This weekend: Tasty Burger reopens its Fenway location with a walk-up takeout window
Plus, the food news you may have missed this week.
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We’re all eating a little differently these days: Cooking at home more. Ordering takeout. Buying beans in bulk. And that’s the way it’s going to be for a while, at least until the Massachusetts dine-in ban lifts and it’s safe to start eating at our favorite restaurants again. In the meantime, here’s what’s been going on in Boston’s restaurant world recently, plus a few ways to enjoy some of our region’s best restaurants and bars from the comfort of your own home.
Here’s what you may have missed this week:
Kowloon on Route 1 in Saugus.
Need something to look forward to this summer? Kowloon has plans to transform its parking lot into a drive-in movie theater and carhop, so that we can all socially distance on-site while enjoying the Saugus restaurant’s tiki drinks and pu pu platters.
Night Shift Brewing canceled its Philadelphia expansion project, with the owners sharing that “the COVID-19 pandemic shook our business to the core, and obviously almost everything outside of it.”
While some folks in the restaurant industry feel that May is too soon to reopen their dining rooms, a group of more than 100 restaurant owners and industry insiders published an open letter to Gov. Charlie Baker asking for a partial reopening on May 19.
Barra opened just a few weeks before the shutdown. Here’s how the Somerville newcomer is coping.
Despite the pandemic, national food awards are still going strong. MIDA’s Douglass Williams was recently named one of America’s best new chefs, while a handful of chefs and restaurants were nominated for a James Beard Award last week — here’s how you can order from them.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley and “Top Chef” star Tom Colicchio joined members of the Massachusetts Restaurants United group Thursday morning for a discussion on what local restaurants need in order to successfully reopen. Here are 3 takeaways from the meeting.
Netflix & Swill:
Saison du Row
I’m going to avoid the TV at all costs this weekend. It’s supposed to be in the near-70s and beautiful, and after a couple generally rainy weeks, I’ll be soaking in as much sunshine as possible (while social distancing, of course). But if you’re simultaneously in need of some screen time and some cooking inspiration, a slew of cooking shows will start streaming on Hulu this weekend: “Chopped,” seasons 37-39; Bon Appetit’s “From the Test Kitchen,” season 1, and “It’s Alive with Brad,” season 2; and “Worst Cooks in America,” season 14.
As for where I’m picking up a drink this weekend, Seaport neighbors Row 34 and Trillium Brewing Co. debuted their second collaboration beer on Friday, and it sounds like a dream. Dubbed Saison du Row, the beer is a traditional Belgian saison with notes of white pepper, clove, lemonade, black tea, and bubblegum, and comes in at a respectable 7.6% ABV. I’d highly recommend placing a Row 34 order for a dozen oysters and some clam chowder to pick up alongside the bottle, or heading to Trillium’s Fenway location — it reopens Friday — to snag the new collab.
Eating and cooking alone, together:
The Rise ‘n Shine Burger at Tasty Burger.
And they’re back! The latest spate of restaurants to start offering takeout and delivery include a couple exciting returns, starting with Tasty Burger‘s Fenway location. You can now order online for either curbside pickup or delivery (Uber Eats), or stroll up to the burger joint’s takeout window for walk-up ordering. It’s going to be the perfect weekend for a spicy jalapeño burger and a Castle Island Candlepin (Tasty Burger is selling beer and wine, too). Also making a return: Puritan & Co., which launched pickup and delivery from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. daily. I’m planning on enjoying chef Will Gilson’s Parker rolls, buffalo cauliflower, and spring vegetable risotto in the very near future.
The other day, as I was taking a much-needed walk around my neighborhood, I spotted a man tending to a beehive in his front yard. A beehive! Could this be the ultimate quarantine hobby? While bees generally aren’t my thing (I had a bad experience in middle school that involved 11 hornet stings), maybe they’re yours? Lamplighter Brewing Co. is hosting a virtual beekeeping happy hour on IG at 6 p.m. on Friday, offering aspiring beekeepers and urban farmers the chance to ask City Sprouts‘s resident beekeeper their most pressing questions. You’ll be making your own honey soon enough.
You’ve likely seen the work of Brian Samuels in magazines and websites around the city, where his photos of decadent dishes and luxurious cocktails inspire you to drop everything you’re doing and head to your nearest restaurant or bar. The food and beverage photographer launched a new project on his website called the COVID-19 Portrait Project, featuring stunning, raw portraits of chefs and restaurateurs around the city who have decided to reopen for takeout and delivery. Check out Samuels’s photos of Jamie Bissonnette, Andrew Brady, Lauren Friel, and others navigating their way through a new normal.
Listen to this: I’ve been catching up on Radio Cherry Bombe, a weekly podcast dedicated to the women chefs, bakers, stylists, cookbook authors, and others kicking down doors and taking names in the food world. A couple weeks ago, host Kerry Diamond chatted with Fox & the Knife‘s Karen Akunowicz. They talked about how hard it was for her to leave Fox & the Knife during the latest “Top Chef” taping, her time spent in Italy, her journey cooking around Boston, and, of course, how Fox & the Knife is getting through the pandemic. It’s a great listen if you have a moment this weekend.
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