Latest news with #LittleSage
Boston Globe
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
A first look at Little Sage in the North End
Spanish octopus with potatoes and sweet baby peppers at Little Sage. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff A few years later, that young chef bought Sage from Matarazzo. Tony Susi grew up in the North End, working at his father's butcher shop and bussing tables at local restaurants. He cooked with Todd English at Olives. And now he had his own place in his own neighborhood. Within a few years, Sage had earned national attention for dishes like pillowy, delicate gnocchi and baked, stuffed fazzoletti pasta. Susi eventually moved the restaurant to a larger space in the South End, where it operated until 2009. He went on to other kitchens, including Capo in South Boston and Get Winter Soup Club A six-week series featuring soup recipes and cozy vibes, plus side dishes and toppings, to get us all through the winter. Enter Email Sign Up These were big restaurants. Eating there, one felt Susi's skill as a top-level chef and manager. But it was different. Advertisement Now comes Little Sage, with 50 seats and a bar, an open kitchen at the back. It's a collaboration, once again, between Susi and Matarazzo, who previously ran Locale in this space. And here is Susi at the stove, a few cooks at his side. Diners can look over and watch him at work; he can look over and watch diners taste his food. There is much to be said for coming full circle, poetically and practically. Advertisement Chef Tony Susi comes full circle at Little Sage, an homage to the restaurant Sage he ran three decades ago. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff The restaurant space is divided, charmingly cramped; to reach our table, we have to squeeze so intimately past a post we feel we should apologize to it. There are white tiled floors and walls, wood tables, and nice light coming through the tall windows when one visits for weekend lunch. Service is a little green and very sweet. The gnocchi return. They are as pillowy and delicate as ever. They tumble together on the white plate, interspersed with pieces of lobster, dolloped with milky stracciatella cheese, which has all of burrata's rich charms but is even looser and more relaxed. There's a little bite from dandelion greens, a little lift from fennel pollen. The sauce is swoony, with deep lobster flavor, a bit herbaceous from the fennel. The fazzoletti dish is back as well. (It appeared at Bar Enza, too.) Little Sage has a brick oven that also turns out chicken with crushed potatoes, brown butter, and sage; monkfish with leeks, artichokes, capers, yuzu, and salsa verde; and steak. (Locale's pizza is still available for takeout.) The handkerchief pasta is folded around a mixture of short rib, spinach, and fontina cheese, then blasted in that oven with cherry tomatoes until its edges bubble and char to a shiny black. The dish sounds like it will be heavy; it is surprisingly, wonderfully light. Advertisement This is Susi's touch. The ingredients are simple and fresh, the cooking is deft, there is subtle complexity. Fazzoletti from the brick oven at Little Sage in the North End. Little Sage A meal might start with herbed flatbread or warm olives and ciabatta for the table. Then there is hamachi crudo, octopus with potatoes and sweet peppers, or skewers of roasted lamb with chickpea caponata to be had. A salad of citrus segments, shaved fennel, and pretty, speckled Castelfranco lettuce is more than the sum of its parts, drizzled with olive oil and blessed with a handful of excellent bright green uber-pistachios. A skillet of littleneck clams is an ideal version of this dish. Each shell opens to a just-cooked clam, in a pool of garlic butter kissed with lemon, with a piece of sauce-dampened bread for further dipping. Also on the pasta menu: smoked ricotta ravioli with blistered cherry tomatoes; casarecce with spicy shrimp, tomatoes, and olives; chitarra with pork and lamb shoulder ragu. We catch a heady whiff of black truffle butter from a dish of lumache with roasted mushrooms and Brussels sprouts at an adjacent table. A salad of citrus, shaved fennel, Castelfranco lettuce, and pistachios. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff The menu is small, which is just the right size for Little Sage; there's nothing on it that feels extraneous. It does include two desserts, an olive oil cake and basil panna cotta with strawberries and sweet, rich saba, a grape syrup that tastes like dessert balsamic. The wine list is mostly Italian; cocktails range from a Venetian spritz with a skewer of Castelvetrano olives to an espresso martini. A friend who lives in the North End visited Little Sage a few days before I got there. We talk about restaurants all the time. I can't remember her ever texting before, as she did this time, to say: 'Have you been there yet? It's so good.' Advertisement That's how I felt, too, during my first visit there. Hey, tourists outside, looking at the menu, come on in. This is what the North End is supposed to taste and feel like. It was just one meal at a restaurant that only just opened, but in a city glutted with Italian food, my gosh it was refreshing. 352 Hanover St., North End, Boston, 617-742-9600, . Antipasti $16-$22, pasta $20-$29, al forno dishes $22-$45, desserts $12, cocktails $14-$15. From the brick oven: chicken with crushed potatoes, brown butter, and sage. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff Devra First can be reached at
Boston Globe
26-03-2025
- Business
- Boston Globe
Where to eat around Boston this spring
Get Winter Soup Club A six-week series featuring soup recipes and cozy vibes, plus side dishes and toppings, to get us all through the winter. Enter Email Sign Up 464 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, Cambridge, Advertisement Gary's Pizza All roads eventually lead to pizza. Open all the Mistrals, Ostras, and Sorellinas you like; one day Roman-style pies will sound their siren song. Which is to say, Columbus Hospitality Group is launching its latest, Gary's Pizza, in the next couple of weeks. The takeout-only South End shop will offer slices and pies, sandwiches and salads, and desserts. (Who the heck is Gary, you ask? It happens to be the middle name of both owners chef Jamie Mammano and Paul Roiff.) Roman-style pizza is baked in rectangular trays and traditionally sold 'al taglio,' by the cut — street food eaten on the go. According to Gary's, it has thick, airy crust that's crisp on the outside with a soft, chewy interior. Expect a polished pizza joint vibe, with black-and-white tile floors, and food made by chefs from the restaurant group's fine-dining concepts. And there's more pizza-from-chefs coming soon: FiDO Pizza, from the group behind Bar Mezzana, Black Lamb, and others, will open at the Allston Labworks campus this summer. Advertisement 1744 Washington St., South End, Boston, The interior at Jadu in Jamaica Plain. Currently a cafe by day, it will soon also be a wine bar at night. J-M Leach Jadu In December, Jadu opened in Jamaica Plain, enriching Centre Street's cafe culture. (The name means 'magic' in Hindi.) Currently Jadu serves a breakfast-into-lunch menu of baked goods, Turkish-style eggs, peanut-ginger chicken and black rice, Maggi instant noodles with tofu, and more. The daytime coffee shop will soon also be a nighttime wine bar. Owner Maya Mukhopadhaya, who started Jadu as a wine-focused pop-up in 2023, is aiming for a mid-May launch. To complement the wine, there will be snacks and small plates: crudo dishes, pork and nduja meatballs, miso butter mushrooms on toast, a mortadella sandwich, and other tasty morsels. 767 Centre St., Jamaica Plain, Boston, Jamaica Mi Hungry got its start as a food truck. Now it's a restaurant in Jamaica Plain, with a new location opening downtown. Bonnie Rosenbaum of CommonWealth Kitchen Jamaica Mi Hungry For downtown office workers, it's always worth celebrating the opening of a new restaurant that might mix up the lunchtime routine. When that restaurant is another branch of Jamaica Plain's Jamaica Mi Hungry, it's particularly exciting. Chef Ernie Campbell started the venture as a food truck; his veggie patties, curry goat, and fiery jerk pork shoulder will invigorate even the sloggiest workday. Opening soon. 289 Devonshire St., Boston, Little Sage chef Tony Susi is known for his pasta dishes. Little Sage Little Sage If you've been eating at Boston restaurants for a while, you likely remember Sage, a North End hot spot that later relocated to the South End. Chef Tony Susi was the man behind the menu. He began working there as executive chef with owner Jennifer Matarazzo, then purchased it from her in 1999. After cooking at places including Bar Enza, Capo, and Geppetto, Susi is reunited with Matarazzo in the North End. Little Sage, a salute to their former restaurant, opened in March. (It replaced Matarazzo's Locale, but you can still get that restaurant's pizza to go.) Susi is particularly known for his pasta dishes, and a few favorites from the Sage era — gnocchi, fazzoletti — return. Look for new favorites, too, along with hamachi crudo, lamb skewers, clams with lemon and garlic butter, and brick oven chicken with crushed potatoes. Meanwhile, at Bar Enza, legendary chef Lydia Shire (Scampo) has taken the reins. Advertisement 352 Hanover St., North End, Boston, 617-742-9600, McCarthy's and Toad The Boston area loves an Irish pub with food, pints, and live music — especially one from Tommy McCarthy and Louise Costello, owners of the Burren in Somerville and the Bebop in Back Bay. In the former Christopher's space in Porter Square, and opening any minute now, is McCarthy's — along with longtime music venue Toad next door. Expect Irish pub classics, meatless options, and, the website promises, 'the greatest craic in town.' 1920 Massachusetts Ave., Porter Square, Cambridge, Chicken karaage at Mimi's Chūka Diner. Mimi's Chūka Diner The groovy scene at Somerville innovation hub Somernova now has a new dining option. Mimi's Chūka Diner, born out of a pandemic pop-up, is open inside the Aeronaut brewery and taproom. It joins Venezuelan concept Carolicious and Somerville Chocolate. You'll be greeted by daruma dolls and a super-buff lucky cat at the entrance to the diner-inspired space. Mimi's specializes in chūka ryori, Chinese dishes prepared in a Japanese style. The menu includes fried pork gyoza with vinegary dipping sauce; chicken karaage, fried nuggets over rice with Kewpie mayo, shredded cabbage, and lemon; yakisoba-esque charred garlic noodles with mushrooms and pickled ginger; and a Japanese take on mapo tofu that's less spicy, more sweet. To drink, you'll find lychee shochu coolers, mix-and-match highballs, sake, and more. Advertisement 14 Tyler St., Suite 102, Somerville, 617-996-6062, A gochujang sticky bun from Nine Winters Bakery. Mim on Roseway Photography Nine Winters Bakery Pastry fans may have tasted Nine Winters' Korean-American baked goods at Bow Market or popping up at Honeycomb Creamery. Its new location on Concord Avenue in Cambridge will open in early spring; its purple sign just appeared like a crocus. Owner 292 Concord Ave., Cambridge, Soul & Spice When its Blue Hill Avenue location closed, Poppa B's left a gap in Boston's soul food scene. Now, miraculously, it's back, as Poppa B's BBQ Soul. It's partnered with West African concept RedRed Kitchen as Soul & Spice. They share the Nubian Square space that was formerly Soleil, in the Bruce C. Bolling Municipal Building. Where else can you get fall-off-the-bone ribs, BBQ chicken, and fried catfish will all the sides plus jollof rice at the same location? Sunday lunch is a warm neighborhood scene, with everyone running into friends and catching up. Advertisement 2306 Washington St., Nubian Square, Roxbury, A spread of dishes at Tall Order includes pickled mushrooms, grilled broccoli, steak frites, and grilled pork blade steak with stewed peppers and pommes purée. Will Faraci Tall Order Long the Thirsty Scholar, this space is now Tall Order, a worthy successor for neighborhood watering hole. Combine the cocktail acumen of Joe Cammarata and Daren Swisher (Backbar, Daiquiris and Daisies, Hojoko) with a menu from chef Juan Pedrosa (Bar Salida, the Glenville Stops, Yvonne's) and you've got a highly visitable hangout. Tall Order feels like a dive bar but functions like a restaurant — or several restaurants in one. At the bar, some people drink inventive cocktails and snack on pickled mushrooms, candied Japanese peanuts, and caramelized onion dip, while others tuck into steak frites or cod with saffron rice and preserved lemon butter while sipping a nice glass of wine. Other menu highlights: a karaage chicken sandwich with miso honey mustard, pasta with sugo and roasted mushrooms, and a grilled pork blade steak with stewed peppers, pommes puree, and a sauce made from sweet sherry. The Tall Order cocktail is a potion of rum, madeira, pineapple skin, clarified coconut milk, lime, and more, dangerously drinkable; the Lima Choke Hold somehow makes pisco, Cynar, Riesling, and gochujang work together in one drink. There are low-alcohol options, too, like the sherry and vermouth-based Little Panda and the lightly spicy Chill Out, made with poblano chile liqueur. And about half the customers seem to have a Guinness in hand. 70 Beacon St., Somerville, Devra First can be reached at
Axios
18-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Axios
Restaurant news roundup: Little Sage opens, Third Time debuts new menu
🥯 PopUp Bagel secured a lease in the College House in Harvard Square and plans to open later this year. This is the same company that opened a Seaport location last year encouraging diners to rip up a bagel and dip it into a tub of cream cheese. 🍝 Italian Chef Tony Susi opened Little Sage North End last week, a nod to the beloved restaurant he ran in the 2000s. What's back: Tony's gnocchi and fazzoletti, fan favorites from the old Sage menu. What's new: Littleneck clams with lemon and garlic butter, Giannone Chicken with crushed buttered potatoes and jumbo shrimp with roasted leeks and capers. Plus: Pizza from Locale. When to go: Little Sage is open for lunch and dinner Friday through Sunday at 352 Hanover St. The restaurant has a 50-seat dining area and a 10-seat bar. 🍽️ Third Time Ice Cream debuted its daytime menu last week at a pop-up in Tilde, the Cambridge coffee shop/wine bar. The menu includes breakfast sandwiches, toast, fattoush salad and congee. Try the toast with whipped ricotta and lychee with raspberry and rose jam. The pop-up's around through the end of the month. Be on the lookout for a Third Time brick-and-mortar this year.
