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Momofuku-esque

Print | Comments () Posted by Devra First September 14, 2009 04:03 PM

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Look for a new restaurant to open in Inman Square toward the end of the year. Currently called East by Northeast, the project is coming to the space that used to be Benatti. Chef Phillip Tang, who has cooked at Lumiere, T.W. Food, and Hungry Mother, hopes to be in business come early December.

The food will be local, sustainable, Chinese-inspired cuisine, according to Tang: small dishes, dumplings, all manner of porky items (Tang will be getting whole pigs from Vermont), and -- la! I think I just heard the angels sing -- house-made noodles. (I continue to mourn Benatti's excellent house-made noodles of the Italian variety, but a good Chinese-style bowl would help ease the pain.)

Possible dishes include pickled vegetables, soy-marinated bluefish with carrot salad, scallion pancake sandwich with braised beef shank and radish, and roasted pork loin with garlic-chive pesto. Noodles will come in vegetarian and meat versions: say, seasonal vegetables, vegetable broth, and poached egg for the former, a summer dish of cold noodles with cucumbers, house-made bacon, scallion, and sesame dressing for the latter.

This should appeal to anyone smitten with New York's Momofukus. Though it sounds different in many ways, it's probably the closest that Boston has come to David Chang's culinary stylings.

Maybe a little like this? Left: Momofuku Ko's short ribs and pickled mustard seeds (Rebecca McAlpin for The New York Times). Right: David Chang does noodles (Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times).

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7 comments so far...

can't wait! we work just around the corner from here. i miss benatti's but am excited for east by northeast. sounds like a healthy option which this neighborhood could definitely use. welcome and good luck, chef tang!

Posted by Lynne Viera September 23, 09 02:42 PM

Can't wait too. There are few things that get me wound up like a homemade Asian noodle!

Posted by JJ Gonson October 5, 09 05:30 PM

What happened to Benatti anyway? I LOVED the pasta there and need to know if I will ever taste it under another name and/or in another location....

Posted by InMourning October 6, 09 02:25 PM

I wish I could tell you. I've tried to get in touch with the former owners to no avail. If anyone has any information, let us know.

Posted by Devra First October 7, 09 03:00 PM

missing andrea's gnocchi...will there be vegetarian fare?

Posted by joyce maguire pavao November 10, 09 04:34 PM

I'm so excited for this! I really, really miss Benatti (which I heard moved to the South End??).

Posted by Megan November 20, 09 11:13 AM

East by Northeast is now open!!! So delicious.

Posted by Sara January 6, 10 11:30 AM

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