North Square Oyster Debuts in the North End’s North Square With Tons of Oysters

Opening Alert

It’s opening day for North Square Oyster, officially debuting today in the former Gennaro’s space at 5 North Sq. in Boston’s North End. Here’s a peek inside the restaurant, owned by Ward 8’s Nicholas Frattaroli. Douglas Rodrigues (Liquid Art House, Clio) is executive chef, serving up lobster rolls (one with brown butter, one with mayo), stuffed rigatoni with oxtail bolognese, lobster pie, caviar, and lots more. North Square Oyster is open 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. daily, with a late-night menu kicking in from 11 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.

Chef Shuffles

Lots of changes at Cafe ArtScience these days: Executive chef Brandon Baltzley has departed, citing “personal (family) reasons,” and he’s about to begin the second season of his pop-up dinner series on Cape Cod, The Buffalo Jump, with his wife, Laura Higgins-Baltzley. ArtScience opening partner and cocktail wizard Todd Maul will also leave, reports Boston Magazine; his final day will be June 14. Next, he’ll spend some time with family, do some guest bartending and consulting, and eventually open his own neighborhood bar, something simpler and smaller than ArtScience.

Update, 11:30 a.m.: Cafe ArtScience has just announced that it will go on a short hiatus from June 14 until later in the month, when it will reopen “with a new look and a new program involving exhibitions and unique food experiences with international chefs, artists, designers, architects, scientists and other creators. The food and bar program will retain the creative edge of Cafe ArtScience, while adding more daily approachability.” Until then, visit the restaurant for lunch Tuesday through Friday (11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.) and dinner Monday through Saturday (5 p.m. to 10 p.m., with the bar open until midnight).

In other Chef Shuffles news, Tim Maslow (Ribelle) has moved from Tiger Mama to Mida, Douglass Williams’ Italian-inspired restaurant in the South End. Maslow has been posting some photos of Mida dishes on social media, from agnolotti del plin with beef, bone marrow, and red wine to ricotta gnudi with Calabrian chili, romaine conserva, pickled smelt, and dill.

Video Interlude

Getting back to Cafe ArtScience for a second (well, 42 seconds), here’s a look at the making of one of pastry chef Giselle Miller’s desserts, the Lilikoi:

The Craft Pizza Bubble

How many fancy pizza places can the Boston area support, muses the Globe, and how can you tell if you’ve entered a “craft pizza situation”? Hint: Look for ovens with back stories, small-batch sodas and house-made mozzarella, reservations, and beet salad. Oh, and it probably doesn’t deliver.

One Thing You Should Eat Today

It’s the last cool and drizzly day before the week turns hot and sunny, so: noodles. Hand-pulled, filling noodles. Maybe you’ve been to Gene’s, maybe you’ve been to MDM Noodles, but today, you should head to Watertown Square to Home Taste, which opened in late 2015 and has been quietly serving up excellent noodles, Chinese burgers, dumplings, and more since then. Order number two, the spicy hot oil seared noodles. (At lunch time, the dish is available as a special combo with a beef roll or spring roll, boneless spareribs or chicken fingers, and soup.)

Rachel Leah Blumenthal for Eater

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