Local Government Subsidizes Restaurants' Hiring Push | Eat Mass

MASSACHUSETTS — Welcome to Eat Mass, Patch's weekly round up of food and restaurant news in Massachusetts. Scroll down for more, including:

• This week's restaurant openings and closings.
• Local foodies may notice a familiar face on Tuesday night's episode of "Chopped" on the Food Network.
• Without replenishment by Congress, more than 265,000 restaurants — including hundreds in Massachusetts — who applied for the funds will be left without the pandemic aid.
• Third-party delivery services like DoorDash and Uber Eats have not seen an expected drop off in business, even as in-person restaurant dining makes a comeback.

Have a food news tip, question or suggestion? Email dave.copeland@patch.com. Want to make sure you don't miss each week's roundup? Sign up for our newsletter and get it delivered every weekend. It's free!

This Week's Top Story

How bad is the local labor shortage for restaurants? So bad that Salem, with it's tourism-based economy, is helping restaurants recruit workers by picking up the tab for gift cards for part-time restaurant workers.

Under the program, which the city is cosponsoring with MassHire, the first 150 restaurant workers hired between June 1 and July 23 who sign up for the program will get a $400 Visa gift card if they work 15 hours or more per week for six weeks. They'll get a second, $400 gift card if they stay on the job through Halloween, the peak of the Witch City's tourism calendar.

The cards are being paid for under money Salem received from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under the Cares Act.

Read the full story.

Eat fresh: Patch's 2021 Massachusetts Farmers Market Guide

Restaurant Openings, Closings

• Boston (Back Bay): Vegan chef Matthew Kenney is opening Double Zero, a 100%plant-based restaurant, on Newbury Street Friday. The restaurant's other locations include New York, Providence, Baltimore and Venice Beach.
• Boston (Downtown Crossing): After their first opening on July 4th, 2018, and again after the first emergency statewide COVID-19 shutdown, Democracy Brewing had to shut down temporarily once again in November 2020. According to an Instagram post, they are thrilled to announce their third re-opening on Sunday.
• Chestnut Hill: Known for their elaborate and massive-portioned breakfasts, The Friendly Toast confirmed it is taking over the former Besito spot in Chestnut Hill.
• Medway: T.C. Scoops has closed its brick-and-mortar location, but will continue to operate its ice cream bus.
• Foxborough: The Foxborough Board of Selectmen last week unanimously approved extending the pouring license for Shovel Town Brewing's craft beer garden. The beer garden, which operates on a vacant lot next to Conrad's Restaurant, opened in the spring. It's now allowed to stay open through Saturday, Sept 4.
• Salem: The space that was once home to Salem Beer Works will be the new home of BitBar, another Salem favorite that features retro video games.
• Somerville: All signs – including one out front – point to the Thirsty Scholar's closure being temporary, but the future of the pub is unclear.
• Plymouth: A new, mixed-use housing development will be home to Black Lantern Tavern, a 125-seat restaurant offering a classic Italian menu.
• Worcester: The beloved, old-school butcher Fairway Beef in downtown Worcester abruptly closed its doors Saturday, with the owners telling employees the building had been sold. Fairway Beef was opened in the Canal District in 1946 by the Sigel family — who are still the owners today. The store sold all types of meat cuts, plus staples like bread, eggs and deli cheese.

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Eat With Your Eyes

Brunch in the Garden: Encore Boston Harbor kicks off its Garden Champagne Brunch Series this Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Taking place every Sunday throughout the rest of July, guests who purchase tickets for $55 per person get unlimited brunch alongside live music and lawn games on Encore's manicured, waterfront South Lawn. (Photo: Encore Boston Harbor)

More Massachusetts Food News

MA chef makes Food Network debut: Local foodies may notice a familiar face on Tuesday night's episode of "Chopped" as The Landing of Marblehead's Alex Pineda competes for a chance to win $50,000 in Alton Brown's "Maniacal Baskets" contest. Pineda is scheduled to appear in the fourth and final episode of the preliminary round in the contest where show host Alton Brown solicits social media contributions to come up with the "maniacal baskets" from which the competitors must make their dishes. The winners from each of the four preliminary restaurants go on to the finals for a chance to win $50,000.

Seasonal beer garden back on the beach: Dave Grishman thought he had discovered some community-building gold when an idea hatched amid the harsh winter of 2019 came to fruition with two highly successful Swampscott Beer Garden events that summer in fall. Nearly two years later, he and the rest of those behind the craft beer, hard seltzer, food and music party at Fisherman's Beach will finally get another chance to strike that gold alongside some dearly missed Swampscott neighbors.

Quick bites: Check out "An Eater's Guide To Boston" put together by Eater Boston...Third-party delivery services like DoorDash and Uber Eats have not seen an expected drop off in business, even as in-person restaurant dining makes a comeback...LGBT bars that survived the pandemic say business is almost back to normal...The Boston Globe is obsessing over Reddit's obsession with an abandoned Dunkin' cup at the Ashmont T station.

That's A Mouthful

"There are thousands of operators in Massachusetts that dutifully applied for the Restaurant Revitalization Fund on the first day that it was opened. Without Congressional action to replenish the fund, restaurants across Massachusetts will face an uncertain future. Many are in the ironic position of seeing increased diners but are taking in less revenue as they battle with continuously rising food prices and lack of labor and staffing issues to fully reopen."

• Steve Clark of the Massachusetts Restaurant Association on the Small Business Administrations decision to end the Restaurant Relief Fund. Without replenishment by Congress, more than 265,000 restaurants who applied for the funds will be left without the pandemic aid.

Upcoming Food Events

Thursday, July 8:

• Farm & Vine Dinner (Lexington)
• Farmers Markets: Falmouth, Foxborough, Harwich, Melrose, Milton, Stoneham, Tewksbury, Yarmouth

Friday, July 9:

• Farmers Markets: Osterville, Quincy

Saturday, July 10:

• Farmers Markets: Andover, Braintree, Marblehead, Newton, Orleans, Provincetown, Wakefield, Waltham

Sunday, July 11:

• Encore Boston Harbor's Garden Champagne Brunch (Everett)
• Farmers Markets: Acton-Boxborough, Canton, Needham, North Andover, Swampscott, Weymouth, Wilmington

Monday, July 12:

• Farmers Markets: Beverly, Billerica, Truro

Tuesday, July 13:

• Farmers Markets: Chatham, Lexington, Newton, Sandwich

Wednesday, July 14:

• Farmers Markets: Arlington, Brewster, Dedham, Scituate, Wellfleet

Dave Copeland is Patch's regional editor for Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).