Joyce Chen Restaurant

Compiled by Deb Mandel, 2022 Locations 617 Concord Ave, 1958-1971 The Joyce Chen Small Eating Place (1967-1988) 302 Massachusetts Avenue  Joyce Chen Restaurant (1969-1974) 500 Memorial Drive Website: https://joycechenfoods.com/legacy/ History Joyce Chen was Boston’s first real celebrity restaurateur and holds indisputable importance in American culinary history. In the same era Julia Child was changing America’s…

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Cambridge School of Culinary Arts

Compiled by Deb Mandel, 2022 Years 1974 – present Location 2020 Massachusetts Ave., Porter Square Website: https://cambridgeculinary.com/ History In 1974, Roberta L. Dowling began teaching classes on European cooking in her home, an endeavor whose popularity precipitated the opening of an established school of culinary arts. Roberta graduated from Madeleine Kaman’s Modern Gourmet cooking school…

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Culinary History Hub

Man and a woman standing in front of a counter smiling

Culinary History of Cambridge By Rain Robertson, and revised by Deb Mandel, 2022 Cambridge holds a rich and distinctive culinary history. It gave America ice, the Porterhouse steak, Peking ravioli, its first star chef in Julia Child, and a hankering for Indian food. This is a survey of 20th century markets, delis, cafeterias, and local…

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Julia Child’s Kitchen

Compiled by Deb Mandel, 2022 Years 1961 – 2004 Location (Julia’s home) 103 Irving St., Cambridge History Julia moved from Europe to Cambridge in 1961, where husband Paul accepted a job. They settled into a cozy house on tree-lined Irving St., nestled into her soon-to-be-famous blue and green kitchen. Paul stirred up “upside down martinis”…

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The Window Shop

Compiled by Deb Mandel, 2022 Years 1939 – 1972 Locations 37 Church St. (May 2, 1939-Nov. 1939) 102 Mt. Auburn St. (Nov. 1939-1947) 56 Brattle St. (1947-1972) History A small group of philanthropic-minded Cambridge women opened The Window Shop on the second floor of 37 Church St. in Harvard Square in 1939. One of these women…

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Self-Guided Tour: The Work of Revolution in Cambridge

Laundresses at a Revolutionary Army camp, circa 1780.

Introduction For many, the first image that comes to mind when thinking of Cambridge during the Revolutionary Era is that of General George Washington taking command of the Continental Army on Cambridge Common in July of 1775, under what would come to be known as the Washington Elm. Although we now know that this tale…

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