Radio Boston Declares Boston Restaurant Culture 'Reborn'

A new segment on the WBUR show Radio Boston chews over the retreat of fine dining with Globe restaurant critic Devra First and chef Ming Tsai of Blue Ginger and the upcoming Fort Point restaurant Blue Dragon. In the conversation that ensues, there are several assertions that fine dining is dead, and then qualifiers about how it's not totally really completely dead, and the phrase "without breaking the bank" is uttered on more than one occasion in reference to what people want from a dining experience these days. The headline for the accompanying post online declares "Boston's Restaurant Culture Reborn" and cites the recent closing of longtime fine dining establishment Locke-Ober as proof that this is a brave, new world without starchy tablecloths.

Declarations by food media entities are increasingly common these days. Recently, a Globe headline said "Welcome to the new New England cuisine." One way to sum it all up: people have realized that they can get great food without paying as much money as great food once commanded in an atmosphere with less snoot and more tattoos. The conversation also touches on which parts of Boston are hot restaurant hostspot hotbeds, at which point Tsai says that he know of "four or five" restaurant coming to the Fort Point/Seaport District area near where he plans to open Blue Dragon. Odds are, none of them will break the bank.

· Boston's restaurant culture reborn [WBUR]
· Is this a new era of New England cuisine? [EBOS]
[Photo: Locke-Ober/Official Site]