Food for Thought
I got together with Will (of DesignerBlog) yesterday for a great lunch at Z-Squared, in Harvard Square. I can’t recall the last time we got together one-on-one (we normally get together as part of a group of Boston based bloggers), but it’s definitely been at least 6 months to a year.
And so much has happened since then. I’m in a new relationship and have been doing a bit of travel. But more significantly, Will is selling his house, building a brand new home in New Hampshire AND getting ready to retire after 32 years at MIT. Thirty-two years! Of course, it will be said to have him leave the immediate Boston area…but he did promise to let me visit so that makes up for it.
Oh, and the food was good, too. He had a salmon crepe (I believe) and I had an avacado, smoked turkey and gruyere sandwich on sourdough.
Then last night I got to dinner with my friend, Scott. We were supposed to meet up tonight but he called me at 6:05PM to say he couldn’t make it today and asked if I could meet him then and there. Fighting back my inherent lack of spontaneity, I agreed and we met at the rotunda a Quincy Market.
It’s a funny thing, we agreed to meet there in 20-25 minutes since he was coming from Chinatown and I was coming from the North End. Now, as a Boston resident, I never go to Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market. That’s where “tourists” go and no self-respecting local would be seen there (except maybe some local office workers looking for lunch).
And based on the horrible fast-food options in the center (food) building, I can understand why. The options are simply tasteless, mass-produced, food court style nastiness. However, the environment is what makes the place and no matter how many retail and restaurant chains fill Quincy Market, last night made me realize that the architecture does make up for it (the Quincy Market buildings are centuries old wharf buildings and, in Faneuil Hall, markets and meeting spaces).
We ate on the upper level of the rotunda with enormous windows overlooking the financial district. The interior was filled with exposed brick (this is Boston, after all) and old signs. Tourists were eating it up – flash bulbs going non-stop.
Now if only they could make the retail and dining selections as attractive and unique as the space they occupy.
1 Comment(s)
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.
You are right, love the environment of the Quincy Market, hate the food. Although I can always find something to fill me up.. Guess Im not too picky!