In recent years, the food scene has changed across the USA – and nowhere more so than in New England, where recognition for the region’s chefs and restaurateurs includes top places in the prestigious James Beard Foundation Awards, the ‘Oscars of cooking’. Here are some of Kathy Arnold’s favourite foodie venues, both in Boston and beyond.
“WOULD YOU BELIEVE IT?” my husband exclaims, as he looks down the menu, “Sea urchin and roasted tongue panino! And how about this? Crispy pig’s tail!”
Who would have thought that in the USA, where lamb on the menu was often considered adventurous, restaurant-goers would be tucking into offal? Yet here we are in Coppa, in Boston’s South End, surrounded by diners, happily munching on bits that, in the past, were thrown away.
Jamie Bissonnette’s fresh take on pasta with local herbs and flowers
Coppa’s chef/owner is Jamie Bissonnette, rated ‘Best Chef in the Northeast’ in last year’s James Beard Awards. He is what my mother used to call ‘a colourful character’ – and by that, I am referring to more than his impressive tapestry of tattoos. In his early life, he played in a punk rock band, graduated from culinary college and then worked in restaurants around the world. Oh – and he was vegan! But his tastes and attitudes changed. Now, he is not only a carnivore but a promoter of ‘nose-to-tail’ cooking and eating.
Looking back on his progression, Bissonnette explains: “When I started out in American kitchens, steaks and chops all came vacuum-packed in plastic bags.” A stint in France changed his outlook. “In a French kitchen, no part of an animal goes to waste,” he says.
So, he started butchering his own pork and beef. And, because he loves charcuterie, he began making his own ham, sausage and prosciutto. Last year, he shared his expertise in a book: The New Charcuterie Cookbook: Exceptional Cured Meats to Make and Serve at Home (Page Street Publishing). You cannot get much farther away from all-American burgers and hot dogs than recipes for goat merguez, chipotle turkey meatloaf, and lemongrass and green curry sausages.
Bissonnette also champions New England ingredients. “Local is the new authentic,” he declares. And he is not alone. From fish and oysters to beef, organic vegetables and orchard fruits, chefs across the Northeast are featuring regional produce.
You don’t have to be out in the country to see the best of New England’s bounty. “Tell your readers to go to the Copley Square Farmers’ Market, right in the heart of Boston,” says Bissonnette. Chefs come, chat over coffee and choose vegetables, just the way it was done in the old days. And those chefs deal with enthusiastic young farmers, who grow unusual varieties and like to experiment. “They listen to what chefs want and then grow it!” he adds.
Among the dozen or so farms and orchards with stalls on Copley Square is Siena Farms. Only 25 miles outside the city, it is run by Chris Kurth and supplies some of the city’s best restaurants. “That includes Oleana, over in Cambridge. The chef/owner is Ana Sortun – and she just happens to be Kurth’s wife,” Bissonnette explains, with a chuckle.
In New England, the food revolution also extends to beer. Craft brewing is huge across the region and, last year, Bissonnette worked with Smuttynose, a New Hampshire brewery. The result was Pure Biss, a Belgian-style wheat beer flavoured with kaffir lime leaves, spruce tips and grapefruit zest. It sold out.
Bissonnette is a busy man. As well as looking for new ideas, he runs two restaurants in Boston and a third in New York City. But, if he ever had any downtime, where would he head? The answer is immediate: “Kennebunkport, Maine, 90 minutes north of Boston. I’d go to Earth at Hidden Pond. It’s only open from May. I’d sit outside in the garden and eat the freshest local produce. And relax!”
OTHER GREAT BOSTON RESTAURANTS
ANYTHING RUN BY CHEF BARBARA LYNCH – In 2014, Bostonian chef Barbara Lynch was voted America’s Outstanding Restaurateur in the James Beard Foundation Awards. She has come a long way, from cooking at a local rectory as a teenager to running a group of eight restaurants and bars (www.barbaralynch.com). Her first restaurant, No 9 Park, was opened in 1998; two more followed five years later. Totally different to the white-tablecloth formality of No 9 Park, her new ventures are in Boston’s hip South End. If you fancy meat, head for The Butcher Shop at 552 Tremont Street; for New England seafood, B&G Oysters is just across the street. For celebrations? That has to be Menton, Lynch’s classy flagship restaurant and Boston’s only Relais & Chateaux member at 354 Congress Street.
EVOO – This neighbourhood venue trumpets its New England suppliers, from the Misty Knoll Farm chicken to the Kimball Fruit Farm pickled peppers. Flavour is key for Evoo owners Peter and Colleen McCarthy – country pâté with rosemary-infused Concord grape jelly; smoked rabbit confit with port-soaked cherries and pecans. Dessert? Try sticky-toffee carrot cake with pistachio ice cream. The chef’s seven-course tasting menu is a bargain. 350 3rd Street, Kendall Square.
b.good – At the most direct farm-to-table operation around, the concept is simple – “real.food.fast”. Order kale and quinoa ‘bowls’, freshly-mixed salads and freshly ground in-house burgers, created from all-natural produce grown by local farmers. Since opening in Dartmouth Street in 2004, b.good has expanded to include half-a-dozen locations in Boston/Cambridge, with more across the Northeast. The founders, who have been friends since childhood, are still friends.
