Posts from — February 2011

B Street Restaurant & Bar opened for business yesterday in Newton Centre. The restaurant serves brunch, lunch, dinner, and dessert, and offers a late night place to go for specialty cocktails, beer and wine.

Dishes on the restaurant’s online menus appear to range from ocean favorites (steamed mussels and pan seared cod) to comfort foods (burgers and macaroni and cheese).

Kitchen staff include Executive Chef Simon Robinson and Pastry Chef MacKenzie Courington. The General Manager is Scott Wishansky.

B Street is owned and operated by Ellen “Elli” Kaplansky, who formerly operated Pie Bakery and Cafe in the newly renovated space at 796 Beacon Street. Congratulations, Elli, and welcome back to the neighborhood!

Newtonville Books’ owner Mary Cotton sent out an appeal to customers and other supporters late last week.  Heading into the last year of their current lease, the bookstore is asking patrons to become members. The goal, having 500 paying members, will help the bookstore determine its plans for the future and that includes whether to renew its lease.

As an important fixture of village life in Newtonville and beyond, Newtonville Books is an excellent example of what makes for a strong village community.  Bookstores are what sociologist Ray Oldenburg calls a “great good place,” an informal gathering place that encourages community life. His popular book The Great Good Place: Cafes, Coffee Shops, Bookstores, Bars, Hair Salons, and Other Hangouts at the Heart of a Community discusses how these places we share are integral to the health of a community.

As profiled on our site recently, Newtonville Books offers a public gathering space for readings, workshops, and book club discussions. Their upcoming event calendar alone includes at least 10 events, including a visit this Thursday Feb 24 from internationally recognized author Alice Hoffman reading from and signing her latest book The Red Garden.

Isn’t this is the type of village center business we want to see MORE of in Newton? If you would like to support this merchant and exercise your vote for great village life, please consider stopping by Newtonville Books, and become a member (individual memberships are $50; family memberships are $75).   I was happy to pay this small price to help ensure the survival of this fantastic local bookstore and healthy village centers.

As reported in the Boston Globe earlier this week, Eunice Feller of Bread & Chocolate will appear in an upcoming episode of the Food Network show “Throwdown! With Bobby Flay.’’

Mark your calendar (and set your TiVo) for 8:30pm on Wednesday, March 9, when Feller takes on celebrity chef Bobby Flay in a Boston cream pie battle. Of course, we’re rooting for the home team.

Feller and her husband Steve reside in Newtonville and run the bakery and cafes in Newtonville and Newton Highlands. Not to get sentimental, but the Newtonville cafe was the first village business profile posted on our Newton Villages website last year.

Some new old ideas about parking were on the agenda at last night’s Transportation Advisory Committee.  (Old because they came to Newton in this document in 2006; new because we haven’t implemented them yet.)

The Parking Subcommittee (full disclosure: I’m co-chair with Planning Director Candace Havens) distributed its preliminary recommendations for changing the way the City handles public parking.

The ideas will be discussed in detail at the next TAC meeting on March 16th, at 7 pm, in City Hall.  The handout from last night, stating the subcommittee’s current positions, is below.

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Today, I walked into Sandwich Works for a veggie burger and discovered Newton Centre’s newest restaurant: Jake’s Falafel Corner at Sandwich Works.

As this blog is not for restaurant reviews, I cannot tell you how great the freshly made-to-order falafel tasted nor how soon I’ll be going back, but I wanted to celebrate the addition of another Mom & Pop restaurant in one of our village centers.

At one time, the coming of Panera Bread to Newton Centre was a source of contention, with some saying it would destroy the character of the village center. That seems not to be the case.

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Given the recurring forecast for snow, if you would like to pretend to be in Cabo San Lucas for a few minutes — rather than in the snow-encrusted Garden City — consider visiting Newton Centre’s Tango Mango, closing your eyes, and biting into a fish taco.

For those of us who grew up thinking cod = fish sticks, life is much improved. Fish tacos are now available east and west of Heartbreak Hill. Of course, Newton Villages must root for the home team, but those who dare to venture out can also find them just across the border at Brighton’s El Pelón (written up in this week’s Chow Boston Weekly Digest), and in Brookline’s JFK Crossing neighborhood at Dorado Tacos & Cemitas.

Sadly, fish tacos don’t last very long, and Old Man Winter seems intent on sticking around. Those who would like additional tastebud-inspired daydreams of warmer climes, ones that lack both snow and sidewalks to shovel, may wish to consult the margarita menu at Newton Centre’s Cafe Sol Azteca. Make mine not frozen.