Jahunger noodles. Lane Turner/Globe Staff
This month on the menu: Korean BBQ, Central Asian Ugyhur cuisine and Mediterranean fare along with a café filled with hand-crafted bonbons. Here’s where you’ll find us indulging in July.
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Husband-and-wife duo Perla Rosario and Leo Baez first opened Cacao in Newton in 2018 as a way to share their Dominican culture with the community of Boston. It seems the chocolate bar and café made an impact as their second location opened last month, closer to the city center. A more intimate spot, the South End location features 28 seats total (half of which are outside), therefore, Rosario will continue to handcraft their bean-to-bar chocolate truffles, bonbons and barks at the Newton flagship. The new location emphasizes the couples’ commitment to building a community with a welcoming café, decking out the space with soothing dark wood, shiny tiles, a variety of Dominican folk art and vivid photographs from the cacao farm of Rosario’s uncle. Popular menu items include their decadently rich hot chocolate, espresso crafted from Colombian beans and butter, chocolate and almond croissants from bakery partner, Pain D’Avignon, who deliver a fresh batch daily.
570 Columbus Ave., South End
Now Open
Jahunger noodles. – Lane Turner/Globe Staff
This year’s James Beard semifinalist chef Subat Dilmurat just expanded his acclaimed Uyghur cuisine from Providence to Cambridge. Officially opened on June 25, the new outpost of Jahunger promises the same tantalizing hand pulled noodles (starting at $15), wok-fired vegetables and central Asian appetizers like handmade leek and egg dumplings, kavap (marinated lamb kebabs) and samsa, a savory lamb-stuffed pastry bun (all $12). “We are thrilled that Cambridges full dine-in is now OPEN,” Jahunger shared on Instagram with a photo depicting Turkish architectural elements in a royal blue color palette. In addition to their signature dishes like the Jahunger Noodles, a combination of thinly sliced beef seasoned with a “tongue-numbing” sauce of Sichuan peppercorns and fresh chives, Jahunger promises the return of beloved items from their opening menu back in 2017.
272 Brookline St., Cambridge
Now Open
After working on the line of two of New England’s top kitchens, Earth at Hidden Pond and Fox & The Knife, Chef Leigh Whittaker is foraying into her own venture — and on Newbury Street nonetheless. She transformed the former 1,300-square-feet of Bar à vin 1855 into a modern, Mediterranean oasis where exposed brick walls are centered by Joseph Dufour et Cie’s mural of “Mediterranean Views.” Here, she blends a passion of sourcing local ingredients with homemade pasta for a layered menu that starts with shareable small plates like scallop crudo with grilled pineapple, toasted coconut and aguachile ($24) or razor clam crudo with cava, Merendella peach, and Calabrian chili caviar ($20). Entrée dishes feature land, sea and pasta options. Among them: a sea bass with tzatziki, fennel, Granny Smith apple and fennel ($40); chicken Milanese with sugar snap peas, harissa and whipped goat cheese ($34); and Cacio e pepe with buffalo milk butter, white Alba truffle and microgreens ($36). Cocktails are playful twists on classics, while the wine list is more sophisticated with an impressive by-the-glass line-up — Sancerre, Vinho Verde and Soave under whites as well as Beaujolais, Barbera and Cotes du Rhone under reds.
259 Newbury St., Back Bay
Opens: early July
COJE Management Group has been teasing us with their latest concept since the end of last year, and now the time is (almost) here to taste what they’ve been working on. The team that brought us so many of our favorites, including Lolita, Yvonne’s and Mariel, is switching gears to specialize in noodles and dumplings with their opening of Mr. H Chinese in the Seaport. The former home of Legal Test Kitchen has been drastically reimagined to showcase quintessential Chinese design with contemporary details; vermillion chairs, imposing golden dragons and ornate tapestries set the tone for cocktails served in teapots, traditional wood stands or alongside a lotus-shaped soup spoon. From the design to each dish, it’s all about connecting diners to authentic Chinese culture, and we can’t wait to feel transported.
225 Northern Ave., Seaport
Opens: Mid-to-late July
Touted as Boston’s first premium All You Can Eat (AYCE) Korean bbq, Omi Korean Grill is making our mouths water with their carnivorous selection of grillable galbi (short ribs), spicy beef bulgogi and pork belly, as well as their best-selling seafood pancake they’ve been sharing all over Instagram. The AYCE menu is priced at $39.99 per person and is truly all you can eat for a two hour maximum. Diners can choose from side dishes (like tofu, fried dumplings and glass noodles), vegetables (like shishito peppers, king mushrooms and asparagus) and four protein options – seafood, chicken, pork and beef, all offering various cuts as sub-categories. They even have more traditional cuts like beef tongue (called Gyutan) and intestine (Gopchang) as well as pork and beef bulgogi, a style of thinly sliced meat that resembles brisket; it is marinated in a soy, sesame, garlic and ginger sauce that results in an extremely tender, juicy and potently flavored bite.
267 Huntington Ave., Fenway
Now Open
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