Oh, Baraka’s bastilla & rose lemonade-swoon: https://www.harvardmagazine.com/2014/03/global-kitchen
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Gilrein’s Pub on Main St was a greasy blues club.
Sir Morgan’s Cove, a piratey metal club.
Magic Dick territory.
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Yes to all those!
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this discussion reminds me of a similar conversation on chowhound about 20 years ago — went on forever. fascinating to see so many of my old favorites mentioned and what’s come and gone since then.
so many fond memories from way back when — i was here looking for a job and apartment and the one person i knew took me to the orson wells, with its communal tables. a trait it shared. with the original legal in inman square — where you had to pay when you ordered (cash only, of course), and they brought out the meals as they were ready. as i remember, there was a bar — but no dessert.
two favorites i’ve not seen mentioned are the turtle cafe, also in inman square, and peasant stock at the intersection of beacon and kirkland — great soups!
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I love reading about “Worcester’s proudest moment.”
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Yes, the Somerville location had a bocce court, downstairs.
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Thanks for the link to that podcast! Great to hear Chris and Steve are still in the area. Also great to hear Jummy Burke is still at it. I’m bummed though that I never got a t-shirt for finishing an order of pasta from hell. I couldn’t taste the rest of my meal after that dish.
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I was just reading the Globe’s 5-star review of the Daily Catch. I NEVER read the comments but I did and this one caught my eye. What does it mean?! Does “maurice617” = Steve J or am I over-interpreting?!
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that timing is uncanny!
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Was there a change in hands with Baraka that I missed, or was there an earlier incarnation that is different from what I remember? Baraka was in my regular rotations from about 2005 - 2010. Mainly did lunch pit stops but really enjoyed their food. Never made it there for dinner.
That also reminds me of Cafe Jaffa. While it wasn’t that long ago that they closed up, they were great for falafel, kebabs, and shwarma. One of my earliest introductions to Middle Eastern foods.
While not in Boston, Quincy Center used to have one of my absolute favorite Indian restaurants in the area - Cafe India (or India Cafe?). On Hancock St in the same building as the movie theater was before they re-did those buildings. While there are decent Indian options in the area, nothing that was as good as Cafe India.
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i also recall a bocce court at the one on main street in cambridge.
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I noticed that and wondered about it as well! I hope we get an answer…it would be great to hear from Steve as Steve!
I don’t think there was a change of hands but it moved from the original Cambridgeport location. You and I probably were eating lunch at the same time at the original location. I have never visited the newer spot on Mass Ave.
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Oh man. Was a regular lunch spot for me for years. The mosaic plate was awesome. I hate steak fries, but theirs were great.
The Back Bay so desperately needs somewhere like Jaffa right now. It really has become a bit of a void as far as good eats are concerned.
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I was there twice, soon after they re-opened in the new location, and it was sadly not as good as it was, partly because there was very little traffic and some of the food was old. The previous location had a certain grungy charm, but the new had a deliberately dimly-lit affect that did not charm (at least me). Caution: I have not been there in three years, and the food may now be back to old standards, but from the outside the lighting inside is still oddly dim.
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For the first fifteen years the NY part of my dual Cambridge-NY existence was in the little-known village of Southampton. In the early 2000s, the Hampton Jitney provided convenient transportation between Copley Square and Southampton on Mondays at 3 pm – which fit my schedule at the time perfectly. I’d walk to Harvard Square, catch the #1 bus, get off at the Hynes stop, amble up Newbury, turn right at Gloucester, and late-lunch at Jaffa. It was very good, much better than anything else in the immediate vicinity (at a reasonable price), and it kept me contented on the long bus ride to Southampton.
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That old Central Square location Baraka was so unique; I felt like I was eating in somebody’s kitchen somewhere in the Middle East with a very opinionated older woman running the show in a simple kitchen open to the dining room and instructing her guests. The food was fantastic. I may not be remembering correctly, but I think she was the sister of Moncef Meddeb, who founded L’Espalier in 1978 and also opened Aigo Bistro in Concord with Ana Sortun, after which both took over at Casablanca and then opened 8 Holyoke, both in Cambridge.
Oh, I just found it. Yes, Alia Meddeb sister of Moncef is the owner of Baraka.
This article makes it clear that the evolution of Boston area restaurants would have been very different if Moncef Meddeb had not met an American Peace Corps volunteer in Tunis and moved with her to New England.
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the original floating rock in revere
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Floating Rock - I will forever regret not trying it.
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Thanks. I’d read this earlier but had forgotten a lot of what was in it.
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