ON THE BAR.
Hey pals,
I’m back from Maine, and it’s good to be home. I’m less rested than I’d like because there are approximately 9,000 plates spinning above my head at the moment, and it turns out that wherever you go, there you are (with your plates). BUT! Sunsets were watched, oysters were eaten, and rocks were collected. I ran into my friend Sammy, of Sammy’s Deluxe, when we missed our first ferry out of Rockland. If you find yourself in Midcoast this summer, put Sammy’s on your list; it’s absolutely one of the best restaurants on the East Coast, and it’s alarming that he doesn’t get more press.
Let’s get into it.
EVENTS!
As you’re aware, PRIDE HAS ENTERED THE CHAT, and we’re bar I like to say is not NOT gay. A reminder that our post-parade, pre-club hang, BIKINI BOTTOMS, starts at noon on Saturday!
A reminder that BIKINI BOTTOMS is a multi-generational party, so bring the whole fam if you want. We’ll have lots of food specials from our Bow Market neighbors (piña coladas! krabby patties! themed maca! carne asada! etc!) and tons of activities, including Pin the Fishnets on Patrick Star (lol), a red carpet photo moment from Lexie Butterfly Vintage, a piñata, beats from the all-woman DJ collective Spin the Bottle, and tie dye with Tiny Turns! Highly recco signing up for the tie dye station—you can bring your own items or purchase a blank from Tiny Turns.
On-theme outfits are suggested and deeply desired! Make it aquatic! Make it tropical! Make it camp! No tix are required for the whole shindig, but we do suggest grabbing one of these free tickets so we know how many of y’all are en route.
ALSO! In my last newsletter, I promised a lineup of legendary events over at Dear Annie this summer, and I’m pleased to announce the first in this iconic series:
Providence’s one + only PIZZA MARVIN is popping up with shellfish towers, big salads, slices + more on Wednesday, June 12th. I cannot express my enthusiasm for this food or these guys (our James Beard Nominee-pals-in-arms and general pals, too), so please don’t miss their Camberville debut! We’re doing two seatings for this one, and you do need a ticket, so please snap them up before they’re gone (they’re almost gone). Chef Robert has requested a special bottle list of grower Champagne, and so he (and you) shall receive. Get tix and the full menu here!
WHAT I’M READING
Apparently, I was on the cover of the Boston Sunday Globe last week (braless and above the fold, no less). That was a funny thing to find out while on a remote island off the coast of Maine, when several neighbors started texting me pictures of my face on their doorsteps. I haven’t seen the paper myself yet, but the article is an important one:
Priced out: How Boston’s broken liquor license system drives chefs from the city—Dithi Kohli for The Boston Globe
I posted the article on Instagram when it came out, too, along with my thoughts about why this matters so much for our industry and our city (diversity, real estate markets, cost of local produce… I could go on).
That post was re-shared by dozens and dozens of accounts. I’ve had posts re-shared en masse before, but never for something as dry as liquor licensing in the City of Boston. So. This matters.
The problem is, of course, that this matters for extremely complex, socio-economic reasons that aren’t easily digestible, diagnosable, or reparable. This is part of the reason why we continue to flail around on the issue with no tangible path forward, despite the Licensing Commission’s best (?) efforts to poke the problem with neighborhood-specific low-cost license releases, most of which don’t end up benefitting the populations they’re intended for.
If you aren’t able to or don’t want to read the article or my post, the short version is: liquor licenses, which restaurants need for revenue if they stand a chance of making it in this terrible, terrible economy, cost an average of $500,000.00 (yes, that’s half a million dollars) in Boston proper. As a result, many talented chefs and potential operators (like yours truly) can’t afford to open independent bars and restaurants within the city limits, and so Boston is becoming slowly suburbified by insipid 300-seat national chains that sell you the same Sysco trash over and over again for enormous markups. It’s… not the best.
The above is just one in a four-party series Kohli and a few other reporters are releasing with the Globe this summer, and I am extremely glad that this issue is finally getting the investigative journalism treatment it deserves. I’m not hopeful that it will make a difference, unfortunately, as I have very little faith in our government these days, but at least we’ll all have something to blame beyond the same old rising rent when we decide to move to Rhode Island.
WHAT I’M LISTENING TO
This isn’t a new thing, but Matt at Southern Pines turned me onto Gravy, the Southern Foodways Alliance podcast, and I am digging it. I started with Yock is For Lovers: Chinese Soul Food in Tidewater Virginia, but everything I’ve listened to since has been equal parts fascinating, heartwarming, devastating, and such an exceptionally reported look at the intricacies of life and food in the American South.
SPECIAL SAUCE
By the glass this week!
MONDAY (today!): 2021 Valette Et Pourtant…” Burgundy
TUESDAY: 2018 Hatzidakis ‘Skitali,’ Santorini
WEDS: 2019 Octavin ‘Dora Bella,’ Jura
THURS: 2021 Lauer ‘Neuenberg,’ Saar
FRI: 2018 Claire Naudin “Galanthus Nivalis,” Burgundy
SATURDAY: 2022 Floral Terranes Whole Cluster Cab Franc, North Fork, Long Island
SUNDAY: Belluard "Les Perles du Mont Blanc,’ Savoie
ONE MORE THING
It’s been brought to my attention that Lodge has released a limited-edition collaboration series with Dolly Parton.
This is not an ad—I just love Dolly, and I thought one of you might need Dolly’s face on a skillet, too.