What to Eat (and Drink) This Weekend

Welcome May with foraged flora and Maibock, get a scoop at a new FoMu, and more.

FoMu Alternative Ice Cream

FoMu Alternative Ice Cream. / Photo by Somerby Jones

More FoMu!

The beloved frozen confectioner debuts yet another pop-up this weekend. This time, FoMu will bring its alternative ice cream (all the flavors are dairy-free) back to Newbury Street, this time in a former clothing boutique storefront—right across from Ben & Jerry’s. This location will be open through the end of the year. The Watertown-based company also has cafes in Allston, Jamaica Plain, and the South End, and it launched a home delivery subscription this spring. On Newbury Street, FoMu is open daily from 11 a.m.-11 p.m.

177 Newbury St., Back Bay, Boston, fomuicecream.com.

La Summa is again participating in the Taste of the North End this year

La Summa is again participating in the Taste of the North End this year. / Photo provided

A Taste of the North End

With dozens of red sauce restaurants, espresso cafés, and Old World markets lining the tight blocks of Boston’s Little Italy, the historic ’hood can be a little overwhelming to navigate. Restaurateur Donato Frattaroli is making it easy tonight: The owner of Lucia Ristorante, Artu, and Il Molo is hosting the 24th annual Taste of the North End food fest. He’s gathered more than 40 neighborhood restaurants, including Aria, Bricco, Lucca, and other favorites, all to support the North End Waterfront Health Center. Check out the full lineup of participating restaurants, and make sure you arrive hungry.

$125 at the door, Friday, April 28, 7 p.m., DCR’s Steriti Memorial Rink at 561 Commercial St., North End, Boston, totne.org.

A gnocchi special with foraged plants is on special at Commonwealth on Friday

A gnocchi special with foraged plants is on special at Commonwealth on Friday. / Photo provided by Nicco Muratore

Foraged Flora

It’s especially appropriate that we celebrated the 195th birthday of the O.G. American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted this week—the lovely (though occasionally invasive) plants he proffered around the city, with contributions like the Emerald Necklace, are flourishing this time of year. Not confident in your own edible foraging skills? Leave it to the professionals. Commonwealth chefs Ellie Campbell and Nicco Muratore went on a purposeful hike this week that yielded field garlic—aka wild chive—and garlic mustard, knotweed, edible violets, chickweed, wild mint, and Norway spruce tips, Muratore shares. Taste the bounty in a special tonight: potato gnocchi with braised lamb, sautéed garlic mustard, wild chive pesto, mint, chickweed, and violets. Foraged flora abounds elsewhere, too—ramps add a savory bite to goat cheese on a snap pea salad at Doretta Taverna; and the garlicky plant adds to Oak + Rowan’s rotolo with morels and asparagus. Plus, BABES (Boston Area Beer Enthusiast Society) leader Kristen Sykes was just out picking the invasive knotweed for this year’s batch of Cambridge Brewing Company’s Olmsted’s Folly, so keep an eye out for that release in the coming weeks.

Commonwealth, 11 Broad Canal Way, Kendall Square, Cambridge, 617-945-7030, commonwealthcambridge.com.

Chicken katsu at Pagu

Chicken katsu at Pagu. / Photo by Matt Li

Chicken Katsu, Shiitake Bao, and More on Pagu’s Lunch Menu

Have you tried chef Tracy Chang’s illuminating debut, Pagu? The Cambridge restaurant recently added a few more hours each week for you to get your fill of Spanish pintxos, Japanese izakaya fare, and more inventive small plates—and cocktails. The lunch menu includes new dishes, like an uni and ikura rice bowl, shiitake bao, and three-course lunch sets inspired by Taipei, Barcelona, and more.

Lunch Tuesday-Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-5 p.m., 310 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-945-9290, gopagu.com.

Mugs of Maibock at Olde Magoun's Saloon

Mugs of Maibock. / Photo provided by Olde Magoun’s Saloon

Maibock

This crisp German lager is traditionally brewed in time to welcome spring every year. Olde Magoun’s Saloon, which is always a great place to find imports and craft beer, is hosting its first-ever Maibock Spring Fest this weekend, complete with live oom-pah music in the afternoon and evening. The beer flows all day, though—six special drafts include Einbecker Mai-Ur-Bock, Hofbrau Maibock, and more. There will also be food specials, like Bavarian pretzels, and a knockwurst Reuben.

Maibock Spring Fest, Saturday, April 29, 10 a.m.-close, Olde Magoun’s Saloon, 518 Medford St., Somerville, 617-776-2600, magounssaloon.com.