Comfort food
February may be the shortest month, but contemplating a few more weeks of cold and snow can bring on the blues. Didn't we just suffer through a cold and sometimes snowy January?
Buck up. Even in the winter doldrums there are distractions to make time fly.
Since this column is all about restaurants, you can combat cold-induced inertia and be well-fed at the same time. Scouting around for the event or special that appeals will bring a warmer feeling to winter.
1. Avenue One
One Avenue de Lafayette, Boston
617-422-5579
February is fondue month at this downtown restaurant in the Hyatt Regency Boston. The restaurant formerly was the Cafe Suisse, and though the Swiss decor and themes have gone with new ownership, fondue is back. Chef Brad Ozerdem is offering such dishes as lobster fondue, classic cheese fondue, and chocolate fondue. There are also events planned for the month. On Thursday, New England artisanal cheeses will be highlighted in a special evening with Peter Dixon, cheesemaker of Westminster Dairy in Vermont. Cost is $49. On Feb. 17, Ozerdem will pair cheese fondue with beer. Cost is $19 in advance, $29 at the door. For information, go to www.bostoneventguide.com.
2. Caffe Umbra
1395 Washington St.,South End, Boston
617-867-0707
Wednesday nights are made for wine flights at this cozy bar. From 5 to 7 p.m., Caffe Umbra has been offering samples of wine along with complementing food. Wednesday ends this series with dessert wines and food by sous chef Adam Halberg. Cost is $15. If you miss the wine flight evenings, the restaurant is also featuring country-style French and Italian dinners this month and next. Feb. 24 will be a Neapolitan feast for Carnivale with food by chef/owner Laura Brennan and Halberg. Cost is $45 for a three-course meal with a pairing of two wines.
3. The Harvest
44 Brattle St.,Harvard Square, Cambridge
617-868-2255
Chocolate is the soul food of February. On Wednesday, chef Eric Brennan and pastry chef Molly Hanson are teaming up to permeate a menu from beginning to end with the magic ingredient. Some of the dishes will be duck foie gras with bitter chocolate sauce, Mexican chicken mole, and chocolate cake parcel with vanilla bean caramel and cocoa nibs. The dishes will be matched to such wines as zinfandel, Segehesio Old Vines, 2001, and Brachetto d'Acqui, Castello Banfi, 2002. The five-course dinner should put any lover into chocolate heaven. Cost is $39 and includes wines.
4. Rubin's
500 Harvard St.,Coolidge Corner, Brookline
617-731-8787
If you've thought about catching a showing of ''Eat This New York," playing at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, you'll want to match it to some food. The film is a documentary about two friends who decide to open a Brooklyn restaurant despite having little experience or expertise. Before or after watching the film about their trials and travails, you might want to pop down the street to Rubin's for some authentic deli food. Rubin's, opened in 1927, exudes expertise in the kind of kosher deli dishes popular in New York for decades. There's a wide range -- from smoked fish to knishes to chopped liver, but to complete your New York experience, you could order one of the sandwiches with place names such as the Carnegie (turkey club) and the Madison Avenue (hot corned beef, hot Romanian pastrami, and hot tongue). Prices range from $10.99 to $20.99 for an overstuffed one with more than a pound of mixed deli meats. Entrees range from $9.99 to about $27.99.
5. Trattoria Cancun
192 Sumner St., East Boston
617-567-4449
Maybe you're not looking for an event or a special evening. Just a hint of warmth, a dream of tropical breezes, would chase away the chills. Cuisine from the warmer side of the continent is concentrated in East Boston where little Salvadoran, Brazilian, Peruvian, and Mexican restaurants and cafes reflect the neighborhood's changing population. This one, combines fare from Central America and Mexico. Such dishes as bounteous sopa de mariscos (seafood soup), chicken tamales and tacos, burritos, and flautas can spice up any dreary winter day. And the smaller items, such as flaky pastels (turnovers) and pupuas (stuffed cornmeal patties), are great for snacks. Entrees range from under $10 to about $12.
6. Ten Tables
596 Centre St., Jamaica Plain
617-524-8810
There's nothing like a bargain to warm up the weather. This popular little restaurant offers a three-course dinner for $29 each every Wednesday night. Rather than being constricted to a limited menu, diners can choose from the whole array of appetizers, entrees, and desserts. Some of the possibilities are spinach and mushroom crepe with white garlic cream, roasted chicken breast with cabbage-wrapped foie gras, and seared salmon and sautee of sweet potato, onions, honey, and pomegranate sauce.
ALISON ARNETT
