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2003
Convention
Boston, MA
What to Know Before You Go!
Personal Chefs Network Convention 2003
By Sharon Worster, Co-Founder of PCN
Boston, Massachusetts
~ is known as “Beantown” because in the early 1600’s during colonial
days a favorite food in the area was beans baked in molasses.
Puritans settled in Boston and popularized the tradition of baking
beans in large pots on Saturday night and eating the leftovers on the next
day to solve their religious dilemma of not cooking on Sunday.
As a result, Boston became known as Beantown USA.
It is interesting to note that now there are no companies in the city
making Boston Baked Beans anymore and few restaurants serve it, but the city
has worked hard to preserve its early culture.
Boston is named for Boston,
England and short for St. Botolph’s Town and the original name of Boston
was Tremontaine in honor of three hills that were on the Shawmut Peninsula. The hills are no longer there.
Boston is full of beautifully restored Victorian brownstones amid
brick and cobbled hills and is one of America’s great walking cities with
excellent well-planned public transportation.
Boston’s equivalent of
Rodeo Drive is Newberry Street and one of the city’s premiere hot-spots.
It features elegant boutiques, art galleries, and fabulous shopping
amid 19th century town homes.
There are also fabulous markets by the bay, roadside stores, antique
shops, and roadside stores.
There are thousands of
hotel rooms in Boston and many of them are nearby historic Boston Common, the
nation’s oldest public park, and the waterfront.
Museum enthusiasts should visit the Museum of Fine Arts on Huntingon
Avenue. This cultural and
historic city is the capitol of Massachusetts and the largest city in all of
New England. Also known as the
“cradle of liberty” because of its roll in America’s struggle for
independence.
Boston’s North End is of
particular interest to foodies! It
is one of Boston’s oldest neighborhoods. Mainly dominated by Italian-Americans it is a true melting
pot and famous for wonderful food explorations to Mike’s Pastry Shop, Legal
Sea Foods, an incredible list of fabulous restaurants, a Mecca for Italian
restaurants, bakeries, seafood, and this area was long ago the gateway to and
merchants in the 17th century.
Another famous circumstance was the signal lantern on the Old North
Tower signaling the famous midnight ride of Paul Revere.
If you are looking for
exquisite prosciutto and fresh mozzarella there are four of the top salumeria
shops located in the historic North End as well as Sopressata, hard to find
spices, flours, grains, and legumes. While
Mike’s Pastry Shop (www.mikespastry.com)
is the best place for a sugar high it is well known that the best cannoli can
be found at Maria’s Pastry Shop. (www.northendboston.com/marias/index.html).
There are also fabulous walking tours of this area given by Michele
Topor. Check out her website @ www.cucinare.com.
Airports
Boston is served by Boston
Logan International Airport: BOS. It
is located in the east side of the city and is the nation’s sixth busiest
airport. Logan has five
terminals and is currently under heavy construction causing major traffic
delays in the area. You are
recommended to add an additional 30 minutes to you usual arrive time of two
hours before your flight is scheduled to leave the city to all for the delay.
The airport is served by
taxi, shared ride van, train, and bus services.
Taxis are available outside all arrival halls.
All destinations within 12 miles of the airport are metered.
Beyond 12 miles will be a flat fee and you should check with your
driver for the amount. A typical
ride downtown will cost you about $25 and take about 20 minutes.
Share ride vans are also
available at the baggage claim area of all terminals.
These vans operate door-to-door service for most destinations but
there are frequent stops. Fares range from $10 to $20 to downtown destinations.
There is no hotel shuttle provided.
The MTBA affectionately know
as “The T” by locals, is the fourth largest transportation facility in
the US serving over 2 million people. You
can get anywhere you want to go in Boston using “The T.”
To find out more about it visit their website @ www.mbta.com.
In
the beginning…
And
now…
Area Dining Recommendations
Our
thanks to our friends in our New England Chapter for helping me compile this
list of restaurants that are within walking distance of our hotel.
Legal Seafood: There's one right in the Prudential Shops and
another in the Copley Place Mall.
Turner Fisheries: Great seafood, right
in the Copley Place Mall http://www.travel-watch.com/Turner.htm
Skipjacks Seafood Emporium: 199
Clarendon Street: Good seafood
http://boston.citysearch.com/profile/4730127
Brasserie Jo: 120 Huntington Ave. http://boston.about.com/cs/restaurants
and click on Brasserie Jo
The Palms: In Copley Place http://boston.citysearch.com/profile/4729498
A few chains in the general area are:
Chili’s (in Copley Place), Hard Rock Cafe (131 Clarendon St.)
Bertucccis (around the corner from Hard Rock), California Pizza Kitchen
(Prudential)
Marche: In Prudential Shops: This is a
neat one of a kind place, you walk around with a food ticket and there are
different stations you can go to: Japanese, pasta, roasted chicken,
etc. A favorite of Effie Sandblom are the crepes for dessert. http://boston.citysearch.com/review/4770082/editorial
The following are some pretty well known but
more upscale restaurants. Most are a short cab ride away. Clio,
Ambrosia, Grill 23, Le Mistral, Morton’s Steak House, Biba, Cafe Budapest
Others that are more casual and not too far
away are: Paparazzi, Kashmir, Sonsie, Cottonwood Cafe (222 Berkley
Street) Bob the Chef (604 Columbus Ave), Flashes (310 Stuart Street, fun bar
food), and Geoffrey’s (Commonwealth Ave)
Also, close by the hotel is Newbury Street
with many upscale shops and cute little restaurants.
Climate
The weather in Boston in
April is usually springtime and the frigid weather usually fades out by the
first of April. April through
June is usually a very temperate season when Bostonians enjoy a spectacular,
colorful spring. The average
temperature in April is around 50º with an average of 3” of rain during
this month. Because of its
costal weather system there is not much wind but they do experience heavy fog
about twice a month on average. They
did have a blizzard on April Fool’s Day in 1997 that dumped 25.4 inches of
snow on the city, paralyzing it for days.
Time Zone
Boston is
located in the Eastern Time Zone
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