The entranceway to the Public Garden is a little more historic, thanks to the efforts of the Beacon Hill Civic Association (BHCA).
As the watchdog for the area’s aesthetics, Ted Furst has an unenviable job as chair of the architectural committee, to make sure the city doesn’t clutter up the street with unsightly utilities like the lightbox that was on the corner of Charles and Beacon streets.
The civic association had been appalled when the city installed a tall, ugly switchbox there, as part of improvements to traffic light signals last summer.
“To our disappointment, they put it in haphazardly,” said Furst. “It was right in front of the garden, the most important entrance for the community and tourists. It crowded the corner, where people stopped to cross the street. It was a big eyesore for the Boston Garden.”
Oh, a lightbox, you scoff. Who cares? Actually, it’s the tiny changes like this that add up quickly to dampen the charm of a neighborhood, Furst points out. Look around Charles Street, and there’s a definite look and feel to it that’s pleasing to neighbors, tenants and visitors. That doesn’t come naturally.
“You see beautiful gas lights, and beautiful architecture here,” said Furst. “The windows are preserved. You don't want to walk smack dab into a box.”
“The box was almost as tall at it was huge,” said Furst. “It just made that corner feel like a train station. There needs to be a beautiful transition from one historic area to another.”
Furst acknowledges that the particular corner the metal box was on wasn’t technically in their district, but it definitely affected the area’s appearance.
"We're in a historical district. When you start changing anything, it impacts the way the neighborhood is looked at when you come here. It negatively impacts the vitality of the street, diminishing the aesthetic quality of the hill. Although it’s not part of Beacon Hill 's historic district specifically, to me, there's no border. It's across the street, which is just as important as on this side of the street.”
So Furst contacted the Boston Transportation Department (BTD), that was upgrading traffic signals last summer. “We wanted to explore an alternative with the city,” he said.
In fact, they hired an engineer to figure out alternatives.
Furst had done some research, and knew that many European cities seeking to preserve the historic nature of a neighborhood would find alternatives, such as installing such utilities underground, or behind bushes. “When you go to Europe, you don't see this stuff,” he said. “They figure out how to hide them.”
As it turned out, there wasn’t a way to completely eliminate or bury the box, because the BTD uses a system that is somewhat antiquated. “The newer systems don't require these boxes,” Furst said.
CAPTION: Ted Furst (at right) proudly points to the empty space at the corner of Charles and Beacon streets where an ugly lightbox used to stand.

In the end, the light box’s NStar meter “pimple” was moved inside the box, and it was moved down the sidewalk where it blended in better with parking meters. They had asked that it be painted black to blend in with the garden’s ironwork, but that’s a battle for another day, said Furst.
So is the fight to move another box that’s on Beacon Street near Cheers. “We tried to get it behind Cheers' fence, but we couldn't get it done,” said Furst.
The Public Garden entrance victory may have been a small one, but an important one that other neighborhoods should try to emulate.
“At Park Street, there ‘s no delineation from downtown to Park Street. There’s no fence, and mechanical equipment is everywhere. We didn't want that. The city is so historic. All neighborhoods should be looking at their area this way,” he said.

They say everyone has a second career in them. When John Hancock chief executive David D’Alessandro sold the business to a Canadian insurer, he decided to make a change and bought Ristorante Toscano on Charles Street, down the street from an apartment he keeps. D’Alessandro had been going there for years, and when he found out that the owner, Vinicio Paoli, was moving back to Italy with his family, he bought it. He runs it with his son, Andrew, a Boston College graduate who trained at the Cambridge Culinary Arts School, and recruited Richard Cacciagrani from the Palm over at the Westin. But D’Alessandro is hands-off for the most part, and the operation is run team-style by Andrew and Cacciagrani, along with longtime restaurant manager Rick Hayes.
They opened Toscano’s in January 2007, and then closed it that summer for a few months of renovations. The results were stunning, a cozy effect achieved with artist Ulla Darni’s gorgeous light fixtures, a striking wall of wine, a glassed-in 1,200-bottle wall, flooring that alternates between 85-year-old walnut flooring from New Hampshire and slate-looking porcelain floors, and heavy dining room doors carved with the restaurant’s fleur-de-lis design and also ironwork from a Sante Fe designer. There are several pockets that create intimate dining atmosphere, with comfy leather seats, including the downstairs’ 12-seat roundtable Grotto, a 25-seat dining room behind closed doors, and a bar that is expanded into a “café” (you can’t come in for a beer or wine unless you order food, so technically there’s no bar, according to licensing rules).
“We gutted everything,” said Andrew D’Alessandro, who lives on Boylston Street. And they dropped the “Ristorante” from the name.
Along with the locals, you can spot politicos and developers, the occasional celebrity who appreciates the low lighting and intimate corners. Despite the economic downturn, the owners say they haven’t experienced any real loss in business, from a few business dinners each week to regulars coming in two or three times a week.
“We have a real customer base,” said Cacciagrani, who used to work at Rebecca’s down the street. “Local business is our main focus. They’ve been very supportive of our restaurant. We’re lucky to receive support from Beacon Hill. In the North End, so many restaurants rely on tourism. We rely on the neighborhood’s support. The best time to see what our restaurant is about is during a snowstorm, when everyone comes in and is talking to each other and having a good time.”
As a result, they aren’t changing their menu with prix fixe discounts or 2 for 1 coupons, but they do offer a range of price points to appeal to a variety of budgets. Their quartino wine flasks carry a quarter of a liter of wine, or about two glasses, for the price of a glass elsewhere.
In fact, the classic Tuscan dishes haven’t changed much in 25 years, which please the regulars just fine. Among the favorites that fly out of the kitchen are the Rigatoni Toscano, a creamy and smoky pasta dish with bacon and herbs, the handmade gnocchi, and the pappa al pomodoro Tuscan soup. They bake their focaccia and Tuscan loaves daily, and make their own sausage, such as last week’s wild boar sausage special.
The chefs have been here more than a decade, and trained with the former Tuscan owner. Many are from Central America and Cambodia. There are no Italians in the kitchen, but, said Cacciagrani, “We have some of the best seasoned Tuscan chefs in the United States.” A few of the chefs trained under Paoli and have been at Toscano’s for 15 or so years.
The kitchen doesn’t have a flashy chef in Samuel Gomez, who moved from Colombia when he was 17 and discovered he liked cooking. Gomez is a cheerful but industrious, no-nonsense chef who just wants to create the same good food that his customers enjoy. “At home, I like to cook short ribs, stuff like that,” said Gomez, of Bremen Street in East Boston, husband of Deana and father of Shaun, 9, and Wendy, 10. “I like to make things that are very simple and easy to do. I don’t like Colombian food.” You can also spot him working a butcher’s shift at Whole Foods on Cambridge Street.
The restaurant owners don’t plan to open a chain. “It’s a nice life here,” said Cacciagrani. “We compare ourselves to Hamersley’s [Bistro], a single restaurant that’s a part of the community. We don’t want to lose that personal touch.”
Gail Weber of Winchester shared two salads, the chicken Milanese and rigatoni Toscano and a few desserts with her cousin, Linda (Battistini) Poulin last Friday. “I think it’s wonderful here,” said Weber. “It’s a restaurant that’s part of the neighborhood. Weber has been coming here since it opened and she began working in the Back Bay. She started eating here in good weather, and soon trekked over for lunch or dinner even in the winter. She knows a lot of the regulars and the new owners, and even visited the former owner when she was in Florence. “It’s priced for all people’s tastes and needs. It’s a younger feel, with no pretentiousness. The food isn’t oversauced, it’s clean food,” she said.


Tutto Peppe
(Serves Two)
This is a simple and quick recipe, using only a few simple ingredients to create a fully flavored and yummy dish. The meat melts in your mouth, it’s so tender and juicy.

Ingredients

1 T. extra virgin olive oil (they use Manini brand)
(2) 10 oz. beef tenderloin (They use Brandt Black Angus, which is all natural)
1 T. black peppercorns, coarsely crushed
¼ cup brandy (cheap is fine)
1 cup heavy cream
Kosher salt

Preparation

1. Heat In a medium sauté pan, heat oil on high heat.
2. Take filets out of refrigerator and press peppercorns into one side of both filets.
3. Sear the steaks peppercorn side down for 4-5 minutes – do not move them at all.
4. Flip the steaks over and cook for another 4-5 minutes or until steaks are medium rare. If you use a digital thermometer, take the steaks off a few digits shy of the 137 degrees required for medium-rare status – the steaks will cook on their own a little.
5. Add brandy – when you put it back on the heat, it should flambé, or catch fire, so prepare your stove area accordingly!
6. When the fire is gone, add heavy cream and a pinch of kosher salt. Reduce the cream and brandy sauce until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon – if necessary, take the meat out of the pan so you don’t overcook.
7. Remove the steaks and plate them on a dish. Pour brandy cream sauce over steaks, garnish with fresh parsley, let it rest a few minutes so the juices will rest in the steaks.

This can be served with potatoes. Gomez made his with red bliss potatoes, halved and tossed with pepper, salt and rosemary in olive oil, roasted in a 450 degree oven for 35 minutes.
The chef recommends a side of spinach or broccoli rabe, sautéed in garlic and olive oil until wilted.
Bartender Giacomo Romoli, a native of Florence, Italy, recommended a glass of Rosso Di Montalcino, which he said has enough “acidity to cut through the cream sauce, but won’t overpower the steak.”

CAPTION: Blackstone's co-owners Jennifer Hill and Mark Duffield.

In the winter months, more people nest in. With this economy, they also may want to nest more of their dollars by entertaining at home.
“As we have learned, our customers like to entertain,” said Blackstone’s of Beacon Hill co-owner Jennifer Hill. Now, more than ever, and especially during the winter months, Hill has responded to what she’s hearing and is buying more products geared toward socializing more with their family or friends through cozy parties and intimate gatherings.
Here’s a few do’s and don’ts for ramping up as a host and party attendee:
Don’t: turn every weekend into a video and takeout weekend.
Do: talk to some friends and encourage more social gatherings.
Don’t: spend so much money on entertaining at home by buying enough expensive food that rivals eating out.
Do: flip through the cookbook.
Don’t: turn on the oven until you’ve taken the shoes and Christmas decorations out of your kitchen “storage closet,” i.e., the oven.
Do: encourage regular potluck parties. Don’t want to wash dishes? That’s what paper products are for – Blackstone’s carries a nice line of paper dishes and napkins.
Do: also consider a cocktail party alternative. You focus on making interesting cocktails, your friends bring fun hors d’oeuvres. Blackstone’s happens to have “The Essential Cocktail” book for ideas.
Don’t: forget those who’d like a non-alcoholic alternative, like good coffee and fine tea, flavored seltzer water and juices. Blackstone’s carries local brands, including Concord’s Tea Forté.
Don’t: be the guest who brings the chips and salsa.
Do: check out the interesting pre-made snacks at DeLucas, Savenors, and Whole Foods.
Don’t: bring cheddar cheese.
Do: bring a cheese you can’t pronounce. Don’t forget the crackers.
Don’t: forget about great condiments, like gourmet sauces, dips, and mustards. Blackstone’s recently added New England Cranberry’s Cranberry Chutney, Cranberry Pepper Jelly and Colonial Cranberry Sauce, and a customer favorite is Robert Rothschild Gourmet Foods Raspberry Honey Mustard Pretzel Dip. “It goes great with everything, including pretzels,” said Blackstone’s Mark Duffield.
Do: consider a dessert party instead. Try a Potluck Dessert Night. Jennifer Hill loves The Brass Sisters’ cookbook, “Heirloom Baking,” which made Food & Wine’s Annual 2007 Cookbook’s Best of the Best top 25 cookbook list. And hey, The Brass Sisters will be appearing at Blackstone’s next month, to sign copies of their book.
Don’t: flip on the TV.
Do: Turn on the radio or stereo, and get out the deck of cards, Monopoly, and other board games. Remember Pictionary? How about Scrabble? Blackstone’s just got in a very portable game for guests to bring to parties, Bananagrams, an anagram game that fits nicely in a purse. It’s great for entertaining kids, too.
Don’t: be a bad guest. Never arrive empty-handed.
Do: bring an interesting bottle of wine – Beacon Hill Wine and Spirits can recommend a nice bottle. For fun, bring it in a nice wine tote.
Do: also consider bringing chocolates. Blackstones carries a nice variety of local treats; Beacon Hill Chocolates has some nice ideas, too.
Do: consider a host/hostess gift, even when it’s not their birthday. Try bringing an interesting book, or make their job easier with paper napkins, candles and fun matches, said Hill. “Functional entertaining pieces such as trays, glassware, coasters or hand towels, to wine accessories, are perfect to give to those who already like to entertain. Who says you ever have enough entertaining pieces?”

CAPTION: MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas was joined by city officials and representatives from the West End Civic Association for an informal dedication ceremony to station signs reflecting the ‘secondary name’ posted at the Green Line station.

It may be a symbolic gesture for now, but last week’s unveiling of the signage at a local MBTA station is a huge win for a community trying to get the rest of the city to acknowledge its existence.
MBTA, city officials and West End residents unveiled the new Science Park/West End MBTA sign last week, that now welcome commuters at the base of the 50-step staircase on the Charles River Dam side of the T stop.
“We’re not just here to change the name of the station,” said City Council President Mike Ross. “This has been a fight for the West End’s identity for many, many years.”
Among those participating in the celebration were Boston Transportation Commissioner Tom Tinlin, West End Council member Ivy A. Turner, West End Civic Association (WECA) Leverett Circle subcommittee members Marie Cantlon and Louise Thomas, and Ross, who said, “Tourists and locals alike will now be reminded of this vibrant neighborhood whenever they take the train. I'm grateful to Dan Grabauskas for making the change so quickly.
Mayor Thomas Menino acknowledged that for years, the city had failed to recognize the neighborhood as the West End community. “Residents here have always realized its contributions to our history,” said Menino. With the T name change, he added, “Many more people will now understand and recognize its place as a proud neighborhood of Boston."
About 2,100 residents from the area pass through the 50-year-old station on a typical weekday, said T officials. Grabauskas also acknowledged that WECA and the West End Council had “held our feet to the fire” for this name change, and said the MBTA is happy to accommodate such requests – when feasible. “That’s why we added Peabody Square to the signs for Ashmont Station and Boston Public Library’s name at Copley Station,” he said.
The new sign is only the beginning, however, said Rep. Marty Walz.
“This is only secondary signage,” she said. “The T is refusing to change the name on its maps and other printed material unless it comes from the state Legislature,” said Rep. Walz, who is refiling her bill to change this and the Copley Station names.
Her bill would have the MBTA not only create signage that says Science Park/West End Station and Copley/Boston Public Library Station, but also update maps and other printed material with the expanded station names.
Meanwhile, the MBTA plans to start construction on two elevators to the towering station by the end of the year, said T officials. Ross said the elevator is coming only because of the West End Community Association’s efforts. “This station wasn’t initially on the list to get one, but it was your phone calls that put it on the list,” said Ross.
West End activists are still waiting to hear word on when a new pedestrian bridge will be built, with the money that was set aside by the Big Dig to replace the one that was razed years before. “We’ve been trying to get this bridge restored for a long time,” said Cantlon. “The Museum of Science wants the bridge, too. It’s tough on families, and on volunteers who work there to cross the street. We have seen a lot of near misses. It’s very dangerous.”

The Boston Redevelopment Authority met to discuss improvements to the Thoreau Path Master Plan. Basically, the project is getting $1.5 million from the city as secured by City Council President Michael Ross, and the remaining $100,000 from the Equity’s $350,000 mitigation money (the rest went toward the lighting project), to improve the path.
The path came out of a lawsuit West End Council had filed against one of the building owners, Equity. A settlement was reached, where the abutting buildings would help fund a path that the city declared as an easement, or common line. “It was not a community initiative,” said Lucia.
The city would be responsible for maintaining the path, such as shoveling.
“I’m pretty excited about getting a new path,” said West End Civic Association (WECA) President Duane Lucia. “This will benefit the community.”
The path, as reviewed and assessed by Carol R. Johnson Associates, creates a guide to its redevelopment and renovation. The planners found the path is a predominantly concrete passageway that’s mostly an easement passageway that winds its way through the condos, apartments, synagogues, and other businesses that make up the West End. Most of it is wide enough to act as a fire lane, with large existing gingkoes and honey locust trees. Future design work is needed to determine dimensions and materials to meet fire access requirements.
The Master Plan also discusses a better passageway between West End Place and Longfellow Towers, more seating, passive recreation, a connection to North Station and to Staniford Street/Government Center, a stronger connection to the Esplanade and Charles River, lighting upgrades, expanded access to J. Pace market, landscape maintenance plans, and grading challenges.
BRA senior project manager Jay Rourke and landscape architect Jill Ochs Zick updated the BRA engineers about the process and history of Thoreau Path. They will put forth a Request for Proposals (RFP) based on information contained in the Master Plan. BRA engineers said the RFP process will run until mid-spring, when a contractor will be selected to put together construction documents.
“Once the company is selected, I will conduct three community meetings over the summer months that will be well advertised in advance and will not conflict with other community events,” Rourke said in a letter obtained by Downtown North Association Executive Director Robert O’Brien.
The first meeting will take public suggestions and show preliminary plans; the second meeting will take place when documents are 50 percent completed; and the third will occur when plans are in their final form. The expected construction start date is April 2010.
Lucia also questioned whether there will be any effect on the annual Children’s Festival, which BRA senior project manager Jay Rourke assured wouldn’t happen.
“We do not anticipate the construction to interfere with the Children’s Festival scheduled in August of 2010, BUT we hope that all who use the Thoreau Path on a daily basis will understand that the path will be under construction for upwards of four months and this will cause inconveniences that are associated with any and all beautification projects.”
Lucia was optimistic, however. “I’m sure they’ll do a good job and do it quickly and efficiently,” said Lucia. But even if the project does overlap the festival, Lucia had faith that the residents would work around it. “When they did the lighting, it created a big mess for the festival … there was a lot of sand left for the project. Kids made a sandbox in the sand,” he added.
As a resident, Lucia is concerned about whether the path will be affected by new construction, such as the proposed project at the J. Pace market. “Does the Master Plan address future construction?” asked Lucia. “As a taxpayer, I want to know about the city’s money and how it will be spent.”
He also thought about how this path leads to another nagging issue the West End faces and that the city isn’t addressing - unsafe crosswalks for residents without running shoes.
“The crosswalks are a major issue,” said Lucia. “The neighborhood is divided by the four crosswalks and the busy street that divides our neighborhood. People on the Merrimac and the Lomasney Way can’t go over to the Bulfinch Triangle. I’m young, I can run across the street, but there are many residents who can’t.”
“It’s a real problem for us,” he said. “We have at least three crosswalks that are impossible to get across. Even if there was an affordable supermarket in the Bulfinch Triangle, people would be hard-pressed to get there. Staniford Street and Merrimac and Causeway streets - that’s one of the most dysfunctional crosswalks in the city. Then there’s Leverett Circle, New Chardon, where the El was. There’s no interim plan to make it safer. Now those are areas that people avoid.
A person got killed on Merrimac Street two years ago, and last spring one of our neighbors who lives on the sixth floor, he hasn’t been right since he got hit on the corner of Staniford Street in front of our building.”

Sal DiMasi's resignation

Nationally, the economy is a disaster. On the state level, we are in a fiscal disaster. And now on the municipal level, we are about to enter a devastating time when programs in schools and other municipal services will have to be cut for the remainder of this year and more cuts next year.
The resignation of Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Sal DiMasi must certainly come as good news to some. To others, the resignation removes a very capable, liberal-minded and affable leader at the very time of a state fiscal crisis, when his expertise is most needed by all Massachusetts residents.
As with all public officials and in particular with DiMasi who has spent more than 30 years in office, there are bound to be critics of his voting record and the fact that during his tenure the almost geometric increases occurred in state spending. However, his voting record does show a strong position in taking and supporting unpopular issues, like gay marriage or the state’s healthcare reform system. These stands should be how DiMasi is remembered and also for his contribution to making the state more inclusive to all residents.
DiMasi leaves office under a cloud of suspicion, but to the voters in his district who know him well, he will always be the very popular and affable official that was always at home at community events, such as Santa Claus’ landing at Puopolo Park. Whatever the future holds, we hope the public trial of DiMasi will stop and let the rightful process be the only process. We wish DiMasi well in his future endeavors. We are the beneficiaries of his votes that have helped make Massachusetts more inclusive for all residents. We hope the words of Shakespeare are not the epitaph for DiMasi:
The evil that men do lives after them;
the good is oft’ interred with their bones.
This would truly be an injustice.