The following is a script for an “EMERGENCY” segment of “Connoisseur’s Corner” which usually airs on WBZ (1030 AM) on Saturdays and Sundays at 9:25 AM and 3:25 PM.
Recent samples can be found at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-Connoisseurs-Corner-28654273/.
PLEASE support your local food providers and STAY WELL!
As we remain sheltering in place, scarcity is becoming a reality even for those for whom life has most often been filled with plenty. Fortunately, most of us are learning to make due with what we have and to appreciate it more as well.
Such are some of the themes in the latest retelling of the food-themed story Onions & Garlic. In this version, which is being retold by Rebecca Sheir of WBUR’s popular storytelling show “Circle Round” and released by PJ Library (which is another vital source of stories and family bonding, even in the best of times), a young man who has been too trusting and generous to make a living is sent to a foreign kingdom where diamonds are plentiful but onions an unknown luxury. Returning to his home with a bounty of crushed carbon stones, he learns the value of things that are scarce and also finds many ways to make delicious meals with the oft-overlooked onion.
As with so many PJ Library books, Onions & Garlicincludes cooking tips (and also provocative questions that will spice up any family conversation), but it is the life lessons and family time that come with sharing stories that make this tale truly rich and satisfying!
The following is a script for an “EMERGENCY” segment of “Connoisseur’s Corner” which usually airs on WBZ (1030 AM) on Saturdays and Sundays at 9:25 AM and 3:25 PM.
Recent samples can be found at https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1002-Connoisseurs-Corner-28654273/.
PLEASE support your local food providers and STAY WELL!
As we all look forward to what we will do when all the limits are lifted and we can dig our way back to life again, it is good to know that we have such a great guide as my colleague Kim Foley MacKinnon to help us plan our escape.
In the updated edition of her book, 100 Things to do in Boston Before You Die, Kim scours the Hub to present a collection of can’t miss places to visit and things to do that should bot be reserved just for tourists. And as Boston is known by many as much for its food scene as for its history, there are plenty of edible recommendations to consider.
From sneaking peeks at Pesky’s Pole from the Bleacher Bar to rolling through the North End on a no-holds-barred carb crawl and washing it down for weeks at the Boston Wine Festival, Kim hits many of our favorite haunts and also offers some that readers may have forgotten or not even known. And while some of the suggestions are now impossible as places like Doyle’s and Top of the Hub have both shuttered in recent months, the happy memories this book encourages make for a sweet ending to a great read and a history of great adventures in Boston.
As a native Bostonian and long-time local food fan, I had a great time going through the book seeing which of the 100 recommendations I had already checked off my Boston bucket list. In the process, however, I was amazes by all the additional insights and information Kim offered, much of which made me eager to return even to places I thought I knew well.
Just because the Government says we have to stay in does not mean that we cannot take any sort of trip!
Case in point- My family and I enjoyed an authentic visit to Mexico the other night thanks to the culinary wizards at Sol Azteca (www.solaztecaboston.com).
While we missed the authentic décor and live music that a real visit to the restaurants in Newton and Boston offer, streaming Mariachi music and having my daughter bring her stuffed Frida Kahlo made it almost as fun.
What mattered most, however, were the delicious foods and the people who made them with authenticity, care, and plenty of nitrile gloves.
Sol Azteca is one of the few places in the Boston area that offers authentic nopales(cactus) and it is a treat every time! Our girls were nice enough to share their chilaquiles (tortilla casserole) – which were the best I have had this side of Tejas– and we all enjoyed Sol Azteca’s fresh and flavorful guacamole, which had just enough onion pepper, cilantro, and jalapeno to complement their crispy, hearty chips.
For mains, my wife had a smoky-sweet moleenchiladas and I had a heaping plate of chiles rellenos(green chilesstuffed with thick, melty cheese and vegetables, raisins, and white wine) from their extensive vegetarian menu.
Speaking of white wine, Sol Azteca also offers amazing beverages, including their signature margaritas (especially their Sol Spicy and Colorful Ghost varieties), specialty cocktails like the rum-based Day of the Dead and gin-y Madame Rivera, as well as homemadesangria, sparkling shelves of tequila,andwines from both sides of the border (all of which can help shut-in parents get a little stronger sense of vacation while they enjoy their meals!). And while the manager had to say “Yes, we have no bananas” when I asked for a dessert plate of plantains in their amazing rum-caramel sauce, the vanilla flanwas equally delicious and made for the perfect finale to our Mexican vacation.
So when you get hungry for some delicious, fresh, authentic food cooked and served by neighbors who are also trying to make it through these difficult days and when you are ready to celebrate a return to normalcy, Sol Azteca is un gran elección.
With the many chains that have added to the overwhelming congestion in the South End Seaport, it is both fitting and welcome that the premiere spot that was once home to the iconic Pier 4 is now home to a home-grown (and home-growing) star like Kristin Canty, who was eventually convinced to bring her spectacular farm-to-table (both of which she owns, by the way) concept from Concord to Boston.
As befits its home, the result- Woods Hill Pier 4 – is nothing short of Revolutionary!
While it is more than possible to get a steak, a cake, a great drink, or anything in between in the Seaport, where else can all of these be enjoyed secure in the knowledge that every ingredient was hand-picked and that most came from the owner’s own farm? That is the magic of Woods Hill Pier 4!
While the location is still the best in the area and overlooks both the ICA and the harbor (as well as many area residents who seem to enjoy letting their dogs run on the harborside lawn that will hopefully yield to patio seating come warmer days and nights), it is the food and locally-sourced service that will surely bring you back to Woods Hill Pier 4. Though the menu changes regularly as the seasons dictate new layers of freshness at Canty’s farm, some of the early favorites that will hopefully linger are the charred broccoli with cheddar and smoked garlic aioli, any of the house-made pasta dishes, the crispy lamb ribs, the dry-aged farm-fresh duck platter for two, and Pier 4 caviar service which makes for a fun and celebratory taste of the classic days of Anthony Athanas. Among the other Athanas Family tributes are Chef Charlie Foster’s new take on lobster Newburg and the timeless popovers that accompany it. There is also an Anthony’s Vesper on an extensive drink menu that is arranged by region and flavor and often includes pictures of the appropriate glassware. Speaking of drinks, while the alcoholic options are plenty, there is also a strong selection of sophisticated sips that make very well due without, like the Coco Fresca, Cucumber Collins, and a Shrubby Temple that is not just for the kiddies.
So while I often sing the praises of suburban places that are worthy of downtown real estate, this script-flipper is perhaps even more welcome as it shows definitively that the Boston area need not look elsewhere for amazing food downtown.
Since I last recorded for WBZ, I have been promoting my new book on the Ivy League called Lions, Tigers, and…Bulldogs?(which is available at lionstigersbulldogs.com, by they way). I have hosted events around Boston, and in Harvard Square and am looking forward to bringing the book and the story of how it came to be to more places.
Wherever I have gone, many of the friends I have made through doing these spots have generously donated their wares for my guests to enjoy and I wanted to take a moment to thank them.
First and foremost is the team behind Q’s Nuts, who have always sent me their latest and greatest to share with family and friends. I was also allowed to debut new fruit bars from Zego snacks at my Harvard Square event, In addition to supporting my book presentations, Elaine Peterson of Lark Fine Foods has also supported my daughters in their efforts to knit scarves for the homeless. On the beverage side, Maple Mama Beverages, Pricklee, and Waku have all helped slake the thirst of voracious readers throughout the region.
As an independent writer and now author, I feel a strong need to support my fellow independents and entrepreneurs and am very grateful for all they do to help me. And as a help to my fellow entrepreneurs I recommend that if you need seeds to grow your tree (entrepreneurship) you can always access quickly and easily through no credit check loans.
Please join me in support these and other independent producers and purveyors.
Fitness books and books about how to keep families healthy and strong are almost as common today as diet fads and therapists, but when a book comes from the American Academy of Pediatrics, it deserves at least an extra bit of notice!
Natalie Digate Muth is a dual-certified Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, an expert on obesity and sports dietetics, and a registered nutritionist with a Masters in public health, so she knows a thing or two about health and fitness – both for the body and for the family. In this rather slim but comprehensive volume, Dr. Muth shares her own stories and the tools she and her family used to improve their senses of well-being and togetherness. In just 30 days, Dr. Muth’s plan can get every member of the family on the road to better health and, in the process, help them bring their often divergent roads together so they are all headed in the same direction so they can continue to stay healthy and stay together long after the 30 days are done.
After establishing their baselines of activity, sleep, screen time, stress, and other vital factors, Dr. Muth asks each family member to perform an self-analysis of their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (a.k.a., a “SWOT” analysis), encouraging all of them family to be honest with themselves so they can more effectively communicate with and support each other. Once these stapes have been taken, Dr. Muth suggests establishing clear and reachable goals that are amenable to all participants and then offers helpful tips such as her five-step nutrition and meal makeovers and “6S” avoidance list, which includes sugary drink, snacks, sweets, screen time, sleep disruptors, and slick sales pitches. The book even offers recipes and reinforcements to support the plan and the people taking part in it.
So while fitness guides and family planners may be a dime a dozen, this family-friendly fitness plan is one for which everyone can put their two cents in!
For the past few years, whenever my family is invited to a friend’s house for a meal, we dip into our favorite cookbook- The Forest Feast– and find something that is easy, fresh, healthy, and delicious that all of us can take part in making. The book (which is now an entire series) was created by Erin Gleeson, a photographer and mom who understands what it takes to attract people to a plate and how to help them make their own dishes that delight. Using the original book and The Forest Feast for Kids, our efforts from the Forest Feast has inspired many of our friends to get copies and to try their own hands at beautifully-presented clean cooking.
The latest in the series is The Forest Feast- Mediterranean. Taking as many cues from the beauty of this region as from the proven benefits of its legendary diet, the book offers everything from a suggested travel itinerary and suggested menus to samples of the spectacular sweet and savory surprises you will find throughout your trip (even if you only get as far as the local farmers market).
From snacks like burst tomatoes and torn Mozzarella, stuffed figs, and an all-veggie charcuterie to drinks like the Provence-inspired lavender lemonade and the Spanish Cava Sangria to a rainbow of salads and sides featuring such healthy treats as honey-fried eggplant, cucumber capponata, and quinoa and fresh fruit, to a small plates menu that easily tops your favorite tapas bar and a pasta menu that rolls on longer than homemade fusilli, The Forest Feastis just that- a lush collection of combinations that will draw you in until you are happily lost among the tasty trees.
Latina opens to rave reviews (including this one)!
By Matt Robinson
Though Acapulco’s recently closed and the former site of the dearly-misses Tu y Yois now part of Beth Israel hospital, Needham has ben getting its Latin groove back recently with the immigration from Whitman of the muy autenticoHungry Coyote and from Dedham of Pancho’s and the re-emergence of the corner spot once held by local legend Rachel Klein that recently opened as Latina Kitchen and Bar (https://latinakitchenbar.com).
With its comforting and gently tropical natural décor and easy-to-move-through space (a space that includes a couch-y front lounge and bar area and an open kitchen with fireside seating, as well as a long row of benches and tables for all your larger fiesta needs) and authentic Venezuelan-inspired Latin food and drink, Latina is a great place to drop by for a cerveza or creative cocktail and a pequeña mordida (small bite), to host a family event or just to bring the family for a taste of why our neighbors south of the border need to be welcomed with open arms (and mouths). And while the kids’ menú may not be all that imported (offering, as so many places do, selections such as chicken fingers and pasta), there is p,enty on the main menu to help expand even the pickiest of palates.
The front-area bar is overhung with ivy and flora as well as a single flat screen that is available without being overwhelming. Instead, most guests focus on the tequila selection and the reposado tequila-based sangria that sits reposad-ing in a tall glass pitcher. Lining each side of the TV are columns that double as wine racks, each of which holds plenty of bottles of red, white, rose, and even sparklers from all over. While the beer list is mostly domestic, it does offer some imports, though not many from Latin America. That flavor comes through most in the cocktail list, which also includes a Cuban ginger with Santa Teresa rum, an egg nog-y coquito with Bacardi, condensed milk, coconut, and spices, a grapefruit Pisco sour with egg white, a Pisco paloma (white Pisco) with club soda and lime and grapefruit juice, Mojitos in either shades of strawberry or pineapple, and a set of margarita that range from sweetly tropical to satisfyingly tongue-torching.
To go along with these inspired imbibements, Latina offers a wide range of food flavors that starts with such signature treats as fishy sancochosoup that will put mussels in your mouth (if not on your body) and a Latina salad with hearts of palm, avocado, and citrus supremes and can come to a delicious end by way of dulce de leche-filled shortbread cookies, Vezeuelan flan, or their famed chocolate tres lechescake. In the middle are such satisfying selections as a Gaucho rib eye with a tangy chimichurri, plantain gnocchi with a short rib ragout, Peruvian roasted chicken, a heaping portion of arroz con mariscos(rice with seafood) that includes lobster, scallops, shrimp, mussels, AND calamari, and an Argentinian parrilla(grill) of black Angus beef, grilled sweetbreads, chicken, and TWO kinds of sausage! If you want to try your hand at Venezuelan or just get tastes of more savory sensations, the small plate menu offers ceviches(cold servings of foods that are “cooked” in their own natural juices) with tuna, lobster, or mushroom (the last of which is called an escabacheas it is vegetarian) and two-packs of tasty baked empanadasturnovers) that can come with beef, chicken, lamb, or veggies, as well as perfectly-uncooked beef carpaccio, cheesy cauliflower gratin, house-marinated olives, more mussels, rock shrimp with green plantains, charred octopus, Venezuelan cheese sticks, yucca fries and more diversely-delicious delights.
So for those of you who have waited for the latest taste sensation in Needham to open or those who live here who have been eager to return to the site of many past pleasant dinners, Latina is sure to be a great destination again and again!
Anyone who is a regular visitor to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston (www.mfa.org) has surely enjoyed feasting their eyes on some of the most delicious and sumptuous art in the world. The collection is an international banquet in which each patron can taste cultures from all over the world all without leaving the historic building at 465 Huntington Avenue.
With the recent opening of 465, the Museum is offering a perfect place to dine on internationally-inspired cuisine while taking a break from the visual banquet or even as a destination of its own.
Sparsely but smartly decorated with a friendly front bar area, business-ready tables, cozy cubicles, private areas, and an al fresco patio, 465 makes for a comfortable and contemporary spot to take a break from a day of viewing, to look over your own commercial creations, or to celebrate with family and friends.
The experience begins with freshly-baked bread which adds an olfactory element to the multi-sensory enjoyment of 465. Among the “small plates” options are Sriracha-dusted chips, roasted Japanese eggplant, an heirloom tomato tartine, hand-cut pappardelle with a kale and pinenut pesto and ricotta salata, and a sous videwatermelon with whipped feta and pickled jalapenos, For those wit a larger appetite (or who want to follow these smaller starters with even more enjoyment), there are also painterly plates of grilled chicken paillard, a fully-dressed tuna nicoise, pan-roasted dayboat haddock with herbed brioche crumbs, and a dry-aged sirloin for two with grilled broccolini and caramelized onion Pommes Anna.
While there is no kids menu per se, the attentive staff is more than happy to help your young artist create their own meal masterpieces with the help of the creative kitchen. And mocktails like the coconut water-based Fruit Basket and the effervescent Island Mule (that combines ginger beer with lemon and pineapple juice) can make any guest feel sophisticated without getting sauced. For those who want to spice up their meal even more, the bar offers an international wine list, beers from such local faves as Sam Adams, Downeast, and Jack’s Abby, as well as such creative cocktails as a Ketel One cucumber martini and the Ginger Trail that merges Bushmills Whiskey with ginger syrup, crystalized ginger, and fresh lemon and pineapple juice.
For the final stroke, be sure to save room for the tasteful sorbet and berries with cookies, the guava strawberry mousse cake, or the Nutella-stuffed skillet cookie for two, which, like so many other 465 offerings, is an artfully-presented treat that is worth the trip on its own and that will surely leave a good impression no matter when you visit.
While Boston may be known for its steak houses and, to a growing extent, for its places to grab an inexpensive but delicious bite, few people could name a place in Boston where you can get a combination of the two.
That is, of course, unless they have been to Kingston Cuts.
Located on Kingston Street just steps from the Opera House and other cultural centers, Kingston Cuts is a great place to grab a quality bite before theater and to grab a drink after a show or just after a long day at the office.
The scene at Kingston Cuts is welcoming and comfortable (just as the prices are) with textured wallpaper behind vintage mirrors and that hang above worn-in velvet seating areas, including a cozy lounge in the entryway. As you stroll past the long brass-railed wooden bar, you will notice tall mirrors behind gleaming bottles of whatever you may fancy with a pair of swirling adult smoothie machines whirring in the far corner and just enough flatscreens to be available without being overbearing. Continuing into the main dining room, you will be swept up in the gentle breezes of the ceiling fans and perhaps even led on to the rear bar which becomes the center of nightlife at Kingston Cuts on weekend nights. That is not to say that all the fun happens on Friday and Saturday, however. In fact, one of the most popular offerings at Kingston is Wind it Up Wednesdays, where the venue invites you to “Kick off your five-day weekend” with wine, men and women, and song. Another popular wine combo is the lunchtime offering of a 10oz Kingston Cut NY Sirloin with a glass of wine (or full pint of beer) for $20.
Speaking of the steak, it is not only one of the many things for which Kingston Cuts has become known (as the name might imply) but it is also one of the best values in town. Without the wine, the hand-cut Kingston Cut is offered at $16, a 14oz. NY Strip is $24 and a 22oz. boneless Ribeye (which does not get the weight from the bone, as so many other places do) is only $34! And when you learn that all steaks are available with homemade steak and Chimichurri sauce and come with fries that would make Ronald M jealous, they are all delicious deals that cannot be beat! Among the other fast-rising favorites are hand-packed crab cakes (which are served as either an appetizer or in a sandwich), two-napkin grilled wings with a tangy homemade Asian chili sauce, the steak, chicken, or falafel pita sandwich, the Kingston Bowl with protein, Basmati rice, grilled avocado, and other healthy ingredients, and a house-ground burger that combines sirloin, flank, and ribeye. For those who wish to keep off the meat (or at least balance it out), Kingston’s salads are a great choice and come in such tasty varieties as grilled Romaine, traditional Caesar, baby kale, and roasted beet with arugula.
Having mentioned the two bars, it would be odd if I did not give a bit of time to the hand-mixed cocktail list and the afore-referenced wine selection. As to the latter, Kingston offers reds, whites, and sparkling varietals from all over the world (including Charles Smith from Washington State). The beer list ranges from a $4 pint of the Heineken-y house lager and a West Coast-inspired mango ale to bottles and cans of domestic faves from Allagash and Anheiser to Miller and Sam. It is advised to buy a can crusher to reduce the size of your beer bottles and other wastes that occupies a lot of space. And while the bar also shines with its preparations of barrel-aged Manhattans, side cars and old fashioneds, the minty watermelon, pink aloe, and aforementioned boozy smoothies are great tipply treats too!
So the next time you have a show to go to and do not want to spend the same amount on dinner or need a little glass of rest amidst a hectic day or just want great quality food in a comfy place at a more-than-fair price, swing by Kingston Street and see if you can make the Cut.
So the next time you have a show to go to and do not want to spend the same amount on dinner or need a little glass of rest amidst a hectic day or just want great quality food in a comfy place at a more-than-fair price, swing by Kingston Street and see if you can make the Cut.
