James Reed's Favorites
It came with a verbal warning from our waitress. The Atomic Meatloaf Meltdown at All Star Sandwich Bar wasn't just hot: It was the kind of sandwich that could, and I quote, burn your face off. Whoa. Turns out she was right. Like Bry lcreem, a little dab'll do ya with this smear of "inner beauty hot sauce" made of Scotch bonnet and habanero peppers. The new star in Inman Square this year, and the latest venture from Jim Economides and East Coast Grill's Chris Schlesinger, All Star is already a popular neighborhood haunt that has taken gourmet sandwiches to another level. The restaurant considerably trimmed its menu options recently, so now the Atomic Meatloaf Meltdown is offered only as one of the Saturday specials for $8.75. Try it, but please, for your face's sake, get the sauce on the side. All Star Sandwich Bar, 1245 Cambridge St., Cambridge, 617-868-3065 .
I was lucky enough to get a package of Devra's Japanese tea bags (see page F1), and I spent many of my afternoons filling them with Shyamguri masala chai tea from Signature Estates, Melrose's little tea company that could. Rich and redolent of cardamom and clove, this chai tea comes with a pouch of masala curry to make the perfect pot of pick-me-up brew. After telling them how much I loved their chai, owner Anand Chatterjee and his wife, Atisha, then turned me on to their Darjeeling and Earl Grey varieties. With prices starting at $3.70 for a 1.75-ounce tin, it's some of the least-expensive quality tea you'll find. Available at Cardullo's Gourmet Shoppe, 6 Brattle St., Cambridge, 617-491-8888 , and at single-estates.com.
It took me 20 years to shake my childhood disdain for beets ("But Mom, they taste like dirt!"), but this year I became obsessed with them. I couldn't go a summer meal without eating them, especially the beet salad at Lineage in Brookline. You can imagine my thrill when a friend gave me a recipe that combined two of my favorite foods: a chocolate beet cake. You can't really taste the beets (above), but they give the cake a moist texture, not to mention an even deeper hue. (Quick historical tidbit: Beets, along with mayonnaise, were commonly used as substitutes in baking during the Great Depression, when eggs, butter, and milk were in short supply.) A Google search for "chocolate beet cake" will give you plenty of recipe ideas. Childhood disdain, be damned.
The look on my colleague's face was priceless. "Chocolate potato chips? Um, I think I'll pass," she said. OK, so it's not the most obvious new rage in snacks, but Kettle Foods' Aztec Chocolate potato chips (left) had me crunching in pure delight this year. The flavor, which entices with a piquant dusting of chocolate and cinnamon on Kettle's signature chip (nothing better than salty on sweet), is part of a new, unreleased line that's being voted on through an online "Passport to Flavor" contest through Sunday. The other globe-trotting varieties include Royal Indian Curry , Twisted Chili Lime , Island Jerk , and Dragon 5 Spice . The winning flavor will be announced next month and then debut in your local grocery store in May. Available for $19.95 for a box of five bags at kettlefoods.com . 