Boston Restaurant Blog -- December, 2011

Well, here we are at the end of 2011, and lots of big things have happened within the Boston-area food and restaurant scene over the past 12 months, including the very first Wegmans market coming to Massachusetts, big-name places such as Rocca closing, and the introduction of food truck "stations" all over Boston. So what's on tap for 2012? No idea, actually, but there are a number of things I really hope for over the coming year, including the following wishes below. Some of these are obviously tongue-in-cheek, while others may be pipe dreams, but still others are wishes that could possibly happen. And which is which? I suppose I'll leave that for you to decide! And now, on to the wish list for 2012:

1) A Kosher Deli Food Truck
Anyone who has read my posts within the Boston Globe food chats is familiar with my obsession with this by now, but it seems to me that this would be a big hit. Imagine being able to buy potato pancakes, corned beef sandwiches, kasha varnishkes, and blintzes from a food truck? Boston seems to have most other cuisines covered when it comes to carts, wagons, and trucks, so why not good Jewish fare?

2) A Casual and Reasonably-Priced Restaurant on the Waterfront
Sure, we have Joe's American Bar and Grill near Long Wharf, and yes, we have the Barking Crab over by Fort Point Channel, but it would be nice to have a low-key, family-friendly, independent restaurant somewhere on the waterfront that would be something similar to the now-closed Eastern Pier (where Atlantic Beer Garden now resides on Northern Avenue), which seemed to fit this category nearly perfectly.

3) At Least One In-N-Out Burger (please!) in the Boston Area
Hey, no one thought that a Wegmans market would ever come to Massachusetts, and now we finally have one (with at least two more on the way), so why not In-N-Out Burger? The California-based burger chain has almost a cult status in some areas, so it would likely do very well if it came to Boston or somewhere else in the general area.

4) Wegmans Markets on the North Shore and the South Shore
Speaking of Wegmans, it is great to see this grocery store chain (which is based in Rochester, NY) expand into Massachusetts, with one now open in Northborough and two others on the way to Burlington and Chestnut Hill. But how about branches of the market directly north and south of Boston? It would seem that such communities as Saugus, Peabody, Braintree, and Hanover would be good possibilities for a Wegmans, since all four communities are near or on major highways and have a good amount of commercial space available.

5) At Least One More Italian Restaurant in Cambridge
The city of Cambridge has countless restaurants, but oddly enough, very few Italian spots. Yes, there are some low- and mid-range places (East Side Bar & Grille, Gran Gusto, L'Impasto, Basta Pasta, Amelia's) and a couple of higher-end spots (Rialto, Dante), but there really isn't a classic sit-down full-service old-school Italian restaurant anywhere in the city (though East Side does come close).

5) Oh, If Only We Had a Montreal-Style Public Market
For those of you who have been to this incredibly food-rich city a few hours north of Beantown, you probably know what I mean. Such heavenly food centers as Atwater Market and Jean-Talon Market in Montreal simply don't exist in the Boston area, though one bit of promising news is that a year-round public market will likely be coming to a building in downtown Boston along the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, so perhaps this wish will indeed come true.

6) Laotian, Georgian, or Bolivian Restaurants, Anyone?
Yes, these could probably be placed into the "niche" category and would certainly not be for everyone, but Providence has Laotian and Bolivian places, and New York has at least one Georgian restaurant (Georgia as in the country in Eurasia, by the way, not the state that has lots of peanuts) so perhaps the Boston area could become home to such spots? Ehhh, ok, maybe not.

7) Chicago-Style Deep-Dish Pizza from an Independent Restaurant
Chicago-style pizza is indeed available in the Boston area, with locations of Uno Chicago Grill being all over the region. But wouldn't it be nice to have an independent eatery that focused solely on deep-dish pizza? The long-closed Bel Canto in Lexington didn't feature a truly traditional Chicago-style deep-dish pie, but they were close, and it was a popular place simply because of the fact that they were doing what so few others did in the area.

8) The Re-Emergence of the Dive Bar
Over the past few years, gastropubs and high-end cocktail lounges have popped up all over the Greater Boston area, and many of them are very fine places to go for food and drink. But when was the last time you heard of a brand new dive bar opening? It just doesn't happen all that much anymore, and each year, more and more of these neighborhood townie spots seem to be disappearing from the scene, which is a shame.

9) More Late-Night Coffee Houses, Please!
The Boston area is home to many independent coffee houses, but relatively few of them stay open late. This is a shame, as not everyone wants to go to a Starbucks, and Dunkin' Donuts is...well, it's not a coffee house. If only there were more places such as Perks in Norwood, Diesel Cafe in Somerville, or 1369 Coffee House in Cambridge (all open late), the world--or at least the Boston area--would seem a better place.

10) Xiao Long Bao for Everyone
Have you ever eaten an Asian soup dumpling? If so, you probably know that immensely satisfying feeling of having steaming hot broth spraying everywhere (hopefully not on your dining companion's shirt) while savoring the tastes of pork, chicken, vegetables, etc. If 2012 became the year of the emergence of restaurants featuring Xiao Long Bao (also known as XLB), I (and many others, I'm sure) would consider it to be a very good year.

Do you have a culinary wish list for 2012? If so, please post your lists on this page, thanks!

Posted by MH, Boston's Hidden Restaurants, on December 30, 2011.
RSS | Post A Comment

4 COMMENTS:
ivelisse said:
how about some late-night tamale vendors, like in chicago? or decent *anytime* tamale vendors, actually.
Posted on 12/30/11
dive bar said:
kind of hard to open a dive bar with such a strict licensing & entertainment board in boston!! you can barely open a restaurant without the neighborhood associations putting up a fuss!
Posted on 12/30/11
Tim said:
RE: Number 7
Sicilia's on Comm Ave near BU has pretty good Chicago style deep dish pizza. It's not perfect, but it's still tasty!
Posted on 12/30/11
mft said:
1. A good Decent Ramen place
2. A Japanese style bistro (Izakaya), has nice grilled meat & sake!
Posted on 1/4/12

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