50 Food Finds

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On the lamb

Lamb bacon just might be God’s gift to carnivores. Certainly the house-made stuff chef Scott Hebert is serving at Troquet in the Theatre District is a near-religious experience. It’s currently served only as part of a lamb platter (pictured) but will soon be found elsewhere on the menu as Hebert figures out how to spread the lamb around. Troquet, 140 Boylston Street, Boston, 617-695-9463, http://troquetboston.com

Deep Nantucket

Yes, the Triple Eight Blueberry Vodka uses Maine blueberries, but Triple Eight Distillery is firmly planted on Nantucket Island, where sweet local water (from well number 888) is the basis for its vodkas, gin, rums, and Notch (not Scotch), a single malt whiskey that sells for $888 per 750-milliliter bottle. If you’re on the island, stop by for a tour and a nip. Triple Eight Distillery, 5 and 7 Bartlett Farm Road, Nantucket, 508-325-5929, http://ciscobrewers.com

Free-for-All

The chocolate-chip oatmeal cookies from New Hampshire-based HomeFree taste homemade – you won’t even miss what’s not in these organic allergen-free treats. None of the HomeFree cookies contains eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, dairy, or wheat (but since they do contain oats, they’re not quite gluten-free). At most Shaw’s supermarkets, http://shaws.com, and http://homefreetreats.com.

They Dig It

Having trouble getting that backyard garden started? Maybe you need a “personal farmer.” Green City Growers co-owners Gabriel Erde-Cohen and Jessie Banhazl construct and maintain raised-bed organic produce “farms” just about anywhere the sun shines (backyards, rooftops, driveways, balconies). It sounds expensive, but Erde-Cohen says the mini-farms actually save money: Plots start at $500 for a 4-by-4-foot bed of vegetables, about 20 percent less than the cost of buying the same yield of produce. Green City Growers, 508-395-1987, https://greencitygrowers.com

It’s the Bees

Cambridge Brewing Company’s brewmaster, Will Meyers, has crafted a new summer barleywine called Arquebus, a strong golden ale made with one hyper-local ingredient: honey produced by bees kept within 5 miles of the Kendall Square brewery. Arquebus took the gold medal in the experimental beer category at the Great American Beer Festival in October. “It’s our beer interpretation of a white dessert wine,” Meyers says. Cambridge Brewing Company, 1 Kendall Square, Cambridge, 617-494-1994, http://cambridgebrewingcompany.com

A Waiter You’d Wait For

Originally from near Naples, server Mario DePascale brings Old World respect, humor, and theater to Scampo, on the edge of Beacon Hill. His voice is soft and melodic as he describes the menu specials, and his warm welcome makes you feel like a regular after just two visits. Scampo, The Liberty Hotel, 215 Charles Street, Boston, 617-536-2100, http://scampoboston.com

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