“The commute to a high school job had me driving by Mansfield’s century-old ADM Cocoa factory several times a week for a few years awhile back. What a heavenly smell, right? Wrong. I quickly came to believe that the production of chocolate is pretty foul smelling. Imagine my surprise, then, when I arrived at Somerville’s own Taza Chocolate factory recently, and the aroma was simply amazing. Not bitter and burnt like ADM or cloyingly sweet like at the Hershey theme park in Pennsylvania – no, this was something on another level: subtle floral notes, hints of spices, appetizing odors all around.”
Recently, the trombonist from Mighty Groove, Randy, asked if I could take photos of his jazz group, The Olson Pingrey Quartet. Here are some posed and live shots from their CD release at The Lilypad in Cambridge, MA on October 23, 2011.
I had a bit of fun with some of the individual portraits and put them together into a collage:
“It can be tough dating a pizza snob. There’s that time I brought him to one of my old favorites from childhood – Town Spa in Stoughton – and he was less than impressed by my beloved bacon pizza, extra crispy. Or that time he made me wait in line for two hours – and then at the table for another two hours – to try Sally’s Apizza in New Haven. (I’ll admit that that one was out of this world, but I’d never wait that long for pizza again.)”
“One generally assumes that museums house collections of art, artifacts, or other objects that have some value, be it intellectual, aesthetic, or perhaps even controversial. The Museum of Bad Art, however, meets none of these standards. In spite of – or more likely because of – this, MOBA is a must-see attraction in Somerville, Dedham, or Brookline (or all three if you have high stamina for bad taste). Exactly as the name suggests, it features art – fantastically horrendous, unabashedly tacky, gloriously ugly art.”
“There are three main reasons to check out Cambridge Common, a restaurant and bar sitting between Porter Square and Harvard Square on Mass. Ave: a fantastic beer selection, addictive tater tots, and an intimate live music venue.”
I’ve noticed a fairly common unwillingness in this region to pay a high price for Southern cuisine. Grits, ham, sorghum, catfish: these words seem to trigger immediate outrage when paired with fine dining costs. Somewhere along the line, we’ve managed to box Southern food into a small container of cheapness and deep frying. Fortunately, there are several Boston-area spots that destroy this stereotype, offering up high quality Southern food to packed houses night after night; once people are willing to take the plunge, they’re hooked. Kendall Square’s gem, Hungry Mother, is one of these places.
CBS Boston posted a gallery of some of my photos from this year’s HONK! Festival. View it here.
My complete set is below:
Current Happenings
As of June 2013, I'm working full-time as the editor for Eater Boston, a news source for people who care about dining and drinking. I also perform regularly around the Boston area in an indie folk/pop band called The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library, and I recently acted in a horror film called TEN, which is currently in post-production.
