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80 Thoreau opens in Concord

Tomorrow, a new restaurant opens at the Concord Train Depot, from restaurateur and Concord native Ian Calhoun. At 80 Thoreau, you'll find chef Carolyn Johnson...

More in Dishing

Restaurants

Letting loose at Tico

  Lobster tacos and tequila are en vogue in '11, and of all the restaurants embracing this cuisine, Tico may be the most anticipated.

Comfort in food and place

The huge menu at at Geoffrey's Cafe is — and always has been — a canon of comfort food.

Belgian fries with the works at Saus

The cute little shop near Faneuil Hall serves made-to-order Belgian fries with a variety of sauces.

Globe critic

Devra First

The latest reviews from The Boston Globe's restaurant critic.

• Reader Q&A; (March 2)
• Reader Q&A; (Feb. 16)
• Reader Q&A; (Feb. 2)
• Reader Q&A; (Jan. 12)
• Reader Q&A; (Dec. 29)

• Email critic Devra First

By the Glass

Adventurers, step off the beaten track

Wine drinkers, like timid travelers, pay a high price for their unwillingness to break the spell of the familiar.

99 Bottles columns

Special occasion brews

You probably filed your taxes recently and have either received (or will soon) a refund. A refund! Now that's a good excuse to celebrate with a pricier beer than you usually buy. Here are a few outstanding beers for a special occasion.

• A red ale with the taste of spring
• Thinking big: Three heavy-duty ales from local breweries
• Eight great imperial stouts for dark days of winter

Guide

Spring holiday recipes

Cooking for Easter or Passover? Check out holiday recipes and create a meal that satisfies the whole family.

(Aram Boghosian for The Boston Globe)

Italian Easter, one course at a time

Italian Easter remains a ritual of many days, many foods, and many years of experience. A fading ritual, though, in busier times.

• Recipes Taralli
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• Icing for taralli
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• Canescioni (Easter cheese turnovers)

The evolution of the egg

You’ll find eggs coddled, deep-fried in panko crumbs, wrapped with sausage to make Scotch eggs, on a pizza, scented with truffles, tucked inside ravioli, set delicately onto Chinese noodles, perched on steak tartare, and deviled like our grandmothers did.

Lamb goes from holiday table
into a red lentil salad

A boneless leg of lamb, ideal for a tableful of holiday guests, is already rolled and tied, so carving is easy. And there’s very little waste.

• Recipes Roast leg of lamb with olive sauce
• • Curried lamb and red lentil salad
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  • Shopping list

• Braised brisket
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• Brisket-potato casserole

• • More recipes Asian dipping sauce
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  • Brown rice
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  • Gratin topping
• • Spicy black beans
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  • Roasted tomato salsa
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  • Stew to soup

Food truck champ heats up City Hall

The Bon Me food truck specializing in Vietnamese street-type food opened this month at City Hall Plaza wearing its laurels from victory in Boston’s first Food Truck Challenge last year.

Nathan Myhrvold wrote the books
on modernist cuisine

“Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking’’ is an encyclopedia, a manifesto, and a documentary, and, should you find a way to get your hands on it, you’re in for an experience that will leave you awed, exhausted, and agog with disbelief.

'Chicken and Egg' offers surprising variations on familiar themes

In the case of former chef Janice Cole, the farming memoir and the cookbook come in one package, though she steadfastly vows not to eat her three pet birds, confining herself instead to their eggs.

In the heart of Old Montreal,
lessons in French cooking

Montreal is a great restaurant city, and the recent flood of locavore bistros, cookware shops, and classes of all kinds has made it even better. Ateliers & Saveurs, which opened in 2008, teaches cooking, cocktails, and wine appreciation.

Ham for the holiday

Charles Silva, the owner of New England Meat Market in Peabody, moves a lot of meat around Easter, especially lamb and ham.

• Blog recipe Perfect hard-cooked eggs
• Short Orders City meets country at American Provisions in South Boston
• Short Orders Lining up for pretty cupcakes
• Short Orders Easter egg designs in a snap — in a wrap
• JOY OF BAKING Whole-wheat, oatmeal soda bread
• Let's Eat Recipe for baked eggs with asparagus and watercress

RECIPES

More in food and dining

• THE TIP Belgian fries with the works at Saus
• Short Orders Lining up for pretty cupcakes
• Nathan Myhrvold wrote the books on modernist cuisine
• In the heart of Old Montreal, lessons in French cooking
• Sunday Supper and More Sunday Supper shopping list
• Sunday Supper and More Lamb goes from the holiday table into a sweet and sour salad
• Short Orders Easter egg designs in a snap — in a wrap
• Short Orders City meets country at American Provisions in South Boston
• Italian Easter takes time, history, experience, but less and less does it include youth
• G Force Meat Market’s Charles Silva talks hams for the holiday
• The evolution of the egg
• COOKBOOK REVIEW Janice Cole’s memoir ‘Chicken and Egg’ offers surprising variations on familiar themes
• Food city
• 99 Bottles Special occasion brews worthy of your tax refund
• THE TIP Innovative meets traditional at Remick’s