Remember when the experts advised real foodies to eat out only in the middle of the week, avoiding the dreaded suburbanites on weekends? Remember when being a Special Occasion restaurant could brand a place as cluelessly old-fashioned? Remember when the chef’s word ruled — no substitutions, no questions, no mercy? Remember when prices at even scruffy places were astronomical, and money was thrown around at will on $200 plus wines? Remember when?

I was struck by a comment by Mc Slim Jb, the Everyman’s King of Boston dining, tweaking Valentine’s dining as Amateur Night. I don’t think too many in the restaurant industry are  scorning Special Occasion dining this year. When chefs are bemoaning empty rooms and lost revenue, any packed house is welcome. Bring on the amateurs. Every night should be Valentine’s!

"Fully Committed" the play

Last week I made a restaurant reservation, and was bemused when the young woman told me that “We’re fully committed” that night. It was the second or third time I’d heard it in a few weeks. It seemed so late ’90s when the play of that name chronicled the hot-hot-hot years of New York and San Francisco dining. But everything that goes around, comes around, so Fully Committed is having a comeback.

Which brings up the issue of the phrases that stick in the restaurant industry, year after year, trend after trend. “Still working on that?” “Are you finished yet.” And the classic “Fries with that?”

What’s your evergreen restaurant phrase?

Last night we met friends at Il Casale in Belmont. Early, very early, because the di Magistris’ brothers new restaurant in an old firehouse down from where they grew up is packed all night, every night. No wonder. It’s warm, it’s welcoming, the vibe is lively from the baby crawling around at the next table to Mary Richardson of Chronicle on the other side to seemingly everybody from the near and western suburbs crowded into the long bar area and noisy dining room.

Midway through fantastic sfizi (small bites, great ones like chicken liver crostini and burrata with Sicilian oregano and pistachios) chef Dante diMagistris strode, just back from Italy, with truffles. And we were treated to tagliatelle with a soft-poached egg topped with freshly-shaved truffles. Dante did the shaving, remind me of the first time I wrote about him. In a review of blu, I talked about this young chef who’s enthusiasm for the truffles he shaved over pasta transformed the dining experience.

Il Casale is a hit for good reasons — oh, did I tell you that Daniele Baliani, one of the great talents in any kitchen, is cooking there. And did I say that Leon diMagistris, the father famed for his high-style salon in Belmont, chats with customers. Or that the prices are reasonable, the pasta comes in small or large portions, and the staff couldn’t have been more solicitous about a diner allergic to olive oil.

All this and truffles, too. No wonder it’s tough to get a table.

Art in a cup

After a long day-into-night of judging the first annual White Chrome Barista Throwdown put on by  Flat Black Coffee in Dorchester, here are a few things I remember:

–About 2/3 of the way through tasting espressos and lattes made by 11 contestants, Annie Copps, of Yankee Magazine and one of my fellow judges, counted that we must have consumed 24 shots. She started spitting, just like a wine tasting.

— Gerra Harrigan, the expert from New Harvest Coffee Roasters in Providence and the other judge, managed to keep her cool composure and sort through the contestants through about 5 hours of tasting.

— All 11 contestants were really good — and some could talk while making excellent espresso. Even if their hands shook when serving the coffee.

— Alison Novak, from Simon’s Coffee Shop in Cambridge, who won, made a signature dessert coffee that by now I can no longer describe, but I’d have every night if I could.

— The reason I can’t describe it, although my palate memory is excellent, is because even taking tiny sips of more than30 espressos and espresso-based drinks makes you a bit forgetful. Drunk, even. Not only that, I couldn’t spell.

Gerra judges barista and coffee contests all the time. Today, recovering from an event that was a lot of fun plus included dinner at Tavolo down the street, I’d have to think about it doing another very soon — at least until my ability to spell returns.

Jacky and Iris Robert

Last Sunday, I got to catch up a little with Jacky Robert of the growing Petit Robert Bistro empire — it was his birthday and he threw a house, well, actually a backyard, party at his own Maison Robert. His daughter, Iris, was in from New York. Right now, Iris is cooking at Jean-Georges in New York, part of a series of jobs she’s taking to round out her culinary education.  (Vongerichten is bringing his culinary brand here with a Market restaurant opening in the new W in the Theater District next month.)

Iris, who basically grew up in the kitchen, opened Petit Robert Bistro on Columbus for her father before moving to New York. She’s a talent, completely at home in the kitchen, and despite her youth, able to create wonderfully delicious and unfussy food. Her sights are next set on working in kitchens in France for awhile.

And then somewhere down the line, she’s thinking of a return to Boston. Perhaps there’s a new Maison Robert in Boston’s future?

Just as the mood in Boston restaurants is at its glummest, there’s a flurry of new places opening or in the works. Orinoco in Brookline – which is about to become taco central, as unlikely as that is. Abbey Park and 88 Wharf in Milton, another unlikely new restaurant hub.  Sonic on Route 1, which is mobbed — Sonic, a fast food creation that we in the Midwest thought was cheesy decades ago!!!And coming soon, the behemoth Post 390 on Clarendon Street, which threatens to suck up a lot of the dining oxygen at 300 seats with plenty of money behind it.

Add to that changeovers, BanQ will become Ginger Room, Excelsior will become something else, and more rumors are in the air.

Is this the end of the recession? Cheap rents? Panic? Time will tell, and hopefully diners will be able to sort out the new from the good, quality from the chaff, good value from the cheap bargains. Maybe the dining public is digesting this right now while waiting in line to order Sonic burgers and a malt.

The days of summer are getting away from me, and little time for blogging. Luckily, great food memories linger. Monday night at Gibbet Hill Grill in Groton is one of them.  Chef Richmond Edes went all out at the Farm-to-Fork dinner, creating fantastic food with vegetables from the new vegetable garden on the property and local meats, dairy and cheeses.

The striped bass with black trumpet mushrooms, honey-roasted heirloom tomatoes and sweet and hot pepper emulsion was great, and so was the duck with potato millefeuille, watermelon radishes, chard, and stewed Mayflower plums.

But my favorite was the assiette of summer vegetables — a gorgeous arrangement of raw and lightly pickled fennel, radishes, green and yellow beans, nasturiums and herbs with a little carpaccio of River Rock beef. Just what summer is made of!

Congratulations to Gibbet Hill, the Webber family, and their chef for an inspiring meal.

Eating out can seem like a gamble: How can you be sure that the famed name is cooking that night? Will it be worth the hype? Has the restaurant you’ve chosen lost its edge?

Joseph Brenner of Olives

That’s why it’s so reassuring to walk in to Olives and see Joseph Brenner orchestrating the open kitchen. No, Todd wasn’t in the house last Saturday night. It may be his photo in the press, but not so often in the kitchen these days as he jet-sets from Olives to Olives to TV and beyond.  But Brenner, who has been his main chef forever, is a really good cook, as well as being friendly and unassuming. Olives in Charlestown may have lost some of its glitz over the years, but the grilled octopus and squid with lots of garlic, olive oil, and a garbanzo salad is fantastic. And the sweet pea ravioli spectacular.

Almost better is the sense of well-being you get sitting at the bar watching Brenner and his cooks — he knows what he’s doing, and does it very well, night after night– just what you want when you go out to dinner.

Chef Ludovic Lefebvre

Yes, I know what you’re thinking — those annoying ads that clutter your screen. But I’m talking pop-up restaurants — a phenomenon that Restaurant News trumpets as growing in popularity. In a web story Tuesday, Ludovic Lefebvre, formerly chef of the now-defunct l”Orangerie in LA, talks about setting up shop five nights a week in Breadbar. The bakery/cafe rents space for LudoBites in the evenings; the chef has a kitchen and a venue without opening a new (and expensive) restaurant. When he’s tired of this space, he and wife Krissy will move on.

It’s a little like some romances – benefits without long-term commitment. None of the hassles of restaurant owning – raising capital, 5-10-year leases, buying expensive equipment — but the added sizzle of the unexpected. Here today, and tomorrow somewhere else.

So far, the idea hasn’t hit Boston — although the new Bina on the Common might be a stab in that direction. But in the gloom of the economy and the stress on restaurateurs, look for pop-ups in our eating future.

Porcinis gathered by Benjamin Maleson

I’ve been on a writing hiatus while my husband recuperates from a knee replacement. Not a hiatus from cooking — that I’ve been doing regularly. (One bit of advice — major knee surgery is a very good appetite suppressant for the patient, and not good at all for the home nurse. Maybe that’s because I’m a much better cook than nurse. Anyway, I digress.)

Right before Steve had surgery, I ran into the mushroom man on Hanover in the North End. As any restaurant chef knows, that’s Bernard Maleson, forager extraordinaire, who provides wild funghi to many restaurants all over Boston. He works out of his car, so if you see a small stationwagon with lots and lots of mushrooms in it, and a man with a long beard, long hair and the look of having just appeared from under the forest canopy, you may be meeting up with the Mushroom Man.

That day, Benjamin was delivering to his regular customers and also selling porcinis and morels that he had just gathered. I bought a couple of huge porcinis (in photo above).Then I walked around to Salem Street to Mercato del Mare and bought halibut. The dish I made was simple: I sliced the porcinis, sauteed them in good olive oil  (Frantoia from Salumeria Italiana),  a little butter, and chopped, fresh garlic, and then added lots of parsley and a touch of balsamic vinegar to finish. The porcinis went on top of halibut, into a very hot oven, with a splash of white wine in the baking pan. About 25 minutes the fish was perfect, and the perfume of the dish filled the house. 

It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve seen Benjamin and his mushrooms. I wonder what he’s found lately?