Boston Residents Talk Chickens, Urban Farms
Residents around the city are getting a chance to share their thoughts on Boston’s proposed new rules for urban farms, markets, composting and bee- and hen-keeping. At the first public meeting on the topic, held Monday at Suffolk Law School in downtown Boston, the Boston Redevelopment Authority announced the dates of 10 additional meetings designed to gather community input about rules that could bring life to vacant lots and rooftops around the city. The meeting was led by Tad Read, senior city planner for the BRA, and attended by Boston Chief Planner Kairos Shen, other city staff and members of the Urban Agriculture Working Group, which has been meeting for almost a year and a half to develop the rules outlined in Article 89. “A couple of years ago there was a businessman in the city who wanted to start a lettuce farm, and he couldn’t do it because it’s not addressed in the zoning code; therefore it’s forbidden,” Read said. “He wasn’t the only one; there were other people who were following this national interest in urban agriculture and wanted to start farming in Boston and found they were meeting all kinds of barriers, primarily zoning. The purpose of Article 89 is to identify and address different agricultural uses so that they can be allowed or conditional, so that development can be facilitated in the city.” The proposal is one of Mayor Thomas Menino’s key initiatives, and one he hopes to see carried through before he leaves office at the end of the year, Shen said. “I know if the mayor were here he would talk about his chickens on Long Island,” Shen said, referring to the city’s first free-range chicken farm, located on Long Island in Boston Harbor. In May, the BRA released a draft document outlining the new rules proposed in Article 89, which can be viewed as a PDF on the BRA website. The rules set the allowable size and location of various agricultural activities and establish a Comprehensive Farm Review process that would help ensure farms are “good neighbors” to other businesses and residents around Boston, Read said. The Keeping of Hens Much of the discussion at the first meeting focused on hen keeping, with members of the group Legalize Chickens in Boston and others speaking in favor of less restrictions. Unlike other agricultural activities, bee- and hen-keeping are already addressed in the city’s zoning code, Read said, and each neighborhood has established its own zoning rules for those two activities. Article 89 would not supersede rules set by individual neighborhoods but would establish guidelines—such as coop size and location and number of chickens allowed […]
Boston Chops, Urban Steak Bistro, Opening in February on Washington Street
When you walk into the South End’s newest steakhouse when it opens in a few weeks, the first thing you’ll notice is the dramatic transformation of the physical space at 1375 Washington Street. The large ornate wooden ceiling that gave a unique Asian feel to former restaurant Ginger Park is now gone, replaced instead with an exposed celing and a full wall of dark exposed brick. “All people were asking was, ‘Are you keeping the ceiling?’” co-owner Brian Piccini. “Well, we gutted the ceiling. We’ve left the steel beams all exposed, painted and lit up and that helps create a more casual modern feel to it.” Piccini, with chef Christopher Coombs, is behind the restaurant’s new take on a steakhouse. The two are no stranger to the restaurant business, having opened dbar, an upscale restaurant, nightclub and lounge, at 1236 Dorchester Ave. in 2005, and in late 2010, the duo got their second venture, Deuxave, up and running at 371 Commonwealth Ave. in Back Bay. Piccini said the restaurant will stay true to focusing on the quality of the meat, but will also provide ancillary cuts to utilize the whole cow and provide different price points for patrons. “The South End is very forward thinking, so we wanted to do a modern take on what a steak house can be,” said Piccini. The concept of the menu is that customers will pick their cuts of meat, pick their sauce, and get a piping hot plate of fresh frites to go with it. “We will have some exceptional cuts for people who want that really nice special piece of prime meat, but we’re also going to have a wide range,” he said, noting that sirloin, tenderloin and rib eye is only 15 percent or so of the whole cow. “We don’t want to have that super expensive product here; I don’t think that’s what the South End needs.” All the steakhouse’s meat products will be supplied by John Duare at Kinnealy Company. Piccini said the meat is already aging in the company’s warehouse. The restaurant’s drink program will be cocktails unique to the restaurant and seasonally influenced, but the specifics of the drink and wine menu haven’t been set yet, said Piccini. With a bar made of steel inlays and heavy reclaimed wood that runs the length of the entire space, it’s safe to say drinks will be an important part of the experience. The South End is particularly special to Piccini, as Tremont Street’s Aquitaine was where he got his start in the restaurant business. Piccini, who was a classicly trained pianist, was laid off at Top of the Hub after the attack on Sept. 11th […]