I just read in the Attleboro Sun Chronicle that the Stoneforge Foxboro restaurant in Foxboro, Mass., will close on Monday, June 28, to make way for a new restaurant and function space under the Christina's Functions business.
Attleboro Sun Chronicle reporter Rick Foster wrote an excellent piece (as usual -- one of the best reporters in eastern Massachusetts, in my opinion; impeccable note-taking skills!) on the impending closing, writing that Christina's Fireside Grill will take over the current restaurant, although in a smaller setting. Foster reports that the rest of the former Stoneforge space will be used for "additional wedding rehearsals, private and corporate functions." Christina's function facility building is connected to the site that has accommodated Stoneforge and its predecessors including the Funway Cafe.
We will miss the Stoneforge in its Foxboro location, but take comfort in knowing that the Stoneforge restaurants in Raynham, Easton and Dartmouth will continue to serve some great food, including some fantastic steak, seafood, gourmet pizzas and salads!
Congratulations to the six New England restaurants that were chosen by Food Network Magazine for their great breakfasts!
The July/August 2010 Food Network Magazine edition features an appetizing article entitled "50 States, Fifty Breakfasts" with one breakfast place in each state getting a hearty mention --including a specialty dish. Honors in Connecticut go to Kitchen Little, 135 Greenmanville Ave., in the lively seaport town of Mystic, for its "Portuguese Fisherman" dish -- scrambled eggs with ground chourico and linguica sausages and cheese accompanied by a "soft toasted and buttered Portuguese muffin." The best Maine breakfast goes to Boynton-McKay Food Co., at 30 Main St., in the idyllic mid-Maine coastal town of Camden, for fresh buttermilk pancakes. In Massachusetts, Craigie on Main Street at 853 Main St. in the academic city of Cambridge, (Harvard University, MIT) gets the notch for "airy cake doughnuts" (only made on Sundays). Top New Hampshire breakfast centers on the fantastic Littleton Diner in the heart of thriving downtown Littleton (145 Main St.), for the "Littleton Buckwheat Pancakes." The little state of Rhode Island comes up with a big breakfast winner at Jigger's Diner at 145 Main St. in posh and leafy East Greenwich, for its Johnnycakes. Last but not least is Vermont'sPenny Cluse Cafe at 169 Cherry St. in the wonderful small city of Burlington (a college town beautifully situated on Lake Champlain), for its "Penny Cluse" -- biscuits enhanced by a herb creamy gravy of spinach, basil and parsley, and accompanied with two eggs any style and home fries.
Enough to make you hungry? Please go check out these places, and let us know what you think. Additionally, we would like to also recommend the "10 Favorite Breakfast Places in New England" article at our New England Vacations Facebook Fan Page . We love breakfast while traveling New England, and are confident that you'll find "no egg" on this feature story!
In closing, we highly recommend picking up a copy of the July/August Food Network publication. In addition to its wonderful, aforementioned breakfast article, this edition is packed with some amazing-looking summer recipes. We'll be attempting to make the "crunchy lemonade chicken drumsticks" as soon as possible - yum!
Article and photo (Jane and Paul's Farm, Norfolk, Mass.) by Eric H.
June is the best time to pick strawberries in New England, so we recommend finding a local farm stand that offers "pick-your-own-strawberries" before its too late for this year.
We picked some strawberries two days ago at Jane and Paul's Farm at Fruit St. in Norfolk, Mass. (Tel. 508-520-0812), where the crop was abundant and with some of the sweetest strawberries we've ever tasted. Jane and Paul's is a great out-of-the-way place that makes for a nice day trip -- nice produce, small animal area, plants and and a relaxed, scenic setting.
Our Twitter list of New England farm stands features updates from local farm stands, some of which "tweet" on strawberry-picking status. For example, Cider Hill Farm in Amesbury, Mass. (45 Fern Ave., Tel. 978-388-5525), reported yesterday that its strawberry picking status has been personally downgraded and that there's only about a week left to pick.
The wonderful Brookdale Fruit Farm in Hollis, N.H., (130 Broad St., Tel. 603-465-2240) still offers strawberry picking (along with cherry and raspberry picking), according to its Web Site. Bishop's Orchard's at 1355 Boston Post Road in Guilford, Conn. (Tel. 203 453-2338), reported on June 21 that they "are still open for PYO Strawberries, but not sure how much..."
If you known of a New England farm stand that still has a good crop of strawberries, please feel free to leave a comment here. Thanks!
