Spring is within the air—and so is the aroma of many, many pizzas.
Charred octopus at Moëca. / Picture by Erik Jacobs Photographic
Better Boston’s restaurant scene is on the rebound, and there are plenty of thrilling openings to stay up for this spring: a homestyle Neapolitan pizza joint in Cambridge, an otherworldly cocktail den within the Again Bay, and a Scottish gastropub in Jamaica Plain, to call a number of. Listed below are the small print on the season’s most-anticipated debuts.
Salt + Stone
Consideration, hungry consumers: A number of new eating places are coming quickly to Somerville’s food- and retail-jammed Meeting Row growth, together with a bigger location of the North Finish’s pint-sized Parla in addition to Le Macaron, a French patisserie. First up, although, after many years of managing native eating places, native culinary-industry vets Sean and Sue Olson will open their first unbiased enterprise, Salt + Stone, on March 25 within the sprawling area that beforehand housed the pizza franchise Midici. Their years of {industry} perception conjures up a menu for each diner at Salt + Stone: You’ll discover prime steaks, artisan flatbreads, grain bowls, and extra. That mentioned, the 155-seat spot, which boasts floor-to-ceiling home windows and two huge outside patios, is anchored by a uncooked bar program in partnership with Boston’s personal Pangea Shellfish Firm, a premium oyster grower and distributor. Anticipate loads of seafood, then, from appetizers like New Orleans-style barbecue oysters to entrees of scallop carbonara that includes Lily’s Contemporary Pasta (a number of the finest round). Different menu highlights embrace the S + S Boardwalk Fries, a cone of ‘taters tossed in a signature specialty-salt seasoning, and a brisket burger crafted for Salt + Stone by the Fashionable Butcher Store, which has carved out fairly a popularity since opening in Newburyport three years in the past.
463 Meeting Row, Somerville, saltandstoneboston.com.
Eva rendering courtesy of Amy Archambault Studio
Eva
A preferred Newbury Avenue restaurant area has undergone a whole, more-than-cosmetic overhaul since we final noticed her in 2020. The end result? Eva, debuting quickly within the former house of Cafeteria, a long-running restaurant that was identified for its elevated consolation meals, social scene, and large sidewalk-side patio. “After 13 wonderful years and the pandemic, it felt like the right time for a change,” says proprietor George Aboujaoude. (Um, relatable.) Though the 91-seat terrace will return, designer Tiffany Barqawi can also be bringing the outside inside, festooning the place with hand-woven raffia lamps, leafy chintz wallpaper, wooden décor, and a brilliant coloration palette of blues and greens. The revamped meals menu, in the meantime, revives choose Cafeteria favorites whereas imbuing extra Mediterranean influences into the trendy American repertoire—suppose: grilled octopus with a white bean purée and sun-dried tomato-green olive tapenade; lamb chops with garlic labneh, heirloom potato confit, and mint chimichurri; and brunch dishes like inexperienced shakshouka and dulce de leche pancakes. Together with basic cocktails and Champagne trays throughout weekend brunch, ingenious new drinks embrace a rhubarb Negroni and a concoction of coconut fat-washed tequila with orgeat and Aperol. Eva is set to open inside the subsequent few weeks, with basic supervisor Nick Antonucci (Again Bay Social, Committee, Trillium Brewing Firm) on the helm.
279A Newbury St., Boston, Instagram.
An illustration from Hecate’s spirited menu of elixirs. / Offered
Hecate
A speakeasy two-plus years within the making is about to be unveiled within the Again Bay: Hecate, a European-style cocktail bar opening by early April under its sibling Greek wine bar Krasi, which debuted all the way in which again in February 2020. Named for the gatekeeping goddess between the mortal and divine worlds (she’s usually related to magic and potion-making), Hecate is designed to really feel mysterious and otherworldly, says proprietor Demetri Tsolakis. For one factor, it has an appropriately secretive entrance, separate from Krasi, that friends might want to discover to enter. (At simply 24 seats, Hecate is extremely intimate and reservations aren’t accessible, however Tsolakis alludes to a particular ready space for affected person events on deck.) As soon as contained in the subterranean area, the darkish ambiance will present a moody backdrop for bartenders (lets name them “spirit guides?”) to ply their craft. Beverage director Aliz Meszesi has stocked the bar with distinctive and unique liquors from around the globe: Scottish saffron gin, uncommon cognacs and brandies, and Hungarian natural liqueurs, for example. The illustrated drink menu will cowl “Rites and Rituals” (a.okay.a. signature cocktails), Dry Spells (non-alcoholic drinks), and different choices—and food-wise, Krasi chef Val Howell will flex his artistic muscle tissue with a finger-food snack menu.
Public Alley 443, Boston, hecatebar.com.
Chef Aidan Mc Gee. / Picture courtesy
The Dubliner
As soon as upon a time, when chef Aidan Mc Gee handled of us to his Sunday roast at Truscott Arms, a preferred London gastropub of the 2010s, his rendition of the basic English feast was deemed the best in Great Britain. Now, Mc Gee is bringing his model of that beloved weekend custom—and a broader style of latest pub fare—to Boston with the opening of the Dubliner in April. A partnership between the celebrated Irish-born chef and Boston’s East Coast Tavern Group (which is behind standout pub Emmets, amongst different native ideas), the Dubliner is headed for the previous website of the Kinsale, straight throughout the road from Boston Metropolis Corridor. Like its predecessor, the Dubliner guarantees reside music and a spot to look at sports activities—Mc Gee, although, is elevating the menu with seasonal elements, domestically sourced seafood, and many to supply vegetarians and vegans. Together with the particular Sunday roast, stay up for dishes like Maine crabs on Irish soda bread with seaweed butter, slow-cooked beef cheeks, curried mussels, and shepherd’s pie made with hill mountain lamb, the breed Mc Gee’s farmer-chef father raised in County Donegal. As for dessert? Mc Gee hails from high-end British locations comparable to Foliage on the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, however on the Dubliner he’ll have enjoyable providing seasonal flavors of soft-serve ice cream topped with one thing for American tastes: Fortunate Charms cereal.
2 Middle Plaza, Boston, thedublinerboston.com.
Moëca picture by Erik Jacobs Photographic
Moëca
For years, Cambridge restaurant Giulia has been celebrated for its earthy rusticity. Now, although, its staff is opening one thing new impressed by the ocean: Moëca, led by chef Michael Pagliarini and his spouse and co-owner, Pamela Ralston, is aiming for a late April opening on the Porter Sq.-side handle that previously housed Luce. And though the uncooked bar-oriented place is called for a kind of soft-shell crab, the meals will have a good time all fish—and each a part of them. “We’ll remedy, smoke, brine, [etc.] to construct a larder of complicated flavors,” says Pagliarini, who is happy to showcase “day by day catch, 3 ways.” In different phrases, if native striper is on the menu this summer time, you may discover a uncooked preparation, its roasted collar and head enhancing a plate of ravioli, and its grilled loin served with seasonal greens. The fin-to-tail menu continues to be being refined, however anticipate a spread of culinary influences, from cuttlefish risotto with Italian porcini to a Japanese-Peruvian-inflected ceviche. There shall be pastas (that’s Giulia’s specialty), and Luce’s previous pizza oven has Pagliarini experimenting with flatbreads and seafood pizzas. Lastly, the restaurant’s basement will function a headquarters the place Best of Boston pastry chef Renae Connolly and her expanded crew of pastry cooks can craft gelato and ice cream to accent desserts at Giulia and Moëca, in addition to for takeout by the pint.
1 Shepard St., Cambridge, moecarestaurant.com.
Cooks Jamie Bissonnette and Ken Oringer. / Picture courtesy JK Meals Group
Faccia Brutta and Bar Pallino
Get excited for much more springtime patio vibes: Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette will increase their culinary empire to the Again Bay in Might, and we already know that the duo behind Coppa, Toro, and Little Donkey has a manner of creating locations we need to spritz away a day. On this case, they’re really launching two new ideas: an Italian seafood restaurant known as Faccia Brutta, which could have a greenery-draped patio proper on Newbury Avenue, in addition to Bar Pallino, an adjoining pure wine-focused spot with its personal entrance off the general public alley between Gloucester and Fairfield streets. Faccia Brutta will serve seasonal dishes that riff on coastal cuisines of Liguria, Sicily, Sardinia, and elsewhere utilizing New England seafood and produce. (Translation: dishes like scallop carpaccio with silky salumi and black truffle French dressing; roasted clams with inexperienced garlic and Calabrian chili; and house-made paccheri pasta with rockfish, tomato, and saffron.) Over at Bar Pallino, longtime JK Meals Group beverage director Jodie Battles is making a voguish vibe “impressed by the brand new technology of Paris wine bars,” full with a turntable spinning Bissonnette’s private vinyl assortment.
278 Newbury St., Boston, Instagram.
Roundhead founder Luis Espinoza bringing curbside pickup to a buyer. / Picture by David Goldberg
Roundhead Brewing
Beer and pizza go collectively like, effectively, beer and pizza—and increasingly beermakers across the U.S. are pairing the 2 of their taprooms, as a latest Imbibe feature explores. The newest native instance shall be Roundhead Brewing Firm in Hyde Park, opening later this spring with its personal in-house pizza kitchen. Massachusetts’ first Latino-owned brewery will supply pie-making elements and recommendation from local-gem market Tutto Italiano, and Roundhead’s head brewer and founder, Luis Espinoza, can also be scaling up his longtime-homebrewed recipes for the spot’s five-barrel system. (Espinoza owned a bakery in his native Peru, so a type of beers is a hefeweizen named Liquid Bread.) Co-founder Craig Panzer, a former marketer for Vermont beer manufacturers Otter Creek and Wolaver’s, says the brewhouse and 48-seat taproom—which could have an higher mezzanine stage for video games like foosball—are under construction with an anticipated opening in Might or June. (There’s additionally an ongoing crowdfunding marketing campaign to lease the second half of the Powerhouse constructing as an area for personal and group occasions.) In the mean time, Espinoza is canning choose beers to promote through Thursday curbside pickup in Hyde Park and at choose retailers like Metropolis Feed and Provide and the City Grape.
Powerhouse at Westinghouse Plaza, Boston, roundheadbrewing.com.
Chef Michael Lombardi. / Courtesy picture
Si Cara
Michael Lombardi, chef-partner on the South Finish’s acclaimed Italian restaurant SRV, is branching out along with his first solo enterprise: Si Cara, whose title interprets to “sure, expensive.” That’s the response Lombardi, who grew up in New Haven, would obtain from his Italian grandma every time he or his cousins would ask for pizza or one other kind of deal with. Whereas Si Cara, which is destined for the brand new Market Central growth in Cambridge’s Central Sq., is a homestyle pizza joint, it gained’t look to New Haven’s well-known type of pies. As a substitute, Lombardi goes all in on canotto-style pie, a subset of Neapolitan characterised by an extra-airy, inflated crust. The dough is of course leavened and long-fermented, and “it’s virtually like having a bit of sourdough bread” after a number of bites of toppings, he explains. The remainder of the succinct menu—salads and vegetable dishes created by chef de delicacies Jess Ngo, Lombardi’s sous at SRV—will spherical out day by day lunch and dinner. Si Cara, on monitor to open by mid-June, could have a 55-seat inside, 30-seat patio, and a full bar targeted on pure wine and basic cocktails. It should even have some thrilling Market Central neighbors, together with a brand new location of Shojo, Toscanini’s, and New Metropolis Microcreamery. “Individuals can come to us for cocktails and pizza, after which go subsequent door, particularly within the nicer climate, and sit exterior with an ice cream and espresso,” says Lombardi. “That’s the sort of surroundings I need to create.”
425 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, sicarapizza.com.
A rendering of the Haven on the Brewery. / Courtesy of Zephyr Architects
The Haven on the Brewery
A brand new, bigger location for Boston’s solely Scottish pub is headed for a vibrant Jamaica Plain venue. The Haven on the Brewery will open by mid-June in the former Bella Luna and the Milky Way Lounge. In contrast with its present cozy digs in JP’s Hyde Sq., the brand new Haven is expansive, spanning a 50-seat personal patio and 4 distinct indoor areas: There’s the lounge-y “Whisky Room”; “the Cosy,” a comfortable eating space offset by slatted wall panels within the picture of the Scottish flag; a extra distinguished eating space working alongside the home windows by the Brewery’s parking space; and the Meeting Room (named for an arts middle in Edinburgh), a dynamic area with a projector display, stage, and up to date sound system that can be utilized for personal occasions and public gatherings. Actually, Haven proprietor Jason Waddleton is already scheming programming for the area, from increasing his widespread weekly Scotch tastings (known as Dram Nights), to internet hosting common comedy reveals, dance nights, music performances, and Premier League brunch on weekends. The menu, in the meantime, will increase on the Haven’s genuine Scottish choices by including new creations, with a bit assist from Bella Luna’s former pizza oven. Haggis and black pudding pizzas are on the desk, and we’re intrigued.
284 Amory St., Boston, thehavenjp.com.
Fried “rooster” sandwich from PlantPub. / Picture offered
PlantPub Fenway
Though Boston BeerWorks ended its 30-year run within the Fenway shortly after the preliminary COVID shutdown, its former area gained’t keep dry for lengthy: PlantPub will open its second (and far bigger) location there in late spring. The plant-based, beer-soaked idea is a collaboration between chef Mary Dumont (an Iron Chef America star and the previous govt chef at Harvest and Cultivar) and vegan influencer Pat McCauley (former co-founder of Weymouth brewery Barrel Home Z and a triathlete). The unique PlantPub debuted as a fast-casual setup in Kendall Sq. final fall, and the restaurant’s fast development—the full-service Fenway location is about 5 instances bigger than Cambridge—is thanks in no small half to celebrity vegan chef Matthew Kenney, who determined to accomplice with the PlantPub cofounders after leasing the BeerWorks area himself, he told the Boston Globe. Now Fenway crowds can pre-game over PlantPub’s approachable, vegan spins on bar fare and choice of cool craft beers and drinks (provided largely from a 24-tap draft system). You’ll nonetheless discover present PlantPub favorites, comparable to fried chicken-style sandwiches stacked with pickles and ranch slaw, candy potato chili cheese fries slathered in house-made cashew-paprika queso, and hand-pulled noodles and sesame tofu in ginger-lemongrass shiitake broth. The bigger location in Fenway will help an even bigger menu, although, particularly within the dessert class: Vegan sundaes, frappes, and ice cream sandwiches are all within the works.
61 Brookline Ave., Boston, plantpub.com.
