End of Summer Blues…Fish, that is.

Bluefish… “blecchkk”, “it’s too fishy”, It’s too strong”, “it’s oily”.

Ahhhm, no, no, no and no!

Bluefish in the hands of someone who knows how to cook it, is an amazing versatile fish. Canned tuna and smoked salmon are perennial favorites to most and are way fishier, stronger and oilier than bluefish. Treat her right and you will end up with some great results.

Enter our end of summer bluefish:

cobb smoked Bluefish Fillet with corn risotto, grilled zucchini, tomato-basil relish and spiced popcorn

This dish is a hyper-local ode to New England. The fish is from the Cape, The corn and basil are from Verrill Farm in Concord, the zucchini is from Wards Berry Farm in Sharon, the tomatoes are from Kimball Fruit Farm in Pepperrell and the popping corn is from Hurricane Flats, in S. Royalton, VT. You can’t get much more local than this. We have been making this dish for many years. Some years, unlike this one, local peaches are available and we substitute peaches for the tomatoes in the relish.

To prepare this dish, first we fillet, portion and then brine the fish in a salt, brown sugar, water solution in the refrigerator overnight. The next day we give it a quick hot-ish smoke, over corn cobbs, (that have been dehydrated and are left over from making the risotto), being careful to not cook the fish through. At this point we’re looking to just add some smoke flavor and not cook the fish. The cobb smoke really shines with bluefish, it’s offers a sweet and not too pungent smoke flavor.

When an order comes into the kitchen we take a portion, give it a healthy dusting of our not so secret spice mix and pop it in a pan with a mixture of white wine, garlic and vegetable stock and into a hot, 450 degree oven. Then we bake it until it’s just cooked through. This could be anywhere from 3 to 9 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillet. The best way to test the doneness of fish is with a cake tester, after a few minutes of cooking poke the thickest part of the fillet with the cake tester, if there is a change in resistance, it needs to cook longer, if it slides right through, it’s done.

I know this is a great dish, customers have been raving about it since it first hit our menu. However it was validated by the Great American Seafood Cook-off, an annual cooking contest held in New Orleans. In 2016 I was asked to represent Massachusetts. Of course, I was happy to do it; a weekend in The Big Easy, yes please. I went with Mark Dieffenbach, one of EVOO’s longtime sous chefs. I chose to cook this dish because, to me, it really does represent summer in Massachusetts and that was what I was asked to do. We had a blast, eating great food, a bit of drinking and I kind of remember some late night bowling with shots of whisky, and, oh yeah a cooking contest… We placed third, I wanted to win and if I said I was happy with third, I’d be lying.

Now let me digress, I have a family bluefish memory. It’s from when I was probably 8 or 10 years old. Some weekends my father would hook up with some of his buddies, head out on his boat in the Boston area or go to the cape on one of his friend’s boats to go fishing. Their goal was to to catch striped bass, but, inevitably the catch was bluefish, which my dad would bring home. My mom, a woman who’s lips, very rarely, if at all, allowed fish or any seafood what-so-ever to pass, would dutifully put the catch into the freezer and ultimately into the trash. However, one time, I’m thinking she wasn’t too happy with dad going fishing again, so she decided to cook it. She took the whole fish, guts, scales and all, covered it with mayonnaise, don’t ask me why, because I don’t know, and into the oven it went. About 2 hours later, which is at least an hour too long. Sunday dinner was served. The whole dried out stinking mess right in the middle of the dining room table. To my young eyes, it was scary. When mom served us fish, it was in the form of frozen fish sticks, never mind this big whole fish with sunken cooked out eyes and jutting teeth. I don’t think that anyone, including my father actually did anything more than poke at it. The stink of overcooked fish and guts remained for days. That was the only time that I can remember bluefish being cooked at home. On top of that my dad’s fishing trips with his buddy’s were scaled way back; I think he wanted Sunday dinner to remain as the usual- roasted meat and potatoes. This experience embedded lasting scars, it was a good 15 years until I tried bluefish again, not that I really tried it the first time. Which is another degression for a future blog post about fishing while sailing and cooking our catch.

Holy Cow!

Sep8

grilled roasted garlic studded pastured MA Beef Tenderloin with sour cream whipped potatoes and orange bearnaise.

This dish has been on our menu since we opened in June of ’98. Yeah, that’s 25 years of making the same dish over and over again. We have perfected it.

I came up with this dish while I was still the chef of The Bostonian Hotel and it’s since closed, highly acclaimed restaurant Seasons. I was roasting lamb legs for a sandwich we had on the lunch menu, for extra flavor we would poke holes in the meat and stuff them with garlic before popping them into the oven. While the legs roasted the garlic would also cook seeping mellow sweet slightly caramelized garlic flavor into the meat. This process got me thinking about doing the same thing with individual beef tenderloin steaks. Since the beef would cook much faster than the lamb, I thought that using garlic that was already roasted would work with similar results. I was right, this dish is fantastic. The dish never made on to the Seasons menu, it came close though. I was planning on adding it to the fall menu when I decided that after almost 10 years at the hotel it was time for me to move on and open my own place. I knew then that this dish was coming with me and would be the star of EVOO’s menu for the foreseeable future, I was right.

The pastured beef we use is almost exclusively from Carne Locale, a Waltham, MA, based company, run by Andy Carbone. Andy works directly with Massachusetts livestock farms distributing their products to some of the areas finest restaurants.

The vegetable accompaniments change with as the local growing seasons change. Depending on the time of year you can get it served with carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, asparagus or as we are now serving it with green beans.

An testament to the love that this dish receives, my wife has often commented, hopefully jokingly, that she would “dump my ass” if I ever took it off the menu. So it remains…

Lamb Sandwhich

Jan22

Continuing with the lamb we received from Feather Brook Farm- A sandwich on our lunch menu.

Slices of Roast Lamb Leg with Smoked Cloumage, Pickled Green Tomatoes, Lettuce, Red Onion and Carolina White Barbecue Sauce on Mark’s Cumin Focaccia

lamb leg in the immersion circulator

We marinated the legs in a mixture of garlic and spices and then sous vide’ the legs at 137 degrees for 3 hours. We then chilled them in an ice bath, finally put a nice sear on them before slicing them.

The cloumage is an artisanal fresh, creamy cheese from Shy Brothers Farm in Westport MA, which we smoked in our backroom smoker. The Lettuce was grown in The Food Project’s greenhouse in Roxbury, MA. We pickled the Kimball Fruit Farm’s green tomatoes last September. Mark our excellent lunch sous chef made the Focaccia.

Sous Vide

Jan22

sous vide

/ˌso͞o ˈvēd/

noun

Sous vide, which means “under vacuum” in French, refers to the process of vacuum-sealing food in a bag, then cooking it to a very precise temperature in a water bath. This technique produces results that are impossible to achieve through any other cooking method. – Anovaculinary

Our sous vide station.

I have been cooking for a long time, starting in the late 1970’s. First as a prep cook in a neighborhood restaurant, while in high school, making beer money. I had no passion for food at the time. I was still feeling my way through life, not sure what I was going to do. Slowly, and I mean really slowly, I found that I not only was pretty good at cooking, I was actually enjoying it. Looking back I don’t think it was the food that I was falling for. Rather, I was an impressionable young man who enjoyed the camaraderie, the manual work and the fact that a free beer was never far from reach. However, the more I cooked and discovered new foods my passion finally blossomed…I digress.

This post is supposed to be about sous vide, my digression stems from- In those many years of cooking there have been a few techniques or processes that I have learned which have changed the way I cook and think about food. Cooking sous vide is probably the biggest one for me, with whole animal butchery / charcuterie being a close second (see my 10 part “Death of a Pig” blog post).

When I first encountered cooking sous vide I remember thinking- cooking something in a pot of water in a plastic bag…how lame; what skill does that take? Well, I was quite wrong.

About 14 years ago we started experimenting using a big pot of water, Ziplock Bags and an instant read thermometer on a burner where we would constantly check the temp and adjust the heat. I quickly realized that this was a great cooking method. We could perfectly cook a piece of meat ahead of time, taking the guess work and timing with a lot more possibilities of screwing something up out of the equation. Once the meat was cooked ahead of time, perfectly, all we had to do is once the customer ordered and it was time to pick-up the meat all you had to do give a quick sear to the meat and serve it. No more inexperienced cook fucking-up an expensive piece of meat.

lamb leg in the immersion circulator

lamb loin going into an ice bath after being immersed

duck confit, made sous vide

Our experiments started with meats using the ziplock method, now we have several immersion circulators and a restaurant size vacuum sealer that are in constant use cooking all sorts of different things; red meats, burgers, chicken, vegetables, eggs, fish and even an occasional pudding for part of a dessert. Gone are the days of over cooked chicken breast (sorry, Trisha), every chicken breast we serve is moist and tender.

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My initial trepidation was replaced with “why wouldn’t we cook this way”…a little bit more forethought (prep before service) equals serving a better, more consistent product, it only makes sense.

Sous vide cooking is not just for the professional kitchen, My Anova immersion circulator and FoodSaver vacuum sealer have been an integral parts of my home kitchen for the past 10 years.

I highly recommend all cooks- pros, wanna-be pros and amateurs to get into sous vide cooking.

The below link is to an informative article in Bon Appetit Magazine.

https://www.bonappetit.com/story/what-is-sous-vide-cooking

More Lamb Love

Jan18

Just like I said in the previous post- ” the chops will sell out quickly”, they did. We’re on to the loins, which also will be gone fast.

I marinated the loins with a lot of herbs, shallots, garlic, mustard and EVOO

Next I vacuum sealed them and sous vide them for 2 hours at 137 degrees.

lamb loin going into an ice bath after being immersed

At pick-up I seasoned the loins with kosher salt and fresh ground black pepper and then seared the loins.

After letting the it sit for a few minutes I put a few thick slices on the plate with the rest of the ingredients. The final result is perfectly cooked and absolutely delicious!

We got a lamb

Jan16

Farmer Tad

Farmer Tad from Featherbrook Farm in Raynham, MA brought us a lamb. It’s our first lamb in a long while, unfortunately our long-time supplier of local lamb bought-the-farm and we had been looking for a new supplier.

Tad, who already brings us chickens, rabbits and eggs mentioned to me that he was growing a few lamb and wanted to know if we were interested in one of them. I jumped right on it, telling him we would happily take one of them off his hands.

Tad’s lamb awaiting processing

We have a long history of serving locally produced lamb. I have been butchering and cooking them since long before we opened EVOO. I became quite proficient at it; I would time myself to see how long it would take to butcher the lamb into the desired pieces for roasting and braising. I can easily break-down a lamb in less than 7 minutes; my record is 2 lambs in 11 minutes. Keep in mind butchering is my least favorite job to do in the kitchen, I’m a closest wanna-be vegetarian and I just want to get it done as quickly as I can. The below video of me breaking-down a lamb is a couple of years old.

We have already started serving the chops with some braised meat:

Herb Marinated Grilled Lamb Chops and Braised Lamb with Roasted Fingerling Potatoes, Crushed Olives, Pickled Cauliflower, Parsley, Marcona Almonds, Goat’s Milk Feta and Mint Salsa Verde

Being just one lamb there are not a lot of chops, even paired with braised lamb meat we will only have 7 orders before we switch the chops out with roasted loin which will only make an additional 5-6 orders. Later this week or perhaps the beginning of next we will have a roasted lamb leg sandwich on the lunch menu and a braised lamb dish, possibly a pasta dish. Then it will be gone…

loins to be sous vide

legs waiting to be marinated, roasted and sliced for sandwiches

New Vegetarian Dish

Jan16

Polenta Croquette with Braised Spinach, Stracciatella, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Parsley, Last Summer’s Tomato Sauce and Pine Nut Crunch

20200115_125144

I have written in the past about my approach to vegetarian dishes, you can check out my previous post here.

This dish came about when I was thinking about what should we do with all of the plum tomatoes that we put up in Mason jars this past summer. To me that’s the coolest thing about this dish; we are using local tomatoes in the middle of January. Sure they’re not fresh tomatoes. However, they were bought from local farms (Drumlin Farm in Lincoln, MA and Kimball Fruit Farm in Pepperell, MA) during the height of the local season. So.. we are still supporting the local community and best of all- they’re freaking delicious!

20200115_235120

To go with the tomatoes-we made polenta croquettes with Four Star Farm’s (Northfield, MA) cornmeal. We braised The Food Project’s (Roxbury, MA) spinach and topped the croquette with stracciatella from The Mozzarella House (Peabody, MA).

This one of the many vegetarian dishes that we have produced where you don’t have to be a vegetarian to enjoy.

Spotlight on Peter and Colleen McCarthy

Jan15

About a year ago (maybe, closer to 2) we got a new website; with the new site my blog got lost in the shuffle for a while. Well it’s back and I’m going to start with a post that Steve Kurland our business partner and the general manager in Kendall Square produced for EVOO’s 20th anniversary. At the time we had been periodically writing a spotlight about different employees. Steve would ask them a bunch of questions and I would write an intro with a few anecdotes about the employee and through in a few photos. For EVOO’s anniversary post Steve wanted to Spotlight Colleen and I.

I’m pretty sure that this post did go out on social media, so it may be old news to some of you. But I do think it should be in a blog since there is so much of our and EVOO’s history in it.

Me and Colleen in Spain.

Spotlight on Colleen and Peter McCarthy, by Steve Kurland

I first met Colleen and Peter when I lived in Union Square. EVOO was just opening in its original location on Beacon Street in Somerville and I loved the place. The food was locally-sourced, unique, and of course delicious. It was the atmosphere though, that first attracted me. I could feel the love and care in EVOO. The staff truly cared, and everyone did their best to make EVOO successful. As a guest, EVOO was warm,welcoming, and customers quickly became regulars.

EVOO’s original sign from Beacon Street in Somerville

I soon became friendly with Peter and Colleen, so when I looked to get out of the corporate restaurant world, I asked if they knew of any opportunities at independent restaurants. Luckily, this was just as Za, in Arlington, was getting ready to open. so timing was perfect. It has been 14 years. and I am genuinely happy I found such great partners.

Za, 138 Massachusetts Ave. Arlington

Colleen is one of the kindest people I know. She truly cares about all the people she comes in touch with at the restaurants. Long-time guests are friends, and Colleen goes to great lengths to take care of employees who need her help.

I admire Peter’s high standards and drive, but mostly appreciate his passion. He puts his imprint on the restaurant every day–through his concern for people, and for our environment. He has taught so much to so many, and has worked on sustainability long before it became the popular thing to do.

Colleen

You are a proud and capable CPA. How were you drawn into the restaurant business?

Pete dragged me in… For years, Pete aspired to open his own restaurant. I knew he would someday open a restaurant but honestly didn’t think about how it would impact my career. At the time I was working for Parent, McLaughlin & Nangle, CPAs, and really enjoyed my job.

We opened EVOO in June 1998, and for the first two years I worked both jobs. I would work at PM&N during the day, and then head to the restaurant most nights. It was pretty exhausting (especially during tax season), but hey, I was only 29 and we didn’t have kids yet, so it’s what I did.

A few years in, the front of the house manager told us that she was moving on, so Pete and I talked it over, and I made the decision to leave public accounting and work at EVOO full-time. It wasn’t an easy decision, but a decision I’m glad I made. Of course, we weren’t sure about how we would be working together, but figured we’d give it a shot. It’s been great. As long he understands that I’m always right things will go smoothly!

As EVOO comes up to its 20th Anniversary, how is it different than you thought it would be in 1998?

I never thought we’d be operating in a larger space in Kendall Square, that’s for sure.

We opened ‘old’ EVOO on Beacon Street in Somerville. It was a 70 seat restaurant with a small bar and open cooking line. We had an amazing core staff and a lot of long-term regular guests. One of our regulars was developing the Watermark Building, and invited us to take a look at the space. At the time, our son Shane had just been born, and we had recently opened the first Za in Arlington, so I was in no position to take on that move.

A few years later, when the residential piece was complete, we were approached by yet another regular who was in charge of leasing the space at the time. This time around, the move made sense… so after twelve years, we moved EVOO to Kendall Square. The ‘new’ EVOO has 120 seats, including three rooms that can be private rooms. We also opened a second Za location in an adjacent space, with a shared bar. I’m not sure what I was thinking taking on this project when our kids were one and four, but it was a good decision. Kendall Square is a pretty cool place to be!

You are surrounded by your family and long-time friends at work. How did this happen?

First and foremost, I’m really lucky to work with my husband, Pete. The rest sort of just happened. Dan, my brother, was the first employee; he worked the bar a few nights a week to help us when we first opened.

Nina, who I’ve known since I was 16, and grew up with Pete, started working with us a few years later. Steve was a regular and friend at ‘old’ EVOO, and he became a co-worker when we opened Za in Arlington. He became a partner when we opened in Kendall.

Then, there’s a whole lot of people that started working at EVOO and Za who have become long-time friends. I joke I’ve known Tiego for over half of his life. We’ve even had a few nieces and nephews of long-time employees come to work for us, so that’s pretty cool. We are really lucky to have such a great bunch to work with!

Do you have a favorite all-time EVOO menu item?

The Garlic and Parsley Studded Beef Tenderloin with Sweet ‘n’ Smoky Onions, Sour Cream Whipped Potatoes, Carrots and Orange Béarnaise is my all time favorite EVOO dish. I used to joke with Pete that if he ever took it off the menu, our marriage may be over. He did take it off the menu for a short time (was he testing me??) because he wasn’t able to locally source the cut he wanted to offer. Thankfully, he was able to find a new source for local grass fed center cut tenderloin, so our marriage survived!

What do you look for when you go to other restaurants?

Good food and good service. Sometimes you want to just go out and grab a quick dinner, but the food should still be good and the service, welcoming and friendly (see pet peeve below!). Obviously, the restaurant has to be clean too. It’s always interesting to watch the way the staff interacts. My kids even comment on various things we see. We usually joke those are the things we discuss in the car on the way home.

What makes you crazy when you go to other restaurants?

My biggest pet peeve is when no one thanks me on the way out, or says goodnight. I find it especially frustrating when employees and managers are standing right there, but don’t acknowledge us, or bother to thank us. There are so many dining options, and feeling appreciated on the way out or not impacts whether or not I want to go back. It’s your last impression on the way out.

Who cooks at home, and what’s your favorite dish to make?

When he’s home, Pete cooks, we are pretty spoiled. Unfortunately for me, Pete’s not home most nights, so the nights I’m home, I’m head chef. I call myself a mom-cook. I cook pretty basic food, but I think I cook it pretty well.

Our son Shane (13) will eat anything, and I mean anything. He was the kid who wanted to try a fish eyeball when he was 11 (no thank you). And then there is Caitlin (10). She’s a little fussier, but she’s come a long way. The other day, I asked them what my best dish is. Shane said steak and cheese subs, and chicken piccata.Caitlin said homemade mac ‘n cheese, and fettuccine alfredo. We always make it a point to try to sit down for dinner together on the nights we’re home.

Peter

You have spent so much of your life and career working with and promoting local food and local purveyors. What motivated you to start working this way?

While working at The Bostonian Hotel in the 1980’s and 90’s, I was exposed to a few local farmers: Eva Sommaripa from Eva’s Garden, Verrill Farm’s, Ken Ryan’s Van, and Roger Jones to name a few. They were so passionate about what they were growing, I wanted to support them by buying as much as of their produce as we could use. It helps put meaning into what we do; we strive to be a part of our community.

As EVOO comes up on its 20th anniversary, how is it different than you thought it would be in 1998?

I don’t know, in 1998 we were just trying get by; there was a lot to figure out. We were mostly thinking day to day not really looking too far ahead. After a few years, we settled in and moved ahead, opening Za in Arlington. A few years later we moved EVOO to Kendall Square and opened a second Za location in an adjacent space. It will be interesting to see what the next 20 years will bring.

You are surrounded by your family and long-time friends at work. How did this happen?

They all threatened to expose me for what I really am. So, we’re stuck with them.

Where do you like to eat when you’re not working?

My favorite place to eat is at home, with Colleen and our children–whether it’s a simple meal on the grill, or an elaborate all day experience, there is no place I would rather be.

Do you have a favorite dining experience (other than EVOO and Za, of course)?

It’s sunset on the beach in Nerja, Spain. I’m with my brother Steve, brother-in-law Dan and a couple of friends, and we go into the beach-side bar and for some beer, and ask about food. The proprietor sends us out to the beach with our beers, assuring us food will be taken care of.

A few minutes later the proprietor is making a wood fire on the beach, stoking it, adding a bit more wood as needed, replenishing our beers. Once the coals are just right he brings a bucket of fish out to the fire. He skewers the fish on fairly thick planks, slits the skin to keep it from curling while cooking, and seasons the fish with coarse salt. He then jammed the planks into the sand, so the fish would lean over the fire, with their drippings creating a pleasant smoke while gently cooking them. All the while, he kept the beer flowing. When the fish was finished, he simply slid the fish off the planks on top of some crisp romaine lettuce, adding a healthy squeeze of lemon juice and a long drizzle of EVOO. It was so good!!! Quite often the simplest preparations are the best.

The other extreme would be upon visiting Paul Bocuse’s eponymous restaurant in Lyon, France, where the master himself met Colleen and I at the door with flutes of Champagne, giving us a wonderful personal tour of the restaurant, followed by a perfectly prepared and presented 8 course meal.

You mentor many people? Any hints for others, and did you have an important professional mentor?

Treat people how you would want to be treated.

Kitchen work is stressful enough; you don’t need some egotist with a tall hat and limited skills yelling at you, blaming you for their inadequacies.

Give good directions and constantly follow through with critiques that will make your cooks better. Understand that everyone is different, so you should find ways to use an individual’s strengths, and guide them to better their weaknesses.

Chef Billy Poirier

Professional mentors? Billy Poirier was the Executive Chef at the Bostonian Hotel when I started working there in 1987; it was an eye-opening experience. My previous experiences at lesser quality restaurants, and at culinary school paled in comparison to the food being prepared at the time, which was, all made in-house with seasonal ingredients.

Other mentors whom I did not work with, but respect their work, are Gordon Hamersley, Jasper White, Lydia Shire, and Alice Waters.

Employee Spotlight – Athena Hay

Mar6

March’s Employee Spotlight is a shout out to Athena Hay. Athena’s contagious smile has been welcoming our guests at EVOO for almost a year. As a host she is often the first and last person to interact with our guests, and she is exactly the type of person we want for that job: friendly, outgoing and affable. When you arrive at EVOO she may be there to greet you with her professional yet vibrant demeanor shining through, assuring you that we will take great care of you.

As usual Steve Kurland our General Manager and business partner, took on the task of presenting this month’s employee spotlight, Athena Hay, with questions. Read on and get to know her a little better.

How long have you worked at EVOO and in which job(s)? I’ve worked at EVOO as a nighttime host for about a year or so.

What’s your favorite food item on our current menu? Current favorite is the Beef Tartare, but the Chinese Box is still my go-to item.

What have you enjoyed about working at EVOO? Often when beginning a new job and learning about the “behind the scenes” work, the magic of a place can be lost. But, what I loved about EVOO is that the magic just grew. Learning how much EVOO takes to heart the mission to be environmentally conscious and support and serve local. And, the actions taken that not all patrons might first notice, like how we reuse all our plate liners and how the server notepads are made from our re-purposed menus. Or how we grow our own herbs and little tomatoes right on the roof of our building!

What are you watching on TV these days? Planet Earth II on Netflix is a must see if you haven’t watched it yet!

Do you have any pets? I do not unfortunately! I do try to keep animals in my life as much as possible however. When I’m not working at EVOO, I have an independent dog boarding and walking job so it is not uncommon to see me walking around town with a posse of pups!

Where did you attend college? What was your favorite class? I attended Massachusetts College of Art and Design where I graduated with a BFA in Architecture. I loved all my design studios but it was also great to step out of my comfort zone with classes like Introduction to Jewelry Metal smithing.

What is the last show you attended? Last show I attended was a jazz show at the Beat Brasserie in Harvard Square.

Where did you grow up? How did you end up in the Boston area? I am from the suburbs of Boston and first moved into the city for school, Boston is definitely my hometown!

What is your dream job (other than EVOO)? Researching and designing public outdoor communal spaces is what excites me most in design so my dream job would be working with a like-minded, passionate team designing for a future communities.

In 1982, at least 15 years before she was born The Who wrote a song about her.

Employee Spotlight – Hannah Schwab

Feb21

Hannah Schwab, no, it’s not her high school yearbook photo

February’s employee spotlight is Hannah Schwab. Hannah has many roles at EVOO and Za, most importantly she is half of our events team, corresponding with, helping plan and execute our private events. She also can be seen waiting tables, running food and being a shift supervisor at any of the restaurants. I am often lucky enough to share the office space with Hannah, between her many emails and phone conversations, she always has a story to tell, most of them are quite amusing. When Hannah isn’t fulfilling one of her many roles with us she is often training for her next physical challenge, anything from a 5K to a marathon or a triathlon, Hannah is always pushing herself to great achievements.

Hannah on the right is all smiles after finishing the Cambridge 1/2 Marathon with Kylie Millbern, Colleen and me.

Hannah during a recent triathlon

Steve Kurland, our General Manager and business partner, came up with this insightful list of questions for Hannah. Continue reading to learn more than you ever wanted to know about Hannah.

How long have you worked at EVOO and in which jobs? I started working at EVOO in 2011. I first started working at Za (EVOO’s sister restaurant) in Arlington back in 2005. In 2010, when we opened Za and EVOO in Kendall Square, I began working full time. At EVOO I am currently part of the events team, supervisor, and serve two nights a week.

What do you enjoy most about your different job roles? I love the variety that it provides each day. It’s great to see an event from the first initial phone call to actually serving the party. I think it is helpful when planning events to also have insight on serving the group as well. I am a firm believer in the phrase :variety is the spice of life!”

Tell us a bout being a Doula: One of my really good friends (and a past employee of the restaurant) recently asked me and another friend to be her doulas for her second child’s birth coming up this February. For those that have never heard of a doula, they are meant to help provide support to the mother and family during child birth and after. I took a class and learned all there is to know. I am excited to support my friend. I also think that is not something you normally hear about. How awesome to have a support system built around you for not only the mother and baby but for the significant others as well. You never know, it could be a future side job.

What’s your favorite food item on our current menu? I LOVE everything on the menu. The burratina dish is always great. We have just started to have a burger on the menu and it changes weekly, and they are all amazing. Who doesn’t love a burger? The Haddock dish has some great flavors. I could go on and on. I always tell everyone how spoiled I am working here and having the opportunity to eat great food all the time. It’s a blessing. My all time favorite dish is our strawberry gazpacho in the summer and the strawberry rhubarb crisp! And don’t even get me started on the pizza at Za.

What have you learned working at EVOO? Wow, there are so many things. I guess the skill of being great at customer service. Whether at a table talking about our menu or helping someone planning a party, a smile, thank you, and overall enthusiasm for our food and mission goes a long way. I feel very fortunate to be a part of a great team here!

What’s on your music playlist right now? I have recently been on a music surge lately of some artists. Currently in rotation are Big Thief, Colter Wall, and Lisa LeBlanc. The later two are both from Canada.

What was your favorite clothing item in high school? I don’t think that I had a favorite clothing item. I had a red Jansport backpack that I loved. I really liked the television series “My So Called Life”. And the lead character had a red Jansport. So I thought it was pretty cool.

What is the last show you attended? I recently went to see Greensky Bluegrass at the House of Blues in Boston . There’s nothing like adding a little twang to your evening to make your soul happy. These guys are really great musicians and put on a fantastic show.

Where did you grow up? How did you end up in the Boston area? I grew up in Western Pennsylvania, a little town called Beaver Falls. Famous for the being the home town of Jets quarterback Joe Namath. After high school, I joined the United States Coast Guard. I was stationed in Buffalo, NY and Cape Cod. I met a bunch of awesome friends and overall had a great experience. After the Coast Guard, I moved to Boston and went to college and have never left. At my heart I am still and will always be a Pittsburgh Steeler fan!

What was your first car? A 1994 Toyota Corolla. It was a great car. Drove cross country in it. I should never have traded it in but liked the look of the old Jettas so off it went. I now have a 2004 Honda Civic Coupe, Scooter, he’s the best! Trying to keep him on the road for another year!

What’s your dream job (other than EVOO)? This is a tough question. There are lots of things I would like to do. The next step would likely be some role within event planning and maybe not at a restaurant but within the arts world some how. I always wanted to be a park ranger (since High School) and work a historical site giving tours. I also went to school for radio broadcasting so maybe working for public radio.

What is one thing you are passionate about? I don’t think that I could list just one thing that I am passionate about; it’s like naming one band as your favorite band. So here are a few: Family, Hankers (Hannah’s boyfriend Hank), Friends, Work, Running, Triathlons (my picture is from after I finished an Olympic distance triathlon this past Summer), Biking, Ocean, Swimming, Music, Concerts, Records, Reading, Walden Pond, Cooking, Knitting, Yoga, Movies, Eating, Dancing, Outdoors, really just enjoying all there is too life!

EVOO Restaurant

A restaurant committed to using local, quality ingredients and supporting the community.

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