bostonzest

Tag: food trucks

  • Where to Pick up Great Food for Boston Summer Events

    This is going to be a big week for events around Boston with both the July 4th Celebration on the Esplanade and the Tall Ships in the Harbor. If you want to pick up a picnic to enjoy at a summer event, we have some great links. 

    Along the Charles on July 4th, both sides of the river and all the bridges will be filled with fireworks fans. Here are some of the places where you can pick up a meal near an entrance to the Esplanade or close to Memorial Drive on the Cambridge side. You do need food while you stake out your spot for the big show.

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    The fireworks barges on the river.

    Back Bay

    Marlboro Market (map & reviews) has a deli counter where they make some of the best sandwich values in the area. Simple, hearty fare made to your specifications by the friendly crew behind the counter. Bonus, you can fill your cooler with soft drinks, chips, and anything else you need here. They even sell the coolers!

    For an Indian feast stop into India Samraat and choose a selection from their menu that will add an exotic note to your picnic.

    Update: Both India Samraat and L'Aroma Cafe have closed.

    L'Aroma Cafe on Newbury Street is between the Arlington and Dartmouth Street footbridges to the park and offers a great selection of take-out.

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    A recent picnic from Bacco's 

    Bacco's Wine and Cheese is on St. James right off Arlington making it the perfect place to pick up a meal for either the Esplanade or The Boston Common. We love to scan the case, pick a salumi, a couple of cheeses, some rolls, and enjoy a meal on a shady bench.

    Cambridge Central Square

    This is becoming a true food destination and not just for all the great restaurants located there. 

    Central Bottle + Provisions will be open on the 4th and is great for those who'll be coming to the river from the North. They have a great selection of cheese, salumi, and an ever changing daily food selection.

    On days other than this holdiay, you can add a great dessert to your basket from Flour Bakery next door. (We called and confirmed that Flour is closed on the 4th.)

    Beacon Hill

    Savenor's Market built its reputation on excellent meat but they have always offered a fine selection of other food. Now the Cambridge Market has a deli, and they are delivering "Grab & Go" sandwiches to the Charles Street store, so that you can pop in on your way to an event and walk out with everything you want.

    Other favorite picnic pick-up locations for us from Charles Street are: The Paramount, Cafe Vanille, and Panificio.

    Boston Common

    There is now some good food right on the Common. You'll find a Clover Food Lab truck stationed by the newly restored Brewer Plaza for long hours each day. There is also The Frog Pond Cafe in-season with some very nice options.

    Across from the Common is the Thinking Cup. This cafe has built a solid reputation on its outstanding coffee service but it also has great sandwiches and pastry.

    Keep these in mind when you plan your Shakespeare on the Common evening this year.

    Waterfront & North End

    Gathering food in the North End is a regular habit of ours. We love Salumeria Italiana and will often pick up a quick meal from their offerings.

    If we want prepared foods, we head for J. Pace & Son where they can fill your cooler with sandwiches, salads, calzones, and other Italian favorites. And, they also have shops in the West End and Seaport. 

    Along the Greenway, there is an ever changing collection of food trucks and carts for meals and snacks. They have a schedule posted here. You can consult our food truck tab to learn more about some of the rolling restaurants. 

    We've given you a start and told you about the places we go and enjoy. Tell us about your favorite places to enjoy an event or a meal, and where you love to go to pick up your food. 

    What's on your Summer Fun shopping list? Shop Amazon – Get Ready for Summer – Everything You Need and 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 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.

  • Father’s Day Dining 2012 In & Around Boston

    Time to make reservations, if you plan to treat Dad to a meal out on Father's Day, Sunday, June 17, 2012.

    Here's a link to our " Dining around Boston on Father's Day, June 15, 2014 post.

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    Would your Dad love to get his hands into some great BBQ at Sweet Cheeks Q?

    For Father's Day dining ideas, here are two excellent lists of restaurant suggestions.

    Open Table 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 Chef's  has a special list from their members. Updated info: June 10th!

    Our picks:

    On chowhound recently, one contributor said that, "Island Creek is the one to beat these days…" We agree. In our opinion, Island Creek Oyster Bar sets the standard for relaxed, comfortable dining with outstanding food and great cocktail and wine programs. We haven't given them nearly as much coverage as we should, considering how much we like the place. Here's a post from their early days, and they continue to set the bar high. So, if you want a table there, call right now.

    Sweet Cheeks Q in the Fenway may seem to be just for the meat lovers in the clan, but they put out some great veggies and a tray of hot and cold scoops (as they call them) with a remarkable farm salad that will put a smile on any one with a preference for vegetarian fare. And, remember to order the crazy-good biscuits. (You may want to treat Dad to a doggie bag of them for the rest of the week!) Check out our Sweet Cheeks posts:

    Sweet Cheeks BBQ: A First Look

    Sweet Cheeks Q- Great Northern Brisket

    Salt & Pepper Potatoes at Sweet Cheeks Q

    Bourbon Beer? at Sweet Cheeks

    How about simple Italian-American food in a very comfortable setting. We suggest Artu in the North End or on Charles Street in Beacon Hill.  Here's one of our favorite menu items.

    If you'd like to treat Dad to something really special, consider the ultimate hamburger at the Bristol Lounge at the Four Season's Hotel. Lunch there for just the two of you, some quiet afternoon, could be a great IOU if you can't be together on the 17th. Here's what we wrote about that burger.

    Another great spot to share a meal, any day of the week, is Coppa in the South End. You can even top off your meal with a quick shopping trip to South End Formaggio across the street. We always do! And, that will let you create a super take-home gift that Dad can help select. Need more convincing? Take a look at:

    Friday Lunch at Coppa, an Italian Seduction

    Coppa Italian Grinder: A Best Bite

    Coppa- A First Look

    And, if you're thinking of adventure and the South End, how about a guided tour of the food trucks gathered at the SOWA Open Market each Sunday. No resevations needed! Check out:

    SOWA Market: Where to Find Food Trucks!

    And, for the best gift, let Dad choose something from his wish list. Get an Amazon gift card! You can send it by email or print it out to tuck into a greeting card. And, if he doesn't shop online, offer to sit with your Dad and take him on an Amazon shopping trip.

    Details:
    Writers: 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 great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

  • Stuart Street at Trinity Place: Where to Find Food Trucks

    As these rolling restaurants expand their reach and numbers throughout the Boston area, we’re Food Truck Tracking– checking out some of their favorite nesting spots, and what you’ll find when you get there. -The BostonZest Team!

    Stuart Street (Copley Square South At Trinity Place on the City list)

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    Location: From Copley Square walk past the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel on either Dartmouth or Trinity Place and you'll see a pod of food trucks. (map)

    MBTA Link: Back Bay Station on the Orange Line and Copley on the Green Line plus all the buses that connect in this area. 

    More Info @: Boston's Food Truck Page, Hub Food Trucks, or on the Street Food Boston app. 

    How Many Trucks? Two or three (at-a-time) are scheduled here this season (April 2012 schedule)

    Who's Here: This season, these trucks will be rotating in and out of this space– Go Fish, Grilled Cheese Nation, The Cupcakory, Mei Mei Street Kitchen, Staff Meal, Chubby Chickpea, The Dining Car, Bon Me, Chicken and Rice Guys, Lobsta Love, and Gourmet to Go.

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    What We Had: We made this a three-truck-lunch. Tacos from Staff Meal, Dumplings from Mei Mei, and a falafel plate with lots of sides from Chubby Chickpea. Update: The Staff Meal team have gone on to other adventures and the truck of deliciousness is not more.

    Hours and Dates: A full lunch time schedule but no breakfast hours here, and dinner hours are only scheduled on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. There are no Sunday hours on the plan. 

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    Tips: Walk the line of menus before you decide. Come with friends and you can each order from a different truck and all the food will come out at about the same time.

    Where to Eat: In fine weather, the park at Copley Square or the library steps are great picnic settings. The shady benches on the Commonwealth Avenue Mall are not very far away. Our favorite spot is the courtyard of the Boston Public Library, when it's open.

    Where to Eat, Inside: Last winter we slipped inside Copley Place to enjoy a food truck meal on one of the benches.  

    Restrooms: The Boston Public Library, the City Toilet on the Boylston Street side of the Library, Copley Place, and click here for Universal Hub's Wicked Good Guide to Restrooms in the Back Bay.

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    Bonus Points for: We love multiple truck locations. It brings out more people and makes for a livelier scene. It also builds the community for the food truck folks and regular customers. 

    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 

    Here are some of our favorite food truck picnic items. Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

    Picnic Table Cloth (We cut it up into big placemat sizes)

    Reusable Bamboo Utensil Set

    DII Palette Check Indian Summer Napkin Set of 4

     

    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. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

  • Farmers’ Markets Opening Dates Spring 2012

    Our weekly calendars are marked with the dates when we can go and see our farmers' market friends at their summer spots. SOWA and Jamaica Plain have already opened for the season, and today is opening day for the Copley Square Market.

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    With additional food trucks located nearby, many stands offering lunch items, and the Boston Public Library outdoor seats and courtyard nearby, Copley Square is a great place to meet someone for lunch on Tuesdays and Fridays.

    The Prudential Center Market has been open all winter, indoors, but will move outside to the Boylston Street Plaza on May 17th.

    Here are the opening dates for some of our favorite markets. The links are to maps of the locations. 

  • South End/SOWA: May 6th (Sundays)
  • Jamaica Plain (677 Centre Street): May 12th (Saturdays), (Saturdays & Tuesdays in mid-June)
  • Copley Square: May 15th (Tuesdays and Fridays)
  • Cambridge Center (Kendall MBTA) Cambridge: May 16 (Wednesdays)
  • Prudential Center: May 17th (Thursdays)
  • Cambridge/Charles Square: May 20th (Sundays)
  • Boston City Hall Plaza: May 21st (Mondays and Wednesdays)
  • Central Square, Cambridge: May 21st (Mondays)
  • Davis Square, Somerville: May 23rd (Wednesdays)
  • South Station/Dewey Square: May 24th (Tuesdays and Thursdays)
  • Kendall Square (500 Kendall Street): May 31st (Thursdays)
  • Union Square, Somerville: June 2nd (Saturdays)
  • Roslindale/Adams Park: June 2nd (Saturdays)
  • Cambridgeport: June 9th (Saturdays)
  • Swirl & Slice: Union Square Gourmet Market: June 14th (Thursdays)
  • Brookline/Coolidge Corner: June 14th (Thursdays)
  • Harvard University Farmers' Market, Cambridge: June 19th (Tuesdays)

    • We'll be telling you more about  some of these markets in the weeks ahead!


    Watch for our upcoming review of The Boston Homegrown Cookbook: Local Food, Local Restaurants, Local Recipes. It's full of chefs, farmers, and food producers you know, and we highly recommend it. Remember, always 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. We do reserve the right to edit ads and links out of comments.

  • Financial District, Milk & Kilby: Where to Find Food Trucks

    As these rolling restaurants expand their reach and numbers throughout the Boston area, we’re Food Truck Tracking– checking out some of their favorite nesting spots, and what you’ll find when you get there. -The BostonZest Team!

    Financial District, Milk & Kilby

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    Location: Walk across the street to the traffic island at the intersection of Milk & Kilby and order up. (map)

    MBTA LINK: Close to State Street, Downtown Crossing, and Aquarium T-Stops.

    More info @ Boston Food Truck Schedule

    How many trucks? One or two-at-a-time are scheduled here with different trucks on different days and each day of the week. This spot has trucks Tuesdays through Fridays.

    Who's scheduled here? Go Fish!, Cupcakory, Momogoose, Roxy's Grilled Cheese, Kick**s Cupcakes, Froyo Truck, Redbones Barbeque, Bon Me

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    What we had: Fish & Chips, Miso Seared Salmon Rice Paper Wrap with ginger/wasabi dressed Asian Greens, Radish and sesame shiitake mushrooms and lemonade from Go Fish. For dessert, we shared a Lemon and a Salted Caramel Cupcake from the Cupcakory. 

    Update: Go Fish is no longer servign up food on the Boston Streets.

    Hours and dates: No mornings here. This spot has trucks Tuesdays through Fridays.

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    Tips: Figure out what side of the hulking advertising sign is the order line and which is the waiting-for-pick up line. We almost cut the line by mistake because we approached from the wrong side.

    Where to Eat: The wonderful Norman B. Leventhal Park at Post Office Square is just a block away. As the weather warms, they'll have cushions and books you can borrow at lunch time. And, 12:00 Noon – 2:00 PM, June through August they have a summer music program. There's even free WIFI if you want to surf while you eat.

    Three blocks to the East is the Greenway with benchs and some tables and chairs. Beyond that is the HarborWalk. 

    Where to eat inside! The nearest spot on cold or rainy days is South Station, about half a mile from these trucks. 

    Restrooms: South Station. And, you can always use Universal Hub's Guide to Boston Restrooms to add a few other places if you know of them.

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    Bonus points for: Making the best use yet of an unattractive traffic island. Now, if one of the nearby businesses whose employees enjoy this food truck spot would add a bit of greenery and maybe a couple of tables, this could be a pocket park!

    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 

    Did you know you can buy groceries from Amazon? Have them ship what you need and have more time to check out food trucks.

    Details:

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

  • The Cupcakory – Food Truck Tracking

    Visiting The Cupcakory is like sitting down at a friend's kitchen table, if your friend happens to be a fabulous baker. Making desserts with well-balanced flavors (sweet, but not too sweet) is an art that this baker has mastered. Here's a profile of one of the area's original food trucks.

    What's your favorite cupcake flavor? 

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    This one is Nutella– chocolate cake with Nutella buttercream

    Name: The Cupcakory, a mobile cupcake truck.

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    Truck Description: Her name is Tillie, short for Utilimaster. She was a catering truck that was put out to pasture until Diane and Mick rescued her and got her back in the food business. She's a simple, unassuming girl with a white paint job and gentle green lettering. 

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    Don't you love a cupcake baked by the person who hands it to you?  

    Chef & Team: Founder and head baker Diane turned a recession job loss into an opportunity to follow her heart and passion as a baker. Now, she puts smiles on a lot of faces. Her husband Mick is, "assistant baker, dishwasher, driver, mechanic, handy man, you name it, he does it." 

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    What’s on the Menu: Cupcakes are $3 each or $16.50 for half a dozen– a great excuse to gather some pals and head for the truck. "We try to have 5 to 6 rotating flavors each day, we also include a seasonal flavor and will test something new every so often, so please check Twitter or Facebook for the day’s menu."

    Drinks: BYOM, Bring your own milk, or coffee, or tea… Just cupcakes onboard, unless it's hot, and then Diane will bring some bottled spring water to keep her customers cool.

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    Known for/must try/signature dish: Salted Caramel, "chocolate cake with salted caramel buttercream on top."

    They say: "We love cupcakes and are passionate about what goes into them, so we’ve taken extra care in testing and picking out the best ingredients. For us, quality and taste comes first."

    Nice Touch: Diane says they offer, "both vegan and gluten-free options upon request for pick-up on the truck, please request at least 48 hours in advance." 

    Philosophy/Mission: "Most of our ingredients are locally sourced and organic where possible. When fruit and berries come into season we will opt for local and organic, but if organic is not available we will use local for the quality of flavor and for our continued commitment to supporting local farms and sustainability practices."

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    We love this little showcase window where you can see exactly what cupcakes haven't been gobbled up by the Cupcakory regulars. 

    Regulars say: Brandon Rigolini called them, "Best cupcakes in Boston." 

    Talking about a Guinness Chocolate cake topped with Madagascar vanilla buttercream, Erika Bee said, "That one was my breakfast this morning …"

    Asking Diane to hold a cupcake on facebook, Raquel L. Auriemma said, "I need a salted caramel, but can't be there until about 1:30."

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    Order and Pick up routine: There is one window with Diane's smiling face ready to put something wonderful in your hand.

    Payment: Cash or credit cards

    Website: www.cupcakory.com

    Twitter: @cupcakory

    Facebook: Cupcakory

    Check The Cupcakory site for this week's schedule.

    The Cupcakory's new schedule beginnng April 1, 2012 

    • Tuesday, Financial District at Milk & Kilby Streets (11:30 am – 3:00 pm)
    • Wednesday, Back Bay at Stuart Street (11:30 am – 3:00 pm); Clarendon St. (3:15 pm – 7ish)
    • Thursday, Financial District at Milk & Kilby Streets (3:00 pm – 7:00 pm)
    • Friday, Copley at Clarendon Street (11:30 am – 3:00 pm); Financial District at Milk & Kilby Streets (3:15 pm – 7:00 pm)
    • Sunday, SoWa Market in the food truck lot

    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 party 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.