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Meet The Press

by Louisa Kasdon | June 13, 2008
Life in a changing restaurant world, where everyone with a laptop is a potential food critic. A few weeks ago I went to a seminar for the restaurant trade. There was a lot of excellent information for chefs and owners — where the real-estate market is...

Feeding Frenzy: Beehive, West Side Lounge, Café Z, Lumière, and Craigie Street Bistrot

by Louisa Kasdon | April 23, 2008
ANOTHER SIGN of spring are softshell crabs, in season for about a month each year. As part of his "30 Days, 30 Ways" promotion, 51 Lincoln chef/owner Jeff Fournier will be preparing them a different way each night in May. >> Over at the...

Feeding Frenzy: Central 27, MKT, and Aura

by Louisa Kasdon | April 07, 2008
AFTER SIX years of toiling in basement kitchens at Saint and Domani, chef Rene Michelena is on top of the world - quite literally. He's moved up to a fourth-floor kitchen as executive chef at two new dining spots in the Financial District: Central...

Host of Opportunities: An open letter to a restaurant owner

by Louisa Kasdon | April 07, 2008
DEAR RESTAURANT OWNER: All we wanted was someone to welcome us. It was an early dinner at your chic new neighborhood bistro. We'd heard good things about the steak. We were psyched by the idea of great food so close to home. Here's our story....

Feeding Frenzy: Highland Kitchen, Neighborhood Nights at Nebo, The Butcher Shop, and the Beehive

by Louisa Kasdon | March 10, 2008
SPEAKING OF new neighborhood gastropubs, a near-perfect example is Highland Kitchen in Somerville. Chef Mark Romano was ready to be his own boss after five years at the Green Street Grill, so a year ago he set out to find a perfect roost. Romano took...

The Pioneer: Michael Leviton was a groundbreaker in Newton. Now he hopes to do it all over again in the Fort Point Channel.

by Louisa Kasdon | March 10, 2008
IT'S A week before Persephone is scheduled to open, and chef Michael Leviton is limping through the construction rubble of his edgy gastropub in Fort Point Channel. He's charged up, moving briskly around the space, and it takes a moment to notice...

Feeding Frenzy: Oceanaire, Chipotle Grill, and Z Square Cafe

by Louisa Kasdon | February 25, 2008
WE GENERALLY think of chain restaurants as yawns, except when they're truly excellent. Three recent arrivals are just that. First, the Oceanaire Seafood Room on Court Street is the newest in a chain of 16 upscale restaurants. (Other locations include...

Early Birds: Being among the first to eat at a new restaurant has plenty of drawbacks. So what attracts people as soon as the doors have opened?

by Louisa Kasdon | February 25, 2008
WHEN THE doors opened recently at Café Z and the Oceanaire Seafood Room, I was one of the first customers inside. Nearly alone in each dining room, I joyfully mused over the menus and watched the dishes come out of the kitchens, not minding at all that...

Feeding Frenzy: Boston Chocolate Trolley Tour, Excelsior

by Louisa Kasdon | February 06, 2008
FEBRUARY IS a month for eating large quantities of exquisite chocolate. Perfect time, then, for the Boston Chocolate Trolley Tour , offered from Old Town Trolley Tours at noon-ish every Saturday through April 26. Four stops of chocolate decadence are...

Isn't it Romantic? But what makes it so?

by Louisa Kasdon | February 06, 2008
FOR THE PAST week, I've been asking everyone I meet the same question: what makes a restaurant romantic? Why do some restaurants fan the flames while others are just food and fun? As it turns out, dinner romance is a topic that everyone feels competent...

Party of One: Jody Adams reflects on her first year flying solo at Rialto

by Louisa Kasdon | January 28, 2008
IT'S BEEN almost a year since Jody Adams relaunched Rialto as a solo act. Before that, if any pair was a recognizable constellation in the local-restaurant night sky, it was Jody Adams and Michela Larson. They were everywhere, at every event, behind...

Feeding Frenzy: St. Alphonzo’s Kitchen, Legal Sea Foods, B&G Oysters, and Eastern Standard

by Louisa Kasdon | January 28, 2008
NEWS FROM the South (Boston, that is): Peter Irving and Natasha Kanieff have reinvented their comfort-food hideaway, Potbellies Kitchen. It's now called St. Alphonzo's Kitchen ; the new name comes from a Frank Zappa tune, "St. Alphonzo's...

Feeding Frenzy: Spinazzola Gala, Boston Wine Expo, 51 Lincoln, Vintage, and more

by Louisa Kasdon | January 08, 2008
JUST IN from Ann M. Mack, the director of trendspotting for the advertising behemoth J. Walter Thompson: food trends for 2008. Her first hunch is that kitchen power tools will be strong: high-end espresso makers, vacuum sealers, and power blenders are...

Hot Stuff: Try spices to warm a winter night

by Louisa Kasdon | January 08, 2008
THIS IS A fully researched column - footnotes and annotations on request - about what to eat (and where) when it's cold and dark outside. The answer is spice. Of course soups and stews and big bowls of steaming pasta will warm your hands and your...

Small Miracles: When it comes to restaurants, maybe size does matter

by Louisa Kasdon | December 12, 2007
IT'S AFTER a movie and we're in the car - and without reservations - on a Saturday night. We assumed it'd be easy, after 9:30, to slip into a table for two almost anywhere in the city. Wrong. So after three failed attempts, we tiptoe into...