Posted by Carey Jones, October 6, 2008 at 3:30 PM
Last week, we visited Toscanini’s Ice Cream, a contender for Boston’s best ice cream—as seconded by Boston correspondent Amy Traverso in her guide to Beantown’s best eats. But Tosci’s has competition. It’s an oft-cited fact on both sides of the Charles that Bostonians eat more ice cream than anyone else in the country. One hardly needs statistics, though, to realize that Boston is an ice cream town. Just walking down Newbury Street or around Harvard Square is enough to see a veritable parade of happy cone lickers.
And it’s easy to see why. The quality and variety of scoop shops can’t be beat. Steve Herrell has been smashing candy into super-rich ice cream since three decades before Coldstone came along. Though a long-lamented Red Sox trade means that ice cream shop J.P. Licks can no longer serve “Cherry Garciaparra” (it’s now “Cherry Ortiz” instead), cones of the chocolate-studded cherry are as popular as ever. Speaking of Cherry Garcia, Boston scored one of the first Ben & Jerry’s storefronts, an obvious New England favorite.
But any survey of the ice cream landscape inevitably ends up in Cambridge, where Toscanini’s and Christina’s battle it out for the blue ribbon of the all-homemade, million-variety, PG-13 ice cream shop. Amy cited these two as the Boston area’s best. Which one wins the prize?
Continue reading »
Posted by The Serious Eats Team, October 2, 2008 at 8:15 PM
Editor's Note: Serious Eats City Guides are back, and this week we're shipping up to Boston, where Boston Magazine's Amy Traverso gives us the rundown on Beantown from post-Fenway feeding to the best clam chowdah. Go Sox!
Best Pizza
Always a tough one. For traditional pizza, I can never choose between the North End's Pizzeria Regina and Santarpio's in East Boston. Both have the tangy sauce, the crispy-chewy crust, and fresh toppings. Both date back more than 75 years. Both have thick-accented staffers and plenty of local color.
I can't pick one, but I can offer tips: Regina has several branches outside of the North End. Avoid! They're not nearly as good. At Santarpio's, be sure to order the housemade sausage, grilled over charcoal.
Continue reading »
Posted by Carey Jones, September 25, 2008 at 10:30 AM
“The Best Ice Cream In the World,” blazes the print across Toscanini’s window, from a past New York Times review. We all make grandiose claims, but this one is pretty strong. All right. Skepticism shelved.
Gus Rancatore opened Toscanini’s down the street from Harvard and MIT in 1981, and there have been lines out the door ever since. So beloved is Tosci’s that when the shop was seized earlier this year by the Massachusetts Revenue Department, due to hundreds of thousands in uncollected taxes, its devout patrons raised over $30,000 to pay off Rancatore’s own debt. Now that’s loyalty.
Tosci’s has fans in all corners, from many credible publications. Even their vanilla has won acclaim, voted "Best in America" by People Magazine. (Not our usual arbiter of the delicious, but that’s gotta mean something.) Judging an ice cream shop’s vanilla is like judging a baker’s bread—the basics are often the most telling. Going back to the fundamentals lets you see a chef’s technique in a way that a triple-fudge Oreo sundae just won’t.
But with flavors ranging from burnt sugar to chicory root, Tosci’s is shamelessly experimental—and half the fun is in the flavor. The taste test, after the jump.
Continue reading »
Posted by Carey Jones, September 19, 2008 at 10:00 AM
While I have nothing against a warm doughnut or pain au chocolat, my heart has always belonged to the sticky bun. In my mind, it’s everything a breakfast pastry should be—gooey, cinnamony, and with so many layers to unearth, endlessly entertaining. (I started baking at age six with the sole intention of making my own super-gooey cinnamon rolls. Old habits die hard.)
When I saw Joanne Chang out-bake Bobby Flay on the Food Network’s Throwdown, I knew I had to hit up her Flour Bakery in Boston the first chance I got. Flay’s needlessly experimental orange-almond rolls couldn’t hold a candle to Joanna’s “Sticky Sticky Buns,” doused in a brown sugar-honey “Goo.”
Continue reading »
Posted by Carey Jones, August 26, 2008 at 11:15 AM
So often, the key to the perfect meal is simplicity.
On Nantucket Island, the Straight Wharf Fish Store is a local's one-stop shop for all things aquatic: lobsters, scallops, and cod just out of the waters outside. Resident fishmaster Walter (with a Red Sox cap on and a matching accent) supplies the freshest of the day’s catch to professional and amateur chefs alike. But he doesn’t just sell by the pound—he’ll fry you lunch right there on the dock.
Soft shell crab sandwich; fish sandwich.
The soft shell crab sandwich:
1. Procure crab. 2. Fry in pan. 3. Put on bun.
Or the radically different fish sandwich:
1. Fillet fish, usually cod. 2. Fry in pan. 3. Put on bun.
Tuna sandwich, swordfish sandwich—you get the idea. On a butter-toasted roll, with a glob of homemade tartar sauce and a few salty chips, it’s the best lunch in town. Especially when enjoyed on the dockside picnic tables right out the door. Just watch out for the seagulls. (They get mean when jealous.)
Straight Wharf Fish Store
4 Harbor Square, Nantucket MA 02554 (map)
508-228-1095
Posted by Emily Koh, July 2, 2008 at 10:00 AM
A bill proposed by Massachusetts legislators would allow supermarkets to remove individual prices on each item, making customers rely instead on electronic scanners located throughout the store.
Some people don't like the idea, however. The Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group says it will inconvenience shoppers by forcing them to walk to scanning stations. Critics also say it will make it harder to catch overcharges at the register.
But Jon Hurst of the Retailers Association of Massachusetts says this move will ultimately benefit customers as it will lower prices and shorten lines without having to devote resources for item-by-item pricing. However, since most states don't follow this item-by-item pricing, the impact may be negligible.
I'm personally a big fan of the handheld electronic scanners available at my Stop and Shop back home in Connecticut, which lets you zap items as you shop through the aisles, and helpfully figures in any discounts available—not to mention informs you of items that are on sale as you walk around. When you finish, head to a register, scan the UPC code with your scanner, and pay up. It could be a little dangerous if you're guilty of being an impulse shopper, but the convenience can't be beat. [via Consumerist]
Posted by Erin Zimmer, June 18, 2008 at 11:00 AM
Fried pickles from Wintzell's Oyster House in Mobile, Alabama. When visiting a couple weeks ago, I was more excited for these than the actual oysters.
To save a half-second, just call them "frickles." Snackable like French fries or popcorn shrimp, these deep-fried discs have the briney flavor of salt and vinegar chips and the addictive quality of, well, anything deep-fried. Apparently pickle spears can get too soggy, so most restaurants serve the bread-and-butter kind usually found on hamburgers. To cut the vinegary punch, orders are usually served with a creamy dipping sauce.
See what restaurant kitchens are sizzling pickles, not just potatoes and onions, after the jump. Note: Frickle-making is especially common in a certain region of the country. West Coast, are you listening? Throw some pickles into the deep fryer already!
Continue reading »
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 12, 2008 at 6:25 PM
"Tipping Point," from SimpleBits
Not that voting with your greenbacks will affect anything in the situation above. Well, it'll up the tip ante for the folks at Jaho Coffee in Salem, Massachusetts, where the "Should Obama veep Hillary?" question is left up to George Washington and the other presidents who appear on U.S. coinage. Jaho Coffee is web designer Dan Cederholm's local haunt, and he explains that the tip-prompting question changes daily. This was today's.
Posted by Ed Levine, May 23, 2008 at 8:30 AM
I forgot my scale (I was going to throw it into my duffel bag when we left the house on Wednesday), so I'm afraid there will be no moment of reckoning, no not-so-high drama, in my diet post this week. We have been up on Martha's Vineyard for two days now, and I must say my diet challenges up here are great, so there's plenty to write about and report on.
I have been coming to the Vineyard for more than thirty years now, and I have battled my addiction to pie for at least that long. Check that. I think my mother must have been addicted to pie, so she gave birth to a pie-addicted son more than fifty years ago. Over half a century of a craving for pie that has gone on unabated.
The problem is that Martha's Vineyard happens to be awash with pies. No matter what direction I drive in, no matter what town I head for up here, I pass at least a passable pie emporium. There's Garcia's Deli in back of Alley's General Store, the Chilmark Store in Chilmark, Morning Glory Farm and Just Pie in Edgartown, Black Dog Bakery and the Scottish Bakehouse in Vineyard Haven, The Old Stone Bakery and Little Rock Farms in Oak Bluffs, and many more pie establishments that I won't bore you with by listing. Anyway, you get the picture. Martha's Vineyard is pie central.
Continue reading »
Posted by Erin Zimmer, April 28, 2008 at 12:45 PM
I would have paid a lot more attention in high school chemistry if "Br" stood for dessert brownie instead of bromine, and "Sm" was mesculun salad with honey mustard, not samarium. At the Miracle of Science bar and grill in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a normal paper menu is replaced with a chalkboard periodic table. Drinks are apparently served from beakers and tables resemble lab benches. MIT isn't too far away, so there's plenty of chic geeks drinking to their patron saint Dmitri Mendeleev. [via Laughing Squid]
Posted by Ed Levine, August 27, 2007 at 8:23 AM
Everyone has, or at least needs, at least one truly local favorite joint in their lives, a go-to place for real, honest food served in a straightforward setting. I have a bunch of them in New York City, and I live and long to discover them elsewhere. Sometimes all it takes to discover a local favorite is friends who live in proximity to one of these gems. Our friends Tom and Vicky Kaiser have a house in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts, a shore town an hour or so from Boston that's just north of New Bedford, and they turned me on to the Oxford Creamery, a truly undiscovered and unhyped local fave.
Just how under the radar is the Oxford Creamery? Jane and Michael Stern, my friends over at Roadfood, live less than two and a half hours from the Oxford Creamery, and they have written nary a word about it. There are two books dedicated to seafood shacks, The New England Clam Shack Cookbook and New England's Favorite Seafood Shacks, and neither mentions the Oxford Creamery.
Just what is there to discover at the Oxford Creamery?
Continue reading »
Posted by Zach Brooks, July 11, 2007 at 12:00 PM
Photograph from *reesie on Flickr
There is something great about eating by the ocean, and there aren't many better ocean-side sandwich shacks than the original Kelly's Roast Beef on Revere Beach, ten miles north of Boston. It has everything you'd expect a seaside New England food shack to have—Lobster roll, fried seafood, hot dogs, etc. —but as the name suggests, the —roast beef sandwich is the star.
There are two sizes—small and large—but the only difference between them is the amount of roast beef that Kelly's piles on. Either way, you end up with a generous amount of thinly sliced, rare roast beef, so much so that the sizes could easily be renamed "a good amount of beef" and "a ridiculous amount of beef." It comes served in a seeded bun that's been brushed with butter and popped on a griddle (as any respectable seafood shack would do).
The sandwich really gets going with a nice pour of vinegary James River Barbecue Sauce, just called "sauce" when you are ordering. It's a New England staple and is served on top of more than one roast beef sandwich in the area. "Cheese" gets you a slice of white American, and "horseradish" gets you a splash of creamy horseradish-flavored mayonnaise, unless you order it on the side, in which case you get a little plastic cup full of pure ground white horseradish.
To order the sandwich like a local, state the size you want (small or large), followed simply by the word "beef," followed by whatever condiments you'd like. My ideal order would go something like this: "Small beef with sauce and cheese, horseradish on the side" (pictured above).
Juicy roast beef, buttery bun, sweet and vinegary barbecue sauce, and the spicy kick of grated horseradish. All wolfed down on a bench under a wooden pavillion less than 20 feet from the Atlantic Ocean. It's a great thing. There are four other inland locations of Kelly's to get your roast beef fix, but I still think it tastes best eaten in front of a flock of jealous seagulls.
Kelly's Roast Beef
Address: 451 Revere Beach, Revere MA 02151 (the original location, since 1951; other locations here)
Phone: 781-284-9129
URL: kellysroastbeef.com
About the author: As the proprietor of Midtown Lunch, Zach Brooks knows sandwiches inside and out.
Posted by Adam Kuban, June 1, 2007 at 6:45 PM
Earlier today, our SF-based blogger, Harold, brought the noise with a link to a map of L.A.'s best doughnuts. Above, a Google map of Boston hot spots. [via Bostonist]
Posted by Ed Levine, April 17, 2007 at 1:30 PM
According to the New York Times, lobster prices have nearly doubled in the past year, thanks to a "confluence of bad weather, extremely cold water, and a lack of reserve supply."
Some current New England restaurant lobster prices:
- Anthony's Pier 4 (Boston): $112 for a 3.5-pound lobster
- Union Oyster House (Boston): $47.95 for a 2-pound lobster
- Warren's Lobster House (Kittery, Maine): $28.95 for a 1-pounder
According to the owner of Warren's, "We thought we might have to change our name to Warren's Chicken House or something."
Posted by Alaina Browne, February 16, 2007 at 6:00 AM
Photograph by Adam Kuban, Serious Eats
Chinese New Year and the year of the pig according to the Chinese zodiac, begins this Sunday, February 18. Because Chinese New Year is tied to the lunar calendar, it falls on a different date every year, usually between January 19 and February 23. It begins on the second new moon after the winter solstice and ends 15 days later with the Lantern Festival. According to tradition, the celebration gets under way on New Year's Eve with a family dinner hosted at the eldest family member's home; it is considered the most important annual family tradition. Family members travel from near and far to attend. A family's given menu will vary by region, but here are some of the more popular dishes and their symbolism:
Continue reading »
Posted by Jane Black, February 15, 2007 at 7:00 AM
Photo credit: iStockphoto
Sitting on chef Chris Schlesinger's desk is a framed picture (right) of a hastily scribbled, stained recipe for his Inner Beauty Hot Sauce: Five pounds of Scotch bonnet chilies, one gallon of yellow mustard (preferably the cheap stuff), plus molasses, brown sugar, honey and spices. The method: Throw it all in the blender, and serve: "I don't know why people buy hot sauce," Schlesinger says in a country drawl he should have lost after more than 20 years in New England. "It's ridiculous when it's so easy to make yourself."
I know why. Chilies are intimidating. You only need to screw up once—like the time I accidentally made a stir fry with an Indian Naga pepper, which clocks in at 1 million on the Scoville chili scale, making it one of the hottest chilies on earth—or perhaps twice, like the time I failed to notice that I had put extra hot chili powder in my Super Bowl chili, instead of the regular stuff, and almost blew the heads off all of my guests.
When something's bottled, I figure, someone knows what he's doing.
Continue reading »
Posted by Ed Levine, July 12, 2006 at 7:57 AM
In a move I wholeheartedly approve Boston Magazine sent writer Erin Byers to eat 20 lobster rolls in three weeks. I can do the math. That's just about a lobster roll a day.
The winners:
B&G Oysters 550 Tremont St., 617-423-0550. She calls it the "world's most perfect lobster roll." It's 8 ounces of lobster meat with a lemon-garlic mayo, chive and celery.
Neptune Oyster 63 Salem St., 617-742-3474. This is Byers' warm lobster roll of choice. She describes it as "warm butter-basted claw and tail meat with drawn butter and butter-soaked brioche." I sense a butter theme present in this particular sandwich.
Posted by Ed Levine, June 5, 2006 at 11:25 PM
Bostonians rightfully prides itself on their local ice cream purveyors, and for once their pride is not misplaced. Toscanini's is probably my favorite, especially his burnt caramel, which is refreshingly non-sweet. Other folks whose taste buds I respect rave about Christine's in Inman Square, especially for the seasonal flavors like blood peach. Herrell's ice cream may be a shade less delicious, but its hot fudge rocks. The once proud Steve's, which invented the mix-in concept, is a pale imitation of the original.
So cast your vote:
1) Toscanini's
2) Christine's
3) Herrell's
Posted by Ed Levine, May 28, 2006 at 7:02 AM
Having come to Martha's Vineyard for the last 28 years I can tell you that it is not a place you come to eat in great restaurants. I always advise my friends who vacation here to buy some fresh fish at Larsen's, Poole's, The Net Result, or John's Fish Market, some freshly picked lettuce and corn at a farmer's market, and a few vine-ripened tomatoes, and then you'll eat like a king or queen at the house you've rented.
But the island does have one amazing foodstuff you can't get anywhere else, Mrs. Blake's pies. Mrs. Blake's husband sells her pies in a little hut in front of their house on State Road a couple of hundred yards before you get to the grocery store known as Up Island Cronig's. It might be my imagination, but I swear every time I go to pick up a pie at Mrs. Blakes (which is every day I'm on the Vineyard) Mr. Blake is there with his feet up relaxed but ready to sell you one of his wife's amazing pies.
Mrs. Blake is a flaky pie crust master. I figure the test of a pie crust is whether you'd be willing to empty out the pie's filling and just eat the crust.
Mrs. Blake gets an A plus on that score. Her shortening crust is oh so flaky, golden brown, and has a wonderfully crisp exterior.
She makes perfectly good crumb pies, but you wouldn't go to Peter Luger's and order the salmon, would you? Of course not. I often get two pies when I go to Mrs. Blakes (if my wife's not with me, that is), but the second pie is either a Tollhouse Pie, which is simply a chocolate chip pie she sells with or without nuts, or a very fine if not quite tart enough Lemon Chess pie, which Mr. Blake will always tell you is Bill Clinton's pie of choice when he and the missus come to the Vineyard.
So which doublecrusted fruit pie do I get at Mrs. Blake's? Yesterday I bought a Blueberry-Blackberry pie, but just as often I get a blueberry peach or the strawberry rhubarb pie.
On the plain white box Mrs. Blake's pies come in there's a phone number, 508-693-0528. I've never called, but it's somehow comforting to know that it exists.
Posted by Ed Levine, May 25, 2006 at 7:32 AM
Having just come from a thoroughly disappointing meat at NY's latest attempt at a clam shack, Ditch Plains, I began to ruminate on how much I love fried clams.
With Memorial Day, the official start of the fried clam eating season, just around the corner, here is my absolutely incomplete guide to eating fried clams in the NYC area, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, with a southern Maine spot thrown in for good measure.
The descriptions of the clams themselves will be minimal. As I discovered a couple of years ago when I went on a ten clamshack eating adventure with Dave Pastnernack, the chef of Esca, fried clams are either really good (sweet, nutty, crisp and greaselessly fried with no breading other than flour) or they're not. And even the best clam shacks don't put enough salt into the frying mixture. One more important note: I've found that if you ask that the clams be put on a plate instead of one of those impossibly cute cardboard clam boxes, the result is clams that stay crisp and crunchy. Those "cute" boxes are actually a dastardly form of fried clamicide, because the fried clams end up steamed and soggy when they're piled on top of each other. And no fried clam meal is complete without an ice cream or frozen custard for dessert. Even bad ice cream tastes great after eating fried clams.
NYC and vicinity:
- Mary's Fish Camp: Mary Redding is a highly trained serious chef, so it's no surprise that her fried clams are excellent, crunchy and clammy and delicious. Will somebody who's been to the Brooklyn location of MFC please let us know how it is? {246 W. 4th Street, New York, NY}. 646-486-2185.
- Pearl: They don't ordinarily have fried clams at Pearl, but the fried oysters are so good I keep hoping they'll get around to frying up some clams as well. Maybe if we all keep asking for them, Rebecca Charles will give in and put fried clams on the menu. {18 Cornelia St., New York, NY}. 212-691-8211
- Johnny's Famous Reef: The fried clams are good, but it's the amazingly vibrant, multi-cultural scene that is most alluring about Johnny's. Just make sure you go on a nice day. Beware of the extremely aggressive seagulls. They'll steal a clam right out of your hand (they don't even need a fork). {2 City Island Ave, City Island, NY}. 718-885-2086.
- Bigelow's: This quintessential Long Island clam shack is really just one horseshoe counter. Bigelow's is where big-time chefs like Alex Lee (former executive chef, Daniel) and Dave Pasternack go for their fried clam fix. The clams here are fabulous, and so is the french fry draining ritual. They take the french fries out of the fryer when they are done, put them in a white cloth napkin, and shake them all around like the hokey pokey. The fries themselves are standard frozen french fries, but with this kind of floor show it doesn't matter. {79 N. Long Beach Rd., Rockville Center, LI}. 516-678-3878.
Connecticut:
- Lenny's Indian Head Inn: The clams are superfine at this cool spot in Branford right on the water. Don't confuse it with the four Lenny and Joe's Fish Tales locations, which are more commercial endeavors and not as good. {205 South Montowese St., Branford CT}. 203-488-1500.
- Sea Swirl: This is our family stop on the way to the Cape. It's about a seven minute detour off I-95. The clams are delicious, the fries are skippable, and the onion rings are the side of choice. Excellent soft ice cream for dessert with intriguing dip flavors like capuccino. {30 Williams Ave., Mystic, CT}. 860-536-3452.
I have also had good fried clams in Connecticut at the Clam Castle, {1324 Boston Post Rd., Madison, CT}, 203-245-4911 and at Johnny Ad's, {910 Boston Post Rd., Old Saybrook, CT}. 860-388-4032.
Massachusetts:
- Christies: One of Dave Pasternack's fish suppliers turned us on to Christies. It's not much to look at, an old box of a place on a depressing street overlooking the water, but the fried clams are excellent, and for once, properly salted. The best thing about the place is its proximity to Logan Airport. If you don't get lost, as we did, you can get to the airport in twenty minutes. {17 Lynnway, Lynn, MA}. 617-397-9957.
- The Clam Box: Everyone rhapsodizes about the Clam Box, and though it's very good, I didn't see what distinguishes the place from all the other fried clam spots in and around Essex and Ipswich. Beware of long, long lines at the Clam Box. {246 High St., Ipswich, MA}. 978-336-9707.
- Woodman's: The claim at Woodman's is that on July 3, 1916, Lawrence Dexter "Chubby" Woodman was frying a batch of his homemade potato chips at his stand on the road from Ipswich to Gloucester when he either accidentally knocked a clam into the fryer or got an inspiration for a line extension. Ninety years later Woodman's has become the equivalent of a fried clam theme restaurant, complete with frozen drinks and a line of merchandise that includes t-shirts, umbrellas, mugs and visors. The clams are certainly good, but the reconstituted lemon juice you see all over the place is a real bummer. Skip the clam cakes, which are a sodden, heavy disaster. {121 Main St., Essex, MA}. 978-768-6057.
- J.T. Farnham's: Farnham's is an actual shack that overlooks the Essex Salt Marsh that many clams that end up in fryers are harvested from. Pleasant view, very fine fried clams. {88 Eastern Ave. Essex, MA}. 978-768-6643.
- Essex Seafood: You don't come for the view at Essex Seafood, which is of the parking lot. They fry the clams here a little longer, so they end up a lovely dark brown color, which is quite appealing. {143 Eastern Ave., Essex, MA}. 978-768-7233.
- Oxford Creamery: Our friends the Kaisers live right down the road from the Oxford Creamery, which serves an excellent fried clam roll and fine local ice cream. {98 County Rd., Mattapoisett, MA}. 508-758-3847.
- The Bite: I have probably had more fried clams at the Bite than any place else on this list. The clams are excellent (though they do come in the dreaded box) and the bite fries are delicious, irregularly shaped chunks of fried new potato. The only problem with the Bite is its location in Menemsha Harbor, which has become one of the tourist spots on the Vineyard. So there's always a long line at the Bite, and there's only two picnic tables to eat at. We often get our clams and take them to the beach right up the road from the Bite. Basin Road, Menemsha, MA. 508-645-9239.
- Sandy's Fish and Chips: Sandy's adjoins John's Fish Market. Again, there's really no place to eat the clams except for one picnic table in the parking lot., State Rd. Vineyard Haven, MA. 508-693-1220.
Maine:
- Bob's Clam Hut: Bob's is a legendary clam shack that is now surrounded by outlet malls. Not very romantic, but those shops sometimes come in really handy. 315 Route 1, Kittery, Maine. 207-439-4233.
The New York Times recommended four clam shacks recently, and I must admit I haven't been to one of them. I'm going to try and hit The Clam Shack in Falmouth, Harbor, this weekend.
I recently received a copy of New England's Favorite Seafood Shacks, by Elizabeth Bougerol. The book is a lot of fun, and it's filled with tons of information (it has every place mentioned here except Christies, but it does suffer a tad from the "everything is great" school of romantic, funky food writing. Sometimes we food lovers need a discouraging word in books like this so that we believe the author is discerning. That same affliction inhabited a similar book by Brooke Dojny that came out a couple of years ago.
I'm sure I missed a bunch of places. Please, ELE readers, fill in the gaps in this woefully incomplete list.
