Pub: Only space for one Living Room
W owner sued over name of lobby
By Donna Goodison / Turning the Tables | Friday, October 30, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Visitors to the new W Boston that opened yesterday enter through its “Living Room,” the lobby of the shiny Theatre District hotel, but John Hauck hopes that’ll change soon.
Hauck, who owns The Living Room - a restaurant and lounge that has operated across town on Atlantic Avenue for nearly seven years - took legal action this week to lay claim to the name.
Hauck filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against W Hotels owner Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. in U.S. District Court in Boston.
“Having another Living Room would create confusion in the marketplace,” said Hauck, bringing up one of the key factors for winning a trademark infringement lawsuit. “Can you imagine telling your friend that you will meet them at The Living Room, and you show up at two different bars?”
On the surface, there’s no comparison between Hauck’s lounge area - which resembles a home living room with its comfy couches and occasional tables where customers can play board games - and the W Boston’s sleek, modern lobby.
But Hauck says he’s invested countless hours and financial resources to develop his restaurant and lounge theme.
No matter that he only registered for state trademarks of “The Living Room” and “Living Room” in June, a few days after the Herald’s Inside Track gals first reported on the controversy. Hauck is claiming he owns the “common law trademark” for the names.
“There’s sort of this misconception that if you don’t have (registered) trademarks, you don’t have rights, and that’s simply not true,” said Lisa Fleming, Hauck’s Boston attorney. “Common law trademark rights are rights that you obtain by use of your name or mark. You obtain those rights over years of use . . . and you build up goodwill in that name.”
A judge on Tuesday denied Hauck’s move for a temporary restraining order to prevent the W Boston from using the “Living Room” name when it opened. He now has a preliminary injunction request pending before the court.
Starwood declined comment.
A “Nightline” crew was in Boston and Wellesley to film chefs Lydia Shire and Ming Tsai for Thanksgiving week segments of the ABC News show’s “Platelist: Chefs’ Secrets” series.
Shire was at her Scampo restaurant at the Liberty Hotel by 6 a.m. Monday to cook dishes that she likes to prepare for the holiday.
“I did a beautiful roast pork with crackling, because my husband is from Colombia, and he detests turkey,” said Shire, who still cooks a turkey on Thanksgiving for her other guests.
She also made Hubbard squash gnocchi with white truffles and Locke-Ober’s Indian pudding for dessert.
“Nightline” filmed Tsai at Blue Ginger on Sunday. He made an East-West rice stuffing, cranberry chutney and wonton turkey soup.
Nick Varano has more details on his second Strega restaurant planned for Fan Pier on the South Boston waterfront, an area that he believes will become the “new Boston” in the next year or two.
The 160-seat Italian restaurant with a 30-seat bar will be more upscale than his original Strega in Boston’s North End, according to Varano. It’s slated to open by May on the first floor at One Marina Park Drive, the development’s first office building.
Varano isn’t worried about taking business from his smaller 56-seat Strega, which has attracted pro athletes and actors including Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Salma Hayek, Kate Hudson and the cast of “The Sopranos.”
“The North End is the greatest neighborhood in the country,” he said.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1208342
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Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Strega to open 2nd location on waterfront
Waterfront getting new Italian restaurant
October 29, 2009 05:36 PM
By Casey Ross, Globe Staff
North End Restaurateur Nick Varano is planting his flag at Fan Pier, saying he intends to open a new Italian restaurant in Joseph Fallon's waterfront development project.
Varano said today he is planning to open a new Strega location at One Marina Park Drive, the first building in Fallon's planned 23-acre complex of offices, stores and residences. He said the restaurant will have an outdoor section and seating inside for 160, nearly three times the size of the original Strega restaurant on Hanover Street.
"We're very excited about it," he said. "Fan Pier is one of the most beautiful locations in all of Boston."
A spokesman for Fallon declined to comment.
The Fan Pier location would add to Varano's growing stable of restaurants, which also includes Nico and Nick Varano's Famous Deli.
October 29, 2009 05:36 PM
By Casey Ross, Globe Staff
North End Restaurateur Nick Varano is planting his flag at Fan Pier, saying he intends to open a new Italian restaurant in Joseph Fallon's waterfront development project.
Varano said today he is planning to open a new Strega location at One Marina Park Drive, the first building in Fallon's planned 23-acre complex of offices, stores and residences. He said the restaurant will have an outdoor section and seating inside for 160, nearly three times the size of the original Strega restaurant on Hanover Street.
"We're very excited about it," he said. "Fan Pier is one of the most beautiful locations in all of Boston."
A spokesman for Fallon declined to comment.
The Fan Pier location would add to Varano's growing stable of restaurants, which also includes Nico and Nick Varano's Famous Deli.
Flaherty Blasts Menino over Filene's project
Michael Flaherty blasts Mayor Menino for Filene’s ‘war zone’
By Thomas Grillo | Thursday, October 29, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Boston mayoral candidate Michael Flaherty blamed the Menino administration for the stalled project that has left a hole in the ground at Downtown Crossing.
“We need is to hold developers accountable,” Flaherty said today at the former Filene’s site where construction was halted due to a lack of financing. “We have a shopping center that looks like a war zone because the mayor is either unable or unwilling to hold a company’s feet to the fire.”
Flaherty - flanked by former candidates Sam Yoon and Kevin McCrea, who have joined his campaign - said the city should require developers to purchase performance bonds prior to construction to guarantee a project gets built or face financial consequences.
But Gregory Vasil, CEO of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, said such bonds would create another impediment to development amid the worst economy since the Great Depression.
“No one went into the project to have a hole in the middle of the city,” he said in an interview. “Even if there was a bond in place, how would it work when the commercial market is so sour?”
John Palmieri, the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s director, said the bond idea doesn’t make sense.
“I don’t even know if it’s possible,” he told the Herald. “Even if it were, it would have a chilling effect as 30 percent of construction workers are unemployed.”
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1208299
By Thomas Grillo | Thursday, October 29, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Boston mayoral candidate Michael Flaherty blamed the Menino administration for the stalled project that has left a hole in the ground at Downtown Crossing.
“We need is to hold developers accountable,” Flaherty said today at the former Filene’s site where construction was halted due to a lack of financing. “We have a shopping center that looks like a war zone because the mayor is either unable or unwilling to hold a company’s feet to the fire.”
Flaherty - flanked by former candidates Sam Yoon and Kevin McCrea, who have joined his campaign - said the city should require developers to purchase performance bonds prior to construction to guarantee a project gets built or face financial consequences.
But Gregory Vasil, CEO of the Greater Boston Real Estate Board, said such bonds would create another impediment to development amid the worst economy since the Great Depression.
“No one went into the project to have a hole in the middle of the city,” he said in an interview. “Even if there was a bond in place, how would it work when the commercial market is so sour?”
John Palmieri, the Boston Redevelopment Authority’s director, said the bond idea doesn’t make sense.
“I don’t even know if it’s possible,” he told the Herald. “Even if it were, it would have a chilling effect as 30 percent of construction workers are unemployed.”
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1208299
Stuart Street Playhouse to reopen as art house cinema
Art house cinema part of Boston’s scene again
By Ty Burr, Globe Staff | October 29, 2009
Blue custom-sewn drapes have been installed alongside the new Super Glo white screen. Twelve Dolby Digital speakers ring the walls and, upstairs, a repurposed 35mm projector peers out the booth window. In the lobby, a recently constructed concession stand lies dormant, popcorn as yet unpopped.
All that’s missing is the audience, and that should change tomorrow, when the Stuart Street Playhouse reopens as a movie theater and Boston gets its first art house cinema in years. The venue’s initial offerings will be the Juliette Binoche drama “Paris’’ and the fashion documentary “The September Issue,’’ screening in alternating show times, followed in coming weeks by “Bright Star’’ and “Amreeka.’’
All four films have been playing in local theaters since last month, but the Stuart Street may eventually open new releases. “I want to make this into a first-run independent and foreign film theater,’’ says new proprietor David Bramante of the 435-seat space. “It’s Boston - we should have one.’’
We used to have much more than one. Well over a dozen movie houses of all kinds - including the Stuart Street’s original tenant, the Sack 57 twin screen - used to thrive within the city’s limits. Now there exist only two commercial picture palaces, both of them corporate googolplexes: The AMC Loews Boston Common with its 19 screens and the Regal Fenway Stadium with 13.
Institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts, with its robust film program, and the New England Aquarium and Museum of Science, with their IMAX screens, fill some of the gaps. Still, Bostonians craving the latest indie feature or Oscar-nominated German film have for years had to travel to the Brattle or Kendall Square in Cambridge or the Coolidge Corner in Brookline to get their fix.
“It’s a shame that Boston of all places does not have an art house within the city limits,’’ says George Mansour, who has been booking movies into local and national nonchain houses for 45 of his 75 years. “Baltimore has an art house. Great Barrington has an art house. I applaud David for taking the plunge.’’
“It’s a brave, noble experiment,’’ agrees Connie White, who books films into the Coolidge Corner. White knows from her 14 years running the Brattle that managing a single-screen theater is a challenge in a universe of multiplexes. “You have the same costs but you only have one place where the revenue’s coming from, rather than several,’’ she explains. “And it’s hit and miss; sometimes you choose films that aren’t as popular as you thought.’’
On the other hand, the locals may be willing to watch anything: “I’ll be there Friday, and I’ll be there Saturday, because I want to see both movies,’’ Bramante says a woman from a neighborhood association recently told him. Tickets are $10, except for senior citizens on weekdays and during certain matinees when they are $2 less.
The Stuart Street is reopening in a radically different Boston than the one that saw it close. Says Mansour: “Upscale condos now surround the area. Bay Village is safer, the South End has been tremendously gentrified. I think it could be the time.’’
This is the niche that Bramante, who also owns and runs the West Newton Cinema and Belmont’s Studio Cinema, wants to fill: A haven for film lovers in Beacon Hill, the Back Bay, the resurgent South End, and other nearby neighborhoods. “I see this like the Lincoln Plaza in New York City,’’ he says, referring to the storied art house theater on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. “The neighborhood feels the same.’’
Certainly the Stuart Street occupies a unique urban zone. The cinema is owned by the Radisson that towers above it - Bramante is running the theater under an open-ended operating agreement - and is tucked in at the top of the hotel’s entrance ramp. While invisible from the street, yellow signs and a marquee announce the Playhouse’s existence up and down Stuart and Charles streets.
The signage is so good, in fact, that Bramante doesn’t see any reason to change the name from that of the previous tenant: From 1996 until recently, the Stuart Street Playhouse was a 200-seat venue that staged live off-Broadway plays and musicals with varying degrees of success.
Originally, of course, it was the Sack Cinema 57, one of the last vestiges of Boston’s glorious movie-theater past. Named for the old 57 Restaurant that adjoined the theater off the hotel lobby, the Sack 57 opened in late 1971 and was perhaps the final jewel in local exhibition tycoon Ben Sack’s crown, a house that showed 70mm first-run engagements of “Grease,’’ “A Clockwork Orange,’’ the reserved-seat premiere of “Apocalypse Now,’’ and many others.
Alfred Hitchcock personally appeared at the Sack 57 in 1972 with the US premiere of his “Frenzy.’’ When “The Witches of Eastwick’’ filmed in the Boston area in 1986, cast members Jack Nicholson, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer were escorted in after the lights went down to see “Aliens’’ with the plebeians.
Sack, who died at 92 in 2003, was a scrap metal dealer who legend has it won his first movie theater, the Beacon Hill, in a poker game in the 1940s. By the late ’60s, he owned eight of the 16 cinemas in the city, with names that film lovers with long memories can tick off like beads on a rosary: The Charles, the Gary, the Savoy, the Cheri, the Music Hall, the Pi Alley. Photos of their marquees now adorn the lobby of the revamped Stuart Street; in one, the Sack 57 advertises 1971’s “The Hospital’’ while the half-finished John Hancock Tower looms in the background.
During the late ’60s and early ’70s, Boston was also fast becoming an epicenter in the revival house boom, in which scruffy new movie theaters appealed to college and counterculture audiences with a mixture of Hollywood classics, sexually-tinged foreign films, and head-tripping new movies like “El Topo.’’ The phenomenon lasted until home video and rising rents killed it in the 1980s. Only the Brattle and the Coolidge Corner are left standing, and both have flickered near extinction over the years.
By the mid-1990s, the Sack 57 was showing B-level urban action films; its final offerings in May 1996 were “The Great White Hype’’ and “Original Gangstas.’’ With the theater’s reopening, the two lines of Boston movie exhibition history come together: the local mainstream chain and the adventurous art house.
Can David Bramante make it work? While he’s mum about future plans, he’s only operating half of the original Sack 57 under his agreement with the Radisson. The other half, a cavernous space that once seated 800 before getting converted to a golf school, now stands unused. Somewhere, Ben Sack is smelling opportunity and popcorn, and he’s smiling.
Ty Burr can be reached at tburr@globe.com
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
By Ty Burr, Globe Staff | October 29, 2009
Blue custom-sewn drapes have been installed alongside the new Super Glo white screen. Twelve Dolby Digital speakers ring the walls and, upstairs, a repurposed 35mm projector peers out the booth window. In the lobby, a recently constructed concession stand lies dormant, popcorn as yet unpopped.
All that’s missing is the audience, and that should change tomorrow, when the Stuart Street Playhouse reopens as a movie theater and Boston gets its first art house cinema in years. The venue’s initial offerings will be the Juliette Binoche drama “Paris’’ and the fashion documentary “The September Issue,’’ screening in alternating show times, followed in coming weeks by “Bright Star’’ and “Amreeka.’’
All four films have been playing in local theaters since last month, but the Stuart Street may eventually open new releases. “I want to make this into a first-run independent and foreign film theater,’’ says new proprietor David Bramante of the 435-seat space. “It’s Boston - we should have one.’’
We used to have much more than one. Well over a dozen movie houses of all kinds - including the Stuart Street’s original tenant, the Sack 57 twin screen - used to thrive within the city’s limits. Now there exist only two commercial picture palaces, both of them corporate googolplexes: The AMC Loews Boston Common with its 19 screens and the Regal Fenway Stadium with 13.
Institutions such as the Museum of Fine Arts, with its robust film program, and the New England Aquarium and Museum of Science, with their IMAX screens, fill some of the gaps. Still, Bostonians craving the latest indie feature or Oscar-nominated German film have for years had to travel to the Brattle or Kendall Square in Cambridge or the Coolidge Corner in Brookline to get their fix.
“It’s a shame that Boston of all places does not have an art house within the city limits,’’ says George Mansour, who has been booking movies into local and national nonchain houses for 45 of his 75 years. “Baltimore has an art house. Great Barrington has an art house. I applaud David for taking the plunge.’’
“It’s a brave, noble experiment,’’ agrees Connie White, who books films into the Coolidge Corner. White knows from her 14 years running the Brattle that managing a single-screen theater is a challenge in a universe of multiplexes. “You have the same costs but you only have one place where the revenue’s coming from, rather than several,’’ she explains. “And it’s hit and miss; sometimes you choose films that aren’t as popular as you thought.’’
On the other hand, the locals may be willing to watch anything: “I’ll be there Friday, and I’ll be there Saturday, because I want to see both movies,’’ Bramante says a woman from a neighborhood association recently told him. Tickets are $10, except for senior citizens on weekdays and during certain matinees when they are $2 less.
The Stuart Street is reopening in a radically different Boston than the one that saw it close. Says Mansour: “Upscale condos now surround the area. Bay Village is safer, the South End has been tremendously gentrified. I think it could be the time.’’
This is the niche that Bramante, who also owns and runs the West Newton Cinema and Belmont’s Studio Cinema, wants to fill: A haven for film lovers in Beacon Hill, the Back Bay, the resurgent South End, and other nearby neighborhoods. “I see this like the Lincoln Plaza in New York City,’’ he says, referring to the storied art house theater on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. “The neighborhood feels the same.’’
Certainly the Stuart Street occupies a unique urban zone. The cinema is owned by the Radisson that towers above it - Bramante is running the theater under an open-ended operating agreement - and is tucked in at the top of the hotel’s entrance ramp. While invisible from the street, yellow signs and a marquee announce the Playhouse’s existence up and down Stuart and Charles streets.
The signage is so good, in fact, that Bramante doesn’t see any reason to change the name from that of the previous tenant: From 1996 until recently, the Stuart Street Playhouse was a 200-seat venue that staged live off-Broadway plays and musicals with varying degrees of success.
Originally, of course, it was the Sack Cinema 57, one of the last vestiges of Boston’s glorious movie-theater past. Named for the old 57 Restaurant that adjoined the theater off the hotel lobby, the Sack 57 opened in late 1971 and was perhaps the final jewel in local exhibition tycoon Ben Sack’s crown, a house that showed 70mm first-run engagements of “Grease,’’ “A Clockwork Orange,’’ the reserved-seat premiere of “Apocalypse Now,’’ and many others.
Alfred Hitchcock personally appeared at the Sack 57 in 1972 with the US premiere of his “Frenzy.’’ When “The Witches of Eastwick’’ filmed in the Boston area in 1986, cast members Jack Nicholson, Susan Sarandon, and Michelle Pfeiffer were escorted in after the lights went down to see “Aliens’’ with the plebeians.
Sack, who died at 92 in 2003, was a scrap metal dealer who legend has it won his first movie theater, the Beacon Hill, in a poker game in the 1940s. By the late ’60s, he owned eight of the 16 cinemas in the city, with names that film lovers with long memories can tick off like beads on a rosary: The Charles, the Gary, the Savoy, the Cheri, the Music Hall, the Pi Alley. Photos of their marquees now adorn the lobby of the revamped Stuart Street; in one, the Sack 57 advertises 1971’s “The Hospital’’ while the half-finished John Hancock Tower looms in the background.
During the late ’60s and early ’70s, Boston was also fast becoming an epicenter in the revival house boom, in which scruffy new movie theaters appealed to college and counterculture audiences with a mixture of Hollywood classics, sexually-tinged foreign films, and head-tripping new movies like “El Topo.’’ The phenomenon lasted until home video and rising rents killed it in the 1980s. Only the Brattle and the Coolidge Corner are left standing, and both have flickered near extinction over the years.
By the mid-1990s, the Sack 57 was showing B-level urban action films; its final offerings in May 1996 were “The Great White Hype’’ and “Original Gangstas.’’ With the theater’s reopening, the two lines of Boston movie exhibition history come together: the local mainstream chain and the adventurous art house.
Can David Bramante make it work? While he’s mum about future plans, he’s only operating half of the original Sack 57 under his agreement with the Radisson. The other half, a cavernous space that once seated 800 before getting converted to a golf school, now stands unused. Somewhere, Ben Sack is smelling opportunity and popcorn, and he’s smiling.
Ty Burr can be reached at tburr@globe.com
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
Governor won't cut film tax credit
Gov. Deval Patrick won’t cut films’ tax credit
By Jay Fitzgerald | Wednesday, October 28, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
The state will keep its new film-industry tax credit even as the Patrick administration eyes tightening other tax laws to raise money for the cash-strapped state.
Greg Bialecki, Gov. Deval Patrick’s secretary of housing and economic development, said the film tax credit is one of many tax exemptions, deductions and incentives that the administration is now eyeing for possible changes as the state grapples with a $600 million budget deficit.
Bialecki said the governor thought it was only fair that the state looks at tightening tax laws while also moving toward major cuts in state spending. He declined to mention which tax laws the administration is now reviewing.
But he indicated eliminating the film tax credit is off the table, though it may face some adjustments. “No, we’re not going to eliminate it,” he said, noting that some have estimated the credit has created thousands of jobs.
Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Bob Deleo yesterday signaled strong support for the film tax credit, despite criticism that it’s costing the state more than $100 million a year.
Murray, speaking at Patrick’s economic summit yesterday in downtown Boston, said the credit has brought scores of movie productions to Massachusetts over the past few years - and it’s on the verge of paying huge dividends if new studios are built here.
DeLeo said the House is currently reviewing the tax credit, which reimburses movie producers with 25 percent of their wages and expenditures while filming in Massachusetts. The Department of Revenue recently reported the state paid out about $113 million in credits last year, based on $452 million in film expenditures here.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1207786
By Jay Fitzgerald | Wednesday, October 28, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
The state will keep its new film-industry tax credit even as the Patrick administration eyes tightening other tax laws to raise money for the cash-strapped state.
Greg Bialecki, Gov. Deval Patrick’s secretary of housing and economic development, said the film tax credit is one of many tax exemptions, deductions and incentives that the administration is now eyeing for possible changes as the state grapples with a $600 million budget deficit.
Bialecki said the governor thought it was only fair that the state looks at tightening tax laws while also moving toward major cuts in state spending. He declined to mention which tax laws the administration is now reviewing.
But he indicated eliminating the film tax credit is off the table, though it may face some adjustments. “No, we’re not going to eliminate it,” he said, noting that some have estimated the credit has created thousands of jobs.
Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Bob Deleo yesterday signaled strong support for the film tax credit, despite criticism that it’s costing the state more than $100 million a year.
Murray, speaking at Patrick’s economic summit yesterday in downtown Boston, said the credit has brought scores of movie productions to Massachusetts over the past few years - and it’s on the verge of paying huge dividends if new studios are built here.
DeLeo said the House is currently reviewing the tax credit, which reimburses movie producers with 25 percent of their wages and expenditures while filming in Massachusetts. The Department of Revenue recently reported the state paid out about $113 million in credits last year, based on $452 million in film expenditures here.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1207786
Massport hikes Logan car-rental fee
Massport hikes Logan car-rental fee
By Donna Goodison | Wednesday, October 28, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Massport’s $4-a-day fee to rent a car at Logan International Airport will jump to $6 in December.
The increase in the “customer facility charge,” first imposed last December, will generate more money to pay for a $377 million consolidated facility for the airport’s eight rental car companies.
It will help make up for revenue that Massport expected from 3,000 commercial parking spaces that have been eliminated from the project, which now will include just 4,600 rental car spaces.
Massport scaled back its original $453 million project, slated for completion in 2013, due to concerns of East Boston residents and economic constraints. The facility will be four stories and 1.4 million square feet, down from five stories and 2.7 million square feet.
The rest of the funding will come from an expected $114 million U.S. Department of Transportation loan.
Massport also will create a unified shuttle bus system at the airport, which now is serviced by 102 rental car buses and Massport buses. They will be replaced with 28 60-foot, environmentally friendly buses that’ll connect the rental car facility with all airport departure and arrival entrances and the MBTA Blue Line station.
In other Massport news:
Passenger traffic at Logan increased 6 percent in September, continuing an upward trend that started in July after more than a year of declines.
“What is particularly encouraging about these numbers is the bulk of new passengers are coming from traffic on the four new carriers that started business at Logan this year - Virgin America, Porter, Sun Country and Southwest Airlines,” Massport CEO Thomas Kinton Jr. said.
Of the 126,309 additional passengers in September, 108,382 flew with the four new carriers, indicating those airlines are generating new business on their own rather than just “cannibalizing” traffic from other carriers, Kinton said.
Clinics that opened at Logan terminals on Oct. 7 to offer seasonal flu vaccines to airport workers and passengers will close. They will reopen once H1NI flu vaccines are available.
Massport hired Cercone Brown and Co. to sell outdoor advertising on it properties in South Boston’s Seaport District. It’s guaranteed $70,000 in minimum revenue in the first year of the 10-year deal.
“It’s a way for us to get revenue in a challenging economic environment,” spokesman Matt Brelis said.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1207770
By Donna Goodison | Wednesday, October 28, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Massport’s $4-a-day fee to rent a car at Logan International Airport will jump to $6 in December.
The increase in the “customer facility charge,” first imposed last December, will generate more money to pay for a $377 million consolidated facility for the airport’s eight rental car companies.
It will help make up for revenue that Massport expected from 3,000 commercial parking spaces that have been eliminated from the project, which now will include just 4,600 rental car spaces.
Massport scaled back its original $453 million project, slated for completion in 2013, due to concerns of East Boston residents and economic constraints. The facility will be four stories and 1.4 million square feet, down from five stories and 2.7 million square feet.
The rest of the funding will come from an expected $114 million U.S. Department of Transportation loan.
Massport also will create a unified shuttle bus system at the airport, which now is serviced by 102 rental car buses and Massport buses. They will be replaced with 28 60-foot, environmentally friendly buses that’ll connect the rental car facility with all airport departure and arrival entrances and the MBTA Blue Line station.
In other Massport news:
Passenger traffic at Logan increased 6 percent in September, continuing an upward trend that started in July after more than a year of declines.
“What is particularly encouraging about these numbers is the bulk of new passengers are coming from traffic on the four new carriers that started business at Logan this year - Virgin America, Porter, Sun Country and Southwest Airlines,” Massport CEO Thomas Kinton Jr. said.
Of the 126,309 additional passengers in September, 108,382 flew with the four new carriers, indicating those airlines are generating new business on their own rather than just “cannibalizing” traffic from other carriers, Kinton said.
Clinics that opened at Logan terminals on Oct. 7 to offer seasonal flu vaccines to airport workers and passengers will close. They will reopen once H1NI flu vaccines are available.
Massport hired Cercone Brown and Co. to sell outdoor advertising on it properties in South Boston’s Seaport District. It’s guaranteed $70,000 in minimum revenue in the first year of the 10-year deal.
“It’s a way for us to get revenue in a challenging economic environment,” spokesman Matt Brelis said.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1207770
Trina's Starlite Lounge review
CHEAP EATS
Delicious organized chaos
By Sheryl Julian, Globe Staff | October 28, 2009
Trina’s Starlite Lounge is the coolest place in town. It looks like a dive, one of those 1950s roadside spots that you can’t see into (though Trina’s does have a window on one side). Mysterious nonetheless. Inside, you’re met with a wall of noise, a crush of people, friendly staff, and bartenders who seem to be able to lip-read. In this hipster crowd you’ll see lots of National Health Service glasses, narrow-brimmed hats, long colorful knit scarves.
This was the former Abbey Lounge. New owners Trina and Beau Sturm bartended around town, she at City Bar in the Lenox Hotel, he at Highland Kitchen in Somerville. Third partner Joshua Childs is a co-owner of Silvertone Bar & Grill in Boston. Fourth partner Jay Bellao shares general manager duties.
Several things are making Trina’s wildly popular a month after opening. It’s hardly decorated - a few posters here and there to suggest the ’50s - and it’s welcoming and unpretentious. It seems chaotic, but runs smoothly. Skilled bartenders remember your drinks, reception remembers the number in your party. You might not realize what a finely tuned operation this is.
The kitchen is open until midnight. That’s when you can get a good draft beer and “dog of the day’’ (about $5); a plump Kayem all-beef dog with sauerkraut is divine. If you need something to keep all those drinks company, order fries loaded with chili and cheddar ($6).
Trina’s has two bars, one you can’t see at first. If the first is too crowded (probably is, made more so by a no-reservations policy), keep walking to the second. If you get a seat, dig into succulent wings with a Great Hill Blue cheese sauce ($7), or feathery crab cakes with aioli ($9).
Food arrives fast and hot. Suzi Maitland, formerly of the Metropolitan Club, is in the kitchen, sometimes with menu consultant Greg Reeves of Green Street Grill. Beautifully flaky baked haddock ($15) is on a bed of spinach with delectable smoky sweet potato hash. A hefty dish of crisp onion rings ($4) are quite crunchy; hand-cut fries ($4) are good and thick. A satisfying smoked turkey BLT ($8) has lovely flavors. Mac & cheese ($9), which looks pinky with Velveeta, is covered with Ritz crackers. At first we think it’s passable. When the waitress goes to take it, a few forks pitch forth to grab the last tasty shells.
Luscious fried chicken ($17) has a beautiful coating. I cut into the waffle it’s sitting on, which is so hard, it goes flying across the plate, sending a pitcher of hot pepper syrup (read: sticky) all over me. It’s the only misstep here, immediately followed by someone appearing out of nowhere with a cloth napkin and glass of seltzer. Was it the bartender who reads lips? If so, thank you.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Delicious organized chaos
By Sheryl Julian, Globe Staff | October 28, 2009
Trina’s Starlite Lounge is the coolest place in town. It looks like a dive, one of those 1950s roadside spots that you can’t see into (though Trina’s does have a window on one side). Mysterious nonetheless. Inside, you’re met with a wall of noise, a crush of people, friendly staff, and bartenders who seem to be able to lip-read. In this hipster crowd you’ll see lots of National Health Service glasses, narrow-brimmed hats, long colorful knit scarves.
This was the former Abbey Lounge. New owners Trina and Beau Sturm bartended around town, she at City Bar in the Lenox Hotel, he at Highland Kitchen in Somerville. Third partner Joshua Childs is a co-owner of Silvertone Bar & Grill in Boston. Fourth partner Jay Bellao shares general manager duties.
Several things are making Trina’s wildly popular a month after opening. It’s hardly decorated - a few posters here and there to suggest the ’50s - and it’s welcoming and unpretentious. It seems chaotic, but runs smoothly. Skilled bartenders remember your drinks, reception remembers the number in your party. You might not realize what a finely tuned operation this is.
The kitchen is open until midnight. That’s when you can get a good draft beer and “dog of the day’’ (about $5); a plump Kayem all-beef dog with sauerkraut is divine. If you need something to keep all those drinks company, order fries loaded with chili and cheddar ($6).
Trina’s has two bars, one you can’t see at first. If the first is too crowded (probably is, made more so by a no-reservations policy), keep walking to the second. If you get a seat, dig into succulent wings with a Great Hill Blue cheese sauce ($7), or feathery crab cakes with aioli ($9).
Food arrives fast and hot. Suzi Maitland, formerly of the Metropolitan Club, is in the kitchen, sometimes with menu consultant Greg Reeves of Green Street Grill. Beautifully flaky baked haddock ($15) is on a bed of spinach with delectable smoky sweet potato hash. A hefty dish of crisp onion rings ($4) are quite crunchy; hand-cut fries ($4) are good and thick. A satisfying smoked turkey BLT ($8) has lovely flavors. Mac & cheese ($9), which looks pinky with Velveeta, is covered with Ritz crackers. At first we think it’s passable. When the waitress goes to take it, a few forks pitch forth to grab the last tasty shells.
Luscious fried chicken ($17) has a beautiful coating. I cut into the waffle it’s sitting on, which is so hard, it goes flying across the plate, sending a pitcher of hot pepper syrup (read: sticky) all over me. It’s the only misstep here, immediately followed by someone appearing out of nowhere with a cloth napkin and glass of seltzer. Was it the bartender who reads lips? If so, thank you.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Bon Savor review
DINING OUT
Bon Savor charms
Jamaica Plain spot splits time between France, South America
By Devra First, Globe Staff | October 28, 2009
Hail, Boston, our city of neighborhoods. From the east, the aroma of tortillas on the griddle, char-bottomed pizza pies, and airplane fumes mingled with paper-cup coffee. By the water, lobster wholesalers, urban fish shacks, and metal shipping containers in Cezanne hues, dispersing into North End brick, garlic sizzling in olive oil, and sauces cooked for hours. Live shrimp and pea shoots and pork potstickers in Chinatown, ginger and scallions and white rice plain and perfect. On to lobster Savannah. Oysters and chowder. Fenway franks. The South End, roast chicken, sticky buns, steak frites, rinse, repeat. And into the boroughs: Irish bars, burritos, Burmese soups, soul food, sushi seven ways (or more). For every quirky little neighborhood, dozens of quirky little restaurants and dishes, and the people who love them. It is as good a reason as any to live here. Better than most.
Bon Savor is a fine reminder of this, in and of Jamaica Plain, and as much about charm and personality as food. It is the brick-and-mortar progeny of Oleg Konovalov and Ibonne Zabala, a Russian and a Colombian (who are also parents of a 10-month-old). They opened the place four years ago and in August brought in a new chef, Marco Suarez, who was previously at the vast Eastern Standard. He left it behind for Lilliput. Bon Savor is the size of a generous closet, with tile floors and brick walls. Despite the difference in their sizes, the two establishments share a characteristic: conviviality.
When you walk through the door at Bon Savor, there is happy energy and candlelight. Servers are solicitous and kind. Tables are full midweek, and the people at them don’t have far to travel afterward. This is the release at the end of the day, the last stop before bed and nothing that needs to be done. Suarez’s food works well for that mood. There’s a bit of richness, balanced by citrus and herbs and light, flavor ful salads. Bon Savor also offers a raw bar, with $1 oysters on Tuesdays.
The menu divides its time between France and South America, a condition we all can envy. Would you like some French onion soup or mussels Provençal? The former is lighter than many versions, with a gentle broth and cheese that ornaments the soup rather than overwhelms it. Mussels are fine, and their broth of tomatoes, wine, capers, and fennel is lovely. Or perhaps you feel more like empanadas or Peruvian ceviche. The turnovers are baked in a dough that becomes nut brown in the oven and crisp at the edges. They’re filled with shredded beef and drizzled with not enough chimichurri. The menu promises striped bass ceviche, but on each occasion we visit, it features tuna; the menu is about to change with the season, and the striped bass is likely to migrate with it. The tuna ceviche tastes clean and tart, plated with plantain chips and a pretty salad. It’s a good example of Bon Savor’s style: fresh and simple, but special. Unfortunately, the red peppers in the dish wage a flavor war with the fish, and who wins depends on the composition of each bite.
When the menu changes, it is also likely to leave behind a fava and radish salad. Let us hope for a winter version, because the dish is delightful. It is a vertical flume of favas, peas, radishes, and frisee in a lemony dressing. The salad is topped with toasts; on one side is a quenelle of Parmesan butter, on the other three little piles of salt. One spears some vegetables, drags them through the butter, then dunks them in the salt. It is a brighter, more complete version of the classic French snack of radishes, butter, and salt. Another salad is more traditional: a little tumbleweed of frisee, a poached egg, and lardons.
Steak Argentina is good enough to make one cry - maybe that’s how it got so salty one night. Even overseasoned, it’s delicious, chewy and rare with a great sear. Thank you, Argentina, for giving us steak with chimichurri, a culinary pairing a la George and Gracie, the straight man and the zany sidekick. The hanger steak is matched with a hearts of palm salad and a generous skillet of potato gratin.
Moqueca, the Brazilian seafood stew, showcases clams, squid, mussels, and perfect shrimp in a warming broth of tomato and coconut milk. It’s fantastic.
A seared tuna dish is not. The fish comes with what appears to be corn pudding with a cloying sweetness; a glance at the menu reveals this to be coconut quinoa that has merged with the corn that comes on the side. Again, red peppers blare annoyingly, the taste equivalent of interrupting every time someone tries to talk. I’m not convinced they belong with fish except in very rare instances. Tomato chutney just adds another layer of confusion. A braised pork shank special one night is also a jumble of flavor, too-sweet spices and bland meat, a large helping of sameness cloaked in brown sauce.
Not all is meaty here. There are good options for vegetarians, including arroz con vegetales, a risotto-like affair brimming with vegetables. Coquillettes aux trois fromages is possibly the fanciest name ever for macaroni and cheese; the three are Gouda, gruyere, and gorgonzola. The Gouda is most pronounced, with its smoky, bacon-like flavor. The pasta would be better with fewer sun-dried tomatoes, a chewy blight on this creamy landscape.
Crepes sweet and savory are a focus of the menu. The Bon Savor crepe is a thin, light pancake filled with mushrooms, corn, and large, fatty chunks of bacon. It might be too rich if not for the accompanying salad of chayote, which tastes a bit like a cross between fennel and cucumbers.
For dessert, you might try a crepe filled with dulce de leche, zigzagged with chocolate sauce and served with whipped cream. The chocolate and whipped cream could go; this crepe would be delicious sprinkled simply with confectioner’s sugar. There’s also tres leches cake, heavier than it ought to be but with nice flavor, and a brownie-like chocolate torte served with notably bad ice cream. It’s supposed to be vanilla, I’m guessing, but it tastes more like Band-Aid. When the oysters are Duxbury and the cheese Tarentaise, and the menu reads “We use local and organic ingredients whenever possible’’ at the bottom, some attention is being paid to sourcing. J.P. Licks is right down the street.
The short wine list could also use sprucing in this arena. Selections include the uninteresting Rex Goliath pinot noir and the simple but food-friendly-enough Zestos tempranillo-garnacha blend. It’s nice to find such reasonably priced bottles (more than half are in the $20s), but more unusual finds would better suit the food. Ditto the beer list. The drinks feel behind the rest of the program at Bon Savor.
But this is a place that does not have pretensions. It’s not the kind of restaurant you go out of your way for - it’s the kind you eat at, regularly and gladly, in your own neck of the woods. Hail, Boston, our city of neighborhood restaurants.
Devra First can be reached at dfirst@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Bon Savor charms
Jamaica Plain spot splits time between France, South America
By Devra First, Globe Staff | October 28, 2009
Hail, Boston, our city of neighborhoods. From the east, the aroma of tortillas on the griddle, char-bottomed pizza pies, and airplane fumes mingled with paper-cup coffee. By the water, lobster wholesalers, urban fish shacks, and metal shipping containers in Cezanne hues, dispersing into North End brick, garlic sizzling in olive oil, and sauces cooked for hours. Live shrimp and pea shoots and pork potstickers in Chinatown, ginger and scallions and white rice plain and perfect. On to lobster Savannah. Oysters and chowder. Fenway franks. The South End, roast chicken, sticky buns, steak frites, rinse, repeat. And into the boroughs: Irish bars, burritos, Burmese soups, soul food, sushi seven ways (or more). For every quirky little neighborhood, dozens of quirky little restaurants and dishes, and the people who love them. It is as good a reason as any to live here. Better than most.
Bon Savor is a fine reminder of this, in and of Jamaica Plain, and as much about charm and personality as food. It is the brick-and-mortar progeny of Oleg Konovalov and Ibonne Zabala, a Russian and a Colombian (who are also parents of a 10-month-old). They opened the place four years ago and in August brought in a new chef, Marco Suarez, who was previously at the vast Eastern Standard. He left it behind for Lilliput. Bon Savor is the size of a generous closet, with tile floors and brick walls. Despite the difference in their sizes, the two establishments share a characteristic: conviviality.
When you walk through the door at Bon Savor, there is happy energy and candlelight. Servers are solicitous and kind. Tables are full midweek, and the people at them don’t have far to travel afterward. This is the release at the end of the day, the last stop before bed and nothing that needs to be done. Suarez’s food works well for that mood. There’s a bit of richness, balanced by citrus and herbs and light, flavor ful salads. Bon Savor also offers a raw bar, with $1 oysters on Tuesdays.
The menu divides its time between France and South America, a condition we all can envy. Would you like some French onion soup or mussels Provençal? The former is lighter than many versions, with a gentle broth and cheese that ornaments the soup rather than overwhelms it. Mussels are fine, and their broth of tomatoes, wine, capers, and fennel is lovely. Or perhaps you feel more like empanadas or Peruvian ceviche. The turnovers are baked in a dough that becomes nut brown in the oven and crisp at the edges. They’re filled with shredded beef and drizzled with not enough chimichurri. The menu promises striped bass ceviche, but on each occasion we visit, it features tuna; the menu is about to change with the season, and the striped bass is likely to migrate with it. The tuna ceviche tastes clean and tart, plated with plantain chips and a pretty salad. It’s a good example of Bon Savor’s style: fresh and simple, but special. Unfortunately, the red peppers in the dish wage a flavor war with the fish, and who wins depends on the composition of each bite.
When the menu changes, it is also likely to leave behind a fava and radish salad. Let us hope for a winter version, because the dish is delightful. It is a vertical flume of favas, peas, radishes, and frisee in a lemony dressing. The salad is topped with toasts; on one side is a quenelle of Parmesan butter, on the other three little piles of salt. One spears some vegetables, drags them through the butter, then dunks them in the salt. It is a brighter, more complete version of the classic French snack of radishes, butter, and salt. Another salad is more traditional: a little tumbleweed of frisee, a poached egg, and lardons.
Steak Argentina is good enough to make one cry - maybe that’s how it got so salty one night. Even overseasoned, it’s delicious, chewy and rare with a great sear. Thank you, Argentina, for giving us steak with chimichurri, a culinary pairing a la George and Gracie, the straight man and the zany sidekick. The hanger steak is matched with a hearts of palm salad and a generous skillet of potato gratin.
Moqueca, the Brazilian seafood stew, showcases clams, squid, mussels, and perfect shrimp in a warming broth of tomato and coconut milk. It’s fantastic.
A seared tuna dish is not. The fish comes with what appears to be corn pudding with a cloying sweetness; a glance at the menu reveals this to be coconut quinoa that has merged with the corn that comes on the side. Again, red peppers blare annoyingly, the taste equivalent of interrupting every time someone tries to talk. I’m not convinced they belong with fish except in very rare instances. Tomato chutney just adds another layer of confusion. A braised pork shank special one night is also a jumble of flavor, too-sweet spices and bland meat, a large helping of sameness cloaked in brown sauce.
Not all is meaty here. There are good options for vegetarians, including arroz con vegetales, a risotto-like affair brimming with vegetables. Coquillettes aux trois fromages is possibly the fanciest name ever for macaroni and cheese; the three are Gouda, gruyere, and gorgonzola. The Gouda is most pronounced, with its smoky, bacon-like flavor. The pasta would be better with fewer sun-dried tomatoes, a chewy blight on this creamy landscape.
Crepes sweet and savory are a focus of the menu. The Bon Savor crepe is a thin, light pancake filled with mushrooms, corn, and large, fatty chunks of bacon. It might be too rich if not for the accompanying salad of chayote, which tastes a bit like a cross between fennel and cucumbers.
For dessert, you might try a crepe filled with dulce de leche, zigzagged with chocolate sauce and served with whipped cream. The chocolate and whipped cream could go; this crepe would be delicious sprinkled simply with confectioner’s sugar. There’s also tres leches cake, heavier than it ought to be but with nice flavor, and a brownie-like chocolate torte served with notably bad ice cream. It’s supposed to be vanilla, I’m guessing, but it tastes more like Band-Aid. When the oysters are Duxbury and the cheese Tarentaise, and the menu reads “We use local and organic ingredients whenever possible’’ at the bottom, some attention is being paid to sourcing. J.P. Licks is right down the street.
The short wine list could also use sprucing in this arena. Selections include the uninteresting Rex Goliath pinot noir and the simple but food-friendly-enough Zestos tempranillo-garnacha blend. It’s nice to find such reasonably priced bottles (more than half are in the $20s), but more unusual finds would better suit the food. Ditto the beer list. The drinks feel behind the rest of the program at Bon Savor.
But this is a place that does not have pretensions. It’s not the kind of restaurant you go out of your way for - it’s the kind you eat at, regularly and gladly, in your own neck of the woods. Hail, Boston, our city of neighborhood restaurants.
Devra First can be reached at dfirst@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Michael Schlow splits with restaurant partners
Schlow and Myers (and Parsons)
The trio behind two of Boston’s best restaurants is breaking up. Chef Michael Schlow confirmed to us yesterday that he and Christopher Myers and Esti Parsons, co-owners of Via Matta and Radius, have ended their professional relationship, with Schlow buying out his partners. In a statement, the celebrated chef had this to say: ‘‘Christopher and I were lucky to have a fruitful and excellent partnership for 11 years. This is a decision we came to together. I wouldn’t be where I am today without Christopher and Esti, and I wish them all the best.’’ Schlow would not elaborate on the reason for the split, but it’s well known in the restaurant world that he and Myers are not exactly best friends. Still, the news comes as a surprise. The restaurants are routinely cited by critics as among the finest in a city obsessed with food. Parsons had previously announced her intention to leave the group to open a place of her own. Myers told us yesterday, ‘‘I would just say this, it’s time.’’ He also co-owns Flour bakery and Myers + Chang with his wife, Joanne Chang.
The trio behind two of Boston’s best restaurants is breaking up. Chef Michael Schlow confirmed to us yesterday that he and Christopher Myers and Esti Parsons, co-owners of Via Matta and Radius, have ended their professional relationship, with Schlow buying out his partners. In a statement, the celebrated chef had this to say: ‘‘Christopher and I were lucky to have a fruitful and excellent partnership for 11 years. This is a decision we came to together. I wouldn’t be where I am today without Christopher and Esti, and I wish them all the best.’’ Schlow would not elaborate on the reason for the split, but it’s well known in the restaurant world that he and Myers are not exactly best friends. Still, the news comes as a surprise. The restaurants are routinely cited by critics as among the finest in a city obsessed with food. Parsons had previously announced her intention to leave the group to open a place of her own. Myers told us yesterday, ‘‘I would just say this, it’s time.’’ He also co-owns Flour bakery and Myers + Chang with his wife, Joanne Chang.
Aroa review
South End shop features out-of-the-ordinary tastes
Sweet spot
By Mat Schaffer | Wednesday, October 28, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Food & Recipes
The sweet stuff isn’t just for children at Aroa Fine Chocolate. At the South End chocolaterie/patisserie, you will find chocolates seasoned with basil, tea, stout, liqueur, port, ginger and chilies. Consider them NC-17-rated indulgences for grownup trick-or-treaters.
While the ancient Aztecs used to consume melted chocolate mixed with chilies, Aroa executive pastry chef Tim Brown says the other unusual flavorings are modern-day inventions.
“I love candied ginger from Australia and dark chocolate. So the thinking one morning in the shower was why can’t we put ginger in the filled chocolate?” he said. “So we got some ginger at the Haymarket. We put it through the juicer and mixed it with cream and added some dark chocolate. It’s pretty good, if I may say so.”
All chocolate begins with cocoa beans.
“They’re grown around the equator and, like wine, are influenced a lot by where they’re grown, who looks after them, soil conditions and weather conditions,” Brown said. “Most of those beans are then sold on the open market to different chocolate manufacturers and moved across the world to their production facilities.”
The beans are then roasted and crushed into minute particles.
“They put (the crushed chocolate) into what is essentially a big pot with a beater and they churn it - for up to 96 hours - with a little bit of heat,” Brown said. “That allows some of the tannins and volatile acids to evaporate. Then it’s molded into the bars that you buy in the store or they send us.
“The most important part is that the people who are touching the beans know what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. Those skills are passed down through generations. It’s nothing you can read in a book or learn on the computer. It’s all about touch and feel.”
The different varieties of chocolate are determined by the percentage of crushed cocoa beans in the bar.
“Most milk chocolates run between 30 and 40 percent,” Brown said. “Bittersweet runs around 40 to 66; extra bitter - or extra bittersweet, as some people call it - goes from 66 to 100 percent. There are no crushed cocoa beans in white chocolate.”
Brown advises chocolate lovers to store chocolate in a cool, dry environment (not the refrigerator) at a temperature between 68 and 72 degrees.
“We guarantee our product for four weeks after you leave here,” Brown said. “But, hey, who’s going to leave chocolate around for a month? I certainly don’t.”
(Aroa Fine Chocolate, 1651 Washington St., 617-425-4988. aroafinechocolate.com)
Sweet spot
By Mat Schaffer | Wednesday, October 28, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Food & Recipes
The sweet stuff isn’t just for children at Aroa Fine Chocolate. At the South End chocolaterie/patisserie, you will find chocolates seasoned with basil, tea, stout, liqueur, port, ginger and chilies. Consider them NC-17-rated indulgences for grownup trick-or-treaters.
While the ancient Aztecs used to consume melted chocolate mixed with chilies, Aroa executive pastry chef Tim Brown says the other unusual flavorings are modern-day inventions.
“I love candied ginger from Australia and dark chocolate. So the thinking one morning in the shower was why can’t we put ginger in the filled chocolate?” he said. “So we got some ginger at the Haymarket. We put it through the juicer and mixed it with cream and added some dark chocolate. It’s pretty good, if I may say so.”
All chocolate begins with cocoa beans.
“They’re grown around the equator and, like wine, are influenced a lot by where they’re grown, who looks after them, soil conditions and weather conditions,” Brown said. “Most of those beans are then sold on the open market to different chocolate manufacturers and moved across the world to their production facilities.”
The beans are then roasted and crushed into minute particles.
“They put (the crushed chocolate) into what is essentially a big pot with a beater and they churn it - for up to 96 hours - with a little bit of heat,” Brown said. “That allows some of the tannins and volatile acids to evaporate. Then it’s molded into the bars that you buy in the store or they send us.
“The most important part is that the people who are touching the beans know what they’re doing and how they’re doing it. Those skills are passed down through generations. It’s nothing you can read in a book or learn on the computer. It’s all about touch and feel.”
The different varieties of chocolate are determined by the percentage of crushed cocoa beans in the bar.
“Most milk chocolates run between 30 and 40 percent,” Brown said. “Bittersweet runs around 40 to 66; extra bitter - or extra bittersweet, as some people call it - goes from 66 to 100 percent. There are no crushed cocoa beans in white chocolate.”
Brown advises chocolate lovers to store chocolate in a cool, dry environment (not the refrigerator) at a temperature between 68 and 72 degrees.
“We guarantee our product for four weeks after you leave here,” Brown said. “But, hey, who’s going to leave chocolate around for a month? I certainly don’t.”
(Aroa Fine Chocolate, 1651 Washington St., 617-425-4988. aroafinechocolate.com)
Jerry Remy's Sports Bar & Grill on track for Opening Day
Jerry Remy gets ball rolling on Fenway sports bar
By Thomas Grillo | Wednesday, October 28, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Construction is finally under way at Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar & Grill in the shadow of Fenway Park [map].
Remy, the color analyst for New England Sports Network who has been recovering from lung cancer surgery, had planned a grand opening for the start of the 2009 season. But the steakhouse’s launch stalled because financing has been scarce.
John O’Rourke, president of LTS Sports and Remy’s business partner, said he was able to convince Jon Cronin, owner of Atlantic Beer Garden at the Seaport and the Boston Beer Garden in South Boston, to invest in the $3.7 million venture.
“Once we secured Jon as the biggest investor, other investors followed,” he said. “We’re very excited. We expect to open on March 1 in time for Opening Day.”
Upon completion, the former WBCN [website] headquarters at 1265 Boylston St. will feature a full-service restaurant and bar with 330 seats, 50 of them outdoors. The brick exterior will be retained with glass windows and doors that look out onto outdoor seating.
The eatery will mix burgers and pizza with upscale fare such as steak and lobster. If all goes well, Jerry Remy Sports Bars could become a New England chain.
The Boston Red Sox [team stats] purchased the property in 2005 for $3.3 million and rent the 8,400-square-foot space to Remy for an undisclosed amount.
Jean M. Lorizio, executive secretary of the Boston Licensing Board, said Remy purchased an alcohol license from the defunct Italian American Restaurant in South Boston for $165,000.
Charles Perkins of the Boston Restaurant Group, a restaurant broker, said Remy’s restaurant should attract fans during baseball season. But he wondered if people would be willing to fight the traffic in the off-season for a burger.
“It’s a good location in an area that is coming into its own,” he said. “I’d bet on Boylston Street rather than the Seaport, but do I think it will be a home run? I don’t know.”
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1207789
By Thomas Grillo | Wednesday, October 28, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Construction is finally under way at Jerry Remy’s Sports Bar & Grill in the shadow of Fenway Park [map].
Remy, the color analyst for New England Sports Network who has been recovering from lung cancer surgery, had planned a grand opening for the start of the 2009 season. But the steakhouse’s launch stalled because financing has been scarce.
John O’Rourke, president of LTS Sports and Remy’s business partner, said he was able to convince Jon Cronin, owner of Atlantic Beer Garden at the Seaport and the Boston Beer Garden in South Boston, to invest in the $3.7 million venture.
“Once we secured Jon as the biggest investor, other investors followed,” he said. “We’re very excited. We expect to open on March 1 in time for Opening Day.”
Upon completion, the former WBCN [website] headquarters at 1265 Boylston St. will feature a full-service restaurant and bar with 330 seats, 50 of them outdoors. The brick exterior will be retained with glass windows and doors that look out onto outdoor seating.
The eatery will mix burgers and pizza with upscale fare such as steak and lobster. If all goes well, Jerry Remy Sports Bars could become a New England chain.
The Boston Red Sox [team stats] purchased the property in 2005 for $3.3 million and rent the 8,400-square-foot space to Remy for an undisclosed amount.
Jean M. Lorizio, executive secretary of the Boston Licensing Board, said Remy purchased an alcohol license from the defunct Italian American Restaurant in South Boston for $165,000.
Charles Perkins of the Boston Restaurant Group, a restaurant broker, said Remy’s restaurant should attract fans during baseball season. But he wondered if people would be willing to fight the traffic in the off-season for a burger.
“It’s a good location in an area that is coming into its own,” he said. “I’d bet on Boylston Street rather than the Seaport, but do I think it will be a home run? I don’t know.”
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1207789
Winthrop-Boston ferry service may start next year
Winthropite.com
Winthrop to Rowe's Wharf - Ferry Plan in the Works
Posted Tue, 10/27/2009 - 4:48pm by admin
For the past twelve years, Winthrop has been talking about, and working towards, a ferry service to and from Boston as a way to revitalize its waterfront. With the help of $950,000 in federal stimulus funds, the commuter ferry service could be a reality. The ferry would take passengers from Winthrop to Rowe's Wharf in Boston.
Town Manager Jim McKenna said that within the next few months, the town plans to issue a request for proposals from firms interested in operating the ferry, which would be based at the Public Landing on Shirley Street.
The $950,000 grant was part of $42 million in local funding awards recently announced by US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood under a program that supports ferry services and facilities. The Winthrop project was one of three in Massachusetts to receive funding.
"Only a few communities were successful in securing these funds. We were very grateful to be one of them," said McKenna, adding that the town is thankful to Massachusetts Speaker of the House and US Representative Edward J. Markey for securing the earmark. "He was key in the effort."
McKenna said the ferry would offer an alternative means of transportation to and from Boston for commuters, and an opportunity to boost tourism.
Town Harbormaster Chuck Famolare said he was excited about the prospects of having commuter ferry service available for Winthrop residents. "We’re going to put out an RFP (request for proposals) for ferry service operators and everything should come together around May 1," said Famolare.
The harbormaster said the ferry ride from Winthrop to Boston would take approximately 25 minutes. "We've promised the state and the federal government that the most it would be is $5 each way. People could park at the Landing, go to work or visit Boston, and return on the ferry."
The ferry could also be used for excursions to the Harbor Islands, charters, lunch and dinner cruises, birthday parties, and other social events. "There are plenty of opportunities for ferry operators who make a bid, to earn extra money so they’re not just relying on the $5 fee per person," said Famolare.
Famolare said the ferry service could stimulate tourism in the town as people board the ferry in Boston for a day trip to Winthrop.
Town Councillor Linda Calla said the ferry service from Boston to Winthrop could provide a boost to the town in terms of visibility and drawing people in to Winthrop restaurants and stores.
"When people come and see what a pretty seaside town Winthrop is and the beaches and yacht clubs we have here, I think they'll want to keep coming back," said Calla. "We also have some fabulous restaurants in the town and people can enjoy the great food and atmosphere and spend much less than they would in Boston," said Calla. "I'm hopeful that the ferry will lead to some positive things in the town."
Winthrop's efforts have also included a $2.2 million project to construct a new pier and upgrade the adjacent public landing area. The project has been funded largely by state money, most of it from the Seaport Advisory Council.
The pier was built in 2007 and Winthrop recently began making upgrades to the public landing, which involves repaving the parking area and adding landscaping, benches, and pathways. In a later phase, the town plans to construct a waterside building to provide an office for the harbormaster and space for other municipal uses.
Winthrop to Rowe's Wharf - Ferry Plan in the Works
Posted Tue, 10/27/2009 - 4:48pm by admin
For the past twelve years, Winthrop has been talking about, and working towards, a ferry service to and from Boston as a way to revitalize its waterfront. With the help of $950,000 in federal stimulus funds, the commuter ferry service could be a reality. The ferry would take passengers from Winthrop to Rowe's Wharf in Boston.
Town Manager Jim McKenna said that within the next few months, the town plans to issue a request for proposals from firms interested in operating the ferry, which would be based at the Public Landing on Shirley Street.
The $950,000 grant was part of $42 million in local funding awards recently announced by US Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood under a program that supports ferry services and facilities. The Winthrop project was one of three in Massachusetts to receive funding.
"Only a few communities were successful in securing these funds. We were very grateful to be one of them," said McKenna, adding that the town is thankful to Massachusetts Speaker of the House and US Representative Edward J. Markey for securing the earmark. "He was key in the effort."
McKenna said the ferry would offer an alternative means of transportation to and from Boston for commuters, and an opportunity to boost tourism.
Town Harbormaster Chuck Famolare said he was excited about the prospects of having commuter ferry service available for Winthrop residents. "We’re going to put out an RFP (request for proposals) for ferry service operators and everything should come together around May 1," said Famolare.
The harbormaster said the ferry ride from Winthrop to Boston would take approximately 25 minutes. "We've promised the state and the federal government that the most it would be is $5 each way. People could park at the Landing, go to work or visit Boston, and return on the ferry."
The ferry could also be used for excursions to the Harbor Islands, charters, lunch and dinner cruises, birthday parties, and other social events. "There are plenty of opportunities for ferry operators who make a bid, to earn extra money so they’re not just relying on the $5 fee per person," said Famolare.
Famolare said the ferry service could stimulate tourism in the town as people board the ferry in Boston for a day trip to Winthrop.
Town Councillor Linda Calla said the ferry service from Boston to Winthrop could provide a boost to the town in terms of visibility and drawing people in to Winthrop restaurants and stores.
"When people come and see what a pretty seaside town Winthrop is and the beaches and yacht clubs we have here, I think they'll want to keep coming back," said Calla. "We also have some fabulous restaurants in the town and people can enjoy the great food and atmosphere and spend much less than they would in Boston," said Calla. "I'm hopeful that the ferry will lead to some positive things in the town."
Winthrop's efforts have also included a $2.2 million project to construct a new pier and upgrade the adjacent public landing area. The project has been funded largely by state money, most of it from the Seaport Advisory Council.
The pier was built in 2007 and Winthrop recently began making upgrades to the public landing, which involves repaving the parking area and adding landscaping, benches, and pathways. In a later phase, the town plans to construct a waterside building to provide an office for the harbormaster and space for other municipal uses.
Living Room Sues the W hotel
Universal Hub
Suit: This town not big enough for two Living Rooms
By adamg - Tue, 10/27/2009 - 11:23am.
The Living Room, an Atlantic Avenue restaurant, filed suit yesterday against Starwood Hotels, which is about to open a restaurant called the Living Room in its new W hotel on Stuart Street in the Back Bay.
In its suit, filed in US District Court in Boston, the original Living Room says the new Living Room would confuse Boston diners, that it's trademarked the name for use as a restaurant and that it was here first - it opened in 2002. The W Living Room is scheduled to open on Thursday.
Complete Living Room complaint.
Suit: This town not big enough for two Living Rooms
By adamg - Tue, 10/27/2009 - 11:23am.
The Living Room, an Atlantic Avenue restaurant, filed suit yesterday against Starwood Hotels, which is about to open a restaurant called the Living Room in its new W hotel on Stuart Street in the Back Bay.
In its suit, filed in US District Court in Boston, the original Living Room says the new Living Room would confuse Boston diners, that it's trademarked the name for use as a restaurant and that it was here first - it opened in 2002. The W Living Room is scheduled to open on Thursday.
Complete Living Room complaint.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Burgers making a comeback in upscale restaurants
Burgers flipping their way to the top of the menu
By M.S. Enkoji / McClatchy Newspapers | Monday, October 26, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Food & Recipes
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — When you belly up to that white tablecloth awash in candlelight and that tuxedoed waiter asks for your order, chances are good these days you’ll say, "the burger, please."
The humble hamburger dominates the dining industry at fast-food counters where it was always king, but more notably, the American staple is becoming a fixture in the lofty confines of fine dining alongside heirloom tomatoes and foie gras.
Universal in appeal and relatively easy on the wallet, the burger is proving to be the quintessential recession offering from burger-flippers and celebrated chefs alike.
When the Cosmo Cafe opened last year in downtown Sacramento, there was no doubt that a burger would be on the menu, said Callista Wengler, a spokeswoman for Paragary Restaurant Group.
"When we don’t have it on the menu, we find people ask for it a lot," Wengler said.
At Esquire Grill, Spataro Restaurant & Bar, and Cosmo Cafe, the Paragary group-owned Northern California restaurants all offer burgers on the same menu with grilled lamb loin chops with olive tapenade, pan-seared petrale sole and ahi tuna with yam puree.
Morton’s, the fine-dining steakhouse chain, offers Morton’s prime burger at lunch. Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck confides that his mini-cheesburgers go faster than anything else at Academy Awards parties. At French Laundry in Yountville, Calif., where diners shell out $240 for dinners, chef Thomas Keller is planning a separate burger joint.
Burgers, even with freshly ground beef and trimmings such as caramelized onions and truffle cheese, can ring up for half the price of other entrees.
Nationwide, the number of restaurants overall offering burgers has increased by more than 4 percent since 2005, but in the fine-dining category, burgers jumped nearly 19 percent during the same time span, according to data-research company Datassential.
During a down economy, diners look for value and comfort in food, said Maeve Webster, a managing director for the Los Angeles-based company.
"Absolutely, comfort food takes center stage," she said.
Not that a burger is a burger is a burger.
In a fine-dining setting, diners can expect premium details, such as freshly ground rib eye at Esquire Grill.
"It’s not what, but how it’s offered," Webster said.
At the new Chef’s Table in Rocklin, Calif., which focuses on local and organic ingredients, David Hill offers his Vande Rose Farms Hereford burger on ciabatta, which can be topped with applewood bacon and white cheddar and perhaps a side of pesto fries.
"It was definitely about price points," said Hill, owner and chef.
But it is also about offering popular food with contemporary sensibilities and prime ingredients, said Hill, who has been open for four months.
At Formoli’s Bistro in east Sacramento, chef and owner Aimal Formoli had to put his lunch burger — the $10 whiskey burger — on his dinner menu after it proved popular.
The economy is a factor, but Formoli also believes that a new generation of diners who grew up on burgers are becoming "foodies" educated by cable-television shows.
"As chefs, we’re gearing toward that," he said.
In the small dining room just off Formoli’s open kitchen, JoAnn Peters recently lunched on the burger that comes with crisp fries.
"If I’m going to eat a burger, it’s got to be good," said Peters, who was intrigued by the whiskey and peppers used to make the burger.
Not really a fast-food burger fan, Peters said she appreciates the setting and the quality and the opportunity to "blow some calories" after a long, hard week.
"Don’t tell my doctor," she whispered.
After fine dining, the next largest restaurant category to add more burgers is midscale, family-style dining, like a Denny’s, said Webster from Datassential. The burger offerings in that category have increased 5 percent in the past four years.
Denny’s burger is second in popularity to its Grand-Slam breakfast, but there was room for improvement, said John Dillon, a spokesman.
The restaurant recently rolled out its Better Burger, a hand-formed patty with an almost scientifically calculated bun-to-meat ratio, Dillon said. Coupled with new wavy fries and a soft drink, the burger sells for $6.99.
"People are looking for value, but it’s more than just price. They’re looking for an experience they can’t get at home," Dillon said.
Even mid-scale staples like Denny’s are responding to a new, older consumer with a more sophisticated palate, Webster said.
Burgers have always been the most frequently ordered entree, said Harry Balzer, an industry analyst with the NPD Group in New York. At lunch, 23 percent of diners will order them; at dinner, 16 percent, he said.
What is different is the variety and kinds of restaurants that offer burgers, he said.
"Everyone has their own twist," he said.
Not quite everyone.
At Biba Restaurant, the award-winning, acclaimed menu of owner Biba Caggiano doesn’t really have room for a burger, she said.
"We don’t have burgers in Italy," she said. "There’s nothing wrong with a wonderful hamburger, and there is a place for it," she said. "I don’t think it’s my place."
By M.S. Enkoji / McClatchy Newspapers | Monday, October 26, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Food & Recipes
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — When you belly up to that white tablecloth awash in candlelight and that tuxedoed waiter asks for your order, chances are good these days you’ll say, "the burger, please."
The humble hamburger dominates the dining industry at fast-food counters where it was always king, but more notably, the American staple is becoming a fixture in the lofty confines of fine dining alongside heirloom tomatoes and foie gras.
Universal in appeal and relatively easy on the wallet, the burger is proving to be the quintessential recession offering from burger-flippers and celebrated chefs alike.
When the Cosmo Cafe opened last year in downtown Sacramento, there was no doubt that a burger would be on the menu, said Callista Wengler, a spokeswoman for Paragary Restaurant Group.
"When we don’t have it on the menu, we find people ask for it a lot," Wengler said.
At Esquire Grill, Spataro Restaurant & Bar, and Cosmo Cafe, the Paragary group-owned Northern California restaurants all offer burgers on the same menu with grilled lamb loin chops with olive tapenade, pan-seared petrale sole and ahi tuna with yam puree.
Morton’s, the fine-dining steakhouse chain, offers Morton’s prime burger at lunch. Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck confides that his mini-cheesburgers go faster than anything else at Academy Awards parties. At French Laundry in Yountville, Calif., where diners shell out $240 for dinners, chef Thomas Keller is planning a separate burger joint.
Burgers, even with freshly ground beef and trimmings such as caramelized onions and truffle cheese, can ring up for half the price of other entrees.
Nationwide, the number of restaurants overall offering burgers has increased by more than 4 percent since 2005, but in the fine-dining category, burgers jumped nearly 19 percent during the same time span, according to data-research company Datassential.
During a down economy, diners look for value and comfort in food, said Maeve Webster, a managing director for the Los Angeles-based company.
"Absolutely, comfort food takes center stage," she said.
Not that a burger is a burger is a burger.
In a fine-dining setting, diners can expect premium details, such as freshly ground rib eye at Esquire Grill.
"It’s not what, but how it’s offered," Webster said.
At the new Chef’s Table in Rocklin, Calif., which focuses on local and organic ingredients, David Hill offers his Vande Rose Farms Hereford burger on ciabatta, which can be topped with applewood bacon and white cheddar and perhaps a side of pesto fries.
"It was definitely about price points," said Hill, owner and chef.
But it is also about offering popular food with contemporary sensibilities and prime ingredients, said Hill, who has been open for four months.
At Formoli’s Bistro in east Sacramento, chef and owner Aimal Formoli had to put his lunch burger — the $10 whiskey burger — on his dinner menu after it proved popular.
The economy is a factor, but Formoli also believes that a new generation of diners who grew up on burgers are becoming "foodies" educated by cable-television shows.
"As chefs, we’re gearing toward that," he said.
In the small dining room just off Formoli’s open kitchen, JoAnn Peters recently lunched on the burger that comes with crisp fries.
"If I’m going to eat a burger, it’s got to be good," said Peters, who was intrigued by the whiskey and peppers used to make the burger.
Not really a fast-food burger fan, Peters said she appreciates the setting and the quality and the opportunity to "blow some calories" after a long, hard week.
"Don’t tell my doctor," she whispered.
After fine dining, the next largest restaurant category to add more burgers is midscale, family-style dining, like a Denny’s, said Webster from Datassential. The burger offerings in that category have increased 5 percent in the past four years.
Denny’s burger is second in popularity to its Grand-Slam breakfast, but there was room for improvement, said John Dillon, a spokesman.
The restaurant recently rolled out its Better Burger, a hand-formed patty with an almost scientifically calculated bun-to-meat ratio, Dillon said. Coupled with new wavy fries and a soft drink, the burger sells for $6.99.
"People are looking for value, but it’s more than just price. They’re looking for an experience they can’t get at home," Dillon said.
Even mid-scale staples like Denny’s are responding to a new, older consumer with a more sophisticated palate, Webster said.
Burgers have always been the most frequently ordered entree, said Harry Balzer, an industry analyst with the NPD Group in New York. At lunch, 23 percent of diners will order them; at dinner, 16 percent, he said.
What is different is the variety and kinds of restaurants that offer burgers, he said.
"Everyone has their own twist," he said.
Not quite everyone.
At Biba Restaurant, the award-winning, acclaimed menu of owner Biba Caggiano doesn’t really have room for a burger, she said.
"We don’t have burgers in Italy," she said. "There’s nothing wrong with a wonderful hamburger, and there is a place for it," she said. "I don’t think it’s my place."
Levine to return to BSO in January
Levine’s return delayed to January
By Geoff Edgers, Globe Staff | October 27, 2009
Boston Symphony Orchestra music director James Levine will not be back to conduct in Symphony Hall until January, the BSO said yesterday. Originally expected to return from back surgery last week, Levine will now miss the complete cycle of nine Beethoven symphonies that he had programmed and the BSO had promoted enthusiastically.
For Levine, 66, this latest setback - he has missed significant time twice before during his tenure for health issues - means he will have missed 27, or 11 percent, of the 247 concerts he was scheduled to lead.
Taking Levine’s place for five concerts at Symphony Hall between Oct. 30 and Nov. 7 and a Nov. 2 performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall will be former New York Philharmonic music director Lorin Maazel. The BSO previously announced that assistant conductor Julian Kuerti would conduct Beethoven’s Third and Fourth symphonies tonight and on Oct. 29.
The news disappointed many BSO subscribers, though they were hesitant to criticize Levine.
“If he’s sick, he’s sick,’’ said Herbert Ratakansky, a BSO subscriber for more than 50 years. “The opportunity to hear all the Beethoven symphonies by any great conductor would have been incredible and that is lost. But the opportunity to hear all of them with a great orchestra with different conductors is still important.’’
Peg Monahan-Pashall, a subscriber for four years, said she and her husband purchased tickets for all of the Beethoven programs. “We read the hype and we like Levine,’’ said Monahan-Pashall. “Why would anybody miss something like that?’’
The disappointment was tempered by hearing the BSO’s first Beethoven program Saturday night, conducted by a replacement, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. They were impressed.
“Driving home, we were saying, ‘We didn’t miss Levine’ and ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if [Frühbeck de Burgos] could be the conductor and James Levine could come listen once in a while,’’ Monahan-Pashall said.
Levine’s next scheduled BSO date is Jan. 28, a BSO spokeswoman said yesterday. The Metropolitan Opera, where Levine also serves as music director, expects him to return on Dec. 3 for “Les Contes d’Hoffman,’’ a spokesman confirmed yesterday.
“It must be very sad for him, to miss all of this must be very humiliating for him,’’ said Rachel Jacoff, a professor of Italian literature at Wellesley College who regularly attends BSO performances. “If he comes back and he’s really OK, that’s one thing. But I think the anxiety we’ve had for several years is, is he OK?’’
Geoff Edgers can be reached at gedgers@globe.com
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
By Geoff Edgers, Globe Staff | October 27, 2009
Boston Symphony Orchestra music director James Levine will not be back to conduct in Symphony Hall until January, the BSO said yesterday. Originally expected to return from back surgery last week, Levine will now miss the complete cycle of nine Beethoven symphonies that he had programmed and the BSO had promoted enthusiastically.
For Levine, 66, this latest setback - he has missed significant time twice before during his tenure for health issues - means he will have missed 27, or 11 percent, of the 247 concerts he was scheduled to lead.
Taking Levine’s place for five concerts at Symphony Hall between Oct. 30 and Nov. 7 and a Nov. 2 performance at New York’s Carnegie Hall will be former New York Philharmonic music director Lorin Maazel. The BSO previously announced that assistant conductor Julian Kuerti would conduct Beethoven’s Third and Fourth symphonies tonight and on Oct. 29.
The news disappointed many BSO subscribers, though they were hesitant to criticize Levine.
“If he’s sick, he’s sick,’’ said Herbert Ratakansky, a BSO subscriber for more than 50 years. “The opportunity to hear all the Beethoven symphonies by any great conductor would have been incredible and that is lost. But the opportunity to hear all of them with a great orchestra with different conductors is still important.’’
Peg Monahan-Pashall, a subscriber for four years, said she and her husband purchased tickets for all of the Beethoven programs. “We read the hype and we like Levine,’’ said Monahan-Pashall. “Why would anybody miss something like that?’’
The disappointment was tempered by hearing the BSO’s first Beethoven program Saturday night, conducted by a replacement, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos. They were impressed.
“Driving home, we were saying, ‘We didn’t miss Levine’ and ‘Wouldn’t it be nice if [Frühbeck de Burgos] could be the conductor and James Levine could come listen once in a while,’’ Monahan-Pashall said.
Levine’s next scheduled BSO date is Jan. 28, a BSO spokeswoman said yesterday. The Metropolitan Opera, where Levine also serves as music director, expects him to return on Dec. 3 for “Les Contes d’Hoffman,’’ a spokesman confirmed yesterday.
“It must be very sad for him, to miss all of this must be very humiliating for him,’’ said Rachel Jacoff, a professor of Italian literature at Wellesley College who regularly attends BSO performances. “If he comes back and he’s really OK, that’s one thing. But I think the anxiety we’ve had for several years is, is he OK?’’
Geoff Edgers can be reached at gedgers@globe.com
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Farimont Copley sued by employees for bias
Fairmont Copley accused of bias against 7 workers
By Erin Ailworth, Globe Staff | October 27, 2009
Seven current and former employees are suing the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston and its parent company for discrimination, alleging that hotel managers treated them unfairly and failed to act when other workers verbally abused and physically threatened them because of their Moroccan descent and Muslim religious beliefs.
“There became a pattern of harassment and after the attacks on Sept. 11, the level of harassment increased,’’ said Rahsaan Hall, an attorney with the nonprofit Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law of the Boston Bar Association, which filed the complaint against the Fairmont Copley yesterday in US District Court.
A spokeswoman for Fairmont Hotels and Resorts Inc., which runs the Fairmont Copley, referred questions about the case to a local representative from the hotel. However, that representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
According to the 71-page court filing, seven employees of Moroccan descent - all of whom are US citizens - repeatedly were disparaged by co-workers who called them “terrorists’’ and accused them of being members of the Taliban. In one instance, during a meeting with several people, including a human resources director, the hotel’s general manager allegedly said: “I have two problems: the rats and the Moroccans. I took care of one and I can’t figure out the other.’’
The court filing also alleges that the employees were denied promotions, made to work harder than their peers, and unfairly disciplined. The workers are suing the hotel for violating antidiscrimination laws and creating and tolerating a hostile work environment.
Five of the employees still work at the hotel. Two employees were “terminated unlawfully,’’ according to the court case. One employee was fired for allegedly making false accusations about another co-worker, even though the suit says numerous other employees were not let go or disciplined for similar conduct. In another instance, a different employee was fired for allegedly threatening to terrorize the hotel.
Fairmont company was sued in 2003 by Muslim and Arab-American employees at the Fairmont Plaza Hotel in New York City, who complained of discrimination after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Fairmont settled the case by paying $525,000 to a dozen workers and agreeing to provide antidiscrimination training.
Hall said his clients are hoping to require the hotel to do more training. They are also hoping to collect damages, back pay and future pay, and court costs, according to the court filing.
Material from the Associated Press was included in this report. Erin Ailworth can be reached at eailworth@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
By Erin Ailworth, Globe Staff | October 27, 2009
Seven current and former employees are suing the Fairmont Copley Plaza in Boston and its parent company for discrimination, alleging that hotel managers treated them unfairly and failed to act when other workers verbally abused and physically threatened them because of their Moroccan descent and Muslim religious beliefs.
“There became a pattern of harassment and after the attacks on Sept. 11, the level of harassment increased,’’ said Rahsaan Hall, an attorney with the nonprofit Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law of the Boston Bar Association, which filed the complaint against the Fairmont Copley yesterday in US District Court.
A spokeswoman for Fairmont Hotels and Resorts Inc., which runs the Fairmont Copley, referred questions about the case to a local representative from the hotel. However, that representative did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
According to the 71-page court filing, seven employees of Moroccan descent - all of whom are US citizens - repeatedly were disparaged by co-workers who called them “terrorists’’ and accused them of being members of the Taliban. In one instance, during a meeting with several people, including a human resources director, the hotel’s general manager allegedly said: “I have two problems: the rats and the Moroccans. I took care of one and I can’t figure out the other.’’
The court filing also alleges that the employees were denied promotions, made to work harder than their peers, and unfairly disciplined. The workers are suing the hotel for violating antidiscrimination laws and creating and tolerating a hostile work environment.
Five of the employees still work at the hotel. Two employees were “terminated unlawfully,’’ according to the court case. One employee was fired for allegedly making false accusations about another co-worker, even though the suit says numerous other employees were not let go or disciplined for similar conduct. In another instance, a different employee was fired for allegedly threatening to terrorize the hotel.
Fairmont company was sued in 2003 by Muslim and Arab-American employees at the Fairmont Plaza Hotel in New York City, who complained of discrimination after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Fairmont settled the case by paying $525,000 to a dozen workers and agreeing to provide antidiscrimination training.
Hall said his clients are hoping to require the hotel to do more training. They are also hoping to collect damages, back pay and future pay, and court costs, according to the court filing.
Material from the Associated Press was included in this report. Erin Ailworth can be reached at eailworth@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Filene's Basement launches new ad campaign
The Boston Globe
Basement hopes for bounce of the century
By Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff | October 22, 2009
Filene’s Basement is launching its biggest advertising campaign in a decade, with network and cable television spots, newspaper ads, and gift card giveaways to celebrate the brand’s 100th anniversary.
As Filene’s Basement enters its first holiday season after emerging from bankruptcy protection this summer, new owner Marcy Syms wants to make a splash with the historic company that claims to have invented the bargain.
“We want to make sure that we reach as many people as possible to let them know Filene’s Basement is still here and we are stronger than ever,’’ Syms said in a phone interview yesterday. “We are the place where bargains were born and never go out of style.’’
The campaign, totaling over $1 million, includes commercials on “Good Morning America,’’ the “Today’’ show, and the “Early Show’’ during this week’s launch and during the week of Thanksgiving. Filene’s workers at the company’s 23 stores are now wearing “Where Bargains Were Born’’ T-shirts and buttons, and consumers can purchase their own anniversary mugs and T-shirts at the shops.
Filene’s Basement was founded in Downtown Crossing in 1909 by Edward A. Filene as a way to sell excess merchandise from his father’s department store upstairs. The business, famed for its “Running of the Brides’’ events, expanded to nearly 56 stores in the mid-1990s, but later had to pull back because it opened in markets where the brand was unknown and the merchandise too similar to what other retailers were offering.
By 2000, Filene’s Basement had shrunk to 14 stores and filed for bankruptcy protection. Over the past decade, the new owners tried to make over the brand with more upscale inventory, fancier stores, and prime real estate, including on Newbury Street in Boston. But the historic brand struggled, especially with the closure of the flagship store in Downtown Crossing. The legendary location at Washington Street has been shuttered since 2007, and developers who had planned to redevelop the store have been unable to secure financing to move forward.
Growing problems at Filene’s Basement over the past year led the chain to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May.
After a lengthy auction, discounter Syms Corp. unseated Men’s Wearhouse as the winner of Filene’s Basement chain, paying $62.4 million for the bankrupt business. Since then, Syms chief executive Marcy Syms has worked to replenish the merchandise at the 23 operating stores and met with real estate officials to search for a new site in Downtown Crossing. Syms, in an interview, said she is continuing to negotiate with Vornado Realty Trust, one of the developers for the Filene’s project.
At the same time, Filene’s Basement is gearing up for the holiday season with its marketing campaign emphasizing its legacy of bargains. The advertisements show customers raving about designer goods at Filene’s Basement, and a six-minute 100th anniversary DVD will be aired in stores featuring footage from a documentary film on the history of Filene’s Basement. The store promotions include free $10 gift cards, free anniversary T-shirts, and up to $200 off men’s suits.
Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys, a New York City marketing firm, said it is particularly important for Filene’s Basement to get in front of consumers with its value offerings as other retailers jockey for that space during the recession.
“Filene’s Basement was the place that invented getting value for your dollar, and it really needs to tell its heritage story and positioning,’’ Passikoff said. “They can’t afford to let that positioning slip away.’’
Shopper Bernadette O’Neil of Newton browsed the designer purses yesterday at the Filene’s Basement in the Back Bay, but ultimately opted not to purchase the $160 Valentino bag.
“I’ve been shopping at Filene’s Basement for 100 years, all my life,’’ O’Neil joked. “It’s just a lot of fun.’’
Jenn Abelson can be reached at abelson@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Basement hopes for bounce of the century
By Jenn Abelson, Globe Staff | October 22, 2009
Filene’s Basement is launching its biggest advertising campaign in a decade, with network and cable television spots, newspaper ads, and gift card giveaways to celebrate the brand’s 100th anniversary.
As Filene’s Basement enters its first holiday season after emerging from bankruptcy protection this summer, new owner Marcy Syms wants to make a splash with the historic company that claims to have invented the bargain.
“We want to make sure that we reach as many people as possible to let them know Filene’s Basement is still here and we are stronger than ever,’’ Syms said in a phone interview yesterday. “We are the place where bargains were born and never go out of style.’’
The campaign, totaling over $1 million, includes commercials on “Good Morning America,’’ the “Today’’ show, and the “Early Show’’ during this week’s launch and during the week of Thanksgiving. Filene’s workers at the company’s 23 stores are now wearing “Where Bargains Were Born’’ T-shirts and buttons, and consumers can purchase their own anniversary mugs and T-shirts at the shops.
Filene’s Basement was founded in Downtown Crossing in 1909 by Edward A. Filene as a way to sell excess merchandise from his father’s department store upstairs. The business, famed for its “Running of the Brides’’ events, expanded to nearly 56 stores in the mid-1990s, but later had to pull back because it opened in markets where the brand was unknown and the merchandise too similar to what other retailers were offering.
By 2000, Filene’s Basement had shrunk to 14 stores and filed for bankruptcy protection. Over the past decade, the new owners tried to make over the brand with more upscale inventory, fancier stores, and prime real estate, including on Newbury Street in Boston. But the historic brand struggled, especially with the closure of the flagship store in Downtown Crossing. The legendary location at Washington Street has been shuttered since 2007, and developers who had planned to redevelop the store have been unable to secure financing to move forward.
Growing problems at Filene’s Basement over the past year led the chain to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May.
After a lengthy auction, discounter Syms Corp. unseated Men’s Wearhouse as the winner of Filene’s Basement chain, paying $62.4 million for the bankrupt business. Since then, Syms chief executive Marcy Syms has worked to replenish the merchandise at the 23 operating stores and met with real estate officials to search for a new site in Downtown Crossing. Syms, in an interview, said she is continuing to negotiate with Vornado Realty Trust, one of the developers for the Filene’s project.
At the same time, Filene’s Basement is gearing up for the holiday season with its marketing campaign emphasizing its legacy of bargains. The advertisements show customers raving about designer goods at Filene’s Basement, and a six-minute 100th anniversary DVD will be aired in stores featuring footage from a documentary film on the history of Filene’s Basement. The store promotions include free $10 gift cards, free anniversary T-shirts, and up to $200 off men’s suits.
Robert Passikoff, president of Brand Keys, a New York City marketing firm, said it is particularly important for Filene’s Basement to get in front of consumers with its value offerings as other retailers jockey for that space during the recession.
“Filene’s Basement was the place that invented getting value for your dollar, and it really needs to tell its heritage story and positioning,’’ Passikoff said. “They can’t afford to let that positioning slip away.’’
Shopper Bernadette O’Neil of Newton browsed the designer purses yesterday at the Filene’s Basement in the Back Bay, but ultimately opted not to purchase the $160 Valentino bag.
“I’ve been shopping at Filene’s Basement for 100 years, all my life,’’ O’Neil joked. “It’s just a lot of fun.’’
Jenn Abelson can be reached at abelson@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Boston Ballet rebranding article
Typecast no more?
After a tumultuous few years, Boston Ballet gives its image a modern makeover
By Christopher Muther, Globe Staff | October 22, 2009
In the eyes of Mikko Nissinen, Boston Ballet was facing an identity crisis.
The artistic director of the ballet has introduced edgier, even downright sexy programming - such as last season’s “Black and White.’’ But while Nissinen spent the past eight years pushing his company closer to the artistic edge, Bostonians still thought of the ballet as being staid purveyors of the “Nutcracker,’’ and other “museum pieces,’’ he says.
“It’s important to me that we’re not seen as a museum or a church,’’ he says, “but a living theater that relates to today’s people.’’
Enter Denise Korn. The South End-based brand strategist (and Boston Ballet fan) had been chatting with Nissinen for nearly five years about freshening the ballet’s image and changing how the organization is viewed. Her company, Korn Design, has done image-reconfiguring work for tony hotels and restaurants around the country. She was even enlisted by Northeastern University last year to rebrand the school.
“It was trapped in this corporate package for so long,’’ Korn says of the ballet. “One of our big challenges was to shift the perception of what the Boston Ballet is all about.’’
The strategy for rebranding the ballet all came down to Nissinen’s desire to make the ballet more accessible. Artistically, he’s tried to do this by staging modern dance alongside classics. The company has also introduced a new slate of dancers and survived a very disruptive move from the Citi Wang Theatre to the Opera House.
To give these changes a public face, Korn’s team created a new font for the ballet, and a new logo. Its website was completely redesigned, merchandise updated, posters oriented to feature the words “Boston Ballet’’ as the primary image, rather than pictures of dancers.
Of course, a new typeface can only do so much. Changing the ballet’s image also means getting the company out into the city and chipping away at the notion that dancers are stuffy, tutu-wearing divas. To that end, dancers served as models at a splashy fashion show last month, and they’ll model once again at a Donna Karan charity event next month. They’ve even performed the Boston Celtics half-time show. Last week, we sat down with Nissinen and Korn to talk about what it all means.
Boston Globe: Mikko, I know pretty much all arts organizations have been struggling since the economy hit the dumpster last year. Is rebranding a way to help build an audience?
Nissinen: It’s funny, our organization was thrown into a tailspin after “The Nutcracker’’ was dislocated from the Wang Theatre. It was a huge piece of our business model. We had to re-evaluate our business and go through all kinds of cuts and repositioning. It’s ironic because now the rest of the world is doing it. Last fall, when everything else fell through for everyone else, we were already putting in place the steps for recovery.
BG: Why did you feel you needed to rebrand the ballet?
Nissinen: It felt so corporate, and the environment I’ve been pushing for the organization is definitely not corporate. It was obvious that we had moved in a different direction. After we lost our venue for “The Nutcracker,’’ we didn’t have a chance to focus on rebranding. I felt that the move to the Opera House was going to be a whole new beginning for us. We also have a whole new batch of principal dancers. A really strong, new generation taking over the company at the same time. This was the opportunity to really show a whole new face.
I’ve known Denise for a while. I brought her to the attention of our previous executive director five years ago. I wanted her to work for us at that point. In hindsight, I’m glad it didn’t happen then, because this was going to be better. It is repositioning the ballet on the cultural and social map in Boston.
Korn: This is the culmination of two years of Mikko and I trying to figure out how to introduce this to the city. It’s not about a logo. Sure, that’s the icon. This is taking the DNA of the company and not letting it be buried, but celebrating it outwardly.
BG: Denise, how did you take the edict that these bold changes were happening and translate that?
Korn: The typeface that we used for the end result was hand drawn. It’s called Boston Ballet Sans. It’s a derivative of a typeface called Futura. Which is a classical-modern font. The way that we treat it is very clean and much more contemporary, but it’s still respectful of its roots. We really wanted to show that there really is nothing about the ballet that’s corporate and stuck in a box.
Nissinen: It needed to capture the classical and modern. We do the big classical ballets, but we’re also the only major company that is making a major commitment to modern dance.
Korn: I think the ballet really needed to put a stake in the ground and say, “This is happening here, you need to take note.’’ Because no one else would do that for them. One of our big challenges was to shift the perception of what ballet is all about. It’s a relatively small market. There’s a lot of competition for entertainment dollars, and there’s this huge sports presence here.
Nissinen: That’s another reason why I thought this was important. People in New York know what’s going on with the Boston Ballet better than the people in Boston. Our international tour was amazing. We’re getting that external validation, and I want to bring that external validation back home.
BG: Dancers from the Boston Ballet acted as fashion models at a show at the Liberty Hotel last month called Fashionably Late. I get the feeling that the night was the company’s coming out party, its debutante ball for rebranding.
Korn: We wanted to have a coming out party.
Nissinen: It was the launch for the new image, and a new era. We also wanted to embrace an audience which is not just our traditional audience. We wanted to put the ballet in front of a crowd that’s not as familiar and show the relevancy.
BG: Tell me a bit how rebranding works.
Korn: The process is about discovery, and gaining an authentic understanding about what the DNA is of a certain message or a certain idea. When you’re branding fashion, it’s very different from when you’re branding a pharmaceutical company. We had no idea what this would look like when we started. I just knew that it needed to feel super contemporary and edgy, but not be disrespectful to the past. I honestly believe that the ballet was stuck inside the wrong image.
BG: What is the ultimate goal of the rebranding?
Korn: We worked on this for over a year. The process of getting to the end result was very deep within the organization. There’s the three pillars of the organization: On the stage, in the community, and in the school. We really communicated with all the constituencies throughout the organization to make sure that whatever we ended up with would suit and serve. We have this very robust community online now. The company also has its own ticket sales, which is huge, and we have a platform online to tell the story that is organic and changing and very image-based. The goal wasn’t to make it look pretty and package it nice. The goal was to move the dial on perception and to get people to connect and feel that the organization is open to receive them.
BG: There are other arts organizations around the country that are rebranding. Is rebranding important for going after younger patrons?
Nissinen: I think that is often one of the reasons. People want to refresh to remain relevant. You don’t do it alone with rebranding. You do it with your programming and ideas. This is a communication tool that is hopefully aligned exactly with the product. If you have a stuffy product and you unveil a great new logo, it’s not going to change anything. I think it’s a great tool, but it needs to be rooted in the philosophy of the organization.
Korn: Before we were doing this, I went to Mikko’s performances and I kept saying to him, “This is so magic’’ and “This is so world class.’’ I believed in the product. It was killing me. I told him to let it out and set it free.
Nissinen: For me, there was part of the old logo that left me thinking “What are we, a dancing bank’’?
Boston Ballet’s “World Passions’’ opens tonight at the Opera House and continues through Nov. 1. Visit www.bostonballet.org for tickets and details.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
After a tumultuous few years, Boston Ballet gives its image a modern makeover
By Christopher Muther, Globe Staff | October 22, 2009
In the eyes of Mikko Nissinen, Boston Ballet was facing an identity crisis.
The artistic director of the ballet has introduced edgier, even downright sexy programming - such as last season’s “Black and White.’’ But while Nissinen spent the past eight years pushing his company closer to the artistic edge, Bostonians still thought of the ballet as being staid purveyors of the “Nutcracker,’’ and other “museum pieces,’’ he says.
“It’s important to me that we’re not seen as a museum or a church,’’ he says, “but a living theater that relates to today’s people.’’
Enter Denise Korn. The South End-based brand strategist (and Boston Ballet fan) had been chatting with Nissinen for nearly five years about freshening the ballet’s image and changing how the organization is viewed. Her company, Korn Design, has done image-reconfiguring work for tony hotels and restaurants around the country. She was even enlisted by Northeastern University last year to rebrand the school.
“It was trapped in this corporate package for so long,’’ Korn says of the ballet. “One of our big challenges was to shift the perception of what the Boston Ballet is all about.’’
The strategy for rebranding the ballet all came down to Nissinen’s desire to make the ballet more accessible. Artistically, he’s tried to do this by staging modern dance alongside classics. The company has also introduced a new slate of dancers and survived a very disruptive move from the Citi Wang Theatre to the Opera House.
To give these changes a public face, Korn’s team created a new font for the ballet, and a new logo. Its website was completely redesigned, merchandise updated, posters oriented to feature the words “Boston Ballet’’ as the primary image, rather than pictures of dancers.
Of course, a new typeface can only do so much. Changing the ballet’s image also means getting the company out into the city and chipping away at the notion that dancers are stuffy, tutu-wearing divas. To that end, dancers served as models at a splashy fashion show last month, and they’ll model once again at a Donna Karan charity event next month. They’ve even performed the Boston Celtics half-time show. Last week, we sat down with Nissinen and Korn to talk about what it all means.
Boston Globe: Mikko, I know pretty much all arts organizations have been struggling since the economy hit the dumpster last year. Is rebranding a way to help build an audience?
Nissinen: It’s funny, our organization was thrown into a tailspin after “The Nutcracker’’ was dislocated from the Wang Theatre. It was a huge piece of our business model. We had to re-evaluate our business and go through all kinds of cuts and repositioning. It’s ironic because now the rest of the world is doing it. Last fall, when everything else fell through for everyone else, we were already putting in place the steps for recovery.
BG: Why did you feel you needed to rebrand the ballet?
Nissinen: It felt so corporate, and the environment I’ve been pushing for the organization is definitely not corporate. It was obvious that we had moved in a different direction. After we lost our venue for “The Nutcracker,’’ we didn’t have a chance to focus on rebranding. I felt that the move to the Opera House was going to be a whole new beginning for us. We also have a whole new batch of principal dancers. A really strong, new generation taking over the company at the same time. This was the opportunity to really show a whole new face.
I’ve known Denise for a while. I brought her to the attention of our previous executive director five years ago. I wanted her to work for us at that point. In hindsight, I’m glad it didn’t happen then, because this was going to be better. It is repositioning the ballet on the cultural and social map in Boston.
Korn: This is the culmination of two years of Mikko and I trying to figure out how to introduce this to the city. It’s not about a logo. Sure, that’s the icon. This is taking the DNA of the company and not letting it be buried, but celebrating it outwardly.
BG: Denise, how did you take the edict that these bold changes were happening and translate that?
Korn: The typeface that we used for the end result was hand drawn. It’s called Boston Ballet Sans. It’s a derivative of a typeface called Futura. Which is a classical-modern font. The way that we treat it is very clean and much more contemporary, but it’s still respectful of its roots. We really wanted to show that there really is nothing about the ballet that’s corporate and stuck in a box.
Nissinen: It needed to capture the classical and modern. We do the big classical ballets, but we’re also the only major company that is making a major commitment to modern dance.
Korn: I think the ballet really needed to put a stake in the ground and say, “This is happening here, you need to take note.’’ Because no one else would do that for them. One of our big challenges was to shift the perception of what ballet is all about. It’s a relatively small market. There’s a lot of competition for entertainment dollars, and there’s this huge sports presence here.
Nissinen: That’s another reason why I thought this was important. People in New York know what’s going on with the Boston Ballet better than the people in Boston. Our international tour was amazing. We’re getting that external validation, and I want to bring that external validation back home.
BG: Dancers from the Boston Ballet acted as fashion models at a show at the Liberty Hotel last month called Fashionably Late. I get the feeling that the night was the company’s coming out party, its debutante ball for rebranding.
Korn: We wanted to have a coming out party.
Nissinen: It was the launch for the new image, and a new era. We also wanted to embrace an audience which is not just our traditional audience. We wanted to put the ballet in front of a crowd that’s not as familiar and show the relevancy.
BG: Tell me a bit how rebranding works.
Korn: The process is about discovery, and gaining an authentic understanding about what the DNA is of a certain message or a certain idea. When you’re branding fashion, it’s very different from when you’re branding a pharmaceutical company. We had no idea what this would look like when we started. I just knew that it needed to feel super contemporary and edgy, but not be disrespectful to the past. I honestly believe that the ballet was stuck inside the wrong image.
BG: What is the ultimate goal of the rebranding?
Korn: We worked on this for over a year. The process of getting to the end result was very deep within the organization. There’s the three pillars of the organization: On the stage, in the community, and in the school. We really communicated with all the constituencies throughout the organization to make sure that whatever we ended up with would suit and serve. We have this very robust community online now. The company also has its own ticket sales, which is huge, and we have a platform online to tell the story that is organic and changing and very image-based. The goal wasn’t to make it look pretty and package it nice. The goal was to move the dial on perception and to get people to connect and feel that the organization is open to receive them.
BG: There are other arts organizations around the country that are rebranding. Is rebranding important for going after younger patrons?
Nissinen: I think that is often one of the reasons. People want to refresh to remain relevant. You don’t do it alone with rebranding. You do it with your programming and ideas. This is a communication tool that is hopefully aligned exactly with the product. If you have a stuffy product and you unveil a great new logo, it’s not going to change anything. I think it’s a great tool, but it needs to be rooted in the philosophy of the organization.
Korn: Before we were doing this, I went to Mikko’s performances and I kept saying to him, “This is so magic’’ and “This is so world class.’’ I believed in the product. It was killing me. I told him to let it out and set it free.
Nissinen: For me, there was part of the old logo that left me thinking “What are we, a dancing bank’’?
Boston Ballet’s “World Passions’’ opens tonight at the Opera House and continues through Nov. 1. Visit www.bostonballet.org for tickets and details.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Monday, October 26, 2009
Farm stand to open in closed tire shop in Fenway
Farm stand to use closed tire shop
Fenway move seen as temporary
By Thomas Grillo | Monday, October 26, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
A former tire store is about to be rotated into a produce market.
Next month, Marshall’s Farm Stand of Gloucester will fill the vacant, 14,000-square-foot space at 1345 Boylston St. with produce, locally baked pastries, breads and cheeses, imported olive oils and gourmet food items.
“We’re putting the building to temporary use until we are ready to build something,” said Peter Sougarides, development vice president at Samuels & Associates, the Boston developer that purchased the old Goodyear site last year for $9.9 million.
The building will be painted and the interior renovated. But the rollup doors will remain, allowing pedestrians to see what’s for sale, Sougarides said.
The Marshall family declined to comment. But Jeff Cole, executive director of the Federation of Massachusetts Farmers Markets, said the addition of an independent food market can add vitality to a neighborhood.
“Having a place that is less like a supermarket and more like a roadside farm stand brings a community together,” he said.
Last year, Samuels & Associates purchased the adjacent gas station at 1325 Boylston St. and is using that site to temporarily house the Fenway Car Wash and Bon Cleaners, whose shop was destroyed by a fire on Peterborough Street.
When the credit and leasing markets recover, Samuels will turn the Good-year and gas station sites into the next mixed-use project on a stretch of Boylston Street that once housed parking lots, fast-food joints and gas stations.
In 2006, Samuels and Boylston Properties completed Trilogy, a 1 million-square-foot development located at Brookline Avenue with apartments, retail space and underground parking.
Last year, Samuels opened the 1330 Boylston project, a $140 million mixed-use development with housing, retail and a Fenway Community Health Center.
Samuels’ investment along that stretch of Boylston Street has won praise from activists who say the company is realizing the dream of many longtime residents for a renewed Boylston Street.
“One of the reasons the neigborhood is so willing to work with Samuels is because he has kept his parcels active to enhance the street,” said William Richardson, president of the Fenway Civic Association.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1207264
Fenway move seen as temporary
By Thomas Grillo | Monday, October 26, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
A former tire store is about to be rotated into a produce market.
Next month, Marshall’s Farm Stand of Gloucester will fill the vacant, 14,000-square-foot space at 1345 Boylston St. with produce, locally baked pastries, breads and cheeses, imported olive oils and gourmet food items.
“We’re putting the building to temporary use until we are ready to build something,” said Peter Sougarides, development vice president at Samuels & Associates, the Boston developer that purchased the old Goodyear site last year for $9.9 million.
The building will be painted and the interior renovated. But the rollup doors will remain, allowing pedestrians to see what’s for sale, Sougarides said.
The Marshall family declined to comment. But Jeff Cole, executive director of the Federation of Massachusetts Farmers Markets, said the addition of an independent food market can add vitality to a neighborhood.
“Having a place that is less like a supermarket and more like a roadside farm stand brings a community together,” he said.
Last year, Samuels & Associates purchased the adjacent gas station at 1325 Boylston St. and is using that site to temporarily house the Fenway Car Wash and Bon Cleaners, whose shop was destroyed by a fire on Peterborough Street.
When the credit and leasing markets recover, Samuels will turn the Good-year and gas station sites into the next mixed-use project on a stretch of Boylston Street that once housed parking lots, fast-food joints and gas stations.
In 2006, Samuels and Boylston Properties completed Trilogy, a 1 million-square-foot development located at Brookline Avenue with apartments, retail space and underground parking.
Last year, Samuels opened the 1330 Boylston project, a $140 million mixed-use development with housing, retail and a Fenway Community Health Center.
Samuels’ investment along that stretch of Boylston Street has won praise from activists who say the company is realizing the dream of many longtime residents for a renewed Boylston Street.
“One of the reasons the neigborhood is so willing to work with Samuels is because he has kept his parcels active to enhance the street,” said William Richardson, president of the Fenway Civic Association.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1207264
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Inside the W
Inside the W
Boston opening months in the making as hotel chain showed employees how to bring its special brand of whimsy to guests
By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff | October 25, 2009
The smell of spiced tea wafted through the air at W Boston’s Talent Center on a sunny summer day. Techno beats thumped and candles flickered. Fresh orchids lined the tables in the dimly lit Whisper Room, where a job interview was taking place.
“Tell me the last time you wowed a guest,’’ hotel general manager William Bunce asked a veteran doorman. “Tell me the last time you had a whoops with a guest.’’
Officials at the W Boston, a 28-story hotel that opens Thursday with 235 rooms and 123 residences, sifted through 7,000 applications over the summer to find 300 candidates to carry out its unique brand of corporate culture. W employees are encouraged to act like the cast of a theatrical production, with hotel guests in the starring role: Housekeepers are called “stylists’’ and elevators are called “lifts.’’ Hotel staff is also encouraged to use some words that begin with “W.’’
“We’re not really a cult, but by using these words, we give [guests] something that is a little cult-like,’’ Roger Paull, senior director of brand management, told employees on the first day of training.
The 11-year-old Starwood hotel brand cultivates its stylish image carefully, stacking fashion books in the lobby, turning the lights down and the music up as the day goes on to create a more loungey atmosphere in the evening, and changing the welcome mats three times a day to say “Good Morning,’’ “Good Afternoon,’’ and “Good Evening.’’ W executives refer to the hotel as an international pop culture icon.
“W’s overall intention is still to be the coolest place in town,’’ said Eva Ziegler, global brand leader for W Hotels. “The target audience are the trendsetters - people who are interested in the latest, newest, hippest, coolest. “
The new Boston employees learned how to cater to those trendsetters during a 10-day training session earlier this month with the spotlight on them. After arriving at the W on Stuart Street early one recent morning in trolleys blaring disco music, the employees, many dressed in the hotel’s signature purple, stepped out onto a purple carpet, where a throng of fake paparazzi called out, “Over here, over here’’ as their flashbulbs popped and a Joan Rivers impersonator thrust her microphone toward them. Inside, a tattooed DJ with a braided beard was spinning “Let the Sunshine In.’’
All this whimsy and “wonderlust’’ act as a beacon for motivated employees in search of a different kind of workplace. “They gave us the celebrity treatment, and that’s what we’re expected to provide to the guests,’’ said Kate Capecelatro, 30, a server at Market, the hotel restaurant run by celebrity chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s restaurant group.
Restaurant hostess Natalie Watkins, 25, who previously worked at chef Barbara Lynch’s Butcher Shop and B&G Oysters, said: “I’ve been dreaming W’s for a while now.’’
Around the corner at the Charles Playhouse, the employees were treated to a paint-splattering drumming session by the Blue Man Group. When the W Boston management team walked out onstage, several of the employees in the audience jumped to their feet. Before long, it was a standing ovation.
“Over 7,000 applicants, and you were selected to step behind the velvet rope,’’ Bunce told them. That afternoon, at what the hotel chain calls Woo Training, a trainer told them about a study done by a Washington, D.C., TV station that showed it was harder to get a job at the new W hotel than it was to get into Harvard.
Employees also learned the W’s Secret Seven ways to create a positive guest experience. The Secret Seven are basic tenets of customer service, including smiling and using people’s names, but some, like “active listening,’’ to pick up on complaints overheard in the lobby, were described in signature W style.
“We want you to eavesdrop as much as you want,’’ said Hector Camacho, a training “wizard’’ from the W Hoboken in New Jersey.
All this top-secret behind-the-velvet-rope talk builds on the hotel’s “inclusively exclusive’’ cachet, as Ziegler calls it. This was more apparent when the first W opened in New York in 1998 and created a new model - a boutique-like brand that’s part of a major corporation, said Bjorn Hanson, a professor of hospitality and tourism management at New York University.
But the insider factor has slipped as more Ws open - there will be 34 worldwide when the W Boston opens and 50 by the end of 2011, more than double the number at the beginning of last year. It’s an aggressive forward march at a time when hotels’ revenue per available room is off sharply - down 20 percent for Boston-area hotel rooms that run more than $200 a night, according to PKF Consulting - although hotel revenues are supposed to pick up slightly next year.
The W Boston is part of the company’s plan to spread out to “vibrant cities around the world,’’ Ziegler said. When the economy comes back, she added, the W will be “equipped to conquer.’’
During training, employees got a taste of how they would fit into this conquering W army, wearing sleek Michael Kors uniforms and delivering “whatever/whenever’’ service (which has included drawing a hot chocolate bath for a guest at the W Seattle). They will also be armed with the brand’s three core values - flirty, insider, escape, which they recited in unison (as in: employees are supposed to provide, in a flirty manner, an insider experience that allows guests to escape) - and a whole lot of lingo: the warmth of cool, the Extreme Wow suite.
The W employees undergo more informal, high-energy training than employees do at other Starwood properties such as Westin and Sheraton. The terminology is also unique to W, reinforcing the playful character of the brand and connecting the employees to the hotel in a memorable way, W executives say. It’s also reminiscent of another successful pop culture entity: Disney, which refers to its workers as cast members.
“We want you to be a little flirty with our guests. Have a little fun,’’ Paull told the employees. “They wouldn’t tell you to be flirty at the Four Seasons.’’
Katie Johnston Chase can be reached at johnstonchase@globe.com
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Boston opening months in the making as hotel chain showed employees how to bring its special brand of whimsy to guests
By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff | October 25, 2009
The smell of spiced tea wafted through the air at W Boston’s Talent Center on a sunny summer day. Techno beats thumped and candles flickered. Fresh orchids lined the tables in the dimly lit Whisper Room, where a job interview was taking place.
“Tell me the last time you wowed a guest,’’ hotel general manager William Bunce asked a veteran doorman. “Tell me the last time you had a whoops with a guest.’’
Officials at the W Boston, a 28-story hotel that opens Thursday with 235 rooms and 123 residences, sifted through 7,000 applications over the summer to find 300 candidates to carry out its unique brand of corporate culture. W employees are encouraged to act like the cast of a theatrical production, with hotel guests in the starring role: Housekeepers are called “stylists’’ and elevators are called “lifts.’’ Hotel staff is also encouraged to use some words that begin with “W.’’
“We’re not really a cult, but by using these words, we give [guests] something that is a little cult-like,’’ Roger Paull, senior director of brand management, told employees on the first day of training.
The 11-year-old Starwood hotel brand cultivates its stylish image carefully, stacking fashion books in the lobby, turning the lights down and the music up as the day goes on to create a more loungey atmosphere in the evening, and changing the welcome mats three times a day to say “Good Morning,’’ “Good Afternoon,’’ and “Good Evening.’’ W executives refer to the hotel as an international pop culture icon.
“W’s overall intention is still to be the coolest place in town,’’ said Eva Ziegler, global brand leader for W Hotels. “The target audience are the trendsetters - people who are interested in the latest, newest, hippest, coolest. “
The new Boston employees learned how to cater to those trendsetters during a 10-day training session earlier this month with the spotlight on them. After arriving at the W on Stuart Street early one recent morning in trolleys blaring disco music, the employees, many dressed in the hotel’s signature purple, stepped out onto a purple carpet, where a throng of fake paparazzi called out, “Over here, over here’’ as their flashbulbs popped and a Joan Rivers impersonator thrust her microphone toward them. Inside, a tattooed DJ with a braided beard was spinning “Let the Sunshine In.’’
All this whimsy and “wonderlust’’ act as a beacon for motivated employees in search of a different kind of workplace. “They gave us the celebrity treatment, and that’s what we’re expected to provide to the guests,’’ said Kate Capecelatro, 30, a server at Market, the hotel restaurant run by celebrity chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s restaurant group.
Restaurant hostess Natalie Watkins, 25, who previously worked at chef Barbara Lynch’s Butcher Shop and B&G Oysters, said: “I’ve been dreaming W’s for a while now.’’
Around the corner at the Charles Playhouse, the employees were treated to a paint-splattering drumming session by the Blue Man Group. When the W Boston management team walked out onstage, several of the employees in the audience jumped to their feet. Before long, it was a standing ovation.
“Over 7,000 applicants, and you were selected to step behind the velvet rope,’’ Bunce told them. That afternoon, at what the hotel chain calls Woo Training, a trainer told them about a study done by a Washington, D.C., TV station that showed it was harder to get a job at the new W hotel than it was to get into Harvard.
Employees also learned the W’s Secret Seven ways to create a positive guest experience. The Secret Seven are basic tenets of customer service, including smiling and using people’s names, but some, like “active listening,’’ to pick up on complaints overheard in the lobby, were described in signature W style.
“We want you to eavesdrop as much as you want,’’ said Hector Camacho, a training “wizard’’ from the W Hoboken in New Jersey.
All this top-secret behind-the-velvet-rope talk builds on the hotel’s “inclusively exclusive’’ cachet, as Ziegler calls it. This was more apparent when the first W opened in New York in 1998 and created a new model - a boutique-like brand that’s part of a major corporation, said Bjorn Hanson, a professor of hospitality and tourism management at New York University.
But the insider factor has slipped as more Ws open - there will be 34 worldwide when the W Boston opens and 50 by the end of 2011, more than double the number at the beginning of last year. It’s an aggressive forward march at a time when hotels’ revenue per available room is off sharply - down 20 percent for Boston-area hotel rooms that run more than $200 a night, according to PKF Consulting - although hotel revenues are supposed to pick up slightly next year.
The W Boston is part of the company’s plan to spread out to “vibrant cities around the world,’’ Ziegler said. When the economy comes back, she added, the W will be “equipped to conquer.’’
During training, employees got a taste of how they would fit into this conquering W army, wearing sleek Michael Kors uniforms and delivering “whatever/whenever’’ service (which has included drawing a hot chocolate bath for a guest at the W Seattle). They will also be armed with the brand’s three core values - flirty, insider, escape, which they recited in unison (as in: employees are supposed to provide, in a flirty manner, an insider experience that allows guests to escape) - and a whole lot of lingo: the warmth of cool, the Extreme Wow suite.
The W employees undergo more informal, high-energy training than employees do at other Starwood properties such as Westin and Sheraton. The terminology is also unique to W, reinforcing the playful character of the brand and connecting the employees to the hotel in a memorable way, W executives say. It’s also reminiscent of another successful pop culture entity: Disney, which refers to its workers as cast members.
“We want you to be a little flirty with our guests. Have a little fun,’’ Paull told the employees. “They wouldn’t tell you to be flirty at the Four Seasons.’’
Katie Johnston Chase can be reached at johnstonchase@globe.com
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Coda review
New chef is Redd hot at Coda in South End
By Mat Schaffer | Friday, October 23, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Dining Reviews
CODA BAR AND KITCHEN: B
When PR powerhouse Martha Sullivan recently pitched me on a recipe-cum-interview with Charlie Redd, the new chef at Coda Bar and Kitchen in the South End, I said OK. I gave the place a ho-hum critique when it opened in 2007 - and never went back.
But when I spoke on the phone with Redd, former sous chef at Harvest, he was so passionate about sourcing local ingredients and cooking seasonally, it piqued my interest. Perhaps I should check out Coda again. Perhaps things were better with a new person behind the stove.
They are. The food (which I described two years ago as vacillating between “austere and overwrought”) has improved. With more New England influences. Redd hasn’t entirely gutted the original Coda menu - you will still find such (same old) Hub bistro staples as steamed mussels, mac ’n’ cheese and steak frites. But you will also find items that reflect Redd’s locavoraciousness.
Velvety, butterscotch-colored sugar-pumpkin soup ($5), drizzled with brown butter and garnished with croutons and a fried sage leaf. Beer and zucchini fritters ($5) - their mushy, soaked-bread consistency and intense beery flavor is oddly comforting and delicious.
It seems you can’t be a young chef in Boston these days without making your own charcuterie. Redd, 33, is no exception.
His “housemade” charcuterie plate ($10) boasts Jack Daniels-marinated chicken liver and cardamom-cumin country pork pates and a mound of unctuously fatty duck rillettes. With homemade pickles - Southern bread and butter cukes, spicy-sweet red and green bell peppers and corn piccalilli - grainy mustard and toasts.
A local lettuce salad ($6) of greens, slivered apples and radishes in sherry vinaigrette couldn’t be more autumnal, or simple.
It’s when Redd strays from simplicity that his cooking falters. Grilled local wild bluefish ($16) is excellent on a bed of rosemary-seasoned Anson Mills polenta with garlicky green beans. The plate doesn’t need the superfluous olive tapenade sauce - it’s an unnecessary distraction.
Roast loin pork ($16) could have been juicier. We couldn’t discern apples or lemon in the accompanying “braised pork with apples and lemoney (sic) white beans.” That’s not to say the beans studded with nubbins of braised pork weren’t tasty - but I believe in truth in advertising.
Redd’s New England seafood chowder ($16) is splendid. Clams, mussels, haddock, fingerlings and bacon in briny, cream-enriched broth. The only things missing are oyster crackers and promised oysters.
Herb-crusted haddock ($16) is another autumnal treat, and pretty to boot. The moist fish is excellent with sauteed chard, beets, pecans and a decorative drizzle of applesauce. It’s a dish designed for shorter days and colder nights.
Coda’s affordably priced wine list is small but smart. With the bluefish and pork we enjoyed a dry 2008 Espelt Corali Garnacha Rose ($29). A green-appletart 2007 Lois Gruner Veltliner ($28) complement the chowder and haddock nicely.
Roasted local apple ($6) with cinnamon creme Anglais is a satisfyingly fine dessert. As is a wedge of tangy (Vermont-made) Blue Ledge Lake’s Edge goat cheese ($8) with olive oil tossed watermelon, gooseberries and Thaibasil. But why weren’t we told of the gooseberries-for-ground-cherries substitution? And how do you run out of chocolate mint Bavarian?
Once the home of Tim’s Tavern, a legendary, down-at-the-heels burger joint, Coda is now a thoroughly gentrified haven of brick and polished wood. (Shhh: It’s not on the menu but you can still order a burger.) Service is spot-on.
“How about these prices?” marveled my dinner guest Jim. “Nothing over $20. At this quality? In the South End?”
No wonder there’s a bench on the sidewalk out front for hungry diners waiting for a table.
329 Columbus Ave. (South End). 617-536-2632; codaboston.com.
Price: $20-$40
Hours: Sun.-Weds., 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m.; Thurs.-Sat., 11:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m.; bar until 1 a.m.
Bar: Full
Credit: All
Recession specials: No
Accessibility: Accessible
Parking: Nearby lots, on street
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/food_dining/reviews/view.bg?articleid=1206663
By Mat Schaffer | Friday, October 23, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Dining Reviews
CODA BAR AND KITCHEN: B
When PR powerhouse Martha Sullivan recently pitched me on a recipe-cum-interview with Charlie Redd, the new chef at Coda Bar and Kitchen in the South End, I said OK. I gave the place a ho-hum critique when it opened in 2007 - and never went back.
But when I spoke on the phone with Redd, former sous chef at Harvest, he was so passionate about sourcing local ingredients and cooking seasonally, it piqued my interest. Perhaps I should check out Coda again. Perhaps things were better with a new person behind the stove.
They are. The food (which I described two years ago as vacillating between “austere and overwrought”) has improved. With more New England influences. Redd hasn’t entirely gutted the original Coda menu - you will still find such (same old) Hub bistro staples as steamed mussels, mac ’n’ cheese and steak frites. But you will also find items that reflect Redd’s locavoraciousness.
Velvety, butterscotch-colored sugar-pumpkin soup ($5), drizzled with brown butter and garnished with croutons and a fried sage leaf. Beer and zucchini fritters ($5) - their mushy, soaked-bread consistency and intense beery flavor is oddly comforting and delicious.
It seems you can’t be a young chef in Boston these days without making your own charcuterie. Redd, 33, is no exception.
His “housemade” charcuterie plate ($10) boasts Jack Daniels-marinated chicken liver and cardamom-cumin country pork pates and a mound of unctuously fatty duck rillettes. With homemade pickles - Southern bread and butter cukes, spicy-sweet red and green bell peppers and corn piccalilli - grainy mustard and toasts.
A local lettuce salad ($6) of greens, slivered apples and radishes in sherry vinaigrette couldn’t be more autumnal, or simple.
It’s when Redd strays from simplicity that his cooking falters. Grilled local wild bluefish ($16) is excellent on a bed of rosemary-seasoned Anson Mills polenta with garlicky green beans. The plate doesn’t need the superfluous olive tapenade sauce - it’s an unnecessary distraction.
Roast loin pork ($16) could have been juicier. We couldn’t discern apples or lemon in the accompanying “braised pork with apples and lemoney (sic) white beans.” That’s not to say the beans studded with nubbins of braised pork weren’t tasty - but I believe in truth in advertising.
Redd’s New England seafood chowder ($16) is splendid. Clams, mussels, haddock, fingerlings and bacon in briny, cream-enriched broth. The only things missing are oyster crackers and promised oysters.
Herb-crusted haddock ($16) is another autumnal treat, and pretty to boot. The moist fish is excellent with sauteed chard, beets, pecans and a decorative drizzle of applesauce. It’s a dish designed for shorter days and colder nights.
Coda’s affordably priced wine list is small but smart. With the bluefish and pork we enjoyed a dry 2008 Espelt Corali Garnacha Rose ($29). A green-appletart 2007 Lois Gruner Veltliner ($28) complement the chowder and haddock nicely.
Roasted local apple ($6) with cinnamon creme Anglais is a satisfyingly fine dessert. As is a wedge of tangy (Vermont-made) Blue Ledge Lake’s Edge goat cheese ($8) with olive oil tossed watermelon, gooseberries and Thaibasil. But why weren’t we told of the gooseberries-for-ground-cherries substitution? And how do you run out of chocolate mint Bavarian?
Once the home of Tim’s Tavern, a legendary, down-at-the-heels burger joint, Coda is now a thoroughly gentrified haven of brick and polished wood. (Shhh: It’s not on the menu but you can still order a burger.) Service is spot-on.
“How about these prices?” marveled my dinner guest Jim. “Nothing over $20. At this quality? In the South End?”
No wonder there’s a bench on the sidewalk out front for hungry diners waiting for a table.
329 Columbus Ave. (South End). 617-536-2632; codaboston.com.
Price: $20-$40
Hours: Sun.-Weds., 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m.; Thurs.-Sat., 11:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m.; bar until 1 a.m.
Bar: Full
Credit: All
Recession specials: No
Accessibility: Accessible
Parking: Nearby lots, on street
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/food_dining/reviews/view.bg?articleid=1206663
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Malls said to remain vulnerable
Officials say malls remain vulnerable
By Donna Goodison | Thursday, October 22, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage
Shopping malls stepped up security measures and terrorism awareness training after 9/11, but it’s unlikely they could prevent a shooting rampage by a terrorist hell-bent on killing, according to industry experts.
Malls lack access control, and their civilian security officers usually are unarmed, making them much more vulnerable to an attack such as the one suspect Tarek Mehanna allegedly suggested, although they are less likely terrorism targets than more high-profile, class-A office buildings, other iconic centers or power facilities.
“If someone is willing to give up their lives to carry out a cause, then it’s very difficult to stop,” said Malachy Kavanagh, spokesman for the International Council of Shopping Centers. “What transpires is you sort of mitigate the damage.”
Since Sept. 11, malls recognize they are communities much like downtowns, according to Robert McCrie, professor of security management at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. But they haven’t instituted training and access controls to the extent that public transportation systems and class-A office buildings have.
More than 9,000 mall security officers - there are an estimated 18,000 in the United States - have taken the 14-hour Shopping Center Terrorism Awareness Training course created by the ICSC with George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute, according to Kavanagh.
“But the shopping center industry is no different from any other,” he said. “We have a reliance on our city, state and federal law enforcement agents to do exactly what they do, which is thwart these potential activities before they may actually happen.”
Both the CambridgeSide Galleria and mall owner Simon Property Group declined comment on whether they would ramp up safety efforts in light of the alleged terror plot. General Growth Properties, which operates the Natick Collection, was still considering whether additional measures would be taken, a spokesman said.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1206474
By Donna Goodison | Thursday, October 22, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage
Shopping malls stepped up security measures and terrorism awareness training after 9/11, but it’s unlikely they could prevent a shooting rampage by a terrorist hell-bent on killing, according to industry experts.
Malls lack access control, and their civilian security officers usually are unarmed, making them much more vulnerable to an attack such as the one suspect Tarek Mehanna allegedly suggested, although they are less likely terrorism targets than more high-profile, class-A office buildings, other iconic centers or power facilities.
“If someone is willing to give up their lives to carry out a cause, then it’s very difficult to stop,” said Malachy Kavanagh, spokesman for the International Council of Shopping Centers. “What transpires is you sort of mitigate the damage.”
Since Sept. 11, malls recognize they are communities much like downtowns, according to Robert McCrie, professor of security management at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. But they haven’t instituted training and access controls to the extent that public transportation systems and class-A office buildings have.
More than 9,000 mall security officers - there are an estimated 18,000 in the United States - have taken the 14-hour Shopping Center Terrorism Awareness Training course created by the ICSC with George Washington University’s Homeland Security Policy Institute, according to Kavanagh.
“But the shopping center industry is no different from any other,” he said. “We have a reliance on our city, state and federal law enforcement agents to do exactly what they do, which is thwart these potential activities before they may actually happen.”
Both the CambridgeSide Galleria and mall owner Simon Property Group declined comment on whether they would ramp up safety efforts in light of the alleged terror plot. General Growth Properties, which operates the Natick Collection, was still considering whether additional measures would be taken, a spokesman said.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1206474
Filene's Basement to launch new ad campaign
New owners of Filene’s Basement launch ad campaign
By Associated Press | Thursday, October 22, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Media & Marketing
BOSTON — Filene’s Basement is hoping to get back on its feet with a major advertising campaign that promotes the company’s 100th anniversary.
The 23-store discount chain emerged from bankruptcy protection earlier this year after being purchased by off-price retailer Syms Corp.
Owner Marcy Sims told The Boston Globe that the ad campaign — including network and cable TV spots and gift card giveaways — will show that Filene’s Basement is alive and well and a "place where bargains are born."
Filene’s Basement opened in downtown Boston in 1909 to sell excess merchandise from the upstairs Filene’s department store. It won fame for its annual "Running of the Brides" wedding gown sale.
The flagship store has been closed since 2007 as the city seeks to redevelop the building.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1206556
By Associated Press | Thursday, October 22, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Media & Marketing
BOSTON — Filene’s Basement is hoping to get back on its feet with a major advertising campaign that promotes the company’s 100th anniversary.
The 23-store discount chain emerged from bankruptcy protection earlier this year after being purchased by off-price retailer Syms Corp.
Owner Marcy Sims told The Boston Globe that the ad campaign — including network and cable TV spots and gift card giveaways — will show that Filene’s Basement is alive and well and a "place where bargains are born."
Filene’s Basement opened in downtown Boston in 1909 to sell excess merchandise from the upstairs Filene’s department store. It won fame for its annual "Running of the Brides" wedding gown sale.
The flagship store has been closed since 2007 as the city seeks to redevelop the building.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/media/view.bg?articleid=1206556
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Hancock Tower renovations to include restaurants
Hancock Tower makeover
$20M renovations set for lower floors
By Thomas Grillo | Wednesday, October 21, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Less than a year after the John Hancock Tower was sold at an auction for a bargain-basement price, its new owners are planning a $20 million rehab of New England’s tallest skyscraper.
Landlords Normandy Real Estate Partners and Five Mile Capital Partners have city approval to transform nearly 90,000 square feet of unused space on the high-rise’s ground floor and lower levels at 200 Clarendon St. into two restaurants, shops and underground parking.
Under Normandy’s proposal, the exterior of the glass tower and the plaza will not change, but the vacant space will be filled with restaurants and boutiques. The largest restaurant and retail use will be located along the Stuart Street side of the tower including a two-level, 10,200-square-foot eatery.
A second cafe and shops are planned for the St. James Street side of the tower. The plan calls for 1,960 square feet for a smaller restaurant or retail tenant with 8,800 square feet of retail on the lower level.
In March, the two firms paid $660.6 million for the 60-story building, about half the $1.3 billion price tag Broadway Partners paid for the 1.7 million-square-foot landmark in late 2006. The sale was a major defeat for Broadway, which defaulted on its loan and lost more than $100 million of equity in the property. Neither landlord would comment on the renovation. John Layng, a managing director at Five Mile Capital, and Raymond Trevisan, a principal with Normandy, did not return calls seeking comment yesterday.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1206209
$20M renovations set for lower floors
By Thomas Grillo | Wednesday, October 21, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
Less than a year after the John Hancock Tower was sold at an auction for a bargain-basement price, its new owners are planning a $20 million rehab of New England’s tallest skyscraper.
Landlords Normandy Real Estate Partners and Five Mile Capital Partners have city approval to transform nearly 90,000 square feet of unused space on the high-rise’s ground floor and lower levels at 200 Clarendon St. into two restaurants, shops and underground parking.
Under Normandy’s proposal, the exterior of the glass tower and the plaza will not change, but the vacant space will be filled with restaurants and boutiques. The largest restaurant and retail use will be located along the Stuart Street side of the tower including a two-level, 10,200-square-foot eatery.
A second cafe and shops are planned for the St. James Street side of the tower. The plan calls for 1,960 square feet for a smaller restaurant or retail tenant with 8,800 square feet of retail on the lower level.
In March, the two firms paid $660.6 million for the 60-story building, about half the $1.3 billion price tag Broadway Partners paid for the 1.7 million-square-foot landmark in late 2006. The sale was a major defeat for Broadway, which defaulted on its loan and lost more than $100 million of equity in the property. Neither landlord would comment on the renovation. John Layng, a managing director at Five Mile Capital, and Raymond Trevisan, a principal with Normandy, did not return calls seeking comment yesterday.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1206209
City oks restaurant at John Hancock building
Cafe OK’d as 1st step of Hancock Tower plan
By Casey Ross, Globe Staff | October 21, 2009
Boston officials last night approved a plan to open an 8,000-square-foot restaurant in the John Hancock Tower, part of an effort by new owner Normandy Real Estate Partners to increase public traffic and attract tenants in this sluggish office market.
The restaurant will likely be a cafe-style eatery with a casual atmosphere, according to an executive familiar with the plan. Normandy, part of a joint venture that bought the Hancock at an auction last spring, also won approval to build a 120-space parking garage under the building.
Normandy’s renovation plan is more modest than one the previous owners proposed that would have expanded the tower’s ground floor with a glass-enclosed “winter garden’’ and added restaurants and a cafe. That plan drew objections from neighbors and ultimately died when the prior owner, Broadway Partners of New York, defaulted on its debt and lost the building to foreclosure.
Normandy’s proposal will only renovate the interior of the building, and not add to its footprint, according to plans filed with the BRA. The 8,000-square-foot cafe will be built on the ground-floor and mezzanine levels on the Stuart Street side of the building. The project, expected to begin early next year, will also include substantial renovations to the lobby.
The plan filed with the city also calls for a 2,000-square-foot restaurant or cafe on the St. James Street side, but Normandy does not expect to build that in the immediate future, a spokeswoman for the BRA said.
The changes to the 34-year-old tower are intended to provide more modern amenities to help compete with newer office buildings in the city. Normandy is trying to attract new office-users after several marquee tenants, including the advertising firm Hill Holliday, left during Broadway’s tenure as owner.
The planned parking garage would add 120 spaces to a below-ground level of the tower, enough to add premium parking for some executives, although many employees would still have to park at the nearby garage on Clarendon Street. A new access ramp to the garage will be added by removing 60 linear feet of glass along the Trinity Place side of the tower. The garage will also include spaces for 100 bicycles.
In addition to the Hancock renovations, the BRA awarded a $50,000 contract last night to Stephen Stimson Associates for the redesign of the Chinatown Gateway Park, adjacent to the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway between Hudson Street and Surface Road. Three public meetings will be held to discuss the design. Construction is expected to begin next summer.
Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
By Casey Ross, Globe Staff | October 21, 2009
Boston officials last night approved a plan to open an 8,000-square-foot restaurant in the John Hancock Tower, part of an effort by new owner Normandy Real Estate Partners to increase public traffic and attract tenants in this sluggish office market.
The restaurant will likely be a cafe-style eatery with a casual atmosphere, according to an executive familiar with the plan. Normandy, part of a joint venture that bought the Hancock at an auction last spring, also won approval to build a 120-space parking garage under the building.
Normandy’s renovation plan is more modest than one the previous owners proposed that would have expanded the tower’s ground floor with a glass-enclosed “winter garden’’ and added restaurants and a cafe. That plan drew objections from neighbors and ultimately died when the prior owner, Broadway Partners of New York, defaulted on its debt and lost the building to foreclosure.
Normandy’s proposal will only renovate the interior of the building, and not add to its footprint, according to plans filed with the BRA. The 8,000-square-foot cafe will be built on the ground-floor and mezzanine levels on the Stuart Street side of the building. The project, expected to begin early next year, will also include substantial renovations to the lobby.
The plan filed with the city also calls for a 2,000-square-foot restaurant or cafe on the St. James Street side, but Normandy does not expect to build that in the immediate future, a spokeswoman for the BRA said.
The changes to the 34-year-old tower are intended to provide more modern amenities to help compete with newer office buildings in the city. Normandy is trying to attract new office-users after several marquee tenants, including the advertising firm Hill Holliday, left during Broadway’s tenure as owner.
The planned parking garage would add 120 spaces to a below-ground level of the tower, enough to add premium parking for some executives, although many employees would still have to park at the nearby garage on Clarendon Street. A new access ramp to the garage will be added by removing 60 linear feet of glass along the Trinity Place side of the tower. The garage will also include spaces for 100 bicycles.
In addition to the Hancock renovations, the BRA awarded a $50,000 contract last night to Stephen Stimson Associates for the redesign of the Chinatown Gateway Park, adjacent to the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway between Hudson Street and Surface Road. Three public meetings will be held to discuss the design. Construction is expected to begin next summer.
Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Locke-Ober to begin lunch soon
In sign of better times, Locke-Ober revives lunch
By Donna Goodison | Tuesday, October 20, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
The 134-year-old Locke-Ober, a former power-lunch spot for Boston businessmen, will resume offering lunch beginning Nov. 2.
Chef and co-owner Lydia Shire has created a new, lower-priced menu that will include a two-course lunch for $18.75 (with dessert an extra $5), and a la carte options of $8 appetizers and $15 entrees. The upscale Downtown Crossing restaurant also will serve a new bar menu during lunch and dinner.
The recession prompted Shire and co-owner Paul Licari to indefinitely suspend Locke-Ober’s lunch service in January.
“We’re starting to see both the corporate and social business pick up in October, so that was a big decision in picking a date to bring back lunch,” Licari said.
The menu, which will change each month, is aimed at a more casual, local clientele than Locke-Ober has hosted in the past, according to Licari. “It’s a whole new approach for us,” he said.
There never was any question that Locke-Ober would reopen its doors for lunch, Shire said. “I could never go through the holiday season without our fabulous friends that come in every November and every December,” she said. “Lunch at Locke-Ober is just an age-old tradition.”
In addition to favorites such as hash and liver that have always been “pretty easy on the wallet,” Shire is developing dishes that can be priced in an “economic way that’s helpful to the customer.”
“It’s very easy to put expensive ingredients on the plate to make it beautiful,” she said. “It’s more of a challenge to make a dish with more cost-effective ingredients and still make it exciting and delicious.”
Lunch entrees will include truffle-floured tortelloni of sugar pumpkin, brown butter and sage leaves; and “extravagant” Greek salad with grilled lamb shaslik.
“My portions are good-sized, so nobody will leave hungry,” Shire said.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1205942
By Donna Goodison | Tuesday, October 20, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
The 134-year-old Locke-Ober, a former power-lunch spot for Boston businessmen, will resume offering lunch beginning Nov. 2.
Chef and co-owner Lydia Shire has created a new, lower-priced menu that will include a two-course lunch for $18.75 (with dessert an extra $5), and a la carte options of $8 appetizers and $15 entrees. The upscale Downtown Crossing restaurant also will serve a new bar menu during lunch and dinner.
The recession prompted Shire and co-owner Paul Licari to indefinitely suspend Locke-Ober’s lunch service in January.
“We’re starting to see both the corporate and social business pick up in October, so that was a big decision in picking a date to bring back lunch,” Licari said.
The menu, which will change each month, is aimed at a more casual, local clientele than Locke-Ober has hosted in the past, according to Licari. “It’s a whole new approach for us,” he said.
There never was any question that Locke-Ober would reopen its doors for lunch, Shire said. “I could never go through the holiday season without our fabulous friends that come in every November and every December,” she said. “Lunch at Locke-Ober is just an age-old tradition.”
In addition to favorites such as hash and liver that have always been “pretty easy on the wallet,” Shire is developing dishes that can be priced in an “economic way that’s helpful to the customer.”
“It’s very easy to put expensive ingredients on the plate to make it beautiful,” she said. “It’s more of a challenge to make a dish with more cost-effective ingredients and still make it exciting and delicious.”
Lunch entrees will include truffle-floured tortelloni of sugar pumpkin, brown butter and sage leaves; and “extravagant” Greek salad with grilled lamb shaslik.
“My portions are good-sized, so nobody will leave hungry,” Shire said.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1205942
Monday, October 19, 2009
Scalper turned filmaker to screen movie Wednesday
Scalper’s profit chopped by Red Sox’ ouster
By Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa | Monday, October 19, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | The Inside Track
Veteran ticket titan turned filmmaker Jay Giannone says the Red Sox [team stats] flameout hit the illegal scalping biz hard - but the boys with all the good seats have high hopes for the Celtics [team stats] and Bruins [team stats]!
“We had a couple of really good years there with the Sox, Patriots [team stats] and then the Celtics,” said the third-generation Southie scalper. “But the Patriots had a tough year last year, so that sucked. And then there was the downturn in the economy. Last year wasn’t good, but I bet we’ll come out of it.”
Flailing teams and the failing economy aren’t the only factors plaguing the old-school scalping biz. There’s that newfangled thing called the Internet - which has also taken a big bite out of the illegal ticket-reselling biz. But when it comes to buying online at craigslist and eBay, Jay says the biggest losers are the fans!
“I would say ticket scalpers are a dying breed,” said the former seat peddler. “But at least you got a real ticket when you paid a scalper. There’s so many more fraudulent tickets going around now.”
Jay said buying from the reputable ticket brokers on the Web is safe, but once a consumer starts trawling for tickets on auction sites they’re asking to get ripped off.
“Nine outta 10 times you’re not the only one who was sold that ticket,” he laughed. “Nine hundred other people downloaded that same ticket.”
Jay is such an expert in the want-one/got-one biz, he made a movie about it in Southie a couple of summers ago. “Scalpers,” which has screened in film festivals in Boston and New York, will be shown here on Wednesday - in the shadow of Fenway Park [map] - at a bash at Tequila Rain on Ipswich Street.
Gianonne, an actor who has appeared in “The Departed” and “Gone, Baby Gone,” stars in the gritty flick about the seedy underbelly of the territorial ticket game. In a bit of type-casting, Whitey Bulger’s former lieutenant Kevin Weeks co-stars as an Irish mob boss.
The “Scalpers” bash, sponsored by the UFC and emceed by the Track, with entertainment by DJ Clinton Sparks, Slaine and Rich Cronin, starts at 7:30 p.m.
You know you wanna be there!
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view.bg?articleid=1205683
By Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa | Monday, October 19, 2009 | http://www.bostonherald.com | The Inside Track
Veteran ticket titan turned filmmaker Jay Giannone says the Red Sox [team stats] flameout hit the illegal scalping biz hard - but the boys with all the good seats have high hopes for the Celtics [team stats] and Bruins [team stats]!
“We had a couple of really good years there with the Sox, Patriots [team stats] and then the Celtics,” said the third-generation Southie scalper. “But the Patriots had a tough year last year, so that sucked. And then there was the downturn in the economy. Last year wasn’t good, but I bet we’ll come out of it.”
Flailing teams and the failing economy aren’t the only factors plaguing the old-school scalping biz. There’s that newfangled thing called the Internet - which has also taken a big bite out of the illegal ticket-reselling biz. But when it comes to buying online at craigslist and eBay, Jay says the biggest losers are the fans!
“I would say ticket scalpers are a dying breed,” said the former seat peddler. “But at least you got a real ticket when you paid a scalper. There’s so many more fraudulent tickets going around now.”
Jay said buying from the reputable ticket brokers on the Web is safe, but once a consumer starts trawling for tickets on auction sites they’re asking to get ripped off.
“Nine outta 10 times you’re not the only one who was sold that ticket,” he laughed. “Nine hundred other people downloaded that same ticket.”
Jay is such an expert in the want-one/got-one biz, he made a movie about it in Southie a couple of summers ago. “Scalpers,” which has screened in film festivals in Boston and New York, will be shown here on Wednesday - in the shadow of Fenway Park [map] - at a bash at Tequila Rain on Ipswich Street.
Gianonne, an actor who has appeared in “The Departed” and “Gone, Baby Gone,” stars in the gritty flick about the seedy underbelly of the territorial ticket game. In a bit of type-casting, Whitey Bulger’s former lieutenant Kevin Weeks co-stars as an Irish mob boss.
The “Scalpers” bash, sponsored by the UFC and emceed by the Track, with entertainment by DJ Clinton Sparks, Slaine and Rich Cronin, starts at 7:30 p.m.
You know you wanna be there!
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view.bg?articleid=1205683
Sunday, October 18, 2009
W gm profile
ON THE HOT SEAT
W Hotel ready to enter, stage left, to spotlight
By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff | October 18, 2009
General manager William Bunce will introduce the city to what he calls the W Hotels’ “world of wow’’ when the W Boston opens in the Theatre District on Oct. 29. The 235-room hotel on the corner of Stuart and Tremont streets (the hotel occupies the glass building’s first 15 floors; residences take up the top 13) will feature a restaurant by renowned chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten and, by early next year, will have a spa and an underground lounge. It’s Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ 34th W hotel. Bunce, 43, who has worked for Starwood for 11 years, including stints in Framingham, Braintree, and Lexington, told Katie Johnston Chase of the Globe staff he is confident Boston is ready for the W’s hip vibe - and its $300-plus-a-night price tag.
The W is a very theatrical brand. Employee interviews are called auditions. The staff door is the stage door. The cafeteria is known as the green room. Why all the drama?
When you have good customer service, the person is what you would call onstage. They’re engaging with you, they’re having a conversation with you. . . . Cameras on, lights are up, step out, spotlight’s on you. So I think that what we were trying to achieve was better done with different lingo.
There’s great attention to detail at the W. In the Times Square hotel, the rugs in the elevator are changed three times a day to say “good morning,’’ “good afternoon,’’ and “good evening.’’
It’s one of our rituals. We have a few rituals that happen throughout the course of the day.
In the morning in the living room [the lobby], the lights are a little bit brighter, and in the afternoon they dim a little bit, and in the evening dim quite a bit. Same with the music. The music changes throughout the course of the day.
When you’re having a party, the music’s not soft, right? The music’s up a little bit. The lights are down a little bit typically. So we try to replicate that in our living room, as if you were having your own party in your own living room.
The Times Square W has a very happening bar scene. Think Boston can match that?
Oh yes. And then when we open our lounge in late January or early February, it’s going to be even bigger.
The living room, with the floor-to-ceiling windows, is going to attract people to look in. And people in are going to look out. It’s intentional with that translucent glass to bring whatever’s going on outside on that corner, at Stuart Street and Tremont, and bring it inside.
What’s the spa like?
Bliss is a very different type of spa. It’s a spa with a twist to it. They don’t take themselves so seriously. Their products are a little bit fun. One of their creams is Fat Girl Slim.
I almost didn’t feel cool enough to stay at the Times Square W. Do you think the W might be intimidating for some people?
I’ve heard that before. It really is a lifestyle brand.
Your average geeky business traveler might be a little overwhelmed by the techno music and candles.
W Times Square is a techno glam experience. If you went to the W New York, the original one on Lexington Avenue, their living room has a very different feel to it. It’s much more of a fun little play, casual. The prints are different, it’s not as sleek. I think people can find a W that they’re comfortable in.
What will the Boston W vibe be?
We’re an urban oasis, with our design of the garden and bringing that garden inside . . . the granite wall that’s in the living room, the fireplace that’s in the living room. . . . I think this one is designed very well for Boston.
Boston might not be ready for a W. We’re not that hip.
They’re getting there. We just kicked off Fashion Week with Fashion Boston. We held a kickoff party [with floating butterfly decorations and glowing glass balls that looked like fireflies], and it was held in a loft space in the South End. And one notable person came up to me and made the statement of, “Oh my god, thank you so much. You’ve saved Boston.’’
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
W Hotel ready to enter, stage left, to spotlight
By Katie Johnston Chase, Globe Staff | October 18, 2009
General manager William Bunce will introduce the city to what he calls the W Hotels’ “world of wow’’ when the W Boston opens in the Theatre District on Oct. 29. The 235-room hotel on the corner of Stuart and Tremont streets (the hotel occupies the glass building’s first 15 floors; residences take up the top 13) will feature a restaurant by renowned chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten and, by early next year, will have a spa and an underground lounge. It’s Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ 34th W hotel. Bunce, 43, who has worked for Starwood for 11 years, including stints in Framingham, Braintree, and Lexington, told Katie Johnston Chase of the Globe staff he is confident Boston is ready for the W’s hip vibe - and its $300-plus-a-night price tag.
The W is a very theatrical brand. Employee interviews are called auditions. The staff door is the stage door. The cafeteria is known as the green room. Why all the drama?
When you have good customer service, the person is what you would call onstage. They’re engaging with you, they’re having a conversation with you. . . . Cameras on, lights are up, step out, spotlight’s on you. So I think that what we were trying to achieve was better done with different lingo.
There’s great attention to detail at the W. In the Times Square hotel, the rugs in the elevator are changed three times a day to say “good morning,’’ “good afternoon,’’ and “good evening.’’
It’s one of our rituals. We have a few rituals that happen throughout the course of the day.
In the morning in the living room [the lobby], the lights are a little bit brighter, and in the afternoon they dim a little bit, and in the evening dim quite a bit. Same with the music. The music changes throughout the course of the day.
When you’re having a party, the music’s not soft, right? The music’s up a little bit. The lights are down a little bit typically. So we try to replicate that in our living room, as if you were having your own party in your own living room.
The Times Square W has a very happening bar scene. Think Boston can match that?
Oh yes. And then when we open our lounge in late January or early February, it’s going to be even bigger.
The living room, with the floor-to-ceiling windows, is going to attract people to look in. And people in are going to look out. It’s intentional with that translucent glass to bring whatever’s going on outside on that corner, at Stuart Street and Tremont, and bring it inside.
What’s the spa like?
Bliss is a very different type of spa. It’s a spa with a twist to it. They don’t take themselves so seriously. Their products are a little bit fun. One of their creams is Fat Girl Slim.
I almost didn’t feel cool enough to stay at the Times Square W. Do you think the W might be intimidating for some people?
I’ve heard that before. It really is a lifestyle brand.
Your average geeky business traveler might be a little overwhelmed by the techno music and candles.
W Times Square is a techno glam experience. If you went to the W New York, the original one on Lexington Avenue, their living room has a very different feel to it. It’s much more of a fun little play, casual. The prints are different, it’s not as sleek. I think people can find a W that they’re comfortable in.
What will the Boston W vibe be?
We’re an urban oasis, with our design of the garden and bringing that garden inside . . . the granite wall that’s in the living room, the fireplace that’s in the living room. . . . I think this one is designed very well for Boston.
Boston might not be ready for a W. We’re not that hip.
They’re getting there. We just kicked off Fashion Week with Fashion Boston. We held a kickoff party [with floating butterfly decorations and glowing glass balls that looked like fireflies], and it was held in a loft space in the South End. And one notable person came up to me and made the statement of, “Oh my god, thank you so much. You’ve saved Boston.’’
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Complexity of MBTA increases costs
The T takes a toll
The MBTA is a system cobbled together to serve a congested urban area, and that boosts expenses
By Noah Bierman and Matt Carroll, Globe Staff | October 18, 2009
When the MBTA opened its Silver Line service to Logan International Airport five years ago, managers needed a specific bus, one that no other transit agency in the United States had used.
It had to be 60 feet long, accordion style, and 20 feet longer than the standard, to fit more passengers. And it had to be able to run both on an overhead electrical wire for trips inside a new tunnel and on diesel fuel for driving on regular roads.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commissioned a fleet of 32 vehicles, the only set of its kind in North America. They require their own spare parts, their own maintenance standards, and their own driver training.
Such extraordinary measures and others like them taken by choice and necessity over more than a century have created a dizzying combination of boats, trolleys, subways, buses, and trains that span two states. It is a costly complexity that makes the state’s ongoing assessment of the T’s efficiency particularly tricky.
A Globe comparison of the MBTA’s operating costs with those of other US transit agencies shows an agency that has significant room to reduce its expenses. While on the high side, the T is not far out of line with its peers in other big cities, especially considering that the cost of living in Boston is among the highest in the nation. Further, because the T is such a well-used system, it tends to fare better when its costs are broken down per passenger.
The Green Line, for example, is relatively expensive to run, but gets more bang for its buck than similar systems, because it carries more passengers than any light-rail system in the country.
Bus service costs more in Greater Boston than in other large cities by several measures, according to the Globe’s analysis, while commuter rail costs less.
The most recent 2007 figures for costs, operating miles, passenger counts, and other key measures were reported by more than 660 American transit agencies to the Federal Transit Agency and are included as part of its National Transit Database.
The MBTA, the nation’s fifth-largest mass transit system, is an agency at a crossroads, in the midst of leadership upheaval and the target of an independent audit to determine why it remains in such dire financial straits.
An on-again, off-again proposal to increase fares has riders on edge. In August, Governor Deval Patrick helped push out general manager Daniel A. Grabauskas.
And then, facing criticism over the $327,000 buyout given to Grabauskas, Patrick ordered a top-to-bottom review of the agency’s management and finances by David D’Alessandro, the former John Hancock chief executive, due by Nov. 1.
On top of that, the T will experience unprecedented changes in its management structure next month, under a landmark transportation law that will put a single governing board in charge of the state’s entire mass transit operations, its highways, tollways, vehicle registration office, and general aviation airports.
The T’s most basic and most significant problems are well documented. It owes more than $8 billion in debt and interest, a heavy burden that has prevented it from attacking an additional $2.7 billion backlog of maintenance and equipment replacement needed to keep the system safe.
The lack of money to replace aging equipment, a national problem for older rail systems, also increases operating costs because it forces the T to spend more money on overtime and stopgap repairs, according to people inside and outside the T who have examined its problems.
“We’re not working off the maintenance backlog,’’ said Ferdinand Alvaro, an outgoing member of the T’s board of directors who led its finance committee. “All we’re doing is spending whatever we need to keep it from getting worse.’’
Analysts who have examined the T generally agree that those issues are paramount and have led to some of the recent breakdowns on Red Line trains, for example.
The federal data reviewed by the Globe focus on operating costs and do not take into account debt, the system’s unmet maintenance needs, or chronic problems finishing projects on time and on budget.
But conclusions based on day-to-day operating costs are controversial in transportation circles. The T can look efficient or expensive compared with other agencies, depending on the type of transportation analyzed and how costs are broken down.
Calculating what it costs to run an hour of bus service, for example, yields a different ranking than calculating the cost of running that bus for a mile. Other variables include differences in trip length, size of train cars, and regional cost of living.
Comparisons between transit agencies are “anecdotal at best,’’ said Jonathan Davis, deputy director and chief financial officer at the MBTA. “Our numbers are certainly in line with our peers for operating in an urban environment.’’
Jonathan H. Klein, a former chief mechanical officer for Amtrak, said the cost per mile of running vehicles, which is quite high at the T, is a more significant measure of performance than the per-passenger cost.
Crowding vehicles looks good on a mathematical basis, but it masks real questions of efficiency in moving buses and trains, he said.
“That’s what a taxpayer is paying for: Putting service out on the street where the passengers can ride in it,’’ said Klein, who started his career in the 1970s on the MBTA’s Red Line and also worked in other transit systems.
“If you cram seven people into a Cadillac Escalade, the Escalade looks mathematically efficient compared with three comfortable people in a Toyota Prius.’’ he said. But the Prius is actually more efficient.
Nigel Wilson, a transit specialist at MIT who has studied bus and rail around the world, said the T’s costs are not unreasonable, given its size and the cost of living in the area.
He agrees that the T’s complexity adds to its costs, but said moving passengers around is the primary goal of transit agencies, not keeping costs low.
On the Silver Line airport shuttle, for example, the need to open the Seaport and link to Logan using a vehicle that could carry large numbers of passengers left the T with few alternatives.
MBTA managers also argue that some cost comparisons can be misleading. Counting the per-mile cost to run a vehicle, for example, penalizes small and congested cities like Boston where trains and buses often travel short distances at low speeds.
Yet many of the agencies included in the Globe’s comparisons run in similarly congested areas and, in some cases, spend less money on a per-mile basis.
A recent weekday trip through the system - which began on a commuter rail train passing by Walden Pond and ended on a ferry boat traversing Boston Harbor - demonstrated the extent of the T’s diversity.
It took more than seven hours, almost an entire business day, to complete a journey that touched on most of the MBTA’s major components and vehicles.
Passengers interviewed along the route, though diverse in income and education level, echoed a common refrain: They depend on the T and need the state to invest in it. They were generally tolerant of its flaws, and many said they were grateful for its performance.
Helen Ellison, sitting on the Route 28 bus snacking on walnuts, said she puts up with a lot of crowding and delays in her travels because she has no choice.
“There are times when it’s running good, and there are days when it’s running really, really bad,’’ she said, calmly pointing out that she was running late to yet another appointment.
Bruce Wickelgren, a Suffolk University professor who was using the Green Line to get from Cleveland Circle to Coolidge Corner, was more enthusiastic.
“I know a lot of people have a lot of problems with it,’’ said Wickelgren, “but I sold my car, and it allowed me to buy a condo.’’
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
The MBTA is a system cobbled together to serve a congested urban area, and that boosts expenses
By Noah Bierman and Matt Carroll, Globe Staff | October 18, 2009
When the MBTA opened its Silver Line service to Logan International Airport five years ago, managers needed a specific bus, one that no other transit agency in the United States had used.
It had to be 60 feet long, accordion style, and 20 feet longer than the standard, to fit more passengers. And it had to be able to run both on an overhead electrical wire for trips inside a new tunnel and on diesel fuel for driving on regular roads.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commissioned a fleet of 32 vehicles, the only set of its kind in North America. They require their own spare parts, their own maintenance standards, and their own driver training.
Such extraordinary measures and others like them taken by choice and necessity over more than a century have created a dizzying combination of boats, trolleys, subways, buses, and trains that span two states. It is a costly complexity that makes the state’s ongoing assessment of the T’s efficiency particularly tricky.
A Globe comparison of the MBTA’s operating costs with those of other US transit agencies shows an agency that has significant room to reduce its expenses. While on the high side, the T is not far out of line with its peers in other big cities, especially considering that the cost of living in Boston is among the highest in the nation. Further, because the T is such a well-used system, it tends to fare better when its costs are broken down per passenger.
The Green Line, for example, is relatively expensive to run, but gets more bang for its buck than similar systems, because it carries more passengers than any light-rail system in the country.
Bus service costs more in Greater Boston than in other large cities by several measures, according to the Globe’s analysis, while commuter rail costs less.
The most recent 2007 figures for costs, operating miles, passenger counts, and other key measures were reported by more than 660 American transit agencies to the Federal Transit Agency and are included as part of its National Transit Database.
The MBTA, the nation’s fifth-largest mass transit system, is an agency at a crossroads, in the midst of leadership upheaval and the target of an independent audit to determine why it remains in such dire financial straits.
An on-again, off-again proposal to increase fares has riders on edge. In August, Governor Deval Patrick helped push out general manager Daniel A. Grabauskas.
And then, facing criticism over the $327,000 buyout given to Grabauskas, Patrick ordered a top-to-bottom review of the agency’s management and finances by David D’Alessandro, the former John Hancock chief executive, due by Nov. 1.
On top of that, the T will experience unprecedented changes in its management structure next month, under a landmark transportation law that will put a single governing board in charge of the state’s entire mass transit operations, its highways, tollways, vehicle registration office, and general aviation airports.
The T’s most basic and most significant problems are well documented. It owes more than $8 billion in debt and interest, a heavy burden that has prevented it from attacking an additional $2.7 billion backlog of maintenance and equipment replacement needed to keep the system safe.
The lack of money to replace aging equipment, a national problem for older rail systems, also increases operating costs because it forces the T to spend more money on overtime and stopgap repairs, according to people inside and outside the T who have examined its problems.
“We’re not working off the maintenance backlog,’’ said Ferdinand Alvaro, an outgoing member of the T’s board of directors who led its finance committee. “All we’re doing is spending whatever we need to keep it from getting worse.’’
Analysts who have examined the T generally agree that those issues are paramount and have led to some of the recent breakdowns on Red Line trains, for example.
The federal data reviewed by the Globe focus on operating costs and do not take into account debt, the system’s unmet maintenance needs, or chronic problems finishing projects on time and on budget.
But conclusions based on day-to-day operating costs are controversial in transportation circles. The T can look efficient or expensive compared with other agencies, depending on the type of transportation analyzed and how costs are broken down.
Calculating what it costs to run an hour of bus service, for example, yields a different ranking than calculating the cost of running that bus for a mile. Other variables include differences in trip length, size of train cars, and regional cost of living.
Comparisons between transit agencies are “anecdotal at best,’’ said Jonathan Davis, deputy director and chief financial officer at the MBTA. “Our numbers are certainly in line with our peers for operating in an urban environment.’’
Jonathan H. Klein, a former chief mechanical officer for Amtrak, said the cost per mile of running vehicles, which is quite high at the T, is a more significant measure of performance than the per-passenger cost.
Crowding vehicles looks good on a mathematical basis, but it masks real questions of efficiency in moving buses and trains, he said.
“That’s what a taxpayer is paying for: Putting service out on the street where the passengers can ride in it,’’ said Klein, who started his career in the 1970s on the MBTA’s Red Line and also worked in other transit systems.
“If you cram seven people into a Cadillac Escalade, the Escalade looks mathematically efficient compared with three comfortable people in a Toyota Prius.’’ he said. But the Prius is actually more efficient.
Nigel Wilson, a transit specialist at MIT who has studied bus and rail around the world, said the T’s costs are not unreasonable, given its size and the cost of living in the area.
He agrees that the T’s complexity adds to its costs, but said moving passengers around is the primary goal of transit agencies, not keeping costs low.
On the Silver Line airport shuttle, for example, the need to open the Seaport and link to Logan using a vehicle that could carry large numbers of passengers left the T with few alternatives.
MBTA managers also argue that some cost comparisons can be misleading. Counting the per-mile cost to run a vehicle, for example, penalizes small and congested cities like Boston where trains and buses often travel short distances at low speeds.
Yet many of the agencies included in the Globe’s comparisons run in similarly congested areas and, in some cases, spend less money on a per-mile basis.
A recent weekday trip through the system - which began on a commuter rail train passing by Walden Pond and ended on a ferry boat traversing Boston Harbor - demonstrated the extent of the T’s diversity.
It took more than seven hours, almost an entire business day, to complete a journey that touched on most of the MBTA’s major components and vehicles.
Passengers interviewed along the route, though diverse in income and education level, echoed a common refrain: They depend on the T and need the state to invest in it. They were generally tolerant of its flaws, and many said they were grateful for its performance.
Helen Ellison, sitting on the Route 28 bus snacking on walnuts, said she puts up with a lot of crowding and delays in her travels because she has no choice.
“There are times when it’s running good, and there are days when it’s running really, really bad,’’ she said, calmly pointing out that she was running late to yet another appointment.
Bruce Wickelgren, a Suffolk University professor who was using the Green Line to get from Cleveland Circle to Coolidge Corner, was more enthusiastic.
“I know a lot of people have a lot of problems with it,’’ said Wickelgren, “but I sold my car, and it allowed me to buy a condo.’’
© Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
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