Eater Boston - How to Celebrate Valentine’s Day in Boston, If You MustThe Boston Restaurant, Bar, and Nightlife Bloghttps://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/52682/favicon-32x32.png2018-02-07T12:14:44-05:00http://boston.eater.com/rss/stream/167559872018-02-07T12:14:44-05:002018-02-07T12:14:44-05:00Where to Eat Hearts and Blood in Boston
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<img alt="a heart of chicken hearts stock photo" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/XFhuxbt4d9hc-HiBchcWNQcFsc4=/268x0:4533x3199/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58608341/shutterstock_785682508.0.jpg" />
<figcaption><a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/g/tikhonova%20yana">Tikhonova Yana</a>/Shutterstock</figcaption>
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<p>Skip the expensive prix fixe menus on Valentine’s Day and eat hearts and blood instead </p> <p id="ru4gpy">What better way to say “I love you” than eating a literal heart (or the blood that once pumped through a literal heart)? Valentine’s Day is a terrible day to dine out, filled with difficult reservations and overpriced prix fixe menus. But if you do want to go out, skip the gimmicky holiday menus and hunt down these literally hearty dishes. </p>
<p id="BbX7uw">For Valentine’s Day or any day you’re feeling vampiric or anemic, these are some of the best heart and blood dishes in Boston right now.</p>
<p id="HUFxwq"><em>Note: Map points are arranged </em><em>geographically from north to south</em><em>, not ranked.</em></p>
https://boston.eater.com/maps/best-hearts-blood-bostonTerrence Doyle2018-01-19T15:14:41-05:002018-01-19T15:14:41-05:00Central Square Booze Crawl: Beers and Soccer at a Cambridge Classic, Followed by Skee-Ball and Liquor
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<img alt="Specialty bar glassware: a horse head with a pony head cozying up to it. A frozen cocktail and neon bendy straws are coming up out of the top. The glassware sits on a curved wooden bar with a brick wall in the background." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/1NcEhJ8f-9q7ORJ1lM3jPuBzLEg=/107x0:1814x1280/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58386615/IMG_1403.0.0.jpg" />
<figcaption>Ponies in the Surf, VIP glassware at Central Square’s Brick & Mortar | <a href="https://www.emilyphares.com/">Emily Phares</a> for Eater</figcaption>
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<p>Plus, darts in a commie bar and a mezcal nightcap </p> <p id="dkefrc"><em>Welcome back to </em><a href="https://boston.eater.com/boston-food-crawls"><em><strong>Food Crawls</strong></em></a><em>, a series in which Eater Boston staffers guide you (virtually) on various food (and booze) crawls in the Boston area.</em></p>
<p id="c7H9VE"><em>When we go out, we often find ourselves wanting to try more than one restaurant or bar at a time — a drink and a snack here, another drink and perhaps a dessert there — and want to share our favorite multi-stop combinations with you. These crawls are meant to be relatively walkable, and the amount of food and drink is meant to correspond roughly to a couple of average appetites (so bring a friend), although your mileage may vary. </em><a href="mailto:boston@eater.com"><em>Email us</em></a><em> if there’s a particular theme, specific dish or drink, or neighborhood you’d like to see covered in a future installment.</em></p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="jtQWEc">
<p class="p--has-dropcap" id="jypBDl">Deciding to drink at just four bars on a night out in Central Square is like deciding to just have the salad when the gold-dusted Kobe burger is on the menu; deciding to drink at just four bars on a night out in Central Square is nearly impossible. </p>
<p id="FlP2eK">Central Square isn’t so much a scene as it is a high-functioning cooperative of many and varied scenes. There’s the upscale dining scene; the rocker scene; the dance scene; the Irish scene; the dive scene; the Irish dive scene; the well-heeled hipster scene; the dumpling scene; the kitsch scene; the vegetarian/vegan scene; the scenes I’m forgetting. Any thirsty body with a pulse can find his bar in Central Square. </p>
<p id="TSqiYJ">I’m a thirsty body, and last time I checked I have a pulse. As such, I like trekking across the river from my comfortable Allston enclave to that booze bazaar on Massachusetts Avenue. A drinker could embark on 100 consecutive booze crawls through Central Square and still not exhaust every combination of sticky floor or slick interior; this is one (very good) possible combination. </p>
<p id="7eqUOk"><strong>Stats for this </strong><strong>booze</strong><strong> crawl:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li id="k092cC">
<em>Total stops:</em> 4</li>
<li id="ysCKcz">
<em>Years lost to the stress of Liverpool FC fandom</em>: Oh, so many </li>
<li id="a2yIv7">
<em>Total mileage</em>: Not much </li>
<li id="klu0G6">
<em>L</em><em>annisters staring at you while you drink: </em>Hopefully just three (please don’t let there be more than three!)</li>
</ul>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="L7B3GP">
<h3 id="wP3DGm">Magners Over Ice at <a href="https://boston.eater.com/venue/17448/the-phoenix-landing">Phoenix Landing</a> </h3>
<p id="nZA4wb"><em>512 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139</em></p>
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<cite><a href="https://www.facebook.com/thePhoenixLanding/photos/a.159090909715.118730.56088159715/10151480278849716/?type=3&theater">Facebook</a></cite>
<figcaption>A very good bar </figcaption>
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<p id="Vk02Qi">It’s the worst kept secret in town: Phoenix Landing is the best place to watch a Liverpool FC game. Liverpool fandom — a fool’s errand I’ve been running for more than two decades now — has taken years off my life, but I don’t care: It’s the hope that destroys us all. Go to Phoenix Landing some Saturday or Sunday morning, order a Magners with ice (or a Guinness, or both), and watch as the boys in red run ragged every side in England (and one in Wales, too). Bonus points if you’re draped in Robbie Fowler gear. </p>
<h3 id="oY85e5">What About Barb? at <a href="https://boston.eater.com/venue/26784/a4cade">A4cade</a> </h3>
<p id="U8EIGC"><em>292 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139</em></p>
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<img alt="Arcade video games and pinball machines fill a room. White and yellow striped decorative panels hang from the ceiling." data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/a3ic5nxyHkKFBD6K_jtUol2qyek=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7880597/A4cade___Rachel_Leah_Blumenthal_9.jpg">
<cite>Rachel Leah Blumenthal/Eater</cite>
<figcaption>They’re gonna get ya</figcaption>
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<p id="SbCgVy">There is much to drink at A4cade, but order the Stranger Things-inspired rum drink: We need as many summer vibes as we can handle during this coldest of cold Boston winters. Try not to sit near the <em>Game of Thrones</em> pinball machine, though: It’s very probable that even the 2D versions of those Lannisters — and especially Cersei — might incite mayhem. It might also be time to pad those stomachs with a grilled cheese from Roxy’s. Also, there is Skee-Ball. SKEE-BALL! </p>
<h3 id="bKWn08">Moscow Mule at <a href="https://boston.eater.com/venue/15093/people-s-republik">People’s Republik</a> </h3>
<p id="OTAfr2"><em>878 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139</em></p>
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<cite><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ThePeoplesRepublik/photos/a.10150618099833423.400226.99627538422/10150618099858423/?type=1&theater">Facebook</a></cite>
<figcaption>Good day, comrade </figcaption>
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<p id="RMc4DU">You’re at a commie-themed bar; order the drink named for the ex-commie headquarters. And if the arcade games at A4cade weren’t enough to sate that competitive spirit, challenge a comrade to a game of darts. </p>
<h3 id="PQveHc">Disco Nap at <a href="https://boston.eater.com/venue/757/brick-mortar">Brick & Mortar</a> </h3>
<p id="TjxXpN"><em>567 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139</em></p>
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<img alt="Brick & Mortar glassware 1" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/Vdy6Dya_iZaQPT1t596xX-sq6k8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/4154644/IMG_1362.0.jpg">
<cite><a href="https://www.emilyphares.com/">Emily Phares</a> for Eater</cite>
<figcaption>A pretty cocktail at Brick & Mortar</figcaption>
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<p id="qatRY1">Ordinarily, bars like Brick & Mortar are a bit too <em>precious </em>for my tastes. (<a href="https://boston.eater.com/maps/best-dive-bars-boston">Dive bars</a> are the right bars.) But the drinks at Brick & Mortar are excellent — <a href="https://boston.eater.com/maps/best-boston-burgers">as is the burger</a> — and so it is a great last stop on any booze crawl through Central Square worth its weight in gold. The Disco Nap — which consists of Sombra mezcal, cucumber syrup, yellow Chartreuse, and lime — will lull you into an afternoon dreamland. </p>
<aside id="CngEZo"><div data-anthem-component="readmore" data-anthem-component-data='{"stories":[{"title":"Harvard Square Booze Crawl: Rock and Roll, Jazz, and One Damn Fine Jukebox","url":"https://boston.eater.com/2017/12/27/16801824/harvard-square-booze-crawl"},{"title":"Boozin’ in Boston: Where to Have a Few Weeknight Pops in the South End","url":"https://boston.eater.com/2017/11/28/16691234/boozin-boston-south-end"}]}'></div></aside><aside id="FlWrPU"><div data-anthem-component="newsletter" data-anthem-component-data='{"slug":"boston-eater"}'></div></aside>
https://boston.eater.com/2018/1/19/16909930/central-square-booze-crawlTerrence Doyle2017-12-21T11:00:01-05:002017-12-21T11:00:01-05:00North End Dessert Crawl: Cannoli, Sfogliatella, Biscotti, and Cappuccino
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<img alt="A zig-zag pattern of cannoli from Mike’s Pastry and Modern Pastry, arranged on a white background. Some are garnished with chocolate chips or pistachios." src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/jyDGmpmQi88YE2CBlbVQ6E2O-9c=/200x0:1400x900/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/58069745/Chris_Coe_Cannolis_001.0.0.0.jpeg" />
<figcaption>A spread of cannoli from both Mike’s Pastry and Modern Pastry, but don’t eat them all: Save room for sfogliatella | <a href="http://www.chriscoephoto.com/">Chris Coe</a> for Eater</figcaption>
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<p>Mike’s and Modern are the obvious choices, but don’t sleep on Bova’s</p> <p id="dkefrc"><em>Welcome back to </em><a href="https://boston.eater.com/boston-food-crawls"><em><strong>Food Crawls</strong></em></a><em>, a series in which Eater Boston staffers guide you (virtually) on various food crawls in the Boston area.</em></p>
<p id="zKHliu"><em>When we go out, we often find ourselves wanting to try more than one restaurant at a time — a drink and a snack here, another drink and perhaps a dessert there — and want to share our favorite multi-stop combinations with you. These crawls are meant to be relatively walkable, and the amount of food and drink is meant to correspond roughly to a couple of average appetites (so bring a friend), although your mileage may vary. </em><a href="mailto:boston@eater.com"><em>Email us</em></a><em> if there’s a particular theme, specific dish or drink, or neighborhood you’d like to see covered in a future installment.</em></p>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="GhMtlq">
<p class="p--has-dropcap" id="sMjKNB">So <a href="https://boston.eater.com/2017/12/14/16767958/north-end-food-crawl-oysters-pizza-arancini">you’ve eaten your North End lunch</a> (and maybe you’re a little drunk too), and now it’s time for your North End dessert. It’s maybe a bit of a cliché, but an eater in the North End could do worse than stopping at Mike’s Pastry, Modern Pastry, Bova Bakery, and Caffé Vittoria. </p>
<p id="aMU8xH">Forget the <a href="https://www.eater.com/2015/8/17/9163569/cannoli-recipe-history-boston-sicily">cannoli wars</a>, though: Get your cannoli at Mike’s — it’s good for the ‘gram — and go for sfogliatella at Modern. Hit Bova for biscotti — and maybe even an M&M cookie even though it’s decidedly <em>not </em>Italian — and finish up at Vittoria for a cappuccino. </p>
<p id="7eqUOk"><strong>Stats for this food crawl:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li id="C8QvLU">
<em>Total stops:</em> 4</li>
<li id="cZftOq">
<em>Total mileage:</em> Like, 450 steps </li>
<li id="w3fSZt">
<em>Total streets: </em>Just the two. The best two (Salem and Hanover). </li>
<li id="h2aM0A">
<em>Cannoli eaten: </em>Just one (cannolo, if you want to be pedantic) </li>
<li id="oS6LgX">
<em>Difficult</em><em>-</em><em>to</em><em>-</em><em>pronounce Italian pastries eaten: </em>Again, just one </li>
<li id="6bTjbF">
<em>Instagram likes: </em>How many “friends” you got? </li>
</ul>
<hr class="p-entry-hr" id="G8hx3D">
<h3 id="UgX8F4">Cannoli at <a href="https://boston.eater.com/venue/12991/mike-s-pastry">Mike’s Pastry</a> </h3>
<p id="SqwVBl"><em>300 Hanover St, Boston, MA 02113</em></p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="The exterior of Mike’s Pastry’s North End location features a large gray sign above the entrance with “Mike’s Pastry” written twice in yellow cursive" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/ePbRJQNXjOR0vYLjl75FA9l6Mv8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9866751/IMG_0947.jpg">
<cite>Terrence B. Doyle/Eater Boston</cite>
<figcaption>Mike’s is the ultimate North End institution </figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="7biwRf">The North End cannoli debate is long and contentious: Mike’s or Modern? Truth is, one can’t go wrong with either. But those boxes at Mike’s, with their pretty little ties and their cerulean blue on bright white, are hard to beat, and they’ll just look <em>so </em>good on social media. Hit Mike’s for cannoli — there’s something better waiting at Modern anyway. </p>
<h3 id="trxJPt">Sfogliatella at <a href="https://boston.eater.com/venue/12992/modern-pastry-shop">Modern Pastry</a> </h3>
<p id="wkpVn9"><em>257 Hanover St, Boston, MA 02113</em></p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="The exterior of Modern Pastry Shop in Boston’s North End features a red and green sign and a green and white striped awning. Large Christmas wreaths hang above the sign in this photo." data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/PvqbfEq0wtoCIDAgNDbnRO-TNW8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9865825/IMG_0962.jpg">
<cite>Terrence B. Doyle/Eater Boston</cite>
<figcaption>The sfogliatella — or, lobster tails — at Modern are about as good as they are in Campania, the region of their provenance </figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="EwWwMK">Okay, so Modern has <em>sublime </em>cannoli, but you just ate one at Mike’s, and it’s time for something else. Which is to say, it’s time for sfogliatella. Known to some Americans (erroneously) as lobster tails, these flaky, incredibly difficult-to-make pastries are filled with orange-flavored ricotta, and Modern does the best version outside of Napoli, the city of their provenance. (Honestly, the version at Modern might actually be better than any in Napoli.) </p>
<h3 id="oBWMl5">Biscotti at <a href="https://boston.eater.com/venue/12993/bova-s-bakery">Bova’s Bakery</a> </h3>
<p id="CjJReI"><em>134 Salem St, Boston, MA 02113</em></p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Bova’s North End " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/qxvlRXMEoeiHYct8Cta22E-nnu8=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9866849/IMG_0982.jpg">
<cite>Terrence B. Doyle for Eater</cite>
<figcaption>Bova’s is as off the beaten path as can be in the North End (which isn’t much), but it’s open 24 hours</figcaption>
</figure>
<p id="Tt47Pg">The amount of late night square slices I’ve eaten at Bova’s is...well, it’s embarrassing. This North End haunt — which, like Pizzeria Regina, has been slinging food since 1926 — is open 24 hours, which means it’s a magnet for the less-than-sober crowd come 2 a.m. The square slice is good; the M&M cookie is good; the Italian wedding cookies are as good as Italian wedding cookies can be. But the biscotti is the star of the show. Get a stick or two to go, and immediately walk toward Caffé Vittoria on Hanover Street. </p>
<h3 id="YroNPz">Cappuccino at <a href="https://boston.eater.com/venue/20266/caffe-vittoria">Caffé Vittoria</a> </h3>
<p id="oRauJ2"><em>290-296 Hanover St, Boston, MA 02113</em></p>
<figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Caffé Vittoria North End " data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/evWutd_Ve-o_mmb38TFX_tRHPRY=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/9866929/IMG_0955.jpg">
<cite>Terrence B. Doyle for Eater</cite>
<figcaption>Go to Vittoria; feel like you’re in Italy</figcaption>
</figure>
<p class="c-end-para" id="XrR3JL">The interior of Caffé Vittoria looks like the interior of a cafe in a Fellini film. It’s full of fancy Italian espresso machines and marble, and it does a fantastic cappuccino. And that cappuccino is best served with those biscotti from Bova’s. Dip away, folks. </p>
<p id="L48Q5x"></p>
https://boston.eater.com/2017/12/21/16774260/north-end-food-crawl-cannoli-sfogliatellaTerrence Doyle2017-11-17T09:00:01-05:002017-11-17T09:00:01-05:00Where to Eat Spaghetti and Meatballs in Boston
<figure>
<img alt="Meatballs at La Famiglia Giorgio’s" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/CJOkZfhqJ3zsjv3KJlkraA1hKFE=/42x0:709x500/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/57622295/giorgio.0.jpeg" />
<figcaption>Meatballs at La Famiglia Giorgio’s | <a href="http://lafamigliagiorgios.com/index.php?link=gallery">Official Site</a></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Boston is full of red sauce joints. These are the must-tries. </p> <p id="T4Pj74">Cold weather calls for comfort food, and there are few foods more comforting than spaghetti and meatballs. Luckily for Bostonians, there’s this neighborhood called the North End —maybe you’ve heard of it? — that’s chalk full of the stuff. </p>
<p id="IfhHCD">Don’t be fooled, though: The North End doesn’t have a monopoly on that sweet, sweet red sauce. (Okay, so <em>most </em>of the spots on this list are located in Boston’s Little Italy, but East Boston and the South End have thrown their hats in the ring, too.) </p>
<p id="dAcEZY">Unfortunately, not every great meatball in Boston comes paired with spaghetti. For a pleasing (and filling) meatball <em>prim</em><em>o</em><em> piatt</em><em>o </em>without the pasta, head to <a href="https://boston.eater.com/venue/744/coppa">Coppa</a> in the South End, <a href="https://boston.eater.com/venue/364/tavolo">Tavolo</a> in Dorchester, and, of course, Cantina Italiana in the North End. </p>
<p id="bsTV8q">But looking for the complete package? Without further adieu, here are the best spots in Boston proper for nourishing spaghetti and meatballs. </p>
<p id="3G1V0L"><em>Note: </em>Map points are listed geographically from north to south, not ranked.</p>
https://boston.eater.com/maps/best-spaghetti-meatballs-bostonTerrence Doyle2016-10-28T17:07:38-04:002016-10-28T17:07:38-04:00Welcome to Sweet-N-Nasty, the Naughtiest Bakery in Boston
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<img alt="A cake with white frosting topped with a pair of breasts covered in blue frosting with script that reads “breast wishes”" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/TGqosNtk7Gcr8NBuoyqmI6WyLLE=/227x0:3646x2564/1310x983/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/51583937/Sweet_20N_20Nasty_20-_20Rachel_20Leah_20Blumenthal-16.0.jpg" />
</figure>
<p>Delight your friends (not kids) with R-rated cakes, cupcakes, and chocolates</p> <p class="p--has-dropcap" id="03pEfj">Usually you wouldn’t want to find pubic hair in your food. But at Sweet-N-Nasty, an erotic bakery that has existed in various Boston locations since the early 1980s, it’s just another design detail that might adorn your cupcakes or cakes — in edible form, of course. A strategic squiggle of icing here, a large chocolate penis there, perhaps a punny phrase (“breast wishes,” for example), and you’ve got the perfect baked good to take to a bachelor or bachelorette party, birthday party, or nearly any other occasion, depending on the crowd. </p>
<div class="c-float-right c-float-hang"> <figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Niki Novak" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/afm69k4npcJsGk21CmqixJoKbFM=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7367755/Sweet%20N%20Nasty%20-%20Rachel%20Leah%20Blumenthal-28.jpg">
<figcaption>Niki Novak</figcaption>
</figure>
</div>
<p id="Md7jRn">Owner Niki Novak opened the shop at 90 Massachusetts Ave. in Back Bay about 15 years ago, but before that, she had an Allston location, a Financial District location, and a tiny space at South Station at various points over the years. She opened the first shop (the Allston original) in the early 1980s; she had recently finished college, where she studied fashion merchandising and retailing, and she was working as a bartender while figuring out her next move.</p>
<p id="d54LlU">It was a trip to New York to visit her sister that sealed Novak’s fate: Her sister was bringing dirty cakes to work — in those days, you could get away with that, recalls Novak — but the cakes, which were very expensive, tasted like cardboard. Novak, who had no baking experience, thought she could bring the concept of erotic baked goods back to Boston but do a better job than that New York purveyor of mediocre penis cakes. With Boston’s large student population and gay community, she saw a promising niche. She took some baking classes but mostly learned as she went, and she also got some help from her father, who had been in the restaurant business.</p>
<p id="wSkfW0">“I made some mistakes along the way,” recalls Novak, “but it was such a good idea that it was okay. People came back.”</p>
<div class="p-fullbleed-block"> <figure class="e-image">
<img alt="Sweet N Nasty" data-mask-text="false" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/8N4Wc15NCtBD-JQ6IkDMp6Ym1iY=/800x0/filters:no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7367881/Sweet%20N%20Nasty%20-%20Rachel%20Leah%20Blumenthal-25.jpg">
</figure>
</div>
<p id="fzH1aE">In the early days, it was hard to find and keep locations. “It’s almost like a prison,” she says. Nobody wants to be near an erotic bakery, especially in the Financial District. “Even though they shopped there, they probably didn’t want their clients walking by a dirty bakery.” This was in the days before bright, friendly adult shops like Condom World and Good Vibrations opened; there were seedy sex shops in the Combat Zone, but a naughty bakery and novelty store cheerfully catering to mainstream clients in broad daylight in downtown Boston — a woman-owned shop, at that — was an unexpected development. </p>
<p id="8AYeg5">When Novak advertised in those days, she was pushed to the back of the newspaper with the adult ads, but she wanted to get the word out that that wasn’t what her shop was about. “We’re fun, we’re cakes, we’re chocolate,” she says.</p>
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<p id="9D0Geo">Ultimately she found her cozy Mass. Ave. space, which is located right near Newbury Street. It’s a commercial condominium, so she owns it, which lets her do whatever she wants with the front window display (within reason). On any given day, passersby will see neon signage featuring Sweet-N-Nasty’s sexy leg logo, along with various novelty items — generally some inflatable penises and such. She wants the window to give people a clear idea of what they’re getting when they walk in, but she’s also not interested in antagonizing her neighbors and will take feedback into account if there’s something particularly offensive in the display. “I'm very flexible,” she says. “I keep a clean operation.”</p>
<p id="LmlpOZ">Sweet-N-Nasty doesn’t just sell baked goods and chocolates; it’s a full novelty shop with plenty of R-rated greeting cards, bachelorette party paraphernalia, and pretty much any product you can imagine — straws, mugs, silly string, giant rainbow lollipops, and so much more — that can be shaped like or decorated with the most intimate parts of the male and female anatomy.</p>
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<p id="W5pzWC">The inventory wasn’t always so extensive. In Sweet-N-Nasty’s early days, it really was just the baked goods, but Novak eventually added greeting cards, and then people started to make requests — vibrators, furry handcuffs, butt plugs. “Things I never thought I’d be selling,” says Novak. “At first, I would have the really dirty stuff hidden, and I would have a sign saying to ask me about it, but that seemed silly, because that was who I was and what I did. Anyone who came in who was offended — they weren’t my customers. I am what I am, and it’s blatant and just everywhere. It’s pretty nonchalant now; it’s this time when everything’s on television and the internet. But when I started doing this, it wasn’t like that.”</p>
<p id="OnESpU">Over the past 15 years, Novak has seen the bachelorette merchandising segment explode. “That’s who has taken over the world,” she says. “They’re organized, there’s a long season for it, and there’s a market. Bachelors, too, but that’s a last-minute thing. They’ll come in, buy a blow-up doll and maybe a cake, and be on their way. But women will make multiple visits. They’ve got lists; they’ve got committees.” </p>
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<p id="5pwSmW">She has also watched cupcakes take over in the past few years. “We do so many erotic cupcakes, it’s crazy,” she says. In the general bakery scene, cake pops came and went, and whoopie pies never quite took off, but cakes and cupcakes have persisted. “It’s important that they taste good,” says Novak. </p>
<p id="1uu3xB">It’s also important to Novak to keep prices down as much as possible. “I read somewhere that the biggest mistake women who own businesses make is that they don’t charge enough, but I think it’s because women are good shoppers,” she says. “I know I could get more for my products, but I’d rather sell a lot of them — and things lose their humor [as the price goes up]. We have funny wind-up toys and penis straws and all kinds of crazy stuff. For $2, it’s funny, but $5, not so funny.”</p>
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<p id="0NBc6O">Perhaps unsurprisingly, Novak has to put up with a few complaints along the way from “religious fanatics” and others not thrilled with the existence of naughty baked goods. “I used to say, ‘Come and picket; bring signs. I’ll get the news here. I love it.’ Any publicity is good publicity,” she says. But nothing that extreme ever happened, and these days, fewer people than ever before are shocked by the content of a shop like Sweet-N-Nasty. </p>
<p id="XtEyQ9">There are occasional complainers who say that the shop “discriminates against women,” says Novak, “but they’re just crazy. As a woman-owned operation, I hire women, I train women, and we do just as many penis pops as we do vaginas and boobs. I will debate anybody about anything; I try to get them to see our point of view that it’s just funny stuff. We're an equal opportunity offender. We make fun of everybody. Nobody's off limits. If you don't have that kind of sense of humor, then the store is not for you.”</p>
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<p id="p86B1l">“I went on an interview and was asked, ‘What are the social implications of a boob of chocolate?’” she recalls. “There are no social implications. It’s chocolate. You eat it. What you see is what you get. There’s nothing beyond this, and I don’t have any ulterior motives.” </p>
<p id="leCZOe">Sweet-N-Nasty’s most popular product is probably the chocolate penis pops, says Novak, which come in an array of sizes (including ones labeled “Mr. Average” and “Mr. Exceptional”), skin tones, and curvatures. “We can’t go wrong with the penis pop,” she says. “Even the construction workers and cops working outside, they'll come in and bring a penis pop home for the wives. And girls will come in and say, ‘My roommate had a bad day’...penis pop.” </p>
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<p id="jao2UH">Novak and her team have plenty of fun with holidays, too. There are penis-bedecked ghosts for Halloween, and of course there’s a turkey with a penis for Thanksgiving. “Valentine’s Day is our Super Bowl,” says Novak. “That’s our holiday. The whole week. I just pray there isn’t a huge snowstorm every year. Once we get through that, then I breathe a sigh of relief. But Valentine’s Day, we cover it all: sex, love, chocolate, cards, it’s here. And there’s a florist next door, so we work off of each other.” </p>
<p id="W9SjiO">The team is always coming up with new ideas and having fun naming their many varieties of chocolate. Novak’s favorite? “‘Makin’ Bacon’ for the pigs doing it is pretty good. Everybody wants something named after them, too. My husband keeps saying, ‘Name a chocolate after me,’ but I have not done that.”</p>
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<p id="xmYTT6">Novak’s family is quite supportive of the shop. When her sons — now 21 and 24 — were growing up, they knew at a fairly early age “that mommy did very inappropriate funny cakes.” Novak tried to keep the details quiet from the public, though. “My husband was convinced that if the people of the town found out what I did, we’d never get a babysitter on a Saturday night,” she says. But word spread, and the town’s librarians, teachers, everyone was putting in orders. “I was always cornered at cocktail parties,” she says. Everyone had a million questions. Her younger son was embarrassed at first, but once both boys got to college, “they were rock stars,” says Novak. “They saw early on that it was something to be proud of.”</p>
<p id="h7JAj4">Now, it’s become sort of a family business. “I’ve had my sisters work here,” says Novak. “My mother, who’s 83, has worked part-time for years. She’ll work on Sundays, and she’s a riot.” Her older son has filled in on occasion, and her younger son has worked during school breaks. Her husband, who works in commercial real estate, is “very supportive,” and her father, who’s now retired and living in Florida, has also helped out over the years. “Everybody has helped me,” says Novak. “It takes a village.”</p>
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<p id="MdRdSg">Novak and her team get their share of bizarre requests, but they’ll try to accommodate <em>almost</em> anything. “Sometimes people will want to give us a picture, but we’re not interested in that,” she says. She also said no to a request for a cake featuring naked renditions of Bart and Lisa Simpson. “I know it’s a cartoon,” says Novak, “but they’re both children, so I said no.”</p>
<p id="za7XmX">More and more lately, with the growing amount of baking shows on television, Novak sees customers come in with photos of absurd Photoshopped cakes that they want made — “cakes that can’t be done, things that aren’t real cakes, things that aren’t even edible,” says Novak. “My designs are edible. I’ll use some fondant and buttercream frosting and cake. I have people ask me for exploding volcanoes and waterfalls. You need construction for that. And that cake is not going to taste good if you can even afford it. I’d have to charge thousands of dollars, and that cake would take me weeks to make.”</p>
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<p id="CFbXjh">But if you’re in the market for a cake that tastes good and is decorated with some combination of naked bodies and body parts, sex acts, and naughty words, Sweet-N-Nasty is the place to go. There are generally a variety of cakes and cupcakes ready to go if you walk in the shop one day, but call a day or two ahead of time if you want to request a custom order. Be prepared to answer a detailed list of questions that may make you blush more than a questionnaire at the doctor’s office — size and skin tone of body parts, amount of body hair, and presence of certain squiggles of white icing are all pertinent details that must be ironed out when it comes to an erotic cake.</p>
<p id="AKNutz">“Some people will say, ‘I don't want it too dirty,’ says Novak. “So maybe it’s a butt. Maybe it’s a butt with little daisy dukes on it. For other people, maybe it’s a big vagina. You’ve got to steer the clientele to what they’re looking for.”</p>
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<p id="T7ByQf">The best part of the job, says Novak, is the creativity. “There’s always something fun, something new — a new product coming in or a crazy cake being made. I hire on talent and personality, so we have a lot of laughs. It’s a fun job. It’s a job, and it is work, and it can be messy, but we have a lot of fun. I work a lot with younger people, and that keeps me young. For the last 20 years, I’ve probably been doing more paperwork than I do creative stuff, while my staff does more of the creative stuff, but it’s still fun. I love to hear customers come in and laugh.” And her staff seems to like it, too — there’s been very little turnover. “My average employee makes it to 10 years,” says Novak.</p>
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<p id="kKudzK">When she’s not at Sweet-N-Nasty, Novak is indulging in “a million hobbies.” She loves to cook and has been taking cooking classes for years. She’s also an “exercise fanatic” and a certified firearms instructor.</p>
<p id="Eair2Y">“I teach a lot of women,” she says. “I belong to the Second Amendment Sisters and another group called Ladies Launching Lead. I teach women to defend themselves and target shoot. I know it’s guns, and it’s not for everybody, but I promote gun safety. Women are the fastest growing demographic in the sport.”</p>
<p id="GP1d7V">Whether it’s teaching women to shoot guns or stocking a welcoming adult bakery with vibrators in an era when most sex shops were inaccessible to those unwilling to travel into gritty areas, Novak has been making her own rules for decades. It all comes down to a sense of humor and understanding that not everybody is going to accept everything.</p>
<p class="c-end-para" id="7gmVIv">“We don’t mean to offend anybody,” says Novak, “but you’ve got to have a sense of humor. Life is hard. There’s all kinds of crazy stuff going on in the world. That’s all I’d like to get across, that people should lighten up a bit. Nobody should take us too seriously — or themselves.”</p>
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<div id="aCquWB"><a href="http://boston.eater.com/sweets-week"><img src="https://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/7322303/Sweets-Week-Logo.0.jpg"></a></div>
<p id="hXZN7l"> </p>
https://boston.eater.com/2016/10/28/13452630/sweet-n-nasty-boston-bakeryRachel Leah Blumenthal2016-10-27T18:32:10-04:002016-10-27T18:32:10-04:00Spoil Yourself With Gâté Comme Des Filles Chocolate
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<p>The small-batch Somerville chocolate company will make your ganache and praliné dreams come true</p> <p id="oPUGqS">Tucked away on a side street just outside of Somerville's Union Square, <a href="http://boston.eater.com/venue/aeronaut-brewing-company">Aeronaut Brewing Company</a> has been brewing beer for enthusiastic crowds for the last two years or so, but that's not all that goes on in the cavernous space. Attached to the taproom, there's a long hallway, Aeronaut's Foods Hub, that acts as an incubator of sorts for local food- and beverage-related businesses. Barismo, for example, used to have its roasting facility there before finding a larger space in Woburn, and the high-end restaurant <a href="http://boston.eater.com/venue/tasting-counter">Tasting Counter</a> sits at the far end of the hall. The Foods Hub is also home to a duo of chocolate businesses that share a production space — Somerville Chocolate (a "bean-to-bar" CSA) and Gâté Comme Des Filles (a small-batch chocolatier specializing in ganaches and pralinés). </p>
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<p id="4XUmHf">Gâté Comme Des Filles ("spoiled like girls") founder Alexandra Whisnant is a Cambridge native, but she left the area for a while, spending time in northern California, Paris, and Ithaca, New York. Her path has taken her through pastry school at Le Cordon Bleu (Paris), an internship at famous French macaron purveyor <a href="http://www.eater.com/2016/10/19/13324860/paris-macarons-taste-test-laduree-pierre-herme">Ladurée</a>, and jobs at San Francisco's Recchiutti Confections and Berkeley's Chez Panisse — not to mention her <a href="http://www.edibleboston.com/gate-comme-des-filles/">non-culinary pursuits</a>, including a Cornell MBA and a consulting job with Bain & Company.</p>
<p id="usz5Gx">Her interest in chocolate started to show when she realized she could work in the chocolate area during her time at Ladurée. "I got really excited," she says. "It just felt right. I sort of knew then." And while she worked at Chez Panisse, the chefs kept giving her all the chocolate work. "They could just tell that I was obsessed."</p>
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<cite>Rachel Leah Blumenthal for Eater</cite>
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<p id="6FnqUT">Along the way, she began making and selling her own chocolates, focusing on seasonal ingredients and high-quality chocolate, such as Valrhona. These days, she's back in town, and she makes small batches of her bonbons — some topped with camouflage print, some with an iridescent shine or candied citrus or a nut — in her Aeronaut production space. She sells them right there on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights (7 p.m. to 10 p.m.); she also distributes to the Cambridge and Boston locations of Formaggio Kitchen.</p>
<p id="Ci5c3Z">Whisnant changed her workflow over the summer. While she used to do "big crunches," preparing large batches over ten days straight and then recovering for a few days, she now comes in early in the week to make fillings, dips the chocolate during the week, and has plenty ready to sell by the time her retail hours roll around at the end of the week.</p>
<p id="IenIVs">The product line is based on traditional French chocolates. There are ganaches — "emulsified chocolate and liquid," she says. "I do some that are cream-based and some that are fruit purees. I also sometimes use tea (with water instead of cream)." Her other type of bonbon is the nutty praliné, for which she uses organic West Coast almonds and hazelnuts, toasted and ground up with hard caramel; the chocolate is rolled up in that mixture. "It was one of my favorite things to eat in Paris," she says. "I'm trying to recreate it here."</p>
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<p id="4SzGHu">Unlike many chocolate shops, where everything's available all the time and the chocolate-making process is a continuous flow, Whisnant generally opts to go through the process from start to finish before starting up a new set of batches. "I'm trying to make it more of a 'these are this week's flavors' approach," she says. "Everyone enjoys them at the same time, and then next week we'll all enjoy some different ones."</p>
<p id="T231si">Whisnant has about 15 flavors in her repertoire that she tends to make over and over again, but she loves to experiment with new combinations as often as possible. Her source of inspiration for developing new flavors is simple: "It comes from finding really tasty ingredients and then trying to make a chocolate out of that."</p>
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<p id="v1BDM1">And it's not just about finding an interesting ingredient for a filling; it's about matching it up to the correct chocolate (or chocolates) for the ganache and coating as well. "There are flavor synergies with the different flavors," she says. "Some of them cancel each other out, but sometimes they really help each other blossom, and when you find one like that — that's the one. Then I make the ganache with that chocolate or sometimes a blend of chocolates, and then I do the same thing to find which coating would best frame the filling." In this respect, Gâté Comme Des Filles has an advantage over much larger companies; many stick with the same coating for all of their chocolates because it'd be a lot more difficult to keep switching between blends at that scale. But for Whisnant's small business, where she does everything by hand, she doesn't have to play by the same rules.</p>
<p id="jTv3hV">Whisnant puts equal care into her packaging — beautiful paper folded into boxes, decorated with an Alice in Wonderland-inspired logo, and held together with a few small pieces of shiny tape. "Kind of like the chocolate, it's about the ingredients," she says.</p>
<p id="R1Z4S2">Look for Gâté Comme Des Filles chocolates at Aeronaut and Formaggio for now, and they'll also be at Barismo's Cambridge locations soon. Stay tuned for news of additional places to find it in the future. But keep in mind that Whisnant's chocolate is fresh and made to be enjoyed within a short span of time; this isn't a shelf-stable Hershey's bar, and you shouldn't start stocking up for Valentine's Day just yet.</p>
<p class="c-end-para" id="nFnT8v">“I don’t add any stabilizers or preservatives,” she says, “and that allows me to add more real ingredients that really blossom and express themselves.” Over the summer, for example, she was able to use fresh berries in her chocolates. Larger companies that make chocolate that may stay on shelves for months are unable to do that. “You really can’t experience this unless you come eat my chocolates,” says Whisnant.</p>
<p id="BawbPM"><strong>Update, January 2019: </strong>Gâté Comme Des Filles <a href="https://boston.eater.com/2019/1/2/18164978/bow-market-gate-comme-des-filles-tanam-open">has opened a permanent storefront</a> at Bow Market in Somerville’s Union Square.</p>
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<a href="http://www.gatecommedesfilles.fr/">Gâté Comme Des Filles</a> [Official Site]</li></ul>
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https://boston.eater.com/2016/10/27/13441432/gate-comme-des-filles-chocolate-alexandra-whisnantRachel Leah Blumenthal