Wow, hard to believe, but in the past sixty days and in the next sixty, Boston has and will have four new restaurants. A couple are spinoffs and two are spanking new, and all are promising.
I hope that my belief in them does not carry a curse. The last couple of places I liked a lot–Rocca and Ginger Park–shuttered. So much for enjoying food without the frills, food of a region, food that has rules.
Anyhow, in Harvard Square, Bon Chon, a terrific chain of Korean based fried chicken joints opened up a couple of months ago. In the basement of a building on JFK, we’re talking crispy, spicy bird. No beer or sake yet, and how you can eat this without that is beyond me, but: they have take out and free delivery.
This Fall, on Brattle: A branch of Toscano will open: Straight ahead Tuscan food. Memorable, precise. Good pastas. Not some harebrained interpretation of Italian food, but the real thing.
In the South End: Yakitori Zai opened last month. On the web, people are griping about its prices. The same people who don’t hesitate to spend $12 for a cocktail. Anyhow, folks: Yakitori is expensive! Eat it or don’t. But the price? That is what first rate bird costs.
And coming this Fall: ASTA. In Back Bay. Ex-sous chef from L’Espalier and a manager from Hi-Rise in their first restaurant.
Wow, Bon Chon! Not healthy though…