Table Of ContentSavor the FlavorS oF BoSton F o oD L o v e r s ’
g u i d e t o
Boston is a northern New England city of historically impressive
cultural diversity defined by the people, landmarks, and especially the
boston
food. Bostonians, it seems, have always taken food seriously, and the
food culture is pervasive, including modest eateries that are little more
than sub shops, taverns, or road houses with gastronomic ambitions.
For those with an adventurous spirit, Boston is a great place to eat. In
F The Best Restaurants, Markets & Local Culinary Offerings
Food Lovers’ Guide to Boston, seasoned food writers Patricia Harris and
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David Lyon share the inside scoop on the best places to find, enjoy, b
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and celebrate these culinary treasures. A bounty of mouthwatering
D
delights awaits you in this engagingly written guide.
o
L
With delectable recipes from the renowned kitchens of the city’s iconic eateries, diners, and o
elegant dining rooms, Food Lovers’ Guide to Boston is the ultimate resource for food lovers to
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s
use and savor.
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insiDe you’LL FinD
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• Favorite restaurants and landmark eateries • Specialty food stores and markets s
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• The city’s best cafes, taverns, and wine bars • Food festivals and culinary events
g
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• Recipes from top Boston chefs • Farmers’ markets and farm stands
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• Cooking classes and wine courses • Local food lore and kitchen wisdom
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Patricia Harris and David Lyon met over ratatouille made from fresh garden vegetables ne
and courted over fudge-topped brownies. Decades later, they’re still cooking, still traveling,
t
and still writing for® their Hungry Travelers food and travel blog, hungrytravelers.com. They
o
are coauthors of Food Lovers’ Guide to Vermont & New Hampshire, Food Lovers’ Guide to
Massachusetts, and Food Lovers’ Guide to Montreal (all Globe Pequot Press).
Cover series design by Diana Nuhn
Front cover image licensed by Shutterstock.com
Back cover image licensed by Thinkstock.com 1st
edition
® Globe Pequot Press
Guilford, Connecticut
GlobePequot.com
Patricia Harris & David Lyon
® globe pequot press
Guilford, Connecticut
www.GlobePequot.com
Food Lovers ’ Seri es
F o o d L o v e r s ’
G u i d e t o
BOSTON
the Best Restaurants, Markets & Local Culinary offerings
1st Edition
Patricia Harris & david Lyon
®
FL_Boston_CS55_5pp.indd 1 7/18/12 9:49 AM
®
Copyright © 2012 Morris Book Publishing, LLC
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any
information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing
from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Globe Pequot Press,
Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, PO Box 480, Guilford, CT 06437.
Editor: Amy Lyons
Project Editor: Julie Marsh
Layout Artist: Mary Ballachino
Text Design: Sheryl Kober
Illustrations by Jill Butler with additional art by Carleen Moira Powell and MaryAnn Dubé
Maps: Trailhead Graphics Inc. © Morris Book Publishing, LLC
ISBN 978-0-7627-7941-3
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
All the information in this guidebook is subject to change. We recommend that you call ahead
to obtain current information before traveling.
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Contents
Introduction:
Boston—Not Your Grandmother’s Baked Beans, 1
How to Use This Book, 5
Getting Around, 8
Keeping Up with Food News, 9
Street Eats, 11
North End, Charlestown, East Boston & Chelsea, 15
Foodie Faves, 17
Landmarks, 35
Specialty Stores, Markets & Producers, 36
Farmers’ Markets, 47
Beacon Hill, Downtown & the Waterfront, 49
Foodie Faves, 51
Landmarks, 76
Specialty Stores, Markets & Producers, 78
Farmers’ Markets, 88
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Back Bay & the Fenway, 91
Foodie Faves, 92
Specialty Stores, Markets & Producers, 118
Chinatown, South End & Roxbury, 123
Foodie Faves, 125
Landmarks, 151
Specialty Stores, Markets & Producers, 151
Farmers’ Markets, 165
Jamaica Plain, 167
Foodie Faves, 168
Landmarks, 179
Specialty Stores, Markets & Producers, 180
Farmers’ Markets, 185
South Boston & Dorchester, 187
Foodie Faves, 188
Landmarks, 196
Specialty Stores, Markets & Producers, 197
Farmers’ Markets, 202
iv Contents
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Allston, Brighton & Brookline, 205
Foodie Faves, 206
Specialty Stores, Markets & Producers, 219
Cambridge, 231
Foodie Faves, 232
Specialty Stores, Markets & Producers, 283
Farmers’ Markets, 305
Arlington & Somerville, 307
Foodie Faves, 309
Landmarks, 325
Specialty Stores, Markets &
Producers, 326
Farmers’ Markets, 338
Belmont, Lexington & Concord, 339
Foodie Faves, 341
Specialty Stores, Markets & Producers, 346
Farmers’ Markets, 359
Contents v
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Newton, Wellesley, Waltham & Watertown, 361
Foodie Faves, 362
Specialty Stores, Markets & Producers, 372
Farmers’ Markets, 385
Bars, Pubs & Lounges, 386
Culinary Instruction, 410
Food Festivals & Events, 416
Recipes, 423
Caramelized Shallot and Goat Cheese Pizza with
Savory Chocolate Crust (Chef and Instructor Heather Wish of Create a
Cook), 425
Insalata di Pasta Arrabbiata (Michele Topor of Boston Food Tours),
427
Al’s Favorite Quick Tomato Sauce (Albert Capone of Capone Foods),
428
Red Lentil Soup (Mercimek Corbasi) (Chef Sezar Yavuz of Cafe de
Boston), 430
vi Contents
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Green Bean and Summer Squash Ratatouille with Couscous (Harvest
Co-op Market), 431
Uncle John’s Lobster Thermidor (John Hook of James Hook + Co.),
432
Beer-Braised Lamb Shoulder (Chef de Cuisine Nuno Alves of Tavolo),
433
Grilled Beef with Asian Sesame Dressing (The Meat House), 435
Chocolate Croissant Bread Pudding (Executive Pastry Chef Jed
Hackney of Langham Boston), 437
Nanny Sheila’s Carrot Cake (Pastry Chef Clare Garland of Ashmont
Grill), 439
Molten Spiced Taza Chocolate Cake (Taza Chocolate), 441
Appendices, 442
Appendix A: For Further Reading, 443
Appendix B: Dishes, Specialties & Specialty Food, 445
Index, 455
Contents vii
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About the Authors
Patricia Harris and David Lyon buy their meat from their neighbor-
hood Portuguese butcher, their fruits and vegetables from local
farmers, and their pasta from a little shop in Union Square. They
met over ratatouille made from fresh garden vegetables, courted
over fudge-topped brownies, and are still cooking, traveling, and
writing about it for their Hungry Travelers food and travel blog
(hungry travelers.com). They are coauthors of Globe Pequot Press’s
The Meaning of Food, Food Lovers’ Guide to Massachusetts, Food
Lovers’ Guide to Montreal, Food Lovers’ Guide to Vermont & New
Hampshire, and the forthcoming Food Lovers’ Guide to Rhode Island.
They have written about Vermont cheese, Belgian beer, Tahitian
poisson cru, New Hampshire hot dogs, Neapolitan pizza, Maine lob-
ster, and Spanish elvers for such publications as the Boston Globe,
the Robb Report, and Cooking Light. Based in Cambridge, they were
happy to stay home for this book, which celebrates the flavors of
Boston and its wonderful food culture.
This book is dedicated to hungry travelers everywhere.
viii
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Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge the skills, hospitality, and gener-
osity of everyone in the Boston-area food trades. We are especially
thankful to the cooks and chefs who shared their recipes for this
volume, and to Naomi King for testing those recipes and offering
sage advice on adjusting them for home cooks. We are also grateful
to Chris Lyons and Chris Haynes, who kept us from some terrible
oversights and helped speed our on-the-ground research. We offer
a memorial salute to the late Laura Strom for conceiving the Food
Lovers’ series, and thank Amy Lyons for letting us take such an
active role in the much-expanded series. We also want to thank
editors Lynn Zelem and Julie Marsh for shepherding this manuscript
to publication.
ix
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