Come October, the restaurateurs behind Grill 23 and Harvest will open a new venue, this time a neighborhood tavern in Back Bay at the forthcoming Clarendon luxury condo building. The kitchen at Post 390—its name refers to its location at the former site of post office—will be helmed by former Excelsior chef Eric Brennan, who plans to serve up classic comfort food in a casual-yet-polished setting complete with fireplaces and floor-to-ceiling windows.

The restaurant will also feature two full bars, and while menu specifics are as yet unknown, spokesperson Nicole Barrick says the food and the atmosphere will be completely different from that of Grill 23 and Excelsior. Think refined American cuisine à la Houston’s or Stephanie’s, hints Barrick.

– H.D. SHELDON-DEAN

If you haven’t heard already, the Four Seasons announced this weekend that it will close its celebrated restaurant, Aujourd’hui, after a final dinner on June 27. This is sad news for lovers of Boston tradition (the restaurant opened in May of 1985 and served the likes of Julia Child, John F. Kennedy, Jr., Bruce Springsteen and even The Rolling Stones–who each took over the restaurant for private parties at one time or another).

It’s even sadder for fans of chef William Kovel’s excellent food–food which earned the restaurant 5th place in our January ranking of the 50 best restaurants in the city. But as of July 1, if you want to enjoy Aujourd’hui’s gorgeous park view, you’ll have to book a private event, as the dining room is being converted into meeting space.

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Formerly of downtown Boston’s Good Life, Michael Scelfo recently took on the role of executive chef at Cambridge favorite Temple Bar.

You’ve done a lot of work in fine dining, and you’ve also had experience in the American bistro style of cooking that Temple Bar is known for. How’s your new job at Temple Bar unique among the other posts you’ve held?

It’s different in the sense that it’s really a very bustling, busy place, so from a volume perspective, I have the opportunity to showcase my food to a much larger crowd. I’ve worked in much smaller places before, and it’s exciting to have this bigger venue.
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Finding a stellar meal in Chinatown can be a fraught proposition, what with all the maddening quality and consistency bugaboos to contend with. There are the Fading Stars (restaurants that used to be great but have lost their sparkle–the Peach Farms and the Chau Chow City’s), the Watered-Down Crowd Pleasers (putting out mediocre versions of Cantonese standards instead of the regional cuisines they’re actually good at), and the Minefields (a dozen or so amazing dishes alongside a glut of fair-to-middlin’ items…like New Jumbo Seafood and East Ocean City). The scene is such a mixed bag, that we often send friends and readers to our favorite Chinese-food haunts in Brookline, Malden, and Waltham.

New Shanghai, on Hudson St. close to Kneeland, has long languished in the Fading Star category, trading on its reputation as Julia Child’s onetime go-to Chinatown haunt. But for foodies who’ve dined there recently, it’s been pretty darn abysmal. No longer.

With new ownership, the new New Shanghai (Newer Shanghai?) is hands down the best Chinese food in the ‘hood. I recognized several staff members there and, in fact, the chef, Yu Shihe, has been there “forever” (according to the woman answering the restaurant’s phone). So what’s the change? A conscious decision to become the source for ultra-spicy Szechuan and other regional dishes in the neighborhood. “No other restaurant in Chinatown is making good hot and spicy food,” explains the chef. (more…)

Wow, that headline really feels like sacrilege, given how long I’ve bowed at the altar of Rami’s, and the Israeli takeout joint still does turn out fantastic chick pea fritters. But the spinach falafel wrap at Sofra has made a convert out of me, and so it’s over the river we go.

Why? Start with the Turkish flatbread, called yufka–similar to a tortilla–which is made fresh the moment you order. Add a lashing of beet tzatziki, which adds a sweet tang and gorgeous color, and sprinkle on sine house-made sweet-and-sour veggie pickle (I spied cauliflower, peppers, carrots, and cucumbers). Throw in a few pickled hot peppers and a sprinkling of lettuce. Then pile on the falafel themselves, made with whole chickpeas, chickpea flour, and spinach, stirred with allspice and onions, and fried until crispy outside, moist and tender inside. Drizzle with tahini brown butter sauce. Die happy. (more…)

In recent weeks, I’ve had some pretty great dining experiences around Boston. Yummy meals of late: Dining on fisherman’s-style risotto, fresh doughnuts with rhubarb compote, and rosé at the bar at Tremont 647, which has a new executive chef and pastry chef; checking out Il Casale in its opening weeks (read about it here); dinner with my dad at Tomasso Trattoria (awesome Neapolitan-style pizza and to-die-for tagliatelle alla Bolognese).

But my eating RBI is admittedly better than usual. You have no idea how many half-baked meals I’ve choked down without a peep in the last several months. But we’ve been through this already; the truth is, I just have trouble sending food back.

But then I bit into a rock. (more…)

One advantage to living in a college town: You don’t have to go much farther than the nearest campus to satisfy your craving for a decent burger: Harvard has Bartley’s, BU has UBurger, and now Tufts has Boston Burger Company, a Davis Square indie fast food joint that seems tailor-made to meet the unguarded appetites of the undergrad set.

Open since early April and housed in the old Antonia’s space, the restaurant is a no-fuss counter spot, with three flat screen TV’s (usually set on the Sox game) and large menu boards listing the burger variations.

And boy, are there choices: 22 types of specialty burgers (all made with certified Angus beef, bred for better marbling), plus a choose-you-own-adventure menu of toppings, from pesto to pineapple. There are 11 types of fries, with seasonings that run from sweet to savory, eight non-burger sandwiches, and apps, wings, and salads to round it out. (more…)

Most of Chowder’s resident foodies are big fans of chef and Best of Boston 2008 winner Dante de Magistris. But we can’t quite bring ourselves to frequent his Cambridge restaurant, Dante, as often as we’d like. It’s not exactly the kind of place you’d pop in for an impromptu, casual meal the way you would the Franklin Cafe or the Butcher Shop. (A meatball-cooking contest on the patio, however, gets us across the river every time).

So when we first heard that Dante, along with brothers Damian and Filippo de Magistris, was opening a more casual boîte in his hometown of Belmont, we were sure he’d hit a sweet spot. (more…)

At Wednesday night’s book party for Ruth Reichl’s memoir, Not Becoming My Mother, at Upstairs on the Square, owner Mary-Catherine Deibel held court like the lovely grand dame she is, while guests oohed and ahhed over chef Susan Regis’ stuffed dates and fried clam rolls (Susan—please put those clams on the menu this summer—they’re amazing!).
Reichl was, to her admitted disappointment, too full from lunch to eat much, having had a long meal at another book party, this one hosted by Lydia Shire at Locke-Ober.

“It was one of the BEST meals I have EVER had,” she intoned.

That’s very high praise, coming from the editor of Gourmet and a former restaurant critic for the New York Times. We called Shire for comment.

“I’m really proud of this lunch. Really, really proud of it,” she said. “I just have so much respect for Ruth. I had to restrain myself and come up with a menu that was clear, concise, and delicious. So I think I did it, and if Ruth said I did it…Wow, that’s the best compliment in the world!”

We pressed for more details, and Shire was happy to oblige, at length. As she spoke, we realized what a terrific insight she was offering—a behind-the-burners view of how a chef works through a high-stakes menu, with a few great cooking tips thrown in. So we’re sharing a very lightly edited transcript with you.

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