Hundreds turned out to sample dishes from 42 local restaurants at the Charles River Regional Chamber’s annual Spring Seasonings event on Monday, April 13. It’s a regional culinary showcase that now includes Brookline alongside Needham, Newton, Watertown, and Wellesley. Twenty-six of the participating restaurants are based in Newton.
Trevor Smith, who opened gastropub Thistle and Leek with his wife Kate in Newton Centre in 2020, remembers the first Zoom call where he connected with the Charles River Regional Chamber’s restaurant community. The weekly Tuesday calls became a respite from the uncertainty of the pandemic.
“It was great to have the camaraderie of the other businesses during Covid, trying to figure out how to stay afloat, how to make the most of what they were doing,” Smith said.
Now, he said, he is happy to be back at the Spring Seasonings event once again, celebrating the strength of that community forged through those pandemic trials and collaborations.
“We really cherish what the Chamber does for this,” Smith said.
Eighteen years ago, while working in the United Kingdom, Smith fell in love with curry. He and his wife decided to make it a staple of the Thistle and Leek menu, serving lamb meatballs with a tomato and ginger curry sauce alongside garlic flatbread. They shared samples of this signature dish with the crowds of attendees filling the Newton Marriott’s largest conference hall.
Nick Mace, culinary director for Fiorella’s Cucina, set up shop alongside two other team members at the event. Of the restaurant’s six locations across Massachusetts, two fall within the chamber’s footprint – including the original Nonantum location on North Street in Newton, opened by Rémon Karian in 2000.
Speaking of Spring Seasonings, Mace said, “It’s just a great turnout with great people.”
At their table, the team served lemon chicken and their signature meatballs.
Mace said it was encouraging to be surrounded by other restaurants, noting there’s plenty of business to go around.
Lynsey McCullough, director of catering for Anna’s Taqueria, served tacos from the beloved Boston-based Mexican chain, which has been a fixture in the region since 1995, and now in Newton Highlands.
For some restaurants, the night was an opportunity to get their name out there to people in the community. In the case of Anna’s, people already familiar with the franchise would drop by just to say how much they love it – and grab some tacos of course.
“It’s really fantastic to hear how much people already enjoy and know the brand,” McCullough said.
McCullough said that, as director of catering, she hopes more people consider Anna’s Taqueria for office meetings and events.
At the table, the team offered tacos with either grilled vegetables or chipotle chicken, along with sides like green salsa, chips, and sour cream.
“Everything is made fresh,” she said. “We brought that out to share with everyone today.”
Yancy St-Germaine, who works mainly out of Baramor in Newton Centre, was handing out samples of whiskey, mixing cocktails, and serving fish tacos alongside coworkers representing Oak n’ Barrel, which is also located in Newton Centre under the same ownership.
“Honestly, we’re a big community who share the same passion, same hospitality, and make people go home happy,” St-Germaine said of being surrounded by other restaurants and vendors in the region.
St-Germaine said the team offered two whiskey options for the event, including one from Oak n’ Barrel that leaned stronger.
“It’s definitely good for a night cap,” St-Germaine said.
They also served an Irish whiskey finished in a mezcal cask, which gives it a smoother profile with a cognac-like finish.
Max Woolf, public policy and government affairs manager at the Charles River Regional Chamber, said events like Spring Seasonings highlight the region’s restaurant ecosystem.
“Small business owners are really, really busy all year, and they can’t make it out to community events,” Woolf said. “Owning a restaurant consumes your life, so having the ability to have them all come together in a community-facing event, it’s really a great opportunity for them, and for me personally, to interact with all of them in one area.”
Woolf also noted that Brookline joined the event for the first time this year as a new town in the Chamber, represented that evening by two restaurants: La Morra serving Tuscan-style cuisine and Punch Bowl serving contemporary New England fare.
“We’re really excited for what it means for our regional presence, our advocacy, and it’s great to welcome them in,” Woolf said.
