Za Photos, Above the Clouds

In January of 2024, I was skiing at Cannon Mountain in New Hampshire with my son Shane when I took this photo. It was kind of a crappy ski day, below the clouds it was raining, in the clouds you couldn’t see 20 feet in front of you and above the clouds it it was quite cold.

We spent as much time above the clouds as possible. Fortunately Cannon has a lift, the Cannonball Quad, that operates on the top 30% of the mountain, we looped on this lift most of the day.

On the summit there is a lookout tower. We decided to doff our skis and trek to and up the tower. Once on top we were rewarded with an outstanding view.

This photo is of the Lafayette Range, which is directly across from Cannon with Franconia Notch laying between the two mountains. When I saw the view I new that I had to take advantage of the photo opportunity.

I love this photo, In particular I appreciate the desolate coldness of it. It appears as though I used I black and white filter for it, I did not, the colors show true to the day. Of course, the best thing about this photo is when I look at it I remember the day that I got to spend with my son.

Here are a few more photos from that day.

Za Beers

Nov10

I’m taking the same approach with the beer we serve as I do with the food we serve. “Keep it Local” this has been one of our mantras since we opened.

It used to be, a restaurant’s beer list had to be exclusively mass marketed beers, not necessarily good beer. Often times these beer lists were written by your beer distributor. These beers typically included mega brands such as Budweiser, Heineken (YUCK!), Miller Lite etc.. If you were really daring you would include such obscure brands such as Corona or even Amstel.

Then it became okay to add a “craft” brew or 2, Sam Adams did start a revolution, but you still had to offer the staples.

About 15 years ago, you could get away with not offering the national mega brands, however, you had to be prepared for the backlash. “WTF no Budweiser, I’ll just have water” was a common response and not the one we wanted, after all we are in the business of selling beer.

Going forward a few more years we were able to get to the point that we were just serving regional craft beers; New England and New York, which was a big step in the right direction. Enough restaurants were doing the same thing, costumers began to expect a good beer list. And with such a great selection of beers to choose from it was an easy transition. The hardest part was just deciding which great regional beers you wanted to try next.

Now, I am trying to make our beer list as local as possible. One of the hurdles for me is that people expect to see several different breweries on a list, not just a couple. My thought is if you go to a brewery, and most of them are busy, you are only offered that breweries beers. No one complains about that. Also traveling in Europe most restaurants offer just one breweries beers; I’m sure that they are receive financial benefits for doing so. That said, I wanted to make our list as local as possible.

Currently our 12 beer list consist of only beer from within greater Boston with the vast majority coming from the Arlington Brewing Co. and the Medford Brewing Co. If I could get all our beer offerings from these 2 breweries I would, I’m working on it.

These are 2 breweries where I have a personal relationship with the them, I know the people and I want to support them.

One of the Arlington Brewing Co. main people is the father of 2 former Za employees, one of which was a schoolmate of my son. One of their delivery people is another one of my son’s former classmates. These are my neighbors, people that are regular Za customers, they support us, we support them.

As for the Medford Brewing Co. it’s less than 2 miles from Za and the it’s place I go to for a beer with friends, it’s my local. When I place my orders it’s with one of the breweries 2 owners, and the other owner makes the deliveries. This is the type of business that I want to support. Also, on Sunday late morning’s the brewery sponsors a run, it’s casual, not a race. You go at your own pace and decide your own distance. Most people chose between 3, 5 or 7 mile, predetermined routes that all start and finish at the brewery. Nick, one of the brewery’s owners is often running along with us.

By limiting the number of breweries, we are not sacrificing quality. Both the selection and quality of the beers these breweries offer are top notch.

So, the next time you dine at Za, have a beer, most likely it will be from one of these 2 breweries.

Drink a beer or 2, and help us support our local business partners.

Cheers!

Za Photos, Under The Pier

Sep9

I love this photo for many reasons. It’s Martha’s Vineyard, one of my all time favorite places. I have so many wonderful memories rooted in M.V., as a kid on my parents boat, as a young adult on my own boat, as an adult renting homes with family, friends and my kids. This public fishing pier juts out over Inkwell Beach in Oak Bluffs near the ferry dock, you can see the ferry dock in the background.

This photo prompts memories from many M.V. experiences. Early ones such as falling off the back of my parent’s boat, Bridget, named after my Grandmother, while docked in the harbor (I was about 5). Trying to grab the brass ring while astride the backs of the Flying Horses’ carousel’s ponies. So many ice creams at Mad Martha’s and Ben and Bill’s Chocolate Emporium; fudge and saltwater taffy at Murdick’s Fudge Shop. Later memories of getting engaged in Oak Bluffs, on the beach at sunset. My niece was conceived in one of the rental homes (not that I witnessed this, it’s family folklore). Midnight doughnut runs to Back Door Donuts. Taking long walks along the beach, checking out the Gingerbread Houses or to the East Chop Lighthouse, and even longer bike rides. Jumping off the “Jaws” bridge, watching my kids jump off the “Jaws Bridge”.

There are some music related memories as well. Beach Road Weekend Concert in 2022 featuring Wilco, Jason Isbell, Mt. Joy, Lord Huron, The Avett Brothers, Emmylou Harris and many more. A young woman shimmying herself up and down on me at a Toots and Maytals show at the now shuttered Atlantic. This was while I was standing next to and obviously with my then fiancé Colleen, we still laugh about that. Drinks and local musicians playing at The Ritz and at the also now shuttered Rare Duck.

I took this photo in July, 2024, when we rented, for the third time, the perfectly located home between Circuit Ave and Inkwell Beach, which was great for everyone, an easy walk to either downtown with it’s restaurants, cafes and shops or to the sand and sunshine of the beach.

Here’s a few more recent M.V. photos that are not on the walls of Za.

The top of the pier
We rented this house three times
My kids sailing in Vineyard Sound on our friends boat
Colleen and I at the East Chop Lighthouse
Nellie, Dan, Colleen and I having dinner at Jimmy Seas
Colleen and Nellie in East Chop
Statue in Menemsha
Sailing out of Menemsha
Oaks Bluff Harbor
My family with my dad in Gay Head
The cliffs, Gay Head
An ignored sign
Shane mid-air from the “Jaws Bridge”
My son and nephew getting ready to jump from the “Jaws” bridge
Edgartown Light
Steamship Ferry

Za Photos: Grace’s Place

Jul25

I’ve been told that dogs are colorblind, that may be true. Another truth is that Grace here enjoyed this tranquil and reflective lakefront sunset moment as much as I did, even though I saw it more vividly.

I took this photo in August of 2019.

While enjoying some adult beverages, we walked the short distance from our family vacation home in Moultonborough, NH, to a public beach on Lake Winnipesaukee so that we could check out the sunset. We often saw Grace and her human family at the beach catching the sunset, socializing and savoring their own beverages.

It seemed to me as though Grace was digging the whole scene. She was sitting there very regal like, watching over everyone, all the while contemplating her dog issues. It’s no surprise that I took a bunch of photos of the sunset, which was pretty great by itself. However, as I was watching Grace I knew that I needed to capture her in the moment.

Here are a couple of more photos from the same night, these photos are okay, but the one with Grace is a keeper.

This is Toby, my brother’s black lab who loves little more than he loves being in the water.

No dog sunset. Dogs make (almost) everything better.

Za Photos, Motif #1

Jun27

I showed this photo to my slightly older and immensely wiser brother, Steve, when he referred to the building as Motif #1, I didn’t have a clue as to what he was talking about. I thought what the f*#k is a Motif #1. Now that I am writing this post I thought that it might be prudent to find out the origin of it’s moniker. So I googled it…

This Boston Magazine article has all the information that you will need-

https://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/2017/05/23/motif-no-1-rockport/

To me this iconic red fishing shack is synonymous with Rockport, it brings back memories of summer visits on my father’s boat(s), as well as on my own sailboat, where we would just tie up to the pier and head into Rockport, usually for ice cream. I have even docked at the pier overnight on a couple of occasions. No one ever said we couldn’t and we never gave it a second thought. Now, I’m sure you would be asked to leave or you would have to pay some outlandish fee to tie up to this or any other pier in Rockport.

I took this photo in June of 2021. It was a hot day and we were still dealing with the effects of COVID 19. Colleen and I were off from work, EVOO was still closed and the kids classes were all online. We decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and have some quality family time. We headed up to Rockport, do a little sightseeing, a possible plunge into the frigid North Atlantic at Front Beach, followed by local seafood at The Lobster Pool.

Taking the photo wasn’t as easy as it should have been. We parked in a public lot near the Motif, not a hundred yards from where I took the photo. It was a picturesque day, I saw the little red building that I always associated with Rockport and I started directly to the end of an apposing pier, where it looked like I would be able to take advantage of what looked to be great photo opportunity. I didn’t get 10 yards before a professional looking woman holding a clipboard said that I couldn’t go any further along the pier. I shrugged and kept going, I wanted this photo. By the time I got to the end of the pier and quickly took my photos, the woman was right behind with the back-up of a couple more officious looking people, still yapping that I wasn’t supposed be there. She was saying something about having rented the space for the afternoon. I recall saying something about it being a public space and for her to have a nice day. After we backed away we noticed that there was a film crew there. I have no idea what they were filming, however I do know that they didn’t want to film me.

Anyway, I took the photos and they came out great. Now when I see the photo on Za’s wall, with that one shot, I have 3 generations of memories, my childhood with my parents and siblings, being there on my own sailboat, as well as being shooed away by some film people with my kids.

Recently a longtime guest of ours asked if they could buy the photo; they also claim to have some family memories of Rockport. Being a businessman, who am I to say no, we sold them the photo. Don’t worry, I have the original and have already ordered another enlargement to made, it will soon adorn the wall of Za once again.

Za Photos, Skirting Liberty

Jun20

In April of 2015, Me, Colleen and our kids Shane,10 at the time and Caitlin then 7, did a family vacation during the kids school April break. We first drove to Washington D.C. where we did all the usual touristy things. We visited the Lincoln monument, walked through and discussed the Viet Nam War Memorial. We got up at some ungodly hour for the opportunity to go in and up the Washington Monument. We also went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, as well as the Museum of American History. We strolled by the White House and waved to “Uncle Barry and Auntie Shelly”. It was a great few days, as usual I took many photos, none of which made it to the heralded walls of Za.

From D. C. we drove to NYC, well Hoboken, NJ, where My sister had a condo and was kind enough to let us squat for a few days. The location was great, very convenient. To get into Manhattan, from the condo it was a 3 minute walk, followed by a 15 minute ferry ride and boom there you are right downtown. As with D.C. we did all of the touristy things. Strolled through Time Square, did the Empire State Building thing, walked the Hi-Line, Had dinner at Jonathan Waxman’s (one of my favorite chefs) restaurant, Barbuto, in the Meat Packing District.

The next day the weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky, a slight breeze and temps in the low 70’s, we took a ferry out to see the Statue of Liberty. The statue was open and we were able to climb the stairs up to the observation deck in Lady Liberty’s crown. We had a great day, as I mentioned the weather was perfect, I was with my family and I got to go on a boat ride; not much could be better.

With the perfect conditions I was able to get some great shots of the statue, including this one. I had the photo enlarged and placed on the wall when we did our most recent renovations in 2021. This photo gets a lot of comments, including, surprising to me, “what is it”?. Since I took the photo I know exactly what it is and with a quick glance I can almost understand the question. Most people do figure it out quickly though.

Za Photos: Under the Zakim.

May14

I am an avid photo taker, not a photographer. I take lots of photos, some of them have come out pretty good; with the amount of photos I take, I’m bound to get a few good ones. Over the years and throughout our travels I have always made it a point to take photos. Since cellphones have had decent cameras they have been my go to and only camera.

All of the photos on the walls of Za, with the exception of 2 photos of windjammer sailboats hung in the men’s room, are photos that I took with whatever cellphone I had at the time. The 2 windjammer photos were taken from an old 35mil camera of mine, back in the 90’s, before the prevalence of cellphone cameras.

My plan is to share some of these images on this blog, telling you a bit about each photo along the way.

While working at EVOO and Za in Kendall Square I would fit some exercise into my schedule by either going to the gym located upstairs from the restaurants or weather permitting I would go for a run. One of my favorite running routes was to head out from EVOO through east Cambridge, Cambridge Crossing, under the Zakim Bridge, across the Charles River locks, through the North End, Faneuil Hall, City Hall, down Cambridge Street and over the Longfellow Bridge back to EVOO.

It’s a great route, Past an awesome skate park, along the Charles, next to the Gahden, looking out on Boston Harbor, past the old Houlihan’s space, where Colleen and I met in 1984. Past the Bostonian Hotel where I worked from ’87 to 97′. There’s a lot of things to look throughout this route including a bunch of American and personal history.

Taking photos during a run was not a one-off thing, you will see in future blog posts about Za photos. I would often stop mid-run to take a photo, there are several other running photos that have made the cut to be hung on the walls of Za. If I saw something that caught my eye, thinking it was cool or that I thought would make a nice photo, I stopped took a quick photo an moved on.

This photo of the Zakim Bridge was taken in August of 2019 and is one of those that I thought, hey this looks cool, so I stopped and took a picture. This photo has also made the rounds. I first had a canvas enlargement made for Za Arlington. we need something on the wall in the men’s room. I also had a copy made for home, to hang in one of our guest bedrooms. I then had a very large canvas made 30×48 and hung it at Za Cambridge for about 5 years until we closed that location. Now the very large canvas hangs in Za Arlington.

Za final cooking instructions

Jan3

1/2 cooked, not cut ‘za

As many of you know Za is EVOO’s sister restaurant with two locations, one in Kendall Square, Cambridge, abutting EVOO and the original Za is on Massachusetts Avenue in Arlington. When the timing is not right for you to dine at either restaurant, you can still enjoy ‘za on your own schedule. Below is the best way I have found for finish cooking or re-heating ‘za. So, if you are not sure what time you want to eat, but you know you want ‘za, don’t serve it soggy and cold. Follow these simple instructions to eat crispy crusted hot pizza whenever you want with little effort.

The first thing you need to do is order a stack of za from either location. They are 10″ pizzas that will serve one hardy appetite or two can share one za paired with one of Za’s amazing salads. Order a bunch and finish cooking on your time. I tend to order them early in the day, asking for them to be 1/2 cooked, not cut and refrigerated until pick-up. There is no need to take them home hot. When I get home I refrigerate the pizzas until I’m ready, whether it’s a few hours or a few days it doesn’t matter.

When it’s time, preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Once your oven reaches 375, place a heavy duty cookie sheet on the middle rack in your oven and heat the cookie sheet for 5 minutes, this will ensure a crisp bottom. If you have multiple racks and multiple sheet pans you can finish cooking several pizzas at a time, however, be careful the temperature on the bottom and top racks can vary greatly from the middle one.

Now add your pizza, I have found it takes between 8 and 12 minutes to get the crust crispy and the cheese to gooey. Use a burger flipping spatula lifting the ‘za in the middle. The sides of the ‘za not being held by the spatula should not droop, the topping should be hot and bubbling in spots. Remove the Za from the oven place on a big cutting board, cut into eight equal sized pieces and serve.

Step 1: Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Step 2: When oven reaches 375, place sheet pan on the middle rack in the oven for an additional 5 minutes.

Step 3: Place ‘za on hot sheet pan.

Step 4: Look at doneness, brown edges, bubbly cheese.

Step 5: Check bottom, za is nicely browned and not droopy.

Step 6: Cut and enjoy your za.

Pete's Blog

Food, Travel, Sailing, Za and EVOO

Tag Archives: Za