Seta's Cafe: Market Favorite turned Restaurant

Back in 2010 I had the deliciously good fortune to discover Seta's Mediterranean Cuisine at the Copley Square Farmers Market. It happened to be her first day at the market and everything I tried was fantastic. Seta was so lovely and I had a great time talking with her (article here). Over the past three years I have enjoyed talking with Seta, tasting her carefully crafted dishes, and watching her business continue to boom. 

Just a few years after starting her prepared food business Seta has realized her next goal - a space of her own open last month! Her cheery light-filled Seta's Cafe is located on bustling Belmont Street in Belmont, MA. 

The Armenian-Mediterranean menu is framed on the wall and the counter opens to the kitchen, busy with activity. Smells of garlic and grilled meats filled the air during my early lunchtime visit and tempting treats filled the display case next to the register. 

On a recommendation from the chef herself, I opted for the grilled lamb plate ($17). Every dish is made to order and after a short wait a sizzling plate arrived with my lunch. Enough for two people, the lamb plate included two generous skewers of tender lamb, bulghur pilaf, grilled tomato, grilled onion, and piaz (parsley, onion, sumac, aleppo pepper). 

The portion was generous enough for two people. The lamb was perfectly cooked and the piaz was a perfectly complement. The combination of savory sumac with a little kick from the aleppo was the perfect complement. Even seemingly basic salad was dressed with a tangy vinaigrette that brought it to another level. The meal is served with housemade lavash to either roll the meat or sop up the vinaigrette from the plate. 

Here is a close up look at the piaz - finely chopped parsley, red onions, and delicious sumac and aleppo pepper combination.

Ordering just one thing was just too hard. For dinner I took home half the lamb plate along with a chopped salad with added falafel along with baba ganoush. 

My first trip to Seta's new place was a wonderful experience and I can't wait to get back in there to try out the rest of the menu - especially brunch. If you find yourself in the area, don't miss out on a visit to Seta's Cafe.

A Lovely Day for Local Food

Saturday was a beautiful day in Boston. There was a slight fall chill to the air, but the sun was shining and the sky was bright blue. The perfect weather for the Boston Local Food Festival (BLFF) at the Fort Point Channel. The festival spanned the area between the Congress Street and Northern Avenue bridges. The Harborwalk was a great space for the event - self contained yet spacious (at least before the crowds arrived!)

The festival celebrated all things related to local food. Farms, entrepreneurs, established businesses, restaurants, markets, services, local food resources and more. The festival was free and open to all, and I joined in the fun representing Local In Season. I met up with Jonathan Ross-Wiley (co-founder) and Lizzy Butler (fellow writer) to set up our booth and get ready to talk local food all day.

I've been having a blast getting involved in the local food scene over the last year. I was always interested in local foods and locally owned businesses, but have significantly changed the way we shop and eat. We shop at the farmer's markets first and use the grocery store as our second stop. It really kicked off after I started tweeting and launched my blog. I started following local food folks and one day got a tweet from @localinseason saying, "Hi there...We are wondering whether you would have interest in being a contributing writer for us."

I was so flattered and had just made a Thanksgiving feast with most of the ingredients from the farmer's market. My first 'published' article was an original recipe and celebrated a locally grown ingredients (red kuri pie). Since then I've been visiting markets, meeting farmers and vendors, and having a fantastic time! Thanks to Jon and Patrick for inviting me to be a part of the team!

Now back to the festival. There was delicious local food every where you looked. From the metch at Seta's Mediterranean Foods to salted caramel ice cream at Batch Ice Cream to fresh pasta from Nella's Pasta to Pumpkin Pie soda from Maine Root Sodas.  Here are a few culinary treats I sampled during the festival. There wasn't time (or stomach capacity) to try everything! But now I have a list of places to visit on my food adventures.

Besides the local food, the best part of the BLFF was getting to see all of these wonderful food people in one place. From fellow food bloggers to many of the local food producers and even some of my new classmates!  The crowd estimates for the day are anywhere from 30,000 to 50,000. We had a lot of those people stop by to learn about Local In Season, enter a fall recipe into our recipe contest, and sign up for the new monthly LIS newsletter.

Our booth was right next to the butchering demos - which were fascinating to watch. Although one woman was not so thrilled - and decided since I was the first person she saw that she would let me know that I should be disgusted with myself for allowing such behavior to take place at the festival (guess she thought it was the Local In Season festival?).  I had a good laugh and got a few pics of the Saveneur's team butchering the goat, which they auctioned off for charity.

It was a truly a lovely day for local food. As Mayor Menino said at the festival, this new local food wave in Boston is great to see and its great to see the little entrepreneurs and little food businesses out there.

Mayor Menino checking out the festival.

It was great to see many of my local food friends in person. If you are looking for other great reads, be sure to visit them!

Kimmy of Lighter and Local
Michelle of Fun Fearless in Beantown 
Megan of Delicious Dishings
Meghan of Travel, Wine and Dine
Robin of Doves and Figs
Amy of Poor Girl Gourmet
Brian of A Thought for Food
Katie of Once Upon a Small Boston Kitchen
Fiona of A Boston Food Diary
Kathy of Kathy can Cook

I look forward to events celebrating the local food scene in all its glory. So get out there and visit your farmers market, support locally-minded restaurants and businesses, and most importantly enjoy some delicious foods!

Have You Visited Your Local Market Lately?

Visiting the Farmer's Market is one of my favorite spring, summer and early activities. Once winter rolls in, my trips to the market usually come to an end. Not this year! Thankfully there are at least two winter markets close to me in Natick and Wayland, MA. For a recap of my inaugural trip to the Natick Winter's Market, check out my write-up at www.localinseason.com. You'll even find some recipes for your winter farmer's market finds!

My Love Affair with Brunch

I've mentioned before that I could eat eggs for all three meals a day and never get tired of them.  I love breakfast food, and that means that a good brunch destination is essential for my weekend happiness.  Thanks to our friends Mary and Angel (of http://www.vintage78.blogspot.com/), we have been brunch regulars at the Centre Street Cafe in Jamaica Plain, MA for the past few years.  Check out why at http://www.localinseason.com/!