In a recession, both Fat Baxter’s and North Star will need to worry about the existing working-class alternatives nearby. I ordered a “real Italian” at Colucci’s and Amato’s to investigate. The Colucci sandwich — which is spicy, meaty, and peppery with just the right splash of oil and a refreshing crunch of pepper — gives the newer places more to worry about. It was hard to notice the sparse, sweet ham in the oil-soaked soft Italian roll of Amato’s milder version. But North Star and Fat Baxter would be wise to attend to what these older spots do well: offer fat sandwiches at low prices. In recent years America came to like its sandwiches the way we like our starlets and models: flat and hot. When we found them done well (like at Duckfat) we were willing to pay for it. This year things could be very different.
Brian Duff can be reached at bduff@une.edu.
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The iPhone of markets, Changing skyline, The Friendly Toast, More 
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Residents of Munjoy Hill got a Christmakwanzakkah present early this year in the form of Fat Baxter’s East End Market.
- Changing skyline
The myth of the frontier is the perhaps the dominant idea in American political culture.
- The Friendly Toast
There was some in-office debate about reviewing the Friendly Toast in our "On the Cheap" column. After all, its menu of diner favorites, retro-'50s filler-uppers, and contemporary vegetarian options are pretty inexpensive. And their motto is "Great Food. Cheap."
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I’ve often called East Boston our city’s most overlooked cheap-eats destination.
- Anise
Be careful what you wish for. I have been asking Chinese restaurants to upscale their service, shorten their menus, make clear what the chef’s specialties really are, and offer the more-authentic dishes on the English-language menu.
- Street beat: Maria Razza
MacIntosh apples, to bake them and make cake and muffins.
- 2005 Boston Restaurant Awards
Once again we reach year’s end, and I pass out some awards to summarize the year in restaurant reviews.
- Choukoun’s Bistro
When a restaurant names itself after a poem, it’s easy to assume the best.
- Canfield house
The taste of history in Newport can put a pucker on your lips.
- Whole Foods on the cheap?
I recently had nightmares of losing my twenty spot the moment I enter the store.
- That’s amore
The invention of pizza in the 17th century coincided with a turning point for the most enduring sex-adverse culture in history — Catholicism.
- Less
Topics:
Features
, Culture and Lifestyle, Food and Cooking, Cheese, More
, Culture and Lifestyle, Food and Cooking, Cheese, Foods, Fruits and Vegetables, Ethnic Cuisines, Meat, Italian Food and Cooking, Public Finance, Recessions and Depressions, Less
