Where Have All the Artisans Gone

[rosiedq]

Researching food in the North End for a magazine article. Seems there are fewer and fewer butchers, bakers, and sausage-makers there these days. Does anyone know where to still find hand-made cheese, salumi, bread, etc. in the North End?
www.rosiedequattro.com

[baldbert]

There are a few exceptions, but I think you're 30 years too late.

[StriperGuy]

No decent bread bakery in the hood any more.

Biagi pasta long gone.

Is Purity cheese back up and making ricotta and mozarella?

But yes, buy and large rosiedq you are about 30 years late.

[EatPayLeave]

I agree that so many great places are over and done with...but maybe this is the real meat in your article...and what a shame it is that we are loosing these true culinary artisians among many other traditional crafters. But folks have to be willing to pay for this expertise and for quality product...me thinks Mc'D's is dumbing us down.

Can you expand your seach? If you can break away from the N End I can suggest the Meat Spot in Watertown for custom butchering. There are some other artisians in Watertown...you might want to check out the Armenian scene. I am not terribly familiar but I know they are there and the guys at the Meat Spot can send you the right direction.

I am assuming you know that Fromaggio's makes their own sausage...ask their cheese monger for suggestions too. Maybe someone over there knows something.

Central bottle in Cambridge has an interesting selection...but I don't know where they source it...give them a call, they might give you more good advice.

[StriperGuy]

Quality butchers are the one thing that still exists in the NE. But it is not really artisanal in terms of MAKING things. Not like pasta, or salami, or cheeses, or pastry, or bread. Just for the record, Meat Spot can not shine a candle to Sulmona mentioned below. Just go to both locations and watch them cut meat...

It ain't that we want McDonalds instead it's that artisan food making it VERY hard work and tough to make big $ on unless you charge $25 a pound for salami...

The folks who ran Biagi pasta in the NE made the best fresh pasta in Boston on 1920s vintage machinery and charged $2-3 a pound for it. Noodles, and ravioli, that was it. No fancy sauces, not much else. But dang if that pasta wasn't superb.

[9lives]

I don't call posting in CH to be doing research. It's a lazy way out and is effectivley asking other folk to do the research for for your article

Do the work and roam around. Here's a start, Sulmona grinds their ownsausages...and can steer you to other places.

[9lives]

Sorry for the snippy remark.

Parziale makes it's own bread. It iwas decent NE bread in it's day; but bakers like Iggy's are far better..available at Salumeria Italiana or Golden Goose.

1 of the owners of a grocer/salumeria used to buy his bread fro Brooklyn and have it trucked in...complained there's no good bread baked in the NE. This was about 15 years ago. Now he stocks Iggy's, B&R, few other local bakeries

Monica's makes and sells their own pasta. Purity Cheese was the last mozzarella maker but they're gone. Another butcher that people like (can't recall the name)on Salem makes sausage.

To get the true flavor of who's doing what and who the artisans are is to take a nice day, and just wander around and stick your head into places that look promising. It's what I do. That's how you'll find the artisans..lots of dessert spots but I'm not a dessert eater..generally.

Many of the "artisan" places from years ago are gone ..Trio's Pasta,PurityCheese,always new places. Best bet is to get off Hanover.

Good luck with yur article.

[phatchris]

Fresh cheese has moved to Fleet St. Depasquale has some pretty good homemade pasta. Sulmona has great butchers.Marias has good old-school Italian pastry's and cakes.

[9lives]

You're right, Fresh Cheese is in the old Tutto Italiana space on Fleet.

I'm a big fan of Galleria Umberto's and think their panzarottis and arancinis are "artisan" quality.

[Bob Dobalina]

Not North End-specific, but saw a copy of this magazine at Sherman Cafe in Somerville this morning - http://www.ediblecommunities.com/boston/ - might be a good source of info - there was quite a large list of artisans listed, but they might not be Italian or in the city of Boston so much - Part of this trend I would guess has been the change in character of the North End from a neighborhood to a place to live, if that makes any sense.

Anyway, speaking of artisans, the gal baker at Sherman turned out a FANTASTIC scone this morning, loaded with orange peel, topped with dark chocolate and a couple of slivers of candied orange zest on top - still warm - just about the best scone I have had in a year. The Sherman baker is an artisan in my book.

[yumyum]

If we're purely looking at North End, I'd agree with the 30 years too late statement. But if you were to expand to "modern" artisans, there's a lot of good stuff going on around here.

Dave's is making excellent pastas and sauces in Somerville.
Taza chocolate (also Somerville) has a devoted following.
La Ronga (also Somerville ... see a theme here?) makes fresh bread daily
artisan cheeses are available in many many places
There is a tofu factory in Cambridge that is crankin it out for clients far and wide
Wangs can be considered "artisan" for their dumplings

I think the artisans just got priced out of the North End. But they still exist.

[dulce de leche]

Fiore di Nonno (Somerville) makes handmade mozzarella and burrata, and Capone Foods (Somerville) makes fresh ricotta (and probably mozzarella, too, if they make ricotta).

They are handmade--artisan, I don't actually know. They are from cow's milk, though I expect carefully chosen milk.

[RoyRon]

Outside the North End in Winchester there is an excellent artisanal bakery called Mamadous's. He previously worked at the Hi Rise Bread Company and then started his own place a year ro more ago. He is located on Swanton St. in Winchester and he makes about 10 different varieties of excellent breads. I am very partial to his Pain Levain.

[StriperGuy]

His bread is sold at some of the local farmer's markets and IS excellent. Of course Boston has no lack of artisan bread these days.