Author: Ed

Completed and Stunning: The Provincetown Library

After watching the progress of its renewal for years, it was a great pleasure to see the Provincetown Library completed and totally beautiful on a recent visit.

Here's a bit about the history of the library and the building.

Related Posts:

Clams Card, Don't Go To Cape Cod Without it!

Our Provincetown Post Collection: We just love this place!

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

April 28, 2012
Jazz Week 2012, April 27 to May 6: Our Friday Link

The sound of Jazz will be in the air around Greater Boston for the next ten days as we celebrate Jazz Week 2012. In addition to many ticketed events, you'll find lots of opportunites to enjoy free or low cost events.

Boston resident and Jazz musican David Bond on sax (above) says, “Boston is such a vibrant community because of the students, and because of the concerts, and Jazz Week is a perfect way of promoting it."

JazzBoston says, "In observance of UNESCO's November 10 decision to proclaim April 30 of each year as International Jazz Day, JazzBoston has adopted an international theme for its 6th annual presentation of Jazz Week throughout the Greater Boston area this spring. For 10 days from April 27 to May 6, Jazz Week '12 International will put the spotlight on the cultural diversity that gives the Greater Boston jazz scene its unique flavor. Hundreds of talented musicians, both home grown and from around the world, will perform in over 90 venues in and around the city, and special cross-cultural collaborations will highlight the power of jazz to create unity from diversity."

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photo: courtesy of David Bond
Screen Shot: courtesy of JazzBoston

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

April 27, 2012
Mother’s Day Dining in Boston 2012

Time to make reservations, if you plan to treat Mom to a meal out on Mother's Day, May 13, 2012.

This is an outdated post, click here for our Mother's Day Dining 2014, Reserve Now for May 11th

Keep in mind that in Boston, this "treat Mom to a great meal day" falls at the beginning of graduation season in Boston with Emmanuel College, Boston Conservatory, Fisher College, Emerson College, and Berklee College of Music holding commencements that weekend. (Here's the full list of Spring 2012 Commencement Dates for planning purposes.)

If your budget is tight, take Mom out for breakfast or treat her to breakfast in bed!

For Mother's Day dining ideas, here are three excellent lists of restaurants with special menus and hours for May 13, 2012.

Don't be surprised if some places require a credit card to secure the reservation. This is the type of holiday when people may book multiple restaurants and decide where to go at the last moment. That can make the restaurant turn away other potential customers, so a guarantee may be needed to reserve.

OpenTable always does a great job guiding you to the right reservation. What's more, you can just click through and reserve from this list.

Boston Chefs has a list of specials for the day from list from their members.

Gayot lists favorite brunches.

Our picks

With a gathering of family members with different food preferences, it's great to know about a place like Eastern Standard where they can please the cocktail lover, the meat and taters brother, and the family epicure.

Sometimes, family meals can use a bit of entertainment mixed in with the food. The Top of the Hub is perfect for this. They'll have prix fixe, 4-course brunch and dinner menus on Mother's Day with live jazz in the lounge for both meals. You'll also receive complementary passes to the Skywalk Observatory above the restaurant on the 50th floor. That will give part of your day a 360 degree view of Boston and the surrounding area.

If Mom is a seafood lover, call now to secure a table at Island Creek Oyster Bar. This Kenmore Square restaurant has established itself as the best fine dining seafood restaurant in Boston. Your family will enjoy the best in seafood, in a big comfortable room, with reservations, and service that will make Mom feel spoiled.

And, for the best gift, let her choose something from her wish list. Get an Amazon gift card! You can send it by email or print it out to tuck into a greeting card.

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Writers: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photo: istockphoto.com

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

April 26, 2012
Artu’s Roasted Lamb & Eggplant Sandwich: A Boston Essential

The "Agnello Arrosto" or rotisserie leg of lamb with marinated eggplant sandwich at Artu in the North End and on Beacon Hill is one of those menu items that you really should try if you want to understand the range of Boston food options.

"Agnello Arrosto" or rotisserie leg of lamb with marinated eggplant sandwich at Artu

After some sandwich chatter on Chowhound, we stopped by the bar at Artu on Prince Street and ordered this Boston classic. It's one of those old favorites that slipped off our mental menu list.

This side of the sandwich showed the lamb better.

This experience gave us the idea of changing our Food: Best Bites category to Food: Best Bites & Boston Essentials. We'll be covering more area classics, like this, in the months ahead. It will give us a perfect excuse to forgo the new and visit old favorites.

If you are new to Artu, you should know that they have a reputation for making customers happy by letting them customize their food when possible. The Chowhounds have added things like provolone, roasted pepper, and broccoli rabe to their Artu selections.

What you get if you go for the straight-off-the-menu version is a soft grinder-style roll, filled with a pile of thinly sliced lamb off the rotisserie, moistened with a bit of au jus, and covered with strips of slightly spicy, marinated eggplant.

Add a nice big pour of a Primitivo or Chianti and you have a great meal.

Related posts: More of our Food: Best Bites & Boston Essentials.

What's on your Amazon shopping list? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Artu (North End)

6 Prince Street, Boston, MA 02113 (map & reviews)

(617) 742-4336

Artu (Beacon Hill)

89 Charles Street, Boston, MA 02114 (map & reviews)

(617) 227-9023

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We reserve the right to edit ads out of comments.

April 25, 2012
Don’t Wait for Lilac Sunday, Plan an Arboretum Visit This Week

Walking around the city last weekend, we noticed the scent of lilacs in the air. We enjoyed seeing some wonderful, old bushes at Titus Sparrow Park. And, a recent post by A Proper Bostonian also featured lilacs.

If you look forward to Lilac Sunday at the Arnold Arboretum each year, we suggest you schedule two visits this spring. One this week or weekend to see the lilacs, and one on May 13th to enjoy the events planned for Lilac Sunday– also the only day of the year when you can have a picnic at the Arboretum.

Related Posts:

Lilac Sunday- So Many Good Reasons for An Arboretum Visit

Lilac Weekend at the Arboretum

Here's a link to a book on Boston's Gardens and Greenspaces from one of our favorite publishers, Union Park Press. Plus, The First Fifty Years of the Arnold Arboretum.

Details:
Arnold Arboretum

125 Arborway, Boston, MA‎ (map & reviews)

617-524-1718‎

www.arboretum.harvard.edu

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: © 2010 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

April 24, 2012
Mei Mei Street Kitchen: Food Truck Tracking

As these rolling restaurants expand their reach and numbers throughout the Boston area, we’re Food Truck Tracking– here's a profile of one of the newest additions to the food truck scene. -The BostonZest Team!

Name: Mei Mei Street Kitchen

Do you want to be the first kid on the block to try a new food truck? We do, so we were on hand for their first lunch service! Tell us what you think when you try the food from this team.

Truck Description: Bright White Truck with Yellow and Blue Graphics

Founding Team: Mei, Andy & Irene Li. (click on a photo for a larger version)

What’s on the Menu: They call it, "…Creative Chinese-American cuisine made from locally sourced, sustainable ingredients."

Drinks: Bottled water or Crimson Berry Iced Tea

Known for/must try/signature dish: It's early days, but we're betting they will have a problem taking the Beef and Cheese Dumplings w/soy-vinegar sauce off the menu. We returned for seconds.

They say: "We pride ourselves on serving humanely raised meat and some of the most creatively delicious street food out there. Handmade braised beef dumplings with red wine and cheese, yes please! Mac & cheese with Chinese spiced pork, enough said. Steamed pork belly bun with crispy crackling, seasonal pickles, sesame chili aioli and local apple hoisin sauce? Yup, we’ll treat you right. "

Nice Touch: They'll try to have something vegetarian on the menu every day. We noticed their careful attention to the needs of those with restricted diets. The counter has liquid sweetener to mix into your iced tea. And, there's a big bottle of Sriracha for those who want a bit more heat.

Philosophy/Mission: "Grow well, eat well, be well: It’s what we want for ourselves, our family, our business, and our guests." Here's what they are doing to back up these words.

History: They tell us, "We’ve taken food we have eaten and loved as children in the past, added modern elements and experiences of the present, and also incorporated practices that fit with our vision of how to do business for a sustainable future. With Andy’s many years in fine dining management, Mei’s experience as a successful entrepreneur and MBA, Irene’s time living on a farm and working as a line chef and our combined love of good times and great eats, we have crafted a deeply personal venture that we hope you’ll enjoy as much as we do."

Here's Steve Leibowitz ready to order another round.

Regulars say: We ran into Steve Leibowitz from www.hubfoodtrucks.com who works at Northeastern and was all smiles after his first Mei Mei meal. "I think it's fantastic!" he said. "I had the Beef & Cheese Dumplings and they were great." A friend of his, who had the same thing, offered the perfect description, "It’s like prime rib in a dumpling!”

And, a customer named Lisa went up to the truck and ordered, "One of Everything!"

Did you know? "Mei Mei" is Chinese for "little sister" and the founders are Andy and his Mei Meis.

They were treating customers to some wonderful French green tea macarons.

Order and Pick up routine: Step up near the back of the truck, next to the menu board, to order and pay. Pick up is on the other side of the window near the front door. They'll call your name when your food is ready.

Payment: Cash, Major Credit Cards, and LevelUp

Website: www.meimeiboston.com

Twitter: @meimeifoodtruck

Facebook: Meimeisk

Pinterest: Mei Mei Street Kitchen

Since the city food truck schedule is not up-to-date, right now, here's where to find Mei Mei!

For more of our Food Truck/Street Food coverage: click here. Or, anytime you visit BostonZest, you can click on the Food Truck/Street Food tab at the top of the page.

Link: Boston Food Truck Location Map

What's on your environmentally responsible shopping list? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

April 23, 2012
Samantha Golden– One Sweet Sunday Dog

While “sweet” may be an overused term, it is without a doubt the best way to describe Sunday Dog, Samantha. Wait, I take that back. By adding her breed name, it would be: Sweet Samantha Golden, perfect!

In the end, though, I fully realize that if you were to meet this lovely canine, you might use another superlative– I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.

At a year-and-half old, Samantha was plucked from an Alabama kill shelter with the help of petfinder .

When she first arrived home, her people described her as really friendly with people, but afraid of all dogs. Since moving to the city, this beauty has adjusted very well and now has many furry, four-legged friends.

Samantha never fetched or played with a ball until two months ago, when suddenly, at seven-and-a-half, she began running and chasing balls! While no one seems to know why, she told us privately, that she simply has acquired a taste for them…

Favorite Toy? Stuffed Animals– she has about 20. If someone pets her and has a scarf on, she’ll grab it and try to walk away with the prize.

She sleeps with her people every night, no matter how hot it is. And, like so many of her friends, is not a fan of thunder.

However, this gentle, loving girl is a big fan of pats, and lots of them! They’re just part of the perks of being Sweet Samantha Golden.

Get to know all of our Sunday Dogs at Boston Dogs.

Would you like to adopt a beautiful companion like Samantha? There are some resources to help you make your decision and get your life together off to a great start. This book from PetFinder, Petfinder.com The Adopted Dog Bible: Your One-Stop Resource for Choosing, Training, and Caring for Your Sheltered or Rescued Dog is one of our favorites.

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Words: Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you. We do reserve the right to edit ads out of comments.

April 22, 2012
Thanks to Faithful Trustees

In big ways and small they preserve our heritage by caring for historic properties.

"These old buildings do not belong to us only, they belong to our forefathers and they will belong to our descendants unless we play them false. They are not in any sense our own property to do with as we like with them. We are only trustees for those that come after us." William Morris

What's on your Boston historic tour shopping list? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

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Words: Penny Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

April 21, 2012
Edible Boston Spring 2012 Issue

Have you picked up your copy of the Spring 2012 Issue of Edible Boston yet?

I look forward to each new issue of this quarterly collection of great writing, wonderful photography, locavore lessons, and down-to-earth philosophy. I learn something from every article.

This time, publisher Ilene Bezahler and her team have shined their spotlight on those who produce our local food and on those who want to be our next generation of farmers but need the land to do it.

Describing this issue, Ilene says, "… you will read about a young generation who wants to farm, wants to help provide us with local produce but are struggling with how to afford to do it. And about dairy farmers who are committed to keeping their farms full service dairies in their families’ tradition."

You can also read the magazine at their website. If you do that, I suggest you filp through the full print edition so you will see one of the tastiest group of advertisers around. Please support these people who make it possible for us to have this great publication.

We are a small local business too. So, if you do have to shop for something online, remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

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Words: Penny Cherubino
Screenshot: Courtesy of Edible Boston

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

April 20, 2012
Domaine du Salvard, Cheverny from Kermit Lynch

One of the wines in a recent sampler case from importer Kermit Lynch was the Domaine du Salvard, Cheverny.

We love wines from the Loire, as a rule. This one is 85% Sauvignon Blanc and 15% Chardonnay. The folks at Kermit Lynch say, "We continue to tout the domaine’s wine as one of the greatest values for Sauvignon Blanc perfection." They use words like simple and elegant to describe it. We agree and we applaud the blend. The Chardonnay moderates the grapefruit quality of the Savignon Blanc.

What’s more, this “meant-for-each-other” marriage of grapes graciously enhanced our main course– pan-fried (breaded) fish. A side of goat cheese drizzled with olive oil went well with this Cheverney’s acidity. We did go to Provence to add some olives and Herbes de Provence, and they were all nice neighbors and played well together.

When we see this label, we know we have a treat in store.

And, while the front label is important, we've learned to look at the back label to see who brought the wine into this country. We've developed a list of favorite importers that we trust to supply us with wines we'll love. Kermit Lynch is one of them and we'll tell you more about him soon.

Love wine? Join our Our Sparkling Resolution

Check Out: Our Wine List

Here's an easy way to Expand Your Wine Comfort Zone: Sampler Cases

Want to learn more about wine? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site! Take a look at, The Food Lover's Guide to Wine– the latest addition to our wine reference shelf. Here's a great interview and review of this book over on Taste of the Past.

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Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny & Ed Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those add a great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

April 19, 2012