Fenway News Online
Posted on 30 November 2010.
Berklee Announces Plans for New Building on Mass Ave
Berklee College of Music announces development plans for one of its latest real estate acquisitions, 168 Massachusetts Avenue. The college purchased the 13,355-square-foot parcel from the First Church of Christ, Scientist in 2009 for $6.25 million. The property is adjacent to the college’s largest collection of buildings that includes most of its dorm and classroom spaces and the Berklee Performance Center.
The existing, one-story structure at 168 Massachusetts Avenue will be razed to create a 16-story, 170,000 square-foot mixed-use building. The project architect is William Rawn Associates, Architects of Boston. The Rawn firm is responsible for a number of award-winning performing arts and campus buildings, including the Seiji Ozawa Hall at Tanglewood, the Williams College ’62 Center for Theater and Dance, the new Cambridge Public Library, and Northeastern University Buildings G and H. The project’s construction cost is estimated at $65 million. Construction start is planned for fall 2011, and the building opening for the 2013 fall semester.
Upon completion, 168 Massachusetts Avenue will house new dorm rooms with 350 beds, increasing Berklee’s on-campus housing capacity to approximately 1,200 students. A two-story dining hall will have seating for 400 and provide a new venue for student performances in the evening. A music technology center with recording studios will be developed below grade with an acoustically isolated environment for recording and post-production activities. Practice and ensemble rooms, a fitness center, and student lounges will occupy the upper dormitory floors. Along the street will be new retail space and possibly a restaurant with live music. Floor-to-ceiling windows on the lower floors will bring light and life from within the building out into the neighborhood.
This project will enable the college to adjust the height of another project that is to be included in the college’s Institutional Master Plan. The Berklee Crossroads project is proposed for the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Boylston Street, the site of the Berklee Performance Center and a former bank building that now houses academic and administrative spaces. In light of the 168 Massachusetts Avenue plan, Berklee has proposed to lower the height of the Crossroads proposal from 29 to 24 stories. This was done to respond to a request made by neighborhood groups at meetings of the community advisory committee appointed to comment on Berklee’s development plans. The Crossroads development would include a new performance center, dorms, classrooms, and student life space.
Plans for the new project at 168 Mass Ave and the proposed changes to the Berklee Crossroads were shared with the City-appointed Berklee Community Task Force at a meeting on November 29 and are being reviewed with Fenway and Back Bay neighborhood groups now. Berklee plans to file its new Institutional Master Plan and more detailed plans for the 168 Massachusetts Avenue development with the BRA by February of 2011.
Image provided by Berklee College of Music.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
"Kitchen Nightmares" coming to Davide in North End
We Hear: Mark Wahlberg, Tom Brady, Manny Ramirez and more...
By Inside Track | Tuesday, November 30, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | The Inside Track
That uber chef Gordon Ramsay is bringing his “Kitchen Nightmares’’ to Boston this weekend. FOX-TV publicist Jennifer Sprague confirmed last night that the cantankerous chef will work his magic on Davide in Boston’s North End. Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view.bg?articleid=1299737
By Inside Track | Tuesday, November 30, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | The Inside Track
That uber chef Gordon Ramsay is bringing his “Kitchen Nightmares’’ to Boston this weekend. FOX-TV publicist Jennifer Sprague confirmed last night that the cantankerous chef will work his magic on Davide in Boston’s North End. Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view.bg?articleid=1299737
Boston club denies racism allegations
The Harvard Crimson
Club Denies Racism Allegations
By CAROLINE M. MCKAY, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Published: Tuesday, November 30, 2010
A spokesperson for the Cure Lounge said allegations of discrimination against black Harvard and Yale students at a Nov. 20 party for graduate students and alumni that was shut down were “absolutely baloney,” citing poor organization from event promoters as the primary reason for the club management’s decision to end the event prematurely.
George Regan, the spokesperson for the club, said that event promoters insisted that those in the crowd without Harvard or Yale IDs be admitted on the night of the event, despite concerns from club security that people unaffiliated with either university and known to cause trouble were trying to gain entry.
Regan said the event organizers had previously agreed while attempting to obtain the venue for the party that only those with Harvard or Yale IDs would be admitted. Because the promoters decided to violate the precondition, the club management shut the party down, he said.
By insisting that the club security not check IDs, Regan said the event promoters “wanted those people inside the club,” referring to the “local gang bangers” that security guards said they spotted in the crowd.
In e-mails to attendees before and after the event, event promoters did not say that proof of university affiliation was a precondition for entry to the event. In an e-mail obtained by The Crimson sent from the event promoters to the attendees the day before the event containing “important information” about the party, event organizer Kwame Owusu-Kesse ’06 cited other preconditions stipulated by Cure Lounge, but mentioned nothing about needing university IDs.
Sadatu K. Dennis, a student at the Harvard Graduate School of Design who attedmed the party, said that she did not understand why club management told attendees that the event was closing due to technical difficulties with the stereo system if the real rationale was a concern about club security.
Dennis said when she got to the club around 10 p.m.—45 minutes before the management announced they were shutting the party down—she did not see anyone outside the club who did not appear to be affiliated with Harvard or Yale, and said she was not asked to show her Harvard ID.
But Regan maintains that the issue revolved around IDs to ensure the club’s security, an issue that Cure takes particularly seriously, he says.
In 2008, the club—then called Aria Nightclub—closed after a brawl broke out and a man opened fire on the crowd. After a two-year lapse, the club is reopening with a new name, according to Regan.
Event promoters and organizers Owusu-Kesse and Michael Beal ’06, both second year students at Harvard Business School, did not return e-mails and phone calls seeking comment.
Despite Regan’s assurances that the event organizers are at fault, the club will face investigation by the City of Boston Licensing Division, according to Boston City Councillor Ayanna Pressley’s Chief of Staff James Chisholm.
Chisholm acknowledged that the inquiry was an “investigation of accusations” and said that Pressley called for it after hearing accounts from students who attended the event. Following the investigation, the City of Boston Licensing Board will determine whether the club will retain its license to conduct business, he said.
“The councillor feels very strongly that an investigation is warranted after hearing accounts [of the night],” Chisholm said. “This is something that doesn’t reflect the best of Boston.”
Club Denies Racism Allegations
By CAROLINE M. MCKAY, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Published: Tuesday, November 30, 2010
A spokesperson for the Cure Lounge said allegations of discrimination against black Harvard and Yale students at a Nov. 20 party for graduate students and alumni that was shut down were “absolutely baloney,” citing poor organization from event promoters as the primary reason for the club management’s decision to end the event prematurely.
George Regan, the spokesperson for the club, said that event promoters insisted that those in the crowd without Harvard or Yale IDs be admitted on the night of the event, despite concerns from club security that people unaffiliated with either university and known to cause trouble were trying to gain entry.
Regan said the event organizers had previously agreed while attempting to obtain the venue for the party that only those with Harvard or Yale IDs would be admitted. Because the promoters decided to violate the precondition, the club management shut the party down, he said.
By insisting that the club security not check IDs, Regan said the event promoters “wanted those people inside the club,” referring to the “local gang bangers” that security guards said they spotted in the crowd.
In e-mails to attendees before and after the event, event promoters did not say that proof of university affiliation was a precondition for entry to the event. In an e-mail obtained by The Crimson sent from the event promoters to the attendees the day before the event containing “important information” about the party, event organizer Kwame Owusu-Kesse ’06 cited other preconditions stipulated by Cure Lounge, but mentioned nothing about needing university IDs.
Sadatu K. Dennis, a student at the Harvard Graduate School of Design who attedmed the party, said that she did not understand why club management told attendees that the event was closing due to technical difficulties with the stereo system if the real rationale was a concern about club security.
Dennis said when she got to the club around 10 p.m.—45 minutes before the management announced they were shutting the party down—she did not see anyone outside the club who did not appear to be affiliated with Harvard or Yale, and said she was not asked to show her Harvard ID.
But Regan maintains that the issue revolved around IDs to ensure the club’s security, an issue that Cure takes particularly seriously, he says.
In 2008, the club—then called Aria Nightclub—closed after a brawl broke out and a man opened fire on the crowd. After a two-year lapse, the club is reopening with a new name, according to Regan.
Event promoters and organizers Owusu-Kesse and Michael Beal ’06, both second year students at Harvard Business School, did not return e-mails and phone calls seeking comment.
Despite Regan’s assurances that the event organizers are at fault, the club will face investigation by the City of Boston Licensing Division, according to Boston City Councillor Ayanna Pressley’s Chief of Staff James Chisholm.
Chisholm acknowledged that the inquiry was an “investigation of accusations” and said that Pressley called for it after hearing accounts from students who attended the event. Following the investigation, the City of Boston Licensing Board will determine whether the club will retain its license to conduct business, he said.
“The councillor feels very strongly that an investigation is warranted after hearing accounts [of the night],” Chisholm said. “This is something that doesn’t reflect the best of Boston.”
Boston Public Market viability study questioned
The Boston Herald
Boston food market plan produces many questions
By Jay Fitzgerald | Tuesday, November 30, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
The state is spending up to $150,000 on consultants to determine the viability of a proposed food market off the Rose Kennedy Greenway, even though it’s already bragging that the plan is a done deal.
A state-owned building at the corner of Blackstone and Hanover streets already has multiple signs across its windows that read “Future Home of the Boston Public Market” and give Gov. Deval Patrick and Mayor Thomas M. Menino credit for the $10 million project.
Asked how the state could announce the future market’s site before the consultant has been selected or why a $150,000 consultant is needed if the site has already been selected, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Agricultural Resources said she was “not going to speculate” on what a consultant’s study might find.
Catherine Williams, the spokeswoman, later issued a statement saying that the “presumption is the consultant will find this a viable site” for a market “unless there is some new information presented about the site during the consultant’s review.”
The consulting confusion is just the latest chapter in a development saga that critics have said is nothing more than a fixed deal.
Last year, the Turnpike Authority rejected two bids from private firms to develop the site, known as Parcel 7, saying the bids were too low. One of the bids included a ground-floor market.
In August, the Patrick administration backed off a plan to dish the food-market project off to the Boston Public Market Association after the Herald inquired about whether bids were sought legally.
The nonprofit association was formed a decade ago by Patrick insider Greg Bialecki, the state’s economic-development czar, and once claimed Bialecki’s predecessor Dan O’Connell as a director.
At the time, the state said it would seek new bids for a farmers market highlighting locally grown food and dairy products.
Earlier this fall, the state received bids from four potential consultants to “research, develop and produce an implementation plan” for a “public-private partnership” to create a new market.
Williams said the state is still reviewing those consulting bids, and will eventually seek bids to build and manage the market by 2012.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1299724
Boston food market plan produces many questions
By Jay Fitzgerald | Tuesday, November 30, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
The state is spending up to $150,000 on consultants to determine the viability of a proposed food market off the Rose Kennedy Greenway, even though it’s already bragging that the plan is a done deal.
A state-owned building at the corner of Blackstone and Hanover streets already has multiple signs across its windows that read “Future Home of the Boston Public Market” and give Gov. Deval Patrick and Mayor Thomas M. Menino credit for the $10 million project.
Asked how the state could announce the future market’s site before the consultant has been selected or why a $150,000 consultant is needed if the site has already been selected, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Agricultural Resources said she was “not going to speculate” on what a consultant’s study might find.
Catherine Williams, the spokeswoman, later issued a statement saying that the “presumption is the consultant will find this a viable site” for a market “unless there is some new information presented about the site during the consultant’s review.”
The consulting confusion is just the latest chapter in a development saga that critics have said is nothing more than a fixed deal.
Last year, the Turnpike Authority rejected two bids from private firms to develop the site, known as Parcel 7, saying the bids were too low. One of the bids included a ground-floor market.
In August, the Patrick administration backed off a plan to dish the food-market project off to the Boston Public Market Association after the Herald inquired about whether bids were sought legally.
The nonprofit association was formed a decade ago by Patrick insider Greg Bialecki, the state’s economic-development czar, and once claimed Bialecki’s predecessor Dan O’Connell as a director.
At the time, the state said it would seek new bids for a farmers market highlighting locally grown food and dairy products.
Earlier this fall, the state received bids from four potential consultants to “research, develop and produce an implementation plan” for a “public-private partnership” to create a new market.
Williams said the state is still reviewing those consulting bids, and will eventually seek bids to build and manage the market by 2012.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1299724
Monday, November 29, 2010
Lyons Group to open sister restaurant to Alibi in old Match location
Boston Restaurant Talk
November 29th, 2010
New Restaurant Moving into Back Bay Space Where Match Burgers and Martinis Has Been
It looks like a new dining spot will be opening in the Back Bay of Boston, and it will be replacing a restaurant and lounge that recently stopped serving food, focusing only on drinks.
According to a job posting on the Craigslist site, the company behind such local spots as Alibi Bar and Lounge, Back Bay Social Club, Harvard Gardens, and Lucky's Lounge is currently hiring people for a new restaurant at the corner of Mass. Ave. and Newbury Street in the space where Match Burgers and Martinis has been. The as-of-yet unnamed eatery looks like it will be open for dinner on weeknights, with a brunch featured on Saturdays and Sundays, based on information within the Craigslist post.
Match Burgers and Martinis, which first opened about five years ago, had featured such dishes as burgers, macaroni and cheese, and pizza, along with a variety of drink options, but this past August, the kitchen was closed down and it remained open for drinks only Thursday through Saturday.
The address for the upcoming restaurant replacing Match Burgers and Martinis will be 94 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA, 02215.
posted by Marc at 9:38 AM |
November 29th, 2010
New Restaurant Moving into Back Bay Space Where Match Burgers and Martinis Has Been
It looks like a new dining spot will be opening in the Back Bay of Boston, and it will be replacing a restaurant and lounge that recently stopped serving food, focusing only on drinks.
According to a job posting on the Craigslist site, the company behind such local spots as Alibi Bar and Lounge, Back Bay Social Club, Harvard Gardens, and Lucky's Lounge is currently hiring people for a new restaurant at the corner of Mass. Ave. and Newbury Street in the space where Match Burgers and Martinis has been. The as-of-yet unnamed eatery looks like it will be open for dinner on weeknights, with a brunch featured on Saturdays and Sundays, based on information within the Craigslist post.
Match Burgers and Martinis, which first opened about five years ago, had featured such dishes as burgers, macaroni and cheese, and pizza, along with a variety of drink options, but this past August, the kitchen was closed down and it remained open for drinks only Thursday through Saturday.
The address for the upcoming restaurant replacing Match Burgers and Martinis will be 94 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston, MA, 02215.
posted by Marc at 9:38 AM |
Cragie on Main owner talks about his burger's surprise popularity
Grubstreet Boston
Is Craigie On Main's Burger Too Popular for Its Own Good?
11/29/10 at 12:45 PM.
Craigie on Main's burger is the Angelina Jolie of the Boston burger world: breathtaking, written about as a rare work of beauty and art, lusted after by plenty. Never before has a burger caused such excitement and such fury: The $18 short rib/flap meat/brisket blend has graced the cover of Bon Appétit, been lauded by Food & Wine, and sparked countless "is it worth it?" debates in local outlets. So when news hit that Maws's barroom burger is now only available in limited quantities, and that his entire bar menu is no more, fans freaked. How could he do such a thing? We cut through the hype to ask Maws directly: Just what kind of monster have you created, sir? Within, the skinny on the burger imbroglio.
"I didn't realize I invented the burger," Maws chuckled when we caught up with him. Maws is flattered by the attention but thinks people just need to calm down. (Indeed, folks on Chowhound had worked themselves into such a lather about his decision that hostile commentators were blocked from posting yesterday.) The outcry over the missing burger reached such a fever pitch, in fact, that Maws himself took to his blog to mollify the angry masses.
Essentially, the demand for Craigie's burger was so great that Maws had been resorting to inferior meat suppliers to meet demand. (He usually gets his meat from Hardwick beef, the same Western Massachusetts spot favored by Dan Barber. But he's only entitled to a certain amount.) Ultimately, though, he couldn't live with this choice. After all, this is a burger that took six months to perfect. Rather than settle for inferior meat, he opted to reduce his burger output. Now, the burger is only offered verbally at the bar (as in, your server will let you know if it's available). Maws estimates that he'll make about 20 per night: "Basically, what we were selling pre-burger blow-up," he says. However, the plot thickened when Maws also condensed his bar and dining room menus into one whopping menu. Industry watchers smelled a conspiracy.
But fear not. You can still get the same burger you adore; it just might take a bit of doing, since it's not on the menu and the restaurant might run out. But that's it. "There's no secret society; no secret handshake," Maws insists. For his part, he's surprised that the burger created such a brouhaha, especially during a holiday weekend. "It's the day before Thanksgiving! Don't you people have families?" he laughs. Meanwhile, the other bar staples you knew and loved are available in the dining room, on the dining room menu.
"We're not trying to be a pain. This isn't a marketing ploy," Maws assures us. "I'm going to continue to make the same burger that became popular for a reason."
Is Craigie On Main's Burger Too Popular for Its Own Good?
11/29/10 at 12:45 PM.
Craigie on Main's burger is the Angelina Jolie of the Boston burger world: breathtaking, written about as a rare work of beauty and art, lusted after by plenty. Never before has a burger caused such excitement and such fury: The $18 short rib/flap meat/brisket blend has graced the cover of Bon Appétit, been lauded by Food & Wine, and sparked countless "is it worth it?" debates in local outlets. So when news hit that Maws's barroom burger is now only available in limited quantities, and that his entire bar menu is no more, fans freaked. How could he do such a thing? We cut through the hype to ask Maws directly: Just what kind of monster have you created, sir? Within, the skinny on the burger imbroglio.
"I didn't realize I invented the burger," Maws chuckled when we caught up with him. Maws is flattered by the attention but thinks people just need to calm down. (Indeed, folks on Chowhound had worked themselves into such a lather about his decision that hostile commentators were blocked from posting yesterday.) The outcry over the missing burger reached such a fever pitch, in fact, that Maws himself took to his blog to mollify the angry masses.
Essentially, the demand for Craigie's burger was so great that Maws had been resorting to inferior meat suppliers to meet demand. (He usually gets his meat from Hardwick beef, the same Western Massachusetts spot favored by Dan Barber. But he's only entitled to a certain amount.) Ultimately, though, he couldn't live with this choice. After all, this is a burger that took six months to perfect. Rather than settle for inferior meat, he opted to reduce his burger output. Now, the burger is only offered verbally at the bar (as in, your server will let you know if it's available). Maws estimates that he'll make about 20 per night: "Basically, what we were selling pre-burger blow-up," he says. However, the plot thickened when Maws also condensed his bar and dining room menus into one whopping menu. Industry watchers smelled a conspiracy.
But fear not. You can still get the same burger you adore; it just might take a bit of doing, since it's not on the menu and the restaurant might run out. But that's it. "There's no secret society; no secret handshake," Maws insists. For his part, he's surprised that the burger created such a brouhaha, especially during a holiday weekend. "It's the day before Thanksgiving! Don't you people have families?" he laughs. Meanwhile, the other bar staples you knew and loved are available in the dining room, on the dining room menu.
"We're not trying to be a pain. This isn't a marketing ploy," Maws assures us. "I'm going to continue to make the same burger that became popular for a reason."
Cheeseboy review
The Boston Phoenix
On The Cheap
Cheeseboy
Nostalgia served up between two slices of bread
By LINDSAY CRUDELE | November 23, 2010
If a grilled-cheese cart were any simpler, it would be a lemonade stand. Cheeseboy, centrally located in the South Station train terminal, is one of a few new entries serving only the nostalgic sandwich. Roxy's Gourmet Grilled Cheese, whose cartoon mascot wears Bettie Page bangs, will open soon in Cleveland Circle, and the Grilled Cheese Nation truck cruised the SoWa Open Market this year. Cheeseboy avoids upscaling — any fancier, after all, and the fare might no longer be grilled cheese. Indeed, depending on how you set to work with Cheeseboy's extra toppings, you almost risk assembling a makeshift Cuban: there are yellow mustard packets by the napkins.
Cheeseboy offers three "signature" sandwiches, served in a cardboard box. Choose between the Classic ($2.99), Italian bread and white American cheese; the Cheddar Delight ($3.79), mild white cheddar on rye; and the Healthy Melt ($3.79), light Swiss on multigrain. Multiple visits produced the same crusty, buttered golden triangles, sliced on the diagonal, cheese melted through yet nicely contained. I reveled in my juvenile ritual of biting off the pointy corners first, leveraging a mound in the middle as an extra gooey prize bite. However, never mind "light" dairy products and skip the Swiss: it's consolation food for miserable dieters, stretching pleasantly for miles, but tasting waxy and dull.
To each sandwich, one may add extras: bacon, ham, turkey, or pepperoni ($.99); sliced tomato, basil chiffonade, jalapeños, spinach, onion, or red peppers ($.49); or swap in Muenster and provolone. By adding bacon, you will have ordered what Cheeseboy slyly calls a breakfast sandwich ($2.99/with regular coffee or fountain beverage, and an apple), but no egg is involved. Cheeseboy's kitchen is barely more sophisticated than a contraband hotplate in a Warren Towers dorm room, just one efficient assembly line. Loaves of sliced bread are piled at the ready below the counter, to marry stacks of pre-sliced cheese in a lineup of sandwich presses.
Standard-issue bagged chips and big-brand sodas strike me as lunch-counter static, but there are also fresh apples and carrots ($2/side combo). That silky tomato bisque is just snow-day canned variety ($3/regular soup and fountain-soda combo). But for grilled cheese, this iconic soup cannot be understated as a dipping medium. Picture this: a commuter-rail ride and a grocery stop away from dinner, it's a fine interstitial snack, a rush-hour regression. Amid streams of departures and arrivals, there is a childhood meal, same as it ever was.
Cheeseboy, located at the South Station Train Concourse, 720 Atlantic Avenue in Boston, is open daily, 9 am–10 pm. Call 617.737.4600 or visit cheeseboy.com.
On The Cheap
Cheeseboy
Nostalgia served up between two slices of bread
By LINDSAY CRUDELE | November 23, 2010
If a grilled-cheese cart were any simpler, it would be a lemonade stand. Cheeseboy, centrally located in the South Station train terminal, is one of a few new entries serving only the nostalgic sandwich. Roxy's Gourmet Grilled Cheese, whose cartoon mascot wears Bettie Page bangs, will open soon in Cleveland Circle, and the Grilled Cheese Nation truck cruised the SoWa Open Market this year. Cheeseboy avoids upscaling — any fancier, after all, and the fare might no longer be grilled cheese. Indeed, depending on how you set to work with Cheeseboy's extra toppings, you almost risk assembling a makeshift Cuban: there are yellow mustard packets by the napkins.
Cheeseboy offers three "signature" sandwiches, served in a cardboard box. Choose between the Classic ($2.99), Italian bread and white American cheese; the Cheddar Delight ($3.79), mild white cheddar on rye; and the Healthy Melt ($3.79), light Swiss on multigrain. Multiple visits produced the same crusty, buttered golden triangles, sliced on the diagonal, cheese melted through yet nicely contained. I reveled in my juvenile ritual of biting off the pointy corners first, leveraging a mound in the middle as an extra gooey prize bite. However, never mind "light" dairy products and skip the Swiss: it's consolation food for miserable dieters, stretching pleasantly for miles, but tasting waxy and dull.
To each sandwich, one may add extras: bacon, ham, turkey, or pepperoni ($.99); sliced tomato, basil chiffonade, jalapeños, spinach, onion, or red peppers ($.49); or swap in Muenster and provolone. By adding bacon, you will have ordered what Cheeseboy slyly calls a breakfast sandwich ($2.99/with regular coffee or fountain beverage, and an apple), but no egg is involved. Cheeseboy's kitchen is barely more sophisticated than a contraband hotplate in a Warren Towers dorm room, just one efficient assembly line. Loaves of sliced bread are piled at the ready below the counter, to marry stacks of pre-sliced cheese in a lineup of sandwich presses.
Standard-issue bagged chips and big-brand sodas strike me as lunch-counter static, but there are also fresh apples and carrots ($2/side combo). That silky tomato bisque is just snow-day canned variety ($3/regular soup and fountain-soda combo). But for grilled cheese, this iconic soup cannot be understated as a dipping medium. Picture this: a commuter-rail ride and a grocery stop away from dinner, it's a fine interstitial snack, a rush-hour regression. Amid streams of departures and arrivals, there is a childhood meal, same as it ever was.
Cheeseboy, located at the South Station Train Concourse, 720 Atlantic Avenue in Boston, is open daily, 9 am–10 pm. Call 617.737.4600 or visit cheeseboy.com.
Strega Waterfront review
Stuff Magazine
Feed
Risotto all'aragosta at Strega Waterfront
by MC Slim JB | November 29, 2010
In the food-nerd circles I run in, it's popular to mock theme restaurants like the Medieval Manor for their cornball atmosphere and mediocre food. I had lumped the North End's Strega into this category for marketing itself as the kind of place Tony Soprano might favor on a visit to Boston. Strega went so far as to hire supporting players from The Sopranos as shills and show mobster movies in its dining room. But it was a hit, and owner Nick Varano went on to open Strega Waterfront (1 Marina Park Drive, Boston, 617.345.3992), a bigger, more expensively tacky space on Fan Pier. Its attractive circular bar is overshadowed by a wall of TVs, evoking a Vegas casino sports book. Female servers wear black-sequined miniskirts. The décor echoes the original's odd farrago of design elements: some Art Deco here, a little Alto Décor there, with oversized paint-spatter portraits of De Niro and Pacino. The Godfather plays on TV above our table: care for some bread while you watch Moe Greene get shot through the eyeball? Our server's comically unconvincing Italian accent gives way to a Revere lilt when he thinks he's out of earshot. He describes burrata as "mozzarella stuffed with ricotta."
Fortunately, the burrata ($19) turns out to be first-rate (never judge a book by its cover, right?). Rollatini di Nico ($14) proves to be an elegant antipasto of thin-sliced baked eggplant rolled around mozzarella, Parmigiano, and spinach in a quality sugo: simple and sublime. Then the giant risotto all'aragosta ($29) arrives, boasting that ideal creamy/al dente risotto texture rarely achieved in restaurants, plus the depth of a rich lobster stock, lots of whole Maine lobster claws and tail chunks, and a few piquant cherry tomatoes. It's ravishing. By the time Signore Varano drops by to bestow some warm, gracious attention on us, as he does with every table, I'm beginning to forgive this place its goofy shtick. Like the fictional goodfellas it idolizes, Strega Waterfront is a fascinating mass of contradictions, playing the crude vulgarian one minute and showing admirable craft and charm the next. I suspect it'll be a big earner, too.
Feed
Risotto all'aragosta at Strega Waterfront
by MC Slim JB | November 29, 2010
In the food-nerd circles I run in, it's popular to mock theme restaurants like the Medieval Manor for their cornball atmosphere and mediocre food. I had lumped the North End's Strega into this category for marketing itself as the kind of place Tony Soprano might favor on a visit to Boston. Strega went so far as to hire supporting players from The Sopranos as shills and show mobster movies in its dining room. But it was a hit, and owner Nick Varano went on to open Strega Waterfront (1 Marina Park Drive, Boston, 617.345.3992), a bigger, more expensively tacky space on Fan Pier. Its attractive circular bar is overshadowed by a wall of TVs, evoking a Vegas casino sports book. Female servers wear black-sequined miniskirts. The décor echoes the original's odd farrago of design elements: some Art Deco here, a little Alto Décor there, with oversized paint-spatter portraits of De Niro and Pacino. The Godfather plays on TV above our table: care for some bread while you watch Moe Greene get shot through the eyeball? Our server's comically unconvincing Italian accent gives way to a Revere lilt when he thinks he's out of earshot. He describes burrata as "mozzarella stuffed with ricotta."
Fortunately, the burrata ($19) turns out to be first-rate (never judge a book by its cover, right?). Rollatini di Nico ($14) proves to be an elegant antipasto of thin-sliced baked eggplant rolled around mozzarella, Parmigiano, and spinach in a quality sugo: simple and sublime. Then the giant risotto all'aragosta ($29) arrives, boasting that ideal creamy/al dente risotto texture rarely achieved in restaurants, plus the depth of a rich lobster stock, lots of whole Maine lobster claws and tail chunks, and a few piquant cherry tomatoes. It's ravishing. By the time Signore Varano drops by to bestow some warm, gracious attention on us, as he does with every table, I'm beginning to forgive this place its goofy shtick. Like the fictional goodfellas it idolizes, Strega Waterfront is a fascinating mass of contradictions, playing the crude vulgarian one minute and showing admirable craft and charm the next. I suspect it'll be a big earner, too.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Boston Pops, The Shops at the Prudential, and Towne Stove & Spirits to partner for caroling world record attempt
Bostonpops.org
Join Keith Lockhart, Santa, members of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and Prudential Center friends on Boylston Plaza, Saturday, December 4th, at 12noon to set a World Record for the largest group of holiday carolers! Record attempt will start at 12:30PM sharp. WROR's Loren Owens and Hank Morse will host the festivities. A capella groups and choruses will perform, including the Berklee Musical Theater Club. Towne Stove & Spirits will keep everyone warm with FREE hot chocolate. Help show the world the record-breaking sound of Boston's holiday spirit! For more information click here.
Join Keith Lockhart, Santa, members of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus, and Prudential Center friends on Boylston Plaza, Saturday, December 4th, at 12noon to set a World Record for the largest group of holiday carolers! Record attempt will start at 12:30PM sharp. WROR's Loren Owens and Hank Morse will host the festivities. A capella groups and choruses will perform, including the Berklee Musical Theater Club. Towne Stove & Spirits will keep everyone warm with FREE hot chocolate. Help show the world the record-breaking sound of Boston's holiday spirit! For more information click here.
Bacco's Wine & Cheese to open December 1st
Bacco's Wine & Cheese, located at 31 St. James Avenue in the Back Bay, will celebrate its Grand Opening on December 1st and December 2nd from 4pm-7pm. The store is owned and operated by former DeLuca's manager Bob Bacco. Store hours will be Monday-Saturday, 10am-8pm, and Sunday, 12pm-6pm. The phone number is 617-574-1751.
Local historian leads push for revolutionary war license plate
Boston.com
Your Town
Lexington CONCORD, LEXINGTON
History could be in drivers’ sight
By Erica Noonan
Globe Staff / November 28, 2010
The Boston Red Sox have their own Massachusetts vehicle-registration plate, so do the Cape and Islands. Advocates for right whales and breast-cancer research also have plates designed to draw attention to their causes and donations to their coffers.
Now, a local Revolutionary War historian wants to see Lexington and Concord featured on a specialty plate offered by the Registry of Motor Vehicles.
“Our history is one of the main attractions that draws visitors here,’’ said Joseph L. Andrews, a retired physician from Concord and the author of “Revolutionary Boston, Lexington and Concord.’’
“We should be highlighting this. There are license plates for our sports teams, but none honoring our extraordinary local history,’’ said Andrews, who also conducts walking tours of historic sites.
He has proposed a “Lexington and Concord 1775’’ plate that could feature a drawing of the Minuteman statues in Lexington or Concord, or the Old North Bridge in Concord.
It could be an excellent outreach effort taking place on the nation’s highways, Andrews said, noting that North Carolina trumpets its history with the slogan “First in Flight’’ on its car registration plates; Illinois proclaims itself “Land of Lincoln,’’ and Connecticut is “The Constitution State.’’
Some plate-generated publicity might even encourage Massachusetts residents to rediscover the history in their own backyards, he said.
The Colonial and Revolutionary War sites in Lexington and Concord, including Minute Man National Historical Park, attract about 1 million visitors annually, according to Lou Sedaris, with the National Park Service.
“I think people would be very happy to have this option,’’ said Andrews. He recently replaced the old green-and-white Massachusetts plates on his 2005 Toyota Solara with a Cape and Island plate, for lack of a more appealing option, he said.
State Representative Cory Atkins has encouraged his efforts, Andrews said, and last week he sent letters to US Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown, as well as Governor Deval Patrick, asking for their support.
Atkins, a Concord Democrat, said it was the first time someone in her district had suggested an American Revolution plate.
“I think it is a great idea,’’ Atkins said last week. “There is a lot of local pride here.’’
Registry spokeswoman Ann Dufresne said the idea of promoting state tourism has been tossed about since the last major redesign of the basic Massachusetts plate in 1987 to include a white background, red numbers, and “Spirit of America’’ tag line.
The biggest factors in limiting plate designs are public safety concerns, she said. The Registry is careful about allowing new plates because it takes decades to phase out a design, which can remain valid as long as a plate’s numbers or letters are legible from 60 feet, day or night.
The Registry offers 118 designs, including specialty, vanity, disabled and veteran plates for passenger cars and all the other vehicles registered by the state, Dufresne said.
But it’s no easy feat to get a new design approved.
A group must have support from an official charitable organization, and post a $100,000 bond. It must design the plate to Registry standards, and collect applications from 1,500 residents willing to pay the $40 fee for a special plate, in addition to the typical $50 registration cost.
The sponsor must create a logo or design that uses only four colors, and meets reflection and visibility standards.
Groups keep $28 of the $40 extra fee for each initial registration, with the state keeping the balance for manufacturing costs, and then the entire fee in subsequent renewals.
The sponsor is responsible for marketing the new specialty plate and obtaining the 1,500 sign-ups with within two years. Then the Registry will release the group’s bond, less any costs incurred if the minimum numbers are not sold, said Dufresne.
The process of getting a new plate approved typically takes many years.
The Registry has more than 20 nonprofit groups working toward developing signature Massachusetts plates, including WGBH, the National Kidney Foundation, the Elks, the state library system, the Grand Lodge of Masons, a muscular dystrophy advocacy group, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said Dufresne.
Three charity groups in the mix of interested applicants represent Massachusetts locations or tourist spots — Nantucket Island, Martha’s Vineyard and Plymouth Rock.
Despite the considerable obstacles, Andrews said he hopes to rally support for “Lexington and Concord 1775.’’
History-minded acquaintances seem enthusiastic, he said.
“I think it would be fabulous,’’ said Masha Traber, a Lexington resident who coordinates the Liberty Ride, a seasonal trolley service offered by the town to help visitors make the rounds.
“I think it would give us something else for Massachusetts to be proud of,’’ she said.
Andrews said he realizes that even a registration plate about events happening more than 200 years ago is not without politics.
With a nod to the ongoing tension between the neighboring communities vying for bragging rights to the Cradle of Liberty moniker, Andrews said he’s prepared to be flexible about which town gets top billing, noting, “We could change it to Concord and Lexington 1775.’’
Erica Noonan can be reached at enoonan@globe.com.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
Single Page 1 2
Your Town
Lexington CONCORD, LEXINGTON
History could be in drivers’ sight
By Erica Noonan
Globe Staff / November 28, 2010
The Boston Red Sox have their own Massachusetts vehicle-registration plate, so do the Cape and Islands. Advocates for right whales and breast-cancer research also have plates designed to draw attention to their causes and donations to their coffers.
Now, a local Revolutionary War historian wants to see Lexington and Concord featured on a specialty plate offered by the Registry of Motor Vehicles.
“Our history is one of the main attractions that draws visitors here,’’ said Joseph L. Andrews, a retired physician from Concord and the author of “Revolutionary Boston, Lexington and Concord.’’
“We should be highlighting this. There are license plates for our sports teams, but none honoring our extraordinary local history,’’ said Andrews, who also conducts walking tours of historic sites.
He has proposed a “Lexington and Concord 1775’’ plate that could feature a drawing of the Minuteman statues in Lexington or Concord, or the Old North Bridge in Concord.
It could be an excellent outreach effort taking place on the nation’s highways, Andrews said, noting that North Carolina trumpets its history with the slogan “First in Flight’’ on its car registration plates; Illinois proclaims itself “Land of Lincoln,’’ and Connecticut is “The Constitution State.’’
Some plate-generated publicity might even encourage Massachusetts residents to rediscover the history in their own backyards, he said.
The Colonial and Revolutionary War sites in Lexington and Concord, including Minute Man National Historical Park, attract about 1 million visitors annually, according to Lou Sedaris, with the National Park Service.
“I think people would be very happy to have this option,’’ said Andrews. He recently replaced the old green-and-white Massachusetts plates on his 2005 Toyota Solara with a Cape and Island plate, for lack of a more appealing option, he said.
State Representative Cory Atkins has encouraged his efforts, Andrews said, and last week he sent letters to US Senators John Kerry and Scott Brown, as well as Governor Deval Patrick, asking for their support.
Atkins, a Concord Democrat, said it was the first time someone in her district had suggested an American Revolution plate.
“I think it is a great idea,’’ Atkins said last week. “There is a lot of local pride here.’’
Registry spokeswoman Ann Dufresne said the idea of promoting state tourism has been tossed about since the last major redesign of the basic Massachusetts plate in 1987 to include a white background, red numbers, and “Spirit of America’’ tag line.
The biggest factors in limiting plate designs are public safety concerns, she said. The Registry is careful about allowing new plates because it takes decades to phase out a design, which can remain valid as long as a plate’s numbers or letters are legible from 60 feet, day or night.
The Registry offers 118 designs, including specialty, vanity, disabled and veteran plates for passenger cars and all the other vehicles registered by the state, Dufresne said.
But it’s no easy feat to get a new design approved.
A group must have support from an official charitable organization, and post a $100,000 bond. It must design the plate to Registry standards, and collect applications from 1,500 residents willing to pay the $40 fee for a special plate, in addition to the typical $50 registration cost.
The sponsor must create a logo or design that uses only four colors, and meets reflection and visibility standards.
Groups keep $28 of the $40 extra fee for each initial registration, with the state keeping the balance for manufacturing costs, and then the entire fee in subsequent renewals.
The sponsor is responsible for marketing the new specialty plate and obtaining the 1,500 sign-ups with within two years. Then the Registry will release the group’s bond, less any costs incurred if the minimum numbers are not sold, said Dufresne.
The process of getting a new plate approved typically takes many years.
The Registry has more than 20 nonprofit groups working toward developing signature Massachusetts plates, including WGBH, the National Kidney Foundation, the Elks, the state library system, the Grand Lodge of Masons, a muscular dystrophy advocacy group, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said Dufresne.
Three charity groups in the mix of interested applicants represent Massachusetts locations or tourist spots — Nantucket Island, Martha’s Vineyard and Plymouth Rock.
Despite the considerable obstacles, Andrews said he hopes to rally support for “Lexington and Concord 1775.’’
History-minded acquaintances seem enthusiastic, he said.
“I think it would be fabulous,’’ said Masha Traber, a Lexington resident who coordinates the Liberty Ride, a seasonal trolley service offered by the town to help visitors make the rounds.
“I think it would give us something else for Massachusetts to be proud of,’’ she said.
Andrews said he realizes that even a registration plate about events happening more than 200 years ago is not without politics.
With a nod to the ongoing tension between the neighboring communities vying for bragging rights to the Cradle of Liberty moniker, Andrews said he’s prepared to be flexible about which town gets top billing, noting, “We could change it to Concord and Lexington 1775.’’
Erica Noonan can be reached at enoonan@globe.com.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
Single Page 1 2
Bed Bugs on the rise in and around Boston
Boston.com
Your Town Salem
Bedbugs are biting once again
By Taryn Plumb
Globe Correspondent / November 28, 2010
It could be the synopsis of a horror movie.
They come for you in the middle of the night. They feed on your blood. They spread rampantly and unseen, and annihilating them is an elaborate, tactical process that doesn’t ensure they won’t come back again.
But this infestation — of tiny, resilient, and fast-breeding bedbugs — isn’t on multiplex screens, it’s in bedrooms, hotel rooms, and institutions across the country. The nocturnal bloodsuckers are proliferating at an alarming rate locally, according to officials and exterminators, and this time around, they may be a permanent pest.
“It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my industry,’’ said Galvin Murphy of Malden-based Yankee Pest Control. “It’s been beyond our ability to believe.’’
Rusty-red, oval-shaped, and about the size of a lentil, bedbugs — which remain dormant by day and feed on human blood by night — were ubiquitous in the United States at the turn of the century and then went nearly extinct after World War II with the introduction of the insecticide DDT.
But now, they’ve nestled right back into America’s bedrooms — and fears.
In one of the more publicized cases locally, the insects were discovered in roughly 40 elderly-housing units managed by the Salem Housing Authority. Lynn-based A-1 Exterminators is in the process of eradicating the bugs with a high-heat method, according to company president Gary Weisberg. Housing Authority executive director Carol MacGowan did not return calls seeking comment.
But the skin-crawling bugs have been found in “just about any community in metro north,’’ said Murphy, citing Malden, Everett, and Somerville in particular. “There’s probably not a town we haven’t been in.’’
His company is booked until mid-December, and has more workers dealing with bedbugs than all other pests (from rats to termites to ants) combined.
Farther northwest, Michael Beaulieu of Lowell-based Bain Pest Control Service also described an increase of about 30 percent in calls over the last six months. Particular problem areas include Lowell, Manchester, N.H., and Greater Boston, including Chelsea and Revere, he said.
The state Department of Public Health doesn’t track infestations, according to media relations director Julia Hurley, because bedbugs aren’t known to spread infectious diseases.
If you can get past the blood-sucking, they’re relatively benign, more “annoying’’ than anything, said Lowell health director Frank Singleton. Still, he acknowledged, “People don’t get a happy feeling when they’re told they’re a food source.’’
Most often, according to experts, bedbugs are discovered in multifamily dwellings or apartment buildings, elderly housing, nursing homes, hospitals, or public buildings such as firehouses and police stations.
“The more congested an area is, the more calls we get,’’ said Weisberg of A-1. “There’s no place that’s really immune.’’
Nesting areas are a little easier to pinpoint. Bedbugs typically settle anywhere within a 20-foot radius of a sleeping spot, according to Singleton; in addition to mattresses and headboards, they’ve been found tucked away in picture frames, closets, piles of clothing, walls, even clock radios.
“They’re called bedbugs, but they’ll infest chairs, couches — anywhere there’s a crack and crevice,’’ said Weisberg.
And often, people don’t discover them until they’ve got a prospering colony leaving evidence such as skin rashes, bloodstained linens, or dark spots from droppings.
They travel from place to place just as covertly, hitchhiking from bedrooms to cinemas to dressing rooms to hotel rooms, on luggage, handbags, clothes, and even the spines of books.
To minimize proliferation, officials and exterminators urge, don’t pick up free roadside furniture, and, when traveling, keep clothes in your luggage and store your luggage in the bathtub (since the tiny insects have a hard time climbing slippery surfaces). One can also check infestation-tracking websites such as www.bedbugregistry.com.
“I don’t know how you prevent them,’’ said Singleton, noting that complaints to his department in Lowell have rocketed from about a half-dozen a year to two or three a week. “They’re now back in the United States, fully introduced, and expanding into their old habitat.’’
But just how they returned is unclear. Many point to the DDT ban in the 1970s; others to increased international travel. Some also note a lack of knowledge on the part of pest services.
Because the boom is relatively recent, Beaulieu said, “the industry doesn’t know enough about it.’’
Singleton agreed, and has been pushing for a revision of the state housing code that spells out an organized approach to eradication.
Because today’s breed is often resistant to pesticides, the bugs are battled with steam, vacuums, cryogenics, or heat. The latter involves blasting the entire home or unit with temperatures up to 135 degrees for several hours, according to Murphy of Yankee, which also relies on the trained nose of a rescue dog to sniff out live bugs and viable eggs.
In the end, he and others don’t expect a letup anytime soon in the war against bedbugs.
“Unless they come out with some new technology,’’ said Weisberg, “we’re going to be dealing with this for a long time.’’
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
Your Town Salem
Bedbugs are biting once again
By Taryn Plumb
Globe Correspondent / November 28, 2010
It could be the synopsis of a horror movie.
They come for you in the middle of the night. They feed on your blood. They spread rampantly and unseen, and annihilating them is an elaborate, tactical process that doesn’t ensure they won’t come back again.
But this infestation — of tiny, resilient, and fast-breeding bedbugs — isn’t on multiplex screens, it’s in bedrooms, hotel rooms, and institutions across the country. The nocturnal bloodsuckers are proliferating at an alarming rate locally, according to officials and exterminators, and this time around, they may be a permanent pest.
“It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever seen in my industry,’’ said Galvin Murphy of Malden-based Yankee Pest Control. “It’s been beyond our ability to believe.’’
Rusty-red, oval-shaped, and about the size of a lentil, bedbugs — which remain dormant by day and feed on human blood by night — were ubiquitous in the United States at the turn of the century and then went nearly extinct after World War II with the introduction of the insecticide DDT.
But now, they’ve nestled right back into America’s bedrooms — and fears.
In one of the more publicized cases locally, the insects were discovered in roughly 40 elderly-housing units managed by the Salem Housing Authority. Lynn-based A-1 Exterminators is in the process of eradicating the bugs with a high-heat method, according to company president Gary Weisberg. Housing Authority executive director Carol MacGowan did not return calls seeking comment.
But the skin-crawling bugs have been found in “just about any community in metro north,’’ said Murphy, citing Malden, Everett, and Somerville in particular. “There’s probably not a town we haven’t been in.’’
His company is booked until mid-December, and has more workers dealing with bedbugs than all other pests (from rats to termites to ants) combined.
Farther northwest, Michael Beaulieu of Lowell-based Bain Pest Control Service also described an increase of about 30 percent in calls over the last six months. Particular problem areas include Lowell, Manchester, N.H., and Greater Boston, including Chelsea and Revere, he said.
The state Department of Public Health doesn’t track infestations, according to media relations director Julia Hurley, because bedbugs aren’t known to spread infectious diseases.
If you can get past the blood-sucking, they’re relatively benign, more “annoying’’ than anything, said Lowell health director Frank Singleton. Still, he acknowledged, “People don’t get a happy feeling when they’re told they’re a food source.’’
Most often, according to experts, bedbugs are discovered in multifamily dwellings or apartment buildings, elderly housing, nursing homes, hospitals, or public buildings such as firehouses and police stations.
“The more congested an area is, the more calls we get,’’ said Weisberg of A-1. “There’s no place that’s really immune.’’
Nesting areas are a little easier to pinpoint. Bedbugs typically settle anywhere within a 20-foot radius of a sleeping spot, according to Singleton; in addition to mattresses and headboards, they’ve been found tucked away in picture frames, closets, piles of clothing, walls, even clock radios.
“They’re called bedbugs, but they’ll infest chairs, couches — anywhere there’s a crack and crevice,’’ said Weisberg.
And often, people don’t discover them until they’ve got a prospering colony leaving evidence such as skin rashes, bloodstained linens, or dark spots from droppings.
They travel from place to place just as covertly, hitchhiking from bedrooms to cinemas to dressing rooms to hotel rooms, on luggage, handbags, clothes, and even the spines of books.
To minimize proliferation, officials and exterminators urge, don’t pick up free roadside furniture, and, when traveling, keep clothes in your luggage and store your luggage in the bathtub (since the tiny insects have a hard time climbing slippery surfaces). One can also check infestation-tracking websites such as www.bedbugregistry.com.
“I don’t know how you prevent them,’’ said Singleton, noting that complaints to his department in Lowell have rocketed from about a half-dozen a year to two or three a week. “They’re now back in the United States, fully introduced, and expanding into their old habitat.’’
But just how they returned is unclear. Many point to the DDT ban in the 1970s; others to increased international travel. Some also note a lack of knowledge on the part of pest services.
Because the boom is relatively recent, Beaulieu said, “the industry doesn’t know enough about it.’’
Singleton agreed, and has been pushing for a revision of the state housing code that spells out an organized approach to eradication.
Because today’s breed is often resistant to pesticides, the bugs are battled with steam, vacuums, cryogenics, or heat. The latter involves blasting the entire home or unit with temperatures up to 135 degrees for several hours, according to Murphy of Yankee, which also relies on the trained nose of a rescue dog to sniff out live bugs and viable eggs.
In the end, he and others don’t expect a letup anytime soon in the war against bedbugs.
“Unless they come out with some new technology,’’ said Weisberg, “we’re going to be dealing with this for a long time.’’
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
Sullivan's closes for the season
The Boston Globe
Patrons brave cold for Castle Island tradition
By Matt Byrne
Globe Correspondent / November 28, 2010
Michael Cruise couldn’t return empty-handed.
Tweet Be the first to Tweet this!Submit to DiggdiggsdiggYahoo! Buzz ShareThis He was on a mission, sent from his home in Quincy, with one objective in mind.
“I ordered French fries, for my wife, who has Alzheimer’s,’’ said Cruise, 84. “I know she likes those. If I come down here, I gotta give her something. If I don’t have fries I’m in trouble.’’
Cruise was one of many who braved a stiff wind and a brisk chill yesterday for the last chance — at least for a while — to chow down at Sullivan’s, the venerated hot dog shack that has stood on Castle Island for nearly six decades.
The grill will close for three months at the end of today, mark ing a brief pause for the owner and staff who churn out hot dogs and burgers by the hundreds, seven days a week.
Some patrons came yesterday from miles around. Others live barely outside the two-mile walking track that marks the perimeter of the 22-acre park on Pleasure Bay.
And this weekend they are getting a bargain. For the past month, Sullivan’s has halved its price for a basic dog to draw customers, and plans to run the same promotion when it reopens in late February.
Brother and sister Mike and Holly Parker, South Boston natives who have been coming to Sully’s for years, were “devouring’’ their food at about 11:30 a.m.
“I’m like, so hungover right now,’’ said Mike Parker, 28, speaking from the passenger seat of his sister’s car. In his lap was a box containing fries and a double cheeseburger.
“This greasy food is helping,’’ he said, laughing.
Holly Parker, 25, who works at Marian Manor nursing home, said she was on her lunch break when the idea struck to take a trip with her brother down William J. Day Boulevard to the place where hot dogs are still cheap.
“They could be open all year,’’ Mike Parker said, of the imminent, annual closing. “They choose to do this to tease you.’’
Brendan Sullivan, who bought the business from his father in 2007, would probably disagree. He said he plans to spend the winter improving his business and taking some time off.
Sullivan, the third in his family to run the store, said he plans to install energy-efficient lighting and new tile in the kitchen, his latest effort to go green. Reflecting from atop the pitched roof are 27 solar panels, visible from the parking lot, which Sullivan said were installed about a month ago to help with energy costs.
The business is in its third physical incarnation, with many of the senior patrons reminiscing about the old Sully’s, which was truly a shack, they said, and sat about 100 yards from the site of the current establishment and closer to the seawall.
One thing has not changed, however: The line will inevitably snake around the parking lot when the store reopens, and with it the flurry of hot dog orders that will nearly overrun the roughly two dozen employees.
“That’s why my grandfather started it, to keep prices low for the locals,’’ said Sullivan, who added that volume and weather drive his business.
Tradition also dictates that when the store reopens Feb. 26, hot dogs will be sold for half price.
But next year, in honor of the 60th anniversary, the famed “snap dogs’’ — so named for the sound they produce when first bit — will be sold for 60 cents, below the November special of 80 cents.
Sullivan said he barely makes money during November, when the store halves the price of a basic dog, in appreciation of its loyal customers.
And yesterday that loyalty flowed two ways, as Scott Collins, 32, of South Boston, sat perched on a block of granite next to the store, wind whipping at his clothes.
“If you want to go in November, you got to deal with the November weather,’’ said Collins, who has been coming to Sullivan’s for as long as he can remember. “Sully’s or Fenway, that’s the only places I eat hot dogs,’’ he said.
Inside, meanwhile, Michael Cruise waited patiently for his fries, and said he comes to the island often with his wife to walk, but during winter he pines for a stop at Sullivan’s.
“I miss it,’’ Cruise said, in a lilting brogue. Cruise emigrated from County Mayo in Western Ireland around the time when the first grilled dogs and burgers were feeding folks in Southie visiting the fort.
“When I come down here I always see someone I know,’’ he said. “It’s like the old country.’’
Globe Correspondent Matt Byrne can be reached at mbyrne.globe@gmail.com.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
Patrons brave cold for Castle Island tradition
By Matt Byrne
Globe Correspondent / November 28, 2010
Michael Cruise couldn’t return empty-handed.
Tweet Be the first to Tweet this!Submit to DiggdiggsdiggYahoo! Buzz ShareThis He was on a mission, sent from his home in Quincy, with one objective in mind.
“I ordered French fries, for my wife, who has Alzheimer’s,’’ said Cruise, 84. “I know she likes those. If I come down here, I gotta give her something. If I don’t have fries I’m in trouble.’’
Cruise was one of many who braved a stiff wind and a brisk chill yesterday for the last chance — at least for a while — to chow down at Sullivan’s, the venerated hot dog shack that has stood on Castle Island for nearly six decades.
The grill will close for three months at the end of today, mark ing a brief pause for the owner and staff who churn out hot dogs and burgers by the hundreds, seven days a week.
Some patrons came yesterday from miles around. Others live barely outside the two-mile walking track that marks the perimeter of the 22-acre park on Pleasure Bay.
And this weekend they are getting a bargain. For the past month, Sullivan’s has halved its price for a basic dog to draw customers, and plans to run the same promotion when it reopens in late February.
Brother and sister Mike and Holly Parker, South Boston natives who have been coming to Sully’s for years, were “devouring’’ their food at about 11:30 a.m.
“I’m like, so hungover right now,’’ said Mike Parker, 28, speaking from the passenger seat of his sister’s car. In his lap was a box containing fries and a double cheeseburger.
“This greasy food is helping,’’ he said, laughing.
Holly Parker, 25, who works at Marian Manor nursing home, said she was on her lunch break when the idea struck to take a trip with her brother down William J. Day Boulevard to the place where hot dogs are still cheap.
“They could be open all year,’’ Mike Parker said, of the imminent, annual closing. “They choose to do this to tease you.’’
Brendan Sullivan, who bought the business from his father in 2007, would probably disagree. He said he plans to spend the winter improving his business and taking some time off.
Sullivan, the third in his family to run the store, said he plans to install energy-efficient lighting and new tile in the kitchen, his latest effort to go green. Reflecting from atop the pitched roof are 27 solar panels, visible from the parking lot, which Sullivan said were installed about a month ago to help with energy costs.
The business is in its third physical incarnation, with many of the senior patrons reminiscing about the old Sully’s, which was truly a shack, they said, and sat about 100 yards from the site of the current establishment and closer to the seawall.
One thing has not changed, however: The line will inevitably snake around the parking lot when the store reopens, and with it the flurry of hot dog orders that will nearly overrun the roughly two dozen employees.
“That’s why my grandfather started it, to keep prices low for the locals,’’ said Sullivan, who added that volume and weather drive his business.
Tradition also dictates that when the store reopens Feb. 26, hot dogs will be sold for half price.
But next year, in honor of the 60th anniversary, the famed “snap dogs’’ — so named for the sound they produce when first bit — will be sold for 60 cents, below the November special of 80 cents.
Sullivan said he barely makes money during November, when the store halves the price of a basic dog, in appreciation of its loyal customers.
And yesterday that loyalty flowed two ways, as Scott Collins, 32, of South Boston, sat perched on a block of granite next to the store, wind whipping at his clothes.
“If you want to go in November, you got to deal with the November weather,’’ said Collins, who has been coming to Sullivan’s for as long as he can remember. “Sully’s or Fenway, that’s the only places I eat hot dogs,’’ he said.
Inside, meanwhile, Michael Cruise waited patiently for his fries, and said he comes to the island often with his wife to walk, but during winter he pines for a stop at Sullivan’s.
“I miss it,’’ Cruise said, in a lilting brogue. Cruise emigrated from County Mayo in Western Ireland around the time when the first grilled dogs and burgers were feeding folks in Southie visiting the fort.
“When I come down here I always see someone I know,’’ he said. “It’s like the old country.’’
Globe Correspondent Matt Byrne can be reached at mbyrne.globe@gmail.com.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
Museum of Science's new planetarium to bring museum experience to new heights
The Boston Globe
Starstruck
Inside the $9 million renovation to the Science Museum's planetarium, and why it could bring in a new generation of visitors
By Sam Allis
Globe Staff / November 27, 2010
Look up at the night sky and feast on more than 9,000 stars, twinkling in stunning clarity. But then seconds later, the sky reverts back to what it looked like 10,000 years ago. Then watch as the tiny dots that represent the planets suddenly mushroom, allowing you to float so closely above them that you see their surfaces.
Then it’s time to hit the heavens. After lift-off, the planets disappear in the rear-view mirror. So does our solar system as we move to the edge of the Milky Way, and on beyond our galaxy. As we travel further and further out, cascades of blinking green dots, each one a galaxy, flood the sky. Then huge, near-solid swaths of galaxies appear in an overwhelming array of different colors.
After years of offering visitors to its Charles Hayden Planetarium a static view of space focused mostly on stars, planets, and constellations, an entirely new, and more interactive, experience is scheduled to open at the Museum of Science on Feb. 13. The stars of the new $9 million creation are a powerful projector, the Zeiss Starmaster, which will show the night sky, and two Sony digital projectors that can simulate space travel. “We’ve got the Cadillac now,’’ says Darryl Davis, planetarium systems coordinator.
To buy the Cadillac, the museum used $3 million from the Charles Hayden Foundation, named for the Boston financier who built the Hayden Planetariums in New York City and Boston, and raised the rest from private donations.
The upgrades come at an important moment in Boston for cultural organizations whose survival hinges on attracting tourists and natives alike. Competition for visitors among Boston’s cultural institutions is growing more fierce by the month. The Museum of Fine Arts last week opened to the public its mammoth Art of the Americas wing. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is scheduled to open an expansion in early 2012. Also coming is the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate adjacent to the JFK Library.
But while much of the area’s cultural landscape focuses on celebrating our past, from art to politics, what separates the Museum of Science is its ability to probe the future.
Next year’s opening show on the ceiling of the 57-foot planetarium dome, “Undiscovered Worlds: The Search Beyond Our Sun,’’ is about the hunt for planets in space. That theme was hatched after Hayden staffers polled astronomers at MIT and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics to see what’s hot in the world of astronomy today. The answer was unequivocal: the search for exoplanets.
Some 500 have been discovered in the past 15 years alone, and scientists expect many more will be identified as time goes on. Just earlier this month, the first new planet from a galaxy outside the Milky Way was identified (and it is 20 percent larger than Jupiter). As the number grows, so too does the possibility of finding the elusive habitable planet.
“That’s the ultimate question — are there other civilizations out there,’’ says David Charbonneau, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center in Cambridge, whom the museum consulted for the project.
Also hot is the pursuit of dark matter and dark energy, which together represent 95 percent on the universe. Scientists don’t know what either one is, but they do know that dark energy is accelerating the expansion of the universe. Most recently, a black hole found in its infancy made news.
With its new digital technology, the planetarium can just as easily shoot viewers into the cosmos or help them examine a strand of DNA. Charbonneau, for one, says, “Let’s go into someone’s blood stream.’’
Construction on the planetarium began back in January, and before long, the only thing left of the Hayden, which opened in 1958, was its concrete outside wall. Talk about extreme makeovers.
“This was a gutting job,’’ says Paul Fontaine, the museum’s vice president of education. “We’ve dreamed of a new facility for nearly five years now. Our consumers are pretty sophisticated technology consumers today. It became clear that young people weren’t as inspired by a planet show as their parents were. We were driving a 40-year-old car. We bought spare parts off of eBay.’’
Mark Petersen, whose Loch Ness Productions creates digital, print, and audio media for planetarium theaters and museum exhibits, also follows the planetarium market. According to him, there are about 1,600 planetariums in the United States today. While there are no statistics available on the number of people visiting planetariums, Peterson says that an average of 40 new planetarium theaters have in opened each of the last 10 years. On the other hand, others have closed.
“What’s happening now is other planetarium theaters that have been scraping by for decades, nursing the film gear and surviving on flaccid budgets, also find themselves urgently having to get with the times — and funds to renovate aren’t always a priority, so they face closure,’’ he says. “It’s simply Darwinian: adapt or die. No trending there, just life.’’
The future of planetariums will involve far more of the interactivity that already exists in them. David Weinrich, incoming president of the International Planetarium Society, says he helped build the first public planetarium in West Africa, which opened in Ghana in early 2009. The first program there, he explains, was run by a person sitting with a laptop at the Hayden Planetarium in New York, who narrated the show and took questions from the audience in Ghana over the Internet.
The unfinished scene at the Boston planetarium speaks to a quantum leap in audience experience: new dome, new theater-in-the-round seating, new sound system, new lighting, and at the heart of it all, new projectors that illustrate the science of space as it’s never been seen before in Boston.
The custom-made Starmaster sits in the center of the circular room, hidden for now under a white sheet. It is one of only two such models in this country. The steel and aluminum projector is actually a ball 30 inches in diameter mounted more than eight feet high, and has 12 small lenses located all over it. (Museum staffers refer to it as “the death star.’’) It resembles something out of “The War of the Worlds’’ when it rises even higher on its metal legs.
The two powerful Sony digital projectors, each 4 by 2 feet, are mounted directly across from each other to present seamless full-dome images. A test room with a 10-foot dome was created in the bowels of the museum to perfect programs that will later appear upstairs.
The Hayden uses a software package it bought from Sky-Skan, a company based in Nashua. There are five databases built into the package such as the Digital Universe, Protein Data, and Global Weather. Sky-Scan updates its package when needed, such as the discovery of a new star, and planetarium staff can add whatever material it wants as well.
All planetariums have access to the same databases, says Charbonneau. “The edge,’’ he says, “is the software to process data and repackage it into a show.’’
In the past, Charbonneau says, the show at the Museum of Science was “a static star field that rotated overhead.’’ But those days will be gone come February and a new, more modern, experience will emerge. Says Charbonneau: “It has this ‘Where would you like to go?’ interactive feeling.’’
Sam Allis can be reached at allis@globe.com.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
Starstruck
Inside the $9 million renovation to the Science Museum's planetarium, and why it could bring in a new generation of visitors
By Sam Allis
Globe Staff / November 27, 2010
Look up at the night sky and feast on more than 9,000 stars, twinkling in stunning clarity. But then seconds later, the sky reverts back to what it looked like 10,000 years ago. Then watch as the tiny dots that represent the planets suddenly mushroom, allowing you to float so closely above them that you see their surfaces.
Then it’s time to hit the heavens. After lift-off, the planets disappear in the rear-view mirror. So does our solar system as we move to the edge of the Milky Way, and on beyond our galaxy. As we travel further and further out, cascades of blinking green dots, each one a galaxy, flood the sky. Then huge, near-solid swaths of galaxies appear in an overwhelming array of different colors.
After years of offering visitors to its Charles Hayden Planetarium a static view of space focused mostly on stars, planets, and constellations, an entirely new, and more interactive, experience is scheduled to open at the Museum of Science on Feb. 13. The stars of the new $9 million creation are a powerful projector, the Zeiss Starmaster, which will show the night sky, and two Sony digital projectors that can simulate space travel. “We’ve got the Cadillac now,’’ says Darryl Davis, planetarium systems coordinator.
To buy the Cadillac, the museum used $3 million from the Charles Hayden Foundation, named for the Boston financier who built the Hayden Planetariums in New York City and Boston, and raised the rest from private donations.
The upgrades come at an important moment in Boston for cultural organizations whose survival hinges on attracting tourists and natives alike. Competition for visitors among Boston’s cultural institutions is growing more fierce by the month. The Museum of Fine Arts last week opened to the public its mammoth Art of the Americas wing. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is scheduled to open an expansion in early 2012. Also coming is the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the United States Senate adjacent to the JFK Library.
But while much of the area’s cultural landscape focuses on celebrating our past, from art to politics, what separates the Museum of Science is its ability to probe the future.
Next year’s opening show on the ceiling of the 57-foot planetarium dome, “Undiscovered Worlds: The Search Beyond Our Sun,’’ is about the hunt for planets in space. That theme was hatched after Hayden staffers polled astronomers at MIT and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics to see what’s hot in the world of astronomy today. The answer was unequivocal: the search for exoplanets.
Some 500 have been discovered in the past 15 years alone, and scientists expect many more will be identified as time goes on. Just earlier this month, the first new planet from a galaxy outside the Milky Way was identified (and it is 20 percent larger than Jupiter). As the number grows, so too does the possibility of finding the elusive habitable planet.
“That’s the ultimate question — are there other civilizations out there,’’ says David Charbonneau, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center in Cambridge, whom the museum consulted for the project.
Also hot is the pursuit of dark matter and dark energy, which together represent 95 percent on the universe. Scientists don’t know what either one is, but they do know that dark energy is accelerating the expansion of the universe. Most recently, a black hole found in its infancy made news.
With its new digital technology, the planetarium can just as easily shoot viewers into the cosmos or help them examine a strand of DNA. Charbonneau, for one, says, “Let’s go into someone’s blood stream.’’
Construction on the planetarium began back in January, and before long, the only thing left of the Hayden, which opened in 1958, was its concrete outside wall. Talk about extreme makeovers.
“This was a gutting job,’’ says Paul Fontaine, the museum’s vice president of education. “We’ve dreamed of a new facility for nearly five years now. Our consumers are pretty sophisticated technology consumers today. It became clear that young people weren’t as inspired by a planet show as their parents were. We were driving a 40-year-old car. We bought spare parts off of eBay.’’
Mark Petersen, whose Loch Ness Productions creates digital, print, and audio media for planetarium theaters and museum exhibits, also follows the planetarium market. According to him, there are about 1,600 planetariums in the United States today. While there are no statistics available on the number of people visiting planetariums, Peterson says that an average of 40 new planetarium theaters have in opened each of the last 10 years. On the other hand, others have closed.
“What’s happening now is other planetarium theaters that have been scraping by for decades, nursing the film gear and surviving on flaccid budgets, also find themselves urgently having to get with the times — and funds to renovate aren’t always a priority, so they face closure,’’ he says. “It’s simply Darwinian: adapt or die. No trending there, just life.’’
The future of planetariums will involve far more of the interactivity that already exists in them. David Weinrich, incoming president of the International Planetarium Society, says he helped build the first public planetarium in West Africa, which opened in Ghana in early 2009. The first program there, he explains, was run by a person sitting with a laptop at the Hayden Planetarium in New York, who narrated the show and took questions from the audience in Ghana over the Internet.
The unfinished scene at the Boston planetarium speaks to a quantum leap in audience experience: new dome, new theater-in-the-round seating, new sound system, new lighting, and at the heart of it all, new projectors that illustrate the science of space as it’s never been seen before in Boston.
The custom-made Starmaster sits in the center of the circular room, hidden for now under a white sheet. It is one of only two such models in this country. The steel and aluminum projector is actually a ball 30 inches in diameter mounted more than eight feet high, and has 12 small lenses located all over it. (Museum staffers refer to it as “the death star.’’) It resembles something out of “The War of the Worlds’’ when it rises even higher on its metal legs.
The two powerful Sony digital projectors, each 4 by 2 feet, are mounted directly across from each other to present seamless full-dome images. A test room with a 10-foot dome was created in the bowels of the museum to perfect programs that will later appear upstairs.
The Hayden uses a software package it bought from Sky-Skan, a company based in Nashua. There are five databases built into the package such as the Digital Universe, Protein Data, and Global Weather. Sky-Scan updates its package when needed, such as the discovery of a new star, and planetarium staff can add whatever material it wants as well.
All planetariums have access to the same databases, says Charbonneau. “The edge,’’ he says, “is the software to process data and repackage it into a show.’’
In the past, Charbonneau says, the show at the Museum of Science was “a static star field that rotated overhead.’’ But those days will be gone come February and a new, more modern, experience will emerge. Says Charbonneau: “It has this ‘Where would you like to go?’ interactive feeling.’’
Sam Allis can be reached at allis@globe.com.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Boston public food market could open in 2012 along Greenway
The Boston Globe
Hub food market could open in 2012
Design, management to be addressed after consultant is hired
By Casey Ross
Globe Staff / November 27, 2010
Massachusetts officials next week will begin a study to determine the optimal design and management of a new public food market planned for a vacant building along the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway in downtown Boston.
Tweet 1 person Tweeted thisYahoo! Buzz ShareThis The first step will be to hire a private consultant to conduct the study. The consultant will have until April 1 to make a recommendation.
Supporters want the facility to be a window into the region’s farming heritage and burgeoning food culture, featuring products from local growers, dairy farmers, ranchers, and seafood merchants, among others.
State officials said the consultant will host several public meetings to discuss design options and develop a financial plan that will determine how many vendors can operate and in what variety. The Patrick administration has committed to spend up to $10 million to help with the renovations of the state-owned building, which sits above the Haymarket MBTA Station at the corner of Blackstone and Hanover streets.
“It’s a great location for a very vibrant public market,’’ said Phil Griffiths, Governor Deval Patrick’s undersecretary of environment. “We don’t envision it being an extension of the tourist market at Faneuil Hall. We want it to provide fresh, local products.’’
After the consultant provides a report, state officials will hire a manager to operate the facility and a builder to complete the renovations. The market would open in the summer of 2012.
The lack of such a facility has long been considered a cultural black eye for Boston, one of just a few major cities in the country without a standing public food market for local products. Seattle has Pike Place; Philadelphia has Reading Terminal; Cleveland has the West Side Market.
Longtime supporters are urging the state to move swiftly to open the facility, saying it would provide a needed urban sales outlet for Massachusetts farmers and other food producers, many of whom rely on sales from out-of-the-way farm stands and local markets that lack the daily traffic of an urban location. The market’s planned site on the Greenway is adjacent to tourist magnets like Faneuil Hall.
“I think we have reason to believe Boston is an extremely strong site for a market,’’ said Donald Wiest, president of the Boston Public Market Association. “My hope is that the consultant can turn around the report on an efficient basis so the project’s momentum can continue.’’
The state has received four bids for the consulting contract, which is expected to cost up to $150,000. The bidders are: Project for Public Spaces of New York; Public Market Development of North Carolina; Market Ventures Inc. of Portland, Maine; and the Urban Marketing Collaborative of Toronto.
Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
Hub food market could open in 2012
Design, management to be addressed after consultant is hired
By Casey Ross
Globe Staff / November 27, 2010
Massachusetts officials next week will begin a study to determine the optimal design and management of a new public food market planned for a vacant building along the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway in downtown Boston.
Tweet 1 person Tweeted thisYahoo! Buzz ShareThis The first step will be to hire a private consultant to conduct the study. The consultant will have until April 1 to make a recommendation.
Supporters want the facility to be a window into the region’s farming heritage and burgeoning food culture, featuring products from local growers, dairy farmers, ranchers, and seafood merchants, among others.
State officials said the consultant will host several public meetings to discuss design options and develop a financial plan that will determine how many vendors can operate and in what variety. The Patrick administration has committed to spend up to $10 million to help with the renovations of the state-owned building, which sits above the Haymarket MBTA Station at the corner of Blackstone and Hanover streets.
“It’s a great location for a very vibrant public market,’’ said Phil Griffiths, Governor Deval Patrick’s undersecretary of environment. “We don’t envision it being an extension of the tourist market at Faneuil Hall. We want it to provide fresh, local products.’’
After the consultant provides a report, state officials will hire a manager to operate the facility and a builder to complete the renovations. The market would open in the summer of 2012.
The lack of such a facility has long been considered a cultural black eye for Boston, one of just a few major cities in the country without a standing public food market for local products. Seattle has Pike Place; Philadelphia has Reading Terminal; Cleveland has the West Side Market.
Longtime supporters are urging the state to move swiftly to open the facility, saying it would provide a needed urban sales outlet for Massachusetts farmers and other food producers, many of whom rely on sales from out-of-the-way farm stands and local markets that lack the daily traffic of an urban location. The market’s planned site on the Greenway is adjacent to tourist magnets like Faneuil Hall.
“I think we have reason to believe Boston is an extremely strong site for a market,’’ said Donald Wiest, president of the Boston Public Market Association. “My hope is that the consultant can turn around the report on an efficient basis so the project’s momentum can continue.’’
The state has received four bids for the consulting contract, which is expected to cost up to $150,000. The bidders are: Project for Public Spaces of New York; Public Market Development of North Carolina; Market Ventures Inc. of Portland, Maine; and the Urban Marketing Collaborative of Toronto.
Casey Ross can be reached at cross@globe.com.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
Boston city councilor calls for investigation of racial bias complaint against new nightclub
The Boston Globe
Downtown nightclub may face bias inquiry
By Travis Andersen
Globe Staff / November 27, 2010
City Councilor Ayanna Pressley is calling for a city agency to investigate a complaint of racial bias at a new downtown Boston nightclub after a group of African-American students and alumni from Harvard and Yale said they were denied entry or ejected from a private function last weekend because security staff members felt they would attract criminals.
Although details of the incident at the Cure Lounge on Tremont Street remain sketchy, Michael Beal, a Harvard Business School student who organized the event, wrote in a widely circulated e-mail to friends that students and alumni were turned away from the event and club security shut down the establishment last Saturday night. He said club managers complained that a large group of young black men and women standing in line would attract “local gang bangers.’’ Beal did not respond to re quests for comment last night.
Pressley said in a phone interview yesterday that she had been contacted earlier this week by several Harvard students who told her they had been denied entry to the club. Because of that, she said, she has asked the city’s Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing to investigate the incident.
George Regan, the chairman of a Boston public relations firm who is a spokesman for the club, denied the Cure Lounge’s management had done anything wrong. He said the club had worked out an agreement with the promoters of the function that every person who attended the two-night event on Friday and Saturday would have to show identification to prove they were affiliated with Harvard or Yale. He said that on Friday night, all of the “racially mixed’’ guests presented identification without a problem.
But on Saturday, Regan said, “There were a lot of people in line known to police and police and security circles as bad people, OK? They probably couldn’t spell the word ‘Harvard.’ ’’
He said the staff shut down the club at about 11:15 p.m. because of safety concerns when guests waiting in line did not show identification and the promoters refused to cooperate with that request. Regan denied that club staff members used the phrase “gang bangers’’ when speaking with alumni or students. The term is often used to describe members of gangs.
Beal’s e-mail accusing the club of discrimination was first reported earlier this week on the website Jezebel and in the Harvard Crimson and Yale Daily News student newspapers. In a letter sent Monday to the head of the agency that oversees city clubs, Councilor at Large Pressley cited Beal’s e-mail in requesting an investigation.
Pressley said last night that she is withholding judgment until an investigation is conducted.
“An investigation is not an accusation,’’ said Pressley, who chairs the council’s tourism committee. If discriminatory behavior was found to have occurred, she said, it would prompt “moral outrage,’’ tarnish the city’s brand, and keep tourism dollars away.
She said security personnel could have called police or removed the patrons known to authorities if they had security concerns. “I have never heard of any other Boston nightlife venue prematurely ending a private party because the mere presence of invited guests on a public sidewalk was attracting ‘local gang bangers,’ ’’ she wrote in her letter.
A Boston police spokesman said officers did not respond to the club on Saturday night.
Regan, the club spokesman, said the staff is security conscious after a shooting that occurred in the same location at a venue run by different management.
“This is not a white, black, or Hispanic issue,’’ he said. “This is a security issue.’’
Travis Andersen can be reached at tandersen@globe.com.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
Downtown nightclub may face bias inquiry
By Travis Andersen
Globe Staff / November 27, 2010
City Councilor Ayanna Pressley is calling for a city agency to investigate a complaint of racial bias at a new downtown Boston nightclub after a group of African-American students and alumni from Harvard and Yale said they were denied entry or ejected from a private function last weekend because security staff members felt they would attract criminals.
Although details of the incident at the Cure Lounge on Tremont Street remain sketchy, Michael Beal, a Harvard Business School student who organized the event, wrote in a widely circulated e-mail to friends that students and alumni were turned away from the event and club security shut down the establishment last Saturday night. He said club managers complained that a large group of young black men and women standing in line would attract “local gang bangers.’’ Beal did not respond to re quests for comment last night.
Pressley said in a phone interview yesterday that she had been contacted earlier this week by several Harvard students who told her they had been denied entry to the club. Because of that, she said, she has asked the city’s Office of Consumer Affairs and Licensing to investigate the incident.
George Regan, the chairman of a Boston public relations firm who is a spokesman for the club, denied the Cure Lounge’s management had done anything wrong. He said the club had worked out an agreement with the promoters of the function that every person who attended the two-night event on Friday and Saturday would have to show identification to prove they were affiliated with Harvard or Yale. He said that on Friday night, all of the “racially mixed’’ guests presented identification without a problem.
But on Saturday, Regan said, “There were a lot of people in line known to police and police and security circles as bad people, OK? They probably couldn’t spell the word ‘Harvard.’ ’’
He said the staff shut down the club at about 11:15 p.m. because of safety concerns when guests waiting in line did not show identification and the promoters refused to cooperate with that request. Regan denied that club staff members used the phrase “gang bangers’’ when speaking with alumni or students. The term is often used to describe members of gangs.
Beal’s e-mail accusing the club of discrimination was first reported earlier this week on the website Jezebel and in the Harvard Crimson and Yale Daily News student newspapers. In a letter sent Monday to the head of the agency that oversees city clubs, Councilor at Large Pressley cited Beal’s e-mail in requesting an investigation.
Pressley said last night that she is withholding judgment until an investigation is conducted.
“An investigation is not an accusation,’’ said Pressley, who chairs the council’s tourism committee. If discriminatory behavior was found to have occurred, she said, it would prompt “moral outrage,’’ tarnish the city’s brand, and keep tourism dollars away.
She said security personnel could have called police or removed the patrons known to authorities if they had security concerns. “I have never heard of any other Boston nightlife venue prematurely ending a private party because the mere presence of invited guests on a public sidewalk was attracting ‘local gang bangers,’ ’’ she wrote in her letter.
A Boston police spokesman said officers did not respond to the club on Saturday night.
Regan, the club spokesman, said the staff is security conscious after a shooting that occurred in the same location at a venue run by different management.
“This is not a white, black, or Hispanic issue,’’ he said. “This is a security issue.’’
Travis Andersen can be reached at tandersen@globe.com.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
Friday, November 26, 2010
New York City taxi drivers must now dress "professionally"
This would be a good idea for Boston to consider for its taxi drivers. - Adam
Yahoo News
New York cabbies face new "professional" dress code
Fri Nov 26, 5:02 pm ET
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – New York City's cabdrivers will be subject to a new dress code, the Taxi and Limousine Commission said on Friday.
The regulations will instructing cabbies to "present a professional appearance," said David Yassky, TLC commissioner.
An older dress code for taxi drivers has been on the books since 1987, when complaints about bedraggled and badly groomed drivers prompted the TLC to ban certain clothing, such as sleeveless shirts, short shorts and open-toed shoes.
Those rules were later relaxed and are rarely enforced.
The TLC head said the new rule is designed to be easier to follow.
"It will also have the positive effect of reminding drivers that, in a customer service-oriented industry, there are professional standards that have to be met," Yassky said.
The new rule gives no definition of what constitutes a professional appearance.
Representatives of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which represents some 11,000 taxi drivers, were not available for comment.
The new rule is to be discussed at a public hearing in December.
(Reporting by Bernd Debusmann Jr.; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Jerry Norton)
Yahoo News
New York cabbies face new "professional" dress code
Fri Nov 26, 5:02 pm ET
NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – New York City's cabdrivers will be subject to a new dress code, the Taxi and Limousine Commission said on Friday.
The regulations will instructing cabbies to "present a professional appearance," said David Yassky, TLC commissioner.
An older dress code for taxi drivers has been on the books since 1987, when complaints about bedraggled and badly groomed drivers prompted the TLC to ban certain clothing, such as sleeveless shirts, short shorts and open-toed shoes.
Those rules were later relaxed and are rarely enforced.
The TLC head said the new rule is designed to be easier to follow.
"It will also have the positive effect of reminding drivers that, in a customer service-oriented industry, there are professional standards that have to be met," Yassky said.
The new rule gives no definition of what constitutes a professional appearance.
Representatives of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which represents some 11,000 taxi drivers, were not available for comment.
The new rule is to be discussed at a public hearing in December.
(Reporting by Bernd Debusmann Jr.; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Jerry Norton)
Convention Center expansion to reshape its relation with South Boston
The Boston Globe
A new look for South Boston
By Paul McMorrow
November 26, 2010
IT’S NOT that you can’t get to Broadway from the South Boston waterfront. It’s just a pain. The roads connecting the two weren’t designed to make the trip easy. They were designed to insulate one end of the neighborhood from the other. Nowhere is that truer than on D Street.
D Street is the major conduit running between the Seaport’s piers, office buildings, and hotels, and South Boston’s residential streets. The wide street turns one-way for a short stretch south of West First Street, effectively blocking all traffic traveling from the Seaport to Broadway. For drivers traveling from the new section of South Boston to the old one, D Street sends a simple message. That one-way sign might as well be a moat.
Traffic can’t run from one end of D Street to the other because of the giant building sitting between Broadway and the waterfront, the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Boston Mayor Tom Menino led the push to plunk the convention center in South Boston as a way of spurring construction on the waterfront’s massive undeveloped acreage. But South Boston officials feared the convention center would shatter their neighborhood, so they designed it to stand apart from the neighborhood.
The building’s back end, which faces the neighborhood, is ringed by parking lots and fences. Legislation forbade the construction of any new hotels south of the convention center’s Summer Street front door. That clause steered development away from Broadway, and toward the waterfront, leaving a buffer of underused industrial plots between the convention center and the surrounding neighborhood.
That’s about to change. State and city officials announced plans for an ambitious expansion last year, and since then, a blueprint has been fleshed out by a panel of public officials and business leaders.
The panel still has months of deliberations ahead of it, but two major shifts have already become apparent. First, D Street will be transformed from a buffer into a development hub that will link the convention center and the waterfront to the residential neighborhood on the street’s other end. Second, the neighborhood has an appetite to support such a transformation.
Expansion plans always envisioned expanding the facility westward, with construction over the Haul Road linking the convention center to Fort Point. But the convention center’s architects recently concluded that building over the Haul Road isn’t feasible.
Now there is talk not just about building on D Street, but also about creating a second front door for the convention center on the street, transforming a now-lifeless industrial corridor into a hub of activity. This expansion would address the surrounding streets in the same way that the front door on Summer Street embraces the waterfront. And, convention center and city officials hope, it would spur a wave of private construction activity up and down D Street.
This development scheme would redefine the the convention center’s relationship with South Boston, and it would necessarily involve the repeal of the south-of-Summer hotel ban. It would erase architecture and infrastructure that were put in place to isolate the convention center from residential neighborhoods nearby, and transform it into a bridge connecting the still-developing Seaport to Broadway.
The Boston Redevelopment Authority strongly supports enlivening D Street, even though doing so would fly in the face of all the planning that threw up barriers between the neighborhood and the convention center. As it turns out, neither side has much use for those barriers anymore.
Michael Flaherty, a former city councilor and South Boston native, says much has changed in the 15-plus years since the convention center was designed. Back then, Flaherty argues, South Boston residents were “rightfully cautious’’ about the prospect of being overrun by traffic. The intervening years have shown that the convention center, and the waterfront hotels and restaurants serving it, aren’t just good neighbors, but also powerful employers.
“A lot has changed in 15 years, but a lot hasn’t changed, particularly on D Street,’’ Flaherty said. “We need to connect residents to the hope and opportunity on the waterfront, and connect the haves and the have-nots. D Street is the gateway.’’
Paul McMorrow is an associate editor at CommonWealth magazine. His column appears regularly in the Globe.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
A new look for South Boston
By Paul McMorrow
November 26, 2010
IT’S NOT that you can’t get to Broadway from the South Boston waterfront. It’s just a pain. The roads connecting the two weren’t designed to make the trip easy. They were designed to insulate one end of the neighborhood from the other. Nowhere is that truer than on D Street.
D Street is the major conduit running between the Seaport’s piers, office buildings, and hotels, and South Boston’s residential streets. The wide street turns one-way for a short stretch south of West First Street, effectively blocking all traffic traveling from the Seaport to Broadway. For drivers traveling from the new section of South Boston to the old one, D Street sends a simple message. That one-way sign might as well be a moat.
Traffic can’t run from one end of D Street to the other because of the giant building sitting between Broadway and the waterfront, the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. Boston Mayor Tom Menino led the push to plunk the convention center in South Boston as a way of spurring construction on the waterfront’s massive undeveloped acreage. But South Boston officials feared the convention center would shatter their neighborhood, so they designed it to stand apart from the neighborhood.
The building’s back end, which faces the neighborhood, is ringed by parking lots and fences. Legislation forbade the construction of any new hotels south of the convention center’s Summer Street front door. That clause steered development away from Broadway, and toward the waterfront, leaving a buffer of underused industrial plots between the convention center and the surrounding neighborhood.
That’s about to change. State and city officials announced plans for an ambitious expansion last year, and since then, a blueprint has been fleshed out by a panel of public officials and business leaders.
The panel still has months of deliberations ahead of it, but two major shifts have already become apparent. First, D Street will be transformed from a buffer into a development hub that will link the convention center and the waterfront to the residential neighborhood on the street’s other end. Second, the neighborhood has an appetite to support such a transformation.
Expansion plans always envisioned expanding the facility westward, with construction over the Haul Road linking the convention center to Fort Point. But the convention center’s architects recently concluded that building over the Haul Road isn’t feasible.
Now there is talk not just about building on D Street, but also about creating a second front door for the convention center on the street, transforming a now-lifeless industrial corridor into a hub of activity. This expansion would address the surrounding streets in the same way that the front door on Summer Street embraces the waterfront. And, convention center and city officials hope, it would spur a wave of private construction activity up and down D Street.
This development scheme would redefine the the convention center’s relationship with South Boston, and it would necessarily involve the repeal of the south-of-Summer hotel ban. It would erase architecture and infrastructure that were put in place to isolate the convention center from residential neighborhoods nearby, and transform it into a bridge connecting the still-developing Seaport to Broadway.
The Boston Redevelopment Authority strongly supports enlivening D Street, even though doing so would fly in the face of all the planning that threw up barriers between the neighborhood and the convention center. As it turns out, neither side has much use for those barriers anymore.
Michael Flaherty, a former city councilor and South Boston native, says much has changed in the 15-plus years since the convention center was designed. Back then, Flaherty argues, South Boston residents were “rightfully cautious’’ about the prospect of being overrun by traffic. The intervening years have shown that the convention center, and the waterfront hotels and restaurants serving it, aren’t just good neighbors, but also powerful employers.
“A lot has changed in 15 years, but a lot hasn’t changed, particularly on D Street,’’ Flaherty said. “We need to connect residents to the hope and opportunity on the waterfront, and connect the haves and the have-nots. D Street is the gateway.’’
Paul McMorrow is an associate editor at CommonWealth magazine. His column appears regularly in the Globe.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
Back Bay Social Club chef profile
The Boston Herald
Back Bay: Meat meets sweet
By Mat Shaffer / Chef’s Special | Friday, November 26, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Dining News
Name: Tim Raines
Age: 26
Title: Executive chef, Back Bay Social Club
Residence: Boston
Education: Culinary Institute of America
Career highlight: “Having my parents recognize all the hard work I’ve put in.”
Family: Engaged
Ingredient of the moment: “Baby potatoes from Maine. They’re local, really sweet and don’t have to travel the 3,000 miles other potatoes have to.”
Favorite home dish of the moment: “My fiancee Janessa’s eggplant parmesan.”
Can’t-live-without gadget: “Our high-temp griddle - it’s paramount to getting a crust on our burgers.”
Best cooking tip: “Don’t overthink it.”
Restaurant of the moment: “Mike & Patty’s in Bay Village - they do it right.”
Three refrigerator essentials: “Beer, good mustard and pickles.”
BACK BAY SOCIAL CLUB PINEAPPLE-GLAZED KIELBASA (MEAT CANDY)
2 46-oz. cans pineapple juice
8 c. brown sugar
Pinch whole cloves
2 shots good whiskey
2 lbs. smoked kielbasa (pork or turkey), cut into 1-inch lengths
Combine all ingredients in a large crockpot. Cook on medium setting until sticky and delicious, about 5-6 hours.
Serves 10-12 as part of a tailgating party or Sunday in front of the TV football fest.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/food_dining/general/view.bg?articleid=1299017
Back Bay: Meat meets sweet
By Mat Shaffer / Chef’s Special | Friday, November 26, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Dining News
Name: Tim Raines
Age: 26
Title: Executive chef, Back Bay Social Club
Residence: Boston
Education: Culinary Institute of America
Career highlight: “Having my parents recognize all the hard work I’ve put in.”
Family: Engaged
Ingredient of the moment: “Baby potatoes from Maine. They’re local, really sweet and don’t have to travel the 3,000 miles other potatoes have to.”
Favorite home dish of the moment: “My fiancee Janessa’s eggplant parmesan.”
Can’t-live-without gadget: “Our high-temp griddle - it’s paramount to getting a crust on our burgers.”
Best cooking tip: “Don’t overthink it.”
Restaurant of the moment: “Mike & Patty’s in Bay Village - they do it right.”
Three refrigerator essentials: “Beer, good mustard and pickles.”
BACK BAY SOCIAL CLUB PINEAPPLE-GLAZED KIELBASA (MEAT CANDY)
2 46-oz. cans pineapple juice
8 c. brown sugar
Pinch whole cloves
2 shots good whiskey
2 lbs. smoked kielbasa (pork or turkey), cut into 1-inch lengths
Combine all ingredients in a large crockpot. Cook on medium setting until sticky and delicious, about 5-6 hours.
Serves 10-12 as part of a tailgating party or Sunday in front of the TV football fest.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/food_dining/general/view.bg?articleid=1299017
Boston Hotels and Restaurants donate Thanksgiving dinner to firefighters
The Boston Herald
Businesses dole out meals for Boston workers
By Carla Gualdron | Friday, November 26, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage
Hotels and restaurants gave thanks to those serving others on Thanksgiving Day.
Top of the Hub Restaurant continued its tradition of providing Engine 33 and Ladder 15 of the Boston Fire Department with a complete Thanksgiving dinner. Boston Fire Department spokesman, Steve McDonald, said the jakes appreciate the gesture. “It’s very appreciative from the firefighters who are away from their families.”
At the InterContinental Boston, hotel employees greeted and shook hands with the firefighters who picked up the food. InterContinental spokeswoman Stephanie Loeber said, “It feels good to do good things, we want to thank them for that they do.”
The Westin Copley Place hosted “Thanksgiving on the Mayflower.” Together with Mayflower Moving Co., a feast was served to Boston’s first-responders on a Mayflower Moving trailer parked outside the hotel. Other restaurants and hotels donated meals to 265 firefighters on duty throughout the city.
“It’s nice for the business people to think of the firefighters and go out of their way to prepare a nice meal,” McDonald said.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1298949
Businesses dole out meals for Boston workers
By Carla Gualdron | Friday, November 26, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Local Coverage
Hotels and restaurants gave thanks to those serving others on Thanksgiving Day.
Top of the Hub Restaurant continued its tradition of providing Engine 33 and Ladder 15 of the Boston Fire Department with a complete Thanksgiving dinner. Boston Fire Department spokesman, Steve McDonald, said the jakes appreciate the gesture. “It’s very appreciative from the firefighters who are away from their families.”
At the InterContinental Boston, hotel employees greeted and shook hands with the firefighters who picked up the food. InterContinental spokeswoman Stephanie Loeber said, “It feels good to do good things, we want to thank them for that they do.”
The Westin Copley Place hosted “Thanksgiving on the Mayflower.” Together with Mayflower Moving Co., a feast was served to Boston’s first-responders on a Mayflower Moving trailer parked outside the hotel. Other restaurants and hotels donated meals to 265 firefighters on duty throughout the city.
“It’s nice for the business people to think of the firefighters and go out of their way to prepare a nice meal,” McDonald said.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1298949
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Downtown Crossing Holiday Market to open on Saturday
The Boston Herald
Holiday gift market set for downtown
By Herald Wire Services | Thursday, November 25, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
’Tis the season for the city to open a downtown Boston market aimed at the gift-buying masses.
Some 65 local artists and food vendors will be featured in the second annual Downtown Crossing Holiday Market, which kicks off Saturday.
The market, set up under a tent on Summer Street across from Macy’s, will operate until Dec. 24. The hours will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
The market is a joint partnership between the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the Downtown Crossing Partnership and the Boston Public Market Association.
“With our Holiday Market, shoppers will have direct access to an array of local artists and vendors offering a wide range of holiday gifts and products,” said Mayor Thomas M. Menino in a statement.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1298762
Holiday gift market set for downtown
By Herald Wire Services | Thursday, November 25, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Business & Markets
’Tis the season for the city to open a downtown Boston market aimed at the gift-buying masses.
Some 65 local artists and food vendors will be featured in the second annual Downtown Crossing Holiday Market, which kicks off Saturday.
The market, set up under a tent on Summer Street across from Macy’s, will operate until Dec. 24. The hours will be 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays.
The market is a joint partnership between the Boston Redevelopment Authority, the Downtown Crossing Partnership and the Boston Public Market Association.
“With our Holiday Market, shoppers will have direct access to an array of local artists and vendors offering a wide range of holiday gifts and products,” said Mayor Thomas M. Menino in a statement.
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/business/general/view.bg?articleid=1298762
New soup restaurant to open in Government Center
Boston Restaurant Talk
Monday, November 22, 2010
Zoup! Fresh Soup Company to Open in Boston's Government Center
It looks like a small quick-casual restaurant chain that features soup will soon be opening a location in downtown Boston.
According to the EveryBlock Boston site, Zoup! Fresh Soup Company has been issued a business license for a restaurant at Center Plaza in the Government Center section of the city, making this its first location in Massachusetts--and only the second in New England, with the other being in Glastonbury, CT. Michigan-based Zoup! features a number of freshly-made soups at each of their restaurants, including such options as broccoli cheddar, corn and crab chowder, Italian wedding, butternut squash, beef barley, split pea, and chicken chili. Salads and sandwiches are also offered at Zoup!
Currently, locations of Zoup! can be found in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
The address for this upcoming soup-based dining spot in Government Center will be: Zoup! Fresh Soup Company, 3 Center Plaza, Boston, MA, 02108. The website for the chain can be found at: http://www.zoup.com/
posted by Marc at 9:31 AM
Monday, November 22, 2010
Zoup! Fresh Soup Company to Open in Boston's Government Center
It looks like a small quick-casual restaurant chain that features soup will soon be opening a location in downtown Boston.
According to the EveryBlock Boston site, Zoup! Fresh Soup Company has been issued a business license for a restaurant at Center Plaza in the Government Center section of the city, making this its first location in Massachusetts--and only the second in New England, with the other being in Glastonbury, CT. Michigan-based Zoup! features a number of freshly-made soups at each of their restaurants, including such options as broccoli cheddar, corn and crab chowder, Italian wedding, butternut squash, beef barley, split pea, and chicken chili. Salads and sandwiches are also offered at Zoup!
Currently, locations of Zoup! can be found in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
The address for this upcoming soup-based dining spot in Government Center will be: Zoup! Fresh Soup Company, 3 Center Plaza, Boston, MA, 02108. The website for the chain can be found at: http://www.zoup.com/
posted by Marc at 9:31 AM
Fenway neighborhood's restaurant row to be restored by next spring
Boston.com
Fenway-Kenmore
Fenway's Restaurant Row set to rise from ashes in spring
Posted by Sara Brown November 23, 2010 12:43 PM
A January 2009 blaze displaced six restaurants and a dry cleaner on Peterborough Street.
By Sara Brown, Town Correspondent
Almost two years after a devastating fire, plans are underway to rebuild “Restaurant Row,” a popular group of Fenway restaurants, by this spring.
Monty Gold, the property owner of 84-100 Peterborough St., outlined plans to restore the block of shops at a Monday night community meeting, assuring residents that the space will return to what it was: a single-story building housing affordable, “mom and pop” restaurants and a hub of the community.
In the early hours of Jan. 6, 2009, a four-alarm displaced the building’s six restaurants and a dry cleaner. The row of restaurants, with their outdoor patio, was a local hang-out and a pre-game destination for hungry Red Sox fans.
Three restaurants that were housed in the building—Thornton’s Fenway Grill, Rod-Dee Thai Cuisine II Fenway, and El Pelon Taqueria, have said that they plan to return to the space, Gold said.
Other restaurants, including Sorento’s Italian Gourmet, Umi Japanese Restaurant and Greek Isles Restaurant, “have moved on” for various reasons, he added, and will not be returning.
Gold said he would fill the building with other restaurants, with an emphasis on food variety and “mom and pop” places. He told the crowd that he would avoid national or local chains, and that interested parties could contact him with menus, financial statements, and food samples.
Gold already has one interested tenant: Jack Rozza, who owns Blackjack Pasta Bar on Queensberry Street, said he hopes to move into the building to create a sit-down restaurant.
Work has started, Gold said, with the roof expected to go up in a few weeks. According to his estimates, work on the building should be completed in February or March (weather depending), after which the restaurants will need to set up their spaces, which he guessed could take another three months at most.
Gold’s statements were met with nods and murmurs of approval from some of the 30 or so people who came to the meeting at Church.
“I’m very excited…speaking for myself and all of the Fenway,” said Matti Kniva Spencer, a 35-year resident of the West Fens.
He recalled the rumors that went around the neighborhood: that the space would be turned into a high rise building, or that it would be filled with apartments.
The loss of the restaurants had a “bigger impact than anyone knows,” said Pat Boulos, who has lived in the neighborhood for 11 years. She recalled that people made friends at the restaurants. “It’s where we socialized.”
Residents—especially the elderly--would congregate at Thornton’s, she said, lingering all morning over coffee.
“People will come back” to the restaurants, she said.
Some audience members expressed frustration about the two-year lag between the fire and the rebuilding. “I’m sorry it took this length of time,” Gold said, citing personal reasons. “It is what it is.”
Residents also reminisced about the fire, “one of the most horrible things that has happened in this neighborhood,” said Don Mathieu, an East Fenway resident.
Yet the rebuilding sparked a dialogue, as Gold asked the audience for suggestions about what to do with a row of windows above the building and said he’s looking for restaurants for the vacant spots.
One audience member suggested “a big Phoenix statue on top,” a nod to the mythical creature that is reborn out of ashes.
Fenway-Kenmore
Fenway's Restaurant Row set to rise from ashes in spring
Posted by Sara Brown November 23, 2010 12:43 PM
A January 2009 blaze displaced six restaurants and a dry cleaner on Peterborough Street.
By Sara Brown, Town Correspondent
Almost two years after a devastating fire, plans are underway to rebuild “Restaurant Row,” a popular group of Fenway restaurants, by this spring.
Monty Gold, the property owner of 84-100 Peterborough St., outlined plans to restore the block of shops at a Monday night community meeting, assuring residents that the space will return to what it was: a single-story building housing affordable, “mom and pop” restaurants and a hub of the community.
In the early hours of Jan. 6, 2009, a four-alarm displaced the building’s six restaurants and a dry cleaner. The row of restaurants, with their outdoor patio, was a local hang-out and a pre-game destination for hungry Red Sox fans.
Three restaurants that were housed in the building—Thornton’s Fenway Grill, Rod-Dee Thai Cuisine II Fenway, and El Pelon Taqueria, have said that they plan to return to the space, Gold said.
Other restaurants, including Sorento’s Italian Gourmet, Umi Japanese Restaurant and Greek Isles Restaurant, “have moved on” for various reasons, he added, and will not be returning.
Gold said he would fill the building with other restaurants, with an emphasis on food variety and “mom and pop” places. He told the crowd that he would avoid national or local chains, and that interested parties could contact him with menus, financial statements, and food samples.
Gold already has one interested tenant: Jack Rozza, who owns Blackjack Pasta Bar on Queensberry Street, said he hopes to move into the building to create a sit-down restaurant.
Work has started, Gold said, with the roof expected to go up in a few weeks. According to his estimates, work on the building should be completed in February or March (weather depending), after which the restaurants will need to set up their spaces, which he guessed could take another three months at most.
Gold’s statements were met with nods and murmurs of approval from some of the 30 or so people who came to the meeting at Church.
“I’m very excited…speaking for myself and all of the Fenway,” said Matti Kniva Spencer, a 35-year resident of the West Fens.
He recalled the rumors that went around the neighborhood: that the space would be turned into a high rise building, or that it would be filled with apartments.
The loss of the restaurants had a “bigger impact than anyone knows,” said Pat Boulos, who has lived in the neighborhood for 11 years. She recalled that people made friends at the restaurants. “It’s where we socialized.”
Residents—especially the elderly--would congregate at Thornton’s, she said, lingering all morning over coffee.
“People will come back” to the restaurants, she said.
Some audience members expressed frustration about the two-year lag between the fire and the rebuilding. “I’m sorry it took this length of time,” Gold said, citing personal reasons. “It is what it is.”
Residents also reminisced about the fire, “one of the most horrible things that has happened in this neighborhood,” said Don Mathieu, an East Fenway resident.
Yet the rebuilding sparked a dialogue, as Gold asked the audience for suggestions about what to do with a row of windows above the building and said he’s looking for restaurants for the vacant spots.
One audience member suggested “a big Phoenix statue on top,” a nod to the mythical creature that is reborn out of ashes.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
MFA opens new wing to the public; people come from around the country
The Boston Globe
Public gets its turn to see the new wing at the MFA
By Matt Byrne
Globe Correspondent / November 21, 2010
After a 10-hour bus ride from Alexandria, Va., Steven Troxel was ready.
He showed up early yesterday morning, wore comfortable shoes, and waited for more than two hours outside the Museum of Fine Arts to be the first person in a line that by 10 a.m. snaked down Huntington Avenue and around the building.
Troxel was among the thousands who crowded the MFA’s Art of the Americas Wing on its first day open to the public yesterday, a landmark event in the institution’s history and a substantial addition to its gallery space.
“I’m a huge fan of world-class museums, and the MFA is definitely one of those,’’ said Troxel, 45, as he sat in the airy glass-and-steel atrium that connects the old building to the new wing. A museum aficionado, Troxel said the treasures inside the 53 new galleries are worth the wait.
“They have a first-class collection that now has a premiere showcase,’’ he said.
The gallery had been open for 30 minutes when the museum hit its average weekend day attendance number of roughly 2,500 visitors, said Kelly Gifford, a spokeswoman for the museum.
As of 5 p.m., more than 12,000 people had passed through the MFA’s doors for the free community day, according to crowd counts from the museum.
Welcoming the crowd was MFA director Malcolm Rogers, who said in an interview before the ceremony that he has “so many people to thank,’’ including the museum’s staff, most of whom sported red vests and carried maps to help the crowd move through the galleries.
“They’re all exhausted, but they’re charged,’’ Rogers said.
In his remarks to the crowd, delivered from the second-floor landing of the glass staircase that is the main entryway to the three floors of galleries, Rogers struck a tone of inclusion, urging access and openness for all segments of the public.
“Our goal through this project is to make the MFA more accessible,’’ Rogers said. “This is your museum.’’
A choir of 13 voices sang “America the Beautiful,’’ and at the blare of two trumpets that rang through the vast modern courtyard, about 60 children from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, dressed in red, streamed into the galleries.
Inside, the paintings, sculptures, and furniture installations became the instant stars of the day. Arrangements were critiqued, brush strokes examined. Fingers jabbed at glossy maps. Staff members gave spotlight discussions in the galleries, some containing as many as 63 works, hung salon-style on nearly every square inch of wall.
In one room, children squeezed through throngs of adults, whizzing past the towering painted vases at the center of a room of John Singer Sargent portraits. The vases flank one of the museum’s most popular Sargent works in which they are also depicted, entitled “The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit.’’
One of the many poring over the Sargents was Juan Ramirez, 23, a Chicago-based portrait artist who spent the past few weeks in New England for a gallery opening in Connecticut. The MFA was the last stop before his evening flight home, he said.
“I like that they’ve dedicated certain rooms to certain artists,’’ said Ramirez, adding that he was struck by the “immense beauty’’ of the new galleries.
But it wasn’t just the artwork that excited some of the estimated 1,800 who stood in line to attend the opening.
The regal nature of the opening thrilled Rolf and Julie Goetze, who nearly 53 years ago went on their first date at the museum, when they were students at Harvard and Radcliffe.
“It’s fun to see how the museum grew from fusty galleries,’’ said Rolf Goetze.
He said the museum’s collections have always been exemplary, although the galleries can be confusing to navigate.
The Cambridge couple, both 73, said they were excited to see works by John Singleton Copley and others.
At the sound of the trumpets, Julie Goetze beamed and grabbed her husband’s arm.
“This is like being in medieval times,’’ she said. “They make it so memorable.’’
Matt Byrne can be reached at mbyrne.globe@gmail.com.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
Public gets its turn to see the new wing at the MFA
By Matt Byrne
Globe Correspondent / November 21, 2010
After a 10-hour bus ride from Alexandria, Va., Steven Troxel was ready.
He showed up early yesterday morning, wore comfortable shoes, and waited for more than two hours outside the Museum of Fine Arts to be the first person in a line that by 10 a.m. snaked down Huntington Avenue and around the building.
Troxel was among the thousands who crowded the MFA’s Art of the Americas Wing on its first day open to the public yesterday, a landmark event in the institution’s history and a substantial addition to its gallery space.
“I’m a huge fan of world-class museums, and the MFA is definitely one of those,’’ said Troxel, 45, as he sat in the airy glass-and-steel atrium that connects the old building to the new wing. A museum aficionado, Troxel said the treasures inside the 53 new galleries are worth the wait.
“They have a first-class collection that now has a premiere showcase,’’ he said.
The gallery had been open for 30 minutes when the museum hit its average weekend day attendance number of roughly 2,500 visitors, said Kelly Gifford, a spokeswoman for the museum.
As of 5 p.m., more than 12,000 people had passed through the MFA’s doors for the free community day, according to crowd counts from the museum.
Welcoming the crowd was MFA director Malcolm Rogers, who said in an interview before the ceremony that he has “so many people to thank,’’ including the museum’s staff, most of whom sported red vests and carried maps to help the crowd move through the galleries.
“They’re all exhausted, but they’re charged,’’ Rogers said.
In his remarks to the crowd, delivered from the second-floor landing of the glass staircase that is the main entryway to the three floors of galleries, Rogers struck a tone of inclusion, urging access and openness for all segments of the public.
“Our goal through this project is to make the MFA more accessible,’’ Rogers said. “This is your museum.’’
A choir of 13 voices sang “America the Beautiful,’’ and at the blare of two trumpets that rang through the vast modern courtyard, about 60 children from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston, dressed in red, streamed into the galleries.
Inside, the paintings, sculptures, and furniture installations became the instant stars of the day. Arrangements were critiqued, brush strokes examined. Fingers jabbed at glossy maps. Staff members gave spotlight discussions in the galleries, some containing as many as 63 works, hung salon-style on nearly every square inch of wall.
In one room, children squeezed through throngs of adults, whizzing past the towering painted vases at the center of a room of John Singer Sargent portraits. The vases flank one of the museum’s most popular Sargent works in which they are also depicted, entitled “The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit.’’
One of the many poring over the Sargents was Juan Ramirez, 23, a Chicago-based portrait artist who spent the past few weeks in New England for a gallery opening in Connecticut. The MFA was the last stop before his evening flight home, he said.
“I like that they’ve dedicated certain rooms to certain artists,’’ said Ramirez, adding that he was struck by the “immense beauty’’ of the new galleries.
But it wasn’t just the artwork that excited some of the estimated 1,800 who stood in line to attend the opening.
The regal nature of the opening thrilled Rolf and Julie Goetze, who nearly 53 years ago went on their first date at the museum, when they were students at Harvard and Radcliffe.
“It’s fun to see how the museum grew from fusty galleries,’’ said Rolf Goetze.
He said the museum’s collections have always been exemplary, although the galleries can be confusing to navigate.
The Cambridge couple, both 73, said they were excited to see works by John Singleton Copley and others.
At the sound of the trumpets, Julie Goetze beamed and grabbed her husband’s arm.
“This is like being in medieval times,’’ she said. “They make it so memorable.’’
Matt Byrne can be reached at mbyrne.globe@gmail.com.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
Bodega draws people from all over to Clearway Street
The Boston Globe Magazine
The secret to selling cool
How three young guys with almost no retail experience created an uberhip sneaker boutique to rival those in New York, LA, and Tokyo.
By Kevin Alexander
November 21, 2010
The kid in the Hollister shirt is lost. Well, as lost as one can be in the age of GPS-enabled phones. The teen knows he’s supposed to be at 6 Clearway Street in Boston. And he knows that’s right where he’s standing. But 6 Clearway Street, with its signless exterior and dusty windows lined with sun-weathered convenience-store goods, apparently doesn’t look anything like what he’s expecting. After several minutes staring into the windows, he clearly needs a lifeline. He opts to phone a friend. “I’m right here,” he says pleadingly into the cell, “and I still have no idea where it is.” As the kid listens, his eyes grow wider. “Wait,” he says, peering again doubtfully through the window. “You’re telling me this is the place?”
The decrepit store in question is Bodega, and, to answer our young friend’s question, this is indeed the place, if by “place” he means the most influential, cultishly revered, and only sneaker boutique/convenience store in the world. Four and a half years after opening its doors – a passage involving a secret entrance that shoppers must know or figure out themselves, which divides the shoe store from the bodega novelty in front – it has quietly vaulted from upstart shop to international player.
Among sneaker boutiques across the globe, the Back Bay store is “definitely in the top bracket,” says Simon Wood, editor and founder of Sneaker Freaker, an Australian magazine for sneaker enthusiasts that’s sold in 43 countries. And this isn’t just an underground sentiment. “They’re absolutely one of the top, top brands and retail experiences anywhere,” says Matt Ting, senior product line manager for Reebok’s Heritage shoe division. “When people from Reebok Europe or Asia come to Boston, it’s the first place they want to go.” Nate Jobe, a design director at Nike (who worked with Bodega while at Converse), agrees. “Those guys are definitely players on a global scale. They can stack up creatively against anyone else in the world.”
“Those guys” are Jay Gordon, 38, Oliver Mak, 31, and Dan Natola, 34 – the unlikely triumvirate of first-time, Boston-bred owners who’ve somehow managed to do the impossible: create a store in the Hub, selling sneakers from $60 to $300, that’s managed not only to flourish in the wake of a retail-assassinating recession but also to reach lofty status in a fashion sector traditionally dominated by New York, LA, and Tokyo. “Back [when Bodega opened] no one in the sneaker world cared about Boston,” says Jobe. “They made people care.”
In 2006, when Bodega appeared on the scene, sneaker collection hysteria was just starting to seep into the mainstream consciousness. That year, the HBO series Entourage focused an entire episode around its character Turtle’s attempts to snag a pair of custom Nike Air Force 1s from a real LA boutique. At the same time, a wave of retrophilia started to crest. Clothing companies like Homage (which reproduces vintage-esque T’s celebrating sports and pop culture from the ’70s through the ’90s) came up with unique ways to commercialize the interest in yesteryear. Meanwhile, a night-life craze best described as faux speak-easy (think obscured entrances and passwords, minus the illegal hooch) started with the openings of bars like Bourbon & Branch in San Francisco and Milk N Honey in New York. Suddenly it seemed like older members of Generation Y wanted to drink in the places their great-grandparents frequented in the ’20s while wearing the gear their parents bought them in the ’80s. And shoes were no different.Continued...
The secret to selling cool
How three young guys with almost no retail experience created an uberhip sneaker boutique to rival those in New York, LA, and Tokyo.
By Kevin Alexander
November 21, 2010
The kid in the Hollister shirt is lost. Well, as lost as one can be in the age of GPS-enabled phones. The teen knows he’s supposed to be at 6 Clearway Street in Boston. And he knows that’s right where he’s standing. But 6 Clearway Street, with its signless exterior and dusty windows lined with sun-weathered convenience-store goods, apparently doesn’t look anything like what he’s expecting. After several minutes staring into the windows, he clearly needs a lifeline. He opts to phone a friend. “I’m right here,” he says pleadingly into the cell, “and I still have no idea where it is.” As the kid listens, his eyes grow wider. “Wait,” he says, peering again doubtfully through the window. “You’re telling me this is the place?”
The decrepit store in question is Bodega, and, to answer our young friend’s question, this is indeed the place, if by “place” he means the most influential, cultishly revered, and only sneaker boutique/convenience store in the world. Four and a half years after opening its doors – a passage involving a secret entrance that shoppers must know or figure out themselves, which divides the shoe store from the bodega novelty in front – it has quietly vaulted from upstart shop to international player.
Among sneaker boutiques across the globe, the Back Bay store is “definitely in the top bracket,” says Simon Wood, editor and founder of Sneaker Freaker, an Australian magazine for sneaker enthusiasts that’s sold in 43 countries. And this isn’t just an underground sentiment. “They’re absolutely one of the top, top brands and retail experiences anywhere,” says Matt Ting, senior product line manager for Reebok’s Heritage shoe division. “When people from Reebok Europe or Asia come to Boston, it’s the first place they want to go.” Nate Jobe, a design director at Nike (who worked with Bodega while at Converse), agrees. “Those guys are definitely players on a global scale. They can stack up creatively against anyone else in the world.”
“Those guys” are Jay Gordon, 38, Oliver Mak, 31, and Dan Natola, 34 – the unlikely triumvirate of first-time, Boston-bred owners who’ve somehow managed to do the impossible: create a store in the Hub, selling sneakers from $60 to $300, that’s managed not only to flourish in the wake of a retail-assassinating recession but also to reach lofty status in a fashion sector traditionally dominated by New York, LA, and Tokyo. “Back [when Bodega opened] no one in the sneaker world cared about Boston,” says Jobe. “They made people care.”
In 2006, when Bodega appeared on the scene, sneaker collection hysteria was just starting to seep into the mainstream consciousness. That year, the HBO series Entourage focused an entire episode around its character Turtle’s attempts to snag a pair of custom Nike Air Force 1s from a real LA boutique. At the same time, a wave of retrophilia started to crest. Clothing companies like Homage (which reproduces vintage-esque T’s celebrating sports and pop culture from the ’70s through the ’90s) came up with unique ways to commercialize the interest in yesteryear. Meanwhile, a night-life craze best described as faux speak-easy (think obscured entrances and passwords, minus the illegal hooch) started with the openings of bars like Bourbon & Branch in San Francisco and Milk N Honey in New York. Suddenly it seemed like older members of Generation Y wanted to drink in the places their great-grandparents frequented in the ’20s while wearing the gear their parents bought them in the ’80s. And shoes were no different.Continued...
Finale among restaurants using new customer feedback app
The Boston Globe
On the Hot Seat
Instant customer feedback helps restaurants improve
Ken Kimmel, cofounder Survey on the Spot.
By Jenn Abelson
Globe Staff / November 21, 2010
Nothing beats instant customer feedback, according to Survey on the Spot cofounder Ken Kimmel. Kimmel, 56, is helping restaurants capture these comments to improve their businesses with mobile technology designed by his Newton start-up. Kimmel, who previously was an executive at Dunkin’ Brands Inc., recently spoke with Globe reporter Jenn Abelson.
Tweet 4 people Tweeted thisYahoo! Buzz ShareThis What is so special about your company?
With Survey on the Spot, customers can take the survey when they are in the shop. It doesn’t require you to recall as much because you’re still right there. Nobody is currently doing what we’re doing, which every day surprises me.
When did your business launch?
The company went live with its app in November 2009.
That doesn’t sound like a great time to start a company.
The challenge of a new business like ours is finding customers. Getting those first brave souls is key. Change is hard. Restaurants are used to having somebody take a receipt and go home to a website as opposed to doing it on an iPhone or smartphone.
So who are the brave souls?
99 Restaurants, British Beer Company, Finale, and Not your Average Joe’s.
How does the technology work?
The original model — the one that Finale uses — prompts customers to go to Survey on the Spot while in the restaurant with an insert with the check at the end of the meal. It says “Please go to Survey on the Spot, and we’ll reward you with a coupon for $4 off your next visit with us.’’ If customers have a BlackBerry or smartphone, they go to surveyonthespot.com, they go to Finale, and they can take the survey. And then immediately, results are compiled into a Web portal Finale can access, and they can see results instantaneously.
How have other restaurants used the technology?
Not Your Average Joe’s is starting to deliver an iPod to every guest with the check. It’s getting an enormous level of response. They’re seeing 1,000 surveys a month when typically the norm would be 100 surveys a month.
At 99 Restaurants, they like to use this for menu innovation. They have a research and development restaurant where they create menu items and an internal group of executives will try them all and then rate them. And now they use iPods and Survey on the Spot rather than putting it on paper and tabulating results. So as soon as the meeting is done, they can get the results immediately.
What changes have restaurants made based on the feedback from these surveys?
At British Beer Company, customers had a really poor experience with one of the menu items. It was a wrap. It may have been a little dried out. So they were able to go in there and fix it. At other restaurants, managers are able to see when servers have not been having the best day. If someone answers a question very negatively, it will send a text message or e-mail to the manager or chief executive. It does that within five or 10 minutes of completing the survey. The manager can then address the issue with the customer before they leave upset.
How is working at a start-up different from your time at a huge company like Dunkin’?
At Dunkin’ Brands, there was a real corporate infrastructure and templates for how do business. When you’re really small and trying to get things going, your customers almost become part of an advisory board to help you build your business. It’s much easier to adapt to the free form feedback because you don’t have the corporate bureaucracy.
Can you tell from these surveys how consumers have changed during the recession?
We see a lot of comments about value. That’s very indicative of the current economic environment. When they’re concerned, it’s, “Gee it seems kind of expensive,’’ or, “Something was more than I thought; the price is not right,’’ or “The portion size is too small.’’
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
On the Hot Seat
Instant customer feedback helps restaurants improve
Ken Kimmel, cofounder Survey on the Spot.
By Jenn Abelson
Globe Staff / November 21, 2010
Nothing beats instant customer feedback, according to Survey on the Spot cofounder Ken Kimmel. Kimmel, 56, is helping restaurants capture these comments to improve their businesses with mobile technology designed by his Newton start-up. Kimmel, who previously was an executive at Dunkin’ Brands Inc., recently spoke with Globe reporter Jenn Abelson.
Tweet 4 people Tweeted thisYahoo! Buzz ShareThis What is so special about your company?
With Survey on the Spot, customers can take the survey when they are in the shop. It doesn’t require you to recall as much because you’re still right there. Nobody is currently doing what we’re doing, which every day surprises me.
When did your business launch?
The company went live with its app in November 2009.
That doesn’t sound like a great time to start a company.
The challenge of a new business like ours is finding customers. Getting those first brave souls is key. Change is hard. Restaurants are used to having somebody take a receipt and go home to a website as opposed to doing it on an iPhone or smartphone.
So who are the brave souls?
99 Restaurants, British Beer Company, Finale, and Not your Average Joe’s.
How does the technology work?
The original model — the one that Finale uses — prompts customers to go to Survey on the Spot while in the restaurant with an insert with the check at the end of the meal. It says “Please go to Survey on the Spot, and we’ll reward you with a coupon for $4 off your next visit with us.’’ If customers have a BlackBerry or smartphone, they go to surveyonthespot.com, they go to Finale, and they can take the survey. And then immediately, results are compiled into a Web portal Finale can access, and they can see results instantaneously.
How have other restaurants used the technology?
Not Your Average Joe’s is starting to deliver an iPod to every guest with the check. It’s getting an enormous level of response. They’re seeing 1,000 surveys a month when typically the norm would be 100 surveys a month.
At 99 Restaurants, they like to use this for menu innovation. They have a research and development restaurant where they create menu items and an internal group of executives will try them all and then rate them. And now they use iPods and Survey on the Spot rather than putting it on paper and tabulating results. So as soon as the meeting is done, they can get the results immediately.
What changes have restaurants made based on the feedback from these surveys?
At British Beer Company, customers had a really poor experience with one of the menu items. It was a wrap. It may have been a little dried out. So they were able to go in there and fix it. At other restaurants, managers are able to see when servers have not been having the best day. If someone answers a question very negatively, it will send a text message or e-mail to the manager or chief executive. It does that within five or 10 minutes of completing the survey. The manager can then address the issue with the customer before they leave upset.
How is working at a start-up different from your time at a huge company like Dunkin’?
At Dunkin’ Brands, there was a real corporate infrastructure and templates for how do business. When you’re really small and trying to get things going, your customers almost become part of an advisory board to help you build your business. It’s much easier to adapt to the free form feedback because you don’t have the corporate bureaucracy.
Can you tell from these surveys how consumers have changed during the recession?
We see a lot of comments about value. That’s very indicative of the current economic environment. When they’re concerned, it’s, “Gee it seems kind of expensive,’’ or, “Something was more than I thought; the price is not right,’’ or “The portion size is too small.’’
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
NH hotels luring out of state shoppers this holiday season
The Boston Globe
N.H. hotels try to lure shoppers
Gifts, discounts, shuttles offered for Black Friday
By Kathy McCormack
Associated Press / November 21, 2010
CONCORD, N.H. — Hotels and inns in sales-tax-free New Hampshire are trying to lure Black Friday shoppers with stay-and-shop packages that come with tempting free gifts or services.
Among the lures are a purse stuffed with energy bars and coupons to stores, gift wrapping accompanied by hors d’oeuvres, and shuttle service to the mall.
There have been few takers so far. But that’s not so unusual.
“The same thing happened last year; it was last-minute, it was all the day before,’’ said Donnie Sullivan, manager of the Country Inn & Suites in Bedford. The hotel is offering a two-night stay starting at $145 for two, with a $50 gift card to a local restaurant and a shuttle service to the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester. Last year, “we had to find a bigger shuttle,’’ he said.
Hotel and inn managers said such last-minute bookings in New Hampshire, one of five states without a sales tax, have become common as travelers remain cautious about their budgets and watch for good weather.
“As the economy gets better and people become more comfortable, they will book out a little further,’’ said Joseph McInerney, president and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based American Hotel and Lodging Association.
New Hampshire does require hotels to collect a 9 percent lodging tax.
New Hampshire aggressively markets itself as a shopping destination, especially targeting neighboring states and Canada. In Vermont, a new study by business groups concludes the state’s 6 percent sales tax continues to stunt commercial growth along its eastern border because shoppers flock to New Hampshire to avoid paying it. Massachusetts has a 6.25 percent sales tax. Maine’s is 5 percent.
The Highlander Inn, near the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, is offering its second Black Friday “shopping frenzy’’ package for the night of Nov. 26 for $109.99 for two. Guests receive a coupon booklet for the mall with shuttle service that leaves as early as 4 a.m. No one booked the package last year, but that hasn’t deterred hotel management.
“I think the economy still plays a little bit of a role in it, especially now with the holiday season,’’ said Rebecca Gesking, the front-office manager.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
N.H. hotels try to lure shoppers
Gifts, discounts, shuttles offered for Black Friday
By Kathy McCormack
Associated Press / November 21, 2010
CONCORD, N.H. — Hotels and inns in sales-tax-free New Hampshire are trying to lure Black Friday shoppers with stay-and-shop packages that come with tempting free gifts or services.
Among the lures are a purse stuffed with energy bars and coupons to stores, gift wrapping accompanied by hors d’oeuvres, and shuttle service to the mall.
There have been few takers so far. But that’s not so unusual.
“The same thing happened last year; it was last-minute, it was all the day before,’’ said Donnie Sullivan, manager of the Country Inn & Suites in Bedford. The hotel is offering a two-night stay starting at $145 for two, with a $50 gift card to a local restaurant and a shuttle service to the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester. Last year, “we had to find a bigger shuttle,’’ he said.
Hotel and inn managers said such last-minute bookings in New Hampshire, one of five states without a sales tax, have become common as travelers remain cautious about their budgets and watch for good weather.
“As the economy gets better and people become more comfortable, they will book out a little further,’’ said Joseph McInerney, president and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based American Hotel and Lodging Association.
New Hampshire does require hotels to collect a 9 percent lodging tax.
New Hampshire aggressively markets itself as a shopping destination, especially targeting neighboring states and Canada. In Vermont, a new study by business groups concludes the state’s 6 percent sales tax continues to stunt commercial growth along its eastern border because shoppers flock to New Hampshire to avoid paying it. Massachusetts has a 6.25 percent sales tax. Maine’s is 5 percent.
The Highlander Inn, near the Manchester-Boston Regional Airport, is offering its second Black Friday “shopping frenzy’’ package for the night of Nov. 26 for $109.99 for two. Guests receive a coupon booklet for the mall with shuttle service that leaves as early as 4 a.m. No one booked the package last year, but that hasn’t deterred hotel management.
“I think the economy still plays a little bit of a role in it, especially now with the holiday season,’’ said Rebecca Gesking, the front-office manager.
© Copyright 2010 Globe Newspaper Company.
Party at Ritz Carlton results in multiple arrests
BPD News via Universal Hub
PARTY AT THE RITZ LANDS FOUR IN POLICE CUSTODY
Posted by MediaRelations on November 20, 2010 · Leave a Comment
At about 3:08am, on Saturday, November 20, 2010, officers from Area A-1 (Downtown) responded to a radio call for a loud party at 10 Avery Street (the Ritz Carlton). On arrival, officers spoke to hotel security who stated that they attempted to quiet the party, albeit unsuccessfully, several times before calling police. Officers approached the room where the party was being held in order to further investigate the noise complaint. While making their way towards the room, officers observed several individuals in possession of alcoholic beverages exiting the location. Once in front of the room, officers looked inside and observed approximately 25 – 30 people making noise and consuming alcohol inside the room. Upon entering the location, officers asked to speak to the legal tenants. When nobody took responsibility for the party, officers began turning the lights on and off while, at the same time, instructing everyone to leave the location. For a short time, most of the party-goers flat out ignored the officers and the legal instructions that had been given. Finally, one of the party-goers, stating that he was the legal tenant, approached the officers and told them that they were no longer welcome inside his place and that they – they being the officers – needed to leave.
Somewhat taken aback by the statements made by the legal tenant, officers informed the suspect that, due to his unwillingness to end the party, he was being placed under arrest. However, when officers attempted to handcuff the suspect, the suspect chose to resist. After a brief struggle, officers arrested Sultan Alhokair, 22, of Boston and charged him with Being the Keeper of a Disorderly House and Resisting Arrest.
As officers were attempting to place Alhokair into custody, a second individual, herein referred to as Suspect #2, kept interfering with the officers. After being told several times not to impede the officers as they attempted to arrest Suspect #1, Suspect #2 continued to do so. As a result, officers took Suspect #2 into custody. Once in custody, Suspect #2 stated, “You have no idea who you are messing with. You are going to be in big trouble. I have friends who will take care of you.” Nevertheless, officers arrested Angelos Markakis, 22, of New York and charged him with Resisting Arrest and Witness Intimidation.
Officers arrested a third individual, Abdul Alathim, 21, of Boston and charged him with Resisting Arrest.
As officers were transporting the suspects to Area A-1 (Downtown) for booking, officers observed and noted that a car, filled with people from the party, was following closely behind the prisoner transport wagon. Upon arriving at the station, officers approached the vehicle and asked the operator for his license. When the suspect stated that he didn’t have one, officers took the operator into custody. Officers arrested Abdullah Saud, 23, of Cambridge and charged him with Operating without a License.
PARTY AT THE RITZ LANDS FOUR IN POLICE CUSTODY
Posted by MediaRelations on November 20, 2010 · Leave a Comment
At about 3:08am, on Saturday, November 20, 2010, officers from Area A-1 (Downtown) responded to a radio call for a loud party at 10 Avery Street (the Ritz Carlton). On arrival, officers spoke to hotel security who stated that they attempted to quiet the party, albeit unsuccessfully, several times before calling police. Officers approached the room where the party was being held in order to further investigate the noise complaint. While making their way towards the room, officers observed several individuals in possession of alcoholic beverages exiting the location. Once in front of the room, officers looked inside and observed approximately 25 – 30 people making noise and consuming alcohol inside the room. Upon entering the location, officers asked to speak to the legal tenants. When nobody took responsibility for the party, officers began turning the lights on and off while, at the same time, instructing everyone to leave the location. For a short time, most of the party-goers flat out ignored the officers and the legal instructions that had been given. Finally, one of the party-goers, stating that he was the legal tenant, approached the officers and told them that they were no longer welcome inside his place and that they – they being the officers – needed to leave.
Somewhat taken aback by the statements made by the legal tenant, officers informed the suspect that, due to his unwillingness to end the party, he was being placed under arrest. However, when officers attempted to handcuff the suspect, the suspect chose to resist. After a brief struggle, officers arrested Sultan Alhokair, 22, of Boston and charged him with Being the Keeper of a Disorderly House and Resisting Arrest.
As officers were attempting to place Alhokair into custody, a second individual, herein referred to as Suspect #2, kept interfering with the officers. After being told several times not to impede the officers as they attempted to arrest Suspect #1, Suspect #2 continued to do so. As a result, officers took Suspect #2 into custody. Once in custody, Suspect #2 stated, “You have no idea who you are messing with. You are going to be in big trouble. I have friends who will take care of you.” Nevertheless, officers arrested Angelos Markakis, 22, of New York and charged him with Resisting Arrest and Witness Intimidation.
Officers arrested a third individual, Abdul Alathim, 21, of Boston and charged him with Resisting Arrest.
As officers were transporting the suspects to Area A-1 (Downtown) for booking, officers observed and noted that a car, filled with people from the party, was following closely behind the prisoner transport wagon. Upon arriving at the station, officers approached the vehicle and asked the operator for his license. When the suspect stated that he didn’t have one, officers took the operator into custody. Officers arrested Abdullah Saud, 23, of Cambridge and charged him with Operating without a License.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Massachusetts tourism promotion spending questioned in television report
This is an extremely one sided report when it speaks about how the money spent by the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism is wasteful spending. Consider that just under 20 million people visited Massachusetts in 2008 and spent $15.6 billion, making tourism one of the largest industries in the state, generating $962.7 million in state and local tax revenues and supported 128,800 jobs in 2008. I would argue that their money is well spent!
The Boston Channel (WCVB - Channel 5)
Millions More In State Trinket Purchases Identified
Critics Question Spending During Budget Crisis
POSTED: 12:36 pm EST November 17, 2010
UPDATED: 6:31 pm EST November 19, 2010
BOSTON -- Tannery Falls in the Berkshires is just one example of nature’s beauty that’s free to see. But Team 5 Investigates found promoting Massachusetts tourist attractions has been a costly priority as the state dug deeper into a $2 billion deficit.
In the past three years, the executive office of Housing and Economic Development shelled out $257,244.23 for promotional items including hundreds of beach towels, binders, water bottles, tote bags, tape measures, luggage tags and mini photo books to help promote tourism at trade shows.
They also bought hundreds of stuffed toy lobsters and Red Sox baseball caps to help launch a new airline in Italy.
“I think they’re reaching for new heights of silliness in the middle of a fiscal crisis and once again proving to everybody that the state can’t be trusted with taxpayer dollars,” said Barbara Anderson of Citizens for Limited Taxation.
The department of Conservation and Recreation spent $219,578.63 promoting itself at the same time several hundred agency workers lost their jobs.
Everything from “I hiked in a state park” buttons to table covers costing $7,896. The agency spent $39,441.26 to replace all DCR flags in urban parks and banners at state beaches, the same beaches where state officials said they couldn’t afford lifeguards.
“When one looks at the list, one walks away from it saying common sense needs to prevail here,” said Mike Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.
The agency also gave away plenty of trinkets to their own workers. $7,009.30 worth of water bottles and pad-folios for supervisors, along with clipboards, pens and light bulbs to encourage creative ideas to solve everyday problems.
Team 5 reviewed thousands of promotional purchases made by all state agencies in the last three years. Together, they’ve cost taxpayers $5.5 million. Only one agency, the executive office of Public Safety and Security would actually show Team 5 the items that were purchased.
“I think they’re embarrassed by the scrutiny,” said Widmer.
The Department of Correction spent $27,140.60 on items little cemetery flags to decorate the entrance of MCI-Concord, along with signs, pens, stickers, posters and key lights.
Every agency Team 5 spoke with defended their purchases and told us they’ve cut way back because of the budget crisis.
Copyright 2010 by TheBostonChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
The Boston Channel (WCVB - Channel 5)
Millions More In State Trinket Purchases Identified
Critics Question Spending During Budget Crisis
POSTED: 12:36 pm EST November 17, 2010
UPDATED: 6:31 pm EST November 19, 2010
BOSTON -- Tannery Falls in the Berkshires is just one example of nature’s beauty that’s free to see. But Team 5 Investigates found promoting Massachusetts tourist attractions has been a costly priority as the state dug deeper into a $2 billion deficit.
In the past three years, the executive office of Housing and Economic Development shelled out $257,244.23 for promotional items including hundreds of beach towels, binders, water bottles, tote bags, tape measures, luggage tags and mini photo books to help promote tourism at trade shows.
They also bought hundreds of stuffed toy lobsters and Red Sox baseball caps to help launch a new airline in Italy.
“I think they’re reaching for new heights of silliness in the middle of a fiscal crisis and once again proving to everybody that the state can’t be trusted with taxpayer dollars,” said Barbara Anderson of Citizens for Limited Taxation.
The department of Conservation and Recreation spent $219,578.63 promoting itself at the same time several hundred agency workers lost their jobs.
Everything from “I hiked in a state park” buttons to table covers costing $7,896. The agency spent $39,441.26 to replace all DCR flags in urban parks and banners at state beaches, the same beaches where state officials said they couldn’t afford lifeguards.
“When one looks at the list, one walks away from it saying common sense needs to prevail here,” said Mike Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.
The agency also gave away plenty of trinkets to their own workers. $7,009.30 worth of water bottles and pad-folios for supervisors, along with clipboards, pens and light bulbs to encourage creative ideas to solve everyday problems.
Team 5 reviewed thousands of promotional purchases made by all state agencies in the last three years. Together, they’ve cost taxpayers $5.5 million. Only one agency, the executive office of Public Safety and Security would actually show Team 5 the items that were purchased.
“I think they’re embarrassed by the scrutiny,” said Widmer.
The Department of Correction spent $27,140.60 on items little cemetery flags to decorate the entrance of MCI-Concord, along with signs, pens, stickers, posters and key lights.
Every agency Team 5 spoke with defended their purchases and told us they’ve cut way back because of the budget crisis.
Copyright 2010 by TheBostonChannel.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Ames Hotel celebrates one year anniversary
The Boston Globe
Names
Shaq toasts Ames Hotel
By Mark Shanahan & Meredith Goldstein
November 19, 2010
Celtic Shaquille O’Neal celebrated his team’s win over the Wizards on Wednesday by hosting the Ames Hotel’s first anniversary party, which included an appearance by funk great Maceo Parker. Shaq towered over hotel employees (including marketing director Paul Sauceda, GM Cate Farmer, and executive assistant Julie Guerra), and lounged with his rumored fiancee, Nicole “Hoopz’’ Alexander. Meanwhile, other names in the restaurant and nightlife industry — including Ames owner Seth Greenberg, restaurateur Darryl Settles, Prezza owner Anthony Caturano, and Ace Gershfield of 6one7 Productions (who was just named one of the 25 Most Stylish Bostonians in the Globe), sipped and snacked. The Ames building was empty for the better part of a decade before it opened as a boutique hotel last fall.
Names
Shaq toasts Ames Hotel
By Mark Shanahan & Meredith Goldstein
November 19, 2010
Celtic Shaquille O’Neal celebrated his team’s win over the Wizards on Wednesday by hosting the Ames Hotel’s first anniversary party, which included an appearance by funk great Maceo Parker. Shaq towered over hotel employees (including marketing director Paul Sauceda, GM Cate Farmer, and executive assistant Julie Guerra), and lounged with his rumored fiancee, Nicole “Hoopz’’ Alexander. Meanwhile, other names in the restaurant and nightlife industry — including Ames owner Seth Greenberg, restaurateur Darryl Settles, Prezza owner Anthony Caturano, and Ace Gershfield of 6one7 Productions (who was just named one of the 25 Most Stylish Bostonians in the Globe), sipped and snacked. The Ames building was empty for the better part of a decade before it opened as a boutique hotel last fall.
Island Creek Oyster Bar review
Metro
On an Island of your own
Luke O'Neil
18 November 2010 07:01
If there’s one knock on Eastern Standard, regularly lauded as one of the best bars in the country, nevermind Boston, it’s that the already huge bar is usually so busy, it can be hard to find a seat. Taking over the old Great Bay space in the same building, Island Creek Oyster Bar, a new collaboration from the people behind Eastern Standard and Duxbury’s Island Creek Oysters should alleviate some of that.
A number of a familiar faces have made the trip down the hall, including bar director Jackson Cannon, head bartender Bob McCoy and general manager Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli. In other words, the bar program here is in really capable hands. The resulting libations echo the theme of the restaurant’s farm to table philosophy, with an emphasis on boutique spirits and daily fresh and seasonally appropriate cocktail ingredients. The décor of the space falls in line too, with a towering oyster shell bedecked wall, wooden beach slats and sandy-hued floors that suggest the Duxbury beach.
“We’re keeping the cocktail list a little bit smaller, but every bit as elegant as some of the more interesting offerings of Eastern Standard,” Cannon says.
They’re also designed to match well with the seafood and oyster-focused menu. Like the house cocktail Perennial, a classic vodka sour made with spiced fennel syrup and finished with lemon.
“We’re trying to echo seasonality,” says McCoy, calling that drink one of their more accessible.
Others, like the Spanish Cararvan, made with Calvados, Herradura Reposado, Lustau Sherry, Allspice Dram, and garnished with a dried, spiced-apple hue skew toward the adventurous side that you’d expect from an all star lineup like this.
Island Creek Oyster Bar
500 Comm. Ave., Boston
617-532-5300
www.islandcreekoysterbar.com
On an Island of your own
Luke O'Neil
18 November 2010 07:01
If there’s one knock on Eastern Standard, regularly lauded as one of the best bars in the country, nevermind Boston, it’s that the already huge bar is usually so busy, it can be hard to find a seat. Taking over the old Great Bay space in the same building, Island Creek Oyster Bar, a new collaboration from the people behind Eastern Standard and Duxbury’s Island Creek Oysters should alleviate some of that.
A number of a familiar faces have made the trip down the hall, including bar director Jackson Cannon, head bartender Bob McCoy and general manager Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli. In other words, the bar program here is in really capable hands. The resulting libations echo the theme of the restaurant’s farm to table philosophy, with an emphasis on boutique spirits and daily fresh and seasonally appropriate cocktail ingredients. The décor of the space falls in line too, with a towering oyster shell bedecked wall, wooden beach slats and sandy-hued floors that suggest the Duxbury beach.
“We’re keeping the cocktail list a little bit smaller, but every bit as elegant as some of the more interesting offerings of Eastern Standard,” Cannon says.
They’re also designed to match well with the seafood and oyster-focused menu. Like the house cocktail Perennial, a classic vodka sour made with spiced fennel syrup and finished with lemon.
“We’re trying to echo seasonality,” says McCoy, calling that drink one of their more accessible.
Others, like the Spanish Cararvan, made with Calvados, Herradura Reposado, Lustau Sherry, Allspice Dram, and garnished with a dried, spiced-apple hue skew toward the adventurous side that you’d expect from an all star lineup like this.
Island Creek Oyster Bar
500 Comm. Ave., Boston
617-532-5300
www.islandcreekoysterbar.com
Deuxave review - The Boston Phoenix
The Boston Phoenix
Restaurant Reviews
Deuxave
Flawed deconstruction, no matter how you pronounce it
By ROBERT NADEAU | November 17, 2010
Deuxave 1.0 Stars
PRETTY, TASTY: The best deconstruction here is the “velvet cheesecake,” but much of the menu is better to look at than to eat.
Maybe it is all relative. Last week, Deuxave got three stars from a daily newspaper reviewer who compared it to its neighbor across the street, Clio — a restaurant famous for tiny, expensive portions of beautifully plated food. I walked into Deuxave thinking about a dozen gastropubs serving much the same food, without as much visual appeal perhaps, but for 60 percent of the price.
To me, Deuxave was as pretentious as its phony Franglish name — and flawed besides, by undercooked legumes and oversalted seafood. Deconstructed steak, deconstructed cheesecake. What's the point? The food at "Doo-ave" (the intended mispronunciation, like a duo of crossing avenues, Massachusetts and Commonwealth) is better on the tongue than the name is, but it's also nicer to look at than to eat, and not worth the price no matter what you're doing with it.
Read more here.
Restaurant Reviews
Deuxave
Flawed deconstruction, no matter how you pronounce it
By ROBERT NADEAU | November 17, 2010
Deuxave 1.0 Stars
PRETTY, TASTY: The best deconstruction here is the “velvet cheesecake,” but much of the menu is better to look at than to eat.
Maybe it is all relative. Last week, Deuxave got three stars from a daily newspaper reviewer who compared it to its neighbor across the street, Clio — a restaurant famous for tiny, expensive portions of beautifully plated food. I walked into Deuxave thinking about a dozen gastropubs serving much the same food, without as much visual appeal perhaps, but for 60 percent of the price.
To me, Deuxave was as pretentious as its phony Franglish name — and flawed besides, by undercooked legumes and oversalted seafood. Deconstructed steak, deconstructed cheesecake. What's the point? The food at "Doo-ave" (the intended mispronunciation, like a duo of crossing avenues, Massachusetts and Commonwealth) is better on the tongue than the name is, but it's also nicer to look at than to eat, and not worth the price no matter what you're doing with it.
Read more here.
Deuxave review - Boston Herald
The Boston Herald
Deuxave on the right road
By Mat Schaffer | Friday, November 19, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Dining Reviews
DEUXAVE: B+
Deuxave is an ambitious new restaurant from Christopher Coombs and Brian Piccini, the guys behind dbar in Dorchester.
Named for its location at the intersection of two avenues, Massachusetts and Commonwealth, Deuxave is epicurean light-years beyond gastro-pub dbar. This is a serious, higher-end dining experience that intends to go mano a mano with the city’s finer eateries.
Executive chef Coombs relishes the challenge. The 26-year-old Culinary Institute of America grad has worked at Troquet, Blue Ginger, Toppers at the Wauwinet on Nantucket and The Inn at Little Washington in Virginia. Deuxave aspires to that level ofculinary competence.
The menu of French-inspired American Nouveau Cuisine exhaustively itemizes virtually every detail of every multi-layered dish. Coombs’ cooking islabor intensive. It’s also delicious - if occasionally too busy.
Scituate lobster with gnocchi ($17), comes with mushrooms, grapes, curried walnuts and pearl onions. It flirts with overindulgence, but the pillowy gnocchi and buttery citrus sauce ultimately anchor and unify the other ingredients.Ceviche of Hawaiian Big Eye Tuna ($15) is more like cucumber-studded tuna tartare, slathered with guacamole and strewn with shredded carrots, radishes and cilantro.
A duet of prime beef tartare and Wagyu carpaccio($14) will appeal to raw meat lovers - especially the tartare, which you mix with a quail egg yolk. Nine-hour French caramelized onion soup ($10) with a bone marrow rubbed crouton and lots of melty comte cheese is heavenly, fortified with splashes of sherry and Port.
A paper-thin, fried potato cylinder crowns a fall vegetable salad ($13) of local greens, radishes, pickled cauliflower and pumpkin seeds tossed in boutique balsamic vinaigrette.
Entrees average in the upper $20s - several dollars less than you’d pay elsewhere for comparable eats.
I loved the crisp skin and moist flesh of pan-roasted, line-caught Atlantic halibut ($27) with sunchoke puree and a seasonal succotash of butternut squash, Brussels sprouts, turnips, Okinawa yams, chanterelles and diced guanciale. A swath of pureed pomegranate adds sweetness and sass.
Less would have been more with seared local sea scallops ($28) with potato rosti, dill creme, leek and parsley fondue, roasted tomatoes and gingered cumin carrot emulsion. Were lemon-vodka syrup and shaved black truffles even necessary?
Duck liver mousse-stuffed, Port-soaked prune French kisses and honey-glazed turnips make fab accompaniments to slices of seared Long Island duck breast ($28) atop stewed lentils and wilted arugula and mustardy sauce Robert.
cw0 Perfectly pink Moroccan-spiced lamb saddle ($29) encrusted with pistachios is wonderful with aromatic Persian-style tabbouleh, roasted baby root vegetables and mint and cucumber raita.
I’m a longtime fan of Deuxave general manager Jason Irving, a former sommelier at the Four Seasons’ Aujourd’hui. No surprise that: 1. I was recognized on both visits; and 2. the Deuxave wine list is supersmart and superaffordable.
Pastry chef Olivier Maillard (who’s worked for Joel Robuchon, Alain Ducasse and Barbara Lynch) specializes in NC-17 desserts for adult palates: deconstructed lime cheesecake ($12) with basil and strawberries, horizontal chocolate Napoleon ($14) with chocolate phyllo, cherry compote and sea salt, and carrot cake ($13) with Earl Grey cream cheese frosting and carrot sorbet.
Deuxave is a chic-looking space of brick, glass and gunmetal gray slate with a gas fireplace. You’d never believe this was once a White Hen Pantry. The first evening after I was identified, they switched my initial waiter for a more experienced server and sent out a gratis dessert.
As a restaurant critic, I have several, nagging, pet peeves. Among them, multiple menu misspellings. Deuxave may want to consider investing in a French-English dictionary. Brussles (sic) sprouts?
371 Commonwealth Ave. 617-517-5915; deuxave.com.
Price: More than $40
Hours: Sun.-Wed., 5-10 p.m.; Thurs.-Sat., 5-11 p.m.; Bar open nightly until 1 a.m.
Bar: Full
Credit: All
Recession Specials: No
Accessibility: Accessible
Parking: Valet, on street, nearby lots
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/food_dining/reviews/view.bg?articleid=1297393
Deuxave on the right road
By Mat Schaffer | Friday, November 19, 2010 | http://www.bostonherald.com | Dining Reviews
DEUXAVE: B+
Deuxave is an ambitious new restaurant from Christopher Coombs and Brian Piccini, the guys behind dbar in Dorchester.
Named for its location at the intersection of two avenues, Massachusetts and Commonwealth, Deuxave is epicurean light-years beyond gastro-pub dbar. This is a serious, higher-end dining experience that intends to go mano a mano with the city’s finer eateries.
Executive chef Coombs relishes the challenge. The 26-year-old Culinary Institute of America grad has worked at Troquet, Blue Ginger, Toppers at the Wauwinet on Nantucket and The Inn at Little Washington in Virginia. Deuxave aspires to that level ofculinary competence.
The menu of French-inspired American Nouveau Cuisine exhaustively itemizes virtually every detail of every multi-layered dish. Coombs’ cooking islabor intensive. It’s also delicious - if occasionally too busy.
Scituate lobster with gnocchi ($17), comes with mushrooms, grapes, curried walnuts and pearl onions. It flirts with overindulgence, but the pillowy gnocchi and buttery citrus sauce ultimately anchor and unify the other ingredients.Ceviche of Hawaiian Big Eye Tuna ($15) is more like cucumber-studded tuna tartare, slathered with guacamole and strewn with shredded carrots, radishes and cilantro.
A duet of prime beef tartare and Wagyu carpaccio($14) will appeal to raw meat lovers - especially the tartare, which you mix with a quail egg yolk. Nine-hour French caramelized onion soup ($10) with a bone marrow rubbed crouton and lots of melty comte cheese is heavenly, fortified with splashes of sherry and Port.
A paper-thin, fried potato cylinder crowns a fall vegetable salad ($13) of local greens, radishes, pickled cauliflower and pumpkin seeds tossed in boutique balsamic vinaigrette.
Entrees average in the upper $20s - several dollars less than you’d pay elsewhere for comparable eats.
I loved the crisp skin and moist flesh of pan-roasted, line-caught Atlantic halibut ($27) with sunchoke puree and a seasonal succotash of butternut squash, Brussels sprouts, turnips, Okinawa yams, chanterelles and diced guanciale. A swath of pureed pomegranate adds sweetness and sass.
Less would have been more with seared local sea scallops ($28) with potato rosti, dill creme, leek and parsley fondue, roasted tomatoes and gingered cumin carrot emulsion. Were lemon-vodka syrup and shaved black truffles even necessary?
Duck liver mousse-stuffed, Port-soaked prune French kisses and honey-glazed turnips make fab accompaniments to slices of seared Long Island duck breast ($28) atop stewed lentils and wilted arugula and mustardy sauce Robert.
cw0 Perfectly pink Moroccan-spiced lamb saddle ($29) encrusted with pistachios is wonderful with aromatic Persian-style tabbouleh, roasted baby root vegetables and mint and cucumber raita.
I’m a longtime fan of Deuxave general manager Jason Irving, a former sommelier at the Four Seasons’ Aujourd’hui. No surprise that: 1. I was recognized on both visits; and 2. the Deuxave wine list is supersmart and superaffordable.
Pastry chef Olivier Maillard (who’s worked for Joel Robuchon, Alain Ducasse and Barbara Lynch) specializes in NC-17 desserts for adult palates: deconstructed lime cheesecake ($12) with basil and strawberries, horizontal chocolate Napoleon ($14) with chocolate phyllo, cherry compote and sea salt, and carrot cake ($13) with Earl Grey cream cheese frosting and carrot sorbet.
Deuxave is a chic-looking space of brick, glass and gunmetal gray slate with a gas fireplace. You’d never believe this was once a White Hen Pantry. The first evening after I was identified, they switched my initial waiter for a more experienced server and sent out a gratis dessert.
As a restaurant critic, I have several, nagging, pet peeves. Among them, multiple menu misspellings. Deuxave may want to consider investing in a French-English dictionary. Brussles (sic) sprouts?
371 Commonwealth Ave. 617-517-5915; deuxave.com.
Price: More than $40
Hours: Sun.-Wed., 5-10 p.m.; Thurs.-Sat., 5-11 p.m.; Bar open nightly until 1 a.m.
Bar: Full
Credit: All
Recession Specials: No
Accessibility: Accessible
Parking: Valet, on street, nearby lots
Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/entertainment/food_dining/reviews/view.bg?articleid=1297393
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