14 minute read
Table Hoppin’
CITY LIVING
TABLE HOPPIN’
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Pholicious owner Thien Phan and manager Mayleena Silva inside the new Vietnamese restaurant in a former Friendly’s in Holden.
RICK CINCLAIR/TELEGRAM & GAZETTE
Pholicious offers authentic Vietnamese fare in Holden
Barbara M. Houle
Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
Thien Phan of Shrewsbury owns three local Japanese restaurants, and last month he and his wife opened Pholicious, a Vietnamese restaurant in the former Friendly’s, 1062 Main St., Holden. Why Vietnamese cuisine this time around? Andy Nguyen of Shrewsbury, who has worked as a chef
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at his brother-in-law’s Kyoto Bar & Grill locations in Whitinsville, Worcester and Holden, said Phan always wanted to open a Vietnamese restaurant serving the food their families grew up on. Staying up to date on what’s new and upcoming in the industry, Phan first planned marketing strategy around sushi’s popularity, said Nguyen. When the Friendly’s property became available ,it was the right time and place for Vietnamese food, he said. “There’s no sushi at Pholicious, and the food is different from what other restaurants in town serve.” Pholicious held a soft opening for family and friends on Sept. 14. The restaurant has quickly attracted regular and weekly clientele, said Manager Mayleena Silva, who previously worked as bartender at Kyoto Bar & Grill in Whitinsville. The Holden restaurant has been renovated and seats 106 at booths, tables and the bar. The menu is filled with classic appetizers, noodle dishes, rice plates, Holden Bao (steamed buns with a variety of fillings), sides, Vietnamese sandwiches and Vietnam’s national dish, Pho (pronounced “fuh.”) Smoothies, slushies and a variety of teas, including boba or bubble tea, are on the menu. There’s a lot to take in. The Vietnamese Pho (broth, rice noodles, herbs, thinly sliced beef or chicken) is considered the house specialty, made by Nguyen’s sister, “an executive chef who came from Colorado” to help in the family business. There are 12 Pho dishes on the menu, including the restaurant’s most popular, Pho Filet Mignon and Pholicious Holden, both beef noodle soups. For non-meat lovers, there’s a veggie noodle soup, Pho Chay, that has tofu in a vegetarian broth. Pho is a fragrant, nourishing soup known to appeal to American tastes. “Vietnamese food prepared at Pholicious is what we know and love. It’s the real deal,” said Nguyen, who came to the United States from Vietnam as a youngster. “And, we’re not afraid of hard work,” he said, “pulling together as a team. No matter what restaurant, excellent food and service is always a team effort.” Everyone pitches in at Pholicious, young and old, said Nguyen, who had just washed dishes before this interview. He’s kitchen manager and a chef at the restaurant. He tells the story about how his mother came to the restaurant one day and said she could help out cutting broccoli. “I reminded her that she would be cutting more than a couple bunches,” said Nguyen. “We go through cases of broccoli every day. She said, ‘OK, no problem.’” Silva currently is hiring, looking to fill waitstaff and bartending positions at Pholicious. “We have a wonderful staff already, and we’re so lucky to have local students on board,” she said. “Everyone is friendly and professional.” Pholicious is open from 4 to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday; 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday;
LISTEN UP
Erin McKeown’s latest music video is “On/Off Heart.”
PHOTO COURTESY SHERVIN LAINEZ
Erin McKeown takes deep dive into bad romance with ‘Kiss Off Kiss’
Victor D. Infante
Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
With “Kiss Off Kiss,” longtime Massachusetts folk-scene veteran Erin McKeown takes the listener on a deep-dive of shallow affairs, meaningless sex, insecurity, the frost that overtakes a heart when a relationship dies and, perhaps most importantly, holding on to one’s sense of self amid the burning car crashes that pass for romance. Cynical? McKeown pretty well signals where she’s going with all of this with her opening track, “Cupido Stupido.” The song itself has a cheery, upbeat disposition, a sing-songy sense of innocence that belies lines such as, “I like to think that I am 21st century/ too sharp to fall for that ancient mythic (expletive)/how could someone so smart be so suddenly stupid/to think somehow I would reinvent Cupid.”
Indeed, if there’s a theme to this album beyond the awfulness of dating, it’s the feeling of being a walk-on character in one’s own life, an idea that manifests explicitly in “Litany For A Minor Character.” It’s a musically discordant piece of work, one that resembles ‘90s
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McKeown
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punk rock-infused spoken word more than it does the folk music for which McKeown’s known. That said, the sense of aggression and desperation which soaks the song in lines such as, “for all this mess this blessing will you grant us/for all this struggle all this/for someone so brief a narrator/ mercy for that minor character,” followed by the refrain of “Lord hear our prayer,” makes for a harrowing emotional experience, one which seems almost at odds with the subsequent, “On/Off Heart.” “On/Off Heart” is a more traditionally structured pop-country song, and in the face of the earlier song’s delirium, the thought of a heart which turns off and on to protect itself sounds sort of tragic, a sadness which carries into the more melancholy, “Switch Shadows.”
“Switch Shadows” is a slowly meandering brook of a song, a gentle flow only interrupted by a roll of percussion. “Take my hand and ditch shadows with me,” McKeown sings, “now we’re free,” but there’s a plaintive quality to the vocals which makes the listener think that’s probably not true, a slow-burn feeling that’s borne out in the slowly jazzy, “Details of the Crime,” where McKeown sings of evidence, “Evidence of the crime/ripped from the pages of/some cheap detective novels/or from a mini-series mystery of the week/the trail of evidence so evidently obvious/ how dare we speak?” The song has a low bass thump that feels like a heartbeat, adding to the its sense of foreboding. There is a criminal at large, after all, and that criminal is love itself.
The album picks up the tempo a bit with the more rockdriven “Go Along/Get Along,” which seems to echo “On/Off Heart” a bit, with its meditation on the coldness that can come with an ending: “In your eyes I could see nothing/bright blue babies used to turn something on/but now it’s gone/you could be anyone/lying on top of me and I’m done.” The fact that the song has a fun, upbeat vibe only helps to put the discord in sharper focus, just as the moodier tone of “The Business of Show” — detailing the first sparks of attraction between the persona and someone in the front row of one off her performances — seems ot denote that, for all the heat, this will not end well. Likewise, the touch of doo-wop in “My Own Baby” contrasts the song’s palapable sense of loneliness.
Things really heat up on the album with the bracing, “Is/He Does/His.” Here, McKeown’s persona finds herself in danger of losing a paramour to a man: “What’s his skin like?” she sings, “Woes he drink like you?/Does he like-like you/ straight and wife-like?/Was I your escape hatch?/am I an itch to scratch?/was I your status catch?/the match so you can burn for someone?” Every line of the song lacerates. The persona is wounded, and lashing out, and the listener feels it on every level, even as the song’s blistering blast of rock guitar creates an electrifying hook. The rage cools into something more measured in the title song, ‘Kiss Off Kiss,” and it’s striking how in the transition between the two songs, the listener can actually feel the frost descend.
Then, with “Landing Spot,” we return to the more dissolute spoken word style of “Litany For A Minor Character,” and while the lyrics seem to convey the persona coming to grips with their own sense of selfvalue, the foreboding tone of the music makes that assertion suspect. The rage from earlier has cooled, but it clearly hasn’t entirely evaporated. When we arrive at the penultimate song, “Today/Sex,” the anger burbles up again, although here it’s fueled by that sense of selfworth: “Today I could have been having/sex with you … but it wasn’t worth the price to be your accessory.”
The album ends with the steamy “Little Miss Mister,” a gritty little song. “Hey little sister baby what’s your name?” sings McKeown, her voice low and seductive. “Don’t be afraid pretty mister I won’t tell your friends.” It’s an interesting ending, one that seems to bring the listener back to the beginning of an unhealthy cycle. It’s the very last lines, though, which give the song some context: “Hey little miss mister what’s got you so down?/ whatcha say little mister do you like my album?” Is the album itself a sort of kiss off kiss? Only McKeown could say for certain. The rest of us will just have to enjoy it for what it is.
Hoppin’
Continued from Page 20
noon to 9 p.m. Sunday. The restaurant has a full liquor license and offers takeout, but no delivery service. Telephone is (508) 901-9999. Check restaurant updates on Facebook as hours may soon be extended. Visit www.pholiciousholden.com. Call for information about reserving holiday or special occasion parties or meetings.
FYI: Kyoto Bar & Grill locations are at 185 Church St., Whitinsville; 535 Lincoln St., Worcester; 695 Main St., Holden. Sushi, hibachi service and more.
Going out to eat is a fun thing to do. Enjoy some time in a new place and try new foods. At Pholicious, it could be a soothing bowl of Pho, or you could celebrate happy hour with Silva’s signature Lychee martini and a few appetizers. Just a thought.
Chris Rovezzi opens spot in Brimfield
Christopher (Chris) Rovezzi opened Villa Sofia restaurant, 17 Main St., Brimfield, on Oct. 8, according to a Facebook posting. FYI: Sophia is the name of Rovezzi and wife, Tracy’s, daughter.
Restaurant hours are 5 to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. The chef ’s recent menu on Facebook has 12 “start” options and nine main dishes ranging from Rovezzi’s handmade pappardelle with slow-cooked Bolognese to other pastas and veal, pork and chicken specialties.
The chef previously owned and operated Rovezzi’s Ristorante in Sturbridge, closing in 2019 when the restaurant suffered “catastrophic water damage and extensive repairs” as the result of a water pipe burst. The restaurant went on the market in March 2019. Rovezzi has kept a low profile since then. He’s an award-winning chef who at one time owned restaurants in Worcester and Rutland and comes from a family of restaurateurs. His parents opened Rovezzi’s on Main Street in Worcester in the late 1970s.
Worcester Tech’s Skyline Bistro opening
Skyline Bistro at Worcester Technical High School opened to the public on Oct. 13.
Hours are 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. It’s cash only at the restaurant. Call (508) 799-1964 for reservations. Guests are asked to wear masks when entering the school building. Culinary students assisted by chef/culinary instructors prepare the menu, and hospitality students provide service in the restaurant. Skyline Bistro had been closed for more than a year due to the pandemic.
Wayback Burgers fall special
Wayback Burgers says “Happy Fall, Y’all!” with two, limited time items.
Bourbon Bacon Burger and Pumpkin Caramel Shake will be available through Nov. 14. The local Wayback Burgers is at 11 Tobias Boland Way, Worcester. Order online, or call (508) 755-9300.
About the menu: Bourbon Bacon Burger is two beef patties, topped with cheddar cheese, bourbon mustard, bacon and an onion ring; Pumpkin Caramel Shake is a handdipped, pumpkin- flavored milkshake topped with whipped cream and caramel drizzle.
Peppers Thanksgiving package
from Peppers Artful Events in Northboro is now available to pre-order with pickup dates beginning Nov. 22.
The packages range from small gatherings of four people to parties of 18. In addition to main dishes, the a la carte menu also offers sides and desserts. Visit https://www.peppersartfulevents.com for more information.
Wayland farmers market ends Oct. 20
Wayland Summer Farmers Market at Russell’s Garden Center in Wayland ends Oct. 20 Hours are noon to 4 p.m. in the garden center’s front parking lot. Vendors to include On the Knife Sharpening.
Stay tuned for updates on the winter market inside the garden center’s greenhouses.
If you have a tidbit for the column, call (508) 868-5282. Send email to bhoulefood@gmail.com.
CONNELL SANDERS
Griftober — conmen, charlatons and scammers
Sarah Connell Sanders
Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
I love stories about grifters. Speculate all you want. I just can’t resist a nine-part takedown of a fake doctor. Here is what I am listening to, watching and reading this October.
What’s the Format?
Podcast
Where can I find it?
Audiochuck
What’s the story?
“Something Was Wrong” is my favorite true-crime docuseries because host Tiffany Reese explores the trauma of abusive relationships and the healing that can follow. Season 9 focuses on two survivors tortured by a narcissist named Artie with a fake British accent. It’s a long con with plenty of twists and turns. The story is told from multiple perspectives, dismantling Artie’s dangerous subterfuge bit by bit. The series also reveals gaping flaws in the justice system for victims of domestic abuse. Despite heavy subject matter, “Something Was Wrong” is compelling and addictive. You will not be able to turn it off.
Can you compare it to something similar?
Fans of Wondery’s “Dirty John” podcast will love this show. Like John, Artie is a menacing charmer with a real knack for making intelligent women doubt their own instincts and self worth.
TV Show
Where can I find it?
HBO
What’s the story?
Gwen Shamblin Lara finds celebrity as a Christian diet guru and quickly ascends to become the leader of a Tennessee cult. Let me start by saying, Shamblin Lara’s hair is an absolute star of the show. As her ego grows, so too does her towering blonde mane. She’s not just giving us volume; I’m fairly certain Voldemort has attached himself to her head with intentions to infiltrate the church. Whatever’s going on under there, “The Way Down” is far from fiction. Tragedy is afoot.
Can you compare it to something similar?
If you loved “Wild Wild Country” or “The Vow,” you will devour “The Way Down.” Shamblin Lara makes Keith Reniere look tame.
‘Who is the Bad Art Friend?’
What’s the Format?
Magazine Article
Where can I find it?
The New York Times Magazine
What’s the story?
Everyone is talking about Robert Kolker’s portrait of a failed friendship. In short, two Boston writers find themselves in a mess when one of them accuses the other of plagiarizing her life in a piece later selected to appear in the 2017 edition of Best American Short Stories. Dawn Dorland donated her kidney to a stranger and created a Facebook group to showcase the experience for her close friends and family, one of whom included fellow writer Sonya Larson. Larson lifted posts directly from the Facebook group for her own work of fiction. Both women come across as self-obsessed and oblivious, so I don’t even feel icky about reading their subpoenaed group texts.
Can you compare it to something similar?
This kerfuffle has prestige television written all over it. Imagine if the hostility of “Succession” met the vanity of “Veep.”
Learn what Sarah Connell Sanders is listening to, watching and reading this
October. MICHAEL HENDRICKSON UNITYMIKE.COM
