Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | September 30, 2019 | Worcester Business Journal 13 Worcester is a local dining destination Worcester restaurants have been attracting more buzz locally about their quality, although cities like Boston and Portland, Maine typically garner more regional and national attention in New England for their eateries. When polled online, WBJ readers says Worcester is a dining destination, although mostly for those who live in close proximity. F L AS H P O L L Is Worcester a dining destination? "Much progress, but still need to get to the next level. Limited options, but going in the right direction." Comments Yes, although only for people who live in Central Massachusetts. 50% No, the best restaurants here have yet to reach the next level. 14% F O O D & D R I N K I S S U E F O C U S Yes, Worcester's best restaurants are equal or better than any others in New England. 36% "Worcester has been featured in both 'Chronicle' and the 'Phantom Gourmet' for a reason, and it's because the restaurants and entertainment venues are great. I'm glad I live close by downtown." "With mixed-grungy neighborhoods and little parking, there are only a few pockets of fine food/destination dining. Worcester/Central Mass. is terrible at promoting itself, so only those of us within five or six miles know many." trends on our site, people want an experience – that comes in many shapes and forms," said Stephanie Ramey, the executive director of Discover Central Massachusetts. "Food has become an attraction and people will travel for it – I think it's very important for Worcester to be consid- ered a foodie destination," she said. Cities have gotten other boosts. Portland – which Bon Appetit magazine named its 2018 restaurant city of the year – has a sizeable seafood industry and hoards of summer visitors. Providence has Johnson & Wales Uni- versity, with a top culinary program. Smaller cities earning outsized accolades in dining circles – places like Charleston, S.C., and Asheville, N.C., or Portsmouth, N.H., and Burlington, Vt. – have all started with one restaurant first putting it on the map, said Kevin Alexander, a Springfield-born author of a book on American dining, "Burn the Ice". "You can name a restaurant in each of these cities that was pivotal," Alexan- der said. He mentioned one Worcester restaurant in particular: deadhorse hill. In Portland, it was Fore Street, a restaurant that opened in 1996 and won national acclaim. In Providence, it was Al Forno opening in 1980. "at really ramped up what today is Providence's restaurant scene," said TJ Delle Donne, a chef and associate instructor at Johnson & Wales. One restaurant, he said, could attract a prominent critic or culinary writer, spurring people to give the city a look. "It can be like wildfire," he said. The right factors A tourist destination alone can't bring renowned restaurants, but one thing can: talented chefs. ose who've gone to top culinary schools or trained under some of Boston's best chefs, like Lydia Shire or Barbara Lynch, largely haven't yet been drawn to Worcester as a place to estab- lish themselves. at'll likely need to change if culinary strides in Worcester are to continue. In other cities, draws for chefs have included locating in tourism hotspots and the right cultural mix, both of which apply with Charleston, S.C. "I don't think you can pin it down to one thing or a few things," said Robert Frash, the former owner and operator of six Indianapolis restaurants who now teaches hospitality at the College of Charleston, which added a culinary program aer Johnson & Wales closed its location in Charleston. Frash adds two other elements: a camaraderie, not competition, among chefs and top restaurants, and aggressive marketing to pitch the city's options. "ey work together, and they don't see themselves as being isolated entities," he said. "ey see themselves as being a whole, and the whole is Charleston." In 2009, one of Charleston's most prominent chefs, East Longmeadow native Mike Lata, was named best chef in the Southeast by the James Beard Awards. A year later, another Charleston chef, Sean Brock, won. In 2013, Brock helped open Husk, a Charleston restau- rant with national notoriety. On the other side of the state, in Greenville, S.C., the city's big step came in 1997 when Soby's New South Cuisine opened downtown, said Robert Tamura, an economics professor at nearby Clemson University. By then, he said, a downtown revitalization was already underway, including new hotels. "Rent is cheaper in Greenville than in Asheville or Charleston or Atlanta," Tamura said. "e downtown is quite easy to access from the suburbs, and there generally is parking available via garages." Two decades later, Greenville's culi- nary bona fides were cemented when Husk opened an outpost in the city. Worcester may be lost a bit in the glare of attention on other culinary star cities, but Delle Donne doesn't think that's a hurdle. Culinary publications are eager to tout a new city, he said. "ose magazines are looking for Worcester," he said. Even then, Alexander said, restau- rants have to come through with a great meal or lose out on a breakthrough. "It's a big swing, and if you miss, it's tough," he said. Industry accolades Worcester restaurants have incorpo- rated some of dining's biggest trends. Avocado toast is on the menu at NU Kitchen on Chandler Street, for exam- ple. Korean barbecue is the specialty at simjang on Shrewsbury Street. Ramen is available at Broth in the Canal District. Worcester's restaurant scene has long been dominated somewhat by two restaurant groups, e Worcester Restaurant Group (which includes 111 Chop House, e Sole Proprietor and Via Italian Table ) and Niche Hospitality (which includes Bocado Tapas Wine Bar, Mezcal Tequila Cantina and e Fix Burger Bar), along with mainstays like O'Connor's Restaurant & Bar. But having a ramen joint, for exam- ple, or those restaurants with long suc- cessful runs aren't enough to be a foodie destination, Alexander said. It's nearly always restaurants – through high prices or daring entrees – attracting less of the everyday crowd that land cities on industry publications' must-visit lists. "You need an ambitious place to get the attention of the food writing com- munity, that there's something special with someone trying really hard to do something different," Alexander said. Not everyone thinks Worcester should strive to be the next Portland. "e idea is that everyone plays an important role in catering to the Worcester audience," said Lynn Cheney, whose company, Lettuce Be Local, con- nects Worcester restaurants with fresh produce from the area. "Not everyone wants upscale, and not everyone wants to see another chain restaurant enter the city, but appealing to the people of Worcester is what's important," she said. e quality and innovation of restau- rants in Worcester and elsewhere can be somewhat subjective, of course, but it can be measured. e Beard awards – which go to top chefs, wine programs, service and restaurants as a whole – aren't a house- hold name. But they're a career goal for ambitious chefs and restaurateurs, and something to propel a restaurant or even a city forward in the minds of industry watchers, Alexander said. "Oh, 100%," he said of chefs wanting a Beard award. "It's the Oscars of food. It's the only thing that will stop a person in the industry, changing the way [peo- ple] view them." Best-of lists can be tough to crack, but other New England eateries both in obvious places like Boston and Portland and off-the-beaten-path have turned up in lists of recommended places to go. At UMass Amherst, Atul Sheel, a pro- fessor of hospitality and tourism manage- ment, doesn't see a big-city location as necessary for a great meal. "If the chef is good, then people come to you," he said. "You can have an excep- tional, well-reputed place even in small towns." Bon Appetit's 50 best new restaurants list this year includes two in Providence and one each in Boston and Somerville. Last year's list included two each from Cambridge and Portland, with one from each of those cities landing in the top 10. A Forbes Travel Guide list of four- or five-star restaurants and others it recom- mends includes 13 in Massachusetts, and AAA gave 14 Massachusetts restaurants a four- or five-diamond rating. Both leave out Central Massachusetts. e results can beg a tough question: Is Worcester yet a foodie city without any major industry recognition? "When we talk about Beard awards, I think we're putting the cart way before the horse," Forman said. Worcester restaurants don't have enough patrons who will choose multi- course tasting menus that can reach into triple figures, he said. "Trying to stock the restaurant with those people," Forman said, "that's the greatest challenge in Worcester." W

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