East Somerville Main Street’s Annual Foodie Crawl Cometh next Tuesday, September 10th! We thought we’d ask Carrie Dancy of ESMS, the grand curator of this sprawling mobile feast, a few key questions about this walking food tour, how it reflects East Somerville and what’s on the horizon for Lower Broadway’s culinary scene.
A favorite stop on the Crawl is the legendary Little Vinny’s, maker of our favorite eggplant parm!
Nibble: So how many restaurants are participating this year?
Carrie: This year there will be 15 tasty restaurant stops, and one wine tasting!
Nibble: Which restaurants are new this year?
Carrie: While all the restaurants are mixing up their menu selections for 2013, new to participate this year are: the East End Grille – serving up American cuisine from scratch; Big Bite – a traditional Brazilian eatery; and Dreamy Flavor -which serves up Brazilian Food with a twist. Also, new this year is a wind tasting at Joe’s Liquors! It’s very exciting because the younger generation of the Robichaud’s (the family that owns Joe’s) are planning all sorts of improvements there—the first of which is participating in this event. Also new this year is the addition of an all fruit Dessert After Party sponsored by Shape Up Somerville!
Nibble: Can you give a sense of how broad the menu will be?
Carrie: The menu will take crawlers far and wide. Starting with the sights and smells of Ethiopia at Fasika where they will taste foods made with spices direct from Africa in Doro Tips and Yemisir Wot. And will move on through traditional Caribbean Food with Diri Djon Djon, tradition black rice. Crawlers will also taste a variety of South and Central American flavors including traditional Brazilian BBQ and home cooked Salvadoran soups that most folks don’t even know are on the menu of these local restaurants!
Nibble: How does Foodie Crawl reflect East Somerville?
Three words: Pupusas, pupusas, pupusas!
Carrie: As Don Miguel de Cervante said in Don Quixote, “The stomach carries the heart, and not the heart the stomach.” The flavors of any neighborhood are the gateway to the people and the culture of that neighborhood. When you taste your first pupusa, a stuffed Salvadoran tortilla, you get to know of slice of our community – When you get a hearty East Somerville welcome and even heartier Italian eats at Vinny’s, you have connected with a piece of East Somerville.
Nibble: What’s next for East Somerville’s food landscape?
Carrie: The biggest change in the future of this cultural and culinary corridor is outdoor dining! With the addition of 8 feet in width to most of our sidewalks through the current streetscape redesign (under construction), East Somerville restaurateurs are gearing up to be Somerville’s outdoor dining destination. Along with street seating, many restaurants are planning facade improvements to open their storefronts to the street.
We are also awaiting the opening of La Brasa, by chef Daniel Borjorquez on the corner of Glen Street and Broadway. We love that the restaurant will forward the trend of this as a cultural corridor with authentic flavors from around the world.
Ah, the myriad wonders of Ethiopian food at Fasika.
Nibble: Beyond food, what can folks expect at the event this year?
Carrie: Well, what goes better with dinner than dessert? New this year, there will be three Dessert After Parties featuring Italian and Salvadoran pastries, as well as fresh fruit spo
nsored by Shape Up Somerville. Live music will play throughout the evening by Hot Sauce BPS, Andrew Scandal, Alfredo Velasquez, Scuba Parade, and Amy Kucharik. And for the families who want to come out there will be live caricatures by Alejandro Yegros and magic by Magician Matias.
Nibble: Where can you buy tickets and how much do they cost?
Carrie: Tickets are available here. And at Mudflat Studio – 81 Broadway. Tickets cost:
Standard – $20 in advance, $25 at the door
Student – $15
Kids under 12 – $3
Nibble: Thanks, Carrie! You’ll see us grazing our way down Lower Broadway next Tuesday!
