Cou-Cou, Bardo's Bar Pizza & Formaggio Kitchen

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You are listening to Food for Thoughtwith Billy and Jenny, brought to you
by the Box Center. For morethan fifteen years, this dining duo has
been eating their way through New England, mixing it up with top chefs,
jumping behind the line of the hottestrestaurants, and giving you the inside scoop
on where to wine, dine andspend your time. So get ready,
it's Food for Thought giving you somethingto chew on. Hey, everybody,

(00:22):
welcome into Food for Thought, broughtto you by the Box Center. I'm
Jenny Johnson, and as we allknow, it's is the season where things
get a little bit wild before theyget quiet towards the end of the year.
Right now, everybody is trying tocheck all of the things off of
their lists. And one of thethings that Billy and I like to do
through Dining Playbook is we'd like tocome up with a gift guide and we

(00:43):
really focus on small local businesses,most of whom we know and have been
supporting for years and want to giveyou people in the area an opportunity to
support them to Our first guest isa woman that I have loved supporting for
number of years. She owns abeautiful, beautiful boutique for children and some

(01:04):
things for moms in the South Endof Boston. The store's name is Cuckoo
and the owner's name is Astrid Askedd. Thank you for joining us today,
Hi Jenny, thank you for havingme. So you know we have I
think we've included you on our listevery year because the truth is, if
you're looking for just sort of themost unique and special items that you can

(01:30):
find for your children, there reallyis none other than what you curate in
your shop. So so for folkswho haven't walked in, can you sort
of paint the picture of what peopleexperience when they walk in the doors of
Cuckoo. A little bit of magic, definitely a lot of nostalgia, I
think, for all the things thatare reminiscent of what they had in their

(01:53):
childhood, only created in just reallybeautiful and new artisanal ways. You'll find
clothing, you'll find toys. There'sa lot of space in the shop.
It's really warm, high ceilings.We got very lucky to be on a
beautiful street in the South End,which is one of the most beautiful neighborhoods

(02:14):
here, and it just feels likea happy place. Yeah, it's exactly
what it feels like. And Ilove that you say space because there's a
lot of moms that live in theneighborhood or a lot of moms that are
that are coming in and out withtheir little babes, and so there's plenty
of room for your stroller to sortof mander through, and you, guys

(02:35):
welcome the kiddos in there, butit's also such a nice oasis when the
moms do get to go in therewithout their children. I know, as
a person who comes in there,you know, I'm always there for certainly
for special occasions, but really justand definitely for seasonal changes because we know
these kiddos are growing out of thingsso fast. But tell us a little
bit about your mission, because youare curating and working with brands that people

(02:59):
don't see everywhere. Yeah, that'sright. So I'm from Europe. I
grew up in Europe, and I'vebeen living in the States for many,
many years now. But when Ihad my daughter, my first one,
I found that it was really difficultto find things for children, products for

(03:21):
children that were really beautifully made andmade by small producers in small batches that
weren't plastic that weren't on Amazon ormass produced, and I just continue to
come back from my work trips withsuitcases full of things that I would find.
And I had a very high pacelife, and I wanted to slow

(03:44):
down and I wanted to stay homemore, and I did this crazy thing
to open a children's store. Andit started out as a thought to open
a shoe store only for kids,because that's also sorely missing. So if
anybody has an idea extra time ontheir hands, we need those. But
it turned into something much more,something that is that has a little bit

(04:08):
of everything. And really our missionis to focus on really beautiful creators from
all over the world that have apassion for designing children's products, whether it's
toys, kitchen, where books.Even our books are really beautifully just all

(04:31):
the detail in them and all veryreminiscent of our childhoods too. So vintage
and nostalgia is a really big tugof war for me always, and so
that's what we do. Yeah,it's like it's like being in a museum
when you're inside Cuckoo, and thething is, no matter how many times
I'm in there, you always seesomething that you didn't see before, So

(04:54):
you really want to plan ahead tomake sure that you have some time to
to to sort of walk through.So can you share with us some of
the brands. Yeah, sure,So for fashion, some of my favorite
brands, one is pu Peu Chick. They are out of Portugal and they

(05:14):
create they kind of live in thateighties and nineties space, which for us,
for our generation, is certainly nostalgic, you know, like a pinnacle
of our teens are just above that. And another is mishaun Puff, which
is also a local darling. Annawho is the designer and the creator of

(05:34):
it, is from Boston and shehas grown into an international success. But
again her productions are very limited,very small, very special, and so
that that just makes each of thepieces so beautiful, very vintage, very
seventies, which is one of myfair decades. And yeah, and then

(05:57):
there's you know, for toys,there's Alzheimer, which are all wooden,
beautiful wooden animals, all handmade inGermany. And then we have Rice,
which is our kitchenware from Denmark andjust beautiful, whimsical fun pieces for you
for your kitchen cars. And Ithink, I think, I think,
what's so interesting and I've been luckyto have so many of your different pieces,

(06:18):
both from the toys and both fromthe fashion side. Is these pieces
become forever pieces? Like you know, we know that there's a ton of
clothes that kids go through in anygiven day, week or year. But
at least what I have found isthe ones that I kind of fold up
so beautifully, tucking, you know, a little bin somewhere someday when my
kids hopefully have kids are the onesthat I want to pull out to remember

(06:40):
what they were like when they weresmall. All come from Cuckoo. You
do such a wonderful job, andyour mother is a big part of it.
So I love being able to seethat sort of generational love. And
so anybody who is looking for somethingspecial this holiday season for their children,
or really any time of year,I suggest you go head down to Cuckoo
acaid. Can you give us yourwebsite where people can also shop, which

(07:02):
is also important to know, aswell as your address. Yes, absolutely
so. Our address is twenty fourUnion Park Street and that's right by the
Buttery in the South End if youknow it. And our website address is
Cuckoo cou cou dash Boston dot com. Acid. We love you so much

(07:23):
and we love having you on ourgift guy. We hope you have a
great holiday season. I'm sure Iwill see you soon. Thank you for
joining us, and love you more. Bye. You're listening to Food for
Thought brought to you by the BoxCenter and Salem Waterfront Hotel and Sweet Welcome
back into Food for Thought brought toyou by the Box Center. It's the
time to rush around. It's thetime to get the thing done that you
need to get done before the endof the year. It's that time where

(07:46):
you say, oh God, Iforgot to put that person on my list,
or oh God, this child hasmore than that child. You know.
It is the season for decorating.It's a season for gathering, it's
a season for hosting. It's sucha busy season. It's like I'm you
know, you can sit around andwatch people walk outside when you're in like
downtown Boston, and you just kindof see the craze and the haze that

(08:07):
everybody's offering and operating under. Butit's also a joyous time. And one
of the things that Billy and Itry to do each year is we we
talk about a lot of the localsmall businesses that we love to support who
are doing interesting things throughout the year. One of the ways we do that
is a gifts guide and we showcase, like I said, a number of

(08:28):
different small businesses and some of theintricate items that they're offering. And then
the other part is is we showcasea lot of the spots that you can
enjoy, either for food or otherwise. And I'm thrilled to have a friend
on the phone with me who Ihave known for a few years now,
but who's been in the industry fora very long time. Dave Lombardo.

(08:50):
How you doing, buddy. OhI'm doing great, full of holiday spirit
today. Let me tell you wegot a little snow. I love it.
Doing great. Oh my god,I'm glad. You sound exactly like
you're supposed to sound. I sounda little bit tired, I think probably
from it, you sound like you'revery energized, which is exactly what we
need. Okay, So Dave,first, after give a little bit about

(09:13):
your history in the business and whatsort of brought you into hospitality. Oh
man, Well, we've been aroundsince nineteen twenty seven. We've been a
family business in hospitality and in food. We started East Boston in nineteen twenty
seven with a small little meat market, and over the years we've grown.
We're probably most known for Lombardo's.We're an event venue and catering company.

(09:37):
We were originally located in East Bostonand now we're located in Randolph, mass
And we've been doing parties and hostingfamily occasions and celebrations and holiday parties for
over sixty years. And over thelast few years we've transitioned part of our
business to Bardo's Bar Pizza. Wecreated this amazing pizza brand. We've got
a couple locations, one located inSouth Boston and one in Norwood, Math

(10:01):
and we're just filling everybody's food energyfor the holiday season with lots of cheer
and lots of food and lots ofpizza. All right, So we all
love pizza. Anyone on this isthinking to themselves, I got to have
myself some pizza to get myself withthis holiday season. So what makes your
pizza? We've had it. Welove Billy loves your pizza. So tell

(10:22):
us what makes your pizza so special? So our pizza is definitely unique.
It's a Celshore bar pizza, whichis a pretty unique style of pizza.
It's a ten inch individual pie.We cook it in a stainless steel pan
and all the dough and cheese andsauce goes right to the edge, so
when you cook it, it caramelizeson the outside and you have this beautiful

(10:46):
caramelized lacing crust and it's just theperfect it's small, it's light, it's
airy, but it's got a greatcrisp and we do all different types of
toppings on it. You know,one of the most popular pizzas a pickle
pizza, and you know your classicpepperoni. We make our own homemade sausages.
So it's a really fun concept andwe've been having a blast with it.

(11:11):
And you can find us at bothour locations and in our location nor
what is actually mobile, so youcan come bring it, bring us to
your holiday parties and we can pullright up to your office and serve the
whole team. And one of thethings that's nice is in Celsei, you
are partnering with someone you've known fora very long time. Tell me about
that relationship. Yeah, so we'relocated inside of Castle Island Brewery in Celsei,

(11:35):
uh, and we've been friends withthem since I was, you know,
four years old. Adam the ownerand myself I've been best friends forever.
So we've got a beautiful partnership there. And this year we are bringing
the holiday cheer to the whole community. And we've got a Christmas tree farm
actually in our outdoor patio. Youknow, it's a little too cold to

(11:56):
go out and have drinks on thepatio, so why not come over and
buy a Christmas tree and get areef and enjoy a pizza and a beer
and spread some holiday cheer. Imean, it's a great that's exactly what
you should do. Get dressed up, get warmed up, you know,
come hang with some people with fantasticenergy, and certainly get you know,

(12:16):
like there's a lot of people havesaid to me, I haven't done it
yet. I just haven't gotten mytree yet. I haven't gotten my suck
yet. So it's right there,right in Boston, and then you can
experience all the other things you wantto do in the city as well.
So okay, so tell me alittle bit more about what I'd love to
know sort of your in Sousey.So you spent a lot of time in
that neighborhood. What are some ofthe other restaurants that you like to support

(12:37):
in that area, or if andwhen you do get out, where are
some of the places that you guysgo. Well, before I get to
that, let me just tell youwhat's unique about our Christmas Tree Farm is
we are donating a percentage of allof our sales to Horizons for Homeless Children.
So we're not in it just forthe trees and for the here,

(13:00):
but we want to make sure thatthe children in the city, especially the
homeless children in the city, canbenefit from you coming and buying your tree
from us. And so we're partneringwith Horizons for Homeless Children on our Christmas
Street Farm, which is a greatadded piece. You know, everyone wants
to celebrate the holidays, but theyalso want to give back, so we
had a way to do both ofthem. So we're excited about that partnership

(13:24):
as well. And as for restaurantsin the area, I lived in Selfie
for thirteen years and I love itin there, and you know some of
my favorites, Probably my number oneis Loco Takorea. I just think it's
the best margarita and best taco intown. Linkin is fantastic and Fat Baby
Sushi is pretty under the radar forone of the top sushi places around.

(13:48):
So those are three of my toptop spots. Well, Mike Shaw is
a good friend of mine, soI would concur it's so much fun to
be at that restaurant, And sorrythat we're going back and forth, because
I did want to talk about Horizonfor the Homeless. The fact that you're
donating there. It's such an incrediblenonprofit organization that we've worked with a number

(14:11):
of times over the year. Theirmission is to help children who are homeless,
and they're really leading the fight inMassachusetts to sort of help take away
some of the stress as it relatesto homelessness for both children and their families.
They also have an early education partof their nonprofit, and they create

(14:31):
lots of real pivotal opportunities for familiesand their kids who otherwise don't have a
lot of those opportunities. So thefact that you're partnering with them, I
think is spectacular because you know thatsome of your money of that tree that's
going up in your home, becauseyou know that's not even something that you
consider not having this time of yearas a tree, and the nice opportunity.

(14:54):
Is some of the money that isgoing right to people who who don't
have that sort of odd be asness nature of sort of the added things
that sometimes we take for granted.And so you can know that so much
of this is going to early education, it's going into helping and supporting parents,
it's going into opportunity for kids tohave some support, whether it be

(15:16):
through clothing or through shelters this holidayseason. So I think it's fantastic that
you guys, you guys are doingthat. Yeah, I mean, our
family has been rooted in the cityfor so long and and one of our
pillars is really about giving back tocommunity. And you know, we're blessed
to be able to post parties andsell pizza and provide some fear but at

(15:43):
the end of the day, likeif you're not helping your neighbors, what's
it all for. And so forour ability to partner with different programs and
Horizon for Homeless Children's is one ofthose that just is it makes such a
huge impact and it goes such along way. So it's the holiday season
and it's to give back. Oh, it definitely definitely is. Okay,

(16:04):
So tell me a little bit.Let's let's talk about We have about a
minute left, and I want totalk about the beer side of things there
in Southeast What what what makes thebeer so special? I mean, this
is your best friend, you've knownthem since here four us, so hopefully
you can speak to how great thebeer is too. Yeah. I mean
they've got an amazing motto at CASLAand it's if you're not proud of it,

(16:27):
you don't ship it. And theteam there is so passionate about brewing
just great quality beer, and theydo an amazing job at it. And
so they just have such a strongcommunity there, an awesome team, and
they put their heart and soul intoeverything they make, and they make them
wild and really fun different brews.We actually use their signature beer keeper in

(16:51):
our pizza dough, and so it'snot just a partnership of being in their
brewery. We actually, you know, truly love what they do and make
it a part of our product aswell. And so it's just it's really
a fantastic thing. And there reallyisn't anything better than pizza and beer.
No, there's definitely no better combination. It doesn't matter what time of beer

(17:12):
it is, which is also quitelovely. Okay, so give me a
little bit more information as to wherepeople can find you. Yeah. So
we are located at ten Old ColonyApps inside of Calfa Island Brewery in South
Boston. You'll find Bardo's Bar Pizzathere. And then we're actually we have

(17:32):
our pizza food trailer that is mobile, but it lives mostly full time right
outside of Kafa Island's other brewery inNorwood, mass And I'm sure there's more
to come. We love you,Dave. We hope you have a great
holiday and in New Year, andwe'll talk to you soon. Thanks for
joining us, our pleasure. We'lltalk to you soon. Happy holidays everyone.
You're listening to Food for Thought broughtto you by It's the Box Center

(17:53):
and Sale and Waterfront Hotel and SweetWelcome back to Food for Thought Rosy by
the Box Center. Okay, SoI gave you a great place to go
for your kiddos, a great spotto go if for some reason you haven't
picked out your tree. And nowI'm going to give a couple more places
that are on our gift guide ourDining Playbook twenty twenty three Holiday Gift Guide
that Billy and I do together eachyear. So many opportunities and places to

(18:15):
support in New England and predominantly inBoston. One of the places we wanted
to talk about was this new hotelthat opened actually outside of Boston, outside
of Massachusetts, the Artisanal Hotel atTuscan Village. So you've heard Joe,
Billy and I talk about Joe farrowlla lot on the radio show. He

(18:36):
basically built a city in Salem,New Hampshire. It is a place in
and of itself that you can goto to fill your entire holiday list in
one stop shopping. But they alsohad a hotel that just opened in the
past couple of months that we wantpeople to check out. One of those
things that I have loved in theyou know, my years, sort of
supporting the culinary industry is getting moreinvolved with sort of health and healing and

(19:00):
sort of understanding how food is medicine. And I actually went back to school
to become an araveda health counselor andone of my teachers her name is kat
O'Donnell. She's the author of fourcookbooks. Every Day Araveda is sort of
the theme of her books. Shehas one for beginners she has one for
living in a way that allows youto feel really balanced, and she has

(19:22):
one for self care, and she'sjust launching one that is for women's health.
And this is one that I wantto add to everybody's holiday list.
So it's called every Day Ira Betafor Women's Health, and it's a perfect
book if you're looking to kind ofopen up your wellness journey. She's a
best selling author in her category,and it's really unlike any others. She
gives sort of recipes in their herbalremedies. She talks about specific things as

(19:45):
it relates to women as they growthroughout their lives and ways to sort of
combat some of the challenges. Obviously, this is certainly tailored towards women,
but her other books are for everyone. She also offers an annual New Year's
Detai, which is something that I'vesuggested to a lot of friends. Look,
we know, we eat, weeat, we eat, we eat,
we eat this time of year atnauseum too much every day, all

(20:08):
the parties, all the you know, all the holiday gatherings, all the
desserts that somehow make their way ontoyour plate. And so it's always nice
to have something set up for thenew year, and this cleanse is something
that I talked about on social mediawith her. You can find me at
ms ms Jenny Johnson on Instagram andwe did, you know, a few
minutes of chatting about what this cleanslooks like. It's a little bit different

(20:29):
than those that you've done, butit's very healing, very safe, and
the nice part is it is foreveryone. It doesn't matter your age,
your weight, any of those things. So that's something that I suggest checking
out. You can find her athealwikate dot org. And at the end
of the rest of the radio show, I'll give you a few more that
we have on our gift guide listand we'll be back with more Food for

(20:51):
Thought. In just a minute,you're listening to Food for Thought brought to
you buy it's the Box Center andStale and Waterfront Hotel and sweets. Okay,
so it's the holiday season. We'regiving you some ideas of how to
make things a little less stressful anda little fuller and also supporting local businesses.
That is one of the things thatBilly and I focus on most in

(21:11):
our television program and certainly on thisradio show. And this next guest is
owner of a space that brings meso much joy, certainly around the holidays.
I actually hosted Thanksgiving this year fortwenty six people, and you know,
there's a fair amount of stress thatcomes along with that. There was

(21:32):
a lot of things together in additionto the food, and I will say
one of my one of the highlightsof the overall experience was walking into Formaggio
Kitchen a few days before to pickout my cheeses and to sort of pick
out my items for my charcuterie board. And that always seems to be the
case. So we always, Billyand I always include Formaggio as part of

(21:56):
our holiday gift guide because there's somuch inside the doors, and there's just
so much warmth and so much youknow, like local support, and it's
such a wonderful place. So wehave Julia on the phone and she is
one of the owners. Thank youso much for joining us, Julia,
thank you so much for having me. Well, I love what you guys

(22:17):
do. So I want to startwith a little bit of a background.
So I'm saying that I went inthere to get cheese and all the things
for my charcuterie board. But there'sso much more to your operation, So
start with a little bit of abackground of Vermaggio and also a little background
of view. Yeah. No,absolutely, I actually had a really similar
experience because I started off as acustomer, probably about eighteen years ago,

(22:41):
and walked in to kind of foodwonderland, and I remember the cheesemonger who
helped me, you know, giveme samples of probably gosh, ten to
fifteen different types of cheeses and Iimmediately fell in love. And sixteen years
ago I decided to apply for ajob there and it was supposed to be,
you know, a three month job, and sixteen years later now I

(23:04):
recently became the new owner and I'mjust so excited to carry the torch of
you know what it meant to mewhen I was shopping there. Because what
we really try to do is whenyou travel the world, you always find
these kind of little tiny corners andproducts and producers that really can only be

(23:26):
found there, and they bring backmemories of your travel and your experience.
And so what we try to curateat Fromaggio Kitchen is a selection of products
that bring back that feeling. Sowe're traveling the world constantly trying to bring
products into the US for the firsttime and kind of sharing those experiences on
a more accessible level available you knowin the greater Boston area. And so

(23:52):
for us, it's about storytelling,it's about the producers and really sharing the
passion and expertise behind all these products. I'm very very happy to kind of
continued the torch. Oh, well, we're so happy for you. I
want to know a little bit aboutyour background. I mean, obviously you
mentioned you were, uh, youknow, a customer, and I think
anyone who walks into Framaggio has anappreciation for like artisanal you know, businesses

(24:18):
and and and and and and componentsto sort of cuisine. So so tell
us a little bit about you andyour background and what made you a person
who just sort of fell in lovewith this Fromagio concept. Absolutely so.
I actually I grew up on areally small farm in eastern Oregon and we
grew all of our own food.We you know, fished in our backyard,

(24:40):
so like we did everything ourselves.And I went to college in the
area. And while I was inschool, I really missed kind of that
connection with my food. It wasjust sort of a different experience, you
know. Obviously going to the dininghall versus going in your backyard and fishing,
and so I really just sort ofsought out any sort of connection.

(25:02):
And when I walked into Fumashia Kitchen, immediately I was introduced to kind of
the producers behind these products and thestories, and it just reminded me of
home in a lot of ways.And that was really really nice in college,
you know, especially being so sofar away. It just there was
this immediate connection. And I neverreally considered myself a food eat so to

(25:25):
speak. I just loved food,and so once I dug in, though,
then it just was all over.Because the more I learned, the
more I wanted to learn. Andthat's when it became less of sort of
a visit and sort of a temporarything and more of sort of a lifetime,
passionate career. So that's the storyof kind of how I fell into

(25:48):
it. I love it. Ilove that so much. And I know
the previous owners had had individual storiestoo, you know that they are similar
obviously but different, but just sortof this idea of appreciation of where things
come from. Obviously, we sawa big boom with a you know what
we call a farm to table trend, I guess, but that that is

(26:11):
really what I'd say the world ofhospitality and the world of cooking really really
should be. And so you know, I don't want to say that a
lot of people have strayed away fromthat, but Formaggio is one over the
years that has just stayed so triedand true. We're going to talk about
some specific, you know, componentsto it. I want to kind of

(26:32):
break down and a little bit demystifythings. But like when you walked in,
were you I would say, moreunsure? It's certainly more unsure than
you are now, but but likethere was something about it that that was
demystified for you. And do youfeel like if that's something that you guys
offer. Absolutely. I mean Iwas, to be frank, just a
totally broke college student that knew nothingabout you know, gourmet cheese, and

(26:56):
so the person who helped me knewwhat my budget was and still, you
know, saw my excitement. Andthat's what we want to provide anybody.
It doesn't matter what your budget is, it doesn't matter what your experience is.
And that's a huge reason why,especially at our cheese counter, we
we chased everything out Oh, it'ssuch a beautiful experience. Julia. We're

(27:18):
going to take a quick break andwe'll be back with more Food for Thought
in just a minute. You're listeningto Food for Thought brought to you buy
the Box Center and sale in WaterfrontHotel in sweets. We welcome back to
Food for Thought brought to you bythe Box Center. Julia Hallman, owner
of Formaggio Kitchen. Just a highlightof a place for me anytime that I'm
having a gathering at my home oranytime I'm looking for a great hostess scimper.

(27:41):
Honestly, I'll be honest. Anytimesomebody's sick in the hospital or sick
anywhere, you know, I goto Fermagio and they put together something very
special. So, Julia, wetalked a little bit about your background,
the background of Vermaggio and sort ofwhat the you know, brief is an
overview of what the experience is.But but you know, why don't you
walk us through a couple of yourlocations and kind of, you know,

(28:03):
share with us some of the offeringsof what people can experience when they walk
through the doors. Yeah. Absolutely, so our sort of we call it
the Mothership, the main location islocated in here On Village in West Cambridge
and that's the location that it allstarted at about forty five years ago,

(28:25):
and that's where our cheese cave islocated. We actually and we can talk
about that a little bit later,but we have a cave under the store
where we store all of our cheeses. And then we have our South End
location on Shaman Avenue in the SouthEnd in Boston, which is just this
incredible little nook and has everything prettymuch that we offer and here On,

(28:45):
but in a just much smaller venueand incredible staff, incredible community down there
in the South End, and justa really fun shop to pop into.
And then our newest location is onHampshire Street in East Cambridge and that's just
a wonderful location that opened in twentynineteen. That again, we try to
cater to each neighborhood, so everythingevery location has a slightly different vibe because

(29:10):
for us, it's really all aboutthe community and making sure that when folks
walk in, we love to sayhi, we love to know their names,
we love to hear their stories andreally have that full experience. And
then of course we also ship nationwideas well. For the folks that you
know, come and visit or happento move out of the area, we
can still, you know, sendthem home with some of their favorite favorite

(29:33):
items they can't get anywhere else.The store that I always go to is
in the South End just because it'swhere I'm I'm always located in so but
yes, I've certainly been to theCambridge locations and you're right, you feel
the vibe of the community. ButI think what's nice is that you're right,
you can be from anywhere and toappreciate what all that you have to

(29:53):
offer. So let's go to thehere on the first location and talk a
little bit more about some of theofferings that you have there, because sometimes
I think that that cheese, muchlike wine, can sometimes be a little
intimidating. I mean, there's there'ssuch a huge world, and the cheesemongers

(30:14):
do such a great job with you. But you guys have a lot of
offerings for people who want to learnmore, So tell us about that.
Yeah, absolutely, I mean whatI found just working in food in general
is the more you learn, themore you realize you don't know and need
to learn. So it's a reallynever ending game of you know, trying
to absorb as much information as possible. So we actually run a lot of

(30:37):
our classes through our here on Avenuelocation, and so those range from you
know, short little micro classes thatare on weeknights that are about forty five
minutes long on one sort of singulartopic, whether it's focusing on a single
producer like the sellers at Jass forHill, or focusing on a theme sipping

(30:59):
wall and kind of enjoying a littlesort of microbyte of information. We do
our classic classes, which are heldon the weekends where we really dig in.
We kind of like to say wenerd out a lot in our classes
because it's a really great chance forthe cheesemongers to dig in a lot deeper.
We love giving people samples and lessonswhile they're in the shop shopping,

(31:22):
but you can really go in depthwhen you've got an hour and a half
to two hours to talk about youknow, a range of different cheeses and
styles. And then we have ourPremiere series classes which are sit down,
more formal both essentially dinner and cheesecourse where it's just a little bit a

(31:44):
little bit fancier and it's a wayto experience some of the really high end
wines and products that we don't openup as much. And so that's a
really really fun option as well.And of course the caves is at the
heart of it all. At thehere On application. We were the first
retail store in the United States actuallyto have a cheesecave. It's a sort

(32:06):
of little known fact. And whatit does is because of the temperature and
the humidity, it allows us tostore cheeses at the absolute optimal condition,
so we can import larger quantities ofwhat we're looking for and they continue to
age in our cages and age perfectly. And so we do small group cave

(32:27):
tours as well, which is areally great way to dig in and kind
of learn a little bit more aboutthe process of aging cheese and storing cheese.
It's, like I said, youcan dig deep and spend a lifetime
learning about these things. So it'ssuch a fun way for us to really
really, like I said, geekout and have fun and open products and

(32:50):
religious experience at all. Well.One of the things that I love is,
you know, I kind of wantto talk about rod seas a little
bit because it is I mean,those are my favorite I walk in and
I say I want raw, Iwant as I want to feel like I'm
at the farm with every flavor thatI'm having, and I, you know,
I don't know enough, but Iknow what I like. And I

(33:10):
think that's the other thing is youcan kind of go in there with a
little bits of information and your cheesemongerwill help you find exactly what you want.
But you do have a nice arrayof raw cheeses, is that right?
Absolutely, It's honestly one of ourspecialties. A lot of our cheeses
are imported from Europe, and sowe have anywhere from two to three hundred
different types of cheeses. Especially thistime of year we have probably close to

(33:34):
three hundred, and so we liketo focus on the small producers who tend
to specialize in raw milk cheeses becausethose are the types of producers that really
have an expertise and equality and carerequired to make an exceptional raw milk cheese.
And I mean, like essentially,what you're saying is in raw milk

(33:54):
is like a non pasteurized which isultimately you're getting the full flavor, the
full nutrients, the full experience ofthat process of cheesemaking done in a in
just like a like ways that we'vebeen doing for generations and generations, and

(34:14):
I will say the cheeses that Iget are I mean, it ends up
being the conversation of the dinner party. I mean, I hate to say
that our turkey was not as impressiveas my as my circuitery boards. I
hate to say, but you alsohave a great meat selection for folks who
like that. Yeah, So anythingfrom charcuterie to our butchery program. Again,

(34:38):
we try to focus on knowing thefarmers. So we have wonderful charcuterie
from different small producers throughout the USdoing some really incredible things. A Small
Good is a producer that we've reallydug into and worked with a lot lately.
He came in and did a visitfor with us and teasing us out

(35:00):
on all of these different products thatwe now carry, and he's doing extraordinary
things. We also make a patisin house, which is kind of rare
in a retail environment in the US. It's just not a commonly provided thing.
And fresh pats are just light yearsdifferent than sort of your pre packed,

(35:22):
industrial made pats, and so ourcharcutier uses all local, humanely raised
meats and beautiful, beautiful products tomake these housemade patas and mooses. And
then of course our butchery program,which is brand new actually within the last
couple of years, where we're doingwhole animal butchery and offering again all local

(35:45):
meat, hand butcher and it's justit's a really fun sort of way to
again appreciate the product that you're consuming. You know, with the the animals
that we're bringing in, we're ableto use absolutely every thanks for nothing goes
to waste. You know, It'sused in our charcoutery, it's used in
our kitchen, and so it's justa really wonderful kind of holistic way of

(36:08):
operating in a small market. Well, I mean, I hope people are
hearing your passion, because your passionis just like every other person that works
with you, and I do.I think people want to be more educated
about the food they're eating, aboutwhere it comes from, about the process.
And that makes me happy. Youknow. It's certainly what I set
out to do, you know,sort of promoting this industry decades ago,

(36:31):
and it's nice to be able tosee that that's something that people that really
resonates with people. So Julia,how can people get in touch with you?
And and for folks who are lookingto either do gift baskets or you
know, your your offerings are soso, so so many. I mean,
you can go in for dinner,you can grab yourself dinner at home,
you can grab you know, justa lunch. I mean, there's

(36:53):
so many offerings that you guys have. But what's the best way for folks
to get in touch with you tofind out all things? Formagio. Yeah,
so our website is probably the bestplace to peruse and kind of see
all the offerings for all the differentlocations and online. And that's just from
Agio Kitchen dot com. But youcan also for us. Again, I

(37:16):
grew up in a really small townwhere everybody kind of knew everyone, and
that's the type of mentality we'll wanthere. And so you can always email
us their phone in because we wantto talk to people. Awesome. Well,
thank you so much. It's forMagio f O r M A G.
G Io Kitchen and you definitely canspend a lot of time on that
website and that is one of ourbig suggestions for your holiday for gifts or

(37:40):
for yourself. Julia, thanks somuch. Congratulations on taking over this institutional
place in Boston. Thanks for joiningus. Thank you so much for having
me. You're listening to Food forThought brought to you by the Box Center
and Salem Waterfront Hotel and Sweet Okay, Well, I hope I gave everybody
some good suggestions of places support thisholiday season. I want to give you

(38:01):
a few more. So our giftguide typically is a disease. So it's
a small local business or a brandthat we love supporting with all of the
letters of our beautiful alphabet. Iwant to give you a few more suggestions.
So I think you've heard Billy andI talk about the Lenox Hotel.
It's a boutique hotel right in theback bay at Boston, right there in

(38:22):
Copley Square, been around for sucha long time. It is it is,
you know, it's boutique hotel atits finest. It is hospitality at
its finest. They also have theonly place in Boston that has fire like
fireplace suites, so they have folkscome in to build you a fire.

(38:44):
Everybody's cold this time of year,and there's nothing like sort of nuzzling up
to a fire. We actually havedone overnights with our family in this suite
with the kiddos because it's big enoughto be able to bring the kids in
addition to us. And they haverestaurants on property, but really what they
are as they're in the heart ofthe city, so it's a great landings
pad for folks who are interested inmaybe having a staycation. So we suggest

(39:08):
checking out the Lenox Hotel their firesideexperiences they also do. Those are great
gifts, like I give that giftto my mother and my and my mother
in law, like those are justgreat holiday gifts to use at any time
of the year. Another one thatI want to talk about is Kim Gregory.
She's the owner of Pure Pastry,not your average breakery. This is

(39:28):
a woman who has been devoted tocreating sweet treats without a lot of the
process components that you're finding out there. So I think they're you know,
not a question that people are worriedas they should be about some of the
processed sugars or the white sugar thatis in most of our bake goods.
And you know, if you're amom or if you're not a mom,

(39:49):
you know that after you give yourkids some of these treats. They are
just wired and you are wired whenyou eat them too. And so what
Kim Gregory has done is she hascreated a latany US sweet items without unrefined
sugar, and she uses so manylocal products. She actually has a farm
which she grows a lot on thatfarm. You'll see her at every single

(40:10):
farmers market that is. But shedoes also do wedding cakes for anyone with
any allergies, any allergies you couldever imagine. She will make you a
cake that will take just as deliciousas if all of those items were in
there. So I love supporting her. That's purepastry dot com that you can
check out. Additionally, there's someother brands that we love supporting. There's

(40:31):
a great small business called love Childin the South End which is a great
place to get hostess gifts. There'salso I also want to talk about Peak
Events, so you know if youare hosting, which a lot of us
are this holiday season. Peak isa regional group that you may know if
you've ever had a wedding in ora big event in the city. But

(40:53):
one of the things that they alsodo really well is to help curate your
home event right will help you designa table scape. They will service all
of your rentals. If you needchairs, if you need extra tables,
if you need a bar, ifyou need you know, tablewear, anything
like that. And I have workedwith them a couple times over the past

(41:14):
couple of years and they have justmade the holiday experience so seamless, so
so so seamless. We included acompany called Barnaby, which is a new
place for kids to go. Iwant to give another shout out, not
clothes but arts and crafts. Soit's they do have toys, but it's
a place that you can go withyour kids for an hour. They get

(41:37):
their art on, they get toexperience some sort of like the treasured art
projects that you see your kids doat school, but now you can do
it in Boston's Beacon Health. Sothat's Barnaby right there in Boston. There's
a lot more, but I haverun at a time. So happy holidays
to everybody. I hope everyone hasa happy, a healthy, a safe

(41:57):
holiday season. And you can findout more from our holiday gift guide on
our website, Diningplaybook dot com.But this is food for thought. It's
brought to you by the Box Center. I'm Jennie Johnson and I will see
you next time. Thank you,