PopUp Bagels opens Friday
The doors of a PopUp Bagels in Cambridge’s Harvard Square finally pop open Friday after nearly seven months of anticipation. Service starts with a grand opening from 8 to 11 a.m. The 1,000-square-foot space replaces a Pokeworks at 1430 Massachusetts Ave. The chain, founded in 2021 by Adam Goldberg in Connecticut – it has four stores there and four in New York – is famous for serving hot, whole bagels. Not only does it not mess with sandwiches; it serves bagels only in plain, salt, sesame, poppyseed and everything varieties and a limited number of spreads, with plain and scallion cream cheeses varieties always available and others rotating. Customers can’t even get the bagels sliced onsite; the company advertises that they’re to be used to “grip, rip and dip” into the spreads. Another PopUp Bagels storefront opened in late July at 495 Revolution Drive, Assembly Square, Somerville, following shops in Boston Seaport and Wellesley.
Vegetarian, Tuscan, South Asian
The Cambridge Center for Adult Education’s October schedule of classes includes a Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone that uses ingredients such as fennel, mint, olives and summer greens Thursday ($115); Under the Tuscan Spoon, teaching about regional Italian foods such as panzanella (tomato) salad, pici pasta with wild boar ragu and cantucci with vin santo (hard almondy biscuits and sweet dessert wine) on Friday ($115); and Curds & Curry: A Hands-On Journey into Paneer and Panang at 1 p.m. Oct. 18 to teach how to make paneer – a South Asian cheese – from scratch and how to prepare a coconut-cream panang paste to use in cooking curries ($95). Information, registration and more food and wine events for the center at 42 Brattle St., Harvard Square, are online.
Harvest Halloween dinner
Harvest offers no details for its Halloween dinner served at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 31 except that it’ll be five courses of surprises from executive chef Nicholas Deutmeyer and executive pastry chef Tab Volpe “taking inspiration from the eerie world of ‘The Twilight Zone,’ where nothing is quite as it seems.” (Does this mean five courses of “Is It Cake?”) It’s $125, with an additional wine or mocktail pairing for $55. No spoilers, but some dishes are available on the tasting menu the week leading to halloween.
Mushroomy Dia de los Muertos
The Mushroom Shop in Somerville hosts a Dia de los Muertos mushroom dinner Nov. 2 at Field & Vine in Somerville’s Union Square inspired by the traditions of Oaxaca, Mexico. Guests are encouraged to honor a loved one who has died, and the dinner doubles as a celebration of María Sabina (1894-1985), a Oaxacan poet and healer who specialized in mushroom ceremonies; as part of the night author Chloe Garcia Roberts reads from her translation of “Carne de Dios,” a novel by Homero Aridjis about Sabina and her role in the psychedelic revolution. The 5 p.m. dinner costs $180. Reservations can be made on The Mushroom Shop’s website.
Seafood treats in October
The Legal Sea Foods in Cambridge’s Kendall Square and Somerville’s Assembly Square have oyster specials (oy, it’s “Oyster Fest”) all October with oyster scampi, oysters Rockefeller, Buffalo oysters, an oyster banh mi and a fried oyster jambalaya, ranging in price from $11 to $28, and has dollar oysters every Tuesday in October. Summer Shack at Alewife in Cambridge has its own October thing going: Diners with birthdays this month can swap cake for a free 1-pound lobster, if they’re dining in and have ID as proof.
J.P. Licks adds fall drinks
J.P. Licks has autumned up its coffees and beverages items: A Panama coffee roast is now available at all locations (ours are in Cambridge’s Harvard Square and Somerville’s Davis and Assembly squares) featuring chocolate and toffee notes with hints of pear and honey. Pumpkin spice is back and available in a pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin spice chai and pumpkin FrōJō – the chain’s blended frozen coffee made with espresso, brown sugar, cinnamon and vanilla ice cream. Frosted pumpkin muffins, pumpkin coffee cake and cheddar chive scones are available at some locations.
Friendly Toast special menu
The Friendly Toast partners with singer-songwriter Noah Kahan for a fall specials menu across its 14 locations in New England, including in Harvard Square. The four main dishes, two sides and a cocktail flight are inspired by Kahan’s songs and lyrics, including the “Stick Season”ed Stack (pumpkin batter pancakes with a cinnamon swirl, maple cinnamon butter and powdered sugar served with Vermont maple syrup), “Northern Attitude” Breakfast (the stack, pumpkin spice bacon, root vegetable hash and an egg choice) and Don’t “Dial Drunk” flight with a mimosa, sangria, Pumpkin Pie Martini and Chai Hot Toddy. The menu is available until Nov. 30 with proceeds benefiting Kahan’s initiative for mental health awareness, The Busyhead Project.
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