Someone wrote: >Speaking of original pizza, last I checked the pizza sold at the >various locations of Pizzeria Regina was not much like that at 11 1/2 >Thatcher Street in the North End... +++ Truth in Posting Notice-> My family still a major stockholder in Pizzeria Regina and associated businesses (NASDAQ: BRAI) and don't think that you're gonna mention Regina's without me putting in my $.02 <-end of Notice.+++ Yep everybody says that, and I tend to agree. Even though they use the same dough, sauce and cheese as all the other Regina's. If it isn't the substantially unchanged ambiance, then it must be the 75+ year old oven, most insiders think. It's been a few years, but the Original Uno's (Corner of Wabash and Ohio) is a Must Visit when in Chicago. Yup, it seems _way_ better than the rest. And I'll bet they swear that they use the same ingredients too. Minor historical note: Polcari's Restaurant, Route 1 Saugus has the pizza oven originally used at Bianchi's on Revere Beach. This oven is said to be 50+ years old. Order yours _well done_. JP3 John Polcari [email removed] [email removed] --- " I hate quotations" -Ralph Waldo Emerson From [email removed] Thu Oct 17 15:47 EDT 1996 To: Subject: Re: Local Boston BBQ News X-Msmail-Priority: Normal X-Priority: 3 Content-Type: text Content-Length: 4640 ---------- > From: Mike Roberts > > ----------------------- > Jake is back. A good article in the calendar section of the Globe today. > Jake of Jake and Earl's, streets of Dorchester and other environs has > opened Jake's Boss BBQ in Jamaica Plain. He's being backed by some of the > other BBQ people, Schlesinger et.al. Sounds like a field trip to me. Its > an interesting article with even a couple of BBQ hints. > > It is my understanding that Jake has the smoker that was at The East Coast Grill before they remodeled. I read that he moved it from Cambridge over to Jamaica Plain. Here is a review that was in the Boston Globe on September 29. I am going to add it to the restaurant review section on my website. If you guys are interested is scheduling a get together there, let me know. On another list I subscribe to, FOODWINE, groups of list members in different cities frequently get together for dinner at a local restaurant. They call that a FOODSTOCK. By the way, Jake's barbecue is also still available on the menu at The East Coast Grill. Stick -to-your-ribs barbecue Jake's Boss BBQ 3492 Washington St., Jamaica Plain Telephone: 983-3701, 983-3702 Fax: 983-3703 Hours: 11 a.m. - 11 p.m., daily Credit cards not accepted Wheelchair-accessible After several years in Cambridge, the owner of Jake and Earl's Dixie Barbecue pulled up stakes at his Inman Square location earlier this month and moved the hickory cooker across the Charles River to new digs in Jamaica Plain. A rib-lover's paradise, Jake's (named for owner Kenton Jacobs of Mattapan) is an unpretentious, mostly takeout establishment where the air is funky and down home. The mammoth head and neck of a raging bull with flaring nostrils stares down from a far wall and blues music blares from the speakers. There are tables inside for patrons who don't mind eating amid the bustle of this busy place. Ribs here are not to be confused with the fare served at restaurants that purports to be barbecue but falls short of the objective. Ribs at Jake's ("Earl retired," says Jacobs, by way of explaining the restaurant's name change.) are slow-cooked over hickory, mesquite, oak and cherry. They are rubbed with a dry mix of spices including chili pepper, curry powder and cumin pepper, instead of slathered with sauce. The meat is so tender it almost falls off the bones, and it's especially lean. Portions are accompanied by a container of sweet or hot sauce so the customer can season to taste. Besides ribs, Jake's offers sandwiches: chopped barbecue, brisket and sausage, served with slaw and beans ($4.50). Think twice when ordering the West Indies sausage, which is spiced with hot peppers. By the second bite, your mouth will feel as if you have swallowed fire. Jerk chicken dinners are $7.50, and smoked chicken is $6.95. For the jerk chicken, Jacobs says, "I use as many spices as I can get my hands on. We've got basil. We've got thyme, rosemary, allspice, oregano, cumin. I use white vinegar, I use a fruit juice, salt, cayenne pepper" as well as another pepper that he says is "the hottest pepper that's grown." Also available as dinners are pork ribs ($8.50), beef ribs ($7.95) and brisket ($8.50). Dinners come with a choice of two side orders, including coleslaw, potato salad, collard greens, macaroni and cheese and pinto beans. There are any number of combination plates. The largest, the Boss's Plate ($14.95), includes one-quarter smoked chicken, four pork ribs, two beef ribs, a 2-ounce serving each of chopped barbecue, brisket and Louisiana sausage. This could easily satisfy two people. Barbecued creations are also sold in bulk. Pork ribs go by the slab ($17) or the half slab ($11). There are also whole beef slabs ($11.99) and chopped barbecue by the pound ($9.95). There are boxed combinations. The largest, the Big Bad Boss's Box ($79.95), includes a pound of chopped barbecue, a pound of barbecued brisket, one slab of pork ribs, one-half jerk chicken, one-half barbecued chicken, two links of West Indies sausage, one quart each of beans and coleslaw, corn bread and buns. It serves eight people. Jake's is across the street from English High School, near Doyle's restaurant. Parking is a problem, but not an insurmountable one. Though Jamaica Plain boasts a vibrant mix of restaurants, the neighborhood lacked a barbecue place until now. Cambridge's loss is JP's gain. Review by: Alexander Reid, Boston Globe, September 29, 1996 Garry Howard, Cambridge, MA [email removed] Garry's Home Cookin' Website http://members.aol.com/garhow/cooking.htm Eat first, ask questions later! From [email removed] Fri Oct 18 13:47 EDT 1996 To: Subject: Re: Local Boston BBQ News X-Msmail-Priority: Normal X-Priority: 3 Content-Type: text Content-Length: 4119 This is the review of Jake's BBQ that was in yesterday's Boston Globe. Available online at www.boston.com Garry Howard, Cambridge, MA [email removed] Garry's Home Cookin' Website http://members.aol.com/garhow/cooking.htm Eat first, ask questions later! "The boss of BBQ is back, doing brisket business in JP" Cheap Eats Review by NATHAN COBB, 10/11/96 JAKE'S BOSS BBQ 3492 Washington St. (click for map) Jamaica Plain 983-3701 Hours: Tues.-Sun., 11 a.m.- 11 p.m.; closed Mon. Good Choices: Brisket, chopped pork, smoked chicken. Credit Cards: None. Access: Street-level entrance, all facilities on one floor. We've always been fond of Jake's superb brisket. The professional wanderings of Kenton Jacobs, aka Jake, have become something of a legend on the local barbecue scene. The onetime airline employee began by peddling his well-regarded smoked meats from a homemade rig on the streets of Dorchester during the 1980s. By 1991 he was operating Jake's Q-4-U in Mattapan, and was later involved in Jake's Boston Barbecue &Barin Lynn. Both operations failed, but Jacobs' culinary reputation sizzled. Most recently he was pitmaster at the late Jake & Earl's in Cambridge, a closet-sized operation with a dedicated following among sauceheads. But Jake is not through. Last month he opened Jake's Boss BBQ in Jamaica Plain, an informal and mostly takeout operation tucked between Doyle's ancient saloon and the Midway Cafe. His financial backers are a gaggle of local restaurateurs and foodies, a group that includes Chris Schlesinger of the East Coast Grill in Cambridge (his old boss at J&E's) and Robert Gregory of Redbones in Somerville. These folks are motivated less by profit than their desire to see Jacobs succeed, i.e. stay in one place. Say this for Jake's Boss BBQ: It smells great. The huge made-in-Missouri smoker is working hard, its round firebox filled primarily with hickory and mesquite. That's Jake himself behind the counter, in the house T-shirt and cap, a pencil over his ear. There's neon in the windows and a massive foam-and-plywood bull bursting through a crimson wall. Looks right, feels right. And the food? This is good barbecue, although we encountered a couple of missteps that we'll get to in a moment. Meanwhile, we've always been fond of Jake's superb brisket, and it's still as good as brisket gets: lean, and remarkably moist for meat that's spent up to 14 hours next to the fire. The chopped pork is just right, too, meaning it's obviously cooked in a vinegar-based sauce that's the key to this Carolina tradition. And the smoked chicken is juicy, smoky and full of flavor. (We didn't order the spicy jerk chicken, but the small sample offered to us suggested a feisty dish worth returning for.) Now the flaws: Our meaty and tender pork ribs were served almost cold, a mistake we'll chalk up to a bad night behind the counter. And our Louisiana andouille sausage had little fire or taste. Most seriously, our massive beef ribs were too fatty and without the flavor we're used to getting from Jake. Barbecue being more art than science, maybe they'll be better next time. Jake dry rubs most of his meats with a mix of spices - key ingredient: dry molasses - before cooking. The saucing is up to you. You can have it on top, on the side or not at all. The two basic, tomato-based sauces are hot and sweet. They're both thin, both lively. There are also honey mustard and cranberry mustard sauces, primarily for the large, tasty chicken wings. You can order your food in a variety of sizes: sandwiches ($4.50-$5), dinners ($5.50-$8.50), combo plates ($11.50-$14.95) and bulk ($9.95-$79.95). The dinners come with a choice of two side dishes. We recommend the perfectly cooked collard greens and especially the wonderful pinto beans laced with bits of brisket. Jake's has seating for about 20 people at small tables, but the boss says about 60 percent of the business is takeout. Some folks carry their barbecue next door to the Midway Cafe and watch sports on TV. Like us, they believe life is sustained by the Three B's: barbecue, beer and baseball.
Boston, MA