"No Reservations - Boston" premiere on Monday 4/18

[C. Hamster]

Damn, he was a block from my house and I missed him!

http://www.boston.com/travel/boston/g...

[EATTV]

This transplanted New Yorker has become my favorite actualized sell out although I am sad that the new Travel has succumbed to the Scripps Howard "it's really not about travel (food). That said I was hoping for the Friends of Eddie Coyle ending.

[californiabeerandpizza]

I was surprised to hear the grinder vs. sub conversation. Having grown up in Western Mass. I was under the impression the term grinder was only used in the Springfield/Hartford corridor. Didn't know it went as far east as Boston.

[Gabatta]

Grinder is the term of choice in RI. I have rarely heard it used in Boston though.

[C. Hamster]

Very rarely.

[taos]

I was born in Boston over 50 years ago and lived in the city and in the surrounding 'burbs on and off for ever since. I've also lived in western Mass.

I have heard grinder used very frequently in Boston, especially at independent pizza places, like, for example, http://www.libertyspizzaofnatick.com/ near where my grandparents lived at one time. Note that the sign outside says "Subs" ... probably to appeal to out-of-towners.

The use of "sub" may only be more common now because of the growth of chain restaurants like Subway.

[applehome]

Late 60's graduate of Lexington High here, followed by BU and Brandeis. Never, EVER, heard the term grinder until much more recently. It was always subs - whether the deli in Lexington Center we used to sneak away to for lunch, the basement Yellow Submarine on Hemenway (best stoner chicken salad ever...) next to my apartment or the place across from the SFAA on Commonwealth or anywhere else... just Subs, Subs, Subs... I never heard a native call it a grinder, and I still don't.

[MC Slim JB]

It's not uncommon on the South Coast, either; I believe it generally refers to oven-toasted subs.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[LStaff]

I always thought grinder meant a hot sub - like meatball, chicken parm, etc. Growing up near the MA border in NY, we would hear the school lunch menus on the radio for the area- and they would use the term grinder for hot subs served in MA schools. But my wife - from the Fall river area - says it just means the same as a sub - hot or cold.

[Yankee_Peach]

Central Mass. represent! I grew up near Worcester (pronounced wusstah) and lived most of my life inside 128. I didn't know what a grinders or hoagies were until I went to college.

[EATTV]

I am all about Worcester. (Vernon Hill & Tatnuck) In the 60's the places on Shrewsbury Street made "grinders". I conferred with my muthah who's 92 and she concurs, "Grindahs". Go figure.

[jgg13]

When we moved here in the early 80s (in the SW-most corner of 495 area) pretty much all the shops near us said "grinder"

[NYCkaren]

They said grinder in New Haven when I was there in the 1970s. Don't know if they still do.

[justxpete]

I went to Snack Bar today for lunch based on that the show had been there. It was nothing short of horrible. I'm astounded. We both had portugese dishes based on the hosts' recommendation. My chicken was literally cold to the touch; my eating companion's steak was like leather. I'd hazard a guess that neither of them were cooked today, although the host did say that the chicken was cooked in the morning, and then "put outside". In any case, I'm beside myself at how bad this place is. I know this is an old thread, but I looked it up before I visited to double check, since I'm currently in Boston.

But man, what a shock.

[Jenny Ondioline]

That's why you should never accept dining recommendations from junkies.

[Gabatta]

It has changed ownership since the show was filmed.

[jgg13]

More to the point, they changed hands within a month after the show aired. Talk about going out on top.

Personally I find the man-o-war sub to be better than it was before, but other than that I'd not bother with any of the things that made the place special. What's funny is that the last time I went by there (week or so ago) they had put up signs advertising that Bourdain had been there, yet it's barely the same eatery at all.

[C. Hamster]

Ok that was terrible and Greenhills ended up on the cutting room floor.

A trip to Ups N Downs would have livened things up considerably.

He did walk on the decrepit Neponset drawbridge for its decrepit factor but that didn't outweigh the ridiculous segment with Howie Carr.

[MC Slim JB]

I think I had appropriate expectations for it, so I enjoyed it. Best bits: the visual quotations from the film "The Friends of Eddie Coyle", and Bourdain ordering all the right Azorean dishes at O Senhor Ramos.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[pemma]

I liked it, too. He set the tone at the beginning. He said it wasn't going to be a "Best of Boston" show. I think he really captured the atmosphere of the places he visited and all of the characters were right out of central casting. The deli scene in Brookline really didn't belong, though.

[bitsubeats]

My god this was the most boring episode ever. I lived in boston for a while so I was expecting him to be visiting some fine dining establishments. NOT bar after bar after bar in Southie.

I hope next week will be better

[Bellachefa]

ANTHONY

PACK YOUR KNIVES AND LEAVE

[Bellachefa]

sorry for the caps

[robwat36]

Is anyone else watching this? It's really boring.

[Gabatta]

Some nice camera work and shots of the city.

Hopefully the disclaimer at the top of the show will quiet some of the whining here about the restaurant agenda for this episode.

[robwat36]

He can eat wherever he wants, but as a travel show...yikes, bring a book. I'd rather see a Three Sheets episode set here anyway.

[LStaff]

>I'd rather see a Three Sheets episode set here anyway.

In case you didn't already know, Zane's new show on HDNet called Drinking Made Easy is like Three Sheets, but set in cities across America. And Boston was one of those cities.

http://www.drinkingmadeeasy.com/2010/...

[robwat36]

I didn't know that. Thanks!

[jgg13]

I wish he had hit Boston before I quit watching it. I loved Three Sheets but really couldn't stand his new show whatsoever.

[taos]

Seems like a lot of places to fit into a one-hour show. We'll see, but my fear is that Bourdian will be presenting the Hollywood-Ben Affleck version of Boston, which is fine for what it is, just not at all authentic. And this raises concerns for the accuracy of his shows that cover places I know nothing about like, No Reservations-Timbuktu.

The preview that says he's going to "The South Side of Boston" didn't do anything to calm my concerns, either.

[jgg13]

Wasn't it even stated when they were filming that he's doing the "Hollywood-Ben Affleck version of Boston"?

[taos]

I saw that after the show aired. I wrote my post before it aired, obviously, and I hadn't seen every single possible promo.

Excuse me for not keeping up.

[alwayscooking]

Given that Rondo's makes the cut as a place where he would eat (and be filmed doing so) perhaps the show belongs on Man vs. Food. With a stop such as this (and some of the others), I doubt I'll visit his other show locations - just as I do those on PG.

[StriperGuy]

I just love that the preview ad's voice-over announcer keep referring to Bourdain's trip to Boston's "South Side."

To use a Bourdainism: uuuuh wrong city douchebag.

[hiddenboston]

Yeah, we were talking about that the other day. If you're talking a big-time show like that, you would think they would do their homework beforehand. It's like when Guy Fieri said he went to Rino's on the "East Side of Boston." Hey Guy--there ain't no East Side of Boston! It's called (repeat after me) Eassssssstttttt Bossssssssstonnnnnnnnn....

[Bob Dobalina]

Same reaction to that POS movie with Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise - preview had the line "I was driving up THE I-93" - Take your silly LA dialogue and stick it in your South Side....or your East Side...doesn't matter....

[MC Slim JB]

Well, at least he stayed out of Boston's Little Italy.

But he did refer to the Savin Hill Yacht Club as being in Southie. Oopsie.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[jgg13]

The boston.com article referred to the snack bar as being in kendall, and presumably those people actually live here. I think we bostonians should clean up our own house first before throwing any stones.

[MC Slim JB]

Clearly written by someone who has never visited it.

If anyone asks, I'm going to say Bourdain read my Boston Phoenix review of O Senhor Ramos and decided to get the Portuguese Man o' War sub based on that. (Never mind whether it has any basis in reality.)

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[jgg13]

Don't worry, I've got your back.

[Gabatta]

You might be splitting hairs a bit with that one. The Snack Bar is not technically in East Cambridge (thought that's what most would assume). Did you want boston.com to say it was in Wellington-Harrington?

[jgg13]

I'm ok with them saying 'east cambridge', as you note that whole area is colloquially known that way, even though technically 'east cambridge' is only area 1.

But that's a big difference than 'kendall square'. Even if you want to incorrectly view "1 Kendall Square" as being "Kendall Square", it's still a hike. Is Four Burgers in Kendall Square? Because that's about as far away as the Snack Bar is.

-----
Four Burgers
704 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139

[Gabatta]

Boston.com may have been trying to associate the location with a landmark/neighborhood which more people would be familiar with as The Snack Bar is a quick jump up Cardinal Mederios Ave from Kendall. Technically incorrect, but so is East Cambridge.

[jgg13]

So then why not say "lechemere"? It's probably a closer walk from lechemere than kendall square.

[MC Slim JB]

I have always called everything on Cambridge Street from just east of Prospect St to Lechmere "East Cambridge". I am abashed to learn I was wrong. What are the geographic limits of East Cambridge?

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[jgg13]

http://www2.cambridgema.gov/cdd/cp/ne...

[MC Slim JB]

Okay, so O Senhor Ramos is just barely on the wrong side of the tracks. My definition of East Cambridge stretched an extra 0.4 mi west.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[jgg13]

Using the terms in a fuzzy manner I'd just say east cambridge. I suppose I can see how someone would say "Kendall" but I try to hold firm in my pedantry that "Kendall Square" is where the T station is and not where the building complex is. I know why they named the complex that way, but it's led to nothing but confusion.

My own biggest "woops!" thing with cambridge 'hoods was the term 'mid-cambridge'. For years and years what I referred to as "mid-cambridge" was basically Area 4 with parts of wellington-harrington. Turns out, not only was I not right I was way off, as mid-cambridge is on the opposite side of prospect street.

[PaulB]

You can't put Kendall Square in a corner ;-) I agree the T station is a great landmark, laughing at your reference to 1 Kendall Square complex.

I was wondering how this thread got so long prior to the actual airing of the show. I've been away from the board for some time but good to see our thirst for geographical correctness remains strong.

[jgg13]

I understand why 1 Kendall got its name, as opposed to "1 cambridge center" which really should have that name. But dang, do I ever want to punch the person who did that in the fancy bits.

[hiddenboston]

So Atwood's Tavern and Portugalia would be considered Inman Square? Or Mid-Cambridge?

[hiddenboston]

I thought the Savin Hill Yacht Club was in the Quincy neighborhood of Boston.

[9lives]

Dorchester..Pretty sure it's just N of the big gas tanks and N of Quincy.

How the SHYC made the list is a mystery to me; always a stop for me when I have out of town visitors:) A real "can't miss," NOT

Too bad Scups is closed. That would make a nice addition..with a working yard and large drydock...or Drydock Cafe.

(edited)

[MC Slim JB]

Isn't the Quincy neighborhood of Boston a village of Mattapan, or is it the other way around?

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[hiddenboston]

No, Mattapan is part of Milton, which is in Lower Boston. Quincy is in the Neponset Heights section of the city, and is home to an elegant brasserie called Ups N Downs.

[C. Hamster]

A trip to Ups and Downs, which is technically in East Dorchester's up-and-coming "Under The Bridge" neighborhood (UTB, for short) would have made the show a classic, for sure.

[MC Slim JB]

And they're all part of Greater Hull, yes?

I have pitched a review of Up N' Downs (spell it correctly, please) to Stuff, but no nibbles yet.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[astrid]

Are you all serious with these questions? Milton and Quincy are separate towns -- they are not part of Boston. Milton borders the Lower Mills section of Boston but is not IN Lower Boston. Mattapan is a village that borders Milton but is part of Boston and is adjacent to Dorchester.

[MC Slim JB]

I figured "the Quincy neighborhood of Boston" and "Greater Hull" would be big hints that we were all just busting on No Reservations for referring to Boston as having a "South Side". Also, have you ever seen Ups N' Downs?

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[EATTV]

I am "L"ing out "L".

[C. Hamster]

Sad that it will never be ....

[mtm7654]

Still not better than the reference to Revere being "the gateway to the North Shore" after USA hockey beat Russia in the Olympics (biographical info about some of the players). I was living in Chelsea then which prompted "Chelsea-gateway to Revere".

[MC Slim JB]

I have long referred to Cambridge as the Gateway to Somerville.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[mtm7654]

:-)

[hiddenboston]

Actually, growing up where I did, I was always told that "Winchestah is a suburb of Somahville, while Lexington is a suburb of Cambridge. Now eat yah badaydahs and don' ask anymore questions."

[Jenny Ondioline]

I have a friend who calls Somerville "The Cambridge of Medford."

[StriperGuy]

I thought Somerville was the "Paris of the 90's."

[jgg13]

If CH had a 'like' button, I'd have just clicked it.

[hiddenboston]

Will everyone in Somerville please come out with your hands up....

[Smokee]

It seems like the shows are bouncing back and forth between "food porn"(his words), like his recent tweets chronicling his end of an era meal at El Buli with Jose Andreas, and then he's eating curare based stew and fresh water sashimi(yikes) in the Amazon.

It's still good TV, but some episodes are feeling a little elitist. For the most part the Boston episode seems like they went for the non-elitist angle.

[debussy]

Did anyone see Bourdain at Symphony Hall last month? I think he mentioned that he was going to check out Clio's after the show, so it wasn't a big surprise to see Clio make it to No Reservations.

[MC Slim JB]

Well, that probably ruins the Quencher.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[rknrll]

Eh, I don't know.
I think Guy Fieri's crowd is more apt to ruin places, than Bourdain's.

http://www.travelchannel.com/TV_Shows...

[alwayscooking]

[shaking head back and forth with mouth agape]

I've had the opportunity of going to many of these places while working at gillette - proximity would be the only excuse I could offer. Yep, they are a REAL experience and fun in ways unintended.

Unsure how michael's or the liberty fits with the rest.

[opinionatedchef]

good thing you couldn't see my face while i read this. painful.

[Bob Dobalina]

You have to give him some props for hitting up the Snack Bar and Belle Isle.

[9lives]

agreed, someone did their homework to get him there. L Street. Eire, Murphy's Law have been in movies and had Pres vist them..so no bonus points..:) I doubt the Quencher will be over run by the mention and Michael's does have some of the best CBin town.

Overall, I like the lineup..he could have done a lot worse...and only hit the places in town with big ad budgets or big positive press...Took more effort to assemble these places than #9 Park, Craigie, Clio, Oya for ex.

As to the Liberty Hotel, guys got to sleep someplace.

-----
Murphy's Law
837 Summer St, Boston, MA 02127

#9 Park
Boston, Boston, MA

[MC Slim JB]

I thought the Michael's Deli pick was absurd. It was prompted by Bourdain's appearance on the loathsome Howie Carr's radio show, where Carr was clueless enough to recommend a Boston deli to a New Yorker. Sure, it's good by Boston standards, but hardly remarkable enough to merit a mention given all the other local things we actually do extraordinarily well.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

-----
Michael's Deli
256 Harvard St, Brookline, MA 02446

[C. Hamster]

That was my first thought, too. Plus the Howie Carr angle was pretty inexplicable.

[MC Slim JB]

I suspect Bourdain thought it would be impish to hobnob with a conservative pundit while visiting liberal Boston.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[Bob Dobalina]

Well, isn't Howie the only Boston media personality around who was actually alive and working when the Friends of Eddie Coyle came out?

[MC Slim JB]

Carr was still in short pants at Deerfield, man of the people that he is. Gerry Callahan only sounds old enough, i.e., born before the Civil War and thinking things were better then. Eddie Andelman is the actual right age; he's retired, but still does guest appearances with his shameful progeny.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[Bob Dobalina]

Wow...shameful progeny....lol

[C. Hamster]

*Shameful progeny*

SNERT!

[StriperGuy]

Shameful, or shameless...

Actually, both shameful, AND shameless!

[LStaff]

>I suspect Bourdain thought it would be impish to hobnob with a conservative pundit while visiting liberal Boston.

And considering the raised hackles in this thread (and others) at mere mention of someone with a different political view other than their own, seems he achieved that objective. :-))

See also: Tony consorting with Ted Nugent on the US Southwest episode

[MC Slim JB]

Carr's politics are not primarily why I find him loathsome: it's the schtick, the sneering phony populism. Nugent is a cartoon, too, but he's at least got interesting food ideas, seems to take cooking seriously. Carr had a chance to push Bourdain toward something interesting in Boston, and instead he: a) picked a cuisine that is among our most glaring weaknesses, esp. vis-a-vis Bourdain's native NYC, and b) hyped one of his sponsors. It was exactly the kind of crass, food-ignorant move I expected of him.

http://mcslimjb.blogspot.com/

[9lives]

Michael's Deli "sticks out" from the list because it's the only place not in a working class area. As to Howie Carr recommending it, SOMEBODY recod all the places. Michael's is 1 of Howie faves, they cater his shows, so it's not so farfetched that he'd put in a plug for his friend and Tony went along.I've only seen the show a few times and don't really know who it's tagetted for but my suspicion is that it's part entertainment for local/part travel guide for visitors.

Carr's politics are irrelevant to the reco but he has been on the Boston scene for years. Love him or hate him, he is a factor in the city.

I tend to take this type of show as entertainment and not get too worked up over the lists. If 1 rec out of 8 or so rankles some, that's a pretty good batting avg. Still beats PG (not a high bar) with their endless loop of burgers or whoever pays for ads.

-----
Michael's Deli
256 Harvard St, Brookline, MA 02446