I just picked up the Green Pea Pate tonight at our local Meat House branch (ARL). It's quite tasty slathered on my homemade rosemary flatbread. Subtle but just savory enough.

(As an aside, this is quick shout-out to the Meat House. I've come to love the staff - the beer and wine/catering guys are both quite passionate about what they do. I just got Dogfish Head Namaste there and it's become my go-to for malbec. And the fact that they carry Lagunitas Wilco beer is enough to make me a devotee for this non-meat eater!)

I'm equally suspicious of seafood in Asian markets. I don't think sustainability is something that is taken under consideration. (And I thought certain Chilean seabass are a definite no-no.)

Popped our heads in last night intending to get a drink and snack at the bar...but, at just before 7 pm, the place was jam-packed with families, couples, friends dining and drinking together, young and not-so young (i.e., a very Arlington-like crowd). We marveled at the interior - memories of Hollywood Video were immediately erased. Comfy-looking bar stools (with backs). Decent beers on tap (Lagunitas IPA, for one), including a house beer, the Spy Pond Ale (we did not try). We'll have to come back when it's not so busy to sample the food.

I think they have started limited lunch service...might be a good time to check it out. I don't how the kitchen was keeping up last night!

Instead of tossing out a whole package of tortillas, couldn't you have cut them up and toasted them up into chips? I do that with tortillas that are getting on in age.

I went to the first days of both Lexington (last Tuesday) and Arlington (yesterday). Variety of produce was pretty much par for the course this time of the year. Lexington had better weather and a good-sized crowd last week (plus a banjo player!)...Around 4 pm, the "crowd" at Arlington seemed a bit sparse (perhaps it was still too early in the day).

I didn't see the Hmong farmers at either market. I forgot to ask about that on my way home yesterday. They always have the most scrumptious Asian greens.

Where have you had blazingly hot Thai? Outside of NYC or SF, it's been tough to find. That's something I could get into!

It's awesome news...gives me yet another reason to get back down to my 'hood! Though I'm in Boston these days, I get more excited about the dining scene in PVD.

I wish him well!

The version at Il Casale in Belmont is pleasing. Not knock-your-socks off, but definitely special occasion-y enough.

I don't think it has opened yet...has it? If you ever take the 77 bus into/outta Arlington, you will hear the correct pronunciation! :D

Dude - "Monday night with no big sporting events"....I believe Niblet is referring to Bruins @ Penguins, game 2...in 2nd intermission right now. We're up 4-1. Doy-yay (Quebecois for "duh").

No one has yet mentioned Spoke wine bar in Davis Sq (right next door to Dave's Pasta). I've yet to go, but if I know Felicia, she's got a (wine) trick or two up her sleeve. Plus, Paul (Gargoyles) is behind the bar and I've heard good things about the food. Since this is Davis Sq/Somerville, there's sure to be lacto-ovo veggie-sensitive food (for Mike C. Miller - Davis Sq. is pretty much ground zero on this side of the Charles River for mostly non-annoying hipsters/hippies-crunchy types/generally chill people especially now that school's out for the summer).

https://www.facebook.com/SpokeWineBar

Too bad - cool space and a decent place for a drink, but I've been completely underwhelmed by the food downtown (have not been to the other location).

I am late to this party, but next time in PVD, try north. It is right near Loie Fuller (my neighborhood...I don't think it's a bad section, as another poster suggest!). Very eclectic menu (give the Southeast Asian dishes a whirl) and cool little space. Tiny raw bar up front. Post-dinner or pre-game at the Avery right across the street.

http://www.foodbynorth.com/

I saw a beanless chili at Phoenix Landing last week. I didn't taste it, but I found that the food at PL is better than it has to be, at least at lunch. My fish tacos were tasty and huge. They used to have a seared tofu sandwich that was my go-to but it's no longer on the new menu.

This one is a keeper in our house. We both loved the tart/spicy/fresh flavor profile. I made this tonight, along with the green bean and onion salad. Perfect for the really hot weather we're having in Boston. I also had only jumbo shrimp, so I cut those up, used two Thai bird chiles instead of habanero (we both could have used more heat), and halved grape tomatoes. B had a small bowl of it after we ate our tacos, so also liked it as a ceviche-esque dish. We had some leftover, so I'll be adding more tomato, chile, radish, and cilantro for tomorrow. Hope it tastes as good as it did tonight!

I made this tonight. The only modification I made was to use some leftover sumac and sesame seed red onion (I use these to top kale salad from seriouseats...they're sliced thin and soaked in a couple of changes of plain cold water and topped with ground sumac and sesame seed). They worked perfectly with this recipe. I quite often nuke plain ol' green beans and they always turn out perfectly crisp-tender. We'll be making this one again.

Made this last night. Agreed it was a mild soup, but we both ate it up. I went with shiitake (I may saute them beforehand as you did), poblanos (we both love them so I would probably add another small one), TJ's frozen roasted corn, and I left out the thyme. Sour cream added a bit of acidity that you were looking for.

I'm going to save this one for a chilly fall/winter day (it's gonna hit almost 90F here in Boston).

Do you mean "Outerlands?" We were kicking ourselves for not making it there on our last trip to SF, especially since we were staying out in Outer Richmond.

Just curious...are they hurting for business? My my friend, I know that they are very busy at high lunchtime. What are brunch and dinner like there?

Went for lunch today with a friend who works around the corner - my first time. I had to get the Gobi Manchurian with a side of brown rice. Friend got a salad - I forget which one (beet?) and she thought it was just fine and hit the spot, as she wanted something light. We both munched on the gobi - it was just as good as previous posters have raved (including you, I believe). I took the words out of my (Indian) friend's when I said, "this is really good Indo-Chinese." She was just about to say the same thing at that very moment. She misses that cuisine and off the top of my head, I couldn't think of places in town that serve it but I know it's been discussed here.

We went on the late side, just after 1 pm. Still pleasantly ~1/3 full of people and service was attentive. I can't wait to try it again.

FYI - They serve wine and beer (don't know if that is a recent thing or not but thought I'd mention it).

Huh?! We haven't had pizza in a couple of months. Is this a rumor? Did you get this info from Nicola himself? We'll go this week to confirm for our own edification. :(

If it's true, we'll stock up and cry in our beers...

Gotta try their rice cake soon...We've enjoyed the Sichuan fish filets, salt-and-pepper calamari, Chinese broccoli, B loved the mini juicy pork dumplings (he gave me one to take a bite off the top of the dumpling and found it dried out...it may have been because we were eating at 4:30pm-ish one Saturday? Maybe the dumplings were not as fresh as can be at that weird eating hour?).

We're grateful that this place is within walking distance. There's much more we need to try.

Reliable Market? Koreans have a lotta pickle love so we're picky about the raw materials. (You'll have to ask about the bulk-ish quantity?)

There's been quite a bit of chatter about EH locally and nationally...I saw a blurb about their caramels in a Food+Wine issue sometime last year.

The cat is most assuredly out of the bag.

A bit off-topic, but I gotta give a shout-out...I believe it was finlero who turned me onto the black olive tapanade and artichoke melt sandwich at Kiraz. I haven't been there in ages so thanks for the reminder!

I miss finlero.

Redbones definitely has Texas-style chili. B, my eating partner, spent many years at UT so we always notice when we see Texas-style around these parts. Of course, I can't remember any others at the moment. Will rack my puny brain.

As someone who regularly eats ramyun filled with brown rice, over-ripe radish kimchee, and a scattering of scallions at 8 am most mornings, I appreciate this post! Perhaps I'll even venture out to Wakefield (from Arlington) one of these mornings!

For future inquiries, to my surprise, I recently saw Chemex at Shattuck Ace in Arlington on Mill St.

Also, Abodeon on Mass Ave always has them, too.

And I could swear I've seen them at Barista in Arlington, also on Mass Ave.

Thanks for the thoughtful response, Gio!

I stopped by Tuesday afternoon to increase my sample size (n=4). Much more sane shopping experience. I looked out over the store to see nearly every piece of produce wrapped in plastic. The organic section was TINY (and many of the veggies in that section were looking over-the-hill, and I'm the type of person who doesn't need picture perfect-looking produce, as long as it's not rotting). The kicker was when I asked a couple of guys about the salmon they were selling, one of them told me it is farmed. Then they pointed me to the "guy who would know the answer." He told me that it is wild Atlantic salmon. Huh? Am I missing something? I thought there is basically no wild Atlantic available to us in the Northeast, but someone please correct me if I am wrong. I passed on it.

Not trying to be cantankerous, just sharing my personal experience.