Biggest Balls (Tie): Julio De Haro and Deborah Hansen
Julio (and his partner, Lara Gavigan) wins for opening his beautiful, promising new South End tapas restaurant Estragon (700 Harrison Avenue, Boston, 617.266.0443) a mere four blocks away from the similarly-themed Toro, one of the most popular restaurants in the city. Deborah, the ex-Mrs. De Haro, wins for buying out Julio’s half of Taberna de Haro ( 999 Beacon Street, Brookline, 617.277.8272) after their divorce and maintaining its excellence, proving you don’t have to be Spanish to run a superb Spanish restaurant, or to curate the city’s finest all-Spanish wine list.
Most Unforgettable Dish That Won’t Forget You Either: Calves’ Brains Pipérade At KO Prime
Speaking of balls, they’re about the only variety meat that chef Jamie Bissonnette of KO Prime (Nine Zero Hotel, 90 Tremont Street, Boston, 617.772.0202) hasn’t snuck into his subtly freaky repertoire at one point or another. Thanks to him, we’ve learned to heart heart, to suck out the marrow, even to wrap our heads around head cheese. Now we’re boning up on the startlingly delicate subject of calves’ brains ($11). Poached to an uncannily custard-like tenderness in fennel-and-paprika-spiked grüner veltliner, pan-fried with butter and capers, and served over basque-style peppers with a bit of chorizo and bergamot oil, they’re the literal nuggets of Bissonnette’s immense gastronomic wisdom.
Best Bohemian Boite: The Savant Project
The savant project (1625 Tremont Street, Boston, 617.566.5958) manages to serve creative Asian/Latin fusion cuisine, pour interesting and original cocktails, host DJs and live music, and wrap the whole package in cool ambience. The crowd is drawn from Mission Hill, a neighborhood long on genuine characters and short on vainly cred-seeking yuppie twits and suburban soccer moms: nobody drives over here to be “down.” And actual hipsters and artists still live in large numbers nearby, making the savant project a groovy place to eat, drink, and hang.
Best Chain Pizzeria: Upper Crust
Saying that chain restaurants suck is a facile applause line: “Yeeeah, we support local restaurants, not soulless fascist corporate cookie-cutter outlets.” This may be a laudable sentiment unless your nearest three pizzerias churn out oil-dripping Greek-American pan pizzas using frozen crusts. Sometimes you have to forgive a chain for aspiring to scale and consistency, especially if, like the upper crust (various locations), it turns out high-quality thin-crust pies with lots of interesting toppings — and is in fact a local chain.
Win dinner on us! Text FEED, followed by a space, followed by the name of your favorite restaurant, to 22122.
