Chef Ken Oringer - Recommendations - Find. Eat. Drink.
Chef Ken Oringer, Recommendations, Boston, MA, Massachusetts, Cambridge, Cocktails, Where to eat in Boston, Best Cocktails in Boston, Spanish, Japanese, Austin, TX, Texas, Barcelona, Spain, Tokyo, Japan, Markets, Restaurants, Bars, Philadelphia, PA, Pennsylvania,
GARLIC N’ LEMONS
Cool Lebanese place. Amazing falafel and shawarma. This place is really, really good.
Allston / Brighton
Middle Eastern
Restaurants - Boston, MA
GOURMET DUMPLING HOUSE
I brought Jose Andres here before he opened up in Vegas to do some research and he thought it was one of the best Chinese meals he’s ever had anywhere and I definitely agree. They have this Szechuan fish soup that is like the best Chinese dish I’ve had in this country. That place is phenomenal.
Chinatown
Chinese
OISHII
1166 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02118 (view map)
T: 617.482.8868 (make a reservation)
Very innovative. I like what he does with seasonal fish. He uses a lot of the more exotic Japanese fish that a lot of people don’t want to get, because they’re too expensive.
South End
Sushi
OYA
Really tasty. Go for the tasting menu and just leave it in their hands. There is no better way to do it, a bunch of surprises and interesting combinations.
Waterfront
Japanese / Sushi
SAPPORO RAMEN
1815 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02140 (view map)
T: 617.876.4805
I love it. It’s just a little kiosk of a ramen shop with about 15 seats and only two things on the menu, gyoza and ramen. Really unbelievable, great street noodles.
Porter Square
Japanese
853 Main Street, Cambridge, MA 02139 (view map)
T: 617.497.5511 (make a reservation)
Craigie on Main has a cool bar program. A little off the beaten track, but everyone knows about it.
Cambridge
Contemporary French
Cocktails - Boston, MA
GREEN STREET GRILL
Green Street Grill a fun place for cocktails.
Central Square
Lounge
SILVERTONE BAR AND GRILL
The old standby in Boston is Silvertone. It’s downtown and it’s kind of a divey place, but one of the first to do really cool things with cocktails. About 15 years ago, Ming Tsai and I used to always go when we both first moved over here.
Downtown
Bar
C- MART
692 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111 (view map)
T: 617.338.1717
For anything Asian. I go at least three times a week.
Chinatown
Asian Supermarket
Markets - Boston, MA
H MART
It’s like a Koreatown Los Angeles market. They have like 500 different types of kimchees and all kinds of fish. I love going there.
Burlington
Asian Market
MING’S SUPERMARKET
102 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02118 (view map)
T: 617.338.1588
It’s just outside of Chinatown and it’s phenomenal. I go at least three times a week for anything Asian.
South End
Asian Supermarket
CATALINA OFFSHORE PRODUCTS
I get Santa Barbara sea urchins flown in live from Catalina Seafoods.
Seafood
Food Purveyors
ISLAND CREEK OYSTER COMPANY
For freshly dug razor clams.
Shellfish / Oysters
MUTUAL TRADING COMPANY
We got a lot of seafood from them.
Japanese Foods
TRUE WORLDS FOODS
For Japanese food, they dominate anywhere in the Northeast, they’re so good.
Boston
Sushi Quality Seafood
801 South Lamar Boulevard, Austin, TX 78704 (view map)
T: 512.916.4808 (make a reservation)
Chef Tyson Cole is very creative.
Downtown
Japanese
Restaurants - Austin, TX
MORIMOTO
123 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19106 (view map)
T: 215.413.9070 (make a reservation)
I like anything by Morimoto.
Center City
Japanese
Restaurants - Philadelphia, PA
MORIMOTO
88 10th Avenue, New York, NY 10011 (view map)
T: 212.989.9883 (make a reservation)
I like anything by Morimoto.
Chelsea
Japanese
Restaurants - New york, NY
NIKO
170 Mercer Street, New York, NY 10012 (view map)
T: 212.991.5650
The sashimi was great, but I loved the king crab dish, it was really nice. They had a salad with seaweed and pumpkin seeds and some vegetables which was really nice. Really nice contemporary touch to Japanese food, much more modernized and innovative than traditional, which I always appreciate that approach.
Soho
Japanese
Poeta Cabanyes 25, 08004 Barcelona, Spain (view map)
T: +34/93.442.3142
One of the places that was an inspiration for Toro.
Poble Sec / Montjuic
Spanish / Tapas / Vermouth Bar
Restaurants - Barcelona, Spain
SAGARDI
One of the few pintxo bars in Barcelona. Standing room only and really cool.
Barrio Botic
Spanish / Basque / Pintxo Bar
TALLER DE TAPAS
Another one of the places that was an inspiration for Toro. They have a huge menu.
Old City / La Ribera
Spanish / Tapas
TSUKIJI
I love going to Tsujiki Market and eat whatever I can at all the sushi stalls.
Chuo
Fish Market
Markets - Tokyo, Japan
DAVID KINCH
He’s a guy who uses a lot of Japanese ingredients in his French food. So, we keep in contact by twitter. He doesn’t tweet that much and when he does, it’s always interesting.
Twitter
Chef
Who To Follow On Twitter
CHRIS COSENTINO
He’s very, very active with it and he’s always posting his new dishes and he’ll mention something like veal kidneys, and I’ll think we haven’t used veal kidneys in a while, so let’s do a dish with veal kidneys. He always puts ideas in your head. He’ll say, I just got green garlic and I’ll make a call and see if I can get some green garlic from California.
Twitter
Chef
JOSE ANDRES
I love to travel and I’ve traveled with Jose many times and I just love to see which restaurants he’s eating at in Spain or here and there and I’ll write down little notes and put them in my files. He’s a guy who loves to eat more than anyone in the world.
Twitter
Chef
He’s relatively new to Twitter. I love his sense of humor and his enthusiasm. He travels a lot and I like to see where he’s eating, because he lives a life many chefs would love to live.
Twitter
Chef
Chef Ken Oringer
May 17, 2011
WHO
Executive chef/co-owner of Clio, Uni, Toro, KO Prime and La Verdad in Boston and soon to open Earth in Kennebunkport, Maine.
WHY
Chef Oringer is known for his innovative approach to a range of international cuisines; Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Mexican and American “farm to fork.”
Clio, Uni Sashimi Bar, Coppa, KO Prime, La Verdad, Toro - Boston, MA | Earth - Kennebunkport, ME
COOKBOOKS
Great Chefs Cooking for Great Friends [buy it]
RECOMMENDATIONS
Ken Oringer’s recommendations for where to eat, drink and shop in Boston, Austin, Philadelphia, New York, Barcelona, and Japan.
