The sleek exterior of Post 390 at the corner of Clarendon and Stuart Street opens up into a warm, inviting space offering equally warm and inviting cuisine. Post 390 is an urban tavern featuring seasonally inspired dishes from Chef Eric Brennan. Post 390 is part of the Himmel Hospitality Group (which also includes Grill 23 and Harvest). Himmel Hospitality Group emphasizes the highest quality food and service. This starts with their focus on quality ingredients and suppliers and extends through the staff in the restaurants. 

The food and drink at Post 390 reflects this focus. Menus change often to reflect the seasons and availability. Post 390 offers Farm to Post, a special series to highlight local producers and farmers. Farm to Post is a menu highlighting the product of a local farm or producer. The Farm to Post menu allows a larger restaurant like Post 390 to support the local food industry at a manageable scale. Featured producers over the series have included Kimball Fruit Farm (Massachusetts and New Hampshire), Ward’s Berry Farm (Massachusetts), and 5 Spoke Creamery (New York). I had the opportunity to attend the kickoff dinner for the latest Farm to Post menu featuring Cavendish Game Birds of Springfield, Vermont. The menu features inventive dishes from Chef Brennan utilizing quail from Cavendish Game Birds. 

Cavendish Game Birds is a family operation run by Bill and Rick Thompson. Since the early 1990s the brothers have been growing their business supplying high quality game birds and eggs across the United States. From their location in Springfield, Vermont the brothers manage all aspects of the process from breeding through processing. It is a surprisingly quick six weeks from hatchery to table. The Thompson brothers have spent many years breeding the Coturnix quail and the high standards and dedication of the Thompson brothers are reflected in the premium product they produce. Their facility includes a state of the art hatchery that produces 6,000 to 8,000 quail each week. Cavendish Game Birds’ quail is a light meat with a slightly sweet flavor. Streaks of fat under the skin keep the birds moist during cooking. 

Local, sustainable, organic food – most of it cooked in a wood-fired oven. That’s what you’ll find at Area Four in Kendall Square.

Area Four is one of the newer additions to Technology Square in Cambridge – in the neighborhood of Area IV – and it has been impressing patrons since the day it opened its doors. Serving everything from quality baked goods and coffee to local beer and salads, it’s hard to walk into Area Four and not find something that intrigues your taste buds. Oh, and 90% of their menu items are cooked in their custom-built, wood-fired ovens.

Local in Season had the honor of visiting Area Four to try their brand new Sunday dinner menu (we visited the same day the new menu launched). Served every Sunday from 2:30 – 9 p.m., the Sunday menu features wood-fired pizzas, sharable salads and starters, as well as sustainable wines and local brews, to name a few. (Side note: Area Four showcases Boston’s first sustainable wine program).

There's no better feeling than hearing your friends' and family's delight when they bite into something you made from scratch. But sometimes, we just don't have the time to make a completely homemade meal - and now, thanks to Ana Sortun's Chef Sets, you don't always have to. 

Winning Boston Magazine's "Best New Restaurant" and "Best Bartender," Improper Bostonian's "Best American Food," and Open Table's Top 10 "American Restaurant," Union Bar and Grille in Boston's South End is no stranger to accolades. And with good reason.

The Aquitaine Group, which proudly consists of three Aquitaine locations, Gaslight Brasserie, Metropolis Cafe, and Union Bar and Grille, points to Union as its signature fine dining destination, and believes that dinner at Union is "what going out to dinner used to be -- not a culinary education, just good food that you want to eat." Diners from all over agree and flock to the SoWa area of the South End to enjoy Union's menu, which shows a commitment to serving fresh, local, and sustainable ingredients.  

Excellent ingredients are just one of the keys to the success of any restaurant, or dish for that matter, but they must be cooked to perfection to complete the picture. Fortunately, Union has Chef de Cuisine, Keenan Langlois, on its team.

Sweet. Savory. Spicy. Tangy. There are many options when it comes to sauces and marinades, and, this summer, I encourage you to try the full range offered by husband and wife team Gregg and JoAnn Marsh. The couple’s Burnin’ Love Sauces, each unique in flavor,  are uniformly delicious, excite the palate, and come backed with over 30+ years of experience in the restaurant industry.  

I happened upon the Burnin’ Love Sauces booth at the Coolidge Corner Farmers’ Market, and happily spent about 15 minutes tasting the sauces and talking food with Gregg.

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