over the last
12 months. Besides the aforementioned KO
Prime, Ken Oringer also went south of the
border in 2007 with the laid-back taqueria
La Verdad (1 Lansdowne
St., 617-421-9595), while Michael Schlow of
Radius, Great Bay and Via Matta fame struck
out for the suburbs with his newest
endeavor, the Italian-themed
Alta Strada (92 Central St.,
Wellesley, 781-237-6100). Schlow’s frequent
business partner Christopher Myers,
meanwhile, embarked on a labor of love with
his sweetheart—pastry queen Joanne Chang,
owner of Boston’s two Flour bakeries—to open
the South End Asian eatery
Myers + Chang (1145 Washington St.,
617-542-5200). And with Chef Barbara Lynch
(No. 9 Park, The Butcher Shop, B & G
Oysters) set to open a new restaurant in the
Fort Point Channel area within the next
several months, this is one multi-tasking
trend that shows no sign of stopping anytime
soon.
Gifted
Gourmands
Before a neighborhood can
become home to a bonafide dining scene,
there always has to be one pioneer that gets
things started. In Boston’s Mission Hill
neighborhood—wedged between Roxbury, Jamaica
Plain and the Fenway area near the Museum of
Fine Arts—that restaurant might just turn
out to be The Savant Project
(1625 Tremont St., 617-566-5958), an eatery
boasting Latin- and Asian-inspired cuisine,
a drink menu packed with unique cocktails
made from cordials and aperitifs (the lack
of a full liquor license seemingly not
regarded an obstacle, but rather a source of
inspiration) and an artsy vibe that includes
graffiti-muralled walls, exhibits by local
artists and regular shows by live musicians
and DJs. When more eateries start pouring in
and hipsters are falling all over themselves
for reservations, just remember the deep
thinkers at Savant that got the ball
rolling.
Twice as Nice
Bostonians are used to
Dunkin’ Donuts multiplying like rabbits
every time they turn around, but recently,
some more substantial eateries have been
reproducing around our fair city. As
mentioned above, steak lovers got a second
Morton’s location to enjoy, while lovers of
upscale Chinese food saw a second
P.F. Chang’s (refer to
restaurant listing) open in the Shops at
Prudential Center. Z Square,
the Harvard Square restaurant specializing
in comfort food with international accents,
opened a second location on the campus of
Boston University (580 Commonwealth Ave.,
617-425-0101). And one local chain continued
its march toward total domination of the
Massachusetts pizza market, as Beacon Hill
pizzeria The Upper Crust
spread into the suburbs of Waltham,
Watertown and Hingham, bringing their total
to eight locations, with no end in sight.
A Dinner that STIX
to Your Ribs
The
concept sounds like something that Kramer
might have come up with on an episode of
“Seinfeld”—“a restaurant that serves all its
food on sticks, Jerry!” But the culinary
minds behind STIX (35
Stanhope St., 617-456-7849) were smart
enough to know that a gimmick done right
becomes more than a gimmick—it becomes a
unique dining experience. At this fresh,
funky and futuristic eatery, the bulk of the
menu is, as advertised, comprised of
different foods (chicken, steak, scallops,
veggies, lamb—even foie gras) served on
skewers. But these skewers are specially
designed, flavor-infused sticks that imbue
the food with exotic tastes ranging from
citrus rosemary to ginger mango to Thai
coconut lime. Space-age technology used to
tickle the taste buds? Giddyup!
South End Still
Sublime
While residents of the
South End might have reason to bemoan the
neighborhood’s increasing move away from its
artsy-boho identity of the last few decades,
one thing that hasn’t changed is the
borough’s status as a flashpoint for hot new
restaurants. Two of the city’s most popular
new eateries in 2007—and into 2008—are
located smack in the middle of the South
End: The Beehive
(refer to
nightclub listing) and
Gaslight Brasserie du Coin (560
Harrison Ave., 617-422-0224). Many of the
throngs of revelers that swarm to red-hot
nightspot The Beehive are there for the cool
cocktails, nightly live jazz and Bohemian
chic vibe, but the diverse food
menu—including paella, Moroccan stew and
almond crusted veal schnitzel—has won over
Boston foodies in droves. And Gaslight
expertly recreates the traditional Parisian
brasserie, serving classic dishes like the
croque monsieur, steak tartare, onion soup
gratinee and escargots so good they’d make a
Frenchman weak in the knees. With more new
openings set for 2008—including
Banq Restaurant and Bar,
another French-inspired eatery (with
elements of Indian spice) taking up
residence in a former bank building—expect
the South End to retain its lofty perch as
Boston’s dining mecca for the foreseeable
future.
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