10 minute read
WHAT’S NEW?
Anew Mexican cantina replaces Asian-fusion joint Ginger Exchange at 1287 Cambridge St., which closed recently. The restaurant is decorated to honor its namesake, Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, with portraits of Kahlo featured prominently across the walls. Its owner, Eric Brambila, co-owns three other Boston-area Mexican spots: Tequila’s in Chelmsford and Wakefield, and Ixtapa Mexican Grill in Groton. INMAN SQUARE CORAZÓN DE FRIDA COMING SOON MOVED
CITY BEAT
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CAMBRIDGE PUBLIC SCHOOLS INCLUDE HALAL OPTIONS FOR STUDENT MEALS In February, Cambridge Public Schools (CPS) introduced halalcertified chicken to its school lunches. According to their website, this effort was prompted by Muslim families in CPS and was made possible through the efforts of Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui and School Committee ViceChair Manikka Bowman.
PROPOSAL AIMS TO RENAME AGASSIZ NEIGHBORHOOD The City Council approved a proposal by Maya Counter, the president of the Black Student Union at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, to rename Agassiz the “Baldwin neighborhood,” for the late educator Maria Baldwin. The neighborhood’s elementary school, The Maria L. Baldwin School, also honors Baldwin, who in 1899 became the first black woman to be a school principal in the Northeast. Counter, a resident of the Agassiz neighborhood, took an advanced placement history class that unveiled the life history of the neighborhood’s current namesake, Louis Agassiz, who espoused harmful theories such as eugenics.
BERNIE SANDERS WINS AT SATELLITE CAUCUS Iowa residents gathered in Harvard Square on Feb. 2 for a satellite caucus, one of many caucuses held internationally for displaced Iowans, WGBH reports. This is the first year the program has been enacted; previously, Iowans far from home had no option to vote. The tally totaled 22 votes for Sanders, 20 votes for Warren, and 8 for Buttigieg, translating to 3, 2, and 1 delegates, respectively.
VAPING SURGES AMONG CAMBRIDGE TEENS Cambridge Day reports that in the past year, the number of Cambridge Ringe and Latin School students who reported
PORTER SQUARE YOKI EXPRESS BRINGS POKE TO PORTER Yoki Express, a new poke place in the former Bruegger’s Bagels spot at 1876 Massachusetts Ave. serves poke and sushi burritos, according to Eater Boston. The restaurant had its grand opening on Jan. 31, though it had been operating since the end of 2019. The first Yoki Express location is in Boston’s Seaport. Both locations are meant to be casual versions of the sitdown Yoki restaurant at Station Landing in Medford. COMING SOON MOVED
HURON VILLAGE BASE CRAVE SATISFIES CRAVINGS FOR NEPALI CUISINE A new Nepali restaurant has moved into the former Full Moon location at 344 Huron Ave. Base Crave, formerly named Melting Pot, went through a last-minute name change when owner Bhola Pandey received a cease-and-desist order from the Melting Pot fondue restaurant chain, based in Tampa, Fla. Pandey also runs Mitho Restaurant, a Nepali eatery in Winchester, Mass. COMING SOON MOVED
having used e-cigarettes in their lifetime has soared, rising from 11 percent in 2018 to 33 percent. Close to a fifth of students reported having used the products in the past month. “This is now a crisis, an emergency,” Tracy RoseTynes, the manager of school health services for the Cambridge Public Health Department, said.
CAMBRIDGE UPGRADES ITS VOTER REGISTRATION SYSTEM The Office of the Secretary of State offered a new way for Cambridge voters to register in February, The Cambridge Chronicle reports. The all-online registration system allows you to apply to register, change your address, apply for an absentee ballot, or change your party affiliation. The new website is www.registertovotema.com.
Authentic Mexican cuisine and cocktails with modern flare.
TIGER SUGAR BRINGS BUBBLE TEA FROM TAIWAN TO CAMBRIDGE Taiwan-based bubble tea chain Tiger Sugar—which sells tigerstriped, Instagram-friendly bubble teas—signed a lease on a new space in Harvard Square last December, but has yet to disclose the address of the forthcoming location. According to Eater Los Angeles, K. Leung, a representative of Tiger Sugar, says that founder Ming Tsung Yang stumbled upon this uniquely pretty tea when he mixed brown sugar syrup, tapioca pearls, and milk at his dessert spot in Taichung, Taiwan.
NORTH CAMBRIDGE NOOKIE POSTAL’S NEW RESTAURANT MOTHERSHIP Famed Boston chef Steve “Nookie” Postal—who runs Commonwealth in Kendall Square and served as the executive chef for the Boston Red Sox—is opening a new restaurant called Mothership at 125 CambridgePark Dr., an office complex already home to various dining options. But Mothership will offer more than just dining. Eater Boston reports that it will be a spacious beer hall featuring televisions, bar bites, and games including skee-ball and shuffleboard, according to Eater Boston.
PORTER SQUARE DEAR ANNIE Lauren Friel, a sommelier at Somerville’s Rebel Rebel Wine Bar, Andrew Brady, chef-owner of Field & Vine, and Sara Markey, partner and general manager of Field & Vine, are teaming up to open an intimate neighborhood pub space called Dear Annie at 1741 Massachusetts Ave. The menu features a variety of seafood, and tartines and breads made fresh in-house, and the owners plan to use Dear Annie as a space for classes and themed parties, according to Boston Magazine.
CAMBRIDGEPORT NU DO SOCIETY MOVES INTO RIVER STREET SPOT A new Asian-fusion joint will occupy the former space of the beloved neighborhood spot River Gods at 123 River St. Nu Do Society is set to open in February or March, Eater Boston reports. Nu Do’s menu includes tom yum ramen, a soup with Japanese noodles and Thai herbal broth. River Gods, a well-known destination for the city’s best DJs, occupied that address for 15 years before shuttering in summer 2016. Nu Do, unlike River Gods, will not sell alcohol.
The search for the roots of Mexico...
...the search for that feeling of authentic pride...
Corazón de Frida 1287 Cambridge St, Cambridge corazondefridacantina.com
Central Kitchen, located at 567 Massachusetts Ave. for 20 years, has closed. However, Brick & Mortar, the cocktail lounge upstairs, which remains under the same ownership, will not be shutting its doors. The new marijuana dispensary Western Front, which is not affiliated with Central Kitchen owner Gary Stack, will be opening its doors in Central Kitchen’s space later this year. CENTRAL KITCHEN CENTRAL SQUARE COMING SOON MOVED
CENTRAL SQUARE THE MIDDLE EAST The Middle East
Restaurant and Nightclub
complex on Massachusetts Avenue in Central Square— which includes the club, ZuZu Restaurant, and music venue Sonia around the corner on Brookline Street—is for sale, Cambridge Day reported, though action on the listing is not likely. Nabil Sater and his family currently own the FOR SALE
complex, which they bought for $7.1 million in 2014. “To our valued community, the Sater family would like to inform you that they’re looking to develop the property; the Middle East Restaurant and Nightclub will remain running and open as usual,” the owners wrote in a Facebook post. “We will keep you updated as we go through this process. The Middle East business is here to stay and will be a part of any development at 472-480 Mass Ave. Thank you for your years of support and we look forward to a promising future together.”
CENTRAL SQUARE REVOLUTIONARY CLINICS Revolutionary Clinics, one of the state’s leading providers of medical marijuana, open its doors at 541 Massachusetts Ave. in Central Square on Feb. 25, according to a press release from the company. The 6,500-square-foot dispensary will carry a full range of medical marijuana brands and products developed at a Revolutionary Clinics production facility in Fitchburg, Mass. COMING SOON MOVED
HARVARD SQUARE CAMBRIDGE, 1. Gourmet pizzeria Cambridge, 1. closed at the end of last year after almost 20 years of operation at 27 Church St. “Our thanks to the many guests who have shared this special experience with us,” the restaurant says in a brief note COMING
SOON
posted on their door. According to Cambridge 1.’s website, the now-defunct alternative weekly newspaper The Boston Phoenix once called their pizzas “minimalist performance art.”
SALT & OLIVE MARKET As developers move into the neighborhood and rents rise, Cambridge faces another loss of a local business: Salt & Olive Market. The local favorite operated for seven years, first in a location close to Harvard Square, and later in The Garage. In addition to its unique offering of over 50 varieties of olive oil on tap, the market also hosted lectures and cooking classes open to anyone in the community. On Feb. 14, the owners hosted an
“Until We Meet Again Open House” at 35 Dunster
St., described on their Facebook page as “a celebration of community and all the ways that food has brought us together.” MOVED COMING
SOON
CONSTRUCTION ZONES A NEW BOUTIQUE HOTEL WITH ROOFTOP DINING CENTRAL SQUARE COMING
SOON B uilt by global design firm Gensler in collaboration with Cambridge-based architect Boyes-Watson, 907 Main (located at 907 Main St.) will house 67 rooms as well as retail space and a rooftop bar called Blue Owl. The hotel’s website says its design drew inspiration from the legacy of Margaret Fuller and the Transcendentalist movement. Due to Central Square’s inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places, the design was approved by the Cambridge Historical Commission. The new hotel, and future home to Toscanini’s Ice Cream and Praliné French Patisserie, will open in May according to its website.
MOVED
Authentic Mexican cuisine and cocktails with modern flare.
WESTERN MASS.- BASED ARTIFACT CIDER PROJECT TO OPEN NEW LOCATION New England hard cider manufacturer Artifact Cider Project, based in Florence, Mass., will open a new taproom in Central Square as soon as this spring, according to Boston Magazine. “Having a brick and mortar presence on both sides of our state will give us new opportunities to experiment, collaborate, and make cider that celebrates the Northeast and the people who live here,” they shared in an email newsletter dated Jan. 16. The team did not disclose the planned location for the taproom. COMING
SOON
A MARIJUANA DISPENSARY BRINGS OPPORTUNITY When Central Kitchen at 567 Massachusetts Ave. moves out, Western Front will begin construction on a new marijuana dispensary, expected to open sometime this year, Dennis A. Benzan, the dispensary’s co-founder, told The Harvard Crimson. According to the company’s proposal, they aim to establish the first Cannabis Work Force Training Center in the state to train and hire underprivileged Cambridge residents and members of marginalized communities. Benzan is a former City Councillor (the first Latino ever to hold that position) and vice-mayor of Cambridge. “Historically, communities of color and minorities have been disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs, and … now that it’s legal, it’s imperative that we do everything possible to permit the minority community to enter the cannabis industry,” Benzan told the Crimson. MOVED
EAST CAMBRIDGE THE SHED This summer, the Shed—a retail building in the heart of the Cambridge Crossing development in East Cambridge— will be home to new dining and drinking establishments, including Luminati Spirits, a “distillery and brewery project” operated by Lamplighter Brewing Co., and an all-day cafe and 60- seat restaurant. The latter project comes from Will Gilson and his team, known for their Puritan & Co. restaurant in Inman Square and the pop-up Café Beatrice in Allston, Eater Boston reports. COMING
SOON
...carried deep in the heart...
MOVED
...that neither time nor distance can take away.
