There is a small-scale culinary incubator in Somerville at Bow Market: Nibble
Our menu rotates to enable several different culinary entrepreneurs to gain vital experience in business operations and try out business concepts and menu ideas. Visit us often to try out all the different cuisines and menu creations our Nibble Chefs have to offer!
*Nibble Kitchen is a small business incubator run by the Somerville Arts Council.
The job training portion at Forge is great. I wonder how it’s going?
Not sure. Haven’t been to the Forge since Firebox closed (which, incidentally, had a Boston connection. It was founded by Cary Wheaton, who started East Coast Grill with Chris Schlesinger).
Said it before and it’s still true: If someone reopened The Red Fez just as it was, it would have a steady stream of customers. I loved it and miss it terribly – including the women-of-a-certain-age waitresses. Their salad was superb. Stuffed grape leaves magnifique. Best Lebanese food that ever was in Boston.
Guessing you mean the one in the South End on Washington Street? My memory is hazy, but was there also once a Red Fez on Cambridge Street, near MGH?
And after East Coast Grill, Cary Wheaton opened that child-friendly restaurant on Huron Ave. near Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge. That closed a few years ago after 2 decades, I think. I enjoyed Full Moon in the first decade many times with and without the children of friends. I recall the food then as being interesting to adults (several dishes I loved) and great for children. There was a play area for children and it could sometimes get chaotic. I remembering watching with amusement a mother balancing her checkbook (it was that long ago) while drinking a glass of wine mid-afternoon, glancing from time to time at her child in the play area.
Later the food declined somewhat. It was a unique place that worked for its time, for the most part. The last time we went, I recalled getting a bagel sliced with the half underneath burned to a char. And the pancakes were raw in the middle.
Just googled her and saw she died at 65 in 2021.
And to further edit, just saw that you posted that. I somehow missed it.
And to even further edit, I responded to your post about her death. So a double miss for me.
The Red Fez was in the South End on Washington Street, The Red Hat was on Cambridge St near MGH. The food at the Red Fez was excellent Lebanese, agree totally.
Thanks @Madrid. Apropos my comments about food being culture and people who produce it artists, Cary was a virtuoso.
I used to work at MGH, though never made it to the Red Hat. You did get 3 letters right and “hat” likewise is 3 letters. 
Grendel’s Den is still open.
As the article explains, the daughter of the original Grendel’s owners recently opened a second location, the Sea Hag, on Mount Auburn St. in the former Boathouse location.
Went to Grendel’s during the last Head of the Charles. Same as it ever was. Meaning, not great not bad, but just want we wanted. Definitely still fills a much-needed ever-so-narrowing niche.
That Sea Hag info was very useful. As soon as this Sea Dog gets back their sea legs, they’re going to be sniffing at those Jamiacan patties.
We were thrilled when our teen son decided cheeseburgers were ok, and that he’d out grown Charlie’s Kitchen, where he always got either grilled cheese or hot dogs. (Last time we went pre-pandemic, the steps to the second floor were a serious accident waiting to happen, and the bathrooms were beyond gross).
So we tried Grendel’s across the street and he was good with the burger, even without fries (which they don’t serve). We were tempted to try the gelato place across the street afterwards, but the line was too long.
We parents had a couple of dishes that have been on the menu for over 20 years and that we know are ok and better than the average dive bar. It was, as you say, same as we recall from the 1990s, not great and (for us) not bad. Priced reasonably for what it is. We parents first met Grendel’s in 1976, when crab quiche and vegetarian dishes were available. More impressive to us back then.
Fine now when that’s is just what is wanted. Lit fireplaces on a cold day much welcomed. I’m glad Grendel’s is still around and we’ll try Sea Hag soon. Our son loves myths and he was predisposed to like Grendel’s.
The No Name restaurant was always my go to for chowder - WAY back in the day,
I have a soft spot for Grendel’s but mainly appreciated it for being reliable. Watching a rat scoot across the floor in the downstairs dining room only made me laugh- I kept returning.
Waiters calling out “two cups of C, Manolo” back when it was still just the size of a diner. Once they enlarged it seem to take a bit of the charm away. My folks visiting from Ohio loved waiting in line 30 or 40 minutes, people around us sharing their beer and wine.
That seafood chowder still haunts me - simple but honest. Broiled scallops fresh off the boat. Killer.
Anyone remember Max & Dylan’s on West Street downtown? That place had a great bar to comfortably hang out at while drinking some Pretty Things beers. I remember really enjoying their grilled pear salad. Place hasn’t been around in well over a decade at this point
I worked in the kitchen of the original Veronique in Coolidge Corner, in the 1970s.
