Boston Lady Chefs: Not Just Any (Mother’s) Day

Boston Lady Chefs: Not Just Any (Mother’s) Day
5/12/2013
Updated:
5/12/2013

Most of us have memories of Mothers’ Day breakfasts in bed (after which the mother in question had to scrub, scrub, and scrub), brunches and dinners. This article offers a different take—destination Mothers’ Day in Boston, with some of Boston’s lady chefs, ranging from haute to hoot.

Chef Jody Adams, of James Beard fame and down-home familiarity, has (with partners Sean Griffing and Eric Papachristos) opened a new restaurant simply called “Trade” (540 Atlantic Avenue, 617-451-1234, www.trade-boston.com).

This casual relaxed loft-space of a restaurant is on the ground floor of Atlantic Wharf and inspired by Adams’ travels (as an Ivy League-trained anthropologist). Small plates, such as black bean enchiladas with Taza mole, cabbage, avocado, and queso fresco are standouts to those who are also non-vegan.

The entrée plate of seared salmon with creamed spinach, crispy spatzle, and bacon (ordered because of an inordinate fondness for spatzle, a German mini-pasta equivalent) was just off the boat fresh with bright spinach (not your grandma’s mixture, no disrespect to that maternal image).

One of the coolest features of this neighborhood restaurant is that while it caters to a sophisticated crowd, the table next to ours had a mother and her pre-adolescent daughter (who amiably munched on a burger while taking images with her cell).

If the mother in your life would prefer to be a more active participant, Karen Akunowicz, the executive chef of Myers & Chang (1145 Washington Street, 617-542-5200. www.myersandchang.com) conducts intimate cooking classes in the funky space.

What makes this experience special is that Akunowicz makes sure that everyone in the class (maxes out at 12) gets to see, create, and taste everything at least twice. My first summer roll was a sadly floppy baby, but the second round would have stood muster at a local restaurant under her great tutelage.

The spring rolls and summer rolls she effortlessly turned out while chatting and cheerfully coaching were like tiny little gems, but most important, she showed maternal pride in getting us to create them, too.

The “class” had a field trip to a local Chinese market, where we were shown different ingredients, cooking tools, teas and random items at the request of “students.”

For more formal (yet still informally friendly) culinary education, the Cambridge School of Culinary Arts (2020 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, 617-354-2020, cambridgeculinary.com) has both professionals and recreational chefs.

Roberta L. Dowling, the founder and executive director, came by her credentials honorably—her mother owned and ran restaurants in Boston’s North End in an era when women in business were considered unseemly (Dowling’s father, a physician, was unruffled by this and rather enjoyed his wife’s success—and cooking).

Dowling, owner of the CSCA, recently won Women Chef and Restaurateurs “Women who Inspire Educator of the Year” award. (As someone who spends a fair amount of time trying to inspire students, I can attest to the charisma of Dowling, who produces restaurateurs and food writers, along with recreational chefs.)

The Mothers’ Day brunch is, of course, a classic experience. For the haute version of this, Lydia Shire’s Scampo (also known as The Scamp, located in The Liberty Hotel, which used to be the Charles Street Jail) works a treat.

Scampo is in the former panopticon (well, still a panopticon, but with far better fare than the bologna sandwiches this former criminal court lawyer recalls that jailbirds are used to) located at 215 Charles Street, Boston, 617-536-2100, scampoboston.com.

Scampo is a study in contrasts—shining copper lamps, a bright orange bar, an open mozzarella bar and a “True Crime” poster.

Shire’s brunch is a marvel, and lovingly executed by her deputy, chef Simon Restreppo (who has been with her for some 20 years). Among the standouts are handmade ricotta and mascarpone blintzes with rum soaked salmon or (for those who are not in a brunchy mood) spaghetti vongole with tiny sweet clams, baby yellow and red cherry tomatoes, cooked red tomatoes and a light broth.

To celebrate moms further, the tiramisu may be the most intense liqueur soaked version I have ever tried, so that a designated driver may be a good idea to stay out of jail, even one so pleasant as the Liberty Hotel!).

Another brunch option, distinctly hoot is Darryl’s Corner Bar and Kitchen (604 Columbus Avenue, Boston, 617-536-1100, darrylscornerbar.com). Darryl Settles’ brunches have a unique spin to the traditional jazz brunch—it is a true family event, with young children chatting with jazz singers and musicians (who are amiably receptive), couples looking starry eyed, ladies who brunch and guys who are doing Sunday morning post-mortems of games.

This was the first jazz brunch I ever attended where children were welcomed, embraced, and as much a part of the fabric of the place as the diverse multi-cultural clientele (from jeans and T-shirts to the cashmere twin set crowd). The lady chef at Darryl’s is Presceia Olivia Cooper, who does magical things in a healthy way (like making collards with turkey, instead of ham hocks, which I can attest tasted fully flavorful).

In closing, Mother’s Day is a great chance to offer the moms in your life a chance to spend time with some of Boston’s lady chefs, in any of these ways.

Demetra M. Pappas writes about music, theater, travel, and dining for various publications.

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