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Restaurant critic
Devra FirstDevra First is the Globe's restaurant critic and food reporter.
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| dfirst@globe.com |
| phone | 617-929-2817 |
| more | Biography |
| archive | All stories by this author |
| @devrafirst |
| blog | Dishing |
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Review: Fenway Mexican restaurant Barrio Cantina lacks sizzle
If there is one point around which food snobbery coalesces, it is authenticity. If it doesn't seem like it's made by your mama from Chihuahua or your nana from Nanjing, some people just don't want to eat it. And if there is a cuisine that draws maximum ire in this regard, at least locally, it is Mexican. Me, I'm not going to kick a crunchy-shelled, ground beef-containing creation out of bed for calling itself a taco. Fajitas, now that's another story. I don't understand fajitas, and I don't like them. But if fajitas must exist in this world, then the sizzle is integral. So when, at Barrio Cantina, the fajitas arrive silent, room temperature, no smell of onions wafting upward, we fall silent, too.( 06/18/2013 6:00 PM )
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Restaurant review: In Needham, hospitality makes the Farmhouse stand out
A new Needham restaurant, the Farmhouse, is a reminder of how much the front-of-the-house experience matters. At this point in dining, USA circa 2013, what else is going to make a farm-to-table-esque restaurant stand out? Not the name. Not the appealing decor, which showcases reclaimed barn wood, drinks in Mason jars, and the requisite sculpture of a pig. Not even the food, uncomplicated combinations heavy on seasonal produce. All of this is pleasant enough -- so pleasant you'll find shades and versions all over town. So the burden of making a meal memorable falls to the people: The waitress who will talk with you about tattoos and interior design. The bartender with ties to the local music scene. The proprietors, a married couple with kids.( 06/12/2013 12:12 PM )
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Restaurant review: At Lineage, in Brookline's Coolidge Corner, a new chef, lobster tacos, and under-the-radar excellence
Jeremy Sewall is executive chef and co-owner of Island Creek Oyster Bar, one of the hottest places in the city for seafood. Eastern Standard and the Hawthorne, where he is consulting chef, are always buzzing. And this fall Island Creek spinoff Row 34 is coming to restaurant-neighborhood-of-the-moment Fort Point, where it will stand alongside projects from celebrity chefs. In leafy Brookline, Lineage feels as though it's a world away. But Sewall's lowest-profile restaurant rivals the others with which he is involved. Lineage's seafood dishes are as strong as Island Creek's, sometimes stronger. Its service is gracious. Its cocktails are excellent (try the crimson Fiore). Seven years after it opened, it glides along, quiet but sure -- now with a new chef de cuisine, Alex Saenz. ( 06/04/2013 6:13 PM )
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Restaurant review: Located inside jm Curley in Downtown Crossing, Bogie's Place is a steakhouse that feels like a private party
Boston has no shortage of steakhouses, as anyone who spends time in the city knows: They tend to be big, shiny, and highly visible. They also tend to be outposts of chains headquartered elsewhere, with siblings in many major cities. They offer a consistent, reliable experience, if not an adventure. But that's not always how we eat today, when restaurants pop up for a few days then disappear, when trucks serve sophisticated fare. So it is refreshing to stumble across the anti-steakhouse, tiny and without signage, hidden inside another restaurant altogether. Bogie's Place is a 20-seat secret that's part of Downtown Crossing's jm Curley. Where jm Curley is casual, raucous, and known for burgers, Bogie's is intimate and hushed -- jm Curley all grown up. ( 05/28/2013 6:00 PM )
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Restaurant review: In Boston's Fort Point, roasts and revelry at the uneven Tavern Road
In February, brothers Louis and Michael DiBiccari opened Tavern Road in Fort Point, a current epicenter of culinary excitement. The restaurant is animated by a spirit of fun. Its energy can lead to good food, from a salad of burrata with carrots and peas to a perfectly roasted guinea hen. But the elements that promise to make a dish interesting -- rhubarb and Thai chilies with veal breast, ramp kimchi with a whole sea bream -- are often too sparse. Meat is what the kitchen does best, as the estimable charcuterie platters remind us. The restaurant is named for the street where the brothers' uncle, a famous sculptor, had his studio. As he knew, it can take time to turn raw materials into a finished product. ( 05/21/2013 6:00 PM )