Restaurants Archives - Page 4 of 27

Restaurants

Following James Beard to Santa Fe

Posted on April 14, 2023April 13, 2023 by Pat and David

Since 1998, the James Beard Foundation has honored a handful of “America's Classics” each year. The foundation probably didn't intend the list to be a travelers' database for touring the country, but that's exactly how we use it. When we set out at the end of March to drive from the Boston area to Santa Fe, we broke the trip into 7- to 8-hour segments, then looked for an America's Classic. We knew that these homey, often mom-and-pop casual restaurants would guarantee a welcoming place with local character after a day on the road. Once we'd settled on a place to eat, we looked for a nearby modest motel. The Anchor Bar (1047 Main Street, Buffalo, NY; 716-883-1134; anchorbar.com) in Buffalo, New York, was our...Read More

Hot dog, Iceland’s unofficial national fast food

Posted on March 31, 2023March 14, 2023 by Pat and David

Judging by America's local-pride food blogs, you'd think that any of a dozen cities in the U.S. invented or perfected the hot dog. But not even New Yorkers who adore Coney Island red hots can claim a greater loyalty to the humble frankfurter than Iceland. (Close as we can tell, the particular sausage originated in Frankfurt, Germany, but that's another story.) You'll find the most important culinary landmark in Iceland at Tryggvagata 1 in Reykjavik. That's the location of Bæjarins Beztu Pylsur (www.bbp.is), the kiosk whose name (we're told) translates to English as ‶best hot dogs in town.″ Opening at 10 a.m. and closing between 1 a.m. and 2 a.m. (longer hours in the midnight sun of summer), it has been in the same spot...Read More

Lamb with a view at Reykjavik’s Grandi Maðöll

Posted on March 24, 2023March 15, 2023 by Pat and David

Everything old is new again in Reykjavik, not least the ‶Old Harbor″ district. Just a two-minute walk along the harbor from the oldest city restaurant, Kaffivagninn (see this post), the soaring interior of Grandi Maðöll (Grandagarður 16; +354 787 6200; grandimatholl.is) beckons diners hungry for an indoor fix of street food with a good harbor view. In case you hadn't guessed, maðöll is Icelandic for ‶food hall.″ (The ‶eth″ is pronounced like a ‶th″ in English and is often spelled that way as well.) Grandi Maðöll is one of the city's newer dining ventures. It contains eight food vendors offering mainly Icelandic foods, such as fish and chips, as well as two world cuisines popular in food courts everywhere: Italian pastas and Indian curries. In...Read More

Icelandic lobster soup warms a chill evening

Posted on March 17, 2023March 9, 2023 by Pat and David

We had read that Iceland's famous ‶lobster soup″ was a special dish widely served at the winter holidays. Given that there's only about four hours of daylight at Christmas, Icelanders definitely need something to cheer them up. But during our Reykjavik visit in late August, lobster soup was ubiquitous on the city's menus. So much for seasonality — or don't believe everything you read on the Internet. According to Iceland Fisheries, the lobster season is April into September All of our research — including asking locals — pointed us to the Seabaron, or Sægreifinn in Icelandic (Geirsgata 101, Reykjavík; +354 553 1500; facebook.com/saegreifinn.seabaron). Everyone agreed that it was famed for lobster soup. The casual grill house squats at the harbor's edge in a lurid green...Read More

Kaffivagninn serves authentic fish and chips

Posted on March 10, 2023March 15, 2023 by Pat and David

The oldest restaurant in Reykjavik, Kaffivagninn (Grandagarði 10, Reykjavík; +354 551 5932; kaffivagninn.is), began as a harborside food truck in 1935. Sound out the name and it turns out to be an Icelandic cognate for ‶coffee wagon″ in English. But it also serves delicious fish. On a sunny summer day, Kaffivagninn's location on the city's gorgeous harbor is about as picturesque a place as there is to eat some of the freshest fish in the world. And fish is a lot of what Iceland is about. The fishing industry is essential to Iceland's identity and second only to tourism in its economic impact. The only fish on the breakfast menu at Kaffivagninn is (unsurprisingly) smoked salmon. Breakfast fare is 990-1890 krona (USD $7-$13.50). The only...Read More

A whirlwind tour of great Sicilian wines

Posted on February 10, 2023February 10, 2023 by David

The continuing reorganization of Sicily's wine regions, as reflected in the map above (courtesy of De Long), has brought considerable focus to what used to be a free-for-all. More than 60 varietals grow on the island, and more than two dozen are autochthonous — varieties that either originated in Sicily or have been grown here since the Phoenicians introduced advanced viticulture 3,000 years ago. I had a chance to taste some modern twists on that grand tradition when Roberto Magnisi, production director of the Duca di Salaparuta group of wineries (duca.it/en), recently came to Boston. He brought outstanding wines from two of his company's properties for a tasting luncheon at Contessa (contessaristorante.com). His group coalesced in 2001 when the Sicilian regional government sold Duca di...Read More

Pharm Table restaurant makes healthy eating fun

Posted on January 6, 2023December 30, 2022 by Pat

Say “Texas” and most people think “beef.” So the quality of the beef that I enjoyed in San Antonio was in line with my expectations, even at the iconic fast-food joint Whataburger (see previous post). But Pharm Table restaurant (611 S Presa St., Suite 106; (210) 802-1860; pharmtable.com) was a delightful revelation. Chef Elizabeth Johnson is on a mission to surprise diners in this beef-centric state with plant-forward dishes that are delicious, satisfying, and fun to eat. That's not to say that Johnson doesn't take healthy eating seriously. Her plant-forward cuisine is informed by research from the Harvard School of Public Health, among other institutions, and by the principles of Ayurvedic eating. “I realized that it was my calling to bring vegetables and plants back...Read More

What a burger! Like the name says…

Posted on January 2, 2023December 21, 2022 by Pat

My friend Patti was incredulous when I told her that I had never eaten a Whataburger. For the uninitiated, that's the signature burger of the chain of the same name. It launched in Texas in 1950. As far as Patti is concerned, few, if any, burgers rival a Whataburger. She was born and raised in Texas, so I might have written off her enthusiasm as local pride. But we share a taste for really good hamburgers, so I was eager to give Whataburger a try when we visited San Antonio. From one burger stand in Corpus Christi, Whataburger now has outposts in 14 states, but none in New England. Transplanted Texans like Patti, who now lives in Whataburger-free Kentucky, often make the orange and white...Read More

Pearl dining stretches from south Texas to the eastern Med

Posted on December 26, 2022December 21, 2022 by Pat

I'm not about to leave New England for San Antonio, Texas. But I have to admit that the apartments springing up in the Pearl neighborhood are sure tempting. It would be a kick to be part of the revitalization and rejuvenation of the Pearl Brewing Company complex that operated here until 1999. And I'd never go hungry. There's a farmer's market every Saturday (above) and enough restaurants, cafes, and bars that I could eat somewhere different once a day for almost a month. Ladino carries the torch for Sephardic cuisine Instead, I settled for an evening of tasting at two of Pearl's newest eateries, both opened in September. My friend Patti and I were especially curious about Ladino (200 E Grayson St. #100; 210-325-6007; ladionsatx.com)....Read More

Mei Mei chef Irene Li is double awesome herself

Posted on November 4, 2022November 4, 2022 by Pat and David

For our readers not from the Greater Boston area, Irene Li and her siblings are the force behind the Mei Mei food truck and (now closed) Mei Mei Dumpling House (meimeidumplings.com). They're also the authors of one of the best cookbooks to hit the shelves just before the pandemic shut down the world. It's called Double Awesome Chinese Food: Irresistible and Totally Achievable Recipes from Our Chinese-American Kitchen. The ‶double awesome″ refers to Mei Mei's signature scallion pancake sandwich. Two flaky scallion pancakes spread with a little basil pesto enclose some cheddar cheese and two oozing eggs. The Double Awesome comes with spicy ketchup on the side for dipping. The name says it all. Part of what we love about the dish is that it...Read More