Boston City Limit

Southie’s SoWa District

Chrissie — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:30:20 +0000

A couple blocks south of Washington Street, the SoWa district is home to dozens of art galleries and studios. Artists, both well-established (Sandy Litchfield, Hisham Bizri at Toale Gallery ) and new to the scene (22-year-old Mark Chariker at RHYS) share spaces.

A former mill building district where pianos, canned goods, shoes and other merchandise were made in the 19th century, the district has been home to artists’ studios carved out of the old factories for the last fifty years. Today, the artists have been joined by art galleries, creative businesses, cutting edge restaurants and residential loft buildings.

The SoWa Art Walk takes place in late May each year and is a weekend-long standing invitation to visit the artists in their studios. www.SoWaArtwalk.com

The SoWa Open Market, an open-air venue for artists, craftsmen, collectioners, farmstands and other vendors makes its seasonal debut each year in tandem with the SoWa Art Walk. www.SoWaOpenMarket.com
The SoWa Antiques Market features over fifty antiques vendors will display in the fabled Power Station at 540 Harrison Avenue. www.SoWaAntiquesMarket.com.

SoWa Food & Produce Market tempts everyone at 500 Harrison Ave.

Read about all at www.SoWaSundays.com

Grezzo: A North End Vegan Beacon

Chrissie — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:45:46 +0000

Grezzo = Raw (in Italian)

Located in Boston’s north end, chef-owned Grezzo serves up uncooked dishes of organic, locally sourced ingredients paired with biodynamic wines and sake.

Rustic-themed, the warm hues and copper tables cast the room with a romantic glow.

Grezzo
69 Prince Street
(857) 362-7288
grezzorestaurant.com

Sensing

Chrissie — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:45:52 +0000

Chef Guy Martin, multiple Michelin stars for his restaurant in France, is the purveyor of this hotel based bistro.

The menu is seasonal, mostly local, and small in a good way. There is a “Sensing snacking platter,” which contains six small bites; five starters; four fish and four meat entrees; some cheese and four sweets. The meal is pricey and flavored with a dash of whimsy and dinner theater with a few culinary tricks.

Expect to pay a pretty penny.

Sensing, at the Fairmont Battery Wharf
3 Battery Wharf
(617) 994-9001
sensingrestaurant.com.

Boston Common Fun: Ice Skating & Hot Chocolate at the Frog Pond

Chrissie — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 17:20:16 +0000

The Frog Pond is open for the season. Sharpen those skates, or rent some! A hopping spot for ice-skating is the Frog Pond on the Boston Common. Although dependent on the weather, Frog Pond has its own ice-making system. It also offers skate rentals and hot cocoa at the Pond Cottage.

This year the Frog Pond introduces freestyle skating on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. for $12 a session. Don’t forget to bring your own skates, because there are no rentals during that time.

Season Passes
Individual season passes are available for $100, family passes are $150, and a lunchtime pass good Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (holidays excluded), is available for $60.

Mass Transit:
Park Street Station on the Red and Green Lines.

The prime location of Frog Pond makes it easy to squeeze in just an hour or so of ice skating. Why not go skating while waiting for a movie at the Boston Common Loews Theater? Or go skating to relax after a crazy day of shopping in the nearby Downtown Crossing. And for the hopeless romantics out there, go skating under the starlit sky and finish it off with a stroll in the park.

For more information, call (617) 635-2121.

For more on Boston Common (click!)

Sportello: Cuisine Over a Counter

Chrissie — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:00:53 +0000

We recommend Sportello for the perfect lunch, it’s counter-style space (“Sportello” is Italian for “counter”) makes it ideal for mid-day often harried eating.

In spite of the bustle and hustle, there’s plenty of space for you to enjoy a slow glass of wine over the strozzapreti (“priest stranglers”), little twists of pasta served with bits of braised rabbit, green olives, and a sauce made with rabbit jus and rosemary or a dish of gnocchitini, baby dumplings graced in a light seafood-and-tomato sauce with mussels.

Bella pasta!

Sportello
348 Congress Street
(617) 737-1234
sportelloboston.com.

Neptune Oyster, Just off the Freedom Trail

Chrissie — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 02:36:37 +0000

From the window you’ll catch a glimpse of groups noshing on chilled oysters and your belly will rumble for a cocktail and chaser.

Neptune Oyster is the perfect place to go for fresh, and well-prepared seafood. Charming (meaning small and cramped) with no room to spare, you’ll have to be tolerant of elbow-to-elbow dining. Daily specials are listed on chalkboard and mirrors, and you’re encouraged to try something unfamiliar to your well traveled palatte: cod cheeks, sea urchin, and more.

63 Salem St, Boston, MA
617/742-3474
www.neptuneoyster.com
Main courses $13-$34; lobster market price

South Boston’s Harborwalk: The Diller Scofidio & Institute of Contemporary Art

Chrissie — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 16:30:20 +0000

If you follow the Harborwalk along South Boston’s ever-developing waterfront you’ll be in for a breathtaking entry to the Diller Scofidio + Renfro–designed Institute of Contemporary Art.

Before immersing yourself in the art—shows are seasonal and ever-changing—we recommend that you start at the top-floor Founders’ Gallery where a thin perch spanning the entire width of the museum provides an awesome view of sailboats drifting in the harbor and jets taxiing at Logan.

Southie Shopping: Lekker

Chrissie — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:36:02 +0000

The South End has become a bastion of creativity and artistic expression. Walking down Washington Street you’ll see where the inspiration comes from in the well-preserved architecture.

Home to an eclectic mix of design boutiques, Natalie van Dijk Carpenter’s Lekker, which opened here five years ago, stands out. Lekker the Dutch word for alluring, enticing, great, attractive and tempting is fitting for Carpenter’s European concept store.

Mantra

Chrissie — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 03:23:24 +0000

Nestled between the Theatre District and Downtown Crossing and serves French-Indian cuisine and boasts a stylish late-night bar scene. You’ll nibbled on appetizers like the tandoori stuffed quail at Mantra, a Downtown Crossing boîte. Most of the action revolves around the red-suede banquettes, chain-mail curtains, and twenty-foot, woven-wood cocktail den.

52 Temple Place, Boston MA 02111
617.542.8111
www.mantrarestaurant.com

Bin 26 Enoteca

Chrissie — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 03:18:00 +0000

Bin 26 Enoteca, oozes ambiance. Resting in Beacon Hill, this quintessential Italian wine bar, serves homemade cocoa tagliatelle with porcini ragout in a room festooned with decoupaged wine labels and wine-cork coat pegs.

A neighborhood favorite, locals stop in to sip wine and slurp pasta. But, when in Rome, you’ll be able to drink German rieslings, Spanish tempranillos, and South African chenin blancs.

26 Charles St.
Boston, MA 02114
617.723.5939
www.bin26.com