Food

Sami’s

MC SLIM JB — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 22:17:51 GMT

Not keeping late-night hours, but still delivering the Lebanese goods
Dining options for night owls are limited to a handful of Chinatown eateries and a few dubious diners. We also suffer from a dearth of good street food: what we’d give for one decent LA-style taco truck!

Benatti

ROBERT NADEAU — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 22:15:57 GMT

Off the charts, off the map
Even a slice of zucchini makes you want more . . . zucchini. You are perhaps vegan? Order two of these and sneer at the carnivores of the world.

TRIPLE THREAT: A trio of sea scallops wows.

It’s always a gamble to put a good restaurant in a bad place. The bet is that your food will attract people no matter the location. If it pays off, customers will fork over South End prices while you shell out only East Cambridge rent.

Now, Andrea Benatti’s food is wonderful enough to attract people anywhere, and it rightfully commands top dollar (maybe a little less if you stick to the house-made pasta, and many will do just that). But his choice of locale — east of Inman Square, between Midwest Grill and East Cost Grill — is a little dangerous. Fans of those excellent restaurants might notice that some of the bottles of wine at Benatti are, like, quadruple retail. That kind of mark-up requires not only legendary cuisine, but a remote location. (I know a stretch in West Roxbury that would not only fit that bill, and is a lot closer to my house.)

What Benatti (the restaurant) does have in its favor is the undivided attention of Benatti (the chef) and his Brazilian partner Anna Encarnacao, who possibly marks up the wine and chats with the neighbors, and certainly picks outstanding Brazilian background music. By undivided attention, I mean that not only does the chef actually cook, but he painted the art on the wall, talks with the patrons, and fixes anything you don’t like.

For us, other than an undercooked steak and some heavy salt, there was nothing we didn’t adore. Food starts with Tuscan bread and dip in superior extra-virgin olive oil floating on excellent balsamic vinegar. These are also the condiments for the evening’s first masterpiece, a simple appetizer of grilled vegetables ($11). Simple is a deceptive term, because each item on the platter may be the best I’ve ever tasted. This level of grillwork cannot be delegated. Benatti’s grilled red bell pepper is so deeply flavored it could be an entrée. His slice of grilled eggplant is all richness, no bitterness. His two pieces of grilled asparagus redefine the term. His grilled slice of fennel is symphonic — no, operatic. Even a slice of zucchini makes you want more . . . zucchini. You are perhaps vegan? Order two of these and sneer at the carnivores of the world.

Schmaltz Coney Island Lagers

MIKE MILIARD — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 20:53:02 GMT

Freaking delicious
The latest offerings from New York’s Schmaltz Brewing Co. celebrate — as Elvis Costello once put it — the “other side of summer.”

Twelve patties, no cake

ROBERT NADEAU — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 20:52:07 GMT

A burger safari
Can one revive something that is, unlike barbecue, universally American, and steeped in personal nostalgia?

HOMETOWN HERO: The King-Kong Burger at Eagle Deli is a winner.

I love revivalist barbecue joints, but what about revivalist burger palaces? Can one revive something that is, unlike barbecue, universally American, and steeped in personal nostalgia? The first principle of hamburgers was enunciated by Calvin Trillin when, in 1970, he casually told Life magazine that Winstead’s, in his native Kansas City, served the best hamburger in the world. Pressed on this point in a later interview, he explained that “Anyone who doesn’t think his hometown has the best hamburger place in the world is a [now politically incorrect term for an effeminate male].” Of course, after a generation, a revivalist burger place becomes a hometown place, so in 20-odd years or so, someone writing in this space might proclaim B.Good to have the best hamburger in the world.

Now, my own hometown burger place no longer exists, and my objective judgment over many years is that Mr. Bartley’s serves the best burger in Greater Boston. But on my recent burger safari, covering lots of other highly regarded local burgers, things did fall rather neatly into three categories. (I ruled out super-yuppie burgers, Kobe beef burgers, and non-beef burgers.) My standard order was a cheeseburger, cooked medium if asked, and served with French fries, except for one instance in which Mrs. Nadeau arrived first and ordered me sweet-potato fries.

Hometown burgers
Boston isn’t my hometown, so I borrowed writer, electronic-crime expert, and drum-and-bugle-corps revivalist Peter Cassidy, who grew up in my present neighborhood, Jamaica Plain. It quickly emerged that Peter’s rosebud would not be a hamburger, but a meatball sub consumed during a drum-corps rehearsal break. (Ah, meatball subs! Readers are invited to e-mail suggestions for a future safari.) But in fact Peter did have fond memories of SIMCO’S ON THE BRIDGE (1509 Blue Hill Avenue, Mattapan, 617.296.3800), a place known mostly for its hot dogs. Off we went, then, toward Mattapan Square. Simco’s is strictly take-out, so we ate the cheeseburger and fries ($6.52) in Peter’s car. It was a very decent burger: double patty, both well done, with a good balance of beef and char flavors, white processed cheese, white sesame bun, and nothing to interfere with the ketchup, onions, and beef. What impressed were the French fries, which were crusty in a way that suggested the double-frying pommes-soufflé technique and had a custardy smooth inside. The hot dog ($2.86), alas, is apparently not what it used to be.

Jo Jo Taipei

ROBERT NADEAU — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 20:00:39 GMT

Seldom enjoyed; thoroughly enjoyable
The contemporary cuisine of Taiwan, for its part, is influenced by Chinese, Spanish, Dutch, and Japanese colonists.

STEAM DREAM Xiao long bao (steamer of dumplings) is like Peking ravioli with super-juicy insides.
Photo by Brook Griffin.

Taiwan’s culinary situation is as wonderfully confused as its history and politics. It’s part of China, but it is not. Over the past century, Taiwan/Formosa has spent most of its time as a colony of Japan; the second-most time as part of China, but outside the control of the government of China; and the third-most time as the recognized government of China, without actually governing anything on the mainland. For 30,000 years, there were no Han Chinese in Taiwan. Today, they outnumber the indigenous population.

The contemporary cuisine of Taiwan, for its part, is influenced by Chinese, Spanish, Dutch, and Japanese colonists, and most recently by the 1949 immigration of the pre-Communist officials and their cooks, from all the provinces of China. There used to be an argument over whether Taiwan had the best Chinese food; today, there is food that is distinctly Taiwanese. And even that has rapidly changed. Of the characteristic dishes of Taiwan on the menu at Jo Jo Taipei, I could find only one in my trusty 1969–1979 volumes by Fu Pei Mei, the Julia Child of Taiwan at the time.

I started tracking these changes when a helpful reader, Ju Chien Hsu, e-mailed me some pointers after I reviewed one of the first Taiwanese restaurants in Chinatown, 13 years ago. “You must try the Crispy Smelled Bean Curd,” she wrote. “This is uniquely Taiwanese and definitely an acquired taste. (I consider tofu to be the cheese of Chinese cuisine; think of this as one of the rank ones.)” All these years later, I finally found a restaurant that featured the dish on an English-language menu, and took advantage of the suggestion. (Although Jo Jo Taipei has translated almost everything, there is a little blackboard with about six specials in Chinese. Once we ordered enough exotic food, our excellent waitress attempted to explain what they were.)

Each table at Jo Jo Taipei starts with a small dish of Spanish peanuts, and another of a sweet-hot lightly pickled salad, mostly cabbage. Then a waitress comes with a tray of potential appetizers.

Rosticeria Cancun Dos

KENJI ALT — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:48:12 GMT

Two’s a charm
The first and most striking difference is that Cancun Dos has tables and a kitchen (at Cancun Uno, you had to settle for a counter and a stove).

Tango's molleja

KENJI ALT — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:33:31 GMT

Salty smoky sweeties
The molleja act as carrier for the intense flavor of the grill and boasts a crisp, salty, nearly blackened crust.

Billy's Sub Shop

MC SLIM JB — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:27:19 GMT

Neighborhood tested, peace officer approved
With its counter service, laminate booths, plastic tableware, and cafeteria trays, Billy’s is short on frills, but the food is cheap, tasty, and fresh.

Shabu-Zen

ROBERT NADEAU — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 22:23:03 GMT

The soup is definitely on
A new generation of Japanese water-fondue restaurants has won me over.

TABLE BROTH: The wagyu beef, boneless short-rib, and Seafood Supreme are cooked to order.

I am a reluctant convert to shabu-shabu. My initial reaction to the Japanese version of the Mongolian hot-pot was that boiled foods are bland, and that boiling food at the table is even worse than cooking at home. But a new generation of Japanese water-fondue restaurants has won me over. Not only have these newer places improved the blandness of the broth with flavored pan-Asian choices and sharper dipping condiments, they’ve also increased the complexity of the raw materials.

Plus, I’ve finally mastered the eating and cooking techniques involved. The secret is that the broth at the end is superb, so you want to use the protein and vegetables from the entrées as appetizers, then sate yourself with the soup mixture from the boiling water. Before I learned this trick, I would leave the broth bubbling away on the table cooker. Now I ask for a container to take it home.

With its second location — the first is in Chinatown — Shabu-Zen has refined the process with ceramic heating elements (no fumes) at each table, and added choices in the protein area. Its food selection and presentation is still a bit behind the Chinatown Kaze, but there is much to enjoy here, and this huge space fills up with Asian families even on a weeknight.

If you want formal appetizers, there are dozens, and some are choice and well-priced. Light eaters could skip shabu-shabu altogether. Seaweed salad ($2.50), for instance, is sesame-rich and delicious, as well as healthful. Sautéed baby clams ($6.50) are a wonderful plateful of small calico clams in a gravy-like sauce with some meaty and spicy elements. Baby octopus ($3.95) in a light tomato marinade is tasty. As are “Berkshire sausages” ($5), presumably made from the heritage Berkshire swine. These are four scrumptious breakfast links on a leaf of Napa cabbage, served with mustard.

You could also have a bit of sashimi, but the hamachi (yellowtail) ($6) was served barely thawed. The effect of the cold hamachi was that its fat content registered as a waxy texture. I suspect much of the food here is partially frozen to make easier and neater slices. Indeed, cubes of soft tofu came to the table frozen, and had to be cooked in the soup.

Tatte Fine Cookies + Cakes’ cookies

PHIL AMARA — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:09:39 GMT

What you knead
Self-taught baker Tzurit Or has been plying her patissier trade, in some form or other, since she was 12.

El Potro

KENJI ALT — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:04:49 GMT

Curtido in disguise
Like a Mexican wrestling luchador, El Potro hides its true identity under a mask.

The Publick House

ROBERT NADEAU — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:57:33 GMT

Grab a drink while you wait
The true focus here is the far frontiers of craft brewing, especially the many styles of Belgian ales.

BEER NECESSITIES: Moules frites are just one example of the fine cuisine á la biére.

After hearing that the owners of the Publick House are opening a large barbecue palace a block up away from their current venture in Brookline, I went to check it out. Work on that project is continuing. Meanwhile, the original bar-restaurant is going great, with its unusual menu of Belgian specialties focused on French fries (as are most Belgians) and cuisine à la bière. The true focus here is the far frontiers of craft brewing, especially the many styles of Belgian ales. Those are served promptly in the manufacturer’s glassware, while food can be slow. The Belgian dishes we had were awkwardly flavored; most patrons were enjoying either the excellent frites or more typical pub food, especially in the key of fried.

To start, then, with the draught brews (of which there are 36, along with more than 100 bottles), we tried Affligem Blond ($7), which is actually an amber Belgian ale. I think it’s supposed to be served a little warmer, but it was clean, with the wine-y and unusual flavors of the Belgian style. At seven percent alcohol, it creeps up on you. For the true blond (if somewhat cloudy) pour, I preferred Unibroue Éphémère, a “white ale” brewed with some boiled apple juice. By keeping the alcohol down to 5.5 percent, this Quebec microbrewery gets a cider aroma and flavor, warming to pear and spice.

There are really only two appetizers: Monk’s Frites ($6) and moules frites ($7/appetizer; $14/dinner). These are made with hand-cut Yukon Gold potatoes and served in a paper cone, as they would be in Belgium, with various dips. Some fries are crisp, some are not, and all have wonderful potato flavor. The smaller portion served with the mussels is served in a drinking cone. The mussels are leaner than their shells would imply, which is the norm for the season. There is a choice of five different “pots” for the mussels; we had pot Number 2, based on Affligem Blond, Asiago cheese, tomatoes, spinach, and garlic. We were licking the shells to get all the cheese, then using them for spoons to have the broth. The ale gave it a bitter finish, perhaps best with the grilled garlic bread provided.

Boston Speed’s Famous Hot Dog Wagon

MC SLIM JB — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:00:17 GMT

Keeping a cherished flame alive
If you haven’t heard of Speed’s Famous Hot Dog Wagon, you clearly are not plugged into Boston’s chow grid.

Estragon

ROBERT NADEAU — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:39:07 GMT

And you thought Taberna de Haro was authentic . . .
A divorce and new partners have put Julio de Haro in the position to open Estragon, a larger restaurant with a 1930s-tapas-bar theme. Nostalgia deepens authenticity, no?

If you thought Brookline’s Taberna de Haro was an authentic tapas bar, you weren’t wrong. However, a divorce and new partners have put Julio de Haro in the position to open Estragon, a larger restaurant with a 1930s-tapas-bar theme. Nostalgia deepens authenticity, no? So does a line of Basque-type specialties and a gourmet store next door, should you want to try this at home. Estragon has Spanish pop music playing, old family photos on the walls, and as much noise as a Madrid tapas bar at midnight — everything but shells on the floor.

Perhaps most remarkably, they serve the real Spanish bread, in paper bags: miniature, pointy-ended loaves that are softer than, though just as flavorful as, genuine French bread. You can have it with the complimentary platter of olives (including giant, ripe red ones never before seen in Boston) and the excellent extra virgin olive oil with tarragon leaves marinating in the bottle.

The menu is all small plates: some are more clearly the bar-snack “pinchos” or “tapas” (literally “lids”), while others are more like appetizers or units of entrées. For snacking, don’t miss the fried garbanzo beans ($4). Although it’s just a little plate, each chickpea has a kick of paprika and garlic. With a catchy name like “Catalan Popcorn,” this could be huge. Another small plate you’ll want several of is the classic tortilla ($4), a slice from a thick potato omelet, here served with a lemony homemade mayonnaise. Asparagus soup ($5) is creamy, full of chopped asparagus, and topped with shredded Manchego cheese. I also liked a special dish of broiled chili peppers ($8), full of concentrated flavor; a couple of the peppers were a bit spicy, too.

To fill up, get something with a sauce, such as the spiced tripe and chorizo ($8), a richly flavored tomato-based stew in the tradition of French tripe à la mode de Caen. Or try the littleneck clams ($14), eight clams in a loaf’s worth of onion-garlic-clam-broth sauce that just won’t quit. Another gravy-bearing stew is squid rings ($9) with Basque blood sausage (better than it sounds; rather like scrapple); the rings were nearly as tender as fish. Marinated mussels ($8) were actually pickled with peppers, carrot, and onion.

Zuzzy’s Cookie Dough

PHIL AMARA — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 21:11:36 GMT

Lovin’ Spoonfuls
Zuzzy’s Cookie Dough is deadly good. It’s the kind of stuff Willy Wonka would use to stucco the walls of his summer house.

Beijing Star

MC SLIM JB — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:42:43 GMT

The best of the Northeast (China, that is)
As the Beijing Olympics approach, it’s a good time to note that China’s vast culinary landscape stretches well beyond the Cantonese cuisine most familiar to Americans.

Tashi Delek

ROBERT NADEAU — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:22:56 GMT

Fine Tibetan cuisine — freed from Chinese influences
The total Tashi Delek experience is larger than the food or the room, or even the caring service from the lone mid-week waitress.

As I’ve written before, I am a fan of Chinese food, and I am also a fan of Tibetan spirituality. But not so much vice-versa. Let me put it this way: I would be quite willing to give up a trip to Beijing and any chance at an Olympic gold medal. (Admittedly a very slim chance for a fat restaurant critic. My shot at a medal depends on the temporary incapacitation of everyone under 80.) But give up the suan la chow show at Mary Chung’s? Well . . . maybe in a future life. Speaking of which, what are the reincarnation possibilities for a restaurant critic? Jackal? Vulture? Magpie?

Maybe I could move up the reincarnation ladder and become a woodpecker if I admit that Tibetan restaurants in Boston are getting better, and that Tashi Delek is such a nicely decorated room, with such reasonably priced food, that it makes a very good alternative, even in restaurant-saturated Brookline Village. In fact, there’s an item at Tashi Delek that I think all chefs should check out — the “Tng Mo” ($3/à la carte; also included with dinner entrées). The menu description is “steamed wheat bran buns,” which strongly understates the case. These are whole-wheat breads with the texture of Chinese steamed buns, folded in beautiful wave-like patterns like Parker House rolls. Someone is surely going to e-mail me that these Brookline tng mo are pale copies of the ones you get in a particular backstreet café in Lhasa, and that they don’t count without yak butter. But I have to tell you that a basket of these with unsalted cow butter is a very convincing illusion of earthly pleasure incarnate.

Like most Tibetan restaurants, Tashi Delek serves momos ($6.50/appetizer; $14–$15/entrée). You get a choice of four fillings, either steamed or fried. The classic filling is of course yak, for which beef and vegetables are the American substitutes. Momos are related to Peking ravioli via Genghis Khan, but beefier. Of the monkish versions (tofu, spinach and cheese, greens and mushrooms), go with the greens and mushrooms. As momos go, the ones here are somewhat starchy.

Audubon Circle’s habanero-infused guava margarita and grilled shrimp with citrus dipping sauce

KENJI ALT — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 18:34:05 GMT

Red-hot summer
They start with the world’s hottest peppers and let them soak in white tequila for three days until a mere whiff puts tears in your eyes.

Four Burgers

MC SLIM JB — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 19:01:53 GMT

Make mine medium-rare — and green
What is Four Burgers’ edge? The owner favors sustainability-minded suppliers of all-natural ingredients.

Vintage Lounge

ROBERT NADEAU — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 18:50:04 GMT

Simplify, simplify — and enjoy the wine
As often happens at wine festivals, the wine at Vintage is actually more exciting than the food.

THE MAIN EVENT: Entrées, such as the skirt steak and Cornish hen, are better bets at Vintage.

The first thing went wrong before I even arrived. One of my guests ordered a gin and tonic ($8) and had to send it back twice. “There wasn’t any tonic,” he said. “It came out of a soda siphon.” Since this column doesn’t run on hearsay, I ordered another; sure enough, the bitter flavor of quinine wasn’t evident. There are two possible explanations, both troubling: a screwed-up soda siphon watered down an actual tonic mix, or a Boston-born bartender believes all soda is “tonic,” and used straight seltzer, instead.

The breadbasket was problem number two: cracker breads are fun, but like baguette toasts, they don’t soak up any sauces. They’re workable as carriers for pâté, not for the smear of olive oil and balsamic vinegar we were given.

Our appetizers were good though undistinguished, and the salt began to mount. Mussels Provençal ($11) were nice, plump shellfish, with a garlicky wine sauce that was salty enough to float eggs. A duck spring roll ($10) is a passable fusion idea, fried without too much grease. It’s accompanied by grapefruit slices and an arugula salad . . . with an over-salted dressing. Speck salad ($11) is based on dried, cured bacon, so of course that was saline, too — when it wasn’t wonderfully smoky or, in part of one bite, a little bit rancid. NaCl levels kept coming on the pea-tendril side salad.

“Crispy Fried Calamari” ($10), a “Vintage Lounge House Specialty,” had another over-seasoning problem: too much hot pepper in the pink mayonnaise sauce. It could have been crisper. Still, it gets points for the Kalamata olives.