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Russo's in Watertown for all produce, plants, some deli, ok bread and some dry goods. Formaggio in Cambridge for cheese. New Deal Fish Market in East Cambridge for fish. Salumeria in the North End for excellent Italian imports including a great deli case. Butcherie in Brookline for Kosher products. James Hook on the Waterfront for lobsters & some shell fish. Yankee Lobster also does well in that department. Marketbasket is a cheap alternative to the Stop & Shop/Shaw's/Star Market/Roche Bros generic grocer. They have lots of great Central & South American merchandise and good looking produce. The one in Somerville is always packed. I tend to hit Russo's, Formaggio, and Whole Foods on River St in Cambridge on my weekend grocery trips.

My list is weighted with pubs that I like - most of them being near Cambridge & Brookline. The South End doesn't have any gastropubs to speak of, though JJ Foley's is a respectable pub with goodish food. I find many of the restaurants in the South End to be of the generic pricey New American variety, though I'm very fond of Union, Toro (Spanish tapas), B&G Oyster, and PICCO (pizza). For me, the South End's dining scene is overrun with Pikers (suburbanites) that drive the level of dining down towards the lowest common denominator. ETA: Silvertone in downtown Boston is a comfort food type of bar that has an ok tap, but nothing special - the food is well executed though. In general, most of the pubs with good food tend to be located south (JP, Dorchester), west (Brookline) and North (Cambridge) of the city. Boston central doesn't have many great pubs that also offer great food, but there are an astounding number of pubs in Boston in general.

Adding on.... Bukowski's, Inman Square Cambridge and Back Bay, Boston: excellent selection of domestics and imports and inexpensive "faux-dive" food. Deep Ellum, Union Square, Allston: rotating selection of beers, well made cocktails and good food. Matt Murphy's, Brookline Village, Brookline: good food, cute faux Irish pub. Cambridge Brewing Company is the best local brewpub, but that's not saying much. Their food is passable, but their beer is much better than: John Harvard's (chain), Rock Bottom (chain), and Boston Beer Works (not very good beer). Sunset Grille has one of the largest selections of beer, but their food is average nachos etc.

The Druid, Inman Square, Cambridge: A solidly Irish pub with outstanding Irish food. Fish & chips, seafood stews, oxtail stew and a great burger. River Gods, Central Square, Cambridge: eclectic menu that features a fabulous Korean hand roll. Publik House, Washington Square, Brookline: one of the best beer collections known to man. Better than average food with a Belgian twist. Redbones, Davis Square, Somerville: a great wheel of beer and average to good bbq. Audobon Circle, Kenmore Square, Boston: better than average, inventive bar food. Their sister restaurant, Miracle of Science in Central Square, Cambridge, has great burgers and interesting skewers. Limited menu though.

Thanks for blogging this week! It's been really fun to read.

Oh that is so not cool!! How can you leave out Formaggio Kitchen? It's heaven on earth!

ninetofive, I'd love to know more about where you source your local meat & produce during the growing months!

I think you should eat some cheese, and I think you should buy it at Formaggio in Cambridge. And with that, I will stop hijacking your blog!

Shows you how much more the place has changed since I last lived there! I remember East Boston as all working-class Italian. Edited to add: Or is it further up the line in Orient Heights? ← East Boston still has pockets of "working class Italian" (Santarpio's pizza and Rino's being the best versions of Italian-American restaurants), but crowding around Maverick Station and Wood Island, especially are many, many South American restaurants and eateries. I actually use the Orient Heights stop to get to Morrocan in Winthrop. Talk about change!

That would be Addis Red Sea you went to in the South End! They also have an outpost in Cambridge. Over in Somerville, Fasika serves up some tasty Ethiopian too. There's actually a huge Central and South American community in East Boston, Sandy. I can walk off the T and get Columbian roast chicken, Peruvian ceviche, lovely Mexican moles. Of course, there's been a large Brazilian and Portugese population here for some time. And you're right, we also have a lively Dominican and Jamaican community here in Boston, particularly in Dorchester and JP.

Gini, grazie mille for answering! ← Prego! So all the good Indian restaurants are in the 'burbs, eh? You darn car-people! I agree that the Mexican scene is pretty dismal in Boston, but there's hope in East Boston at Angela's Cafe - a Pueblan restaurant so good, I almost lick the plates of mole and pippan clean.

ninetofive, I hope you don't mind that I'm going to jump in here. I'm only going to cover Asian "ethnic restaurants" in Boston as an example of how "ethnic" food in a town of 800,000 pretty much doesn't suck at all. Boston "proper" has great Shanghai as well as good to above average Cantonese seafood restaurants for Chinese. New Shanghai and Shanghai Gate and Wing's for the former, Peach Farm & Best Little Restaurant for the latter. There is no decent Sichuan in Boston proper, but Brookline & Malden both boast excellent options at Sichuan Garden and Fuloon respectively. Cambridge has Northern Chinese covered at Qingdoa Garden while Somerville (nearby) has Wang's, another excellent option. Taiwanese can be found at MuLan in Cambridge, though I also have a soft spot for Taiwan Cafe in Boston. In terms of Cambodian, away from Boston, there's an excellent place in Revere - Floating Rock - that serves the best Cambodian I've ever had. Vietnamese abounds in Dorchester, a lively Vietnamese neighborhood of Boston, with options of seven fish and seven beef at Angh Hong and Pho 2000 as well as the usual suspects. Thai isn't great IN Boston, but Brookline offers the trifecta of Dok Bua (the best), Rod Dee (the best fast food Thai) and Khao Sarn (the best with a bar). I've not found any Indian in Boston that wows me, but it doesn't suck - it's merely good. Burmese has few offerings here either. Korean is another I wish we had better of, but Somerville offers WuChon House and Buk Kyung, a Norther Chinese take on Korean, that both do in a pinch. O Ya and Uni present gorgeous sushi and sashmi, and Oishii in Chestnut hill ain't bad either. For non-sushi Japanese, we could have more options, I'll admit. Ok, that's too much information already, but I hope I've convinced you that there's lots of Asian "ethnic" to eat around -and I haven't even covered all the countries yet!

I'm pretty excited to see you in my neighborhood (Cambridge) last night. I adore Craigie Street too!

I'm not a nutritionist or a doctor, so these comments are just that - comments. I really think you should just do what works for you. If your body's telling you that it doesn't want to eat, I'm not really sure you should force it. I'm also not a breakfast person, at all, but in the past few years I've switched my running from late afternoon to pre-dawn and find that I'm ready to eat about 2 to 3 hours later - still not what "they" say I should be doing, but it works for me!

I'm pretty excited to see the three of you posting! I always read your respective blogs with delight. I can't offer much in terms of weight loss tips and help as I'm one of those unfortunate svelt people, but I wish you three the best of luck in the New Year!

Rare post from me; I actually thought to grab my phone to take this picture: Roast fish over potatoes a la Marcella Hazan. The simplest thing to make and oh so tasty.

Serendipitously, my mother is spending her Christmas week in Las Cruces - I'm so excited to being living vicariously through both of you this week!

Two recent pies taken on the terrible phone camera: Pumpkin Sour Cherry The sour cherry is my favorite. This year I made two of each, but next time it's three cherry and and only one pumpkin.

We set out some nibbles so that when people arrive they have something to peck at pre-dinner. It's usually crudite (fennel, celery, carrots), a pickle tray (olives & pickled vegetables) and blue cheese dip. When certain guests are in town, they bring chopped liver too.

You could make an easy potato au gratin by spreading the marscapone and creme fraiche been layers of sliced potatoes.

1(8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened 2 tablespoons finely chopped carrots 1 tablespoon finely chopped scallions, white part 1 large radish, finely chopped 2 inches piece of celery, finely chopped 1/8 teaspoon pepper 1/8 teaspoon salt 1 dash hot pepper sauce Place the cheese in the mixer or food processor, at medium speed and blend cheese to a creamy stage. Add additional ingredients and blend on low till fully mixed into cheese. Scrape out of mixer bowl with a spatula and store in a covered bowl in refrigerator for 24 hours for the flavors to mingle.

My dearest cousins live in the same part of Brooklyn as you! Really looking forward to this blog - maybe I can give them a few recommendations.

I never had Taylor ham in Passaic or Orange County (NY), but now I feel I must get back there to try one! Tracey - too funny about the catering/gift baskets - Stone Mountain Cheese Shop was one of the first places I worked as a kid!

I'm pretty excited for this blog - my Mom used to take me clothes shopping at some adorable place in Ridegwood for dresses; wish I could remember its name. And I spent some of my formative years in Passaic county! Blog on!

I think we cook the same thing every year too! chopped liver crackers possibly something else to munch on round challah chicken with raisins and clementines potato pea curry some sort of green possibly koogle, if someone brings it ceciarchiata apple torte