where do boston's chefs eat

[slim]

when they dine out- also what are the best of the chef owned places, thanks

[Guinness02122]

Jumbo Seafood is supposed to be a big hit, or at least it was.

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Jumbo Seafood Restaurant
7 Hudson St, Boston, MA 02111

[opinionatedchef]

one point i would like to offer, perhaps well understood by some,- most working chefs are so exhausted when they finish their shift- that easy, quick, satisfying comfort food is what they're after, usually with available alcohol. asian restaurants are among the few that stay open late. and i very rarely hear of or see chefs eating in high end restaurants on their day off.

[tatsu]

yea was under the impression dinner is drinking oneself to sleep, especially sous-chefs. some chef friends of mine have pretty bare fridges a lot of the time.

[surferbettygal]

I remember an interview I read with Ming Tsai and he mentioned a ramen (sp) noodle place in Porter Exchange in Cambridge.

[FastTalkingHighTrousers]

Sapporo Ramen in the Porter Exchange building is excellent but, personally, I don't think it's as good as Ken's Noodle House in the 88 Market in Allston. Oddly enough I've seen Ming eating at Ken's on a couple of occasions but never at Sapporo!

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Ken's Noodle House
1095 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215

Sapporo Ramen
1815 Massachusetts Ave Ste M5, Cambridge, MA 02140

[barleywino]

the last time i was at Ken's, the "extra rich/special" (tonkotsu) broth was weak/ watery, the pork was dry and the portions of the pork and other ingredients/ toppings were miniscule, sadly...

[Mike5966]

That's too bad. I've had Ken Ramen at least 20 times in the past few years and every single time the tonkotsu ramen was spot on consistent, as was the methodical dance of ladles Ken does in the kitchen as he makes it (I once asked the waiter/cashier girl if that guy was Ken, and he said, "yes, is Ken").

Sapporo Ramen in Porter Square was just plain bad a few years ago but I think they recently changed their recipe and menu. Their house ramen now has a very thick collagenous base, and as long as they can get the salt right (was a little bland last time I had it), it can be quite good.

I haven't seen Ming Tsai at either of these places, though I was at Blue Ginger a few weeks back and both the shrimp shumai and that butterfish entree were heaven.

[MC Slim JB]

In answer to your other question about chef-owned places, here are a few worthy ones in which the chef is the owner or a principal owner and actually cooks there nightly or nearly so: Craigie on Main, Hamersley's Bistro, Coppa, Salts, T.W. Food, The Gallows, Masona Grill, Trattoria Toscana, Il Casale, Parson's Table, Estragon. I'm sure I'm missing a bunch.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

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Trattoria Toscana
130 Jersey St, Boston, MA 02215

Hamersley's Bistro
553 Tremont Street, Boston, MA 02116

T.W. Food
377A Walden St, Cambridge, MA 02138

Craigie on Main
853 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02139

Masona Grill
4 Corey Street, West Roxbury, MA 02132

Coppa
253 Shawmut Ave, Boston, MA 02118

[Canadian Tuxedo]

I would add Hungry Mother to that list.

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Hungry Mother
Cambridge, MA, Cambridge, MA

[hotoynoodle]

and rialto.

[MC Slim JB]

Is Ms. Adams actually in the kitchen most nights?

A few more chef-owned places where the chef actually cooks: Erbaluce, Garden at The Cellar (I think Gilson has an ownership stake in the upstairs part), Salts, Bergamot, Highland Kitchen.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

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Highland Kitchen
150 Highland Ave, Somerville, MA 02143

Erbaluce
69 Church Street, Boston, MA 02116

[phatchris]

EVOO?

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EVOO Restaurant
350 Third Street, Cambridge, MA 02143

[opinionatedchef]

for more chef owned/nightly chef-staffed: evoo most definitely. Also: Sixty Two on Wharf, Salem; tryst in Beverly; East by Northeast; Rendezvous.

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East by Northeast
1128 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02139

[MC Slim JB]

I thought of Rendezvous, but I'm guessing Steve Johnson doesn't spend a lot of time actually cooking. I see him in the dining room in mufti a lot when I dine there.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[FastTalkingHighTrousers]

@MC Slim - Jody is in the kitchen maybe 2-3 days of the week. Her office is upstairs and she spends most of the time in there.
@slim - I can only speak for myself but by the time I'm out of the kitchen there aren't exactly a lot of dining options but when I can I eat at Peach Farm, The Parish Cafe, Charlie's Kitchen, Coppa, Toro, ESK, and Apollo Sushi.

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Peach Farm
4 Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

Toro
1704 Washington St, Boston, MA 02118

Charlie's Kitchen
10 Eliot St, Cambridge, MA 02138

Coppa
253 Shawmut Ave, Boston, MA 02118

[cambridgedoctpr]

At my last visit to Rialto, Ms. Adams came out, dressed in her chef duds, and was checking on the reaction of her clients. To be fair, a chef is a chief and not a cook; She sets the tone and style and does necessarily do the actual cooking.

[FastTalkingHighTrousers]

No one would argue that Jody is a great chef nor that every chef might not cook his/her own food every night but the comment was specifically about chefs who cook in their own kitchens every night.

[cambridgedoctpr]

every day the place is open? That is a hard working chef.

[Duster17]

Jeffrey Fournier at 51 Lincoln

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51 Lincoln
51 Lincoln Street, Newton, MA 02461

[okra]

Define "chef" for me... Is he/she the one that designed the menu - or the one(s) that actually cooked your food that night?

You will get vastly different results.

My $0.02

[slim]

hi, chef- the person in charge of the kitchen,menu & staff - also looking for the best chef -owned places- thanks

[baldbert]

Rare, I think that chefs own things outright, though they can have final say on menu, staff.... Mostly the business is run on partnerships. Cooks paired with investor money. Think Larry David, only sometimes much worse.

[MC Slim JB]

I routinely see chefs dining during the day at Neptune, and at Coppa and the two Franklin Cafes late-night. Myers + Chang gets its share, too. I know Chinatown is popular with chefs, but I never spot any there.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

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Coppa
253 Shawmut Ave, Boston, MA 02118

[baldbert]

They go home exhausted most nights. Pop open a beer and a bag of chips and fall asleep with their clothes on.

[okra]

You've got that right - many nights with boots still on. In the genre of kitchen tell all books, the closest that I've seen to reality is Jason Sheehan's "Cooking Dirty". Should be a prerequisite for anyone considering a kitchen career, in my opinion.

[hotoynoodle]

add silvertone to this list, and personally have been to chinatown with several hoity-toity well-known chefs. peach farm, east ocean city and another that is no longer open.

strange to me, but barbara lynch has brunch at abe & louis' about once a month or so.

[MC Slim JB]

Trina's has an industry following, too, but when I've been there it's been more front-of-house.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[bostonbroad]

Helps that they serve Industry Brunch on Monday's, but yes, even on weekend nights, I've run into tons of foh folks at Trina's.

[MParente]

I've also seen a few at Myers and Chang.

[kobuta]

Tony Maws had an entry on his restaurant blog that he dines at Peach Farm in Chinatown, so no secret there!

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Peach Farm
4 Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

[MC Slim JB]

I've heard/read many chefs calling Peach Farm a favorite, and it's one of mine, too, but I never catch any of them there.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

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Peach Farm
4 Tyler St, Boston, MA 02111

[skasi]

she's friends with G.M>

[Alcachofa]

They all go to Chinatown.

[Bob Dobalina]

We saw Draghi (Erbaluce) at Hungry Mother the other day.

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Hungry Mother
Cambridge, MA, Cambridge, MA

[carlc]

I also have to say Russel House, that's pretty much my place to hang after shift as of late, and especially sunday/monday nights, you get a decent amount of industry people.

[bspence]

As the Chef/Owner of Geoffrey's Cafe My 2 Fave to relax and dine at are the Franklin Cafe in the South End and Masona Grill in West Roxbury

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Masona Grill
4 Corey Street, West Roxbury, MA 02132

[yumyum]

I thought Ashmont Grill had a big industry following, and Russell House Tavern regularly tweets about industry people at the downstairs bar.

Local to me, Highland Kitchen always has a bunch of recognizable chefs and bartenders on the weekend brunch times. It's kinda fun playing 'spot the sous' over breakfast.

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Highland Kitchen
150 Highland Ave, Somerville, MA 02143

Ashmont Grill
555 Talbot Ave, Dorchester Center, MA 02124

Russell House Tavern
14 JFK Street, Cambridge, MA 02138