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Grotto – Don’t Overlook This Longtime Boston Gem

We love the city in summer. We've been enjoying more lunches out this season and have a list of old favorites to revisit. Grotto (map) was at the top of that list. (We've even had a Post-it note on our kitchen mirror for awhile that says, "Lunch at Grotto.")

We arrived right at opening on a Thursday afternoon in late July and were pleased to see the tiny basement level space full of happy eaters before we left.

Bolognese: Tagliatelle, San Marzano tomatoes, Lamb, Pork, Beef

We chose two $15 a la carte "Secondi" items from the lunch menu that we would both be happy to share. On the current menu, at lunch, you can order a la carte or have two courses for $23 or three courses for $28. Dinner is also a great value with two prix fixe options at $35 and $40.

Spaghetti: Meatballs & Grotto's insanely fabulous tomato sauce

It should be said that Penny makes great meatballs and Ed grew up with an Italian Mother and Grandmother who set his standard for fabulous sauce. We were both enamored with Grotto's versions of these classics.

Since it opened in 2003, this is a place that we have recommended to people who ask for a romantic but inexpensive restaurant with good food.

We've suggested it as an alternative to North End restaurants when someone wants great Italian-American food. And we've listed it as the place to reserve for special days.

It's that simple, little neighborhood spot where you can drop in for lunch or dinner and know you'll have a great meal at a good price. The wine list is a great match for the food and, again, is priced to please.

The service was warm and the jazz soundtrack was pleasing. Everything about the place called for a return visit soon. And, perhaps, the gathering of a group for Grotto's next Big Night event or their Christmas Eve Feast of the Seven Fishes.

What's on your Food Lover's shopping list?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2016 Penny & Ed Cherubino

August 18, 2016
Grotto – Don’t Overlook This Longtime Boston Gem

We love the city in summer. We've been enjoying more lunches out this season and have a list of old favorites to revisit. Grotto (map) was at the top of that list. (We've even had a Post-it note on our kitchen mirror for awhile that says, "Lunch at Grotto.")

We arrived right at opening on a Thursday afternoon in late July and were pleased to see the tiny basement level space full of happy eaters before we left.

Bolognese: Tagliatelle, San Marzano tomatoes, Lamb, Pork, Beef

We chose two $15 a la carte "Secondi" items from the lunch menu that we would both be happy to share. On the current menu, at lunch, you can order a la carte or have two courses for $23 or three courses for $28. Dinner is also a great value with two prix fixe options at $35 and $40.

Spaghetti: Meatballs & Grotto's insanely fabulous tomato sauce

It should be said that Penny makes great meatballs and Ed grew up with an Italian Mother and Grandmother who set his standard for fabulous sauce. We were both enamored with Grotto's versions of these classics.

Since it opened in 2003, this is a place that we have recommended to people who ask for a romantic but inexpensive restaurant with good food.

We've suggested it as an alternative to North End restaurants when someone wants great Italian-American food. And we've listed it as the place to reserve for special days.

It's that simple, little neighborhood spot where you can drop in for lunch or dinner and know you'll have a great meal at a good price. The wine list is a great match for the food and, again, is priced to please.

The service was warm and the jazz soundtrack was pleasing. Everything about the place called for a return visit soon. And, perhaps, the gathering of a group for Grotto's next Big Night event or their Christmas Eve Feast of the Seven Fishes.

What's on your Food Lover's shopping list?

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: ©2016 Penny & Ed Cherubino

August 18, 2016
Here’s a Great Tip for Keeping Bread Fresher Longer

Keeping loaves of artisan bread fresh for more than one day can take some thinking.

We cut our bread from the middle of the loaf to keep the sliced surfaces from drying out. It works!

Before returning the loaf to its bag, we use an elastic to hold the two cut surfaces together. Here's a link to great oversize elastic bands that we use in so many ways.

We also wrap the bread in a clean flour sack dish towel. (These are also Ed's favorite towels for drying wine glasses.)

This system keeps the bread fresh as we make our way to the small crusts on the end. These often wind up toasted as croutons in salads.

Here are some of our other favorite bread tools!

Bread cutting board with crumb catcher.

Our Messermeister Bread Knife

You may have seen this tip before. This is an update of a post we did in 2008. We were chatting with another bread-a-holic recently and she loved this idea when we shared it. That inspired us to refresh and republish the information.

What's on your Food Lover's shopping list?

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: ©2008 Penny Cherubino

Related articles

Do You Have a Signature Dish that You Bring to Food Gatherings?

Thanks to Friends Who Make Marmalade and Share!

August 17, 2016
Here’s a Great Tip for Keeping Bread Fresher Longer

Keeping loaves of artisan bread fresh for more than one day can take some thinking.

We cut our bread from the middle of the loaf to keep the sliced surfaces from drying out. It works!

Before returning the loaf to its bag, we use an elastic to hold the two cut surfaces together. Here's a link to great oversize elastic bands that we use in so many ways.

We also wrap the bread in a clean flour sack dish towel. (These are also Ed's favorite towels for drying wine glasses.)

This system keeps the bread fresh as we make our way to the small crusts on the end. These often wind up toasted as croutons in salads.

Here are some of our other favorite bread tools!

Bread cutting board with crumb catcher.

Our Messermeister Bread Knife

You may have seen this tip before. This is an update of a post we did in 2008. We were chatting with another bread-a-holic recently and she loved this idea when we shared it. That inspired us to refresh and republish the information.

What's on your Food Lover's shopping list?

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: ©2008 Penny Cherubino

Related articles

Do You Have a Signature Dish that You Bring to Food Gatherings?

Thanks to Friends Who Make Marmalade and Share!

August 17, 2016
Time to Update the Emergency Plan for Your Animals

Here's Poppy with her bright red emergency bag ready to go out the door. It's also her pre-packed travel bag with everything she needs, except food and water, when we travel. (We have an emergency backpack that has a supply of food and water for all of us.)

The heart of hurricane season is here. If you have companion animals, you need an updated plan because, should a storm or other disaster strike, you are no longer on your own when it comes to finding shelter for your entire family. You have new resources but should be prepared to use them.

The City of Boston Emergency Management program has a page where you can find an emergency shelter near you.

On that page it says, "This map depicts the locations of all the neighborhood emergency shelters in the City and allows users to enter in their address to find the closest shelter. Each facility will provide safe, temporary shelter for residents and their pets."

But, just in case you are wondering, the Red Cross still says, "Most American Red Cross shelters cannot accept pets because of health and safety concerns and other considerations. Service animals that assist people with disabilities are allowed in Red Cross shelters."

Make Your Own Plan & Emergency Kit

You have to make plans for a safe place to go with your animals in case of an emergency. While large-scale disasters come to mind and the city has a system for that, it could also be a water leak or fire in your building.

If you have a friend or relative who will shelter you for a few days, that is ideal. You should also have the phone numbers of a few pet-friendly hotels, both near your home and in the surrounding areas, where you might reserve a room until the immediate danger has passed and those charged with emergency management begin to offer solutions for families with animals.

MSPCA Emergency Resource Pages

The MSPCA has set up a very complete and helpful collection of disaster planning resources on their website.

State Law Requires that People with Pets are Included in Emergency Planning.

March 24, 2014, Chapter 54, AN ACT ENSURING THE SAFETY OF PEOPLE WITH PETS IN DISASTERS, became law and the planning was to be completed in one year. The key information you should know is:

"Any emergency plan of operations shall include strategies to support the needs of people with household pets and the needs of household pets under their care, including service animals. The local organization for civil defense shall take appropriate steps to educate the public regarding the resources available in the event of an emergency and the importance of emergency preparedness planning."

We recommend that you have a copy of both the law and the city of Boston page with your pet emergency kit. That way, if you should be confronted with someone not familiar with this major change in shelter services, you can show them what the city and state have promised. Below are pdf copies of each page that you can download and print or save to a cloud service, like Dropbox, so that you can retrieve it from your smartphone.

Download Session Laws: Chapter 54 of the Acts of 2014

Download Neighborhood emergency shelter map | Boston.gov

Thanks to everyone who hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support. It doesn't cost you any more but they put a few coins in our tip jar.

What's on your Shopping List. Click here for savings over at Amazon.

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2011-2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

August 14, 2016
Time to Update the Emergency Plan for Your Animals

Here's Poppy with her bright red emergency bag ready to go out the door. It's also her pre-packed travel bag with everything she needs, except food and water, when we travel. (We have an emergency backpack that has a supply of food and water for all of us.)

The heart of hurricane season is here. If you have companion animals, you need an updated plan because, should a storm or other disaster strike, you are no longer on your own when it comes to finding shelter for your entire family. You have new resources but should be prepared to use them.

The City of Boston Emergency Management program has a page where you can find an emergency shelter near you.

On that page it says, "This map depicts the locations of all the neighborhood emergency shelters in the City and allows users to enter in their address to find the closest shelter. Each facility will provide safe, temporary shelter for residents and their pets."

But, just in case you are wondering, the Red Cross still says, "Most American Red Cross shelters cannot accept pets because of health and safety concerns and other considerations. Service animals that assist people with disabilities are allowed in Red Cross shelters."

Make Your Own Plan & Emergency Kit

You have to make plans for a safe place to go with your animals in case of an emergency. While large-scale disasters come to mind and the city has a system for that, it could also be a water leak or fire in your building.

If you have a friend or relative who will shelter you for a few days, that is ideal. You should also have the phone numbers of a few pet-friendly hotels, both near your home and in the surrounding areas, where you might reserve a room until the immediate danger has passed and those charged with emergency management begin to offer solutions for families with animals.

MSPCA Emergency Resource Pages

The MSPCA has set up a very complete and helpful collection of disaster planning resources on their website.

State Law Requires that People with Pets are Included in Emergency Planning.

March 24, 2014, Chapter 54, AN ACT ENSURING THE SAFETY OF PEOPLE WITH PETS IN DISASTERS, became law and the planning was to be completed in one year. The key information you should know is:

"Any emergency plan of operations shall include strategies to support the needs of people with household pets and the needs of household pets under their care, including service animals. The local organization for civil defense shall take appropriate steps to educate the public regarding the resources available in the event of an emergency and the importance of emergency preparedness planning."

We recommend that you have a copy of both the law and the city of Boston page with your pet emergency kit. That way, if you should be confronted with someone not familiar with this major change in shelter services, you can show them what the city and state have promised. Below are pdf copies of each page that you can download and print or save to a cloud service, like Dropbox, so that you can retrieve it from your smartphone.

Download Session Laws: Chapter 54 of the Acts of 2014

Download Neighborhood emergency shelter map | Boston.gov

Thanks to everyone who hops over to Amazon from here to do their shopping. We appreciate your support. It doesn't cost you any more but they put a few coins in our tip jar.

What's on your Shopping List. Click here for savings over at Amazon.

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2011-2013 Penny & Ed Cherubino

August 14, 2016
The Million Pollinator Garden Challenge

As with so many things that have to do with gardens or nature, I learned about the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge from the The Garden Club of the Back Bay's website. It is an amazing resource!

The garden club post explained that they will be joining with others to help restore and protect pollinators' habitats, "… members will be providing food and habitat for pollinators in our home gardens (can even be a container on a deck or a condo window planter), as well as through public garden projects, youth garden projects, nursing homes, botanical gardens, business areas, and government offices."

You can help by taking the three steps outlined in this handout.

If you have your own garden, all the resources you need to get underway are at this site. If you live in a rental or condominium, ask the management company or board of trustees to take a pollinator mindset when planning the common area gardens.

When you consider the importance of what pollinators do for us, learning more and taking action is the least we can do to help turn around this critical shortage.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2009 Penny Cherubino

Related articles

Snow Drops, Crocus & Daffodils Popping Up in the Back Bay

Protecting the Very Sensitive Toes of a Famous Boston Elm with FlexiPave

August 12, 2016
The Million Pollinator Garden Challenge

As with so many things that have to do with gardens or nature, I learned about the Million Pollinator Garden Challenge from the The Garden Club of the Back Bay's website. It is an amazing resource!

The garden club post explained that they will be joining with others to help restore and protect pollinators' habitats, "… members will be providing food and habitat for pollinators in our home gardens (can even be a container on a deck or a condo window planter), as well as through public garden projects, youth garden projects, nursing homes, botanical gardens, business areas, and government offices."

You can help by taking the three steps outlined in this handout.

If you have your own garden, all the resources you need to get underway are at this site. If you live in a rental or condominium, ask the management company or board of trustees to take a pollinator mindset when planning the common area gardens.

When you consider the importance of what pollinators do for us, learning more and taking action is the least we can do to help turn around this critical shortage.

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Or do you need to buy one for a gift? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2009 Penny Cherubino

Related articles

Snow Drops, Crocus & Daffodils Popping Up in the Back Bay

Protecting the Very Sensitive Toes of a Famous Boston Elm with FlexiPave

August 12, 2016
August Is Time for a Stillman’s BLT

There is nothing like a mid-summer BLT sandwich.

The one above features Stillman's Farm heirloom tomatoes, salad greens, and Applewood smoked bacon from Sillman Quality Meats. The bread is from a local bakery. That slice of avocado that we use to replace mayo is the only thing not from a local source.

It's an easy build. Slice and toast sourdough bread, top with sliced avocado. You can mash it, if you like, but sliced with a grind of pepper is fine.

There are purists, like Chef Tony Maws, who will only serve tomatoes when they reach their peak of local flavor in August. I admit to accepting lesser tomatoes outside of this month, but I do go out of my way to serve the best of the local ones each season. Here I added slabs of Stillman's full-flavored heirlooms that tempted us at the Boston Public Market.

Next comes slabs of farmer's cut bacon from Stillman Quality Meats.

Finally a handful of lettuce from the big bag of salad greens we picked up at Stillman's stand at the Copley Square Farmers Market.

Put it all together and you have one of the truly great summer season meals.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: ©2016 Penny Cherubino

August 11, 2016
August Is Time for a Stillman’s BLT

There is nothing like a mid-summer BLT sandwich.

The one above features Stillman's Farm heirloom tomatoes, salad greens, and Applewood smoked bacon from Sillman Quality Meats. The bread is from a local bakery. That slice of avocado that we use to replace mayo is the only thing not from a local source.

It's an easy build. Slice and toast sourdough bread, top with sliced avocado. You can mash it, if you like, but sliced with a grind of pepper is fine.

There are purists, like Chef Tony Maws, who will only serve tomatoes when they reach their peak of local flavor in August. I admit to accepting lesser tomatoes outside of this month, but I do go out of my way to serve the best of the local ones each season. Here I added slabs of Stillman's full-flavored heirlooms that tempted us at the Boston Public Market.

Next comes slabs of farmer's cut bacon from Stillman Quality Meats.

Finally a handful of lettuce from the big bag of salad greens we picked up at Stillman's stand at the Copley Square Farmers Market.

Put it all together and you have one of the truly great summer season meals.

What's on your Food Lover's Shopping List?

Details:

Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: ©2016 Penny Cherubino

August 11, 2016