Boston city councilor Michael Ross has been an early supporter of street food, calling for a simpler permitting process. "We need to roll out the welcome mat for businesses, let people know Boston is a business-friendly city, embrace innovation. Food trucks are welcome," Ross told Devra First in the Boston Globe. I chatted with him about the growing support for food trucks in Boston. More

Six months ago Clover Food Lab was still something of a secret. The food cart, which opened quietly in 2008, still served a small selection of breakfast and lunch items to a crowd of mostly MIT students and professors, continuing a longstanding tradition of lunchtime food trucks at the university. The chef-owners were ambitious, conceiving a seasonal vegetarian menu that could be served within minutes after ordering, where no item topped the five dollar mark. More

It's summer in Boston and the sweet corn alone is reason enough to walk to the Copley Square Farmers' Market twice a week. But, that so-good-you-could-eat-it-raw sweet corn is surrounded by hundreds of other delicious choices. And, after nearly two decades of shopping at Copley, I enjoy spending time with the "small-town" community that has developed at this "big-city" market. More

The problem with most Sichuan restaurants is that they don't use Sichuan Peppercorns. How important could a single spice be to a cuisine, you ask? Very. The Sichuan peppercorn is not hot at all in the conventional sense. Rather, it is extremely floral and aromatic with a unique tongue-numbing ability. Unfortunately, the list of restaurants that have already reincorporated Sichuan peppercorns on their menu don't necessarily line up with the list of restaurants serving the best Sichuan food. Case in point: Sichuan Garden in Brookline, Mass.. More

It's time for another street food profile. This time we chat with Philip "Lefty" Francis of Lefty's Silver Cart at the Harvard University farmers' market, who sells local, organic, fair-trade (and cheerful) soups and sandwiches. More

Last month Erin conducted a string cheese poll asking Serious Eaters how they ate it: string-by-string or bite-by-bite. The results had more than 80% of you stringing it. But my method wasn't exactly either: it first involves unbraiding. I buy my string cheese in braids that float in brine at the Middle Eastern shops in Watertown, Massachusetts. And, I do string it before serving it to family and friends as a lovely pile of strings! With that, the seed was planted for a string cheese-inspired road trip. More

If you want world-class lobster rolls, perfect steamers, impeccable fresh-shucked oysters, or an enclave of the best Sichuan restaurants on the east coast, Boston is your town. But unlike, say, New York with its Reuben, Philly with its cheesesteak, or Chicago with its Italian Beef, Boston doesn't have a signature sandwich. Until now, that is. When I first heard that Charles Kelsey and his wife Rachel Toomey—both Cook's Illustrated alums—were going to turn the obsessive, perfection-bent mindset of the magazine into producing the best sandwiches, I knew that something serious was going to happen: Boston would finally get a world-class sandwich joint. More

Four young farmers were chosen from a big pool of farmers vying for the right to start Langwater Farm, an 80-acre property nestled right in the middle of small-town Easton, Massachusetts. But they are finding out that it's not just the happy-in-the-sun theme songs and weeding images you might picture. More

To eat at Craigie on Main is to witness a chef (Tony Maws) at the top of his game. As the waiters recite the composition of each dish, the ingredient lists may seem unlikely (pork heart and sea urchin) or precious (foam, really?) or unfamiliar (yuzu kosho). But on the plate, it all makes sense, every bite; whimsically inventive dishes seem natural and focused. It's like watching a juggler with seven balls in the air—the more that's tossed in, the more difficult it is to keep a rhythm, to present a coherent show. But Maws nails it. More

[Photographs: Carey Jones] It's been nearly a year since Boston restaurant queen Barbara Lynch opened Sportello, her lunch counter in Fort Point Channel. In those months, she's won widespread (but hardly surprising) praise from all corners for her focused, soulful Italian dishes—but only last week did Sportello start brunch service, adding egg dishes and French toast to a list of lunchtime favorites.... More