Dining

The Worcester Telegram picks up the cudgel of a Worcester County resident feeling put out by the way Mike's on Hanover Street doesn't display prices for any of its baked goods. Quotes both a state official who says that's just against the law, and a clearly annoyed Mike's manager, who says he had no idea that was a law and that this is the first time in 60 years anybody's ever complained.

Via NorthEndWaterfront.com.

Megan checks out Kika Tapas in Kendall Square and vows to return:

A dish you can't go wrong with is the queso de cabra montanes (baked goat cheese in tomato basil sauce). We slathered the sauce and cheese on fresh bread. It made for a rich, comforting combination (and reminded us of when we were roommates, living about a block away from Dali, where we'd get this small plate often).

Boston Restaurant Talk reports that Dash Cafe will soon replace Abby's Cafe, which replaced the Happy Owl Cafe, which took the place of Cafe 57 & Grille at the corner of Henshaw and Cambridge in Brighton, across from St. E's.

You think maybe they should stop using "Cafe" in the name?

Donna Halper asks:

My husband and I are about to celebrate our 25th anniversary. Can you suggest a restaurant with excellent food and romantic atmosphere?

Some answers below (first batch will take a moment to appear):

Boston Restaurant Talk reports on an impending addition to Boston's food-truck scene.

Tlecam peeked inside the rebuilt Olives in City Square the other day.

Owner Todd English has been making quarterly visits to the Boston Licensing Board - which oversees liquor and food licenses - to plead for more time to rebuild after a 2010 fire. In his most recent chat with the board, last month, English said all that was left was to get a couple of permits from ISD and that, this time, he really hoped to be re-opening Olives soon.

Wicked Local Brookline reports Kupel's faces disciplinary action after a February inspection found mouse droppings - "too many to count" - on raw dough in a refrigerator. Owner says he was shocked and fixed the problem.

Megan reports on a recent "progressive dinner" in the North End, in which she and some friends had a five-course meal - with each course in a different restaurant, starting with cocktails at Ristorante Fiore and ending with dessert at Prezza.

UPDATE: The News has updated its report: The university has decided that because of the vote, it won't allow a Chick-fil-A at the school.

The Huntington News reports the Northeastern Student Government Association voted 31-5 last night to denounce the university's proposal to allow a Chick-fil-A in a remodeled student center.

The association spent four years working to get a Chick-fil-A on campus, but voted last night that the chain should be barred because of its contributions to a group funding anti-gay efforts.

You'd think a new restaurant seeking to, um, curry favor with the local foodie bloggerati would put some effort into a "VIP Grand Opening Party" for them:

If you just want to be a drinking spot, a watering hole for locals, a dive bar with a fancy wall by another name, then throw open the doors and let them in. Just don't invite food writers to your VIP Party and expect them to take your poor excuse for dining and your shoddy, inexcusable service as anything less than a revolting violation of trust. You are a true, lasting, memorable disappointment.

Southie Wing Quest flies the coop and samples wings from across eastern Mass.

Wicked Local Somerville reports that JP Licks is coming out with a line of hemp-based non-dairy ice cream. The press release doesn't say what the chain will call the stuff, but Pot Pie seems too chickeny.

The Globe chronicles the mysterious shutdown of Bon Savor; State Department has apparently decided opening a restaurant not entrepreneurial enough for its visa program for entrepreneurs.

The Newton Licensing Board says Chestnut Hill already has enough liquor stores and so rejected a request from the Star Market there to begin offering beer and wine, Wicked Local Newton reports.

Earlier:
City officials say Hyde Park boozy enough, oppose proposed liquor store on Fairmount Avenue.

Kelly asks:

Where can I get Paczki (polish jelly donuts) in Boston or Camberville?

Wicked Local interviews the Nigerian woman and the Jewish man from Colombia who co-own the neighborhood's newest restaurant, Suya Joint.

Cissy Huang sings the praises of Mi Pueblito on Border Street in East Boston:

For just $6, I can get a cheesy hot pupusa and two tacos to go.

On Birch Street, the wine shop is next to the cheese shop.

The Boston Licensing Board today approved a request from the Russian Benevolent Society, 14-20 Linden St. in Allston, to serve dinner seven days a week.

The society, originally set up as a private club, had been open to the public Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m. The board's amendment to its license means it will be open the other four days of the week as well.

The Boston Licensing Board today approved a request by Pollos a la Brasa el Chalan in Day Square to extend its closing time from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Even the mayor's office, which normally opposes requests from restaurants to stay open that late, supported the request, saying its 405 Chelsea St. location is in the middle of a commercial district, that its owner had shown a commitment to not causing problems and that it serves good food to boot. District City Councilor Sal LaMattina and at-large councilors Ayanna Pressley and Felix Arroyo also supported the later hours.

The pollo place has been open since 1997.

The Huntington News reports the chicken chain is negotiating with Northeastern to open a six-day-a-week outlet in a renovated Curry Student Center this summer.

When Todd English appeared before the Boston Licensing Board in December, he said he expected to be serving food at his long shuttered Charlestown restaurant sometime in January.

Today, English, his lawyer and his construction engineer appeared before the board to explain why Olives still isn't open. The problem, they said, is that while the restaurant itself now passes muster with the Fire Department, the City Square building it's in did not.

It took five weeks to rehab the building's fire-alarm and sprinkler systems, in part because the sprinklers are so old replacements for some busted valves needed to be hand made. But now, those systems will pass Fire Department tests and inspection and all that's left is to formally apply for occupancy and place-of-assembly permits, they said, adding the expect to file the applications for those within a few days.

With a new kitchen and new tables and seats in place, those last permits are all that stand in the way of a re-opening, they said.

Olives has been shut since a fire in May, 2010. The board votes on Thursday - as it has done several times since then - whether to give English more time to re-open and begin re-using his valuable liquor license. Board member Suzanne Ianella recused herself from the vote.

Suya Joint, 25 Poplar St. in Roslindale Square, opened on Thursday, so Boston is no longer bereft of Nigerian food.

We stopped by last night for some takeout and got some of the eponymous chicken suya (thin chicken strips on sticks, dusted with spices), rice and chicken stew and akara (small fritters made of black-eyed peas.

It was good stuff. The spices were thick enough on the suya they almost had the texture of flour. Although not as moist as teriyaki (which it sort of looked like, if teriyaki were light brown), it went down well. The stew was fairly spicy and made a good dipping sauce for the suya and the akara, which, as fritters, basically need to be dipped into something (maybe next time, we'll try some fufu). Besides a drumstick and some breast meat, the stew had a couple of plantain slices.

It was about $23, more than enough for two people.

Here's hoping they do better than the Thai place they replaced. A liquor license is in the works.

The Boston Licensing Board yesterday deferred action on the proposed Boston Chops on Washington Street because it has no liquor licenses left to hand out.

At a hearing on Wednesday, the attorney for the latest venture by the group responsible for Deuxave in the Back Bay and dbar in Dorchester, said they would likely have to just keep hoping a license frees up, because expensive renovations and soundproofing needed for the space where Banq and Ginger Park failed means they could not also afford the $300,000 or so it would take to buy a liquor license on the open market.

State law limits the number of liquor licenses available in Boston.

Artist Mary Sheehan Winn posts a photo of an oil painting she recently did on commission: A Dunkin' Donuts cup and some jelly-filled Munchkins:

This painting is a commission done from a similar painting, for a pair of sisters. I don't know who's going to end up with it but they are both DD fans. I admit I was hindered some (mentally) by having already done this same painting, but I set up my still life anyway and did it again. Hope I captured the same feeling that drew them to it.