Here Are 2021’s Eater Awards Winners for Boston
The best new restaurant, bar, cafe, and more
by Rachel Leah Blumenthal @blumie Dec 8, 2021, 10:15am EST
Additional reporting by Terrence Doyle
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Today, we’re excited to announce the winners of the 2021 Eater Awards, celebrating just a few of the new restaurants that have made a major impact on the Boston-area dining scene over the last two years. (Eater did not announce awards in 2020 given the circumstances, so restaurants that opened in both 2020 and most of 2021 were considered for this year’s awards. Openings in the final couple of months of 2021 will be eligible next year.)
While pandemic-related challenges continue to plague the industry — from staffing shortages to supply chain issues to the simple fact that New England weather isn’t friendly to year-round outdoor dining — local restaurants and industry workers have shown incredible resilience and creativity over the last two years. Against all odds, there’s been an explosion of Boston-area restaurant openings in recent months (over 70 already just this season), each special in its own way.
This year’s Eater Awards highlight six standouts that transported us to another place: a bustling late-night eatery in Bangkok or an intimate Mexico City bar or an energetic coffee shop in Hanoi. They nimbly navigated ever-changing mandates and found ways to optimize business even when customers couldn’t go inside and even as many still prefer outdoor dining, takeout, and delivery. They brought us global tastes when we couldn’t travel; they brought us uncomplicated comfort as we emerged from isolation.
Please join us in celebrating the incredible winners of the 2021 Eater Awards.
Best New Pop-Up
Comfort Kitchen
Various locations, including a long residency at Little Dipper, 669A Centre St., Jamaica Plain, Boston; expected to open in its permanent location — 611 Columbia Rd, Dorchester, Boston — early next year
Next year, Comfort Kitchen will finally open in its own space, a historic comfort station in the Upham’s Corner section of Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood. The building dates back to 1912 and hasn’t been used since the late 1970s; add pandemic challenges on top of that, and it’s understandable that the restaurant, first announced in mid-2019, isn’t up and running yet. But that’s not entirely true: The Comfort Kitchen team has actually been popping up around town extensively since early 2020, introducing eager diners to its global comfort food, meant to celebrate the flavors and ingredients of the African diaspora, touching cuisines from Asia to the Americas.
Most recently, Comfort Kitchen has settled in for a residency in Jamaica Plain, serving a menu inspired by the connections between Caribbean and South Asian cuisines thanks to the spice trade. Chef and partner Kwasi Kwaa’s dishes tell stories of sherry barrels fortified by hot peppers on Caribbean ships centuries ago, of curries spreading throughout Asia, of the growth of coffee as a Caribbean export. The Comfort Kitchen team has already achieved quite a lot working out of other people’s spaces; it will be thrilling to see what they can do once they put down roots in Dorchester.
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