Thursday Sips & Nibbles

I'm back again with a new edition of Sips & Nibbles, my regular column where I highlight some interesting, upcoming food and drink events. I hope everyone dines out safely, tips well and are nice to their servers.
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1) Best of the Wurst is East Cambridge's premier sausage-tasting event, held on Saturday, July 25, from 12pm-2pm at the First Street Market. featuring handmade sausages from your favorite local chefs and restaurants! Your entry into the festivities gets you a taste of all 12 sausages. BOTW is run in partnership with the National Mustard Museum, who will pair each sausage with a notable mustard chosen just for them. The bar will be open for service, with beer and cocktails available for purchase. There will be Pearl hot dogs as well for the kids, so feel free to bring the whole family.

Some of the sausages that will be there include:

Revival Kitchen - Kimchi Sausage
Little Sage - Chicken & Rabe with Vinegar Sweet Peppers
Il Casale - Avellinese Sausage, Broccoli Rabe Marmellata, on Bao bun with Potato Sticks
Merai - Kapow Hot Dog
State Park - Texas Hot Links
Formaggio Kitchen - Boudin Noir
Puritan Oyster Bar - Bacon & Scallop Boudin Blanc
Amba - Harissa Lamb Sausage
Geppetto - Porchetta Style Provolone Brat

There will also be fruit mustards, herb mustards, pepper mustards, deli mustards, sweet mustards, Dijon & more presented by Mustard Maestro Ken Zuckerman! And beverage sampling from Widowmaker Brewery and Whistlepig Distillery, along with beer and cocktails featuring Bacardi & Patron to purchase. 

The Cost is Adults $30 ($33.85 w processing fee) and Kids $10 ($12.51 w fee).

Tickets and Info can be found HERE. 


2) Wednesday, July 15, marks National Hot Dog Day and the Silhouette Lounge will honor the occasion by serving up $1 hot dogs all day, from 4pm-1am, while supplies last. Limit of one $1 hot dog per person with the purchase of a beverage on July 15. 

The Sil also is here to remind everyone about their once-in-a-lifetime offer: free links for ink. Here’s how it works: Get permanently tatted up – keep the body part PG-13 – with any Sil-related insignia (inspired by its logo, signature art like the winged rat, its namesake, etc.) and your indelible love will be rewarded with a free hot dog per visit for life. And these aren’t just any hot dogs, these are “Sil Dogs” – all-beef franks nestled in their buns served with packets of ketchup, mustard, and relish.

3) Also for National Hot Dog Day, Fuddruckers, in Reading, is offering $1 Hot Dogs all day on July 15th, while supplies last. This is for Dine In only, and you are limited to 3 hot dogs per transaction. This deal includes unlimited produce and condiments from their topping bar, but Specialty toppings cost extra. 

Rant: Conduct Food & Drink Rituals

A person selects a bottle of wine, and uses a corkscrew to open it. They then gently pour the wine into a decanter, allowing it to sit for a time. Once they pour their glass of wine, they swirl the wine in the glass and then smell it, assessing the aromas. Then, they take a small sip of the wine, swishing it around their mouth, inhaling a bit of air. Finally, they pour themselves a glass of the wine, ready to drink it and judge the quality of the wine. 

Another person watches the above person open this wine, and when their own glass is poured, they immediately take a couple good gulps. If both people were asked to rate the wine, it's likely that the first person would rate the wine higher than the second person. Why? There can be a significant psychological reason for this difference, but not something most people consider. 

This situation is illustrative of a greater principle, showcasing the power of ritual.

"Rituals have a surprising degree of influence over how people experience what comes next."

In the journal Psychological Science, Kathleen Vohs, Yajin Wang, Francesca Gino, and Michael I. Norton published the results of a study based on four experiments analyzing the effect of rituals on food and drink consumption. Their experiments involved items including chocolate, lemonade and carrots, though they believed their results extended to all types of food and drink.

They concluded that: "Rituals enhance consumption enjoyment due to the greater involvement they prompt in the experience." In addition, personal involvement in the specific ritual generally garners more enhanced pleasure than merely observing the ritual. That provides a fascinating insight into our eating and drinking habits, one which I believe has validity.

In my example at the top of the article, the first person conducted a ritual for opening and pouring their wine. This was their usual procedure for most any bottle of wine. And that ritual likely affected how they experienced the wine, tending to make them rate it higher than others. The second person didn't engage in any rituals, sipping gulping the wine in their glass. They weren't as involved in the process, and thus didn't engage in any rituals that might have enhanced their experience. 

Taste does not contain only a sensory aspect. Part of our appreciation of the taste of food and drink is psychological. It's why eating and drinking with friends is usually better than doing it alone. It's why wine you drink on vacation can sometimes taste so much better than the same wine you later have at home. It seems logical then that rituals, which can build a deeper emotional connection, will make food and drink taste better. Such rituals involve you more closely to the entire experience, investing yourself deeper into everything. And rituals are often easy to do, requiring only a little time and effort.

What food and drink rituals do you perform? What is your favorite ritual?

Thursday Sips & Nibbles

I'm back again with a new edition of Sips & Nibbles, my regular column where I highlight some interesting, upcoming food and drink events. I hope everyone dines out safely, tips well and are nice to their servers.
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1) Anna’s Taqueria has just introduced summertime specials featuring a seafood favorite: shrimp. Available now at all locations, the pair comes in two forms: guajillo shrimp taco with seasoned shrimp that is topped with housemade pineapple-mango-jalapeño salsa, cilantro and shredded lettuce on corn tortillas, and guajillo shrimp salad served over a bed of mixed greens with sweet peppers, the signature spicy-sweet salsa and avocado coated in a homemade cilantro dressing.

Also making its seasonal return is Anna’s Watermelon Agua Fresca made in-house daily with fresh-pressed watermelon, a pinch of sugar and seltzer making it a thirst-quencher on a sizzling summer day.

COST: Taco: $5.95+; Salad: $13.70+; Watermelon Agua Fresca: $3.95-$5.35

2) Burtons Grill & Bar is bringing a taste of summer. Throughout July and August, all Burtons locations will feature their premium lobster rolls – served either chilled Maine-style or warm Connecticut-style – for just $29. Now in its third year, Burtons tradition of packing equal amounts lobster meat, flavor, and value into every roll has become a guest favorite and ultimate celebration of summer.

Burtons’ lobster rolls feature five ounces of fresh tail, claw, and knuckle meat to achieve the perfect bite of sweetness, tenderness, and texture. Lobster lovers can enjoy it Maine-style, chilled with housemade aioli, or Connecticut-style, warm and buttered, both served in a buttery brioche bun alongside French fries. Reflecting Burtons’ longstanding dedication to those with food allergies and dietary restrictions, both lobster rolls also are available gluten free.

Rant: Why Boston Restaurants Should Emulate Tokyo Restaurants

Should Boston restaurants specialize more? Are Boston restaurant menus too large? 

Let's begin with a couple interesting statistics and comparisons. In Boston, which has an approximate population of 674,000, there are about 4300 restaurants, which roughly works out to 1 restaurant per 156 people. In Tokyo, which has an approximate population of 14.2 Million, there are about 300,000 restaurants, which roughly works out to 1 restaurant per 47 people.

The culinary scene in Tokyo is renowned throughout the world. In Rice, Noodle, Fish: Deep Travels Through Japan's Food Culture (2015) by Matt Goulding, he wrote: "There are a dozen factors that make Japanese food so special—ingredient obsession, technical precision, thousands of years of meticulous refinement—but chief among them is one simple concept: specialization." Matt got a bit more down to earth, adding "...in Japan, the secret to success is choosing one thing and doing it really fucking well." In Super Sushi Ramen Express (2016) by Michael Booth, he commented on Tokyo restaurants. "Many of them specialize in just one style of cooking, or even just one dish. And this is the key, I think, to the unparalleled wealth of Tokyo's dining scene."

Maybe this type of specialization would benefit Boston restaurants.

How many Boston restaurants specialize in one type of food, carrying only a very limited menu? Very few. Most have far larger menus, providing numerous choices so they will appeal to a broader audience. Consider the numerous Asian restaurants which offer Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and other Asian cuisines on a single menu. Do you actually receive the best food from such spots? Probably not. Do the restaurants employ true experts in all of those cuisines? Probably not. With such a huge menu, how can you be assured of the freshness of all of the ingredients? You probably can't. The food might be good, but it rarely excels. 

Now, consider that 311 Omakase, which received Boston's only Michelin Star last year, is a more specialized restaurant, offering only an omakase experience of Japanese cuisine. And a number of the other Michelin recommended restaurants in Boston also tend to be more specialized, at least concentrating on a single type of cuisine, from Korean to Thai. 

Why do so few Boston area restaurants specialize? I think the primary reason has to do with the average restaurant goer who feels entitled that they should be able to get almost anything they want at any restaurant. Rather than enjoying what is offered on the menu, some complain about what isn't there. And that outcry has caused some restaurants to give in to their demands, expanding their menu to include items that might have been outside of their original concept. 

It's a tough position for restaurants. I'm sure some would love to specialize, to have a more limited menu but financially that can be very difficult. Yet with a more limited menu, the quality of what was offered could potentially be increased. Those chefs could excel at what they produce, creating an even better product. However, the main problem becomes trying to transform the customer base to be more accepting of such limited menus. Customers need to be convinced that higher quality food, from more specialized restaurants, needs their support and patronage. 

We must throw our support to these brave restaurants which take the risk to be more specialized. We need to convince our fellow diners that they too should support such restaurants. People have to stop thinking that a restaurant menu must cater to every customer's desires. A restaurant serving multiple different cuisines can't possibly provide top quality food for their entire voluminous menu. Customers must accept a restaurant menu's limitations, and savor what is available. 

Thursday Sips & Nibbles

I'm back again with a new edition of Sips & Nibbles, my regular column where I highlight some interesting, upcoming food and drink events. I hope everyone dines out safely, tips well and are nice to their servers.
********************************************************
1) Throughout July and August, all Burtons Grill & Bar  locations will feature their premium lobster rolls – served either chilled Maine-style or warm Connecticut-style – for just $29. Now in its third year, Burtons tradition of lobster rolls feature five ounces of fresh tail, claw, and knuckle meat to achieve a fine bite of sweetness, tenderness, and texture. Lobster lovers can enjoy it Maine-style, chilled with housemade aioli, or Connecticut-style, warm and buttered, both served in a buttery brioche bun alongside French fries. Reflecting Burtons’ longstanding dedication to those with food allergies and dietary restrictions, both lobster rolls also are available gluten free.

2) Celebrating the best tastes of summer, Coach Grill in Wayland will feature a summer prix fixe menu through August 1. Available nightly, diners will have their choice of a collection of appetizers, mains and dessert over three courses. For starters, there is a watermelon and feta salad with basil and honey-lime vinaigrette in addition to chilled gazpacho with crème fraîche. Entrées include a spicy tuna poke bowl with avocado, cucumber, sushi rice and sesame; marinated steak tips with whipped potatoes; and lightly breaded chicken Milanese topped with an arugula salad and shaved parmesan. For dessert, indulge in a key lime tart with raspberry coulis and vanilla Chantilly cream.

COST: Three-course prix fixe: $55 per person
RESERVE: For reservations, please visit OpenTable.