Chef Ming Tsai - Recommendations - Find. Eat. Drink.
Chef Ming Tsai, Recommendations, Where to eat, Where to drink, chef recommendations, Wellesley, MA, Massachusetts, Eclectic, Fusion, Asian, Restaurants, Chinese, Japanese, Best restaurants in Boston, Best restaurants in Wellesley, Dumplings, Spanish, Asian, Vegan, Vegetarian, Markets, Drinks, Bar, Woks
Food Allergy Resources
H MART
It’s like a Costco for Asians. It’s a gigantic supermarket with everything from 70 different types of kimchee to a whole row of ramen noodles to diamond rings and mink coats. Huge display of meat, seafood and live fish that they butcher right there.
Burlington
Asian Market
CK SHANGHAI
It’s delicious and it’s where I go most often here in Wellesley.
Wellesley
Chinese
THE CHICKEN BONE
I adore it for their chicken wings. It’s off of 135 West. Wellesley is ten miles west of Boston and this is another five miles west. They always have live bands on the weekend. They literally have the best chicken wings... so good. Total dive.
Framingham
Sports Bar / Chicken Wings
Restaurants - Boston Area
JAPONAISE BAKERY
They have this great dessert, Azuki Cream Buns. It’s like a creamed-filled croissant donut. Worth the trip. They have three outlets around Boston. They call it a doughnut, it’s the shape of a doughnut, but it’s made with croissant dough.
Multiple Locations
Japanese / Bakery
GOURMET DUMPLING HOUSE
The best dumplings in Chinatown. For soup dumplings, vegetarian dumplings, and their Sandong Pan Fried Dumplings, which are Taiwanese style. They are handmade to order, so it takes 15 minutes and they are just freaking delicious. The pièce de résistance is a Schezuan fish soup that is spiciest fish soup that you’ll ever eat in your life. It will blow your head off, but it’s delicious.
Chinatown
Chinese
Restaurants - Boston, MA
MYERS + CHANG
Joanne Chang wrote the Flour cookbook. She’s a great baker and she does traditional Asian street food. Very fun and inexpensive.
South End
Vegan / Vegetarian
TICO
Michael Schlow’s restaurant is Spanish, but not as traditional as Toro. Big bar and really fun. More of a scene.
Back Bay
Spanish
OISHII
1166 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02118 (view map)
T: 617.482.8868 (make a reservation)
For amazing Japanese food. I put it top five in the country.
South End
Japanese
1704 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02118 (view map)
T: 617.536.4300
It’s a must place. You can get such good authentic and amazing tapas.
South End
Spanish
SILVERTONE BAR AND GRILL
It’s a great dive. When you walk downstairs to go to a place, you know you’re in a dive. They do have the best mac n’ cheese in town, which is something you love at 1am, after a night out.
Downtown
Bar
Drink - Boston, MA
EASTERN STANDARD KITCHEN AND DRINKS
I go there because it’s close to Fenway, it’s a fun, big bar. I get a draft beer or a Bloody Mary before a Red Sox game.
Kenmore Square
American
SUPER 88 MARKET
There are three of them. It’s a Chinese market that’s been around for a long time.
Asian Grocery
Allston / Brighton
Markets - Boston, MA
CAPTAIN MARDEN’S SEAFOOD
One of the best seafood purveyors in town, bar none. Super high quality all the time. They always send me the best they have at all times and will tell me if they don’t have something good.
Wellesley
Seafood
KINNEALEY
I’ve used them since day one, for thirteen years here at Blue Ginger. The best purveyor of meat and poultry. They are all about quality.
Multiple Locations
Meats
Food Purveyors - Boston Area
WASIK’S THE CHEESE SHOP
The Wasik’s are just the nicest family that you’ll ever meet and have been working with cheese their whole life. I love all of their cheeses. I spent two and a half years in France, so give me the bluest blue in the world or the creamiest triple creme brie or a nice salty gouda.
Wellesley
Cheese Shop
ALL CLAD STAINLESS OPEN STIR FRY WOK
They make the best, it’s 3-ply which conducts heat best, it’s flat bottom, which is important because no one has a real wok burner at home. It’s also best for stir frying, because it has two handles.
Wok
Woks
LE CREUSET ENAMBLED CAST-IRON 14-1/4” WOK
Available on Amazon.com.
They makes a good cast iron wok. Once you get it heated, it keeps its heat.
Wok
TY KU
Available at these retailers.
They’ve taken traditional Japanese, sake and soju, and they’ve packaged and presented it with a modern approach. They have sake, soju and cocktails. Their white label Junmai Daiginjo sake is one of the best sakes you’ll ever have and it’s expensive. It’s $100 a bottle, so we’re not talking about cheap sake. It’s made beautifully. They also have a great melon liquor.
Sake and Soju
Sake / Soju
GIVE2ASIA
They give directly to Asian charities on the ground. So, right now, they are dealing with Japan. They did the same thing with the Thai tsunami and with the horrible earthquakes in China.
Charity
Charities
ALLERGY ART
They have cured my son of all of his food allergies. He was allergic to soy, wheat, dairy, shellfish, peanuts and eggs and now he is cured.
Allergy Release Technique
ALLERGY KIDS
I just saw a presentation from Robyn O’Brien [founder]. Her point is what we do to our food chain may be one of the reasons that we have so many more food allergies than anywhere else.
Allergy Foundation
TED TALKS
Dr. William Li does a presentation on anti-angiogenesis, which is the next cure, or the preventative cure for everything from cancer on down. The old adage, you are what you eat. By what you eat, you can prevent cancer. I think that is very powerful.
Online Idea Conferences
Chef Ming Tsai
April 6, 2011
WHO
Chef / owner of Blue Ginger Restaurant in Wellesley, Massachusetts and host of Simply Ming on PBS TV.
WHY
Aside from his acclaimed cooking, Ming Tsai is a successful entrepreneur and a chef with a big heart. He donates much of his time to charity work and is currently exploring the role food plays in curing ailments.
Blue Ginger - Wellesley, MA
COOKBOOKS
- Simply Ming One-Pot Meals [buy it]
- Simply Ming: Easy Techniques for East-Meets-West Meals [buy it]
- The Asian Kitchen [buy it]
- Ming’s Master Recipes [buy it]
- Blue Ginger: East Meets West Cooking [buy it]
RECOMMENDATIONS
Ming Tsai’s recommendations for restaurants, cocktails, markets, and food purveyors in the Boston area, as well as his favorite woks, drinks, and food allergy resources.
