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Tag: Steve Johnson

  • Where to Dine in Boston on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 8, 2016

    Time to make reservations, if you plan to treat Mom to a meal out on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 8, 2016.

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    Keep in mind that this "treat Mom to a great meal day" falls at the beginning of graduation season in Boston with Northeastern, Emmanuel College, Fisher College, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, and Berklee College of Music holding commencements that weekend. (Here's the full list of Spring 2016 Commencement Dates for planning purposes.)

    For Mother's Day dining ideas, here are two excellent lists of restaurants with special menus and hours for May 8, 2016

    Don't be surprised if some places require a credit card to secure your 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 of 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 their members. 

    As more great Boston food sites publish their recommendations, we'll post updates here! Follow us on Twitter ( @BostonZest ) for notice of those additions! 

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    Our picks and, for us, al la carte Menus Get Our Nod

    Bistro du Midi has a prix fixe menu in their formal dining room but they're also offering an al la carte menu in the Cafe. With the Swan Boats and Public Garden across the street, this can be a wonderful choice for lunch and a stroll and family photos in a beautiful setting. 

    Lineage in Brookline is also on the a la carte option plan. Boston Chefs says, "Lineage will be open early for brunch and dinner this Mother's Day, offering up a special a la carte brunch menu, as well as, their regular dinner menu."

    The Red Dory in Tiverton, RI: Like many Bostonians, we are long-time fans of chef Steve Johnson and miss his food and smiling face at Rendezvous in Central Square. If a road trip to a waterfront destination would make your Mother's day perfect, head to his new place, The Red Dory. We asked about his Mother's Day plans and he wrote, "Open M'sDay/no special menu except many recent seasonal updates + including Sunday Tapas supplemental menu – Cheers!"

    For 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.

    If you are meeting people from outside the city, you might consider La Morra in Brookline. 

    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. 

    We also love the Island Creek Team spot in the Fort Point neighborhood, Row 34. Here's our post on this great addition to the city's dining scene.  

    And, for the best gift, let Mom 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.

     

    Details:

    Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino  
    Photo: istockphoto.com

  • Our Collection of 7 Cooling Tips for Hot Days!

    With years of posts behind us, we sometimes forget how many tips we have for something like a heat wave. Here's what you need to know for the temperatures they're forecasting for the next few days.

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    Bonus tip: go find a cool place to sit and relax like a dock along the Charles!

    Cool Summer Sips – A couple of cool drink ideas to welcome summer to Boston

    Someplace Cool to Walk… If you still want to get some exercise, we have some air-conditioned paths to follow.

    Surviving a Heat Wave – What You Need to Know – Tips from everyone from the city to the CDC.

    Cool Food for a Hot Day - One of our favorite hot day suppers

    Miss lilibeth and Gisselle are Issuing a Hot Car Alert – Be sure to protect your pets inside and out!

    Poached Chicken Becomes Curried Chicken Salad – Another cool supper and you can make it with take-out chicken too!

    Maggie says, “Drink Up!” – Tips on giving your dog a drink when you're out and about.

    What's on your Summer heat 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.

  • The Boston Homegrown Cookbook

    When my review copy of The Boston Homegrown Cookbook: Local Food, Local Restaurants, Local Recipes arrived last month, I leafed through page-after-page of old friends, long-admired farmers, and chefs and recipes I wanted to try. This is a collection that will be dear to Boston food lovers.

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    The book profiles 28 Boston area chefs who work together with local farms to bring the freshest, locally grown, sustainable foods to their menus. Farmers like Kate Stillman, from Stillman’s at the Turkey Farm, and Chef JJ Gonson (above) often work together and laugh together.

    The author, Leigh Belanger is a food writer and the program director for the Boston-based Chefs Collaborative, a national network of chef and culinary professionals dedicated to improving the food system through education and community building. With this publication, she has shown the strong community links that exist between Boston area chefs, local farmers, and food producers.

    Pairings

    The book is first divided into seasons. When you create a local and sustainable menu, seasonality is a driving factor. Each season has a collection of pairings of a chef with a food producer. An introduction gives some background on each member of the team and then recipes with the chef creating dishes using the food from that farm or source.  

    Among the chefs of summer is Steve Johnson of Rendezvous in Central Square paired with Eva Sommaripa and her legendary Eva’s Garden herbs that have been the secret of chefs since the 1960s. Steve puts summer tomatoes to good use in a Turkish Tomato Salad that he pairs with Grilled Mackerel.

    I can't wait to try both. And, with the new fish vendors at the farmers' markets, I may be able to shop for the entire menu in one spot.

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    Photography

    In addition to celebrating local heroes, seasonal food, and having recipes you’ll want to try year round, this is a beautiful book. You may want to keep it on your coffee table so you can open it often, each season, and try new recipes.

    Photographer Margaret Belanger has a keen eye for the beauty of food from hoof, to field, and onto the plate. Her photographs are a family album that captures the people, places, and products that are part of the Greater Boston foodshed right now.  

    You can sneak a peek at some of her art in the preview provided on Amazon.

    Book Tour!

    There will be a cooking demo and book signing for The Boston Homegrown Cookbook: Local Food, Local Restaurants, Local Recipes on June 28th, 7 pm, at Trident Booksellers & Cafe on Newbury Street. 

    We've invited Leigh to update us on any other book signings and appearances in the comment section of this post. We'll send word out to you as we learn of them.

    Thanks to everyone who remembers to click over to Amazon from here to support this site! And, for our readers in other parts of the country, there may be a Homegrown Cookbook for your area.

     

    Details:

    Words: Penny Cherubino

    Photograph Of Kate & JJ : © 2012 Margaret Belanger

    Cover Art: Courtesy of Quayside Publications.

    Disclosure: The publisher did provide me with a review copy of this book.  Here is our full disclosure policy.


    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.