Business

La Bodega Brings Tapas, South American Cuisine to Watertown

By |

The owners of one of the Watertown’s latest culinary additions seeks to combine the food of two far off locations to town, featuring high-quality ingredients in a laid back setting. Chef Gabriel Bremer and his wife Analia Verolo opened La Bodega by Salts in Watertown quietly earlier this year, and serve dishes from the South American nation of Uruguay and Basque country. Though currently in a soft opening, the restaurant welcomes diners four nights a week. Bremer and Verolo met in Portland, Maine, where they were part of the founding team of Fore Street. For a decade, the couple ran Salts in Cambridge, a fine-dining restaurant featuring modern French and Spanish food with only a handful of tables.

Food

Celebrate National Farmers’ Market Week at Watertown’s Own Market

By |

It’s National Farmers’ Market Week, and Watertown’s own market will celebrated with special events on Thursday. The Farmers’ Market sent out the following information:

The Watertown Farmers’ Market joins markets across the country in celebrating National Farmers’ Market Week where we celebrate the awesome farmers, vendors, and community networks we support while shopping at the WFM and other locally-sourced markets. Join us in celebrating this Thursday with free prizes, market trivia, and shopping with all of your favorite farmers and vendors. Don’t forget to let them know how much you appreciate their hard work! On your way into the market, be sure to stop by the Market Manager’s tent for free giveaways to show your market pride and enter in our raffle for your chance to be one of 5 lucky winners of $20 in market gift certificates!

Business

Intelligentsia Coffee Seeks to Serve the Best Coffee in the World in Watertown

By |

The founders of Watertown’s newest cafe started their business with the goal of selling the best cup of coffee in the world, and to do so they fanned out across the globe to find growers and helped them produce the finest beans. Intelligentsia Coffee will be opening in the next couple weeks on Mt. Auburn Street, across from Greg’s Restaurant, but the Chicago-based held a sneak preview on Wednesday evening. It will be the chain’s first cafe in the Boston area, which is only the fourth city after Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. The company’s roasting facilities are in Chicago, L.A. and San Francisco.

Business

Watertown Vegan Eatery Announces It Has Served Its Last Meal

By |

Watertown’s Wild Rice Vegan Cafe has served its last meal, owners announced this week. The restaurant that featured locally sourced vegan world cuisine “in a casual café environment,” closed after being in business for about a year and a half. The restaurant is owned by the team that runs Red Lentil on Mt. Auburn Street. Wild Rice served breakfast, lunch and dinner in the spot formerly occupied by Grappa, on Elm Street.

Food

Summer’s Over, but the Watertown Farmers Market Isn’t – See What’s There

By |

The summer break might be over but you’ll still find a broad variety of the season’s harvest at the Watertown Farmers Market. Local farms and specialty producers continue to gather every Thursday from 2 to 6 p.m. through until the end of October. On the front green of the Arsenal on the Charles, right on Arsenal Street in front of Arsenal Center for the Arts, the space is an exceptional place to enjoy the live music, grab a quick snack, and shop for delicious foods to bring home. Among the market’s offerings are farm-fresh vegetables from Kitchen Garden Farm, Paraveda Farm and The Farm School. Apex Orchards have several different varieties of apples.

Food

Owners of Red Lentil Opening New Vegan Cafe in Watertown

By |

The owners of Red Lentil announced the grand opening of their new restaurant in East Watertown. Wild Rice Vegan Cafe will host a grand opening on Jan. 29-30 from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 71 Elm Street. The spot was formerly occupied by Grappa. “We’re serving a $9 all-you-can-eat buffet with coffee from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day.

Business

National Sandwich Chain Opening Location in Watertown Square

By |

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.

Arsenal on the Charles

Branch Line Restaurant Brings Together Best of Watertown Food Scene

By |

 

As a child growing up in Watertown, Andrew Holden saw the Arsenal complex as a forbidding place behind a big fence. Now, he has helped open up a new restaurant, Branch Line, which he hopes to bring many people to the Arsenal on the Charles to enjoy some food and drink – some of it from sources right in town. Holden, the owner of Branch Line, has worked with the owner of the restaurant at Eastern Standard in Kenmore Square. It offers the style of food found in places like Italy, France and Greece, featuring dished prepared on a rotisserie as well as in a wood-fired grill. To begin with, the rotisserie will be used to make chicken, but the menu will evolve over time, Holden said.