This steakhouse is worth its salt

You won't find salt shakers on the tables at Boston Public Meat, the steakhouse that recently replaced Restaurant L in Louis Boston. Instead, when your steak arrives, a server comes tableside with a leather box containing a pale pink block of Himalayan rock salt. The salt is then ceremoniously removed and grated with a microplane over your meat until you signal to stop. It's far more novel than a waiter, say, grating fresh pepper over a salad. But it also has a culinary purpose, says chef Pino Maffeo. "You're covering the meat with a fine layer of salt crystals so you get little bites and bursts of flavor." Those who decline the custom-grated salt are not ignored. They're brought an assortment of 10 salts in small bowls, including Maine sea salt and salt smoked with wood from oak Chardonnay barrels. In the kitchen, Maffeo stocks up to 30 different kinds. And black pepper? He finds its uses more limited. "It's not on the table. We let people ask for it." Boston Public Meat, 234 Berkeley St., 617-266-4680. -- CLARA SILVERSTEIN

Sipping cappuccinos and lattes at home in your pajamas doesn't require as much effort as you'd imagine. To churn out a great cappuccino quickly at home, you do not need to be the city's best barista or own a high-tech espresso machine. You do need an inexpensive Italian stovetop espresso maker and good ground coffee. Pair them with Aeroccino by Nespresso ($89.99), which makes frothing milk as easy as pushing a button. Fill the Aeroccino mug to the line with milk, place it on its electric pad, and 50 quiet seconds later your mess-free hot milk and froth are ready. Fill it with more milk for a latte or swap the inserts for foamless hot milk. Knowing that your Italian-style cappuccino will be ready in minutes may perk you up even before the caffeine does. Available at Williams-Sonoma, 300 Boylston St., Chestnut Hill, 617-928-0158, and 100 Huntington Ave., 617-262-5892 or kitchenkapers.com. -- JILL SANTOPIETRO

An old Italian family tradition is alive and well in Somerville. Cheesemaker Lourdes Fiore Smith is making burrata (about $7 for 4 1/2 ounces), which is a stuffed fresh mozzarella, a specialty of the Apulia region of Italy. Smith, owner of Fiore di Nonno, remembers visiting her Italian grandfather's Hoboken, N. J. , shop, then called Fiore's, and watching him make the fresh cheese and fill it with homemade butter ("burr" means "butter"). Smith fills hers with mascarpone and a bit of Greek yogurt. She is the only burrata maker in New England and it's made only on Fridays and delivered soon after. Just like Italy. Available at Lionette's, 557 Tremont St., 617-778-0360; Dave's Fresh Pasta, 81 Holland St., Somerville, 617-623-0867; and Panzano Tuscan Market and Wine Shop, 154 Turnpike Road, Southborough, 508-485-8884. -- LINDA J. MAZUREK

Josue (pronounced Jo-sway) Tores eats most of his meals at El Shaday, the Brazilian restaurant he runs in Marlborough. His favorite dish is the churrasco -- the Brazilian-style barbecue of skewered grilled meats -- but Tores admits he's grown fond of some of the American dishes prepared for the daily buffet, like meatloaf, spaghetti, and mashed potatoes. On Wednesdays, El Shaday serves chicken with okra, called frango com quiabo ($7.55 a pound; the buffet items are weighed), a well-known dish from Tores's home state of Minas Gerais in Brazil. It's one of the restaurant's most popular items, for homesick Brazilians and American guests alike. El Shaday, 514 Lincoln St., Marlborough, 508-460-6312. -- LEIGH BELANGER