Tis the season..(when else do I get to use the word "tis"?)

How to spot an authentic restaurant, new work, my gift to you

Hello and happy holidays.

Lots to share this newsletter, some of it educational, and some of it me just bragging. All of it, delicious.

I recently had a horrible sit down restaurant experience with some friends. Every phase of the game, from service, to food was flawed. Isn’t that the worst?

You just want a nice meal, in a fun place, with your friends and family and instead are just flat out disappointed.

I won’t mention the name of the place, but it did start a conversation about what a good an authentic restaurant is. As someone who gets to see a lot of places, and taste the food I thought I would share my thoughts on it. I am sure you have some thoughts on this as well, so feel free to put them in the comments.

How to spot an authentic restaurant

1. If they do everything, they can’t do everything well.

   1. Ever go to a restaurant and the menu is twenty pages long? They are a tapas restaurant, but also have pizza and pasta dishes?

      They don’t know who they are or are just trying to please everyone. Either way, you can’t have high quality fresh ingredients on hand for everything, you can’t be the master of all food types. Look for places with smaller, more manageable menus that you know they will knock every dish out of the park.

2. What does authenticity mean to them?

   1. My wife and I had our first date at a pallea bar in NYC called Socarrat. It was an authentic paella experience. The rice was the traditional bomba rice not rice-a-roni, the ingredients were all native to the Spain region. It was true to who it was. While I know everyone loves it, when I see a chicken parm on an “authentic Italian” restaurant, i see it as a bad sign. Chicken Parm is an American Italian dish.

3. Are the people eating in the restaurant from the area the cuisine is from?

   1. My mother used to work in the courthouse in NYC (you know the one with the steps in every movie and Law and Order? That one. Dun-dun). If you have never been there it is on the border of NYC’s Chinatown., I would often meet my mother for lunch, then we would wander into Chinatown, look in the windows, and if there were Asian people eating inside we knew it would be good.

4. Is the owner there? is the staff knowledgable?

   1. Some owners are pouring their heart and soul into restaurant. They greet customers, help clean up tables when busy, run food if needed, and are keeping a watchful eye over the night, making sure everyone is having a good time. Other owners, invest their money and only look at the bottom line.

   2. Whenever I walk into a restaurant I ask the host, what is your favorite meal? If they answer with “the most popular meal is….” i get a shudder down my spine. First off, that isn’t what I asked. Second, it shows me they haven’t tasted anything, they haven’t been trained on what the restaurant is trying to represent.

News Mentions and Stuff

Woot! another billboard. This one is for Boston Pizza Cupcakes. It is funny, when I tell people I did some work for Boston Pizza Cupcakes, people ask, what is a pizza cupcake? I ask them back, what do you think it is? 99% of the time they are right, but just in case the brother-sister owners wanted a billboard to help educate people. Besides being delicious, each one is about 5-6 bucks, and can be handheld. If they could open one next to every college bar in America and they would be millionaires in a heartbeat. While they haven’t done that yet, they have started selling in TD Garden, so you can now grab one while watching the Celtics or Bruins.

North Shore Magazine

They recently did an article on what chef’s were making for their families for Thanksgiving. I have a few photos in this one

https://www.nshoremag.com/eat-drink/local-chefs-share-thanksgiving-recipes-and-traditions/

Also, ran an article on Sushi on the north shore (have i mentioned how much I love sushi? cuz, i does)

https://www.nshoremag.com/eat-drink/four-north-shore-restaurants-to-satisfy-your-sushi-cravings/

I have a few more images in this month’s (December) magazine as well if you have access.

3 By Me (3 places you should try, and why)

Sullivans Castle Island (1775 Washington St, Hanover MA)

If you live in Boston you know a minimum of three people with the last name Sullivan. So no surprise, that Sullivans Castle Island is a success. The first Sullivans opened in 1951 on Castle Island which is one of the barrier islands off of Boston. These islands are all beach and attract lots of visitors from the city every summer as a quick getaway. Sullivans offers high quality food at a good price. They opened up a second small place in Southie, and recently opened a full bar and restaurant in Hanover. While offering summer fare like hamburgers and hotdogs, they now have a full menu including steak tips and clam strips. Still owned by the original family, grown from one to three locations, been around forever, simple fare done well……this place is Boston.

Phuket Thai Restaurant (1856 Centre St, West Roxbury MA)

This restaurant has a special place in my heart, the first time I came to visit my now wife in Boston, this is the restaurant we went to. It recently changed hands, and I was asked to come in and do some images for them. Somehow, the food has gotten even better. The new owners, used to be servers at another Thai restaurant, and without changing the menu, they have still improved it. I love a story of immigrants who went from servers to owners. I love it, and I love their food. It’s Thai, but tastes like America to me. I told the new owners why the place was special to me, and that my wife and I bonded over their spicy lobster soup. We didn’t photograph it that day, but when I left they handed me a bag with two containers of it.

La Bambas Tacos 🌮 &Tequila (15 Sandwich St, Plymouth MA)

Whenever my friend from southern California comes to visit I say we should go out for Mexican food, just to hear him argue how the East coast doesn’t have any “real” Mexican food. This place proves him wrong. The owners family migrated to America over twenty years ago from Mexico and brought their recipes with them. They now own multiple restaurants but are not a chain. I can tell you this, their mole sauce is a true mole….all my life I have been eating brown goop. This was warm, complex and filled with flavors. It was like stepping into the sun.

My gift to you

Thank you all for reading. I really do love writing these newsletters. I thought I would compile all of my restaurant recommendations for you on an interactive map in case you are ever looking for a place to eat in the Boston area and want to support a restaurant I love, and that has supported me.

30 by Manne Map of Maps

https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1XapQmBkoTntvuBVOX3XOmw5wjW1-pgQ&usp=sharing

A gift for love ones?

Can end without one last link to my photos from Tanzania. If looking for a print for an animal loving friend or family memeber please consider purchasing some prints from my store.

Tanzania

Cheers to you all. Thank you for your support!

Mark

PS every like, subscribe, comment helps by feeding Al Gore….or something like that. I haven’t been in I.T. for awhile now :)