02138.com blog

…Yes, there’s a smell emanating from West Cambridge, and it isn’t goats. But more later, after I look into it.

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Somewhere along the line, sailors, probably it was British sailors first time around, were called “tars.” This is among other things that sailors have been called in their lives at sea and their reputations in ports from Massalia (which is what the Phoenicians called what we know as Marseille) to Guadeloupe preceded them. The reference, […]

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Jody’s Lemon & Rosemary Chicken with herbs and garlic Haricots verts with kalamata olives and garlic sautéed in EVOO Heirloom tomatoes with local mozzarella [Fiore di Nonni] 2006 Jean-Luc Colombo Viognier “La Violette”

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[written 2009 July 31 Co-posted on the Per Diem blog] What is strange about produce shopping in France were all the apples available throughout the summer. I don’t know where they were coming from, as I didn’t buy anyway. My cling fruit juices were flowing as is appropriate. The pears were only barely beginning to […]

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The preponderance of the reviews here [on Yelp] appear to be from transients. This isn’t surprising as the neighborhood immediately surrounding The Biscuit is a haven for graduate students mainly from Harvard and Tufts. Though they’re smart enough, God knows, they make up for abundance of brains by a deficit of taste.

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Thanks to my friends Tse Wei and Diana, I got a little bit of heaven in the gritty wilds of Allston-Brighton.

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When I am not in France, which is seldom enough these days (through no fault but reality and bad luck) I live in Cambridge, which is next door to Somerville (quite next door for us, about four blocks–a difference measured in house market values, going down as we head east). There’s a restaurant practically on […]

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I keep forgetting to mention this. There’s a not so new any more fine culinary addition to the choices in Davis Square. It’s called Sagra and it’s Italian. http://www.sagrarestaurant.com/ I also want to say, thanks to Steve [Lipsey] for leading me there. The only other thing I want to say is: Gnocchi al sugo d’anatra*: […]

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Today’s NYTimes has 101 very quick (ten-minutes or less) “summer” meals (registration required to read NYTimes online)—one or two-line recipes—from Mark Bittman, the self-styled “Minimalist.” Basics are a necessity in the repertoire of anyone who makes any claim to being able to cook, but even the basics are elusive to a great many people. Bittman […]

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The local bakery, located just over the line in Somerville (zip code 02143), has changed its name. Originally “Toscanini & Son” (the first name change after the founding owners, who called their place Panini—yet didn’t sell sandwiches, even from their yeasty breads, until the very end of their tenure—sold to the present owners), the name […]

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