Stuff@night dining awards 2007

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Best-kept secret: Michael Scelfo

by Ruth Tobias | September 24, 2007
From the erstwhile Tea Tray in the Sky and Dedo to North Street Grille, chef Michael Scelfo has been wandering through local kitchens for years now, cooking up a storm in the form of funky but not wacky, beefy but not bulky, Med-mottled American comforts...

Lightest Touch: Tom Fosnot

by Ruth Tobias | September 24, 2007
As most Americans know it, cucina italiana is pretty hearty stuff - meat-laden, sauce-doused, and piled high. But that ain't necessarily so in Italy itself - especially in resource-blessed regions like Liguria, where seafood and fresh herbs traditionally...

MVP, large parties division: Rendezvous in Central Square

by Ruth Tobias | September 24, 2007
A New American menu focused on local ingredients that doesn't pander to middlebrow tastes; adept bartending at a bar designed for dining; an airy space not too swanky for the neighborhood; a well-considered, affordable wine list; the irresistible...

Most underrated local seafood savants: The Portuguese, Azorean, and Brazilian restaurants of East Cambridge

by Ruth Tobias | September 24, 2007
You already know that Chinatown's live-tank Hong Kong joints offer the freshest seafood in town (one minute swimming, the next on your plate), but our Portuguese-speaking chefs do equally stunning work with fish, crustaceans, and bivalves. Bring your...

Tastiest oddball cocktail: The Metamorphosis at Eastern Standard

by Ruth Tobias | September 24, 2007
As any cocktail cognoscento can tell you, Eastern Standard (528 Comm Ave, Boston, 617.532.9100) has, along with No. 9 Park, one of the two most gifted, scholarly teams of mixologists in Boston. Besides evangelizing Golden Age cocktails invented a century...

Best wine lists: Troquet; Bin 26 Enoteca; Coda Kitchen & Bar

by Ruth Tobias | September 24, 2007
Kudos to Troquet (140 Boylston Street, Boston, 617.695.9463), for continuing to thrill serious wine lovers with unusual, high-quality wines conveniently matched to its fine French menu, and not marking up its pours to five times retail. Praise to Bin...

Best fusion cuisine: “Desi Chinese” menu at Grain and Salt

by Ruth Tobias | September 24, 2007
The British-born chef at Grain and Salt (431 Cambridge Street, Allston, 617.254.3373) creates Punjabi and Pakistani specialties that boast unusually subtle spicing. But the real surprise for Westerners is the Indian Chinese menu, catering to homesick...

Best bread: Matt Murphy’s; Union Bar and Grille

by Ruth Tobias | September 24, 2007
While Lifetime Achievement Awards are undoubtedly due to Sel de la Terre and Harvest for their rainbow assortments, the breads we can't currently get out of our heads - or into our bellies fast enough - come courtesy of Matt Murphy's (14 Harvard...

Most unexpected place to get a well-made old-school cocktail: Deep Ellum

by Ruth Tobias | September 24, 2007
It takes cheek to build a deadly-serious beer bar - with two dozen craft-brew taps, a hundred bottled options, and a cask-conditioned ale - and still offer top-notch shaker cocktails. Max Toste, co-owner of casual hipster hangout Deep Ellum (477 Cambridge...

Coolest new watering hole: Vinoteca di Monica

by Ruth Tobias | September 24, 2007
Pardon the oxymoron, but the ostentatiously touristy North End isn't exactly known for the secrets it keeps. So it's a rare treat for residents when a nifty newcomer flies in under the radar - equipped with a full bar, no less. The recent makeover...

Savviest reinvention: Rialto

by Ruth Tobias | September 24, 2007
Thanks to Jody Adams's exuberant brand of cookery - a Mediterranean-influenced merger of the homey and the exotic - Rialto (Charles Hotel, One Bennett Street, Cambridge, 617.661.5050) has long been Cambridge's premier go-to. And yet, truth be...

Hopeful sign amid a tired trend: Locally-owned steakhouses

by Ruth Tobias | September 24, 2007
As frequent business-dinner hosts, we dread the deathly bore that is the luxury steakhouse, especially national chains. So we're grateful that three independents - Boston Public (234 Berkeley Street, Boston, 617.266.4680), Mooo .... (XV Beacon Hotel...

Funkiest Dessert: My Friend David’s Cheesecake Lollipop Tree at Flat Iron Tapas Bar & Lounge

by Ruth Tobias | September 24, 2007
Except for explaining who David is and why he'd be willing to share his goodies with us, the name says it all. Whimsical enough to stand on the banks of Willy Wonka's chocolate stream, the signature dessert at Flat Iron Tapas Bar & Lounge...

Nicest surprise: Garden at the Cellar

by Ruth Tobias | September 24, 2007
A man walks into a bar. Orders . . . a glass of Shiraz and a braised short rib with carrot purée? Okay, it's no punch line, but Garden at the Cellar (991 Mass Ave, Cambridge, 617.230.5880), a civilized little hideaway adjoining an old Harvard Square...

Most overlooked foodie destination: East Boston

by Ruth Tobias | September 24, 2007
Allston and Chinatown have their adherents as go-to neighborhoods for inexpensive, high-quality restaurants of every stripe. But in East Boston , adventurous chowhounds have uncovered a treasure trove of excellent, dirt-cheap Central American, South American...