you’ll be fine. It is 2016, we have a fairly wide selection of produce in the off season. Of course the quality (not meaning bruised and rotting - but just not as flavorful as in season) changes. But you’ll be able to make most anything you want in the winter with shipped in produce.
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So far driving around in Boston (and a short road trip to Portland some time ago) were very easy (as I said before SD and LA traffic prepares you for everything)
Not sure what you meant about specific Chinese food but the discussion about specific regional chinese food and which restaurant has which speciality from which part of China is pretty common in Southern California.
Fried seafood is fine once or twice a year but we will stick to the non-fried stuff or cook it at home
For Ethiopian food I like Fasika in (East) Somerville; just had a tasty dinner there since a friend was craving kitfo. Unlike Addis Red Sea (which at least used to default to wheat flour injera) they use teff by default. They also have a house-made tej if that’s of interest.
Fasika is definitely not upscale and I think some folks are put off by its atmosphere/layout. You enter the restaurant area through an often-noisy bar, though this most-recent visit featured an even-noisier group having a kid’s birthday party in the restaurant part 
.
In the same neighborhood Gauchao has been a decent option for pay-by-the-pound churrascaria, though I haven’t been there for a while.
Not sure who you were talking to, but Whole Foods and other supermarkets have produce from all over. Perhaps not the same variety you are used to in San Diego, however.
Some people told me that they had problems to get broccoli rabe, cauliflower, snap peas, blueberries or mangoes etc in the winter in Boston in a regular supermarket.
there seems to have been a time when cauliflower (presumably from California) was in short supply nationwide and really expensive, but otherwise, mangoes, blueberries, snap peas,and broccoli rabe have always been available at our local Market Basket in Somerville, and also at the local Whole Foods outlets. Not always organic available perhaps.
There’s also Wegmans, which has even stocked truffles in addition to the above.
I’ve been enjoying Atulfo mangoes from MB recently (those seem more seasonal);Tommy Atkins seem to be available most of the year. Cauliflower is a NE staple from what I can see; sometimes it’s more expensive but the expectation these days is year-round availability.
Don’t forget Mud Season in between the early spring/late snow/snow melt prior to summer. 
The French Toast Alert System exists here as well. There’s a FB group, Twitter, and a Universal Hub site:
https://twitter.com/frenchtoastalrt
But I agree, cooking a long-braised meal during a snow storm is very comforting.
The New England growing season is bolstered with a fair amount of local produce from greenhouses.
There was a hard freeze after a mild early spring had already put the local peach trees into bud. I read that it killed off just about all of this year’s crop. I imagine that probably applies to other local stone fruit (not that any of them are a huge crop here) but no mention was made of a problem with the apple trees. Apples, and Concord grapes, are the real treasures, fruitwise, of local produce.
I wouldn’t worry. That hasn’t been my experience at all. I suppose that may be true at some supermarkets, but not at the places you’ll likely shop, such as Russo’s and Wilson Farm. Again, you won’t have the amazing array of produce that you have in SD and you’ll miss it, but you’ll do fine with what we have.
every time I’ve been to Fasika, I’ve been amused by the contrast between the loud local older guys in the bar on one side and seemingly ex peace corps younger people on the food side. It’s a great actual depiction of the “old” and “new” Somervilles. Sometimes there are Ethiopians as well. The teff injera is great.
the orchard that I go to at the Providence farmer’s markets on Saturdays said their stone fruit trees got hammered. Stone fruit will be in short supply this year, which is too bad. Last year’s stone fruit here was the best I think I’ve ever had in New England.
have heard the same from a couple local farmers. i live for local peaches and nectarines but looks like not to be this year. apples and pears were actually touch and go but we seem to have dodged a bullet on that.
i will NEVER understand this. if your power goes out, the milk goes bad!
au contraire. I love winter because we can use our small side porch as an additional refrigerator, kind of like our own “walk in” except that it’s a “walk out.” Cool down foods, freeze foods…if the electricity goes, put your milk outside but of course you have to go back and forth to shake it or bring it in for a while so it doesn’t completely freeze. Most roaming critters won’t be out and about to disturb your human food supply.
fair enough, but not every city dweller has outside space, myself included.
I used the fire escape when I lived in a tiny third floor attic apartment in Brookline. But not everyone has a fire escape, either.
Getting this thread yet farther off the track (or grid): use a cooler on your porch. The cold things stay cold but won’t freeze unless the temperature is in the single digits.
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A few more favorite Chinese places:
Zoe’s Chinese Gourmet in Somerville: Hunan and Sichuan.
Golden Garden in Belmont: Northern
Qingdao Garden in North Cambridge: Northern and Sichuan, very good dumplings
Dumpling House in Cambridge (sister location of Chinatown’s Gourmet Dumpling House): very broad range, and I’ve liked everything so far
