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.
No. You can get all of those in regular supermarkets year round.
The vegetables are generally in constant winter supply, but IME, fruits like berries are more sporadic. And of course, they are imported; the quality may vary, and they are usually pricey.
I am content to stick with fruit in season. when itâs at its best. Last week Hannaaford had northwest cherries for $1.99/#. I bought enough to last a couple of weeks. Unless they go on sale again, I probably wonât eat them again until next summer.
So what are the best webpages/twitter/blogs/newspapers to find out about food events/pop up restaurants/festivals ?
Every time I go to Whole Foods or Market Basket, all of these foods are availableâŚyear round.
i vaguely recall a cauliflower shortage, maybe winter 2015? but we were in the throes of snowmageddon, so no doubt there were shipping issues as well.
out-of-season produce is being shipped to the boston area from many thousands of miles away and all sorts of calamities can happen to the farm-supply chain. theyâre hiccups though, not regular occurrences.
Honkman, howâs the eating so far?
Work started to ramp up much faster than we expected in the first few weeks and so we were cooking at home much more and visited less restaurants than normal. Here are the few visited in the last few weeks (no particular order, no take out as I donât think it is fair to evaluate a restaurant on take out):
Journeyman: only tasting menu so far - very nice restaurant, creative, well executed. Not every dish worked but some were outstanding. Very good service, great pairings, nice cocktails. 4 hours of fun. Bargain for the price ~$95 for 10 courses
Il Casale (Belmont): Very good Italian food, not too americanized, octupus special was great, very good house made pasta, nice risotto
Babbo: Reminds us a lot on Osteria/Pizzeria Mozza in LA. Many great small dishes, pizza and pasta (and good gelato). Good prices for the quality. Service a bit uneven but not really bad. Our daughter asked us to go there again for her 5th birthday soon.
Otto: Good Napolitanean style pizza with creative toppings, salads underwhelming
Real Gusto: Very good neighborhood Italian. Excellent pasta, pizza was good, not great. Prices are a little bit too high for what you get
Woori: Not authentic Korean but a nice place for a relaxed dinner with good korean-fusion dishes
Cafe Polonia: Really good polish food, bigos was great.
Branchline: Really nice new-American restaurant close by from home. Overall great dishes, good beer selection, great service.
Catalyst: Very good appetizers, e.g. octopus special, outstanding Blue Cod entree, good cocktails, mediocre service
Red Lentil: Everything a vegetarian restaurant shouldnât be - uninspired food, badly executed. Hard to believe how they can stay in business
Whole Heart Provision: Thatâs how vegetarian cooking should be done - creative concept, well executed. One of our standbys when we donât cook and donât have time for a regular restaurant visit.
Not your Average Joeâs: One night we needed something fast to eat close to home, didnât expect anything special but that was some of the worst food in a long time
Georges Howell: Good beans to take home but very inexperienced barista, had little idea about right temperature of shots or steamed milk. Pastry was mediocre
Morano Gelato: Very, very good gelato but some unexpected disappointments at the second visit, e.g. mint (too much peppermint oil - very artificial flavor, grapefruit was unbalanced)
Roksanaâs: Take out only - very good persian food though a bit too meat heavy. Would be nice if there different âpolosâ would be more readily available
Hopefully soon we will have more restaurants to report about. So far overall impressed with the restaurant scene in Boston - and driving so far (and yes I know soon the students, schools etc start again but still after CaliforniaâŚ) much, much less problematic than expected. Restaurants are all over Boston and we hadnât any problems to reach them by car or find parking etc.
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I call it âUtterly Below Average Joeâsâ. Youâre right, itâs the kind of place that shouldnât be transcendental, but it should be serviceable, and itâs so terrible.
fortunately the Joeâs at Station Landing in Medford closed. It wasnât so bad a few years ago, but the last couple of years got worse and worse. We only went for the half priced appetizers at happy hour because itâs close to home and cheap, we could leave the kid for a bit. Real corporate feel [awful] environment, too bright, music too loud, etc. Now, why is Margaritas at Station Landing still open? Itâs even worse than Joeâs.
Iâm glad youâve found some good restaurant food. If Branchline were closer to us, weâd be there a couple of times a month. Hope your daughter adjusts to school well.
Glad you are finding some of the gems. Branchline shows the virtues of a limited menu, but making everything just so.
