Restaurant manager Aly Lopez and Nibble culinary coordinator Judy Yao greeting some of our first customers!
Our biggest news yet: Nibble Restaurant Grand Opening Dec. 3!
We are thrilled to announce a national first: a local arts council is opening a restaurant! The restaurant, called Nibble Kitchen and located at Bow Market in Union Square, Somerville, will feature an international menu featuring chefs from Somerville’s rich immigrant communities. The menu will rotate day by day, and includes: Venezuelan arepas, Ethiopian wots, Brazilian street food, Bolivian cuisine and delicious Bengali fare. Only in Somerville, Massachusetts will you find such an innovative concept and a menu so adventurous and diverse.
“Nibble Kitchen supports culinary entrepreneurship in our immigrant communities and celebrates multiculturalism through food,” said Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone. “This project reflects Somerville’s steadfast commitment to supporting immigrant residents and recognizes that immigrants fuel our economy – especially the local food economy.”
Like the overall Nibble initiative, Nibble Kitchen has a strong social justice and economic development component. Our entrepreneurs are predominantly female, and hail from our immigrant communities. Nibble Kitchen will allow them to test out restaurant concepts in a low-risk environment before launching independent businesses and share their cultures via food. Finally, Nibble Kitchen aims to keep Union Square deliciously diverse and thus plays an important placemaking role. Please visit our Press page for media coverage so far.
Be our customers starting….NOW! Soft Opening now until Dec. 3
Although our official opening is Dec. 3rd, we are open for business now, testing out menus and streamlining our systems. This is the perfect time to come check out our delicious global fare and offer your feedback! See our MENU here.
Tasty Nibbles at the Grand Opening; Fir fir anyone?
On December 3, from 6-7:30pm, from we will officially open the restaurant with a public celebration and ribbon cutting. Each of our Nibble chefs will offer bite-size morsels — just a nibble! Until we run out, we’ll offer samplings of Venezuelan arepas, Brazilian acarajé, Ethiopian fir fir, and a Bengali ghugni salad. The idea is to whet your appetite so you’ll come back for more another day! There will be music, dancing and a Nibble tiger serving a hot Bolivian peanut drink called Chicha de Maní. Because we are offering small nibbles, we also invite the public to explore all of Bow Market by sampling other restaurants’ fare!
Our rotating menu includes Bolivian anticuchos, Bengali kati rolls, Brazilian Acarajé, Ethiopian wots and Venezuelan arepas. Gilbert Yap photo.
About the Nibble Program
Nibble is the culinary arm of the Somerville Arts Council. The program celebrates cultural exchange, spurs cultural economic development & supports immigrant communities. Nibble was launched a decade ago, as part of Somerville Arts Council’s ArtsUnion initiative, which has transformed Union Square, Somerville through innovative cultural economic development work. Nibble started with Union Square international market tours; next came a blog and then a book. We then added cooking classes, and finally a culinary entrepreneurship program, which offers real-life vending opportunities. Our long-term goal has always been a brick-and-mortar Nibble restaurant and we’re beyond thrilled we now have one, right in the heart of Union Square—where our Nibble work all began!
