Category: Chef’s Favorite

When given their chance—either at home or at work—it’s surprising to hear what popular Massachusetts Chefs often turn to. Whether a nostalgic recipe or simply solution, the Chef’s Favorite thing to eat or prepare is often not what you would expect.

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Chef Carl Dooley Likes Healthy and Easy

Chef Carl Dooley posing at The Table at Season to Taste in Cambridge, MA

Central Mass and Metrowest offer us a lot of dining options. Because of that, venturing down Mass Pike East, even while the traffic is still light and the sun stays out late, requires explanation.

For the fourth installment of Chef’s Favorite, I visited 2247 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge, also known as The Table at Season to Taste.

Preparing plates at The Table at Season to Taste in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Preparing plates at The Table at Season to Taste in Cambridge, Massachusetts

There, I found several reasons to warrant the commute. One, you can enjoy a moderately priced $65 four-course prix fixe menu featuring French techniques, seasonal ingredients, and international flavors. Two, the 20-seat open kitchen concept allows diners unique access to watch Top Chef alum, Chef Carl Dooley, prepare each dish with his team. Three, you can take a selfie with Carl, who placed fifth in season 13 of the famed reality show.

When asked if people want to take photos with him often, Carl humbly responded, “I’m happy to enjoy my 15 minutes. Some people come in because they’ve seen the show. Others check out all new restaurants. I’m confident that the people who come in will want to come back.”

After dining at The Table, I’m confident too. I also think his fame will last longer than 15 minutes, especially here in Massachusetts. While TV notoriety may be commonplace for residents of California and foodies of New York City, here we take great pride in our Bay State celebs.

With the most important question about selfies out of the way, Carl and I discussed what he likes to make at home: his chef’s favorite.

Chef Carl Dooley enjoys fresh salads at home, with grilled vegetables.
Chef Carl Dooley enjoys fresh salads at home, with grilled vegetables. (Photo from Instagram)

“In the summer, I make big grilled vegetable salads with grilled pita bread. It’s healthy and easy. Then you don’t have any dishes to clean up,” says Chef Dooley.

Circumventing a sink full of dirty dishes while still enjoying a home-cooked meal is a concept I can easily get behind. Dooley’s winter favorites, on the other hand, employ more advanced techniques than the average weekday meal in my house.

Chef Dooley and his wife like to prepare comfort food during the cold New England months. “I take a baked sweet potato and stuff it with pork ragu or duck confit—and top it with roasted walnuts, sage, parmesan, and sautéed kale. It’s an easy way to create a bold dish,” he said.

Outside of his home kitchen, Chef Dooley’s summer menu at The Table pulls its inspiration from locally-sourced, seasonal ingredients and Southeast Asian flavors like green curry. Since the menu changes frequently, it’s best to follow him on Instagram at @chefdooley to stay current. That way you’ll know exactly who to tag when you stop in for your selfie.

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Chef’s Favorite with Gregg Bergeron from Jack’s Abby Beer Hall and Kitchen

The Wood Fired Pizza And Beer Flight From Jack's Abbey Beer Hall

For our third installment of the Chef’s Favorite series, we travelled outside of Worcester to find a little taste of Europe.

Stepping into Jack’s Abby Beer Hall and Kitchen located at 100 Clinton St. in Framingham feels a bit like teleporting to Munich. The spaciousness of the 5,000 square foot tasting room and restaurant is a key element to the success of its authenticity as well as its popularity, because they don’t take reservations.

Traditional German Fare From Jack's Abbey Beer Hall
Traditional German Fare From Jack’s Abbey Beer Hall

They need all of the seats. Even when I visited on a Tuesday night, the place was packed. It wasn’t just packed with people though. There’s a lot to see at first sight. A gift shop. A bar. Long community-style tables, just like in Munich. And beyond the tables, there are tanks filled Jack’s Abby lagers.

When you walk in you may also see head chef Gregg Bergeron in the exposed kitchen alongside the open flame of the wood stove—a focal point on the menu, which features beer hall classics like bratwurst and mouthwatering wood-fired pizzas.

“My favorite item to prepare on the Beer Hall menu is the wood-fired pizza,” says Gregg. “I enjoy making anything that is cooked over an open fire—be it wood or charcoal or smoke.”

Specifically, Gregg likes the wood-fried pizzas because of the amount of hard work he put into the development of the pizza dough.

“There was a lot of trial and error involved,” Gregg added.

The wood-fired pizza portion of the menu includes crowd favorites like the Wild Mushroom, which comes with leeks, gruyere, garlic cream, tarragon, and truffle oil as well as Prosciutto and Arugula, which comes topped with fresh mozzarella, pecorino, thyme, and red pepper flakes.

The pies range from the Old Reliable, which is made with house tomato sauce, pecorino, and mozzarella, for $10 up to $15.

“The pizza dough is a constantly evolving process that I have been working on for the past year,” Gregg says referring back to the beer hall’s grand opening last September. “We use a levain sour yeast starter and cold fermentation for 48 to 72 hours before we cool the pizzas. This long cold fermentation process is much like the lagering process of our beers.”

Speaking of beers, there are 24 on tap including classics like Hoponious Union in addition to seasonals like the Sunny Ridge pilsner. The sampler size options make it easy to try many of their awarding-winning lagers.