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New Yorkers to fill culinary hole left in Kenmore Square with departure of Hotel Commonwealth restaurants
By adamg on Thu, 05/20/2021 - 9:26pm
The Globe reports that Eastern Standard, Island Creek Oyster Bar and the Hawthorne will be replaced by brasserie, seafood and sushi "concepts" run by some New York concern that runs other "concepts" in places like Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
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Comments
It's a long, long way...
...and a long, sad road from the Hoodoo Barbecue upstairs at the Rat.
I'd settle
...for a slice from Baldini's :-/
And ...
Mississippi's, Deli Haus, Charlies ...
I'm still upset about the
I'm still upset about the Deli Haus.
Same
Hell I miss the IHOP in Kenmore.. sure its a chain, but there was something about leaving Avalon 10 mins before they close to get a table at IHOP.. only to be served by drag performers.
It really was a thing to see and live.
Don't forget...
...The Pizza Pad!
There should definitely be a
There should definitely be a statue of Mr. Butch in Kenmore as part of the deal. I miss him and how businesses, residents and regulars identified him to be the soul of Kenmore.
Concepts
Cool, a neighborhood-restaurant feel. Do you think they'll teach the servers to speak in fake Boston accents?
This reminds me of the dinner at a place I was
reluctantly reviewing for Stuff Magazine, the then-new Strega Waterfront. At the table, our server spoke in comical, Mamma-Mia-datsa-spicy-meata-balla accent, like a 1940s Hollywood version of a Venetian gondolier, then reverted to a thick Revere honk when he stepped away and thought he was out of earshot.
I wish these folks luck, but I can't help having hard feelings about the loss of Eastern Standard, Island Creek and The Hawthorne there. Those places were indispensable.
Meh
Yet another sushi place in Kenmore Sq. And I'm so glad to see they are using the exact same name as the excellent local BBQ place that has been in the area forever.
It looks like they are trying to replicate Eastern Standard as much as possible, right down to the same menu. My guess is the prices will be 60% higher and the service many notches lower.
Eastern Standard was awesome because the food was great and they had a high level of service without the prices being unreasonable. The atmosphere worked well for everything from a date to a productive business lunch. Seeing how rare that is in Boston, I'm not optimistic anyone can replicate it and certainly not an out of town operator.
I'd much rather the real Blue Ribbon take one of the spaces.
they have been around much
they have been around much longer that ES. google is your friend :)
Eastern Standard was truly
Eastern Standard was truly one of the best places. It can be so frustrating that the local community doesn't have more clout to protect and support places like this when times get tough (and the commercial real estate people turn into pieces of work).
Went to ES often enough that the bartenders knew who I was
Never cared much for most of the food. The steak tartare was probably my favorite after they switched from the seared foie gras to the pate. Roast chicken was usually pretty good, but accompaniments varied. Flank steak was good. Pasta was off and on.
Cocktails were outstanding. My favorite from back in the day was the Old Cuban.
--gpm
Reopen the Rat.
Enough said.
Why?
So posers can fill it up and pretend like they have a clue what Boston was like 40+ years ago?. No Thanks
Boston/Cambridge's indie
Boston/Cambridge's indie music club scene is long gone.. not even going to bother listing the bygone venues. Those of us who frequented them already know.
The lesser of two evils?
The choice in operator might not be to everyone's liking and I'm certain the fact they may hail from New York certainly influences the haters, but I think it's a good sign that an operator is stepping in to fill the void left by the many closures over the past year, and while choosing a national hotel concept specialist over a local entity mail may smell a little fishy, the sooner they do it, the better because jobs in the industry, etc.
The hotel can always turn around and renegotiate a change on the property as we've witnessed them do already and there are plenty of celebrity chefs ready to throw their name on whatever concept comes asking, so I wouldn't be surprised if the regular Fenway rubes buy into that as well. As long as they come to town with a desire to spend money it's all good with. me.
My main concern is with Aramark and Sodexho. Like how bad were their proposals that they lost out to a better-than-Applebee's casual dining chain?
Great
Just what Kenmore Square needs- more Corporate Dining Solutions.
Just turn the whole damn city into the souless, whitewashed, corporate sponsered fun that is the Seaport.
Has been since 1995 or so
Fine place to raise kids and make some money but it's probably about as boring as Columbus OH to someone who's 25.
Man, I'm glad I grew up in the 70s
The nightlife was nonstop. I wasn't home a single night of the week. Even Monday nights had fantastic bands, like Lou Miami at Cantones and the Dawgs at the Rat. The gay clubs were jumping and there was always the Combat Zone for distraction. And seldom was a cover charge more than $3 and you could get a Bud for $1.50. Oh, and the drinking age was 18 for most of it. Now I'm old but I have some tales to tell. :-)
Fkn Corona
Killed Eastern Standard which was great for late night cocktails and a fun spot for late night food as well. Now we have more out of towners coming in to take our money.
A man walks into a concept
... and says "do you serve food here"?
Blue Ribbon has been in SoHo
Blue Ribbon has been in SoHo since 1992. Most restaurant industry workers in fine dining in the mid 2000s used to go there post shift for 3am dinner and champagne. I went to college in Boston, left to manager restaurants in NYC for a few years before the recession led me back here, but I assume they are still busy to survive 30 years. I never had a bad meal at Blue Ribbon, BR Sushi, etc. So do other restaurant operators from out of town get this same hate, cause I don't remember ME folks getting that or Portsmouth & Maine doing the same to Boston's homegrown places. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Huge difference between a
Huge difference between a small restaurant based in the same economic region as Boston opening here as their first out-of-town location and a moneyed mega-operator opening in Boston as their 20th location after they've already gotten established in all the brand-name cities and are moving on to the second tier... and I suspect you know that. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Chipotle started with one location, too, but nobody describes them as a "Mexican restaurant from Denver."
great
lets make certain theres not a single boston restaurant anywhere in boston!