Delays put Fens in fix
Nothing soon rising from ashes of block fire
By JoAnn Fitzpatrick | Saturday, February 28, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Op-Ed
When residents of the Fenway turned out last week to fight for their neighborhood, the room was filled with optimism. The restaurant Church was wall to wall with 20- and 30-somethings and seniors who want to bring back the six restaurants and a dry cleaner that burned in a January fire.
In the next hour, some of their worst fears were hinted at - that restoring what they call the heart of the Fenway may take too long for the small business owners, all of whom want to return, and that the rebuilding could result in something far larger than what existed before.
The city and elected officials promised support, but development realities surfaced quickly. Once plans are drawn and the bureaucracy steps in, the best of intentions could be ground up in the ubiquitous enemy known as “the process.”
Think of the Fenway dilemma as a microcosm of the federal stimulus package: How to get the shovel in the ground quickly.
The block stretching from the corner of Peterborough and Kilmarnock streets was quintessential Boston, updated to late 20th-century tastes. Greek, Thai, Spanish, Japanese and Italian thrived alongside a traditional pub. Their success bred solidarity, so much in evidence after the fire and today still. Neighbors recognized how special the block was and resolved to fight for it.
But how difficult will this battle be? The owner, Monty Gold, told the crowd that while the property is not for sale, it is possible the one-story retail string will be topped with housing. That’s what happens anytime an old block comes down, and property owners have a right to create more revenue-producing space when they are forced to rebuild, especially in this economy.
But once that box is opened, how far will redevelopment go? There was talk of redoing the area behind the restaurants - home to a taxi company - which could open the way to a full-blown Boston Redevelopment Authority oversight.
And there go the businesses.
As it is, John Lynch of the city’s neighborhood development department said it was doubtful the block could be restored by the time Red Sox [team stats] fans return for the 2010 season.
I remain baffled by the city’s inability to home in on a block like this and get things done quickly. Here’s a situation where businesses don’t want to go elsewhere; they want to recapture something distinctive. But they can’t wait forever and neither can their employees, who were not forgotten in the pleas for action at last Monday’s meeting.
Everyone involved in the Fenway campaign seems to be a person of good will. But that’s not always enough.
Nothing distorts a neighborhood more quickly than a fire in a commercial district. Sometimes it’s a catalyst for change; more often it’s the beginning of blight.
A good example is the heart of Centre Street in Jamaica Plain, a neighborhood that experienced a string of arsons in the last few years. When the block anchored by a Century 21 office was destroyed by fire in 2006, owner Christ Stamatos decided to use the opportunity to build a second story above the realty office. But abutters who would be blocked off fought the proposal and the site remains an eyesore. Mayor Thomas Menino loves to tout Jamaica Plain’s commercial strip and its commitment to local businesses. But why does the city not insist that Stamatos, a large property owner who is now busy buying up foreclosed properties across Boston, fix his torched building?
This could be the fate of the Fenway restaurant block. City Council President Michael Ross represents the area and pledged his support for renewal. But the community may have to rally hundreds more times lest the blackened hulk become a landmark.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/op_ed/view.bg?articleid=1155181
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
High Speed Rail in US to Benefit from Stimulus Money
Will stimulus funds put rail on the fast track?
Some observers say cost is just one factor working against high-speed trains
By Nicole C. Wong, Globe Staff | February 25, 2009
The US economic stimulus package is fueling the country's beleaguered efforts to create a railroad system that would rival Japan's bullet train and France's TGV high-speed rail.
But some transportation researchers say a network of trains that can travel faster than 200 miles an hour is not feasible in the United States. They say the high price tag for building and operating a super-fast system will be the biggest deterrent. Protecting the trains from security threats will be another hurdle. And much like Amtrak's eight-year-old Acela Express, the only US high-speed rail, the trains would have to compete in a culture that prefers cars and planes.
"We have tremendous distances compared with Japan or Europe," said Carlos Schwantes, a professor of transportation studies at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. "We're just much bigger, and in so much of the country it's so low a population density that we'd have to ask the question: Is it worth spending our dollars for the infrastructure in those areas?"
Still, the federal stimulus package containing Senator John Kerry's $8 billion earmark for rail projects - with priority given to high-speed service - is the most significant surge toward building more high-speed rails. Federal funding for rail has rapidly declined over the past two decades.
The stimulus funding likely won't move high-speed rail planners far enough along to begin construction, but Kerry called the provision "a down payment" on a rail system that eventually could extend throughout the country. The Massachusetts Democrat said parts of the system could be completed within the decade if Congress continues to fund it.
"Spread out over the country, $8 billion will be an important amount of money to advance the engineering and design," said Peter Gertler, national public transit services director with HNTB, an engineering and architectural firm that has been involved in the Midwest high-speed rail project. But going forward, he said, high-speed rail authorities "will need more local funding at the private and state levels."
High-speed rail systems, which have been slow to catch on here, took off abroad with the help of huge government subsidies and gas prices that were more than double what American drivers were paying when prices here peaked last year, transportation researchers say.
Those conditions created a means and a motivation to support rail service that can travel at speeds upwards of 180 miles an hour in countries like France and Japan.
"France, in particular, 30 to 40 years ago decided that they were not going to be dependent on foreign oil, so they taxed oil very heavily," said Tim Gillespie, a partner in BGL Associates, a legislative consulting company that represents a manufacturer of the TGV and Acela trains on rail issues. "The government - to help people get around without spending their whole paycheck on gasoline - developed this high-speed rail system."
Creating an efficient high-speed US system would be more difficult. First, it would cost hundreds of billions of dollars, said Gillespie, who conceived of and oversaw the development of the Acela while he was Amtrak's vice president of government affairs.
He said rail funding requests get bogged down in the US congressional process, which requires that money be allocated to highway, transit, and aviation programs first.
"I think you'll find among policy makers in Washington, if you poll them all, they'll say, 'Yes, we need to have high-speed trains,' " Gillespie said. "The problem is whenever they have to find the money, there's nothing left."
Security could be another concern. James Moore, a University of Southern California transportation engineering professor who has examined California and Florida's high-speed rail plans, calls the country's high-speed rail ambition "a boondoggle" steeped in safety and financial concerns. "There is a very substantial security challenge that is unaddressed in most high-speed rail plans," he said. "To secure rail travel, you have to secure the entire length of the guideway."
Moore also said high-speed rail will require huge, ongoing federal subsidies to make the cost of tickets low enough to lure passengers out of automobiles, planes, and regional trains. Indeed, Stan Makovsky, a home fashions sales representative from Chelmsford who goes to New York more than 30 times a year, said he thinks the Acela is "very reliable"; but sometimes he takes the regional train instead because it's cheaper. "It takes maybe 40 minutes longer at most," he said. "And sometimes the price is less than half."
US railroad tracks also are laid out in a way that keeps high-speed trains from traveling at top speeds. The Acela trains, which run along the Northeastern corridor from Boston to New York and Washington, D.C., are designed to travel 150 miles per hour.
But they rarely do because the area's path is winding and its infrastructure is aging. In addition, passenger trains must yield to freight trains traveling the same tracks and slow down at multiple crossings and stations. As a result, Acela's average speed between Boston and New York is 62 miles per hour and 82 miles an hour between New York and Washington, D.C.
It's too early to tell what effect the stimulus provision will have on the Northeast corridor since the rail funding will be doled out through a competitive process by which Amtrak and other high-speed rail authorities must submit proposals. It's likely the nation's other 10 federally designated high-speed corridors will vie for funds as well, including the California High-Speed Rail Authority. In November, California voters approved $9 billion in bond funding to help construct an 800-mile network for trains running up to 220 miles per hour connecting Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.
But Kerry hopes some of the money will go toward improving the existing Acela route with new rights of way to straighten curves, avoid populated areas, and get the train traveling 150 miles per hour.
However, Amtrak spokesman Clifford Cole said it's too early in the process to have a proposal in place. "That's far from being anything we can talk about right now."
Globe staff writer Robert Weisman contributed to this report. Nicole C. Wong can be reached at nwong@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Some observers say cost is just one factor working against high-speed trains
By Nicole C. Wong, Globe Staff | February 25, 2009
The US economic stimulus package is fueling the country's beleaguered efforts to create a railroad system that would rival Japan's bullet train and France's TGV high-speed rail.
But some transportation researchers say a network of trains that can travel faster than 200 miles an hour is not feasible in the United States. They say the high price tag for building and operating a super-fast system will be the biggest deterrent. Protecting the trains from security threats will be another hurdle. And much like Amtrak's eight-year-old Acela Express, the only US high-speed rail, the trains would have to compete in a culture that prefers cars and planes.
"We have tremendous distances compared with Japan or Europe," said Carlos Schwantes, a professor of transportation studies at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. "We're just much bigger, and in so much of the country it's so low a population density that we'd have to ask the question: Is it worth spending our dollars for the infrastructure in those areas?"
Still, the federal stimulus package containing Senator John Kerry's $8 billion earmark for rail projects - with priority given to high-speed service - is the most significant surge toward building more high-speed rails. Federal funding for rail has rapidly declined over the past two decades.
The stimulus funding likely won't move high-speed rail planners far enough along to begin construction, but Kerry called the provision "a down payment" on a rail system that eventually could extend throughout the country. The Massachusetts Democrat said parts of the system could be completed within the decade if Congress continues to fund it.
"Spread out over the country, $8 billion will be an important amount of money to advance the engineering and design," said Peter Gertler, national public transit services director with HNTB, an engineering and architectural firm that has been involved in the Midwest high-speed rail project. But going forward, he said, high-speed rail authorities "will need more local funding at the private and state levels."
High-speed rail systems, which have been slow to catch on here, took off abroad with the help of huge government subsidies and gas prices that were more than double what American drivers were paying when prices here peaked last year, transportation researchers say.
Those conditions created a means and a motivation to support rail service that can travel at speeds upwards of 180 miles an hour in countries like France and Japan.
"France, in particular, 30 to 40 years ago decided that they were not going to be dependent on foreign oil, so they taxed oil very heavily," said Tim Gillespie, a partner in BGL Associates, a legislative consulting company that represents a manufacturer of the TGV and Acela trains on rail issues. "The government - to help people get around without spending their whole paycheck on gasoline - developed this high-speed rail system."
Creating an efficient high-speed US system would be more difficult. First, it would cost hundreds of billions of dollars, said Gillespie, who conceived of and oversaw the development of the Acela while he was Amtrak's vice president of government affairs.
He said rail funding requests get bogged down in the US congressional process, which requires that money be allocated to highway, transit, and aviation programs first.
"I think you'll find among policy makers in Washington, if you poll them all, they'll say, 'Yes, we need to have high-speed trains,' " Gillespie said. "The problem is whenever they have to find the money, there's nothing left."
Security could be another concern. James Moore, a University of Southern California transportation engineering professor who has examined California and Florida's high-speed rail plans, calls the country's high-speed rail ambition "a boondoggle" steeped in safety and financial concerns. "There is a very substantial security challenge that is unaddressed in most high-speed rail plans," he said. "To secure rail travel, you have to secure the entire length of the guideway."
Moore also said high-speed rail will require huge, ongoing federal subsidies to make the cost of tickets low enough to lure passengers out of automobiles, planes, and regional trains. Indeed, Stan Makovsky, a home fashions sales representative from Chelmsford who goes to New York more than 30 times a year, said he thinks the Acela is "very reliable"; but sometimes he takes the regional train instead because it's cheaper. "It takes maybe 40 minutes longer at most," he said. "And sometimes the price is less than half."
US railroad tracks also are laid out in a way that keeps high-speed trains from traveling at top speeds. The Acela trains, which run along the Northeastern corridor from Boston to New York and Washington, D.C., are designed to travel 150 miles per hour.
But they rarely do because the area's path is winding and its infrastructure is aging. In addition, passenger trains must yield to freight trains traveling the same tracks and slow down at multiple crossings and stations. As a result, Acela's average speed between Boston and New York is 62 miles per hour and 82 miles an hour between New York and Washington, D.C.
It's too early to tell what effect the stimulus provision will have on the Northeast corridor since the rail funding will be doled out through a competitive process by which Amtrak and other high-speed rail authorities must submit proposals. It's likely the nation's other 10 federally designated high-speed corridors will vie for funds as well, including the California High-Speed Rail Authority. In November, California voters approved $9 billion in bond funding to help construct an 800-mile network for trains running up to 220 miles per hour connecting Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.
But Kerry hopes some of the money will go toward improving the existing Acela route with new rights of way to straighten curves, avoid populated areas, and get the train traveling 150 miles per hour.
However, Amtrak spokesman Clifford Cole said it's too early in the process to have a proposal in place. "That's far from being anything we can talk about right now."
Globe staff writer Robert Weisman contributed to this report. Nicole C. Wong can be reached at nwong@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Copley Place Tower Put on Hold
Copley tower on hold
Mall owner halts meetings on 47-story condo project
By Thomas Grillo | Thursday, February 26, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Real Estate
Simon Property Group has put on ice its Copley Place plan for the city’s tallest condo tower.
The mall operator was developing a 47-story tower with 280 luxury residential units, along with a 54,000-square-foot addition to Neiman Marcus and 60,000 square feet of new retail and restaurant space.
Les Morris, a Simon spokesman, confirmed that meetings of the Community Advisory Committee, a nine-member panel formed by Mayor Thomas M. Menino to advise City Hall on the project, have been postponed. But he declined to answer questions or provide specifics about the project’s timeline.
It’s unclear whether Simon has run into financing problems amid the global credit crisis.
John Palmieri, the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s director, said while Simon may have the cash for the project, the Indiana-based publicly traded company is worried about the economy.
“They certainly don’t want to build something they can’t lease,” he said. “And anyone will tell you that the condo market has been hurting.”
Eugene F. Kelly, a CAC member, said he’s disappointed that the plan is on hold. “It looked like an attractive development that would enhance the area,” he said.
But not everyone is sad to see the project stalled. The proposal troubled the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, which raised questions about the building’s height and shadows it would cast on historic properties in Copley Square.
“Our major concerns have been about the impacts such a tall building would have in the neighborhood,” said Ann Gleason, the assocation’s chairwoman.
Simon is not the only project in jeopardy. Developers John B. Hynes III and Vornado Realty Trust halted construction last year on the redevelopment of the Filene’s block. Despite downsizing the tower, the development team is still trying to secure financing.
tgrillo@bostonherald.com
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1154742
Mall owner halts meetings on 47-story condo project
By Thomas Grillo | Thursday, February 26, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Real Estate
Simon Property Group has put on ice its Copley Place plan for the city’s tallest condo tower.
The mall operator was developing a 47-story tower with 280 luxury residential units, along with a 54,000-square-foot addition to Neiman Marcus and 60,000 square feet of new retail and restaurant space.
Les Morris, a Simon spokesman, confirmed that meetings of the Community Advisory Committee, a nine-member panel formed by Mayor Thomas M. Menino to advise City Hall on the project, have been postponed. But he declined to answer questions or provide specifics about the project’s timeline.
It’s unclear whether Simon has run into financing problems amid the global credit crisis.
John Palmieri, the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s director, said while Simon may have the cash for the project, the Indiana-based publicly traded company is worried about the economy.
“They certainly don’t want to build something they can’t lease,” he said. “And anyone will tell you that the condo market has been hurting.”
Eugene F. Kelly, a CAC member, said he’s disappointed that the plan is on hold. “It looked like an attractive development that would enhance the area,” he said.
But not everyone is sad to see the project stalled. The proposal troubled the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, which raised questions about the building’s height and shadows it would cast on historic properties in Copley Square.
“Our major concerns have been about the impacts such a tall building would have in the neighborhood,” said Ann Gleason, the assocation’s chairwoman.
Simon is not the only project in jeopardy. Developers John B. Hynes III and Vornado Realty Trust halted construction last year on the redevelopment of the Filene’s block. Despite downsizing the tower, the development team is still trying to secure financing.
tgrillo@bostonherald.com
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1154742
Hertz to Compete with Zipcar in Boston
Hertz will take on Zipcar by spring
By Paul S. Makishima, Globe Staff | February 26, 2009
Increasing the pressure on industry leader Zipcar of Cambridge, Hertz Corp. will begin offering car-sharing services in Greater Boston by late spring as part of a major expansion.
"We see car-sharing as being a $1 billion market with potential to grow," said Paula Rivera, manager of public affairs for Hertz.
Car-rental giant Hertz launched Connect by Hertz in December in New York City, its headquarters city of Park Ridge, N.J., and in London and Paris. It looks to enter 40 more US and foreign cities this year.
Hertz will probably commence service in some other US cities when they begin in Boston, Rivera said, but is not expected to announce any new foreign openings yet.
Connect by Hertz operates very much like Zipcar. Customers pay a monthly membership fee, pick up cars at one of a number of locations in specific cities, then are charged on an hourly basis.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
By Paul S. Makishima, Globe Staff | February 26, 2009
Increasing the pressure on industry leader Zipcar of Cambridge, Hertz Corp. will begin offering car-sharing services in Greater Boston by late spring as part of a major expansion.
"We see car-sharing as being a $1 billion market with potential to grow," said Paula Rivera, manager of public affairs for Hertz.
Car-rental giant Hertz launched Connect by Hertz in December in New York City, its headquarters city of Park Ridge, N.J., and in London and Paris. It looks to enter 40 more US and foreign cities this year.
Hertz will probably commence service in some other US cities when they begin in Boston, Rivera said, but is not expected to announce any new foreign openings yet.
Connect by Hertz operates very much like Zipcar. Customers pay a monthly membership fee, pick up cars at one of a number of locations in specific cities, then are charged on an hourly basis.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Filene's Development Still Delayed
Credit crisis bites Filene's development
Builder says funding woes to delay restart of project
By Casey Ross, Globe Staff | February 26, 2009
Despite cutting seven floors off his $700 million Filene's redevelopment, John B. Hynes III is still struggling to obtain loans for the 32-story tower in downtown Boston and will not be able to resume construction next month as he had planned.
Without funding for the entire project, the Filene's developers are now considering several other options to move forward on the office, hotel, and retail development, said an executive with knowledge of its finances.
Hynes's firm, Gale International, is developing the Filene's block in partnership with Vornado Realty Trust of New York. Spokesmen for Hynes and Vornado did not return calls seeking comment.
The builders stopped construction in November after they were unable to raise enough financing to build the entire project as conceived. Since then, Hynes and Vornado proposed the reduction in height to 32 stories, and eliminating all 166 planned condominiums.
The development site, at the corner of Washington and Franklin streets, consists mostly of a hole in the ground in the middle of Downtown Crossing, and the skeletal remains of several other buildings, including the original Filene's department store.
The project is one of many caught up in the credit crisis and economic downturn that have virtually stopped any lending to commercial developments. Lenders are reluctant to finance projects as long as the soft economy hurts retailers and other potential tenants. Moreover, banks and insurance companies that also fund such developments are struggling with their own losses, making them reluctant to lend, even after the federal government has provided $700 billion in assistance to stimulate lending.
Gale and Vornado have invested more than $150 million in the development and previously had commitments from other lenders before the deal came undone last fall.
A top official with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the city's planning arm, said the agency remains in close contact with the developers.
"This is affecting a lot of projects, not just in Boston, but everywhere," said BRA director John Palmieri. He said the BRA has not yet scheduled a board vote needed to approve the proposed revisions to the Filene's project.
The delay is putting a hole in Mayor Thomas M. Menino's effort to revitalize Downtown Crossing and creating problems for potential tenants who were relying on the developers to finish on time.
A representative of Filene's Basement, which hopes to move back this year, said the store is closely monitoring progress. "Our understanding is that either in the fall of 2009 or spring 2010, the developer will be providing us with the property," said Julie Davis, an attorney for the discount retailer. "We don't have any news from the developer."
Another potential tenant, the law firm Fish & Richardson, said it still has a letter of intent to move into the building in 2011, but is weighing other options if the delays persist.
Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Builder says funding woes to delay restart of project
By Casey Ross, Globe Staff | February 26, 2009
Despite cutting seven floors off his $700 million Filene's redevelopment, John B. Hynes III is still struggling to obtain loans for the 32-story tower in downtown Boston and will not be able to resume construction next month as he had planned.
Without funding for the entire project, the Filene's developers are now considering several other options to move forward on the office, hotel, and retail development, said an executive with knowledge of its finances.
Hynes's firm, Gale International, is developing the Filene's block in partnership with Vornado Realty Trust of New York. Spokesmen for Hynes and Vornado did not return calls seeking comment.
The builders stopped construction in November after they were unable to raise enough financing to build the entire project as conceived. Since then, Hynes and Vornado proposed the reduction in height to 32 stories, and eliminating all 166 planned condominiums.
The development site, at the corner of Washington and Franklin streets, consists mostly of a hole in the ground in the middle of Downtown Crossing, and the skeletal remains of several other buildings, including the original Filene's department store.
The project is one of many caught up in the credit crisis and economic downturn that have virtually stopped any lending to commercial developments. Lenders are reluctant to finance projects as long as the soft economy hurts retailers and other potential tenants. Moreover, banks and insurance companies that also fund such developments are struggling with their own losses, making them reluctant to lend, even after the federal government has provided $700 billion in assistance to stimulate lending.
Gale and Vornado have invested more than $150 million in the development and previously had commitments from other lenders before the deal came undone last fall.
A top official with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the city's planning arm, said the agency remains in close contact with the developers.
"This is affecting a lot of projects, not just in Boston, but everywhere," said BRA director John Palmieri. He said the BRA has not yet scheduled a board vote needed to approve the proposed revisions to the Filene's project.
The delay is putting a hole in Mayor Thomas M. Menino's effort to revitalize Downtown Crossing and creating problems for potential tenants who were relying on the developers to finish on time.
A representative of Filene's Basement, which hopes to move back this year, said the store is closely monitoring progress. "Our understanding is that either in the fall of 2009 or spring 2010, the developer will be providing us with the property," said Julie Davis, an attorney for the discount retailer. "We don't have any news from the developer."
Another potential tenant, the law firm Fish & Richardson, said it still has a letter of intent to move into the building in 2011, but is weighing other options if the delays persist.
Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Yacht Starship won't return to Boston
StarShip quits sailing to Boston
By Donna Goodison | Tuesday, February 24, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Yacht StarShip won’t be returning to Boston Harbor this summer.
The Tampa, Fla., company has eliminated its Boston dining cruise service after just one season.
Yacht StarShip plans to sell the $8 million, 600-passenger ship that it used in Boston and lay off employees, according to Florida newspaper reports that cited CEO Troy Manthey as blaming a steep decline in business. Manthey did not return calls for comment.
The company entered already-crowded waters when it launched in Boston last June. The competition, along with corporate entertainment cutbacks, likely helped sink the operation.
“Last year was challenging, and the outlook this year wasn’t very rosy,” said Pat Moscaritolo of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau. “I think they made a very wise business decision.”
Yacht StarShip was competing against Entertainment Cruises’ Spirit of Boston and Odyssey, which operate year-round dinner cruises from the busier Rowes Wharf and World Trade Center.
“They are some pretty strong operators,” Moscaritolo said. “(Yacht StarShip) was somewhat at a disadvantage last year because they were over at the Black Falcon (Cruise Terminal in the Marine Industrial Park), where they had no visibility in terms of being in the center of activity.”
But Yacht StarShip had secured approval to operate out of Long Wharf this year, he said.
The company’s departure is a loss for Sail Boston 2009. Last summer, it signed on as a sponsor and official dining cruise operator of the July tall ships event.
Director Dusty Rhodes said Sail Boston would “gracefully shake hands” with Yacht StarShip and not hold it to those obligations.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1154233
By Donna Goodison | Tuesday, February 24, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Yacht StarShip won’t be returning to Boston Harbor this summer.
The Tampa, Fla., company has eliminated its Boston dining cruise service after just one season.
Yacht StarShip plans to sell the $8 million, 600-passenger ship that it used in Boston and lay off employees, according to Florida newspaper reports that cited CEO Troy Manthey as blaming a steep decline in business. Manthey did not return calls for comment.
The company entered already-crowded waters when it launched in Boston last June. The competition, along with corporate entertainment cutbacks, likely helped sink the operation.
“Last year was challenging, and the outlook this year wasn’t very rosy,” said Pat Moscaritolo of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau. “I think they made a very wise business decision.”
Yacht StarShip was competing against Entertainment Cruises’ Spirit of Boston and Odyssey, which operate year-round dinner cruises from the busier Rowes Wharf and World Trade Center.
“They are some pretty strong operators,” Moscaritolo said. “(Yacht StarShip) was somewhat at a disadvantage last year because they were over at the Black Falcon (Cruise Terminal in the Marine Industrial Park), where they had no visibility in terms of being in the center of activity.”
But Yacht StarShip had secured approval to operate out of Long Wharf this year, he said.
The company’s departure is a loss for Sail Boston 2009. Last summer, it signed on as a sponsor and official dining cruise operator of the July tall ships event.
Director Dusty Rhodes said Sail Boston would “gracefully shake hands” with Yacht StarShip and not hold it to those obligations.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1154233
Monday, February 23, 2009
Stephi's to open soon in South End
SOUTH END
Stephanie's has a new sister, Stephi's, set to open soon
February 22, 2009
In 2002, about eight years after she opened Stephanie's on Newbury, Stephanie Sokolove was finally ready to start looking for a second location. In 2009 she says she has at last found just the space in the South End. Stephi's on Tremont is scheduled to open next month.
"I don't do things on a whim and a prayer," said Sokolove, from her new space, which is in the midst of $1.7 million in renovations.
After rejecting locations on the South Boston Waterfront, Back Bay/South End border and in Chestnut Hill, Sokolove visited the space that Garden of Eden had vacated in May. She signed a contract two weeks later.
"This really fell into my lap - another neighborhood space that has a corner and outdoor space," Sokolove says of the roughly 4,000-square-foot restaurant. "I thought 'This could be the little sister to Stephanie's.' "
She says the 78-seat joint with a 30-seat patio will be more of Stephanie’s upscale comfort food - salads, macaroni and cheese, meat loaf, and burgers - with nightly specials to entice neighbors to eat there several times a week. Sokolove says she is hoping for a solid dinner crowd, and an after-dinner one as well - her renovations include a new, 20-foot bar.
Stephi's will serve a weekend brunch starting at 9 a.m., an hour earlier than the Newbury location.
Sokolove acknowledges that replacing a South End institution in a tough economy is a tall order, but she says she has faced challenges before: In 1994, Stephanie's replaced a Back Bay landmark, the Harvard Bookstore Café.
"People were not OK with me taking over [Harvard Bookstore Café]. Look how well that worked out," Sokolove says. "I wasn't known at all. Now, here I am."
JUSTIN A. RICE
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Stephanie's has a new sister, Stephi's, set to open soon
February 22, 2009
In 2002, about eight years after she opened Stephanie's on Newbury, Stephanie Sokolove was finally ready to start looking for a second location. In 2009 she says she has at last found just the space in the South End. Stephi's on Tremont is scheduled to open next month.
"I don't do things on a whim and a prayer," said Sokolove, from her new space, which is in the midst of $1.7 million in renovations.
After rejecting locations on the South Boston Waterfront, Back Bay/South End border and in Chestnut Hill, Sokolove visited the space that Garden of Eden had vacated in May. She signed a contract two weeks later.
"This really fell into my lap - another neighborhood space that has a corner and outdoor space," Sokolove says of the roughly 4,000-square-foot restaurant. "I thought 'This could be the little sister to Stephanie's.' "
She says the 78-seat joint with a 30-seat patio will be more of Stephanie’s upscale comfort food - salads, macaroni and cheese, meat loaf, and burgers - with nightly specials to entice neighbors to eat there several times a week. Sokolove says she is hoping for a solid dinner crowd, and an after-dinner one as well - her renovations include a new, 20-foot bar.
Stephi's will serve a weekend brunch starting at 9 a.m., an hour earlier than the Newbury location.
Sokolove acknowledges that replacing a South End institution in a tough economy is a tall order, but she says she has faced challenges before: In 1994, Stephanie's replaced a Back Bay landmark, the Harvard Bookstore Café.
"People were not OK with me taking over [Harvard Bookstore Café]. Look how well that worked out," Sokolove says. "I wasn't known at all. Now, here I am."
JUSTIN A. RICE
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
New Restaurant to Open at 1 Kendall Square
New Hampshire diner to feed Cambridge
By Donna Goodison / Turning the Tables | Friday, February 20, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
The Friendly Toast, a quirky Portsmouth, N.H., restaurant known for its creative “diner” fare and its kitschy and vintage decor, is headed for Cambridge.
The 150-seat restaurant will open at 1 Kendall Square, across from the Blue Room, in April.
In addition to serving the same menu of the 15-year-old Portsmouth location, co-owner Melissa Jasper plans to deck out the Cambridge eatery in the same manner.
“It’s an eclectic, sophisticated diner full of my mid-century collection of oddities from the ’40s and ’50s,” Jasper said, referring to a fondness for crazy paintings and 3-D advertising. “That’s my excuse for being in the restaurant business - so I can keep buying more ’40s animatronics and the like.”
The Friendly Toast serves breakfast and lunch all day and night, and stays open from 7 a.m. Friday through 9 p.m. Sunday in Portsmouth. Jasper said she’ll eventually shoot for the same hours in Cambridge, but has been advised to get the business operating for a few months first.
The restaurant, which will feature ’50s dinettes for seating, also is applying for a full liquor license.
Breakfast items include Almond Joy pancakes with coconut, almonds and chocolate chips, and Hansel-and-Gretel gingerbread waffles with pomegranate molasses and real whipped cream. There are also egg scrambles, homemade breads and a Mexican Mashed Meal of spicy mashed potatoes topped with chorizo and two fried eggs and served with chipotle sauce.
“Everything is homemade,” Jasper said. “Half of our menu is vegetarian, and we’re very committed to homemade hollandaise because it actually has flavor. I’m also fond of crazy sauces and dressings.”
For lunch, the Friendly Toast serves salads, burgers, sandwiches and burritos. The average tab, with a drink, is $12.50 a person.
Jasper, who visits Kendall Square for its arthouse movie theater, said the MIT and Harvard communities make it an attractive spot.
“The intellectual climate is very exciting down there, and I think they’ll be good customers,” she said.
***
Boston Casting has put out a call for foodies interested in appearing on a new Food Network TV series.
“It’s going to be a cross between ‘Iron Chef’ and ‘The Amazing Race,’ ” said Angela Peri, founder and director of Boston Casting. “We need foodies - people that just love to go out to eat, butchers, caterers - but they have to have a knowledge of food, and they have to be physically fit because they are going to be racing.”
Boston Casting is seeking high-energy, competitive two-member teams, ages 25-45, for the Boston episode. Contestants will race through Hub culinary hot spots and compete against Food Network chefs.
Casting calls will be held 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday at the Mall at Chestnut Hill and Wednesday at Boston Casting at 129 Braintree St. in Allston.
***
Restaurant L, resurrected by chef Marc Orfaly in the upscale LouisBoston clothing store late last year, has closed after just two months.
Both sides are being cryptic about what happened, but the restaurant apparently will remain shut for good, at least under Orfaly.
The chef, who also owns Pigalle and Marco Cucina Romana, isn’t talking to the Herald, but his spokeswoman confirmed that the restaurant is closed. That happened last Monday, according to LouisBoston’s spokesman, who declined further comment.
The space has had its share of trouble. Last June, LouisBoston owner Debi Greenberg filed a breach of contract lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court against chef Pino Maffeo. Maffeo, who originally opened Restaurant L in 2004 at LouisBoston, converted it to Boston Public in 2007 before Greenberg shut it down last May.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1153392
Related Articles:
By Donna Goodison / Turning the Tables | Friday, February 20, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
The Friendly Toast, a quirky Portsmouth, N.H., restaurant known for its creative “diner” fare and its kitschy and vintage decor, is headed for Cambridge.
The 150-seat restaurant will open at 1 Kendall Square, across from the Blue Room, in April.
In addition to serving the same menu of the 15-year-old Portsmouth location, co-owner Melissa Jasper plans to deck out the Cambridge eatery in the same manner.
“It’s an eclectic, sophisticated diner full of my mid-century collection of oddities from the ’40s and ’50s,” Jasper said, referring to a fondness for crazy paintings and 3-D advertising. “That’s my excuse for being in the restaurant business - so I can keep buying more ’40s animatronics and the like.”
The Friendly Toast serves breakfast and lunch all day and night, and stays open from 7 a.m. Friday through 9 p.m. Sunday in Portsmouth. Jasper said she’ll eventually shoot for the same hours in Cambridge, but has been advised to get the business operating for a few months first.
The restaurant, which will feature ’50s dinettes for seating, also is applying for a full liquor license.
Breakfast items include Almond Joy pancakes with coconut, almonds and chocolate chips, and Hansel-and-Gretel gingerbread waffles with pomegranate molasses and real whipped cream. There are also egg scrambles, homemade breads and a Mexican Mashed Meal of spicy mashed potatoes topped with chorizo and two fried eggs and served with chipotle sauce.
“Everything is homemade,” Jasper said. “Half of our menu is vegetarian, and we’re very committed to homemade hollandaise because it actually has flavor. I’m also fond of crazy sauces and dressings.”
For lunch, the Friendly Toast serves salads, burgers, sandwiches and burritos. The average tab, with a drink, is $12.50 a person.
Jasper, who visits Kendall Square for its arthouse movie theater, said the MIT and Harvard communities make it an attractive spot.
“The intellectual climate is very exciting down there, and I think they’ll be good customers,” she said.
***
Boston Casting has put out a call for foodies interested in appearing on a new Food Network TV series.
“It’s going to be a cross between ‘Iron Chef’ and ‘The Amazing Race,’ ” said Angela Peri, founder and director of Boston Casting. “We need foodies - people that just love to go out to eat, butchers, caterers - but they have to have a knowledge of food, and they have to be physically fit because they are going to be racing.”
Boston Casting is seeking high-energy, competitive two-member teams, ages 25-45, for the Boston episode. Contestants will race through Hub culinary hot spots and compete against Food Network chefs.
Casting calls will be held 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday at the Mall at Chestnut Hill and Wednesday at Boston Casting at 129 Braintree St. in Allston.
***
Restaurant L, resurrected by chef Marc Orfaly in the upscale LouisBoston clothing store late last year, has closed after just two months.
Both sides are being cryptic about what happened, but the restaurant apparently will remain shut for good, at least under Orfaly.
The chef, who also owns Pigalle and Marco Cucina Romana, isn’t talking to the Herald, but his spokeswoman confirmed that the restaurant is closed. That happened last Monday, according to LouisBoston’s spokesman, who declined further comment.
The space has had its share of trouble. Last June, LouisBoston owner Debi Greenberg filed a breach of contract lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court against chef Pino Maffeo. Maffeo, who originally opened Restaurant L in 2004 at LouisBoston, converted it to Boston Public in 2007 before Greenberg shut it down last May.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1153392
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Hotel Proposed for South End
Corner of South End attracts 9 proposals for redevelopment
By Casey Ross, Globe Staff | February 21, 2009
It is considered one of Boston's hottest development frontiers.
An industrial corner of the South End between Harrison Avenue and Albany Street is brimming with new proposals, including plans for a 265,000-square-foot hotel, dozens of residences, and the renovation of office buildings and worn-down city blocks in need of modern refurbishment.
"This area is really in its embryonic stage and has great potential moving forward," said Harold Brown, chairman of The Hamilton Co., which is building 50 apartments in the neighborhood at 601 Albany St. "It's ripe for a lot of mixed-use development."
With nine current development proposals and others on the way, the Boston Redevelopment Authority this week hired a consulting firm to develop design guidelines as well as regulations for land use and transportation improvements to support development. That work will help pave the way for construction once the economy rebounds and credit begins flowing again to local developers.
The firm, Stull & Lee Inc., will spend the next nine to 12 months studying Harrison Avenue and Albany Street, along with a grid of streets between Interstate 93 and Washington Street, a corridor defined by old industrial distribution centers and warehouses, with pockets of residences and out-of-the-way restaurants.
It is also home to Boston Medical Center, which recently completed construction of its 192,000-square-foot Biosafety Laboratory and is building a 249,000-square-foot ambulatory care center.
The hospital is also considering changes to its master plan for development in the area.
Ellen Berlin, a hospital spokeswoman, said the hospital intends to file an updated plan within the next couple of months. She would not discuss any revisions or potential development proposals before the plan is formally released.
The streets surrounding the medical center are dotted with upscale restaurants and rows of brownstones that define the South End's architecture, but there also are plenty of parking lots and vacant properties considered ripe for redevelopment.
Developer Ron Druker owns several parcels along East Berkeley Street, Shawmut Avenue, and Washington Street.
He said he does not have any immediate plans for the properties, but is closely monitoring the neighborhood's rapid evolution.
"There is the potential for a mix of uses that can be a resource to the larger portion of the South End," said Druker. "That could include retail, offices, residential, and perhaps even hotel."
Newton-based BH Normandy has notified the city of its plan to build a 265,000-square-foot hotel on a parking lot at 275 Albany St. The proposal also includes a 110-space parking garage and landscaping improvements along Albany, East Berkeley, and Traveler streets.
Another potential development site is the nearby offices of the Boston Herald. The newspaper's publisher, Patrick Purcell, entered into a joint venture with a local real estate firm in 2007 to redevelop the paper's longtime headquarters.
Also in the pipeline is the renovation of the former Teradyne headquarters by Nordic Properties, which is in talks with potential medical tenants and firms looking for back-office space. Nordic, which spent $35 million on the building and a 310-space parking garage, is also looking to open a bistro-style restaurant on the 250,000-square-foot building's ground floor.
"There is a lot of momentum here. Entire neighborhoods are bringing themselves back," said Nordic's president, Ogden Hunnewell. "We made a big investment here, so I'm pretty bullish on the neighborhood."
Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Compan
By Casey Ross, Globe Staff | February 21, 2009
It is considered one of Boston's hottest development frontiers.
An industrial corner of the South End between Harrison Avenue and Albany Street is brimming with new proposals, including plans for a 265,000-square-foot hotel, dozens of residences, and the renovation of office buildings and worn-down city blocks in need of modern refurbishment.
"This area is really in its embryonic stage and has great potential moving forward," said Harold Brown, chairman of The Hamilton Co., which is building 50 apartments in the neighborhood at 601 Albany St. "It's ripe for a lot of mixed-use development."
With nine current development proposals and others on the way, the Boston Redevelopment Authority this week hired a consulting firm to develop design guidelines as well as regulations for land use and transportation improvements to support development. That work will help pave the way for construction once the economy rebounds and credit begins flowing again to local developers.
The firm, Stull & Lee Inc., will spend the next nine to 12 months studying Harrison Avenue and Albany Street, along with a grid of streets between Interstate 93 and Washington Street, a corridor defined by old industrial distribution centers and warehouses, with pockets of residences and out-of-the-way restaurants.
It is also home to Boston Medical Center, which recently completed construction of its 192,000-square-foot Biosafety Laboratory and is building a 249,000-square-foot ambulatory care center.
The hospital is also considering changes to its master plan for development in the area.
Ellen Berlin, a hospital spokeswoman, said the hospital intends to file an updated plan within the next couple of months. She would not discuss any revisions or potential development proposals before the plan is formally released.
The streets surrounding the medical center are dotted with upscale restaurants and rows of brownstones that define the South End's architecture, but there also are plenty of parking lots and vacant properties considered ripe for redevelopment.
Developer Ron Druker owns several parcels along East Berkeley Street, Shawmut Avenue, and Washington Street.
He said he does not have any immediate plans for the properties, but is closely monitoring the neighborhood's rapid evolution.
"There is the potential for a mix of uses that can be a resource to the larger portion of the South End," said Druker. "That could include retail, offices, residential, and perhaps even hotel."
Newton-based BH Normandy has notified the city of its plan to build a 265,000-square-foot hotel on a parking lot at 275 Albany St. The proposal also includes a 110-space parking garage and landscaping improvements along Albany, East Berkeley, and Traveler streets.
Another potential development site is the nearby offices of the Boston Herald. The newspaper's publisher, Patrick Purcell, entered into a joint venture with a local real estate firm in 2007 to redevelop the paper's longtime headquarters.
Also in the pipeline is the renovation of the former Teradyne headquarters by Nordic Properties, which is in talks with potential medical tenants and firms looking for back-office space. Nordic, which spent $35 million on the building and a 310-space parking garage, is also looking to open a bistro-style restaurant on the 250,000-square-foot building's ground floor.
"There is a lot of momentum here. Entire neighborhoods are bringing themselves back," said Nordic's president, Ogden Hunnewell. "We made a big investment here, so I'm pretty bullish on the neighborhood."
Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Compan
Proposal for a Boston Public Market on the Greenway
Hungry for public market, city plans site
By Casey Ross, Globe Staff | February 21, 2009
After a decade of false starts, Boston officials are moving to open the city's first daily public food market since the 1950s in a building along the Rose Kennedy Greenway, hoping to provide a permanent indoor showcase for the state's farm products and local cuisine.
The market would be opened in a vacant building that occupies a full city block near Haymarket, an area of old cobblestone alleys where city officials want to create an expansive year-round shopping district with dozens of local growers, bakers, seafood merchants, and other businesses.
Two firms have filed proposals to redevelop the Blackstone Street property and both have included ground-floor space for a food market and cafe. Adjacent land near the weekend Haymarket, known for its cheap produce and seafood, is also being con sidered for a second public food building.
"It's a missing piece of the city's fabric," said Don Wiest, the president of the Boston Public Market Association. "The products we have to sell in Massachusetts are second to none, and we have an opportunity to create what should be one of the great public markets of North America."
Boston is one few major US cities without a daily public food market. The last traditional market closed in the 1950s, when buildings in Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market fell so deep into disrepair that the federal government threatened to close them, forcing many vendors to relocate.
Faneuil Hall has since become a successful tourist attraction with dozens of retail stores and restaurants, but the public market has largely disappeared, with only the Haymarket pushcart vendors left along stretches of Blackstone and Hanover streets. But those vendors, known for barking at patrons who linger too long over a cart of apples, operate differently from a true public market because they get their products from wholesalers, not from local farms and fishermen, and they operate on Fridays and Saturdays instead of daily.
A New York consulting firm hired by the city to study possible market locations has recommended the Blackstone Street property, next to the Haymarket MBTA station and across from the Greenway, as the centerpiece of an expanded district for food vendors between City Hall and the North End. "We believe the city ought to develop a public market, and it should be located within this historic sector," said Kairos Shen, chief planner for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the city's planning arm.
The recommendations for the indoor public market call for the development of a marketplace similar to Pike Place in Seattle or Reading Terminal in Philadelphia, both highly successful attractions that provide a unique window into the culture of those cities. Those markets are open daily and feature dozens of local vendors selling regional produce, wine, seafood, artisanal cheeses, and crafts.
The effort to establish a market in Boston has been tied up in a decadelong debate over the best location in downtown Boston, which has been changing rapidly with the development of the Greenway. Outdoor markets have been opened on the Northern Avenue Bridge, City Hall Plaza, and on land near South Station, but there has never been a successful proposal for a year-round indoor facility.
Local farms and agricultural businesses have long sought a daily market because of the expense and complication of traveling to Boston to participate in weekend farm stands. Massachusetts farms rely on local markets because of the lack of major agricultural distributors in the state to buy and sell their products.
"Until now, we haven't had a mechanism to get farm products directly into Boston," said Nathan L'Etoile, government affairs director for the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation. "But this is a location with a high concentration of consumers with expendable money."
Still, some skeptics of putting the market on the Blackstone property - known as parcel 7 - are concerned the 26,000 square feet on the ground floor is not enough space to accommodate a full-scale market. The size of public markets in US cities varies widely, from 78,000 square feet in Philadelphia, to several city blocks in Seattle, to about 29,000 square feet in Cleveland. Some planners said Boston's market must be on the larger side to attract enough daily business.
"If you've got one or two cheese guys and a couple of produce vendors, how successful is it going to be?" said Samuel "Sy" Mintz, a former city planner and architect of the nearby Millennium Bostonian Hotel.
But Wiest said there is also space to expand the market onto a plaza in front of the building. "Our market's going to have an accordion-like quality," he said. "The plaza is ideally scaled to expand outdoors, especially in the summer."
Otto Gallotto, the president of the Haymarket vendors association, said he is generally supportive of the proposal, but problems could arise if developers eventually seek to expand the market by building a second facility on Blackstone Street, where the pushcart vendors operate on weekends.
"There has to be an alternative for the pushcarts during construction," said Gallotto, who nonetheless added that the combination of the two markets could generate significant foot traffic in the area.
The proposal for the parcel 7 market is being considered by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which owns the five-floor office building and parking garage, and solicited bids for its redevelopment last October. The authority also is seeking a developer for the adjacent property near the pushcart vendors on Blackstone Street. Proposals for that property are still being collected and are not yet public.
Meantime, Turnpike officials and city planners are holding a meeting next week to consider plans for parcel 7 filed by WinnDevelopment of Boston and Hersha Development Corp. of Philadelphia. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday.
WinnDevelopment, owned by Arthur Winn, is proposing to move his firm's offices into the building from Faneuil Hall. The firm, which is developing Columbus Center, wants to build the food market, a restaurant, and cafe on the ground floor. About 50 local vendors would be allowed to rent space in the market, and the adjoining restaurant would feature their products on its menu. A spokeswoman for the firm said it would like to start construction this summer.
Hersha Development, a national hotel developer, wants to build a 100-room boutique hotel in the building, along with the public market, and an Italian cafe, according to its proposal. A representative of Hersha, Mike Barrett, said the firm would seek to build about 23 stalls for vendors and begin construction in 2010. He estimated renovations to the building would cost about $37 million.
The Turnpike Authority must select one firm to redevelop the building, and the BRA would then approve a final proposal. It would likely be two to three years before the market could open.
Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
By Casey Ross, Globe Staff | February 21, 2009
After a decade of false starts, Boston officials are moving to open the city's first daily public food market since the 1950s in a building along the Rose Kennedy Greenway, hoping to provide a permanent indoor showcase for the state's farm products and local cuisine.
The market would be opened in a vacant building that occupies a full city block near Haymarket, an area of old cobblestone alleys where city officials want to create an expansive year-round shopping district with dozens of local growers, bakers, seafood merchants, and other businesses.
Two firms have filed proposals to redevelop the Blackstone Street property and both have included ground-floor space for a food market and cafe. Adjacent land near the weekend Haymarket, known for its cheap produce and seafood, is also being con sidered for a second public food building.
"It's a missing piece of the city's fabric," said Don Wiest, the president of the Boston Public Market Association. "The products we have to sell in Massachusetts are second to none, and we have an opportunity to create what should be one of the great public markets of North America."
Boston is one few major US cities without a daily public food market. The last traditional market closed in the 1950s, when buildings in Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market fell so deep into disrepair that the federal government threatened to close them, forcing many vendors to relocate.
Faneuil Hall has since become a successful tourist attraction with dozens of retail stores and restaurants, but the public market has largely disappeared, with only the Haymarket pushcart vendors left along stretches of Blackstone and Hanover streets. But those vendors, known for barking at patrons who linger too long over a cart of apples, operate differently from a true public market because they get their products from wholesalers, not from local farms and fishermen, and they operate on Fridays and Saturdays instead of daily.
A New York consulting firm hired by the city to study possible market locations has recommended the Blackstone Street property, next to the Haymarket MBTA station and across from the Greenway, as the centerpiece of an expanded district for food vendors between City Hall and the North End. "We believe the city ought to develop a public market, and it should be located within this historic sector," said Kairos Shen, chief planner for the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the city's planning arm.
The recommendations for the indoor public market call for the development of a marketplace similar to Pike Place in Seattle or Reading Terminal in Philadelphia, both highly successful attractions that provide a unique window into the culture of those cities. Those markets are open daily and feature dozens of local vendors selling regional produce, wine, seafood, artisanal cheeses, and crafts.
The effort to establish a market in Boston has been tied up in a decadelong debate over the best location in downtown Boston, which has been changing rapidly with the development of the Greenway. Outdoor markets have been opened on the Northern Avenue Bridge, City Hall Plaza, and on land near South Station, but there has never been a successful proposal for a year-round indoor facility.
Local farms and agricultural businesses have long sought a daily market because of the expense and complication of traveling to Boston to participate in weekend farm stands. Massachusetts farms rely on local markets because of the lack of major agricultural distributors in the state to buy and sell their products.
"Until now, we haven't had a mechanism to get farm products directly into Boston," said Nathan L'Etoile, government affairs director for the Massachusetts Farm Bureau Federation. "But this is a location with a high concentration of consumers with expendable money."
Still, some skeptics of putting the market on the Blackstone property - known as parcel 7 - are concerned the 26,000 square feet on the ground floor is not enough space to accommodate a full-scale market. The size of public markets in US cities varies widely, from 78,000 square feet in Philadelphia, to several city blocks in Seattle, to about 29,000 square feet in Cleveland. Some planners said Boston's market must be on the larger side to attract enough daily business.
"If you've got one or two cheese guys and a couple of produce vendors, how successful is it going to be?" said Samuel "Sy" Mintz, a former city planner and architect of the nearby Millennium Bostonian Hotel.
But Wiest said there is also space to expand the market onto a plaza in front of the building. "Our market's going to have an accordion-like quality," he said. "The plaza is ideally scaled to expand outdoors, especially in the summer."
Otto Gallotto, the president of the Haymarket vendors association, said he is generally supportive of the proposal, but problems could arise if developers eventually seek to expand the market by building a second facility on Blackstone Street, where the pushcart vendors operate on weekends.
"There has to be an alternative for the pushcarts during construction," said Gallotto, who nonetheless added that the combination of the two markets could generate significant foot traffic in the area.
The proposal for the parcel 7 market is being considered by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which owns the five-floor office building and parking garage, and solicited bids for its redevelopment last October. The authority also is seeking a developer for the adjacent property near the pushcart vendors on Blackstone Street. Proposals for that property are still being collected and are not yet public.
Meantime, Turnpike officials and city planners are holding a meeting next week to consider plans for parcel 7 filed by WinnDevelopment of Boston and Hersha Development Corp. of Philadelphia. The meeting is scheduled for Tuesday.
WinnDevelopment, owned by Arthur Winn, is proposing to move his firm's offices into the building from Faneuil Hall. The firm, which is developing Columbus Center, wants to build the food market, a restaurant, and cafe on the ground floor. About 50 local vendors would be allowed to rent space in the market, and the adjoining restaurant would feature their products on its menu. A spokeswoman for the firm said it would like to start construction this summer.
Hersha Development, a national hotel developer, wants to build a 100-room boutique hotel in the building, along with the public market, and an Italian cafe, according to its proposal. A representative of Hersha, Mike Barrett, said the firm would seek to build about 23 stalls for vendors and begin construction in 2010. He estimated renovations to the building would cost about $37 million.
The Turnpike Authority must select one firm to redevelop the building, and the BRA would then approve a final proposal. It would likely be two to three years before the market could open.
Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Southwest Airlines Coming to Bosotn
Low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines coming to Logan
By Nicole C. Wong, Globe Staff | February 18, 2009
Low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines Co. said it plans to begin flying out of Logan International Airport by the fall, a long-awaited move that could drive down airfares for Boston passengers.
In an exclusive interview with the Globe, chief executive Gary Kelly said the airline is planning "a conservative launch" with between eight and 12 daily departures from Logan. He said Southwest probably will just fly to a couple of destinations initially, but the airline does not plan to unveil its new routes until the spring. Southwest's arrival in Boston, Kelly said, will result in 35 to 40 new jobs at the airport.
Southwest, which has been serving airports near Manchester, Providence, and Hartford since the late 1990s, has been eyeing Boston for years. But Kelly told the Globe last April that he didn't foresee the airline would start service in Boston in 2009 because fuel prices were skyrocketing and the costs of operating at Logan were too high. However, Kelly said at the time that if another airline significantly reduced its Boston flights, Southwest could seize the "perfect opportunity."
Since then, several carriers, hammered by high fuel prices, have trimmed their schedules, leaving Logan with 311,478 domestic flights in 2008, down 6 percent compared with 2007. And at about $55 a barrel, fuel is about one-third the cost of what it was last year. But Kelly said the biggest reason Southwest decided to launch service from the Hub was because it's shifting some of its 539 planes from unpopular routes to markets that it hopes will be more profitable.
Kelly said the 27 daily nonstop departures from Manchester and 31 daily nonstop departures from Providence will still represent the majority of flights out of the region. But launching service in Boston, which will become Southwest's 67th destination, is a smart move since the area is brimming with business travelers. Southwest, which said 40 to 45 percent of its passengers nationwide are business travelers, is hoping to snag more of them from the Boston area.
"We know that there are customers in the Boston area that we don't serve today, so this will be a very nice complement to our Providence and Manchester service," Kelly said.
Industry analysts say Southwest's move will also be good for travelers. Henry H. Harteveldt, principal airline analyst for Forrester Research Inc., said the arrival of Southwest is "a huge coup for Boston" and the city's travelers because wherever Southwest goes, lower airfares follow.
Patrick B. Moscaritolo, chief executive of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau said Southwest's arrival will benefit all Boston travelers, particularly business travelers. Last month, in an effort to get the airline to consider Boston service, Moscaritolo wrote a letter to Southwest pointing out that in 2008 four out of every 10 occupied rooms on any given night in Boston and Cambridge were occupied by a business traveler.
"I haven't heard back," Moscaritolo said. But now that the airline is coming to Boston, he said: "The sooner the better."
Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Logan, said Southwest is a welcome addition. "We are thrilled to welcome Southwest Airlines to Boston Logan," said Ed Freni, Massport's aviation director. He added that customers would benefit from Southwest's "quality customer service."
Southwest isn't the only carrier shaking up competition at Logan. Last week, Virgin America, another low-cost airline, debuted at Logan with nonstop service to both San Francisco and Los Angeles. Since Virgin America said in December it would break into the Boston market, round-trip airfares for nonstop flights to San Francisco on competing carriers have plummeted 41 percent, from an average of $400 in December to $238 this month, according to Rick Seaney, chief executive of airfare comparison website FareCompare.com.
"You've got very strong competitors in there who will bring value back to Logan," Harteveldt said.
For now, it's unclear on what routes Southwest will compete. But industry analysts expect Southwest to go head-to-head with some of Logan's largest carriers.
Dan Kasper, managing director of Cambridge aviation consulting firm LECG LLC, predicts Southwest may pick Chicago, where passengers can hop onto a lot of connecting flights. Other likely destinations would be Baltimore, Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach, and Fort Lauderdale, he said.
"They've jumped pretty strong into Florida out of the Northeast," Kasper said.
A spokesman for JetBlue Airways Corp., the carrier with the most daily departures between Boston and Florida, declined to comment.
Ned Raynolds, spokesman for American Airlines Inc., Logan's largest carrier based on passengers served, said even if American faces competition from Southwest on its nonstop routes to the Miami, Chicago, or Washington, D.C., markets, "we'll continue to offer great service, a great schedule of domestic and international destinations, and competitive pricing in and out of Boston."
Nicole C. Wong can be reached at nwong@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
By Nicole C. Wong, Globe Staff | February 18, 2009
Low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines Co. said it plans to begin flying out of Logan International Airport by the fall, a long-awaited move that could drive down airfares for Boston passengers.
In an exclusive interview with the Globe, chief executive Gary Kelly said the airline is planning "a conservative launch" with between eight and 12 daily departures from Logan. He said Southwest probably will just fly to a couple of destinations initially, but the airline does not plan to unveil its new routes until the spring. Southwest's arrival in Boston, Kelly said, will result in 35 to 40 new jobs at the airport.
Southwest, which has been serving airports near Manchester, Providence, and Hartford since the late 1990s, has been eyeing Boston for years. But Kelly told the Globe last April that he didn't foresee the airline would start service in Boston in 2009 because fuel prices were skyrocketing and the costs of operating at Logan were too high. However, Kelly said at the time that if another airline significantly reduced its Boston flights, Southwest could seize the "perfect opportunity."
Since then, several carriers, hammered by high fuel prices, have trimmed their schedules, leaving Logan with 311,478 domestic flights in 2008, down 6 percent compared with 2007. And at about $55 a barrel, fuel is about one-third the cost of what it was last year. But Kelly said the biggest reason Southwest decided to launch service from the Hub was because it's shifting some of its 539 planes from unpopular routes to markets that it hopes will be more profitable.
Kelly said the 27 daily nonstop departures from Manchester and 31 daily nonstop departures from Providence will still represent the majority of flights out of the region. But launching service in Boston, which will become Southwest's 67th destination, is a smart move since the area is brimming with business travelers. Southwest, which said 40 to 45 percent of its passengers nationwide are business travelers, is hoping to snag more of them from the Boston area.
"We know that there are customers in the Boston area that we don't serve today, so this will be a very nice complement to our Providence and Manchester service," Kelly said.
Industry analysts say Southwest's move will also be good for travelers. Henry H. Harteveldt, principal airline analyst for Forrester Research Inc., said the arrival of Southwest is "a huge coup for Boston" and the city's travelers because wherever Southwest goes, lower airfares follow.
Patrick B. Moscaritolo, chief executive of the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau said Southwest's arrival will benefit all Boston travelers, particularly business travelers. Last month, in an effort to get the airline to consider Boston service, Moscaritolo wrote a letter to Southwest pointing out that in 2008 four out of every 10 occupied rooms on any given night in Boston and Cambridge were occupied by a business traveler.
"I haven't heard back," Moscaritolo said. But now that the airline is coming to Boston, he said: "The sooner the better."
Massachusetts Port Authority, which runs Logan, said Southwest is a welcome addition. "We are thrilled to welcome Southwest Airlines to Boston Logan," said Ed Freni, Massport's aviation director. He added that customers would benefit from Southwest's "quality customer service."
Southwest isn't the only carrier shaking up competition at Logan. Last week, Virgin America, another low-cost airline, debuted at Logan with nonstop service to both San Francisco and Los Angeles. Since Virgin America said in December it would break into the Boston market, round-trip airfares for nonstop flights to San Francisco on competing carriers have plummeted 41 percent, from an average of $400 in December to $238 this month, according to Rick Seaney, chief executive of airfare comparison website FareCompare.com.
"You've got very strong competitors in there who will bring value back to Logan," Harteveldt said.
For now, it's unclear on what routes Southwest will compete. But industry analysts expect Southwest to go head-to-head with some of Logan's largest carriers.
Dan Kasper, managing director of Cambridge aviation consulting firm LECG LLC, predicts Southwest may pick Chicago, where passengers can hop onto a lot of connecting flights. Other likely destinations would be Baltimore, Orlando, Tampa, West Palm Beach, and Fort Lauderdale, he said.
"They've jumped pretty strong into Florida out of the Northeast," Kasper said.
A spokesman for JetBlue Airways Corp., the carrier with the most daily departures between Boston and Florida, declined to comment.
Ned Raynolds, spokesman for American Airlines Inc., Logan's largest carrier based on passengers served, said even if American faces competition from Southwest on its nonstop routes to the Miami, Chicago, or Washington, D.C., markets, "we'll continue to offer great service, a great schedule of domestic and international destinations, and competitive pricing in and out of Boston."
Nicole C. Wong can be reached at nwong@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
UFood Grill review
CHEAP EATS
By Sheryl Julian, Globe Staff | February 18, 2009
Unfries at UFood Grill ($1.79) are baked, yet crisp and delicious. Falafel (also baked) in pita with salad vegetables and spicy tahini sauce ($6.99) is a beautiful roll-up. Tofusion is an appealing bowl brimming with tofu, lots of veggies, chewy brown rice, and a mildly spicy soy sauce ($6.99, pictured above).
UFood Grill (unrelated to the burger spot UBurger) offers healthy fast food with speedy service. The concept began in Watertown as No-Fat Low-Fat. George Naddaff, who had franchised Boston Chicken, Sylvan Learning Centers, and other companies bought it from the founders in 2002 and changed it to Knowfat! Lifestyle Grille. It became UFood at the airport location a year ago; the remaining locations changed within a couple of months.
Naddaff is aggressively expanding UFood across the country (they're in five states). He tells me on the phone that the company wanted more than "the hard-core" and "the gym crowd." He's discovered UFood attracts people who want to feel virtuous for a day or are looking to shed a few pounds. Nothing here is fried, you'll find brown rice and surprisingly good wheatberry bread sandwiching turkey and Swiss ($5.99).
George Foreman, former prizefighter and grillmeister, is the company spokesman. "He was looking for years and years for a healthy concept," says Naddaff, so the two got together (I'd love to be a fly on that wall; Naddaff is a real talker).
Honey mustard chicken (8.99), nicely cooked if bland, comes with two sides. Try black beans ($1.99), or steamed broccoli ($1.99) or vegetable medley ($1.99). A chopped Cobb salad with chicken ($7.29) comes with turkey bacon, breaded nuggets something like the frozen variety, and a pleasing ranch dressing. Chipotle turkey burger with jalapeno Jack on a whole wheat bun ($5.49) has a fine tasting patty but unappealingly cold bun.
Much of this food is desperate for salt and pepper. Think of UFood Grill as similar to Whole Foods Market prepared foods. You want to get in there and add some taste - a little fresh parsley, a sprinkle of herbs, a generous dash of hot sauce.
Easy fixes on a menu with many vegetarian and gluten-free choices. This is the next concept, Mr. Naddaff. Amp up the flavor and you're off and running.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
By Sheryl Julian, Globe Staff | February 18, 2009
Unfries at UFood Grill ($1.79) are baked, yet crisp and delicious. Falafel (also baked) in pita with salad vegetables and spicy tahini sauce ($6.99) is a beautiful roll-up. Tofusion is an appealing bowl brimming with tofu, lots of veggies, chewy brown rice, and a mildly spicy soy sauce ($6.99, pictured above).
UFood Grill (unrelated to the burger spot UBurger) offers healthy fast food with speedy service. The concept began in Watertown as No-Fat Low-Fat. George Naddaff, who had franchised Boston Chicken, Sylvan Learning Centers, and other companies bought it from the founders in 2002 and changed it to Knowfat! Lifestyle Grille. It became UFood at the airport location a year ago; the remaining locations changed within a couple of months.
Naddaff is aggressively expanding UFood across the country (they're in five states). He tells me on the phone that the company wanted more than "the hard-core" and "the gym crowd." He's discovered UFood attracts people who want to feel virtuous for a day or are looking to shed a few pounds. Nothing here is fried, you'll find brown rice and surprisingly good wheatberry bread sandwiching turkey and Swiss ($5.99).
George Foreman, former prizefighter and grillmeister, is the company spokesman. "He was looking for years and years for a healthy concept," says Naddaff, so the two got together (I'd love to be a fly on that wall; Naddaff is a real talker).
Honey mustard chicken (8.99), nicely cooked if bland, comes with two sides. Try black beans ($1.99), or steamed broccoli ($1.99) or vegetable medley ($1.99). A chopped Cobb salad with chicken ($7.29) comes with turkey bacon, breaded nuggets something like the frozen variety, and a pleasing ranch dressing. Chipotle turkey burger with jalapeno Jack on a whole wheat bun ($5.49) has a fine tasting patty but unappealingly cold bun.
Much of this food is desperate for salt and pepper. Think of UFood Grill as similar to Whole Foods Market prepared foods. You want to get in there and add some taste - a little fresh parsley, a sprinkle of herbs, a generous dash of hot sauce.
Easy fixes on a menu with many vegetarian and gluten-free choices. This is the next concept, Mr. Naddaff. Amp up the flavor and you're off and running.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Sportello review
DINING OUT
A fine twist on Italian fare
By Devra First, Globe Staff | February 18, 2009
Chef-owner Barbara Lynch's Sportello may be the perfect lunch spot. It's a modular space of white U-shaped counters and stools, round white lights hanging from the ceiling. ("Sportello" is Italian for "counter.") The menu offers a mix of comforting yet elegant soups, salads, pasta, and more. The worker bees of Fort Point Channel now have a new place for a nice sit-down meal with a glass of wine; those in a rush can pick up sandwiches, bread, or sweets at the takeout counter. Pricey jams from France, house-made chocolate bars, and artisanal pasta are also for sale.
For dinner, it may not be to everyone's taste, because it's still a modular space of counters and stools - cool but not particularly comfortable. The posture-challenging seats are affixed to the floor so you can't pull them closer (and, sadly, they don't spin). The feeling is fun and casual, but if you're someone who likes to slouch, you're out of luck. On the other hand, sitting here is good for the abs, in the same way an exercise ball is.
That can't hurt, because there are plenty of temptations on the menu, which is short and sweet and changes frequently. Chief among them is the strozzapreti ("priest stranglers"), little twists of pasta served with bits of braised rabbit, green olives, and a sauce made with rabbit jus and rosemary. This is the best dish I've had at Sportello, good enough to forgive the place some of its faults. If Sportello were always at its best, it would be wonderful; unfortunately, some nights it's not.
Gnocchi with porcini, peas, and cream is a dish of potato bullets, giant and leaden enough to injure someone if used as a projectile. There is enough good gnocchi in this city - including the justifiably famous prune-stuffed version at Lynch's own No. 9 Park - that I had nearly forgotten why I sometimes don't enjoy the dish. These reminded me. The porcini-infused cream they're served in is sumptuous, with excellent flavor, but over the top in its richness. Yet I've spoken with people who thought the dish stellar, so perhaps sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. Even the strozzapreti are sometimes better than others, more harmonious in flavors and cooked just to that right point. And a dish of gnocchitini, baby dumplings graced in a light seafood-and-tomato sauce with mussels, is excellent.
Another wonderful dish is the ricotta gnudi, a dish that took New York by storm a few years back but has yet to really arrive here. These are little pillows of house-made ricotta mixed with egg and a bit of flour, then poached - like ravioli without the wrappers, hence the name ("gnudi" = nude). In plenty of brown butter with walnuts, they burst in your mouth. (The same ricotta appears at the beginning of the meal in a little dish with sea salt and a drizzle of jam, served with scali bread.) Pappardelle with Bolognese and fried basil is a classic, tried and true.
An antipasti platter is a dainty version that gives you plenty to enjoy without stuffing you full. It's a little picnic of house-made prosciutto and salami, olives, tiny artichoke hearts, and Parmigiano. Filling a similar niche is a creamy berg of buffalo mozzarella with long, thin toasts coated in olive paste.
A similar toast comes with a bowl of tomato soup, nearly creamy with emulsified olive oil and lightly spicy. The cheese toast is called "caraway grilled cheese" on the menu, and though the crostino is tasty, it lacks the fireside coziness of actual grilled cheese. Pasta fagiole with shrimp polpettini is a wonderful idea, but it's disappointing. The bean soup needs seasoning stat, the beans are crunchy, and shrimp meatballs and pasta bits are few and far between.
The lunch menu offers these dishes, plus some polenta options and flatbreads. Dinner brings in entrees. This is a strange Italian menu - there are appetizers, entree-size pasta dishes, and then what are called "primi," which are meat and fish courses. There are no secondi, though that's what the primi function as. The option isn't on the menu, but you can request a half-portion of pasta as a first course.
Confit pork belly is a hit, a sinful piece of meat with crunchy skin, served with apples and cabbage. Alas, it's about to come off the menu. Short rib comes on a Flintstone bone with butterbeans and sunchokes; the accompaniments are the most interesting part of the dish. The meat is good; it just somehow fails to hit the short rib sweet spot, the perfect alchemy of browned exterior and slowly, slowly braised tenderness.
Sirloin fiorentina is a huge steak, seared rather than traditionally grilled. It's served with rapini, rectangular fries stacked on top like Lincoln Logs, and a little dish of thick, heavily spiced steak sauce. What groovy ranch is the meat from? I couldn't tell you. The word "local" appears here and there, but Sportello's menu is fairly free of information about each food product's origin. It's funny to realize that this now feels like an exception, with so many chefs - justifiably proud of carefully cultivated relationships with producers - filling you in on heirloom varietals and the name of the guy who foraged your mushrooms. Remember when you didn't know unless you asked?
Desserts range from good to great. A chocolate budino with olive oil and salt sounds heavenly, but it needs to be a bit sweeter. Chocolate ginger cake is light in texture and flavor, no chocolate bomb, balanced just right. Panna cotta is perfect, featuring the right amount of gelatin to create a silky custard, with no Jell-O wobble and just enough shape. Made from yogurt, it has a slight tang; it's served with Meyer lemon confit and appealing little biscotti.
Like the menu, the wine list is succinct, put together by the wise Cat Silirie, who heads the programs for all of Lynch's restaurants. By the glass, you'll find three reds and three whites, all unusual Italian grapes, all great with the food. The list of bottles echoes and expands on those themes.
Service is casual and friendly, fitting to the space; occasionally a server lingers a little too long and inserts himself into your conversation a little too much. The kitchen is open, and you can watch executive chef Colin Lynch (no relation to Barbara) take disturbingly large knobs of butter and throw them in the frying pan to prepare your food. Maybe it's better not to look. There's also a basement commissary you can glance into through the windows as you walk by.
Large parties can be tricky in this space; you have to wait for a corner or a spot at the one table, or else you'll all be sitting in a long row. This would be a great restaurant to commandeer for a private party - you'd be able to interact with all of your friends at once. The close quarters are mostly convivial, but Lynch's bar Drink is downstairs, and occasionally loud, soused patrons stumble up to pad their stomachs.
Drink and Sportello are nicely symbiotic; one can drift between the two spaces, alternating bespoke cocktails and casual Italian fare. (A third, fine-dining restaurant slated for late summer will round out Lynch's Fort Point offerings.) The spaces have similar layouts, the shape of Sportello's counters mirrored by Drink's bars, the former stark and bright and modern, the latter warmer with brick and wood. When Sportello's food is always as carefully crafted as Drink's drinks, this will be a perfect one-two punch.
Devra First can be reached at dfirst@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
A fine twist on Italian fare
By Devra First, Globe Staff | February 18, 2009
Chef-owner Barbara Lynch's Sportello may be the perfect lunch spot. It's a modular space of white U-shaped counters and stools, round white lights hanging from the ceiling. ("Sportello" is Italian for "counter.") The menu offers a mix of comforting yet elegant soups, salads, pasta, and more. The worker bees of Fort Point Channel now have a new place for a nice sit-down meal with a glass of wine; those in a rush can pick up sandwiches, bread, or sweets at the takeout counter. Pricey jams from France, house-made chocolate bars, and artisanal pasta are also for sale.
For dinner, it may not be to everyone's taste, because it's still a modular space of counters and stools - cool but not particularly comfortable. The posture-challenging seats are affixed to the floor so you can't pull them closer (and, sadly, they don't spin). The feeling is fun and casual, but if you're someone who likes to slouch, you're out of luck. On the other hand, sitting here is good for the abs, in the same way an exercise ball is.
That can't hurt, because there are plenty of temptations on the menu, which is short and sweet and changes frequently. Chief among them is the strozzapreti ("priest stranglers"), little twists of pasta served with bits of braised rabbit, green olives, and a sauce made with rabbit jus and rosemary. This is the best dish I've had at Sportello, good enough to forgive the place some of its faults. If Sportello were always at its best, it would be wonderful; unfortunately, some nights it's not.
Gnocchi with porcini, peas, and cream is a dish of potato bullets, giant and leaden enough to injure someone if used as a projectile. There is enough good gnocchi in this city - including the justifiably famous prune-stuffed version at Lynch's own No. 9 Park - that I had nearly forgotten why I sometimes don't enjoy the dish. These reminded me. The porcini-infused cream they're served in is sumptuous, with excellent flavor, but over the top in its richness. Yet I've spoken with people who thought the dish stellar, so perhaps sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't. Even the strozzapreti are sometimes better than others, more harmonious in flavors and cooked just to that right point. And a dish of gnocchitini, baby dumplings graced in a light seafood-and-tomato sauce with mussels, is excellent.
Another wonderful dish is the ricotta gnudi, a dish that took New York by storm a few years back but has yet to really arrive here. These are little pillows of house-made ricotta mixed with egg and a bit of flour, then poached - like ravioli without the wrappers, hence the name ("gnudi" = nude). In plenty of brown butter with walnuts, they burst in your mouth. (The same ricotta appears at the beginning of the meal in a little dish with sea salt and a drizzle of jam, served with scali bread.) Pappardelle with Bolognese and fried basil is a classic, tried and true.
An antipasti platter is a dainty version that gives you plenty to enjoy without stuffing you full. It's a little picnic of house-made prosciutto and salami, olives, tiny artichoke hearts, and Parmigiano. Filling a similar niche is a creamy berg of buffalo mozzarella with long, thin toasts coated in olive paste.
A similar toast comes with a bowl of tomato soup, nearly creamy with emulsified olive oil and lightly spicy. The cheese toast is called "caraway grilled cheese" on the menu, and though the crostino is tasty, it lacks the fireside coziness of actual grilled cheese. Pasta fagiole with shrimp polpettini is a wonderful idea, but it's disappointing. The bean soup needs seasoning stat, the beans are crunchy, and shrimp meatballs and pasta bits are few and far between.
The lunch menu offers these dishes, plus some polenta options and flatbreads. Dinner brings in entrees. This is a strange Italian menu - there are appetizers, entree-size pasta dishes, and then what are called "primi," which are meat and fish courses. There are no secondi, though that's what the primi function as. The option isn't on the menu, but you can request a half-portion of pasta as a first course.
Confit pork belly is a hit, a sinful piece of meat with crunchy skin, served with apples and cabbage. Alas, it's about to come off the menu. Short rib comes on a Flintstone bone with butterbeans and sunchokes; the accompaniments are the most interesting part of the dish. The meat is good; it just somehow fails to hit the short rib sweet spot, the perfect alchemy of browned exterior and slowly, slowly braised tenderness.
Sirloin fiorentina is a huge steak, seared rather than traditionally grilled. It's served with rapini, rectangular fries stacked on top like Lincoln Logs, and a little dish of thick, heavily spiced steak sauce. What groovy ranch is the meat from? I couldn't tell you. The word "local" appears here and there, but Sportello's menu is fairly free of information about each food product's origin. It's funny to realize that this now feels like an exception, with so many chefs - justifiably proud of carefully cultivated relationships with producers - filling you in on heirloom varietals and the name of the guy who foraged your mushrooms. Remember when you didn't know unless you asked?
Desserts range from good to great. A chocolate budino with olive oil and salt sounds heavenly, but it needs to be a bit sweeter. Chocolate ginger cake is light in texture and flavor, no chocolate bomb, balanced just right. Panna cotta is perfect, featuring the right amount of gelatin to create a silky custard, with no Jell-O wobble and just enough shape. Made from yogurt, it has a slight tang; it's served with Meyer lemon confit and appealing little biscotti.
Like the menu, the wine list is succinct, put together by the wise Cat Silirie, who heads the programs for all of Lynch's restaurants. By the glass, you'll find three reds and three whites, all unusual Italian grapes, all great with the food. The list of bottles echoes and expands on those themes.
Service is casual and friendly, fitting to the space; occasionally a server lingers a little too long and inserts himself into your conversation a little too much. The kitchen is open, and you can watch executive chef Colin Lynch (no relation to Barbara) take disturbingly large knobs of butter and throw them in the frying pan to prepare your food. Maybe it's better not to look. There's also a basement commissary you can glance into through the windows as you walk by.
Large parties can be tricky in this space; you have to wait for a corner or a spot at the one table, or else you'll all be sitting in a long row. This would be a great restaurant to commandeer for a private party - you'd be able to interact with all of your friends at once. The close quarters are mostly convivial, but Lynch's bar Drink is downstairs, and occasionally loud, soused patrons stumble up to pad their stomachs.
Drink and Sportello are nicely symbiotic; one can drift between the two spaces, alternating bespoke cocktails and casual Italian fare. (A third, fine-dining restaurant slated for late summer will round out Lynch's Fort Point offerings.) The spaces have similar layouts, the shape of Sportello's counters mirrored by Drink's bars, the former stark and bright and modern, the latter warmer with brick and wood. When Sportello's food is always as carefully crafted as Drink's drinks, this will be a perfect one-two punch.
Devra First can be reached at dfirst@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Boston Globe Editorial on Boston Tour Operator Regulations
GLOBE EDITORIAL
Boston's tour protectionism
February 18, 2009
SOME PEOPLE won't take "no" for an answer, nor should they. After hearing a chorus of nays from public officials, local entrepreneur Erroll Tyler is scheduled to file a federal lawsuit today, hoping to end what appears to be Boston's arbitrary prohibition against issuing new sightseeing licenses.
Tyler, a veteran of the transportation trade, has a nice business plan. He wants to use state-of-the-art amphibious vehicles to pick up and drop off passengers in Kendall Square in Cambridge and tour historical sites along a fixed route in Boston and Cambridge. Unlike the so-called duck boats that ply the Charles River, Tyler plans to operate Hydra-Terra vessels, which resemble ordinary buses but are certified by the Coast Guard to operate in open waters. He proposes to enter the Little Mystic Channel in Charlestown to view the USS Constitution and may even extend his tours to the Harbor Islands. But the Boston Police Department, citing a moratorium on new sightseeing licenses, won't cooperate.
Cambridge officials put up similar roadblocks for three years, denying Tyler his necessary jitney licenses. In 2007, the state Department of Public Utilities overruled Cambridge. But the DPU lacks similar jurisdiction over Boston police, according to the Institute for Justice, a Virginia-based legal outfit that is bringing suit on behalf of Tyler and his Nautical Tours. What does it say about the climate for small businesses in Boston and Cambridge that a guy with a promising business plan needs to turn to out-of-state libertarians to protect his interests in federal court?
A moratorium on new sightseeing vehicles may have made sense during Big Dig construction. But the Big Dig is over, and so is the need for such stringent traffic precautions. Further, the moratorium appears to have lifted for current operators who were granted 11 new licenses since 2000, according to the lawsuit. That's powerful evidence for the Institute for Justice's contention that the snubbing of Tyler is nothing more than government protection of an "entrenched cartel" favoring the seven operators who now control the 107 sightseeing licenses in Boston.
"Shielding existing companies from competition is the reason behind the Defendants' policy of continuing the moratorium long after the Big Dig has ended," reads the suit against police and the City of Boston.
A Boston police spokeswoman says that the department is reviewing its policy on the sightseeing license moratorium. It should be reviewed, and then lifted. Absent any concern for the health and safety of the public, the moratorium, especially if applied selectively, is little more than a means to tread on the economic liberties of entrepreneurs.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Boston's tour protectionism
February 18, 2009
SOME PEOPLE won't take "no" for an answer, nor should they. After hearing a chorus of nays from public officials, local entrepreneur Erroll Tyler is scheduled to file a federal lawsuit today, hoping to end what appears to be Boston's arbitrary prohibition against issuing new sightseeing licenses.
Tyler, a veteran of the transportation trade, has a nice business plan. He wants to use state-of-the-art amphibious vehicles to pick up and drop off passengers in Kendall Square in Cambridge and tour historical sites along a fixed route in Boston and Cambridge. Unlike the so-called duck boats that ply the Charles River, Tyler plans to operate Hydra-Terra vessels, which resemble ordinary buses but are certified by the Coast Guard to operate in open waters. He proposes to enter the Little Mystic Channel in Charlestown to view the USS Constitution and may even extend his tours to the Harbor Islands. But the Boston Police Department, citing a moratorium on new sightseeing licenses, won't cooperate.
Cambridge officials put up similar roadblocks for three years, denying Tyler his necessary jitney licenses. In 2007, the state Department of Public Utilities overruled Cambridge. But the DPU lacks similar jurisdiction over Boston police, according to the Institute for Justice, a Virginia-based legal outfit that is bringing suit on behalf of Tyler and his Nautical Tours. What does it say about the climate for small businesses in Boston and Cambridge that a guy with a promising business plan needs to turn to out-of-state libertarians to protect his interests in federal court?
A moratorium on new sightseeing vehicles may have made sense during Big Dig construction. But the Big Dig is over, and so is the need for such stringent traffic precautions. Further, the moratorium appears to have lifted for current operators who were granted 11 new licenses since 2000, according to the lawsuit. That's powerful evidence for the Institute for Justice's contention that the snubbing of Tyler is nothing more than government protection of an "entrenched cartel" favoring the seven operators who now control the 107 sightseeing licenses in Boston.
"Shielding existing companies from competition is the reason behind the Defendants' policy of continuing the moratorium long after the Big Dig has ended," reads the suit against police and the City of Boston.
A Boston police spokeswoman says that the department is reviewing its policy on the sightseeing license moratorium. It should be reviewed, and then lifted. Absent any concern for the health and safety of the public, the moratorium, especially if applied selectively, is little more than a means to tread on the economic liberties of entrepreneurs.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Amtrak to cut Acela fares by 25%
Amtrak to trim one-way Acela fares by 25%
Move aims to draw leisure travelers as businesses cut back
By Nicole C. Wong, Globe Staff | February 18, 2009
Amtrak is cutting its lowest Acela Express one-way fares up to 25 percent to lure leisure travelers on board as the eroding economy undercuts ridership on Northeast Corridor trains usually packed with business travelers.
Passengers who buy their tickets at least 14 days in advance can ride between Boston and New York for as little as $79, down from $93. Or they can ride between New York and Washington, D.C., for as little as $99, down from $133. The sale-priced tickets are nonrefundable, are not eligible for upgrades to first-class accommodations, and must be used for travel between March 3 and June 26.
While Amtrak suspects the recession is to blame for its ridership woes, transportation researchers say America's railroad business had been sagging long before that because the trains don't move fast enough. Passenger trains often make too many stops, take circuitous routes, get stuck behind freight trains on shared tracks, and can't hit their maximum speed because they have to slow down at grade crossings and bridges.
"High speed and lower travel times are important to attract travelers," said Joseph DiJohn, a research professor and rail expert in the Urban Transportation Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Still, the Acela service - the only high-speed rail in the country, designed to go up to 150 miles per hour - has been popular. In the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 3.3 million passengers rode Acela trains, pushing the number of high-speed rail trips up 6.5 percent, compared to in the previous year.
But ridership along the Northeast Corridor - on both high-speed and regular-speed trains - dropped as the recession worsened. Amtrak said its total ridership in the area plunged 11.7 percent in November, compared to November 2007. In December, it fell 6 percent, compared to the same month a year earlier. In January, it was down 6.5 percent, compared to the same period a year earlier.
"A good portion of our riders are business people. They've either been laid off or their companies have cut back on their operations budgets," said Amtrak spokesman Clifford Cole. "A combination of the two has caused a downturn in the ridership over the past two months."
Business traveler Dale Fisher, a Waltham event planner, said she loved riding the Acela to New York for business in October but said it's schedule - not price - that determines whether she takes a train or a plane. And she usually picks the latter, even though "our travel budgets are being looked at a lot closer now."
Acela's discount also won't prompt leisure traveler Don Cantor of Newton to return as a passenger. The retired computer science professor often drives to New York with his wife, even though he would rather take public transportation. The handful of times that Cantor rode the Acela, he was miffed passengers in the train's designated "quiet car" were being too noisy.
"Price is not much of an issue for me. Quiet is," said Cantor, 79.
Nicole C. Wong can be reached at nwong@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Move aims to draw leisure travelers as businesses cut back
By Nicole C. Wong, Globe Staff | February 18, 2009
Amtrak is cutting its lowest Acela Express one-way fares up to 25 percent to lure leisure travelers on board as the eroding economy undercuts ridership on Northeast Corridor trains usually packed with business travelers.
Passengers who buy their tickets at least 14 days in advance can ride between Boston and New York for as little as $79, down from $93. Or they can ride between New York and Washington, D.C., for as little as $99, down from $133. The sale-priced tickets are nonrefundable, are not eligible for upgrades to first-class accommodations, and must be used for travel between March 3 and June 26.
While Amtrak suspects the recession is to blame for its ridership woes, transportation researchers say America's railroad business had been sagging long before that because the trains don't move fast enough. Passenger trains often make too many stops, take circuitous routes, get stuck behind freight trains on shared tracks, and can't hit their maximum speed because they have to slow down at grade crossings and bridges.
"High speed and lower travel times are important to attract travelers," said Joseph DiJohn, a research professor and rail expert in the Urban Transportation Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Still, the Acela service - the only high-speed rail in the country, designed to go up to 150 miles per hour - has been popular. In the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 3.3 million passengers rode Acela trains, pushing the number of high-speed rail trips up 6.5 percent, compared to in the previous year.
But ridership along the Northeast Corridor - on both high-speed and regular-speed trains - dropped as the recession worsened. Amtrak said its total ridership in the area plunged 11.7 percent in November, compared to November 2007. In December, it fell 6 percent, compared to the same month a year earlier. In January, it was down 6.5 percent, compared to the same period a year earlier.
"A good portion of our riders are business people. They've either been laid off or their companies have cut back on their operations budgets," said Amtrak spokesman Clifford Cole. "A combination of the two has caused a downturn in the ridership over the past two months."
Business traveler Dale Fisher, a Waltham event planner, said she loved riding the Acela to New York for business in October but said it's schedule - not price - that determines whether she takes a train or a plane. And she usually picks the latter, even though "our travel budgets are being looked at a lot closer now."
Acela's discount also won't prompt leisure traveler Don Cantor of Newton to return as a passenger. The retired computer science professor often drives to New York with his wife, even though he would rather take public transportation. The handful of times that Cantor rode the Acela, he was miffed passengers in the train's designated "quiet car" were being too noisy.
"Price is not much of an issue for me. Quiet is," said Cantor, 79.
Nicole C. Wong can be reached at nwong@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
House of Blues preview
House of Blues home free in Hub
By Lauren Carter | Wednesday, February 18, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | The Inside Track
Boston’s new House of Blues should make music lovers feel right at home.
The J. Geils Band officially kicks things off tomorrow night, but roughly 500 partygoers got a sneak peek at the long-awaited spot at a house party put on by Berklee College of Music’s student-run label, Heavy Rotation Records, last night.
As a combination test run/dress rehearsal for the venue at the former site of Axis and Avalon nightclubs, it was a success: Security was heavy, sound was crisp and space was ample as live bands alternated with bass-heavy techno tracks between sets.
Granted, the 2,400-capacity venue was less than a quarter full, but concertgoers shouldn’t be tripping over each other even at sold-out shows. There are plenty of places to hang out.
If you’re not part of the VIP set, you won’t have access to the third-floor stadium seats, but not to worry. You can max and relax on the open second-floor mezzanine, roam around the perimeter of the first floor or get up-close and personal in the massive, mosh pit-ready general admission floor.
But mosh pits aren’t likely. If the multiple security guards in bright red T-shirts didn’t make the HOB’s safety-first policy clear, signs put would-be rowdy concertgoers on notice: Moshing, crowd surfing, head walking (still not sure what that is) and stage diving are strictly prohibited, and violators will be ejected.
Part of a national chain, the spot could be pretentious, but it isn’t. The venue is well planned, with an emphasis on atmosphere as well as practicality. The sizable stage, lighting and acoustic setup are designed for maximum effect; the decor is a hip mix of the industrial, quirky and sophisticated.
And with the logical layout, forget straining and stretching to catch a view of what you really came to see: the band. Whether you’re sitting, standing or scoring a drink at one of the half-dozen bars, the only time your view will be obstructed is if you’re standing directly behind Shaq.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view.bg?articleid=1152943
Related Articles:
By Lauren Carter | Wednesday, February 18, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | The Inside Track
Boston’s new House of Blues should make music lovers feel right at home.
The J. Geils Band officially kicks things off tomorrow night, but roughly 500 partygoers got a sneak peek at the long-awaited spot at a house party put on by Berklee College of Music’s student-run label, Heavy Rotation Records, last night.
As a combination test run/dress rehearsal for the venue at the former site of Axis and Avalon nightclubs, it was a success: Security was heavy, sound was crisp and space was ample as live bands alternated with bass-heavy techno tracks between sets.
Granted, the 2,400-capacity venue was less than a quarter full, but concertgoers shouldn’t be tripping over each other even at sold-out shows. There are plenty of places to hang out.
If you’re not part of the VIP set, you won’t have access to the third-floor stadium seats, but not to worry. You can max and relax on the open second-floor mezzanine, roam around the perimeter of the first floor or get up-close and personal in the massive, mosh pit-ready general admission floor.
But mosh pits aren’t likely. If the multiple security guards in bright red T-shirts didn’t make the HOB’s safety-first policy clear, signs put would-be rowdy concertgoers on notice: Moshing, crowd surfing, head walking (still not sure what that is) and stage diving are strictly prohibited, and violators will be ejected.
Part of a national chain, the spot could be pretentious, but it isn’t. The venue is well planned, with an emphasis on atmosphere as well as practicality. The sizable stage, lighting and acoustic setup are designed for maximum effect; the decor is a hip mix of the industrial, quirky and sophisticated.
And with the logical layout, forget straining and stretching to catch a view of what you really came to see: the band. Whether you’re sitting, standing or scoring a drink at one of the half-dozen bars, the only time your view will be obstructed is if you’re standing directly behind Shaq.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view.bg?articleid=1152943
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Plans for Boston's Tallest Building Nixed
Developer’s move nixes plan for Tommy’s Tower
By Thomas Grillo | Wednesday, February 18, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Real Estate
The 1,000-foot Tommy’s Tower is dead.
Steven Belkin, the developer of what would have been the city’s tallest skyscraper, is selling his 56,000-square-foot building in the Fenway and moving his Trans National Group travel agency to 133 Federal St., sources told the Herald.
The 12-story Financial District tower would have been demolished to make way for the 80-story glass tower that Mayor Thomas M. Menino hoped would be built. With TNT Vacations moving its staff to Federal Street, it is unlikely Belkin will raze the building anytime soon, sources said.
This is the latest in a series of missteps that doomed the “iconic tower.” First, Belkin and celebrated Italian architect Renzo Piano parted ways. Later, Belkin and the city could not agree on a price for the Winthrop Square parking garage, which would have been part of the project. Then financing for commercial development over $10 million dried up.
Robert Griffin, president of Cushman & Wakefield, the global commercial real estate company, is handling the sale of the Fenway property at 2 Charlesgate West near Fenway Park [map]. He said the six-story building’s location near the Longwood medical area makes it a valuable asset at a time when the vacancy rate in that area is zero. The building is assessed at $5.6 million.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1152862
By Thomas Grillo | Wednesday, February 18, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Real Estate
The 1,000-foot Tommy’s Tower is dead.
Steven Belkin, the developer of what would have been the city’s tallest skyscraper, is selling his 56,000-square-foot building in the Fenway and moving his Trans National Group travel agency to 133 Federal St., sources told the Herald.
The 12-story Financial District tower would have been demolished to make way for the 80-story glass tower that Mayor Thomas M. Menino hoped would be built. With TNT Vacations moving its staff to Federal Street, it is unlikely Belkin will raze the building anytime soon, sources said.
This is the latest in a series of missteps that doomed the “iconic tower.” First, Belkin and celebrated Italian architect Renzo Piano parted ways. Later, Belkin and the city could not agree on a price for the Winthrop Square parking garage, which would have been part of the project. Then financing for commercial development over $10 million dried up.
Robert Griffin, president of Cushman & Wakefield, the global commercial real estate company, is handling the sale of the Fenway property at 2 Charlesgate West near Fenway Park [map]. He said the six-story building’s location near the Longwood medical area makes it a valuable asset at a time when the vacancy rate in that area is zero. The building is assessed at $5.6 million.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1152862
Former limo driver suing City of Boston for right to operate a new tour
Lawsuit says Hub limits competition
Tour-license rule hit
By Donna Goodison | Wednesday, February 18, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Photo by Ted Fitzgerald
A Medford man is expected to file a federal lawsuit against the city of Boston today to surmount the latest obstacle in his seven-year bid to launch amphibious-vehicle tours through Boston and Cambridge.
Erroll Tyler’s suit alleges a 1995 moratorium on Boston sightseeing licenses, enacted to avoid exacerbating traffic problems during the Big Dig, remains in place to protect the seven companies that hold existing licenses from competition.
“It’s the only plausible reason that the moratorium is in place three years after the Big Dig totally opened to traffic,” said attorney Jeff Rowes of the Institute of Justice, a nonprofit public-interest law firm representing Tyler. The inability to get a license is denying Tyler his 14th Amendment rights to intrastate travel, access federal waterways and earn an “honest living” without unreasonable government interference, Rowes said.
A spokeswoman for the Boston Police Department, which issues the sightseeing licenses, said it’s reviewing the moratorium, but no determinations have been made.
Tyler says his years of red tape and legal wrangling are worth the opportunity to launch Nautical Tours Inc. Two bus-like Hydra-Terras would start and end tours in Cambridge and take in Boston sights and cruise on the harbor.
“Economic liberty is just as important as free speech,” said Tyler, who was laid off from his 17-year job at Dav El Chauffeured Transportation Network in December. “We’re not looking for a bailout. We’re just looking for an opportunity to be in business.”
In 2007, after three failed tries to win Cambridge approval to start the tours, Tyler won an appeal to the state Department of Public Utilities. The Boston license is needed for Nautical Tours to drive through the city even though it doesn’t plan stops here, according to Boston Police.
Rowes says the city is throwing a roadblock into Tyler’s plans despite granting additional licenses to others during the moratorium. Hub sightseeing licenses grew from 96 in 2000 to 107 last year.
Boston Police say those were “replacement permits” for existing license-holders to use on new vehicles when their licensed vehicles were taken out of service.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1152882
Tour-license rule hit
By Donna Goodison | Wednesday, February 18, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Photo by Ted Fitzgerald
A Medford man is expected to file a federal lawsuit against the city of Boston today to surmount the latest obstacle in his seven-year bid to launch amphibious-vehicle tours through Boston and Cambridge.
Erroll Tyler’s suit alleges a 1995 moratorium on Boston sightseeing licenses, enacted to avoid exacerbating traffic problems during the Big Dig, remains in place to protect the seven companies that hold existing licenses from competition.
“It’s the only plausible reason that the moratorium is in place three years after the Big Dig totally opened to traffic,” said attorney Jeff Rowes of the Institute of Justice, a nonprofit public-interest law firm representing Tyler. The inability to get a license is denying Tyler his 14th Amendment rights to intrastate travel, access federal waterways and earn an “honest living” without unreasonable government interference, Rowes said.
A spokeswoman for the Boston Police Department, which issues the sightseeing licenses, said it’s reviewing the moratorium, but no determinations have been made.
Tyler says his years of red tape and legal wrangling are worth the opportunity to launch Nautical Tours Inc. Two bus-like Hydra-Terras would start and end tours in Cambridge and take in Boston sights and cruise on the harbor.
“Economic liberty is just as important as free speech,” said Tyler, who was laid off from his 17-year job at Dav El Chauffeured Transportation Network in December. “We’re not looking for a bailout. We’re just looking for an opportunity to be in business.”
In 2007, after three failed tries to win Cambridge approval to start the tours, Tyler won an appeal to the state Department of Public Utilities. The Boston license is needed for Nautical Tours to drive through the city even though it doesn’t plan stops here, according to Boston Police.
Rowes says the city is throwing a roadblock into Tyler’s plans despite granting additional licenses to others during the moratorium. Hub sightseeing licenses grew from 96 in 2000 to 107 last year.
Boston Police say those were “replacement permits” for existing license-holders to use on new vehicles when their licensed vehicles were taken out of service.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1152882
Monday, February 16, 2009
House of Blues article
New House of Blues fills Hub club void
By Jed Gottlieb | Friday, February 13, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Music News
What was once a house is now a castle.
If you haven’t visited a House of Blues since the Harvard Square location closed in 2003, you’re in for a shock. While the jambalaya and folk art remain, the chain’s new Lansdowne Street club - which a reunited J. Geils Band will christen Thursday - ain’t no blues shack.
Built on the ashes of Avalon and Axis, the world’s 13th House of Blues aims to be an entertainment megamart.
There’s a retail store, an 80-seat restaurant/bar and a private club called the Foundation Room that features a concierge service, late-night parties and wallpaper made of recycled Indian wedding dresses. Standard membership: $2,250.
Oh, and then there’s the main attraction, a 2,400-capacity music hall that, with 57 shows already scheduled in the next few months, looks to outpace Avalon’s legacy
“This is not your Avalon experience. This is not a big box,” House of Blues marketing manager Howie Turkenkopf said during a tour. “Even from way up at the top you have great sight lines, great sound. You have to step in to this room to understand the immense amount of work that went into this place.”
Music fans may miss the Cambridge House of Blues, but they miss the Avalon / Axis complex more. Since those went dark in September 2007, Live Nation, which bought the House of Blues chain in 2006, has struggled to find a home for national acts in the city. The Roxy faced capacity and licensing issues; the Wilbur, liquor licensing problems.
But the days of bands passing over Boston for gigs in (gasp) Providence and Worcester are numbered. Then again, so may be the days of the Orpheum: with just six shows on the theater’s schedule, it’s being ignored for Live Nation’s new baby.
With a massive general admission floor, stadium seating in the balcony and a half-dozen bars, the House of Blues’ floor plan may resemble Avalon, but it’s far roomier - 53,000 square feet to Avalon’s 41,000. And unlike Avalon, the House is designed to rock; the late-night techno dance parties that forced concerts to end early are a thing of the past. And, of course, it dwarfs the tiny Harvard Square House of Blues, the prototype for the chain’s clubs in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New Orleans and at Disney World.
“The intention wasn’t to make it like the old Cambridge House of Blues,” said Patrick Lyons, a principal in the original House of Blues, owner of Avalon and Axis, and the new club’s landlord. “It was about creating the best live showroom in the world. Nobody was looking in the rear-view mirror.”
While the brand has a retro and slightly corporate feel, the new venue is more than a giant TGI Friday’s.
“There are only 13 branded House of Blues,” said national marketing director David Fortin, who worked his way up from handing out fliers for the Harvard Square club. “There’s a reason the build-out has been so slow. With places like the Hard Rock and Planet Hollywood, you had 70 locations going up in like three years, all off of hype.”
The chain markets its “southern hospitality,” he added. “And you’ll feel that in the new Boston House of Blues.” But that doesn’t mean the bouncers won’t give you the boot for tossing beer bottles at the Dropkick Murphys during their March run of dates; gone is the impersonal, cocaine-chic, un-rock ’n’ roll feel of Avalon. Yeah, it lacks the storied grime of a blues shack or dirty rock club, but a venue tends to build character quickly after seven Dropkicks shows in six days.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/music/general/view.bg?articleid=1151797
By Jed Gottlieb | Friday, February 13, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Music News
What was once a house is now a castle.
If you haven’t visited a House of Blues since the Harvard Square location closed in 2003, you’re in for a shock. While the jambalaya and folk art remain, the chain’s new Lansdowne Street club - which a reunited J. Geils Band will christen Thursday - ain’t no blues shack.
Built on the ashes of Avalon and Axis, the world’s 13th House of Blues aims to be an entertainment megamart.
There’s a retail store, an 80-seat restaurant/bar and a private club called the Foundation Room that features a concierge service, late-night parties and wallpaper made of recycled Indian wedding dresses. Standard membership: $2,250.
Oh, and then there’s the main attraction, a 2,400-capacity music hall that, with 57 shows already scheduled in the next few months, looks to outpace Avalon’s legacy
“This is not your Avalon experience. This is not a big box,” House of Blues marketing manager Howie Turkenkopf said during a tour. “Even from way up at the top you have great sight lines, great sound. You have to step in to this room to understand the immense amount of work that went into this place.”
Music fans may miss the Cambridge House of Blues, but they miss the Avalon / Axis complex more. Since those went dark in September 2007, Live Nation, which bought the House of Blues chain in 2006, has struggled to find a home for national acts in the city. The Roxy faced capacity and licensing issues; the Wilbur, liquor licensing problems.
But the days of bands passing over Boston for gigs in (gasp) Providence and Worcester are numbered. Then again, so may be the days of the Orpheum: with just six shows on the theater’s schedule, it’s being ignored for Live Nation’s new baby.
With a massive general admission floor, stadium seating in the balcony and a half-dozen bars, the House of Blues’ floor plan may resemble Avalon, but it’s far roomier - 53,000 square feet to Avalon’s 41,000. And unlike Avalon, the House is designed to rock; the late-night techno dance parties that forced concerts to end early are a thing of the past. And, of course, it dwarfs the tiny Harvard Square House of Blues, the prototype for the chain’s clubs in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New Orleans and at Disney World.
“The intention wasn’t to make it like the old Cambridge House of Blues,” said Patrick Lyons, a principal in the original House of Blues, owner of Avalon and Axis, and the new club’s landlord. “It was about creating the best live showroom in the world. Nobody was looking in the rear-view mirror.”
While the brand has a retro and slightly corporate feel, the new venue is more than a giant TGI Friday’s.
“There are only 13 branded House of Blues,” said national marketing director David Fortin, who worked his way up from handing out fliers for the Harvard Square club. “There’s a reason the build-out has been so slow. With places like the Hard Rock and Planet Hollywood, you had 70 locations going up in like three years, all off of hype.”
The chain markets its “southern hospitality,” he added. “And you’ll feel that in the new Boston House of Blues.” But that doesn’t mean the bouncers won’t give you the boot for tossing beer bottles at the Dropkick Murphys during their March run of dates; gone is the impersonal, cocaine-chic, un-rock ’n’ roll feel of Avalon. Yeah, it lacks the storied grime of a blues shack or dirty rock club, but a venue tends to build character quickly after seven Dropkicks shows in six days.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/music/general/view.bg?articleid=1151797
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tourist Discovers Unknown Grave at Boston Cemetary
Tourist steps into history at hallowed Boston cemetery
February 11, 2009 07:46 PM
Erik Ewers of New Hampshire and Steve Gagnon of Cotuit were among those who peered through the fence today at the Granary Burying Ground.
By Andrew Ryan and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff
The grassy earth held strong for almost 300 years, withstanding the footsteps of the millions of tourists who have traipsed through the ancient Granary Burying Ground and wandered off the footpaths for a closer look at the weathered headstones of historic figures.
It held strong, that is, until the last day of January, when a woman on a self-guided tour of the hallowed cemetery in downtown Boston took a fateful step. The ground gave way, and the woman fell hip-deep into a hidden granite stairwell leading down into an unmarked brick crypt.
The woman, who was not injured, accidentally discovered a long-forgotten entrance to a tomb in the city's most famous graveyard, less than 10 yards from the final resting place of Paul Revere. It served as a stark reminder that in Boston, the nation’s revolutionary roots are literally underfoot.
"Somebody put weight in just the right place, like the straw that broke the camel's back," said Kelly Thomas, who leads the city's Historic Burying Grounds Initiative.
The woman's foot did not crash into a coffin or even come close to coming in contact with any bones in the hole, which opened up to be about 3 feet deep and 18 inches across.
She fell into a stairway that leads into the tomb like a basement bulkhead. The 8-feet-by-12-feet brick crypt remains intact and structurally sound, Thomas said. The stairs leading to it had been covered by a slate slab that appears to have broken some time ago, allowing dirt to pile on the upper steps.
The soil slowly weakened, Thomas said, and finally gave way under the woman's weight.
"Things fail. Mountains become dust," Thomas said. "That slate slab deteriorated."
The burying ground has increasingly become a must-see for visitors to Boston because of the number of historic figures -- including Declaration of Independence signers Samuel Adams and John Hancock, as well as the five victims of the Boston Massacre -- interred there, said Sam Jones of The Freedom Trail Foundation.
"The graveyard is not designed to put up with the abuse it gets from the visitation it receives," said Jones, adding that private donations are needed for cemetery upkeep as the city wrestles with a budget shortfall.
The cemetery is home to an estimated 5,000 remains in a jumble of graves, tombs, and monuments, making it hard to determine who is buried in the underground crypt the woman breached.
Records at the Massachusetts Historical Society indicate that it may be the grave of Jono. Armitage, who appears to have died in 1738. A Jonathan Armitage was elected a Boston selectman in 1732 and 1733, city records show, and a Captain Jonathan Armitage served on The Committee of Fortification in 1733.
The identity of the tourist who put her foot into history, however, will remain a mystery because the city refused to release her name, citing privacy concerns.
The hole has been temporarily covered with a sheet of plywood and a slab of modern white concrete, then and set off by four bright orange traffic cones standing at each corner. Structural engineers will examine the crypt, and it will likely be resealed with a slab of reinforced concrete and reburied.
There is no timeline for the repairs, and the Tremont Street cemetery remains open, although heavy ice on the walkways kept the gates locked yesterday. That left Erik Ewers disappointed as he stood looking in through the black metal fence.
"You look at these tombstones and each tombstone represents an individual life, existence, a career a family history," said Ewers, a film editor for documentarian Ken Burns who tried to visit the site yesterday. "For me, graveyards are like a thousand untold stories. It spurs your curiosity.''
Craters and other hazards from crumbling tombs are not uncommon in the city's 16 ancient burying grounds, which date to the 1630s and have been long been punished by shifting soil, traffic vibrations, and the freezes and thaws of New England weather. The arched ceilings have flattened in several underground crypts in the Central Burying Ground, creating depressions that have been fenced off in the cemetery along Boylston Street in Boston Common.
"I think it's just the natural aging process," Thomas said. "At any cemetery anywhere in the world where they stick stuff in the ground, there is going to be settling."
Most repairs are paid for out of the city's capital improvement budget. Each $37 ticket purchased for the Ghosts & Gravestones Frightseeing Tour also nets the city $3 to $4 for upkeep of the ancient burying grounds.
The techniques used to fix the problems can be as antiquated as the cemeteries. Heavy machinery cannot be lugged onto the fragile earth, so excavating must be done with shovels. That means frozen ground can delay repairs.
Contractors who specialize in historic masonry do their best to shore up the structures from the outside so they do not disturb the graves.
"You end up really caring for the people, it's really strange," Thomas said. "You don't know them, they've been dead for hundreds of years, but still."
David Butler of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
February 11, 2009 07:46 PM
Erik Ewers of New Hampshire and Steve Gagnon of Cotuit were among those who peered through the fence today at the Granary Burying Ground.
By Andrew Ryan and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff
The grassy earth held strong for almost 300 years, withstanding the footsteps of the millions of tourists who have traipsed through the ancient Granary Burying Ground and wandered off the footpaths for a closer look at the weathered headstones of historic figures.
It held strong, that is, until the last day of January, when a woman on a self-guided tour of the hallowed cemetery in downtown Boston took a fateful step. The ground gave way, and the woman fell hip-deep into a hidden granite stairwell leading down into an unmarked brick crypt.
The woman, who was not injured, accidentally discovered a long-forgotten entrance to a tomb in the city's most famous graveyard, less than 10 yards from the final resting place of Paul Revere. It served as a stark reminder that in Boston, the nation’s revolutionary roots are literally underfoot.
"Somebody put weight in just the right place, like the straw that broke the camel's back," said Kelly Thomas, who leads the city's Historic Burying Grounds Initiative.
The woman's foot did not crash into a coffin or even come close to coming in contact with any bones in the hole, which opened up to be about 3 feet deep and 18 inches across.
She fell into a stairway that leads into the tomb like a basement bulkhead. The 8-feet-by-12-feet brick crypt remains intact and structurally sound, Thomas said. The stairs leading to it had been covered by a slate slab that appears to have broken some time ago, allowing dirt to pile on the upper steps.
The soil slowly weakened, Thomas said, and finally gave way under the woman's weight.
"Things fail. Mountains become dust," Thomas said. "That slate slab deteriorated."
The burying ground has increasingly become a must-see for visitors to Boston because of the number of historic figures -- including Declaration of Independence signers Samuel Adams and John Hancock, as well as the five victims of the Boston Massacre -- interred there, said Sam Jones of The Freedom Trail Foundation.
"The graveyard is not designed to put up with the abuse it gets from the visitation it receives," said Jones, adding that private donations are needed for cemetery upkeep as the city wrestles with a budget shortfall.
The cemetery is home to an estimated 5,000 remains in a jumble of graves, tombs, and monuments, making it hard to determine who is buried in the underground crypt the woman breached.
Records at the Massachusetts Historical Society indicate that it may be the grave of Jono. Armitage, who appears to have died in 1738. A Jonathan Armitage was elected a Boston selectman in 1732 and 1733, city records show, and a Captain Jonathan Armitage served on The Committee of Fortification in 1733.
The identity of the tourist who put her foot into history, however, will remain a mystery because the city refused to release her name, citing privacy concerns.
The hole has been temporarily covered with a sheet of plywood and a slab of modern white concrete, then and set off by four bright orange traffic cones standing at each corner. Structural engineers will examine the crypt, and it will likely be resealed with a slab of reinforced concrete and reburied.
There is no timeline for the repairs, and the Tremont Street cemetery remains open, although heavy ice on the walkways kept the gates locked yesterday. That left Erik Ewers disappointed as he stood looking in through the black metal fence.
"You look at these tombstones and each tombstone represents an individual life, existence, a career a family history," said Ewers, a film editor for documentarian Ken Burns who tried to visit the site yesterday. "For me, graveyards are like a thousand untold stories. It spurs your curiosity.''
Craters and other hazards from crumbling tombs are not uncommon in the city's 16 ancient burying grounds, which date to the 1630s and have been long been punished by shifting soil, traffic vibrations, and the freezes and thaws of New England weather. The arched ceilings have flattened in several underground crypts in the Central Burying Ground, creating depressions that have been fenced off in the cemetery along Boylston Street in Boston Common.
"I think it's just the natural aging process," Thomas said. "At any cemetery anywhere in the world where they stick stuff in the ground, there is going to be settling."
Most repairs are paid for out of the city's capital improvement budget. Each $37 ticket purchased for the Ghosts & Gravestones Frightseeing Tour also nets the city $3 to $4 for upkeep of the ancient burying grounds.
The techniques used to fix the problems can be as antiquated as the cemeteries. Heavy machinery cannot be lugged onto the fragile earth, so excavating must be done with shovels. That means frozen ground can delay repairs.
Contractors who specialize in historic masonry do their best to shore up the structures from the outside so they do not disturb the graves.
"You end up really caring for the people, it's really strange," Thomas said. "You don't know them, they've been dead for hundreds of years, but still."
David Butler of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Cragie on Main review
DINING OUT
A new home for fine flavors
By Devra First, Globe Staff | February 11, 2009
Craigie is out of the basement. In November, chef Tony Maws and crew moved from their subterranean digs on Craigie Street in Cambridge to a comparatively vast space on Main Street formerly inhabited by La Groceria. But what to do about the name? "Craigie on Main" preserves the legacy of Craigie Street Bistrot with veracity, if likely confusing newcomers and out-of-town visitors.
What's different? The kitchen is bigger, one can easily see, as it's smack in the middle of everything, the heart, open and beating: Maws yells out commands, the staff works in concert, their faces growing tight and weary as the night wanes. The kitchen is beautiful, bright and shiny and tastefully tricked out, the kind of space that makes you want to cook when you look at it. Maws practically lets you in; there are a few ringside seats at a counter.
The dining room is bigger, too, up about 20 seats from the old one. It no longer feels as if you're eating in someone's mildewed rec room dressed up with framed French posters (though the posters remain). Something is gained, something is lost. Craigie on Main looks just like a restaurant should, handsome and welcoming. But it doesn't feel like a basement speakeasy. Eating at Craigie Street Bistrot made you feel you were in on a well-kept secret, even as you knew you weren't (the accolades from Food & Wine magazine gave that away).
Perhaps the biggest difference is a bar area, with several little tables and a menu of its own. This features the likes of bone marrow, pork jowl croutons, and a very good cheeseburger of local, grass-fed beef served with funky mace ketchup and a pile of sweet potato fries as thin as fingernail shavings. (Salt isn't listed as a burger ingredient, but there's enough to qualify it for inclusion.) You can also order off the regular menu. Eat a full dinner in this more casual side of the restaurant and you'll witness several waves of customers come and go; the bar is doing serious business.
Heading it up is Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli, formerly of Eastern Standard. With him he brings the bartender equivalent of perfect pitch (try the Northern Lights, a harmonic convergence of elderflower, Douglas fir, and Scotch), a love of bitters, and groupies. "I'd order Fernet Branca, Tommy, but I have a bottle at home," a young woman confides, showing off her knowledge of the cult liqueur. A few seats down, a fellow bartender is sniping about colleagues around town. If esoteric descriptions aren't your thing, the cocktail list will give you a headache; wording such as "Updated Friend and Modern Technique" (Vergano's Bronx) and "Alpine Elixir meets Le Grand's Masterpiece" (Florentine Flip) can be confounding.
What's not much different is the food. Craigie on Main picks up right where Craigie Street Bistrot left off, only with more equipment to play with. The cooking is inspired by the best ingredients the restaurant can get each day, the menu ever shifting and highly local, tastings determined by the chef's whim, pates and confits and rillettes made in house. It's what rustic French food would be after Henry Higgins got through with it. Why change?
Grilled octopus is nearly as tender as lobster, served with cipollini onions, hearts of palm, and chorizo sauce. It's intensely smoky, making this taste like octopus sausage. The texture of the dish is enough to change one diner's mind about tentacles. "I don't know what restaurants have been doing to octopus before, but they should have been doing this," he says.
Macomber turnip potage does vegetarians proud, as does Craigie in general with its meat-free tasting menus. The mellow flavor of the roots is captured, the soup equivalent of single-origin coffee, highlighting one taste rather than many. It is a lot of the same, but spoonful after spoonful it doesn't get old. It's sometimes served with truffles or, for non-vegetarians, a bit of pork.
Foie gras is creamy and rich, highlighted by persimmon puree and pistachios, spread on brioche toast. And an appetizer of Maine smelts with squid ink anchoiade is simple and wonderful, tiny fried fish with an incredible sweetness. They transcend borders; the smelt could be Japanese, Italian, Scandinavian. People all over the world eat food like this, and there's a reason.
Thick, juicy slices of a hanger steak entree are lined up on a plate with smoky, chewy bits of tongue and bone marrow. With the meat, there's chewy, nutty red rice from the Camargue and greens that bring a welcome bite.
Tasmanian sea trout is gently, slowly cooked just to translucence, a fish as pink as salmon served in a pinker citrus sauce with a few tender rock shrimp and fennel-celery salad. The dish is full of bright, light flavors, perhaps to a fault - it's the rare Maws composition that lacks an earthy anchor note.
How many beasts does it take to make an entree of veal sweetbreads? This plate's got the brains and the brawn; it's a giant serving. The offal is accented with an intriguing combination of ingredients: mushrooms, tangerines, prunes, and cashews, with a gel made of the herbal digestif Barolo chinato.
Scallops are large, creamy muscles in a balanced setting: green olive puree, tiny artichokes, cockles, and red quinoa. It's a lovely dish. So is a vegetarian entree of buckwheat polenta enriched with cheese; it tastes nearly meaty, and it comes with a jewel box assortment of winter vegetables and mushrooms.
Dessert keeps up the pace. Particularly good are the gingerbread pain perdu (a.k.a. French toast) and the warm sweet white corn grits. The former features warm gingerbread with a texture reminiscent of bread pudding at the center, spices set off by quince puree and ginger ice cream. The latter is just what it sounds like, a bowl of sweet grits, warm and soothing, spiked with hazelnuts, a compote of dried fruit, and ice cream that tastes faintly of cinnamon. Breakfast for dessert all the time, please.
The wine list is largely French with organic and biodynamic selections. The servers, as ever, are very knowledgeable about it. That is, except for the waitress who describes a Bourgogne blanc as "a chardonnay, but a good chardonnay," then later tells us "mille-feuille" means "1,000 layers." It's a surprising departure at a restaurant where servers usually err on the other side, providing a surfeit of detail, all accurate, with an earnestness that indicates they're drinking Craigie's biodynamic Kool-Aid in great draughts.
And why not? This is a place for people who love food to revel in it, diners and staff both. Craigie on Main makes it relatively accessible, with several different levels of dining, from lower prices at the bar, a three-course neighborhood menu (smelts, roast chicken, chef's choice of dessert) for $38, and Sunday brunch on up to a $115 10-course tasting menu.
Pride can sometimes come across as horn tooting here - a list of the local growers the restaurant relies on invites you to take the page home; a line at the bottom of the menu reads "If it's on the menu tonight, it was the best of the market this morning (menu printed at 5:09 pm today when we received, inspected, and approved our last food delivery)." Food is oversalted with some frequency, and occasionally complexity muddles the flavor of a dish.
But this is Kool-Aid worth drinking, above ground, with the kitchen out in the open and the windows looking onto the street. Craigie was never much of a secret, and now everyone can see why.
Devra First can be reached at dfirst@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
A new home for fine flavors
By Devra First, Globe Staff | February 11, 2009
Craigie is out of the basement. In November, chef Tony Maws and crew moved from their subterranean digs on Craigie Street in Cambridge to a comparatively vast space on Main Street formerly inhabited by La Groceria. But what to do about the name? "Craigie on Main" preserves the legacy of Craigie Street Bistrot with veracity, if likely confusing newcomers and out-of-town visitors.
What's different? The kitchen is bigger, one can easily see, as it's smack in the middle of everything, the heart, open and beating: Maws yells out commands, the staff works in concert, their faces growing tight and weary as the night wanes. The kitchen is beautiful, bright and shiny and tastefully tricked out, the kind of space that makes you want to cook when you look at it. Maws practically lets you in; there are a few ringside seats at a counter.
The dining room is bigger, too, up about 20 seats from the old one. It no longer feels as if you're eating in someone's mildewed rec room dressed up with framed French posters (though the posters remain). Something is gained, something is lost. Craigie on Main looks just like a restaurant should, handsome and welcoming. But it doesn't feel like a basement speakeasy. Eating at Craigie Street Bistrot made you feel you were in on a well-kept secret, even as you knew you weren't (the accolades from Food & Wine magazine gave that away).
Perhaps the biggest difference is a bar area, with several little tables and a menu of its own. This features the likes of bone marrow, pork jowl croutons, and a very good cheeseburger of local, grass-fed beef served with funky mace ketchup and a pile of sweet potato fries as thin as fingernail shavings. (Salt isn't listed as a burger ingredient, but there's enough to qualify it for inclusion.) You can also order off the regular menu. Eat a full dinner in this more casual side of the restaurant and you'll witness several waves of customers come and go; the bar is doing serious business.
Heading it up is Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli, formerly of Eastern Standard. With him he brings the bartender equivalent of perfect pitch (try the Northern Lights, a harmonic convergence of elderflower, Douglas fir, and Scotch), a love of bitters, and groupies. "I'd order Fernet Branca, Tommy, but I have a bottle at home," a young woman confides, showing off her knowledge of the cult liqueur. A few seats down, a fellow bartender is sniping about colleagues around town. If esoteric descriptions aren't your thing, the cocktail list will give you a headache; wording such as "Updated Friend and Modern Technique" (Vergano's Bronx) and "Alpine Elixir meets Le Grand's Masterpiece" (Florentine Flip) can be confounding.
What's not much different is the food. Craigie on Main picks up right where Craigie Street Bistrot left off, only with more equipment to play with. The cooking is inspired by the best ingredients the restaurant can get each day, the menu ever shifting and highly local, tastings determined by the chef's whim, pates and confits and rillettes made in house. It's what rustic French food would be after Henry Higgins got through with it. Why change?
Grilled octopus is nearly as tender as lobster, served with cipollini onions, hearts of palm, and chorizo sauce. It's intensely smoky, making this taste like octopus sausage. The texture of the dish is enough to change one diner's mind about tentacles. "I don't know what restaurants have been doing to octopus before, but they should have been doing this," he says.
Macomber turnip potage does vegetarians proud, as does Craigie in general with its meat-free tasting menus. The mellow flavor of the roots is captured, the soup equivalent of single-origin coffee, highlighting one taste rather than many. It is a lot of the same, but spoonful after spoonful it doesn't get old. It's sometimes served with truffles or, for non-vegetarians, a bit of pork.
Foie gras is creamy and rich, highlighted by persimmon puree and pistachios, spread on brioche toast. And an appetizer of Maine smelts with squid ink anchoiade is simple and wonderful, tiny fried fish with an incredible sweetness. They transcend borders; the smelt could be Japanese, Italian, Scandinavian. People all over the world eat food like this, and there's a reason.
Thick, juicy slices of a hanger steak entree are lined up on a plate with smoky, chewy bits of tongue and bone marrow. With the meat, there's chewy, nutty red rice from the Camargue and greens that bring a welcome bite.
Tasmanian sea trout is gently, slowly cooked just to translucence, a fish as pink as salmon served in a pinker citrus sauce with a few tender rock shrimp and fennel-celery salad. The dish is full of bright, light flavors, perhaps to a fault - it's the rare Maws composition that lacks an earthy anchor note.
How many beasts does it take to make an entree of veal sweetbreads? This plate's got the brains and the brawn; it's a giant serving. The offal is accented with an intriguing combination of ingredients: mushrooms, tangerines, prunes, and cashews, with a gel made of the herbal digestif Barolo chinato.
Scallops are large, creamy muscles in a balanced setting: green olive puree, tiny artichokes, cockles, and red quinoa. It's a lovely dish. So is a vegetarian entree of buckwheat polenta enriched with cheese; it tastes nearly meaty, and it comes with a jewel box assortment of winter vegetables and mushrooms.
Dessert keeps up the pace. Particularly good are the gingerbread pain perdu (a.k.a. French toast) and the warm sweet white corn grits. The former features warm gingerbread with a texture reminiscent of bread pudding at the center, spices set off by quince puree and ginger ice cream. The latter is just what it sounds like, a bowl of sweet grits, warm and soothing, spiked with hazelnuts, a compote of dried fruit, and ice cream that tastes faintly of cinnamon. Breakfast for dessert all the time, please.
The wine list is largely French with organic and biodynamic selections. The servers, as ever, are very knowledgeable about it. That is, except for the waitress who describes a Bourgogne blanc as "a chardonnay, but a good chardonnay," then later tells us "mille-feuille" means "1,000 layers." It's a surprising departure at a restaurant where servers usually err on the other side, providing a surfeit of detail, all accurate, with an earnestness that indicates they're drinking Craigie's biodynamic Kool-Aid in great draughts.
And why not? This is a place for people who love food to revel in it, diners and staff both. Craigie on Main makes it relatively accessible, with several different levels of dining, from lower prices at the bar, a three-course neighborhood menu (smelts, roast chicken, chef's choice of dessert) for $38, and Sunday brunch on up to a $115 10-course tasting menu.
Pride can sometimes come across as horn tooting here - a list of the local growers the restaurant relies on invites you to take the page home; a line at the bottom of the menu reads "If it's on the menu tonight, it was the best of the market this morning (menu printed at 5:09 pm today when we received, inspected, and approved our last food delivery)." Food is oversalted with some frequency, and occasionally complexity muddles the flavor of a dish.
But this is Kool-Aid worth drinking, above ground, with the kitchen out in the open and the windows looking onto the street. Craigie was never much of a secret, and now everyone can see why.
Devra First can be reached at dfirst@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Ticketmaster - Live Nation to Merge
Ticketmaster says Live Nation merger won't raise prices
By Associated Press | February 11, 2009
LOS ANGELES - Concert promoter Live Nation Inc. and ticketing giant Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. confirmed their merger plans yesterday and got right to work addressing antitrust concerns that have taken center stage.
Ticketmaster chairman Barry Diller, to be chairman of the new company - which would be called Live Nation Entertainment - sought to dispel the notion that the deal would lead to higher ticket prices.
"Ticketmaster does not set prices. Live Nation does not set ticket prices. Artists set the prices," he said, without mentioning the ticket surcharges Ticketmaster relies on for much of its revenue.
Under the deal, Ticketmaster shareholders would receive 1.384 shares of Live Nation stock for each share of Ticketmaster they hold. Ticketmaster shareholders would own 50.01 percent of the new company, while Live Nation shareholders would have 49.99 percent. Live Nation chief executive Michael Rapino would be the new company's CEO.
The companies estimated the value of the combined business at $2.5 billion and said the deal would help them save about $40 million annually. If it gets approval by antitrust authorities, the companies hope to complete the merger in the second half of the year.
Live Nation and Ticketmaster argue that together they could better withstand the recession, sell more tickets, and improve service to fans by bringing together their expertise in promotions and ticketing.
However, the merger comes just as Ticketmaster is under fire for recently redirecting people buying Bruce Springsteen tickets from its regular website to its reselling subsidiary, TicketsNow. That site had more expensive seats above face value, even though face-value tickets were still available. New Jersey's attorney general launched an investigation, and a class-action lawsuit in Ontario claims Ticketmaster made a similar up-selling move in November for a Smashing Pumpkins concert.
Diller blamed the Springsteen incident on a "technical glitch" by a credit card company, and said the Canadian lawsuit was "without merit."
Ticketmaster had already apologized for the Springsteen episode, but the fallout remains. Springsteen recently posted a statement on his website saying the Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger could end up "returning us to a near-monopoly situation in music ticketing."
And Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, released a statement yesterday opposing the merger, calling the Springsteen ticketing debacle a "bait-and-switch" scam.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Compan
By Associated Press | February 11, 2009
LOS ANGELES - Concert promoter Live Nation Inc. and ticketing giant Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. confirmed their merger plans yesterday and got right to work addressing antitrust concerns that have taken center stage.
Ticketmaster chairman Barry Diller, to be chairman of the new company - which would be called Live Nation Entertainment - sought to dispel the notion that the deal would lead to higher ticket prices.
"Ticketmaster does not set prices. Live Nation does not set ticket prices. Artists set the prices," he said, without mentioning the ticket surcharges Ticketmaster relies on for much of its revenue.
Under the deal, Ticketmaster shareholders would receive 1.384 shares of Live Nation stock for each share of Ticketmaster they hold. Ticketmaster shareholders would own 50.01 percent of the new company, while Live Nation shareholders would have 49.99 percent. Live Nation chief executive Michael Rapino would be the new company's CEO.
The companies estimated the value of the combined business at $2.5 billion and said the deal would help them save about $40 million annually. If it gets approval by antitrust authorities, the companies hope to complete the merger in the second half of the year.
Live Nation and Ticketmaster argue that together they could better withstand the recession, sell more tickets, and improve service to fans by bringing together their expertise in promotions and ticketing.
However, the merger comes just as Ticketmaster is under fire for recently redirecting people buying Bruce Springsteen tickets from its regular website to its reselling subsidiary, TicketsNow. That site had more expensive seats above face value, even though face-value tickets were still available. New Jersey's attorney general launched an investigation, and a class-action lawsuit in Ontario claims Ticketmaster made a similar up-selling move in November for a Smashing Pumpkins concert.
Diller blamed the Springsteen incident on a "technical glitch" by a credit card company, and said the Canadian lawsuit was "without merit."
Ticketmaster had already apologized for the Springsteen episode, but the fallout remains. Springsteen recently posted a statement on his website saying the Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger could end up "returning us to a near-monopoly situation in music ticketing."
And Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, released a statement yesterday opposing the merger, calling the Springsteen ticketing debacle a "bait-and-switch" scam.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Compan
Ticketmaster - Live Nation to Merge
Ticketmaster says Live Nation merger won't raise prices
By Associated Press | February 11, 2009
LOS ANGELES - Concert promoter Live Nation Inc. and ticketing giant Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. confirmed their merger plans yesterday and got right to work addressing antitrust concerns that have taken center stage.
Ticketmaster chairman Barry Diller, to be chairman of the new company - which would be called Live Nation Entertainment - sought to dispel the notion that the deal would lead to higher ticket prices.
"Ticketmaster does not set prices. Live Nation does not set ticket prices. Artists set the prices," he said, without mentioning the ticket surcharges Ticketmaster relies on for much of its revenue.
Under the deal, Ticketmaster shareholders would receive 1.384 shares of Live Nation stock for each share of Ticketmaster they hold. Ticketmaster shareholders would own 50.01 percent of the new company, while Live Nation shareholders would have 49.99 percent. Live Nation chief executive Michael Rapino would be the new company's CEO.
The companies estimated the value of the combined business at $2.5 billion and said the deal would help them save about $40 million annually. If it gets approval by antitrust authorities, the companies hope to complete the merger in the second half of the year.
Live Nation and Ticketmaster argue that together they could better withstand the recession, sell more tickets, and improve service to fans by bringing together their expertise in promotions and ticketing.
However, the merger comes just as Ticketmaster is under fire for recently redirecting people buying Bruce Springsteen tickets from its regular website to its reselling subsidiary, TicketsNow. That site had more expensive seats above face value, even though face-value tickets were still available. New Jersey's attorney general launched an investigation, and a class-action lawsuit in Ontario claims Ticketmaster made a similar up-selling move in November for a Smashing Pumpkins concert.
Diller blamed the Springsteen incident on a "technical glitch" by a credit card company, and said the Canadian lawsuit was "without merit."
Ticketmaster had already apologized for the Springsteen episode, but the fallout remains. Springsteen recently posted a statement on his website saying the Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger could end up "returning us to a near-monopoly situation in music ticketing."
And Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, released a statement yesterday opposing the merger, calling the Springsteen ticketing debacle a "bait-and-switch" scam.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Compan
By Associated Press | February 11, 2009
LOS ANGELES - Concert promoter Live Nation Inc. and ticketing giant Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. confirmed their merger plans yesterday and got right to work addressing antitrust concerns that have taken center stage.
Ticketmaster chairman Barry Diller, to be chairman of the new company - which would be called Live Nation Entertainment - sought to dispel the notion that the deal would lead to higher ticket prices.
"Ticketmaster does not set prices. Live Nation does not set ticket prices. Artists set the prices," he said, without mentioning the ticket surcharges Ticketmaster relies on for much of its revenue.
Under the deal, Ticketmaster shareholders would receive 1.384 shares of Live Nation stock for each share of Ticketmaster they hold. Ticketmaster shareholders would own 50.01 percent of the new company, while Live Nation shareholders would have 49.99 percent. Live Nation chief executive Michael Rapino would be the new company's CEO.
The companies estimated the value of the combined business at $2.5 billion and said the deal would help them save about $40 million annually. If it gets approval by antitrust authorities, the companies hope to complete the merger in the second half of the year.
Live Nation and Ticketmaster argue that together they could better withstand the recession, sell more tickets, and improve service to fans by bringing together their expertise in promotions and ticketing.
However, the merger comes just as Ticketmaster is under fire for recently redirecting people buying Bruce Springsteen tickets from its regular website to its reselling subsidiary, TicketsNow. That site had more expensive seats above face value, even though face-value tickets were still available. New Jersey's attorney general launched an investigation, and a class-action lawsuit in Ontario claims Ticketmaster made a similar up-selling move in November for a Smashing Pumpkins concert.
Diller blamed the Springsteen incident on a "technical glitch" by a credit card company, and said the Canadian lawsuit was "without merit."
Ticketmaster had already apologized for the Springsteen episode, but the fallout remains. Springsteen recently posted a statement on his website saying the Ticketmaster-Live Nation merger could end up "returning us to a near-monopoly situation in music ticketing."
And Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, released a statement yesterday opposing the merger, calling the Springsteen ticketing debacle a "bait-and-switch" scam.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Compan
New Mandarin Oriental in Beijing Destroyed by Fire
Beijing tries to contain news of luxury hotel fire
By Andrew Jacobs, New York Times | February 11, 2009
BEIJING - China's national television network blamed an illegal fireworks display by its employees for igniting a blaze that destroyed a futuristic luxury hotel and theater designed by the internationally recognized architect Rem Koolhaas.
In a statement posted on its website, the network said the employees staged their illegal pyrotechnics too close to the unfinished complex. It apologized for the damage the fire caused, saying it was grieving deeply "for the severe damage the fire caused to the country's property," according to the Associated Press.
But what residents could plainly see - the smoking shell of Koolhaas's Mandarin Oriental Hotel - was harder to find on the Internet in China, on television, or in the city's newspapers.
There were no pictures on the front page of The Beijing News. The home page of Xinhua, the official news agency, featured a photo from another tragedy: a stampede in South Korea that left four people dead. Throughout the morning, CCTV's brief bulletins about the blaze omitted footage of the burning tower.
Even before the flames had been extinguished early yesterday, images of the burning hotel had been removed from the country's main Internet portals. By afternoon, the entire story had been buried.
A directive sent out by propaganda officials left no room for error: "No photos, no video clips, no in-depth reports," read the memo, which instructed all media outlets to use only dispatches from the official news agency Xinhua. "The news should be put on news areas only, and the comments posting areas should be closed." The Beijing Youth Daily's report, for one, was anchored by a list of the officials who rushed to the scene, including the mayor of Beijing, the head of CCTV, and the director of the Communist Party's propaganda department. The officials, the article noted, bravely directed the firefighting efforts of 16 emergency squads.
In the age of the Internet, the government could not entirely shut down the coverage. Photographs were traded through texting and e-mail.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
By Andrew Jacobs, New York Times | February 11, 2009
BEIJING - China's national television network blamed an illegal fireworks display by its employees for igniting a blaze that destroyed a futuristic luxury hotel and theater designed by the internationally recognized architect Rem Koolhaas.
In a statement posted on its website, the network said the employees staged their illegal pyrotechnics too close to the unfinished complex. It apologized for the damage the fire caused, saying it was grieving deeply "for the severe damage the fire caused to the country's property," according to the Associated Press.
But what residents could plainly see - the smoking shell of Koolhaas's Mandarin Oriental Hotel - was harder to find on the Internet in China, on television, or in the city's newspapers.
There were no pictures on the front page of The Beijing News. The home page of Xinhua, the official news agency, featured a photo from another tragedy: a stampede in South Korea that left four people dead. Throughout the morning, CCTV's brief bulletins about the blaze omitted footage of the burning tower.
Even before the flames had been extinguished early yesterday, images of the burning hotel had been removed from the country's main Internet portals. By afternoon, the entire story had been buried.
A directive sent out by propaganda officials left no room for error: "No photos, no video clips, no in-depth reports," read the memo, which instructed all media outlets to use only dispatches from the official news agency Xinhua. "The news should be put on news areas only, and the comments posting areas should be closed." The Beijing Youth Daily's report, for one, was anchored by a list of the officials who rushed to the scene, including the mayor of Beijing, the head of CCTV, and the director of the Communist Party's propaganda department. The officials, the article noted, bravely directed the firefighting efforts of 16 emergency squads.
In the age of the Internet, the government could not entirely shut down the coverage. Photographs were traded through texting and e-mail.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
News is closed
We Hear: Jamie Giorgio, Ben Affleck, Lisa Schurga and more...
By Inside Track | Tuesday, February 10, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | The Inside Track
That Jamie Giorgio has shut down News on Kneeland Street, and, word is, he’s going to open an eatery on the roof of the Harley-Davidson building in Everett. Before the economic meltdown, Giorgio had planned to try to open a boutique hotel on the site. Now, it’s off to Everett . . .
By Inside Track | Tuesday, February 10, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | The Inside Track
That Jamie Giorgio has shut down News on Kneeland Street, and, word is, he’s going to open an eatery on the roof of the Harley-Davidson building in Everett. Before the economic meltdown, Giorgio had planned to try to open a boutique hotel on the site. Now, it’s off to Everett . . .
Artist on Exhibit at ICA pleads not guilty
Shepard Fairey pleads not guilty to Hub vandalism
By Associated Press | Monday, February 9, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Arts & Culture
BOSTON — The street artist who created the famous red, white and blue "Hope" poster of President Barack Obama has pleaded not guilty to vandalizing property in Boston.
Shepard Fairey was released on personal recognizance after his arraignment in Roxbury District Court.
The 38-year-old faces a separate case for another alleged tagging in the city. Both incidents involved Fairey’s Andre the Giant street art campaign.
Fairey, of Los Angeles, was arrested and released Friday, as he headed to an event kicking off his exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art. He had spent the last two weeks in the Boston area installing the exhibit, giving talks and creating outdoor art.
Fairey has been arrested numerous times for drawing on buildings and other private property without permission.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/arts_culture/view.bg?articleid=1151030
By Associated Press | Monday, February 9, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Arts & Culture
BOSTON — The street artist who created the famous red, white and blue "Hope" poster of President Barack Obama has pleaded not guilty to vandalizing property in Boston.
Shepard Fairey was released on personal recognizance after his arraignment in Roxbury District Court.
The 38-year-old faces a separate case for another alleged tagging in the city. Both incidents involved Fairey’s Andre the Giant street art campaign.
Fairey, of Los Angeles, was arrested and released Friday, as he headed to an event kicking off his exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art. He had spent the last two weeks in the Boston area installing the exhibit, giving talks and creating outdoor art.
Fairey has been arrested numerous times for drawing on buildings and other private property without permission.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/arts_culture/view.bg?articleid=1151030
Virgin America to offer Boston-California Flights starting Thursday
Virgin to offer Hub-to-California flights
By Donna Goodison | Tuesday, February 10, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Virgin America launches service from Logan International Airport to California this week with much fanfare: Flamboyant billionaire and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson will be in town for photo ops and a glitzy “Viva the Revolution” bash at the Liberty Hotel.
The discount airline starts two daily roundtrip flights between Boston and San Francisco and three daily roundtrips between Boston and Los Angeles on Thursday with the promise of “reinventing domestic travel.”
But there’s no escaping that Virgin America is adding the eighth city to its network at a challenging time for airlines. It’s betting that its cachet, customer service reputation and amenities will help it ride out the recession and take passengers from route incumbents American Airlines [AMR] and United Airlines - and JetBlue [JBLU] when it launches the same flights this spring.
“Traffic has been decreasing rather than increasing as a result of the economic downturn, so in many respects, it’s not an ideal time to be jumping into the market,” said aviation consultant Daniel Kasper of LECG in Cambridge. “But, on the other hand, they have new airplanes and new service, and people who may be feeling a little bit tired and abused by air travel might be willing to give them a shot. It’s a good value proposition.”
Air traffic at Logan dropped 7.1 percent to 26.1 million passengers in 2008, and 5 percent to 6 percent month-over-month declines are expected for much of this year.
“Nothing is fail-safe in this economy,” said David Cush, Virgin America’s president and CEO. “Our view is we’re offering a superior product, and we’re offering a lower price than the competition.”
Virgin’s amenities include power outlets and entertainment systems built into each leather seat. Passengers can use a touch-screen menu to order food and drinks; view 25 on-demand, first-run films; access 3,000 songs, live TV and videogames; and chat with other fliers. All flights also will have Internet service.
Bookings for the Boston flights so far are strong for what Cush considers a pretty aggressive launch. “The Boston-to-San Francisco and Boston-to-L.A. flights are our most heavily booked flights for March and April,” he said.
Virgin has been advertising flights starting at $149 one way, but better deals are available, said Carl Schwartz, chief travel officer for Cheapflights.com. He found a flight leaving Boston on a Tuesday and returning from Los Angeles on a Saturday for $235 round trip, including taxes and fees.
“It’s a great price and below market average right now,” Schwartz said. “It couldn’t be more timely for Virgin America to enter the market. Fares from January to February actually went up by about 7 percent when you look at the Boston-to-L.A. route, with the average deal in our database about $250 roundtrip.”
Massport CEO Thomas Kinton Jr. believes the airline’s initial demand bodes well for the Boston market. “Any time you see success like this, it’s got their attention,” he said.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1151151
By Donna Goodison | Tuesday, February 10, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Virgin America launches service from Logan International Airport to California this week with much fanfare: Flamboyant billionaire and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson will be in town for photo ops and a glitzy “Viva the Revolution” bash at the Liberty Hotel.
The discount airline starts two daily roundtrip flights between Boston and San Francisco and three daily roundtrips between Boston and Los Angeles on Thursday with the promise of “reinventing domestic travel.”
But there’s no escaping that Virgin America is adding the eighth city to its network at a challenging time for airlines. It’s betting that its cachet, customer service reputation and amenities will help it ride out the recession and take passengers from route incumbents American Airlines [AMR] and United Airlines - and JetBlue [JBLU] when it launches the same flights this spring.
“Traffic has been decreasing rather than increasing as a result of the economic downturn, so in many respects, it’s not an ideal time to be jumping into the market,” said aviation consultant Daniel Kasper of LECG in Cambridge. “But, on the other hand, they have new airplanes and new service, and people who may be feeling a little bit tired and abused by air travel might be willing to give them a shot. It’s a good value proposition.”
Air traffic at Logan dropped 7.1 percent to 26.1 million passengers in 2008, and 5 percent to 6 percent month-over-month declines are expected for much of this year.
“Nothing is fail-safe in this economy,” said David Cush, Virgin America’s president and CEO. “Our view is we’re offering a superior product, and we’re offering a lower price than the competition.”
Virgin’s amenities include power outlets and entertainment systems built into each leather seat. Passengers can use a touch-screen menu to order food and drinks; view 25 on-demand, first-run films; access 3,000 songs, live TV and videogames; and chat with other fliers. All flights also will have Internet service.
Bookings for the Boston flights so far are strong for what Cush considers a pretty aggressive launch. “The Boston-to-San Francisco and Boston-to-L.A. flights are our most heavily booked flights for March and April,” he said.
Virgin has been advertising flights starting at $149 one way, but better deals are available, said Carl Schwartz, chief travel officer for Cheapflights.com. He found a flight leaving Boston on a Tuesday and returning from Los Angeles on a Saturday for $235 round trip, including taxes and fees.
“It’s a great price and below market average right now,” Schwartz said. “It couldn’t be more timely for Virgin America to enter the market. Fares from January to February actually went up by about 7 percent when you look at the Boston-to-L.A. route, with the average deal in our database about $250 roundtrip.”
Massport CEO Thomas Kinton Jr. believes the airline’s initial demand bodes well for the Boston market. “Any time you see success like this, it’s got their attention,” he said.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1151151
Christian Science Church to Revitalize Plaza
Few details on tower plan for Christian Science plaza
By Thomas Grillo | Tuesday, February 10, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Real Estate
The Christian Science Church has launched an ambitious effort to revitalize its 14.5-acre plaza, but won’t reveal details of the plan that is expected to include at least one office building.
“The Boston Redevelopment Authority has asked us to start the public process and give an introduction to the church and not much more,” said Barbara Burley, senior manager at the First Church of Christ, Scientist. “We have some ideas, but it’s premature to talk about them right now.”
Burley made her remarks at an early morning meeting of the Citizens Advisory Committee, a 16-member panel appointed by Mayor Thomas M. Menino to advise the city on development of the church’s real estate at Huntington and Massachusetts Avenue, across the street from Symphony Hall. Burley outlined three goals at the City Hall session: enhancing the public space around the church, which she called the largest privately owned open space in Boston, improving water management and new construction.
Burley was unsure about the zoning height limits, but a BRA spokeswoman said any new construction would be limited to 7-to-11 stories unless there is a zoning change. Neighborhood sources say the church wants to built a 10-to-20 story office tower.
State Rep. Byron Rushing, a Boston Democrat and CAC member, said the Christian Science Plaza Revitalization project is one of four developments in the planning stages that include a Massachusetts Turnpike Authority air-rights project above the turnpike at Massachusetts Avenue and Bostonian Street as well as Northeastern University and Berklee College of Music’s expansion.
“We’re talking about a lot of development and it’s very close together,” he said. “There should be one permanent CAC that the community elects to coordinate review of these plans.”
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1151239
By Thomas Grillo | Tuesday, February 10, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Real Estate
The Christian Science Church has launched an ambitious effort to revitalize its 14.5-acre plaza, but won’t reveal details of the plan that is expected to include at least one office building.
“The Boston Redevelopment Authority has asked us to start the public process and give an introduction to the church and not much more,” said Barbara Burley, senior manager at the First Church of Christ, Scientist. “We have some ideas, but it’s premature to talk about them right now.”
Burley made her remarks at an early morning meeting of the Citizens Advisory Committee, a 16-member panel appointed by Mayor Thomas M. Menino to advise the city on development of the church’s real estate at Huntington and Massachusetts Avenue, across the street from Symphony Hall. Burley outlined three goals at the City Hall session: enhancing the public space around the church, which she called the largest privately owned open space in Boston, improving water management and new construction.
Burley was unsure about the zoning height limits, but a BRA spokeswoman said any new construction would be limited to 7-to-11 stories unless there is a zoning change. Neighborhood sources say the church wants to built a 10-to-20 story office tower.
State Rep. Byron Rushing, a Boston Democrat and CAC member, said the Christian Science Plaza Revitalization project is one of four developments in the planning stages that include a Massachusetts Turnpike Authority air-rights project above the turnpike at Massachusetts Avenue and Bostonian Street as well as Northeastern University and Berklee College of Music’s expansion.
“We’re talking about a lot of development and it’s very close together,” he said. “There should be one permanent CAC that the community elects to coordinate review of these plans.”
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view.bg?articleid=1151239
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Zoos plan expansion
Zoos plan $53 million expansion
Walk-in bird cage, gorilla exhibits planned
By Renee Nadeau | Saturday, February 7, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage
Zoo New England is planning a $53 million reconfiguration intended to appeal to a growing number of visitors and donors, develop new exhibits and create solid jobs even amid the bleak economy.
“There aren’t better investments that you can make than invest in the zoo,” said John Linehan, president and chief executive officer of Zoo New England, which runs the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston and the Stone Zoo in Stoneham. “These are long-term jobs that stay in the community and enhance the quality of life and enhance our education.”
Among the planned improvements are a 30-foot-by-50-foot walk-in bird cage at Franklin Park that will allow visitors to interact with hundreds of parakeets, and a Stone Zoo gibbon exhibit - the zoo’s first ape exhibit since the early 1990s.
The new exhibits are part of a long-term improvement plan, details of which will be announced this spring.
“They’re good zoos at this point, and they’re going to be tremendous,” Linehan said. “They are going to, in my humble opinion, transform the cultural landscape of the city.”
The improvements will be paid for in part by capital funds from the commonwealth’s General Obligation Bond, passed last summer, which authorized Zoo New England to receive up to $30 million over a five-year period. The remainder of the funding will come from private donations and other public funding sources.
Linehan said the zoos have outpaced fund-raising expectations and are above budget at this point in the fiscal year. The state is matching up to $750,000 in donations, and the zoo’s general operating fund received $600,000 in the first half of the fiscal year, Linehan said.
While sloppy weather kept zoogoers away during December and January, attendance has otherwise been on the rise. During the 2008 fiscal year, 524,000 people visited the two zoos, up from 521,000 in 2007 and 456,000 in 2006.
That’s in keeping with a national trend: The 216 accredited members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums saw the number of visitors jump from 160 million in 2006 to 175 million in 2007, spokesman Steve Feldman said. Feldman said 2008 was a record-breaking year, and the same is expected for 2009.
“A lot of our members saw record attendance due to that ‘staycation’ phenomenon,” Feldman said.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1150546
Walk-in bird cage, gorilla exhibits planned
By Renee Nadeau | Saturday, February 7, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage
Zoo New England is planning a $53 million reconfiguration intended to appeal to a growing number of visitors and donors, develop new exhibits and create solid jobs even amid the bleak economy.
“There aren’t better investments that you can make than invest in the zoo,” said John Linehan, president and chief executive officer of Zoo New England, which runs the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston and the Stone Zoo in Stoneham. “These are long-term jobs that stay in the community and enhance the quality of life and enhance our education.”
Among the planned improvements are a 30-foot-by-50-foot walk-in bird cage at Franklin Park that will allow visitors to interact with hundreds of parakeets, and a Stone Zoo gibbon exhibit - the zoo’s first ape exhibit since the early 1990s.
The new exhibits are part of a long-term improvement plan, details of which will be announced this spring.
“They’re good zoos at this point, and they’re going to be tremendous,” Linehan said. “They are going to, in my humble opinion, transform the cultural landscape of the city.”
The improvements will be paid for in part by capital funds from the commonwealth’s General Obligation Bond, passed last summer, which authorized Zoo New England to receive up to $30 million over a five-year period. The remainder of the funding will come from private donations and other public funding sources.
Linehan said the zoos have outpaced fund-raising expectations and are above budget at this point in the fiscal year. The state is matching up to $750,000 in donations, and the zoo’s general operating fund received $600,000 in the first half of the fiscal year, Linehan said.
While sloppy weather kept zoogoers away during December and January, attendance has otherwise been on the rise. During the 2008 fiscal year, 524,000 people visited the two zoos, up from 521,000 in 2007 and 456,000 in 2006.
That’s in keeping with a national trend: The 216 accredited members of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums saw the number of visitors jump from 160 million in 2006 to 175 million in 2007, spokesman Steve Feldman said. Feldman said 2008 was a record-breaking year, and the same is expected for 2009.
“A lot of our members saw record attendance due to that ‘staycation’ phenomenon,” Feldman said.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1150546
Friday, February 6, 2009
Sel De La Terre review
Terre-iffic!
By Mat Schaffer | Friday, February 6, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Dining Reviews
SEL DE LA TERRE: B
In light of the economic downturn, when the Herald reviews a restaurant that offers recession-busting specials, we will order them whenever possible.
Can it be almost nine years since I first ate at Sel de la Terre? Back then, every appetizer cost $7; every entree $21! The original location near the aquarium has been followed by branches in Natick and, last fall, Boylston Street, adjacent to the Mandarin Oriental hotel.
The original menu was exclusively French-Mediterranean. At the new Sel de la Terre Back Bay, the menu (created by chef de cuisine Louis “Iron Chef Louie” DiBiccari) covers the entire Mediterranean, with dishes inspired by France, Spain,Italy and the Middle East.
DiBiccari is a talented chef with a penchant for big, bold flavors. I love his cooking. That said, DiBiccari needs to restrain his current fascination with smoky or smoked ingredients - which he uses in almost everything.
The recession-busting, chef’s choice, three-course prix fixe for $35 dollars is a delicious deal. It changes nightly.
One visit’s prix fixe featured roasted marrow bone with mustard, cornichons, pickled onions and brioche toasts. Plus, deep-fried Island Creek oysters with spicy aioli. A second evening’s prix fixe of duck liver mousse terrine was unctuously velvety.
From the regular menu, we had perfectly prepared saffron risotto ($13), mixed with bits of smoky tasso ham and sweet, fresh Maine shrimp. And a mini-Mason jar of gingery, roasted white-sweet-potato soup ($15) stirred with smoked maple syrup. A side of citrusy Island Creek razor clam ceviche, mounded onto a razor clamshell, needed salt.
A chopped salad ($11) of greens, dried fruits and nuts in tangy dressing makes a wonderful intermezzo course. Accompanying fig burrata - fresh mozzarella stuffed with oozy fig ricotta - is superb slathered on Sel de la Terre’s exceptional fig bread.
Prix fixe za’atar - braised pork and goat cheese ravioli - hit a home run. The aromatic, pulled pork makes a fine stuffing for pasta in a pool of pureed winter vegetables garnished with sauteed wild mushrooms and a poached egg. Mix in the runny yolk to create a creamy sauce.
Cinnamony chai is the imaginative basis of the sauce that accompanies seared and roasted Tasmanian salmon ($29) with edibly crisp skin and fatty marbleized flesh, presented on a mound of chewy smoked farro. The salmon, topped with citrus-poached fennel and Clementine segments, is delectable.
Dinner suffers when DiBiccari isn’t behind the stove. That’s a problem.
A second visit’s prix fixe apple cider poached pork loin (with smoked butternut squash puree and Brussels sprouts) was overcooked.
And oven-roasted free-range chicken breast ($29) was underwhelming. Even with a nubbin of bacon-wrapped leg alongside. And cubes of caramelized buttercup squash, cranberry marmalade and a smattering of (enough already) aggressively smoked almonds.
Sel de la Terre Back Bay’s extensive wine list has too few bottles costing less than $35. The 2006 Dom. Brunet Pinot Noir ($35) we ordered for the ravioli and salmon was a brassy 2007. With the pork loin and chicken, we enjoyed a tart 2007 Crios de Susana Balbo Malbec Rose ($32). Versatile roses need not be relegated to warm weather.
Desserts are delish. We demolished a prix fixe triple chocolate cake - a brownie version of a Three Musketeers bar - with burnt-sugar ice cream. A dense, prix fixe chocolate bread pudding with eggnog ice cream is large enough for two to share.
Cider-glazed apple galette ($9.95) with ginger ice cream and pumpkin seed brittle elevates the humble baked apple to puff-pastry elegance.
Service is knowledgeable and attentive.
Sel de la Terre Back Bay is a handsome space, up a steep staircase from a small, bustling bar. It’s a dimly lighted, welcoming room with distressed wooden floors, white brick walls, apricot-colored banquettes and an open kitchen.
774 Boylston St. 617-266-8800; seldelaterre.com.
Price: More than $40; recession specials: chef’s choice three-course prix-fixe, $35
Hours: Daily: 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Caf and bar: Sun.-Tues., 4 p.m.-12 a.m.; Weds.-Sat., 4 p.m.-1 a.m.
Bar: Full
Credit: All
Accessibility: Accessible
Parking: Nearby lots, on street
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/food_dining/reviews/view.bg?articleid=1150262
By Mat Schaffer | Friday, February 6, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Dining Reviews
SEL DE LA TERRE: B
In light of the economic downturn, when the Herald reviews a restaurant that offers recession-busting specials, we will order them whenever possible.
Can it be almost nine years since I first ate at Sel de la Terre? Back then, every appetizer cost $7; every entree $21! The original location near the aquarium has been followed by branches in Natick and, last fall, Boylston Street, adjacent to the Mandarin Oriental hotel.
The original menu was exclusively French-Mediterranean. At the new Sel de la Terre Back Bay, the menu (created by chef de cuisine Louis “Iron Chef Louie” DiBiccari) covers the entire Mediterranean, with dishes inspired by France, Spain,Italy and the Middle East.
DiBiccari is a talented chef with a penchant for big, bold flavors. I love his cooking. That said, DiBiccari needs to restrain his current fascination with smoky or smoked ingredients - which he uses in almost everything.
The recession-busting, chef’s choice, three-course prix fixe for $35 dollars is a delicious deal. It changes nightly.
One visit’s prix fixe featured roasted marrow bone with mustard, cornichons, pickled onions and brioche toasts. Plus, deep-fried Island Creek oysters with spicy aioli. A second evening’s prix fixe of duck liver mousse terrine was unctuously velvety.
From the regular menu, we had perfectly prepared saffron risotto ($13), mixed with bits of smoky tasso ham and sweet, fresh Maine shrimp. And a mini-Mason jar of gingery, roasted white-sweet-potato soup ($15) stirred with smoked maple syrup. A side of citrusy Island Creek razor clam ceviche, mounded onto a razor clamshell, needed salt.
A chopped salad ($11) of greens, dried fruits and nuts in tangy dressing makes a wonderful intermezzo course. Accompanying fig burrata - fresh mozzarella stuffed with oozy fig ricotta - is superb slathered on Sel de la Terre’s exceptional fig bread.
Prix fixe za’atar - braised pork and goat cheese ravioli - hit a home run. The aromatic, pulled pork makes a fine stuffing for pasta in a pool of pureed winter vegetables garnished with sauteed wild mushrooms and a poached egg. Mix in the runny yolk to create a creamy sauce.
Cinnamony chai is the imaginative basis of the sauce that accompanies seared and roasted Tasmanian salmon ($29) with edibly crisp skin and fatty marbleized flesh, presented on a mound of chewy smoked farro. The salmon, topped with citrus-poached fennel and Clementine segments, is delectable.
Dinner suffers when DiBiccari isn’t behind the stove. That’s a problem.
A second visit’s prix fixe apple cider poached pork loin (with smoked butternut squash puree and Brussels sprouts) was overcooked.
And oven-roasted free-range chicken breast ($29) was underwhelming. Even with a nubbin of bacon-wrapped leg alongside. And cubes of caramelized buttercup squash, cranberry marmalade and a smattering of (enough already) aggressively smoked almonds.
Sel de la Terre Back Bay’s extensive wine list has too few bottles costing less than $35. The 2006 Dom. Brunet Pinot Noir ($35) we ordered for the ravioli and salmon was a brassy 2007. With the pork loin and chicken, we enjoyed a tart 2007 Crios de Susana Balbo Malbec Rose ($32). Versatile roses need not be relegated to warm weather.
Desserts are delish. We demolished a prix fixe triple chocolate cake - a brownie version of a Three Musketeers bar - with burnt-sugar ice cream. A dense, prix fixe chocolate bread pudding with eggnog ice cream is large enough for two to share.
Cider-glazed apple galette ($9.95) with ginger ice cream and pumpkin seed brittle elevates the humble baked apple to puff-pastry elegance.
Service is knowledgeable and attentive.
Sel de la Terre Back Bay is a handsome space, up a steep staircase from a small, bustling bar. It’s a dimly lighted, welcoming room with distressed wooden floors, white brick walls, apricot-colored banquettes and an open kitchen.
774 Boylston St. 617-266-8800; seldelaterre.com.
Price: More than $40; recession specials: chef’s choice three-course prix-fixe, $35
Hours: Daily: 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Caf and bar: Sun.-Tues., 4 p.m.-12 a.m.; Weds.-Sat., 4 p.m.-1 a.m.
Bar: Full
Credit: All
Accessibility: Accessible
Parking: Nearby lots, on street
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/food_dining/reviews/view.bg?articleid=1150262
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