Hungry Mother Isn't Moving, Is Expanding

Hungry Mother is not relocating from its current Kendall Square location into the nearby One Kendall Square complex as reported yesterday. Even better news: the restaurant is expanding to that space with an entirely different restaurant that appears to be in the deli vein. Yesterday the Boston Globe reported that the One Kendall Square complex is going up for sale, and noted that "Hungry Mother restaurant is also moving into the complex." A clarification was added to the original article, saying "This may have left the impression that the Hungry Mother restaurant in Cambridge is moving into the complex. The owners of the restaurant are keeping Hungry Mother in its present location in Cambridge and are considering opening another restaurant at One Kendall Square." Boston.com later published a follow-up article saying the Hungry Mother team is "preparing to open their second restaurant, a Jewish deli with modern touches."

The Boston Business Journal spoke with Hungry Mother co-owner Rachel Miller Munzer, who believes that deli fare may not be as different from Hungry Mother's current operation as it seems, saying "We smoke pork, and now we're going to smoke brisket." According to the BBJ, pickles and knishes will be offered at the new venue. Hungry Mother co-owner John Kessen tells Eater that the restaurant is indeed working on second spot, but says he is not yet ready to give further details.

If Hungry Mother does go deli, it will certainly be appreciated by the many Boston diners who have bemoaned the lack of a better deli scene here. For instance, this from The Phoenix restaurant critic MC Slim JB: "Boston's dining scene has its gaps (looking at you, Jewish deli)." Deli elements have surfaced at venues such as Michael Schlow's Fenway restaurant Happy's Bar + Kitchen, which serves a hot pastrami sandwich and at one time offered matzo ball soup, and at a recent preview of Steve "Nookie" Postal's upcoming restaurant Steinbones, which marries Jewish deli food and barbecue, but Boston still doesn't have an answer to the likes of New York's Montreal-style Mile End Deli, with locations in Brooklyn and NoHo. Which would be much appreciated, as put in a 2010 Boston Globe review of local delis*:

If any of these eateries were to take a cue from the new Mile End Delicatessen in Brooklyn, N.Y., and embrace the wave of rootsy, back-to-basics, ingredient-focused cooking that now defines so many restaurants, diners would surely take notice. As "Save the Deli'' author David Sax said in a recent conversation, delis offering more in-house specialties might remind patrons that these were the places that smoked and cured meats and made their own pickles long before your neighborhood gastropub.

Hopefully, the time has now come for Hungry Bubbie.

· One Kendall Square for sale; owners hope for $360m [BG]
· Hungry Mother to open a second eatery [Boston.com]
· Hungry Mother owners to open artisanal Jewish deli [BBJ]
· On the cheap: Kaju Tofu House [BP]
· Eat, Eat! You look so thin [BG]
· Update: Hungry Mother to open second restaurant in Cambridge [BRT]
· All coverage of Hungry Mother on Eater [~EBOS~]

*Disclosure: the author of the Globe article and this post are one and the same.