Boston vacation and Chef advice

[raleighcook15]

I'm taking my first real vacation in about 5 years. I just got my first sous chef job so I'm taking 2 weeks off in between gigs.

Two questions.

1. Where should I eat?
Ill be staying by the freedom trail, new England aquarium area. It seems this area is in between the the North end and down town crossing.

2. Any advice for a first sous job?

[STPepper9]

Get good shoes
Forget about having a social life.
Be ready to not have time to do laundry for a week or two at a time.
Unless provided by the restaurant, keep a spare chef coat and dishwasher shirt stashed somewhere for the guys / girls who forgot one or got called in but didn't have time to stop home.

Congrats, btw.

[Grandprix]

Remind yourself that you are the trench Chef. Get on same page as your EC. Let the Chef drive the desk. You drive the product via the people.
Your role facilitates the Chefs wishes through execution and correction to keep kitchen on point for direction of the EC.

Never hide behind the Chef in difficult calls. I.E..dont pull the "Im Sorry guys, but he wants me to do it THIS way." Card when correcting behavior or direction in a kitchen. You are a pivotal role in the organization's success.

You didn't illustrate how large the brigade is. Are you ESC or lead line?. Or kitchen supervisor. Shift lead. Sous A/B? Ect ect.

Same rules apply but different hats come with the different layers of leadership.

Congratulations.

[Bensbites]

Congrats!

Being born and raised here, now living 5 miles from the freedom trail, I have never walked it.

As a parent with two small kids, I don’t venture outside newton much. If you Uber out here, one of my new favorites is Olivia’s bistro.

You can’t go wrong in the North End, just walk into anywhere.
Chinatown can be fun too.
Flour bakery will be good sandwich/snacks.

What are you looking for?

[Runner_up]

I run restaurants in Boston. If you are looking for fine dining in the downtown area, check out Townsman, Asta, or No. 9 Park. Boston also has a lot of really cool smaller fast casual restaurants. Mei Mei, Clover Food Lab, Bon me, Flour Bakery. All worth checking out! If you have time to explore, cambridge has great food. Sycamore in Newton is one of my favorites that isn't too fussy, but definitely high end.

[raleighcook15]

.

You didn't illustrate how large the brigade is. Are you ESC or lead line?. Or kitchen supervisor. Shift lead. Sous A/B? Ect ect.

Same rules apply but different hats come with the different layers of leadership.

Congratulations.

Its a decent size kitchen, 3 garde /pastry
1 meat cook, 1 meat veg
Fish cook, fish veg
Fry guy.

Ill be the only sous chef.

[raleighcook15]

Congrats!

Being born and raised here, now living 5 miles from the freedom trail, I have never walked it.

As a parent with two small kids, I don’t venture outside newton much. If you Uber out here, one of my new favorites is Olivia’s bistro.

You can’t go wrong in the North End, just walk into anywhere.
Chinatown can be fun too.
Flour bakery will be good sandwich/snacks.

What are you looking for?

Good start so far. Im actually driving in, its only about 4 hours and me and the girlfriend love little road trips.

I think were looking for mostly moderately priced meals that may be known in boston as being amazing if that makes sense. Id also like to dine at at least one fine dining restaurant.

[Bensbites]

We haven’t been out in the dining scene for about 6-7 yrs and I know things change. I suggest you check out reviews on anything I suggest.

Barbara Lynch’s restaurants. We got married at Harvest in Harvard Sq. Great food.

Tony Maw has a great rep, check out criegie on Main in Cambridge and his other restaurants.

I try to use open table to make reservations.

[Bensbites]

https://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/f ... story.html

FYI.

[loco_food_guy]

I'm taking my first real vacation in about 5 years. I just got my first sous chef job so I'm taking 2 weeks off in between gigs.

Two questions.

1. Where should I eat?
Ill be staying by the freedom trail, new England aquarium area. It seems this area is in between the the North end and down town crossing.

2. Any advice for a first sous job?

Dont know Boston so you will have to go with other recs for places to eat. Advice for new Sous I have.

1) Dont try to fix what isn't broken.
2) If you are coming in from the outside, prepare for line cooks that thought they should get promoted to resent you. If you are being promoted from within, plan on the staff not respecting you as a boss.
3) Do your job. Friend time is for the hours outside of work. Doesnt mean you have to be a dick but it also doesnt mean you should try to be everyones best friend.
4) Continue to learn as much as you can from your Chef and your staff.

[milkbaby]

Hei La Moon for dim sum. Technically it's outside Chinatown but I like it the best. Tip Tap Room is a nice gastropub with good craft beer selections and fun food to try, located in between Mass General and the JFK federal building across from the place where the Whole Foods is.

[raleighcook15]

Nice suggestions so far. More advice and suggestions always welcome

[gladius]

These may sound appealing...
https://www.foodiepie.com/list.php?c=Boston-MA

[jbart65]

If possible rent a few bikes for the trails. You are not far from the Charles river and the paths that run along side it. Boston has become more bikable in the last decade. Great scenery and a place I like to jog or bike.

Sites nearby worth checking out: Old North Church and Long Wharf (walkable). USS Constitution museum, Faneuil Hall marketplace, Boston Commons.

If you bike onto the Charles River trail, the Esplanade is worth checking out, but it's too early for events at the Hatch Shell. Too bad.

As for food, too many good places to pick out. I am sure your antenna will pick up a good place as you walk around. Good place for napolitano pizze is Locale if you find yourself near the Old North Church.

https://www.localeboston.com/

[Bensbites]

If possible rent a few bikes for the trails. You are not far from the Charles river and the paths that run along side it. Boston has become more bikable in the last decade. Great scenery and a place I like to job or bike.

Sites nearby worth checking out: Old North Church and Long Wharf (walkable). USS Constitution museum, Faneuil Hall marketplace, Boston Commons.

If you bike onto the Charles River trail, the Esplanade is worth checking out, but it's too early for events at the Hatch Shell. Too bad.

As for food, too many good places to pick out. I am sure your antenna will pick up a good place as you walk around. Good place for napolitano pizze is Locale if you find yourself near the Old North Church.

https://www.localeboston.com/

You can rent bikes from hubway locations all around the city.

[keithmarder]

Congrats!

Being born and raised here, now living 5 miles from the freedom trail, I have never walked it.

As a parent with two small kids, I don’t venture outside newton much. If you Uber out here, one of my new favorites is Olivia’s bistro.

You can’t go wrong in the North End, just walk into anywhere.
Chinatown can be fun too.
Flour bakery will be good sandwich/snacks.

What are you looking for?

You know what I miss ... Buzzy's Roast Beef

[keithmarder]

First off, you should come to NY instead.

But in Boston, you have to get to the iconic pizza place -- Pizzeria Regina
Also, go to Quincy Market...Get some Blue Points.

[raleighcook15]

First off, you should come to NY instead.

But in Boston, you have to get to the iconic pizza place -- Pizzeria Regina
Also, go to Quincy Market...Get some Blue Points.

I'm from Nj, spent millions of hours in ny. That city will always have my heart!

[keithmarder]

First off, you should come to NY instead.

But in Boston, you have to get to the iconic pizza place -- Pizzeria Regina
Also, go to Quincy Market...Get some Blue Points.

I'm from Nj, spent millions of hours in ny. That city will always have my heart!

If you come back, I will give you VIP treatment