Milestone Opens in Wellesley

A new restaurant has opened in Wellesley, replacing a family-friendly dining spot that closed awhile back. Milestone of Wellesley opened toward the end of December on Central Street in the center of town, moving into the spot where Vidalia's Truck Stop used to be until shutting down in 2008 after a little more than 10 years in business. Milestone has been serving only lunch during its first few days in business, but according to their website, the restaurant will be opening for dinner this month. Once dinner starts being served, Milestone will be open seven days a week for both lunch and dinner.

Milestone of Wellesley will be featuring Southern European cuisine, including such dishes as Tuscan mussels and beans, Portuguese clams, beef carpaccio, spinach gnocchi, chestnut fettuccine, chitarra sardines, seafood paella, butternut squash orzotto, lamb shank, poached halibut, and veal chop. Prices for dinner entrees will generally be in the teens and twenties.

The restaurant looks to be set up in a similar fashion to the old Vidalia's, with booths and tables as well as a counter/bar area with seating.

The address for this new dining spot in Wellesley Center is: Milestone of Wellesley, 13 Central Street, Wellesley, MA, 02482. The phone number is (781) 446-6950. And the website is at: http://milestoneofwellesley.com/

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Chef Chang's House in Brookline to Be Replaced by Sichuan Gourmet

A Chinese restaurant in Brookline that has been around for 30 years is closing--and being replaced by a new restaurant from the owner of a small chain of Chinese restaurants with locations in the northern and western suburbs of Boston.

According to a posting on the Massachusetts Public Notices site (now taken down), a liquor license transfer has been approved by the town of Brookline from the owner of Chef's Chang House on Beacon Street to Li Zhong, who is behind the two Sichuan Gourmet restaurants in Billerica and Framingham. The public notice mentions that the name of the restaurant that will apparently be replacing Chef Chang's House is also Sichuan Gourmet.

Chef Chang's House started out in the early 1980s, serving Mandarin, Shanghai, and Szechuan dishes to diners in Brookline, the Fenway neighborhood of Boston (which is a short distance east of the restaurant), and others from around the Boston area. Sichuan Gourmet first opened in Billerica in 2002, with a second location coming to Framingham a couple of years later.

It is unknown at the time as to when Chef Chang's House might be closing (and when Sichuan Gourmet might be opening). As we find out more information, we will post an update here. [January 27 update: According to an article in the Boston Globe, Chef Chang's House could be closing as soon as this coming Sunday, though there is no official closing date as of this time.]

[May 7 update: Based on a few posts on the Chowhound site, it looks like Sichuan Gourmet is now open in Brookline.]

The address for Chef Chang's House is 1004-1006 Beacon Street, Brookline, MA 02446. The phone number is (617) 277-4226. And their website can be found at: http://chefchangshouse.com/

The website for both Sichuan Gourmet restaurants is at: http://www.laosichuan.com/

Thanks to a poster on the Chowhound site for bringing this to our attention.

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The Battery in Brighton Has Apparently Closed

It appears that a fish and chips place in Brighton Center has closed down. The Battery, a tiny Washington Street restaurant that opened in the fall of 2008, now has a "for lease" sign in the window, according to posters on the Chowhound and Yelp sites. It was originally thought that The Battery was closed for renovations, but sometime around Christmas, the "for lease" sign apparently went up.

While The Battery featured fish and chips, the restaurant also offered salads, burgers, chicken sandwiches, battered sausage, potato pies, chicken wings, and a few other items.

The Battery was located at 379 Washington Street, a short distance west of the Market Street intersection in the center of Brighton.

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The Robinwood Cafe and Grille Opens in Jamaica Plain

A Jamaica Plain restaurant that we had talked about in an article last month has opened. According to a poster on the Chowhound site, the Robinwood Cafe and Grille opened this week, and a call put into the restaurant has confirmed that they are indeed open (the person we talked to said that yesterday was their first day of business).

The Robinwood Cafe and Grille, which moved into the spot on Centre Street where Planet Pizza was, appears to be a diner-style restaurant that will be open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. As mentioned in the earlier article, the restaurant will feature such dishes as burgers, pizza, panini sandwiches, and pastries.

The address for this new restaurant in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston is: Robinwood Cafe and Grille, 536 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain, MA, 02130. The phone number is (617) 524-7575.

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Parish Cafe Opens a New Spot in the South End

A popular sandwich place in the Back Bay of Boston has just opened a second location, this one being in the South End of the city. According to posters on the Chowhound site, the new Parish Cafe opened its Mass. Ave. location on New Year's Day, bringing to the South End a spot that features a variety of unique sandwiches as well as appetizers, salads, desserts, and a handful of comfort food entrees.

The original Parish Cafe opened on Boylston Street in the Back Bay in 1992 and has become known as a place to get sandwiches that have been designed by chefs from the local area, including Lydia Shire, Tony Maws, and Brian Poe.

Based on the menu posted on boston.menupages.com, prices for sandwiches at the new restaurant are mostly between $10 and $15, with entrees also being in the teens.

The address for this new dining spot in the South End is: Parish Cafe, 493 Massachusetts Avenue (at the corner of Tremont Street), Boston, MA, 02118. The phone number is (617) 391-0501.


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Fifth annual CityFeast Coming to the North End January 31, 2010

A culinary event is returning to Boston at the end of the month, and it is raising money for a very important cause. The fifth annual CityFeast will be held in the city's North End on Sunday, January 31, with six neighborhood restaurants participating in the event. Antico Forno, Lucca, Prezza, Taranta, Terramia, and Tresca will be offering a five-course dinner that includes wine pairings, with the proceeds going to the Joslin Diabetes Center's High Hopes Fund.

The High Hopes Fund was founded in order to help improve the lives of people with diabetes, as well as to support the Joslin Diabetes Center's mission to prevent and cure the disease.

The event will be held from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM on January 31, with tickets costing $150 per person. [To purchase tickets, call Joslin's Development Office at (617) 732-2412 or (888) JOSLIN-2.] Billy Costa from TV Diner and KISS 108 FM will be making an appearance at the event.

Thanks to Bishoff Communications for giving us the above information on CityFeast.

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