Category Archives: Food & Entertaining

March 5, 2010 · 9:43 am

Shop Alert: Kitchen Arts Is Closing

So, it’s true. I walked by Kitchen Arts this morning after drop-off, and they’re indeed packing up and moving on. I suppose they’ve had a good run – the store opened back in 1980. Guess we’ll have to trek over to Williams-Sonoma in Copley if we’re suddenly in need of a pie tin or silicone spatula.

Here’s the message on their website. Sounds like Newbury rents + recession booted them out of business:

“At the end of this month KitchenArts is closing it’s doors and leaving Newbury Street after nearly 30 years. Everything is on sale: merchandise, shelving, display tables, the works. Come on down, score some deals, and say goodbye to another independent retail store. Sale ends March 31, 2010. Everything must go.”

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November 10, 2009 · 3:15 pm

Entertaining: Tables by Top Designers

Last week I went to the preview of the Shreve, Crump & Low Festive Table event to check out the gorgeously laid tables for “The Inside Source.” Shreve’s, for those of you not in the Boston know, is the venerable jeweler of Boston society – the oldest jeweler in the country actually. And, as such establishments go, they also do a brisk business in tableware, selling Baccarat, Buccellati, Steuben, Christofle, Wedgewood, Steuben, William Yeoward, Anna Weatherley, and other luxe china, crystal, and silver lines. Shreve’s invited seven designers to create sumptuous tablescapes using selections for their store. The results were spectacular.

Designed by Eric Steven Jacobs of ESJ Designs

Mariposa “Bamboo” chargers; Scott Potter “Fern” square plate; Baccarat “Vega Red” Rhine wine glasses; Mariposa “Bamboo” salad servers; Herend animals; zebra skin rug.

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Designed by Michael Barnum of Barnum + Company.

Jean Louis Coquet “Hemisphere Platinum” chargers; Jean Louis Coquet “Hemisphere Platinum Stripe” plates; Baccarat “Vega” Rhine wine glasses in amethyst; Baccarat “Vega” flutes; Christofle Galea” silverplate flatware.

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Designed by Anthony Catalfano of Anthony Catalfano Interiors.

Wedgewood “Nantucket Basket” china; William Yeoward “Maggie” goblets and wine glasses; Christofle “Albi: silverplate flatware; Mariposa shell dishes.

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Designed by Paula McCusker and Kate McCusker of Theodore & Company.

William Yeoward “Rosemoor Pink” chargers; William Yeoward “Gosford” dinner and bread and butter plates; William Yeoward “Avington White” dessert plate; Baccarat “Arcade” goblets and wine glasses; Baccarat “Mille Nuit Olivine” champagne flute; Buccellati “Torchon” sterling.

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Designed by Dennis Duffy of Duffy Design Group.

Pickard “Palace” chargers and bread and butter plates; Royal Crown Derby “Chelsea” salad plates; Baccarat “Arcade” goblets and wine glasses; Baccarat “Vega Amber” champagne flutes; Christofle “Osiris” flatware; MK Glover fabric; Buddhas from shops in Chinatown; flowers by Twig.

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Designed by Michael Ferzoco of Eleven Interiors.

Gien green chargers; Jean Louis Coquet “Hemisphere Gold Stripe” plates; Scott Potter small bowls; vintage Steuben “Teardrop Baluster” goblets and wine glasses; Christofle “Osiris” flatware; Soctt Potter accessories; Kravet fabric; Duralee green glass bead trim.

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Designed by John Berenson of John Berenson Interior Design.

William Yeoward “Avington Lavender” chargers; Anna Weatherley “Ivy Garland” plates; Heritage “Cricklewood” goblets and wine glasses; Baccarat “Mille Nuit Amethyst” champagne flutes; Tuttle “Richelieu” sterling; Grant Dawson Gold Warbler salt & pepper shakers; Baccarat butterflies.

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CARROT CURRENCY: artificial trees

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Tagged as Anthony Catalfano, Boston jeweler, Dennis Duffy, Eleven Interiors, Eric Steven Jacobs, Michael Barnum, Paula McCusker, Shreve Crump & Low

October 26, 2009 · 10:11 pm

Food: Farmer’s Market in Stowe, Vermont

We went to visit friends in Stowe a couple of weeks ago. It was sort of drizzly, but still magical. I adore Vermont. The rolling pastures and golden leaves calm me. It’s so unlike the untamed landscape in Cape Cod, where we spend the summer, which actually leaves me a little unsettled. It was a quick trip, but we managed to take a short walk on a trail through a national park, where I think I had more fun jumping from stone to stone in the brook than the kids did (reminded me so much of my childhood!). We also stopped briefly at the farmer’s market before coming home. Aren’t the vegetables gorgeous?

Shopping Trip: SoWa Market

I’ve lived in Boston for over six years, and have never visited the SoWa Market. Until last weekend, that is. It was a beautiful day, so I dragged my family out to explore. While the boys feasted on delicious, super chocolatey homemade brownies (sorry, I didn’t get the vendor), I whisked myself through the stalls at record speed, camera in hand. Here’s what I turned up:

Tot tees from Pinecone + Chickadee and re-purposed gift cards from Albertine Press.

Handmade soaps by Urban Kitchen and infused honey from The Herb Lyceum Kitchen.

Monster incense burner and pottery vases by Steve Murphy.

Local veggies.

Grain sack pillows from The Textile Trunk.

Macaroons from Klara’s Gourmet Cookies and tea towels by Moth Written Dialogue.

Vintage home furnishings from Studio Twenty Two.

Food: Chocolate at the Langham

I love chocolate. Adore chocolate. Worship chocolate. Swoon over chocolate. I know what you’re thinking… you too. You must (and I mean MUST) make a reservation for the Chocolate Bar at Café Fleuri at the Langham Hotel in downtown Boston. Julie Shamrock, The Langham’s Communications Manager, so kindly invited me to check it out last year. (I love you Julie!) I brought my foodie friend Tanya, and we indulged very, very happily. On Saturday we were invited back, for the bar’s 21st season.

The theme this year is “Boston’s Chocolate Trail” with table after table of decadent treats arranged by neighborhood. There was chocolate pizza and pasta plus mocha tiramisu and zabaglione in the North End, chocolate and mango sushi in Chinatown, flourless chocolate stacks and pumpkin milk chocolate tortes in Beacon Hill, cranberry white chocolate buckle and Indian pudding at Faneuil Hall, chocolate covered peanuts, caramel corn, and cotton candy at Fenway, and many more outrageous creations. i ate a lot. Too much. I skipped the chocolate martinis, but indulged in the yearly crepe festivities, ordering up a chocolate crepe with strawberries, bananas, dark chocolate and Grand Marnier (fire, baby!) topped with creme anglaise and whipped cream. After all that, Julie presented us with pink gift bags with cupcakes to bring home.

I’m hardly a skilled food photographer, but I hope these pictures will torture and entice.