Hello GBA Onions—Once again, I’m in need of your collective ideas. You may remember that B’s mentor and colleague at MGH was diagnosed with ALS a few years ago. He’s sadly mere steps from hospice and I am taking his wife out to lunch next Thursday. She’s a lovely person, but is not a food person. The last time we had lunch down the street from their home at S&S in Inman Sq (not to knock that place and she’s a regular…they treated us very well) but I want to treat her to a nicer place. She suggested Toscano HSq, Legal Kendall Sq, and Capital Grille. When I heard those suggestions, I politely suggested that I would take care of the details.
I will be driving so there needs to be easy parking and reservations to minimize stress. We can’t venture too far because I have to pick up Spring Onion by 3:15 pm from school in East Arlington. As one may surmise from her suggestions, she does not have an adventurous palate. I don’t want to do Harvest—that’s one place they would go to because they were so accommodating to them and J’s big motorized wheelchair. I thought of Catalyst, but the lunch menu doesn’t wow me (I used to go eons ago for holiday company lunches). She loves her big pours of wine and good gawd she deserves them. Pammy’s, Giulia, Puritan are not open for lunch. She and J are both from KC and were so pleased by the Blue Ribbon BBQ that we brought over one visit. We both get chatty, so it shouldn’t be so loud that we can’t easily converse but she’s not a prude by any means—she will go with the flow so a lively atmosphere is welcome.
Is this is a Mission Impossible? I think of her 3 suggestions, I’d choose Toscano, so I have a fallback.
Good to know because B got a big Toscano gift card. Maybe on a future occasion, the 3 of us can tie it in with a Frog Pond skating visit if we go to the Charles St location.
I’ll look into tables for lunch with my friend, too. TY!
I just saw that Amelia’s is alive and kicking (?) I went to that location a few times for nice meals with friends and we used to live near the Teele Sq. location before it closed. Would that be a decent lunch place, calm and cozy? It’s a 5-minute drive from her house.
I mean, it’s nothing you’ll be raving about here, but at least you can get a decent salad with grilled shrimp or chicken and not feel disgusting afterward. They can definitely pour a big glass of wine. It’s all relative, but you could do much worse in the square. It’s shame there are so few quality lunch spots.
I, too, immediately thought of Harvest. We’ve had two very good lunches there recently. We eat often at Henrietta’s Table in warmer months, because their patio is so nice. The food is a step down from Harvest, in my view, although you can get a pretty good breakfast. We think Toscano is decent, without being (as @uni suggests) superb. Many of the places we’ve eaten at recently are dinner-only (Forage, Oleana, Gepetto, etc.).
We had a superb lunch at B&G Oyster a year ago with friends who own/run Santa Barbara’s best (and only?) cheese shop. They loved the food too, fwiw. I don’t know where you are on the Lynch scale, though.
Gran Gusto, by the way, does a decent lunch despite the shtick that you (and I) so deplore. Parking is easy around there in the afternoon (the Danehy Park lot on Sherman is your best bet). My wife has enjoyed lunches with our daughter at Chalawan (a tradition that goes back 20 years, through several changes of ownership and cuisine at that location). But the foods they offer may be cuisines too far for your friend.
Seconding (thirding?) Henrietta’s Table - the hotel is also usually festively adorned for the holidays which makes for a nice lunch atmosphere.
I’d also throw Source into the mix. Not fancy but the food is always solidly good, service is usually very strong, and numerous cocktail & wine options. The woodfire and decor also make it particularly cozy in the winter, I think. There is a parking lot on Church St there (although I’ve never used it so can’t speak to price or availability midday).
This is kind of a wild shot, but perhaps worth considering. Semolina Kitchen in Medford right at Tufts. Not Cambridge, though perhaps not too far away either. They take reservations, , you can park on the street and possibly in the Tufts lot next to them (info on the web site).
It’s owned by Dave’s Fresh Pasta (Somerville) and they serve Dave’s Fresh pasta, as well mostly standard but good American/ Med fare,vegetarian options, pizza and some interesting specials (which you can see if you click on their take out link; specials change from day to day and are not otherwise posted on the website). Our son loves their spaghetti and meatballs and the salad and specials and sandwiches are good for his parents.
The front room with the bar is kind of crowded; they have an easy access back tented room that is pleasant and usually less crowded; perhaps you could request reservation there at the back. Full bar, decent wines.
good luck and I hope you find a good solution to this sad situation.
B&G parking is impossible. And yes, Chalawan closed.
I completely understand avoiding S&S. It was maybe ok somewhat 25 years ago. The last few times I met a friend there who lives in Newton and wanted to meet there because he loves the wings, I had a very hard time finding anything that I could even consider eating. Got a vegetarian quiche that I couldn’t eat more than a few bites of and brought it home for the older adult male here to finish; he’ll eat anything.
Yes, I agree about the loud. We find it much less loud in the back, screened room and always request to be seated there. At lunch. We emailed once about the loud front/bar room and got an quick response of apology and a credit, which we didn’t expect.
The manager said they’d try to adjust if a customer ever asks. We never had a problem in the back screened room with noise at lunch. But as it gets closer to “the holidays”, who knows.
And we three do experience discomfort with loud places. I"d encourage you to let them know if you ever want to go back, especially when you don’t mind loud places. It’s really overbearing.
