"boston" news and stories

Photo: deepellum-boston.com.

A weekly look at the draft selection in beer-friendly bars across the country.

No need for a double take. Yes, Deep Ellum is the name of a neighborhood in the Dallas area. And yes, this week's What's On Tap features a Boston bar. But don't worry, Deep Ellum co-owner Max Toste has an explanation: "My business partner, Aaron Sanders, was born and raised around the Dallas area, and Deep Ellum was always his favorite place to go."

Toste describes the Dallas neighborhood as an area teeming with tattoo parlors and rock joints -- the kind of place with "people who don't wear suits to work." "We always thought it would be a cool name for a bar," he recalls. Toste and Sanders found a similar feel in the Boston neighborhood of Allston, so about three years ago, when opening their own bar, the name was a perfect fit.

"I love beer," Toste states proudly. "I wanted to have a bar that was awesome."

What exactly is his idea of awesome? "Our plan was to be very artisanal. Everything we sell and promote is handmade stuff." And that ideology goes beyond just beer into the realm of their cocktail selection and food. Toste's explanation for such strong demands on what Deep Ellum serves is simple: "I don't do anything half-assed."

Read more about Deep Ellum and its complete tap list, as of this Tuesday, after the jump -- and for future draft lists, check out its Web site. Drafts update whenever they're changed.

Photo: vegetarianfestival.jp.

There are loads of meat-this/meat-that festivals, but in honor of World Vegetarian Day, Slashfood would like to highlight international veggie gatherings.

Day Without Meat, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Oct. 3-4: To raise awareness for the benefits of a vegetarian/vegan diet, the Brazilian Vegetarian Society in partnership with Greenpeace, Instituto Nina Rosa and others will provide information on vegetarianism, screen films, hold workshops and offer food and wine tastings.

Julia Child. Photo: John Dominis, Time & Life Pictures/Getty Image

Somewhere Julia's chuckling.

The Boston Globe reports Tuesday that the doyenne of French cuisine's Cambridge home is now occupied by a vegetarian animal-rights activist, who -- since the release of "Julie and Julia" -- has been besieged by tourists snapping photos of her home and leaving butter, yes butter, on the fence post.

"It's a bit ironic," Lisa Landsverk said of her place at Julia's kitchen.

A weekly look at the draft selection in beer-friendly bars and eateries across the country.

With Mother's Day just around the bend we hunted far and wide for an establishment whose name pays lip service to mama, happily stumbling upon the tiny but tantalizing tap selection at Cambridge (Mass.)' Hungry Mother. Though she only boasts five suds, they're solid: "Craft and quality beers pair just as well with food as wine [does]," says owner John Kessen. "Although [our draft list] is small, it's a really interesting one and a good cross section of styles."

This Mother plays favorites with careful curation:

5. Stone Ruination IPA is one of the most intense and highly regarded imperial IPAs on the market.

4. Bear Republic's Hop Rod Rye is another nationally renowned India Pale Ale but, since it is brewed with 20 percent rye malt), it boasts a distinctly different flavor.

3. Fisherman's Brew, a local amber lager, donates part of their proceeds to out-of-work fisherman.

Read Mother's last two picks after the jump.

One of the great things about delicacies is that, while they may be rare, they are only worth what someone is willing to pay for them. For example, sturgeon eggs may be a taste treat, but if nobody is willing to fork over the a small fortune, then they are, essentially, just bait. Recently, this simple fact has become quite important as lobster, which was once priced well out of the range of the average person has started to come within reach. The freakish crustaceans are now going for about $2.50 per pound wholesale, down from a high of about $10 per pound in spring 2007. In terms of retail price, this translates into a drop of at least $4 per pound. In some Boston-area seafood markets, the price hovered in the $7 range earlier this year; depending upon one's location, it has subsequently dipped well below that.

There are two big reasons for the great lobster drop. One is the fact that many high-end consumers, the kinds of people who could afford to eat lobster regularly, were hit particularly hard by 2008's financial meltdown. The second reason lies in the collapse of Iceland's economy: seafood producers in Canada that used Icelandic banks have not been able to get the credit they need to buy large amounts of lobster.

Personally, I'm going to be taking advantage of this sudden piece of good news. While I'm not a big fan of shelled lobster - to be honest, the huge crustaceans remind me of aquatic cockroaches and the whole lobster dining experience is disturbingly like an alien autopsy - lobster tails and lobster bisque are among my favorites. What's more, with lobster going for a fraction of its former price, this might be the perfect time for a Monty Python recipe that I've always wanted to try: Lobster Thermidor Aux Crevettes with Mornay Sauce, Truffle Pate, Brandy, Fried Egg and Spam. While I'm at it, I'm also keeping an eye on other delicacies; after all, who knows what will drop next?