Weekly Digest: Shake Shack Opens Downtown, Plus More Must-Know Food News

It’s a busy time to be a food lover in Boston. Here, an easily digestible roundup of the restaurant news stories you need to know to have a delicious week. (And if you missed last week’s Wednesday Digest, check it out here.)

Avocado toast with cured salmon, blood orange, and radish, from Café Beatrice in Allston. / Photo courtesy of Café Beatrice

Café Beatrice Is Closing—For Now

Lower Allston’s Café Beatrice was always meant to be fleeting, and the pop-up’s time has come to an end: It will close after business on Thursday, Oct. 31. But Greater Boston won’t be without the Puritan & Co. team’s breakfast sandwiches, bagels, fancy toasts, grain bowls, and pastries like cocoa nib-banana bread for too long: Café Beatrice is headed for Cambridge Crossing, the East Cambridge development where chef Will Gilson and pastry chef Brian Mercury are opening a multi-concept café, restaurant, and rooftop cocktail bar in 2020. Shouting out the Lower Allston placemakers, Harvard’s Zone 3 and the brokerage firm Graffito SP, as well as Café Beatrice guests, Gilson said, “We can’t thank you enough for supporting us and helping us fine tune our concept over these past 6 months.” Stay tuned for more details on Café Beatrice 2.0, and in the meantime, go have one more feta-pimento cheese and mushroom toast while you can.

Café Beatrice, 182 Western Ave., Lower Allston, puritancambridge.com.

Photo courtesy of Curds & Co.

Curds & Co. Opens at Boston Public Market

One of the reasons we love a good food hall? There’s always something new among the local offerings. At Boston Public Market this week, it’s a fresh selection of artisan cheeses, oils, jams, and housewares thanks to the recent expansion of Curds & Co. from Brookline Village. Jenn Mason and her husband, Matt, launched their cheese shop in 2017, and also offer a cheese delivery subscription service and classes (like cheese-and-candy pairing on Halloween). At the BPM, Curds & Co. carries a variety of New England-made and imported cheese and specialty accompaniments. “Our goal is to get everyone to #StopEatingBoring by trying great cheeses and pairings that are being made by small batch and award-winning makers,” Jenn Mason said in a press release. Curds & Co. replaces former BPM cheesemonger Appleton Farms, and is located conveniently across the hall from Q’s Nuts. Elsewhere in the Haymarket-area venue, Hi-Rise Bread Company and Swissbakers have left the building—stay tuned for news on what local flavor will take their places at the BPM.

Boston Public Market, 100 Hanover St., Boston, bostonpublicmarket.org, curdsandco.com.

Shake Shack fries, burgers, and chicken sandwiches are coming to the menu in Downtown Crossing this week. / Photo by Jessica Giesey

Shake Shack Fires Up the Griddle in Downtown Crossing

A historic street in downtown Boston is getting a “roadside” burger joint this week. Shake Shack opens its sixth Boston-area location on Sunday, Nov. 3, at 322 Washington St. in Downtown Crossing. The New York-based company celebrates its spot near the Freedom Trail and Benjamin Franklin’s birthplace with three, exclusive menu new custard flavors: Colonial Custard, a vanilla base of strawberry puree, lemon curd, and shortbread cookie chunks; Revere’s Tracks, with chocolate toffee, shack salted caramel, and chocolate sprinkles in vanilla custard; and Pie Oh My, blended with pieces of seasonal Four & Twenty Blackbirds pies. The latter treat is part of Shake Shack’s charity mission; 5% of sales of Pie Oh My will be donated to Massachusetts anti-hunger non-profit Project Bread. Shake Shack is the critically acclaimed “modern day roadside burger stand” from industry leader Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group. It’s best known for hormone-free Angus beef burgers, crinkle fries, and an excellent fast-food chicken sandwich that doesn’t usually sell out on the daily. The new Downtown Crossing location serves wine and beer, including local options from Cambridge Brewing Co. and Harpoon, and the exclusive Brooklyn Brewery ShackMeister Ale. Shake Shack has outposts in Harvard Square, Newbury Street, the Seaport, Chestnut Hill, and Dedham; it’s also bringing burgers to Watertown in the coming months, and just announced plans to open a location at the Burlington Mall in spring 2020. Beginning November 3, Shake Shack DTX is open daily from 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

322 Washington St., Boston, 857-504-8932, shakeshack.com.

Smuttlabs—the experimental brand of Smuttynose Brewing—opens its first standalone taproom in Dover, N.H. this week. / Photo courtesy of Smuttynose

Breweries Galore

While there have been some painful losses on the Boston beer scene lately, there’s also been extraordinary growth: Massachusetts is now home to 200 breweries, quadruple the number it had back in 2011. The remarkable figure comes from industry bloggers Mass. Brew Bros., using their own records, corroborated by Brewers Association and Mass Brewers Guild data. Drinkers don’t have to see the numbers to know there’s never been a better time to be a Boston-area beer lover, though: We just got a third year-round Trillium Brewing Co. taproom, you guys. Not to mention, the populous neighborhoods of Roslindale and Brighton both recently welcomed their very own home-neighborhood breweries, Distraction Brewing Co. and Brato Brewhouse + Kitchen, respectively. The mug runneth over, even into New Hampshire—the neighbor to beer behemoths like us, Maine, and Vermont is finally catching up when it comes to craft beer, argues a recent Vine Pair article. Next week will bring an innovative newcomer to the Seacoast city of Dover, from longtime Granite State brand Smuttynose Brewing Co. Smuttlabs Brewery & Kitchen opens Wednesday, Nov. 6, in downtown Dover, the first physical outpost of the long-running experimental brand by the makers of Old Brown Dog, Finest Kind IPA, and other classics. Eight forward-thinking, limited-batch beers will rotate on the draft lines, and New Hampshire chef Anthony Ricco is creating a complementary menu of pub fare like duck confit poutine, and Old Brown Dog-fried chicken and waffles with sweet potato butter and N.H. maple syrup. Time for a late-fall visit to greater Portsmouth? Finalize your plans for the region’s Restaurant Week, which conveniently also begins November 6. Cheers to New England beers!

Smuttlabs Brewery & Kitchen, 47 Washington St., Dover, N.H., smuttynose.com.

Photos courtesy of Sukker & Sweet

Sukker & Sweet Brings Global Treats to the Street

You’re not going to want to share this candy with trick-or-treaters: the Street Chestnut Hill’s newest shop, Sukker & Sweet, specializes in a variety of rare treats sourced from all over the world. From Spanish gummy candy, to Swedish sours, to Belgian chocolate truffles, the boutique “penny candy” experience offers more than 250 different choices, including allergen-free, vegan, Kosher, and diet-friendly candies. It also carries classics like cola gummies, dark chocolate caramels, and bean-to-bar chocolate bars. Founded by husband-and-wife Michael and Greer Missouri, the modern, sleek candy land is inspired by Scandinavian design, and boasts a custom photo booth inside, too. Sukker & Sweet is now open every day from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. (9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays).

33 Boylston St., Suite 4320, Chestnut Hill, sukkerandsweet.com.

Juliet in Somerville. / Brian Samuels Photography

Juliet Unveils a Cookbook

Your wintertime table can feature a spread of the “technique-driven yet warm cuisine” that led Juliet to the No. 37 spot on our list of the best restaurants in Boston. Chef Josh Lewin and partner Katrina Jazayeri just announced Juliet + Company’s first-ever cookbook, Our Market Season, which includes 25 seasonal recipes from Juliet, as well as insights into the Somerville restaurant’s approach to kitchen training, from thinking seasonally to sustainable career improvement. With recipe development assistance by Juliet chef de cuisine Rachel Collins, the “booklet” is illustrated by Juliet service manager Ariel Knoebel, edited by director of Katie Rosengren, and designed by service manager Sam Mangino. Preorder the slim tome before November 5 for a 20 percent discount; Our Market Season will be available at Juliet and other local bookshelves for $15, beginning November 10.

Juliet, 257 Washington St., Union Square, Somerville, 617-718-0958, julietsomerville.com.