Metaboston

Boston Red Dogs: An Economic Indicator

Hot dog sales in Boston's Financial District as an economic indicator in this article on fear in downtown Boston.

Gabriel Ruiz, who runs Boston Red Dogs, a set of kiosks that sell hot dogs, sodas and Italian sausages on the cusp of the city’s financial district, has never seen such a lacklustre lunchtime rush.

The queues to his stall at lunchtime used to snake around the corner of Washington Street but not lately. “I’ve been on this street for 18 years and this is the first year that I am not sure if I am going to operate in January, February and March,” said Mr Ruiz, who owns four pushcarts in Downtown Crossing and the Boston Common. “I’ve lost a lot of regular customers to job cuts in the area.”

Ferran Adria at Harvard: Dec. 9th

Ferran Adria, the El Bulli chef who is the most famous exponent of molecular gastronomy will be speaking at Harvard Tuesday evening in a free presentation at the Engineering Department. 

Adrià, called by Gourmet “the Salvador Dalí of the kitchen,” will trace the birth of molecular gastronomy, manipulating the physical and chemical processes of cooking, and then discuss his own adventures in what he calls “molecular cooking.”

In particular, he will explore the use of hydrocolloids, or “gums” that enable a delicate fruit puree to be transformed into a dense gel, and deconstruct techniques like sferificacion, creating a resistant skin of liquid (as in a pea soup held in a pod of nothing more than itself).

Considered one of the most creative individuals in any profession, Adrià views preparing food as a language “to transmit impressions, feelings, sensations, and experiences.” He says, “Cooking is a language with its own special alphabet. From one alphabet, each cook creates his or her own unique conversation. Our role as chefs is to expand this dialogue, offering the world new forms of culinary expression.”

It's an interesting opportunity to see Adria considering how hard it is to actually get in to the restaurant.

If you go, plan on making restaurants months in advance. El Bulli serves only dinner, has less than 50 seats, and only makes one sitting. They are also closed from October to March. Of the approximately 2,000 bookings every year, they receive over 400,000 applications. Expect to pay about $150 per person, not including wine.

Info:
Time:  Tuesday, December 9 at 6.30 p.m.
Place:   Physics Department, Jefferson Hall 250, Harvard, Cambridge, MA (Directions)
Cost:  Free.  Seating is first-come first-served. No exceptions.

Tim Hortons Succumbs to Dreaded Dunkin Donuts

One hope in the fight against the scourge of Dunkin Donuts is faltering now that Tim Hortons is closing New England shops.

"[B]usiness has not gone well for Tim Hortons in Southeastern New England, where Massachusetts-based Dunkin’ Donuts is a mainstay.

In September of last year, Chris Laganos, Tim Hortons’ senior vice president of U.S. operations at the time, told The Journal that Southeastern New England is “probably our most challenging market.”

Yet, as late as January of this year, the company said it still expected to add stores in the United States, aiming to have 500 stores in this country by year-end.

The economic downturn seems to have dimmed that prospect.

Very sad.

Finding Photos of Hiroshima in Watertown

When the owner of the Deluxe Town Diner found an old suitcase on the street he opened it and found some surprising images.

Taken during the weeks following the bombing, they show a landscape that is eerily vacant and quiet, like ruins from a vanished civilization. But why were they taken and by whom? And how is it that they ended up in a pile of garbage?

The man who found the photographs, Don Levy (no relation) lives and works in Watertown, a working-class suburb of Boston. Levy owns and operates the Deluxe Town Diner. It’s almost two o’clock in the afternoon and the lunch crowd is thinning out. He sits down for the first time that day and tucks into a Reuben sandwich, fries and a glass of water. He is wearing brown corduroy trousers, a dark blue pullover and horn rimmed glasses. His grey hair is cut short, with a fashionable tuft sticking straight up on top.

“When I opened the suitcase that night I knew what I was looking at almost right away,” he says softly. “Some of the prints had 'Hiro', short for Hiroshima, written on their edges.” He takes a bite of the sandwich. “I felt pleased to have found them but at the same time I was saddened by what I was looking at.”  (Image:  International Center for Photography) (via Kottke)

Is Ben & Jerry's Still a Political Company?

Ben & Jerry's has a hippie image even though it is now owned by multinational Unilever.  Does it still deserve it?  Craig Fehrman takes a look to see what role politics plays at the company now that it Ben and Jerry aren't running the show.

[N]o matter how bland the factory feels, no matter how indifferent my tour guide sounds, no matter how apathetic my tour mates seem, there still exists a body of people who buy and eat Ben & Jerry's because of its politics. And this minority continues to dominate the news coverage.

It was only after spending an afternoon with the company's tepid every-fans that I began to understand this situation. The hyper-political Ben & Jerry's fans—the ones fretting about socially responsible bananas—are the structural equivalent of the Netroots. There's a better link here than Howard Dean. Like the Netroots, the progressive Ben & Jerry's fans drive and distort a bigger portion of the news than they have any right to. They're the media darlings, the ones who must be pacified quickly and quietly.

Allen's Coffee Brandy, the Champage of Maine

For reasons no one seems to understand, Allen's Coffee Brandy, made in Somerville, is a perennial best-seller in Maine recently selling over 1,000,000 bottles in a year.

Perhaps because of its dominant sales position in Maine, Allen’s Coffee Brandy also has been associated with Maine’s substance abuse troubles. Members of the state’s criminal justice community have said the brand name frequently appears in police incident logs, along with Budweiser beer and Twisted Tea, a blended brand of tea and alcohol. These other brands are not classified as liquor and therefore are not included on the state’s list of top-selling units of hard alcohol.

In the 1990s, state Superior Court Judge Robert Crowley was quoted as saying coffee brandy “is very prevalent in the criminals who come before me. I don’t know whether brandy is more bang for your buck but it runs the gamut.”

“I see it in bar fights, domestic assaults, [drunken driving] and worse crimes,” the judge said.

Global Warming Increases Lobster Supply

Another contributing factor in falling lobster prices:  increasing supply as lobsters benefit from global warming.

“Lobsters, crabs, squid, and other invertebrates are becoming more common while populations of bottom-feeding fish are plummeting, according to a long-term trawling study of Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay.

***

Scientists from the University of Rhode Island (URI) say rising sea temperatures linked to global warming is the primary cause of shifts in the abundance and types of species living in the bay and adjacent Rhode Island Sound

Winedown at Harvard Book Store

Harvard Book Store will be hosting the latest of its Winedown events on Friday Sept. 12.  They'll be serving free food and wine.  In the era of Amazon, this seems like a great way for a real-world store to distinguish itself - by positioning itself as a place where people can participate in a community.

"In support of fellow locally owned, independent businesses, Harvard Book Store is delighted to welcome representatives from a number of area shops, restaurants, and venues--along with a sampling of their wares--for the first Winedown of the fall. 

***
And, as always, wine will be served.  
Appetizers will be served courtesy of the fantastic Grafton Street Pub and Grill.

Info:
Time:  Friday, September 12th, 7:00pm
Location:  Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA
Cost:  Free

Boston Perspective on Declining Lobster Prices

The NYTimes investigates how declining lobster prices are affecting Boston lobstermen and restaurants.

"Bernie Feeney, who traps lobsters out of Boston Harbor, said he knew many lobstermen who had taken second jobs in recent years. Mr. Feeney, who has been a lobsterman since 1978, said he had been doing marine surveying for the last five years to help pay the bills.

“In a year where our fuel costs are almost doubled and bait costs have gone up 50 to 60 percent as a result of fuel,” Mr. Feeney said, “it’s a squeeze from both ends.”

Partly as a result, young people are not going into the lobstering business, he said, adding that the average age of a fisherman in Massachusetts is 59.

“There aren’t many young entrants,” said Mr. Feeney, a past president of the Massachusetts Lobstermen’s Association. “The startup costs of this business are astronomical compared to what they used to be.”

A Guide to Vermont Cheese

Ellen Ecker Ogden has written a new guide to Vermont cheese that helps provide background on the Vermont Cheese Trail.

"The Vermont Cheese Book includes all of the farmers and cheese makers who are members of the Vermont Cheese Council, a trade organization of close to three dozen Vermont cheese makers, whose goal is to advance the production and image of premier cheeses from Vermont.

Following the Vermont Cheese Trail, this book covers each region of Vermont for you to explore the geography, discover the history, and experience the local agriculture, combined with the farm experience. On the cover, our state flower the red clover is symbolic of the diversity of the wild flora that thrives in healthy soil, providing nourishment to the animals, and is ultimately reflected in the taste or terroir of the cheese. 

Another resource for those interested in local food as well as a nice marketing effort for Vermont cheesemakers helping to establish their brand.

Lobster Price Slump

Daniel Gross explains more about the great lobster price decline that we've written about.

“At root, the global forces that are driving up the price of food don't significantly affect the vacation lobster business in Maine. Commercial and consumer demand doesn't vary much for off-the-boat lobster. Sure, many lobsters are sold to processing plants. But unlike other seafood products—think of canned tuna, or clam sauce, or frozen fish fillets—lobster is not produced or marketed on a mass global scale, which also means there are no speculators trying to make a killing on lobster futures. The fact that people are eating more and better in China and India isn't much boosting the demand for lobsters from Maine. Even in the United States, lobster remains to a large degree a regional product.

Bin Ends of Braintree and Wine Tastings Over Twitter

Braintree-based Bin Ends wine store is building a customer following by organizing wine tastings where fellow tasters interact over the Twitter messaging service and with wine makers.

“The project aims to give wine enthusiasts around the globe a chance to join the world's top wine personalities online for tastings via the popular social networking tool Twitter. Users need only set up a free Twitter account and then follow binendswine on the service. In the U.S., they can also order the wines being tasted from Bin Ends three weeks prior to the event, with free shipping across the country (Bin Ends does not ship internationally). Then, equipped with the wines and their Twitter account, users can join the event as it takes place, commenting, asking questions and enjoying back-and-forth interaction with the winemakers in real time. Tastings generally take place the third Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. Eastern U.S. time, and are announced on Twitter, Facebook and Bin Ends' own website.

Great idea to attract customers who might not want to head out to a wine tasting and especially for those who aren't in the immediate area of the store.  Not only is it interactive but it overcomes the geography problem faced by a lot of smaller retailers. (via Metaboston Media)

Rocks in Bread at "When Pigs Fly"?

Interesting that globalization in the form of a traditional Chilean method of raisin production may have been responsible for an incident at the Davis Square "When Pigs Fly" bakery.

"When Pigs Fly bakery owner Andrew Siegel confirmed that when a Massachusetts man bought a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread at the When Pigs Fly store in Davis Square in Somerville, Mass., early last month, he may have gotten a little more than he expected.

The man, identified by Siegel as Michael Snyder of North Reading, Mass., sliced off a piece and began eating it when he heard and felt a crunch. After spitting the bread into his hand, Snyder reportedly found three or four small, rock-like pieces in the half-chewed bread.

"I'm not sure whether they were pebbles or pieces of stem or branch," Siegel said. "I don't even know whether they came from our bread.""

The bakery seems to have been pretty fair offering 3 replacement loaves while the customer seems to have asked for 5!

Lobster Roundup

Lobster news lately has been a bit down for this symbol of a New England summer.

• The FDA has been warning against eating the lobster tomalley (the greenish organ inside a lobster) "because of a potential contamination of dangerous levels of toxins that can cause paralytic shellfish poisoning, which can be fatal."

• Roadkill lobsters have apparently been sold in Massachusetts following an accident according to this article:

• "Despite orders to destroy thousands of pounds of seafood that spilled from a truck after a highway crash, the seafood was unloaded and sold illegally from the back of a truck at a local restaurant.

  A multiple vehicle accident on Rt. 395 south ripped open the refrigerated truck and spilled 11,000 pounds of live lobsters and fish and about 150 gallons of diesel fuel.

  Some of the fuel spilled on the seafood in the crash leaving it exposed without refrigeration for hours, prompting Webster's director of public health to order the load destroyed Sunday."

• Lobster prices are now lower than sliced turkey.

Boston Chefs Crumble in Face of Criticism from Common Man and Woman

Confronted with criticism from nonprofessionals, like the posters on the Boston Chowhound board, Boston chefs are outraged that their customers fail to appreciate that their restaurants are perfect.

"Will Gilson (Garden at the Cellar): That’s the other thing. Chowhound and Citysearch and things ike that make it so hard for you to feel as though you’re in control. For the longest time, it was just the reviewers in the city that were writing those articles. And now anybody can write whatever they want about you and it’s on there."

Chefs aren't in complete "control" unless they aren't asking people to come in to their restaurants and give them money.  The idea that chefs shouldn't look at any of the criticism also seems mistaken.  Unlike baseball players who avoid fans on talk radio but answer to owners and managers, opinions on the internet can be important for chefs to consider because restaurant customers may be expressing real problems and issues and the opinions can affect other customers who can make the decision whether or not to eat there (unlike hiring and firing a pitcher).  Like every other industry, chefs will have to face that the public can now post opinions on the internet and while some criticisms may be overblown or wrong others may well be correct.

The Art of Meat: "Meat After Meat Joy" at Pierre Menard

Pierre Menard Gallery's new exhibit focuses on meat as the subject for artistic inspiration and as an artistic medium:

"Visitors to the gallery can examine a flag made of pure raw meat and meat fat.

The flag’s sculptor, Betty Hirst, also produced an opened book made of frozen raw meat and, possibly disturbing, a baby girl on a pink blanket composed of dried meat." (Image:  21 Chops, David Raymond)

Own a Maine Lobster Trap

If you're not thinking of economizing this summer and you can't get enough lobster you can "buy" a Maine lobster trap for the season and feast on all the lobster the trap catches.

"For USD 2,995, consumers can own a Maine lobster trap and all the lobsters it catches for an entire year through the Premium Trap program from Catch a Piece of Maine. As "partners," as the company calls them, customers of the program are assigned a dedicated lobsterman who will fish their trap throughout the 32-week season. Everything he catches is tracked with a colour-coded band placed on the lobsters' claws, and all data is recorded online so that the partner can view their trap's activity, manage their catch and schedule shipments from anywhere. As lobsters are caught by the trap, the partner's account grows; as lobsters are requested for shipment, it decreases again. Lobsters can be shipped in batches of four as soon as they are caught, or they can be saved for later (in which case the company will substitute one just caught for the original); either way, details are included on when, where and by whom they were obtained. Catch a Piece of Maine guarantees at least 48 1.5 lb lobsters for each partner—totalling over 70bs.—and also 12 lbs. steamer clams, 12 lbs. mussels, and 48 servings of Maine-made desserts over the course of the year."

Ignite Boston 3 on May 29th

O'Reilly will be putting on another Ignite Boston on May 29th at Tommy Doyle's in Harvard Square (6pm to 10pm).

"This time, we're using two floors at Tommy Doyle's, so the acoustics will be better than our first event there. From 6-6:45 pm, mingle and talk tech with your fellow FOOs, alpha geeks, and techies from the greater Boston area. After the mingling and social stuff, we'll have a couple of special keynote presentations by Jonathan Zdziarski of iPhone notoriety and John Viega of Security notoriety to kick off our Ignite talks. Then, onto guest speakers who'll catch you up on the cool, new, innovative stuff going on in technology today. Don’t blink or you’ll miss their lightning-fast, five-minute presentations. During intermissions, get a cold beer and chat with speakers, sponsors, and O’Reilly’s own editors."

You can still propose your own short presentation if you stick to the ground rules:

"Presentations must:

• Be no longer than 5 minutes
• Be on an innovative topic (no sales pitches, please!)
• Be viewable on a PC [a MacBook Pro with Powerpoint and Keynote, and PDF] with standard AV equipment
• Did we mention, no Sales Pitches."

The short time limit makes the presentations you aren't interested in fairly painless.  The last Ignite Boston was a good fun mixed bag although quite hard to hear so hopefully Tommy Doyle's will have better acoustics. 

Vermont's First Yak Farm

Vermont Yak is possibly the first New England farm and certainly the first Vermont farm to raise yaks.

Why raise yaks?

"We are interested in introducing this spirited Tibetan animal to Vermont as a way to bring new variety to the local food movement, as a contribution to a holistic farming effort in which pasture-fed yak would fertilize fields and gardens, and as a multi-faceted revenue source – meat, fiber, agri-tourism, and breed stock would be the four primary sales arenas."

Locally raised yak meat will be the initial focus:

"The upstart Vermont Yak farmers first learned about the animals on a visit to family in Montana. They loved the meat, calling it richer and sweeter than beef, juicier and less fatty too. Williams figured she could raise and sell premium yak meat here, since Vermont has such a strong localvore movement. Localvores are people who try to eat primarily Vermont-raised food."

Boston Walking Tours

A huge list of walking tours in the Boston area from Roxbury to the North End and covering areas of interest from history to food.

Early Review of New Harvard Square Coffee Shop Crema

As always Chowhound has the early insight, in this case about Crema the barely opened new coffee shop started by the daughter of the owners of Flat Patties.

Free Agent Boston Lunch on April 17th

If you work alone as a freelancer or consultant as more and more people do you might miss the camaraderie of a lunch with colleagues.  Free Agent Boston is restarting its lunch get-togethers with a meeting on April 17th at the Cambridge Common.  It's Spring!  Time to break out of the home office hibernation!

Upper Crust Pizza Outpost to

Another branch of the Upper Crust pizza chain will fill the spot recently vacated by the Museum of Useful Things (the more functional branch of Black Ink) bringing the number of pizza places in Harvard Square to at least 9 (?).  (via MenuPages Blog)

Recipe for a New England Boiled Dinner

The Boiled Dinner may not be that exciting but it is a classic New England meal and perhaps a reason for New England's less than stunning culinary reputation (although it has changed a lot).  You may know one variation of the Boiled Dinner as the Irish-American classic corned beef and cabbage.

If you don't want to make it Jane and Michael Stern recommend Moody's Diner in Waldoboro, Maine as one of the rare restaurants still serving it.

Atwood Tavern's Bacon-Eatin' Contest

Inman Square's Atwood Tavern holds its bacon-eatin' contest.  How much can you eat in 5 minutes?  Mmmm pig!

Boston-area Starbucks Test Clover

Boston Chowhound posters note that local Starbucks are testing the Clover coffee machine, a new single-serving device (in action above):

"I don't know how well reported it's been, but Starbucks, as part of their recent corporate shuffling, has started testing something called "fresh-pressed" coffee, which is made with the ever-controversial (and crazy expensive) Clover coffeemaker. When I discovered that one of the Harvard Square Starbuckses (in the Garage) had gotten themselves a Clover, I ran--I did not walk.

The short version is that it's, by far, the best Starbucks coffee I've ever had."

The thread has lists and discusses the pros and cons of the various Starbucks and independents using the Clover if you want to give it a try.

Toscanini's Tax Controversy Makes the NY Times

Toscanini's tax controversy makes the NY Times after donations help the store re-open while the donation request sparks complaints from taxpayers.

"[Sam] Mehr [a Toscanini employee who set up the donation website], who first tasted Toscanini’s ice cream as an elementary-school student and has helped invent flavors like summer blue lemon (blueberry ice cream with lemon zest) and plum and red wine sorbet, said even he felt ambivalent about the outpouring of cash.

“There are a lot of nonprofit organizations that ethically the money could be better suited for,” he said. “But food is something that people really, really care about. Food is a really integral part of our lives, and people do not want to see Toscanini’s go.”

Where to find Somerville's artisanal chocolate

Following up on our post about artisanal chocolate in Somerville a list of places where the products can be purchased in time for Valentine's Day:

"Taza (tazachocolate.com) and La Tène (latenechocolate.com) are available at Bow Street Flowers, 108 Beacon St., Somerville, 617-492-0080; Tomasso Trattoria and Enoteca, 154 Turnpike Road, Southborough, 508-481-8484. Taza is also available at Darwin's Ltd., 148 Mt. Auburn St., Cambridge, 617-354-5233 and 1629 Cambridge St., Cambridge, 617-491-2999; Foodies Urban Market, 1421 Washington St., Boston, 617-266-9911, and Foodies Duxbury, 35 Depot St., Duxbury, 781-934-5544."

(Image:  La Tene Chocolate)

La Tene Chocolatier: Making artisanal chocolate in Somervill

Brendan Gannon founded La Tene Chocolatier after a stint at Harvard Square gourmet chocolate spot L.A. Burdick.  Gannon takes chocolate in some unique directions with unusual ingredients like Irish stout or Sichuan peppercorn.  If you're giving chocolates this week it might be worth considering some unique flavors from La Tene.

"Gannon said La Tène is unique in that its flavors are half traditional and half avant garde. He applies the traditional European techniques of fine chocolate making and adds a modern flare to his bonbons. Raspberry, Irish stout, champagne, pomegranate and Sichuan peppercorn with lemon zest are amongst the pleasingly subtle flavors you will find in La Tène chocolates."

6-legged mix-ins: bugs and ice cream

6-legged mix-ins:  bugs and ice cream.  Community College of Rhode Island instructor David Gracer is an evangelist for eating insects and he brought his message to Toscanini's.

"In the kitchen at Toscanini’s Ice Cream, David Gracer plunged a spoon into various insect-and-ice-cream concoctions. Wielding a grasshopper covered in burned caramel, he said: “Insects can feed the world. Cows and pigs are the S.U.V.’s; bugs are the bicycles.”"

Gracer also has a business, Sunrise Land Shrimp, promoting entomophagy (insect eating).

Ugandan food in Waltham

Ugandan food in Waltham.  A good suggestion for a relatively rare cuisine (for the area) from Chowhound for the restaurant Karibu.  Apparently not too many West African restaurants around Boston.

Living the food barter economy on Martha's Vineyard

Living the food barter economy on Martha's Vineyard with local Jan Buhrman.

"Following Ms. Buhrman for a day or two as she gathers ingredients is a lesson in how to eat locally, even in the coldest days of winter. Because she seems to know everybody on the island who raises, catches or forages for food, it is also a glimpse of an alternative economy of eating, one in which modern capitalism takes a back seat to a looser, island-grown style of bartering.

In summer, for instance, Ms. Buhrman hands out ice from her freezers to help the local fishermen keep their catch cold. In winter, they repay her with fish, oysters and bay scallops."

Toscanini's seized for back taxes

Central Square coffee and ice cream spot Toscanini's seized for back taxes. 

"The state Department of Revenue seized the popular Cambridge ice cream and coffee shop for nonpayment of back taxes, taping an orange sign with “SEIZED” in large block letters on its door.

The Central Square business, which opened in 1981, owes $167,810 in taxes that have been accumulating since 2000, DOR spokesman Robert Bliss said. The amount includes $140,151 in unpaid meal taxes and $27,659 in unpaid withholding taxes.

The DOR resorts to seizing businesses when it’s unable to “get the attention of taxpayers to come to terms with the amount that’s owed,” according to Bliss."

That's too bad I guess but it seems weird to donate to a for-profit business that seems to have some serious managerial problems.

That said they've raised $18,000 so far but the whole effort has inspired a raging debate in the comments thread (now closed) of the fund-raising site.

Gridskipper provides some suggestions for bathroom sex and gets a few Boston suggestions

Gridskipper provides some suggestions for bathroom sex and gets a few Boston suggestions:

"In Boston: Shay's in harvard square - fratboy type pub. You have to prepare for a bit of embarrassment coming out, but they don't seem to mind too much. Jacques in the back bay - gay bar with a GREAT private bathroom downstairs. gets a lot of use. Paradise Rock Club on comm ave - the Handicap bathroom is so renowned for this the staff refers to it as handicapping as in "did you handicap him?" Model Cafe in allston - has a men's room, a women's room and a big handicap bathroom."

and

"...I can vouch for the bathroom at Tealuxe in Boston on Newbury St. It s downstairs and down a hall. The music is loud enough so no one can hear what s going on. The bathroom is large, clean and even has a chair. And, generally there isn t a line waiting to get in when you exit."

Cape Cod Ice Cream Former Owner Dies in Skiing Accident

The former owner of one of the top Cape ice cream shops Four Seas Ice Cream dies in New Hampshire.
"Richard Warren, the former owner of a Cape landmark — Four Seas Ice Cream in Centerville — died Saturday after a downhill skiing accident.Warren, 72, was remembered yesterday by family and friends as a generous man with boundless energy. He spent more than four decades running the nationally recognized ice cream shop."

Luis Guzman likes Vermont's Cabot Cheese

Cambridge's snack expert Jeremy Selwyn, founder of taquitos.net and host of The Snacking Hour on Cambridge Community Television checks out the snack offerings in the Porter Square Shaw's supermarket

Cambridge's snack expert Jeremy Selwyn, a "37-year-old Linnaean Street resident" and founder of taquitos.net and host of The Snacking Hour on Cambridge Community Television checks out the snack offerings in the Porter Square Shaw's supermarket.

"He generally prefers more gourmet products, such as the Cape Cod brand, made in Hyannis, or crispy Kettle potato chips. He also knows where to go: Porter Exchange's Japanese markets for more exotic fare; Whole Foods for a full selection of his favorite Kettle chips; and Shaw's in Porter for basics."

Vermont Spirits and the Long Tail of Liquor

Vermont Spirits and the Long Tail of Liquor:  St. Johnsbury, Vermont maple sap-based vodka producer Vermont Spirits will be the first vodka distributed by beer giant Anheuser-Busch.  The Anheuser-Busch subsidiary that will handle Vermont Spirits is called Long Tail Libations so it seems like a company known for a mass product is trying to tap into two trends:  the long tail idea of a wide taste spectrum and the development of niche or specialty distilleries.

Boston foods to send as presents for Christmas?

Boston foods to send as presents for Christmas?  Its harder than you might think to find something as these Chowhound posters find.

Is the decline of Boston's gay bars a sign of an increasingly homogeneous city?

Is  the decline of Boston's gay bars a sign of an increasingly homogeneous city?

Gay bars are just one kind of business struggling to survive in what is, to use the phrase popularized by Chris Anderson in his book of the same name, the age of "the long tail." That phrase refers to an economy in which the Internet can make even low-demand products profitable. Until the Internet, large cities offered the closest thing to a long tail economy.

Now the classic example of a long tail business is online retailer Amazon.com, which stocks close to a million book titles - including more gay novels and intellectual books than any local store could offer. As long tail businesses migrate to the Internet, cities like Boston are being skinned alive.

Could it also be that gay oriented spots aren't really part of the long tail and are part of the mainstream.  That certainly seems to be one of the reasons for a decline in gay bookstores; now gay titles are carried in Barnes & Noble and Borders as well as online retailers.

That said, the article describes an interesting phenomenon where the internet has become incredibly diverse and compelling but our physical environment becomes boring.

Authentic Italian expresso from a Jamaica Plains importer

Authentic Italian expresso is arriving in Boston from a Jamaica Plains importer who was driven to develop a distribution company Tutto Buono to bring the real taste of Al Moretto espresso to New England.

Small Victory: Boston Least Obese in Survey

Small Victory:  In a Forbes survey of the 50 most populated cities in the U.S., Boston had the fewest obese residents with only 19% obese.

First Thanksgiving from William Bradford's Of Plimoth Plantation

"They begane now to gather in y^e small harvest they had, and to fitte up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health & strenght, and had all things in good plenty; for as some were thus imployed in affairs abroad, others were excersised in fishing, aboute codd, & bass, & other fish, of which y^ey tooke good store, of which every family had their portion.  All y^e somer ther was no wante.  And now begane to come in store of foule, as winter aproached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees).  And besids water foule, ther was great store of wild Turkies, of which they tooke many, besids venison, &c.  Besids they had aboute a peck a meale a weeke to a person, or now since harvest, Indean corne to y^t proportion. Which made many afterwards write so largly of their plenty hear to their freinds in England, which were not rained, but true reports."

Description of the first Thanksgiving from William Bradford's Of Plimoth Plantation (1608-1650). (Image of front page above)

Review of Tealuxe in Harvard Square and on Newbury Street

Review of Tealuxe in Harvard Square and on Newbury Street

Partnership in a Maine Lobster Trap

Partnership in a Maine lobster trap.  Catch a Piece of Maine is a clever way to guarantee income for lobstermen and appeal to local food interest with an online business aspect (check your lobster account; free shipping):

"With your purchase of a partnership ($2,995), you will be assigned a lobster trap number fished by one of the eight professional lobstermen pictured on the meet the lobstermen page. During each fishing trip, your lobsterman will record the catch from your trap. This data is retrieved when your lobsterman sells his daily catch back at the dock and will be recorded onto an online database. You will receive an online personal lobster account where you can view your trap’s performance updated every Friday afternoon. You will be able to see when your trap was checked, how much it caught, and how many lobster credits you have available for shipping. You are guaranteed at least 40 lobsters from your trap, but most traps average 50 or often more." (via Luxist)

Boston-area Coffee Shop Discrimination Against Women? A Study

Boston-area coffee shop discrimination against women?  An study by a Middlebury economist and commentary by interesting economics writer Tim Harford.

The Great International Beer Festival in Providence (11/10/2007)

The Great International Beer Festival is back in Providence  on November 10 and this appreciation will encourage you to attend:  "For $35, attendees - who must show proof of legal age at the door, of course - are given a plastic cup just a bit bigger than a shot glass.  Then they can walk the vendor booths - mini-bars, with everything on tap, if you will - and ask for a sample.  The kick is that you can visit each booth as many times as you want. . . . This weekend there will be about 200 breweries at the Convention Center, hailing from Providence to the Virgin Islands."

Where to Eat Grasshopper Tacos and Piballes Eels in Boston

Where to eat grasshopper tacos and piballes eels in Boston.  Chapulines are great!

But bad news from Environmental Health Perspectives:

"Chapulines (grasshoppers) seasoned with chili powder and lime are a popular snack with many Mexicans. Now state and federal health departments have issued warnings against eating chapulines from the Mexican state of Oaxaca because many, for reasons yet unknown, contain dangerously high concentrations of the neurotoxicant lead--as high as 2,300 µg/g in some samples, or nearly six times the tolerable daily intake for a young child. The FDA recommends that parents of children who have eaten chapulines contact their health care provider to see if testing for lead poisoning is warranted."

A Visit to the Vermont Shepherd Cheese Farm

A visit to the Vermont Shepherd cheese farm in Putney, VT run by Harvard grad David Major.  "Today he rises before dawn, seven days a week, to tend to his cheese dairy, Vermont Shepherd. He heads out through the crisp             air of misty mornings among the gently rolling hills to see to the chore he enjoys the most: tending his sheep."

But don't get too excited about the Vermont Cheese Trail:  "While Vermont's Cheese Trail may be an attempt to model the vineyard tours of California's Napa Valley, the similarities are few. Not many of these artisanal cheese operations could accommodate tour groups, and the farms are so widely spread that it would be difficult to visit more than one in a day. So even though the artisanal cheese movement in Vermont continues to flourish, the best option for most may be to sample the cheeses at cheese stores or farmers' markets, rather than trying to pay a visit to the farms."

Read: The Economics of Apple-Picking

Daniel Gross casts a gimlet eye on fall-in-New England staple day trip:  apple-picking.

Apple picking is a cherished rite of fall, a wholesome and fun family outing, a throwback to a simpler time when people weren't so disconnected from the production of their sustenance. I look forward to it every year. It's also a wasteful scam.

Gross ends up having a good time at Bartlett's Orchard in the Berkshires but still notes that it encourages overconsumption and brings up the paradox of choice.  But he doesn't bring up the idea that in rich countries manual labor, like gardening or apple picking, becomes a leisure activity.