All Star Sandwich Bar

Just in case this place hadn’t gotten enough press yet, I decided to drag Mr. X out to Inman Square this weekend to check out Chris Shlessinger’s All Star Sandwich Bar. As one of the few places featured in Bon Appetit I can actually afford, I was pretty eager to see what all the fuss is about. Of course, I’m not the world’s biggest sandwich fan, and actually prefer the much maligned wrap (gasp!), but when a place gets this much attention, I figure even someone as sandwich neutral as I might find something to love. And I sure did.

The Dogwood Cafe

The Dogwood Cafe is a JP staple, and I’ve been eating here since I moved to Boston, amost three years ago. I crave the broccoli cheddar poppers, their brick oven pizzas are creative, and almost never disappoint, and they offer Anchor Steam on tap. So why do I so rarely even remember that it’s there when trying to think of a place to eat dinner?

I honestly have no answer to that, other than, perhaps, location: The Dogwood is at the very end of the Orange Line, at Forest Hills, on the Washington Street/Hyde Park Ave side of the station–a place I very rarely am. It should be more often remembered, though, and I’m glad I thought of it last Saturday night.

Saturday Morning at the Brewery

Since the last time I took the Sam Adams Brewery tour, here in JP, it’s gotten a few write ups, become more popular, and been revamped a bit, formalized and fancified just a little. No more standing in puddles of beer and water while someone yelled about beer makin’ over the clanging sounds of, well, beer makin’. Now they have a special presentation area, and microphones, and…alright, it wasn’t really too different from the past, it’s only been polished a tiny bit more. It is still an especially excellent reason to come out to JP.