Spring Events from Live Well Watertown: Walks, Gluten-Free Eating, Qigong

The City of Watertown’s Live Well Watertown program has plenty going on this spring, from walk and talks, to cooking demonstrations, to exercises that will also keep you emotionally grounded. Live Well Watertown provided the following information:

Happy Spring! Live Well offers a variety of free programs aimed at enhancing well-being, an active lifestyle, and strengthening community connections.  We are committed to providing all residents with opportunities that support, promote, and encourage physical, social, and emotional wellness.*

Check out what’s happening in the coming weeks and months ~ details below. 3 Body Qigong

Tuesdays, April 2 – April 23, 2024 1:00 – 2:00pm Watertown Free Public Library, Savings Bank Room

NO registration required. The first 20 people to arrive are guaranteed a spot.~ In collaboration with the Watertown Free Public Library  

At this time of year, nature awakens from winter’s slumber and begins to expand and grow. We feel this powerful earth energy and can support ourselves by staying grounded, physically and emotionally.

Watertown’s Celebrity Chef Joining Forces with The Talk Restaurant

Two of the biggest names in the Watertown food scene have teamed up. Food Network featured chef Mike Fucci has become the head chef at The Talk Restaurant, the Watertown Square spot owned by Kaz and Lisa Keuchkarian. Fucci has run Chef Mike’s Kitchen catering business for many years, and has not worked in a restaurant for about 15 years. In February, he appeared on Food Network’s Cutthroat Kitchen and won the challenge for football food called “Fry-Day Night Bites.” Moving into a restaurant kitchen is an exciting and sudden opportunity for Fucci, who got a call on July 5 asking him if he wanted the job.

National Sandwich Chain Opening Location in Watertown Square

A new national sandwich shop will be opening its doors soon in Watertown Square. 

Jimmy John’s will take over one of the spots in the shopping plaza where Staples used to be, at 11 Mt. Auburn St. (at the Watertown Square intersection). Jimmy John Liautaud opened his first restaurant in a converted garage in Charleston, Ill., in 1983 when he was just 19 years old. Now, the company has more than 2,400 locations in 43 states.

Watertown Company’s Birch Lemonade Dazzles on Debut

Watertown-based Botanical Springs got off to a good start with their products featuring birch sap before they even put their products on the market. The company’s birch sap lemonade won first place at a birch sap and syrup conference. 

The company, started in December 2014 by friends and business partners Francesco Capaldi and Mikal McCalmont. They use maple and birch sap which they harvest from trees in Maine. Along with the first place birch lemonade, Botanical Springs got second place in the birch water category at the first International Birch Sap and Syrup Conference held at Paul Smith’s College in New York, and co-sponsored by the Cornell University Cooperative Extension School. The winning lemonade was a mixture of infused birch sap, cucumber, watermelon, fresh wild mint grown in Capaldi’s mother’s garden and local honey.

Watertown Resident Competing in Fenway Frank Recipe Competition

A Watertown man’s recipe for the “Next Fenway Frank” has been chosen as a finalist in a contest where the winner’s creation will be on the menu at Red Sox games the rest of the season. Chelsea-based Kayem, maker of Fenway Franks, hosts a contest every year calling for the “Next Fenway Frank,” in which entrants create an original Fenway Frank recipe. The winner gets their recipe on the menu at Fenway Park for the rest of the season. New for this year, the recipe will also be served at participating 99 Restaurants, according to the announcement from Kayem. Kayem has narrowed down all the entries to five finalists and the public in now voting to pick the winner.