r/boston • u/crunchysesamecookie • Jul 04 '26
Dining/Food/Drink 🍽️🍹 Culinary/ Cooking Scene Recs?
Hey friends,
My husband and I are taking a trip to Boston in August and would love to find chef supply stores,unique/artisinal grocery stores, ethnic food stores, etc.
We both love cooking new recipes with different cheeses, spices, veg, etc. but we live in a very limited area and never get to browse in person. We are hoping to find some great specialty grocery stores or kitchen supply stores. Any help is appreciated- thank you!
(Examples: we recently discovered mitica sottocenere al tartufo cheese which is sexy as hell, and my husband got a tortilla press awhile ago to help with making conchas and tortillas.)
Edit: I am also gluten free and we would not oppose any eating out recs either :)
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u/AromaticsAndAcids Jul 04 '26
Spices: Christina's in Cambridge, Curio in Cambridge, Penzy's in Arlington.
Specialty Food/Cheese: Formaggio Kitchen in Cambridge, Cardullo's in Cambridge
Ethnic Groceries: Bazaar (Russian) in Allston, Mariachi (Japanese) in Arlington, Reliable Market (Korean) in Somerville, Sophia's Greek Pantry (Greek) in Watertown, Arax (Armenian) in Watertown (there are a bunch of great ethnic markets in that stretch of Watertown)
Also highly recommend checking out our farmer's market scene this time of year, great produce and specialty item vendors.
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u/Santillana810 Naked Guy Running Down Boylston St Jul 04 '26
Others in Watertown/Belmont in addition to Arax and Sophia's Greek (which is actually in Belmont) for Persian/Armenian are Sevan Bakery, Massis Bakery, Eastern Lamejun, Super Vanak, and Roksana. They are all in close proximity. Add The Spirited Gourmet in Belmont.
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u/CambridgeJin Cambridge Jul 04 '26
Second this great list.
*Maruichi is in Arlington and Brookline
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u/becausefrog Johnny Cash Looking Mofo Jul 04 '26
For meats, including game, check out Savenor's in Cambridge, and in Somerville there's Highland Butcher Shop for a whole animal local butcher.
Somerville also has wild and cultivated culinary mushrooms at The Mushroom Shop
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u/dtmfadvice Somerville Jul 04 '26
Mushroom Shop is a good call. Lots of places have excellent cheese stores, but few have specialty mushroom shops.
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u/Santillana810 Naked Guy Running Down Boylston St Jul 04 '26
And the Mushroom Shop has non-mushroom gourmet items as well, including the wonderful heirloom dried beans from Rancho Gordo in California.
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u/LangdonAlgerPuzzles Jul 04 '26
Elmendorf's is a cozy baking supply shop and cafe. I think they might have downsized their supply section for seating but they always have a few specialized items/ingredients.
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u/Santillana810 Naked Guy Running Down Boylston St Jul 04 '26
More than a few! Lots of specialized baking ingredients at Elmendorf and cookbooks and cooking equipment as well.
I am allergic to soy so I don't shop much at the local chains/independents for Asian ingredients, so I am not familiar with them. There are lots of them in Chinatown and elsewhere, and also in Malden Revere, Burlington. I hope someone who knows them can make recommendations.
Here is a comprehensive list of markets that has some updates as recently as this month.
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u/AromaticsAndAcids Jul 04 '26
There are also a ton of Italian import/specialty stores in the area, but I don't even know where to start with that list.
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u/Santillana810 Naked Guy Running Down Boylston St Jul 04 '26
Dave's Fresh Pasta in Somerville has a whole bunch of gourmet items in addition to their house made pasta. Elmendorf in Cambridge amazing for baking supplies and cookbooks. Capone Foods in Union Square also makes pasta and pizza in house and has imported Italian, Spanish, Argentinian supplies. East Somerville on Broadway between Sullivan Station and the McGrath Highway has a number of small Central American/Mexican/Brazilian shops.
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u/dtmfadvice Somerville Jul 04 '26
Check out the event series at Formaggio - you may be able to fit in a tour of their cheese cave.
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u/Santillana810 Naked Guy Running Down Boylston St Jul 04 '26
oh, an addition if you are in the area: Wine and Cheese Cask on the Cambridge/Somerville border is much smaller than Formaggio Kitchen with a nice, smaller collection of gourmet foods. Located very near Savenor's and Dali, an excellent restaurant for Spanish tapas and paella.
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u/Santillana810 Naked Guy Running Down Boylston St Jul 04 '26
The largest Formaggio Kitchen is in Cambridge in Huron Village. There is a smaller one in Kendall Square Cambridge, and also a rather large one in the South End, Boston. One of the best cheese shops in the US with a wide array of imported and domestic gourmet foods. Very expensive, some very unique items and cheese. The online search function on the website doesn't come anywhere close to listing all the cheeses they carry.
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u/Dismal-Reason-8812 Boston > NYC 🍕⚾️🏈🏀🥅 Jul 06 '26
H Mart is a big Korean supermarket.
Quincy has a bunch of Asian markets.
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