We’ve always been fond of the concept of sister cities. It’s quite charming that whole cities take on what is basically a pen pal arrangement and agree to be linked. Boston has no less than nine sister cities across the world from Japan to Brazil. We did a little investigating, and it turns out that all of Boston’s sister cities are home to excellent cuisines. We’ve assembled a little sister city food tour within the Hub (sadly, Hanzhou, China, Melbourne, Australia, and Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana are not represented in our fair city). Enjoy!
•As the Children’s Museum taught us oh so long ago, Boston’s oldest sister city is Kyoto, Japan. Kyoto’s major contribution to Japanese cuisine is kaiseki, an artful and elaborate meal style. No Boston restaurants offer full kaiseki cuisine, but sources say that Fugakyu comes pretty close.
•We are currently 100% obsessed with visiting sister city Strausbourg, located in Alsace in France. Until we can afford the $400 plus for a plane ticket, we’ll settle for chowing down on the region’s specialties at Sandrine’s Bistro. Flammekuche and Riesling sound pretty good right about now.
•Someday, we will decide that we simply cannot handle another cold winter and shuffle off to sister city Barcelona. Once there, we will eat naught but jamon y manchego and take a siesta every day. Until then, we’ll satisfy ourselves with tapas and sangria at Toro.
•Each and every time we hear the name of sister city Padua, we can’t help reciting Shakespeare: “I come to wive it wealthily in Padua. If wealthily, than happily in Padua.” Based on a train stop we made in Padua once, one could also wive it crankily in Padua. You don’t have to wive it too wealthily to afford Piccola Venezia, where a great pasta dish will set you back $15 or less.
•Officially, sister city Taipei may now be located in the Republic of China, but it’ll always be Taiwan to us. Taste the region’s best at foodie favorite Taiwan Cafe, where adventurous eaters are handsomely rewarded.
•Sister city Belo Horizonte is the bar capital of Brazil, but the food is almost as good as the drinking. Where better to experience the city’s specialties than Cafe Belo, where the buffet is killer.
[Photo: Sister Cities International]
