In the past, I have used an insulated cooler to keep hot foods at temperature when we need to transport to/from places more than a few minutes away. Maybe that would help?
FWIW, we also don’t see ourselves returning to restaurant dining anytime soon even though we miss it greatly.
Craigie generally has a few items that you heat up / finish at home, particularly on the weekends.
We haven’t had issues with cold food, but we are generally getting take out from places close by that didn’t previously offer take out and are cooking their orders for a specific time slot and not assembling them until that time. Also, as has been covered before, places like Sarma are very thoughtful about offering dishes that travel well. It was easier a few weeks ago when there were no cars on the road. Pick up takes a bit longer now that this area has seemingly returned to business as usual in many ways.
I hear you on the whole takeout/food safety issue. We’ve only gotten takeout once, for our anniversary, and were pretty thorough about transferring to our own dishes, etc. I think if the numbers continue to go down and stay there, though, we’re ready to ease up a bit.
Both Mida and Fox and the Knife in the South End sell their homemade pasta and sauces to cook at home, as does Twyrl in Arlington. We haven’t tried any of them, but a friend said that the sauces and pasta from Fox and the Knife were outstanding.
I’m also hoping to try Myers and Chang’s Take and Make menu of kits to make Mama Chang’s pork dumplings and Dan Dan noodles.
Barbara Lynch Grupo is doing meal kits (you could say extremely undercooked, you have to do the cooking). The results are more like a night out than the home-cooked meals from places like Hello Fresh (though we are fans of HF). That said, the effort involved is greater. See the Butcher Shop web site.
Thanks everybody- there are some good ideas which will help us to select a few restaurants.
Just saw on IG that Ronsky is also doing different things which are good for heating up at home (and his food is quite good - and he brought back his panini for lunch)
I would definitely consider ordering Celeste, @uni! We’ve been in person and ordered delivery several times, and we have found that it is one of the few restaurants where the food quality hardly suffers when ordering delivery–mainly because when you are ordering dishes like ceviche, keeping the dish warm is not a factor. Agree that the ceviche is fantastic! I also like their Lomo Saltado
I’m sure there are plenty of things from ethnic eateries that you would have trouble making at home, but that aside, a Hot Logic cooker and inverter (if you can’t find the 12v automotive version) might help keep the food warm.
Finally getting around to posting a digest of as many of our quarantine eating experiences as I can remember. I’ve been disheartened by so many issues which is why I just had to take a break. Restaurants closing, the rise of 3rd party companies like GrubHub/Instacart/Yelp/et al preying on restaurants/grocery stores, the resurgence of plastic bags, hoarding. It all makes me sad beyond words, never mind people getting sick/dying, social unrest and injustice, a White House reaching new lows, spring onions being deprived of school, etc. But trying to stay optimistic and keep this food-centric. Please don’t judge me!
Kinda in chronologic order:
-takeout from Szechuan’s Dumpling [Arlington] has been quite good (Szechuan fish fillet and tofu; garlic sauce green beans/broccoli; salt-and-pepper calamari); we still haven’t had Home Taste takeout surprisingly
-takeout from Sono Sushi [Arlington] early on in the quarantine was just ok; not quite as fresh as it usually is
-the guys continue their cookie fix from Cookie Time [Arlington]
-Berman’s Wine Shop [Lexington] is keeping us sane and their employees safe; still picking up sunflower sourdough from Bread Obsession there on Fridays/Saturdays and Coop’s ice cream for the neighbors
-lobster rolls from Charlie’s [Good Harbor Beach Gloucester] eaten outside at the Lobster Pool (which hadn’t opened for the season yet); brown-bagged some good beer from home and hit Halibut Point Park afterwards
-fried chicken sandwich/veggie chili/big puffy pretzel/hot dog from Ipswich Ale, eaten at Stavros Trustees property; they kindly gave us chilled beer for our picnic
-hot dog from Top Dog [Rockport] for spring onion; we were going to get lobster roll from Roy Moore but we waited too long and the line was extensive
-lobster rolls from Fresh Pond Seafood [Arlington]
-Joe Pizza [Medford] continues to be B’s favorite around here (pollo pesto; I always get the mushroom/spinach)
-still liking Goldilox bagels [Medford] but haven’t gotten any in some time
-lobster rolls/hot dog from Barking Crab [Boston] one glorious Sunday; eaten on the new lawn area near the ICA; brown-bagged it, of course; I used to pooh-pooh BC but it was a really fun day
-the week after NH opened up, we decided to try anyplace that we could get a lunch reservation for so we picked Martingale Wharf [Portsmouth, NH]. We felt very safe, good procedures in place. And it was so wonderful to be out again. Food never tasted better. Mussels, salmon, salmon BLT, veggie burger (I think), awesome fries
-lobster roll/fish sandwich from Woodman’s [Essex]; cold beer from Great Marsh; we picnicked in their parking lot, facing the lovely marsh
-last weekend, it was awesome veggie pie floater/fried chicken sandwich from KO Pies [East Boston]; we picnicked on a picnic table in the marina and then hung out in Piers Point Park
-we have a little campus that we share with 2 other houses; we’ve been having socially distanced happy hours; one house smoked ribs over Memorial Day and we had a campus BBQ
-socially distanced pizza party [Fiorella] in the driveway of friends in Concord; I’d never had it before. More-than-decent pizza
-I know I’ve said before that I don’t have a sweet tooth, but we’ve been getting a lot of items from Butternut Bakery [Arlington]; the everything croissant is awesome; yesterday, we got an olive and a plain sourdough and a strawberry cream cake for spring onion’s half birthday (last year, we celebrated it with friends at Chip-In Farm [Bedford])
-today, we checked out Waseeka Audubon, which was awesome and empty, followed by a 5 pm reservation at Start Line [both in Hopkinton]; decent sandwiches, friendly neighbors on the patio; delicious beer; every conversation was of the “so glad to be alive and social again” ilk
We are scheming our excursion tomorrow. We are thinking about Blount Clam Shack [Warren, RI]. Or Red Dory [Tiverton, RI]? Bob Lobster [Plum Island]? Smuttynose [Hampton, NH]?
Here are some really bad photos. And one bottle of REALLY good wine. And spring onion chilling out at happy hour last night (he hit the lemonade pretty hard. And plus, cake).
A lot to digest. Thanks.
thanks, digga! I share all your concerns and stresses, and your report and photos s are great. Seeing your spring onion relaxing made me relaxed enough to try to fall asleep soon after a stressful day. Got to try that bakery in Arlington!
And I forgot to mention that the farm stand at Lex Farm opened for the season this past week. Which is also awesome.
Thanks Digga, a lot to digest and enjoy. The picture of Spring Onion is priceless.
We’ve been doing weekly Zoom dinners with our next door neighbor, sharing courses via “postal” delivery - exchanged via a fence post between our houses. This week our neighbor offered to turn lobsters into lobster rolls if we did the shopping. Market Basket had them for $4.99 a pound and Jesse’s brioche sandwich buns on sale. There was an hour wait to get the lobsters steamed but my neighbor offered to tackle that as well. I can’t recall enjoying a lobster roll as much in years, Cape Cod chips, half sour pickles, and Jacks Abbey Radler blood orange wheat beer perfect companions.
You are inspiring a copycat. Thank you!
How ridiculous is it that I have lived on the Lexington side of Waltham for over twenty years, was a member of Gold’s Gym in Arlington for a long time, and have never been to Lex Farm??? That will change this Wednesday! Thanks, digga.
Not an original bone in my body…I know a good idea when I steal one 
Oh, digga, thanks so much for this post and for your humanity. This is really a brutal time and I think many of us are struggling and just trying to get by and do the best we can, albeit imperfectly. We’ve been pretty much holed up here at home, trying to reach a balance between being really cautious because we’re in our mid-60’s so at higher risk, and still enjoying life appreciating our privilege and just being able to be together. Despite the devastating pain and anguish all around us, it does appear that there is some real hope for significant, authentic gains in social justice and accountability for those in power.
Your generous post is full of life and hope, so thanks for that. You’ve given me lots of good ideas for things to do now that we’re venturing out a bit. Halibut Point is going to be on our agenda soon. We love just walking the rocks and staring at the amazing power of the ocean, not to mention the quarry. And a trip to Ipswich/Essex and Woodman’s or Farnam’s, followed by Down River Ice Cream, can’t be far away, either. For now, though, we’re super excited to have BBQ plans with our son and daughter-in-law next weekend for Father’s Day, our first meal together in months.
And, the piece de resistance is the picture of spring onion chilling out! A real treat. Oh, and is that Fiorella’s pizza in the picture?
Finally stopping by to give my review of the other 2 pints of Oddfellows Ice Cream that we bought. Olive oil with Strawberry jam. Very good, though olive oil ice cream is only good in small amounts, and we both wished there had been more strawberry. Turkish coffee, date, and caramel. This was amazing. Such a unique combo of flavors. This and the Coffee crunch will be on our next order (if available). They still offer hand packed pints for pick up, and now are offering cones and cups through their doorway (no entry into the shop).
Oh, both coffee ice creams sound fabulous. Thanks for the heads-up, and tip about pints for pickup.
Thank you, Bear, and again thanks to digga. The boost of humanity soothes my soul, as much as it could be soothed. We are also hoping for Halibut Point, on a week day, and wandering around the outdoor sculpture garden at the DeCordova and a few other Trustees of the Reservations places. Hoping to figure out the bathroom issue so we can go further from home with our son, who lives with us. Have a great time on Father’s Day! We’ll be celebrating on June 18 the anniversary of first time I met the 4 year old boy who became our adoptive son when he was 7. Well, I’ll be celebrating it; he’s still finds Big Deal Celebration of Any Kind stressful.
