thevitalitymag.com
My birthplace of Worcester, Mass. is known for a few marginally cool things (hometown of Denis Leary, birthplace of the smiley face, a whole lot of colleges and universities) but up until recently, it wasn’t exactly a hotspot for great restaurants. That all changed about four or five years ago (just as I moved to Connecticut, naturally) when a spate of new, trendy eateries started to surface all over the city. With those came Baba Sushi, a tiny but jaw-droppingly good Japanese restaurant. Word quickly spread about town and now it’s damn near impossible to get a seat without a reservation. I met friends there for dinner about two years ago and apparently you even need to call for a seat at the bar. (We found that out the hard way when they booted us after our ‘hour’ was up.)
Lobster sashimi at Baba. It was raw...and alive. For a little while
The food is just that good, though. So we were thrilled when my brother gave us a Baba gift card for our wedding (with the very quintessential Brendan inscription ‘congrats on getting hitched. now. eat sushi!’) We’ll be in ‘the Woo’ for my 10-year high school reunion this weekend, so expect pictures and reviews of Worcester’s best sushi early next week.
Leeanne Griffin is a freelance writer and food enthusiast.
We’ve got us an actual sushi restaurant in Sturbridge, here — Kaizen. Really pretty excellent. Compares very favorably with sushi north of San Francisco — I speak from experience, and from people I know from north of San Francisco.
Have heard lots of good things about Kaizen (hi Ken!) It’s on my must-visit Worcester County list.
Hi Leeanne,
I’m a QU J-school grad student, and saw the little Facebook post from Hanley about your blog. I LOVE LOVE it. Way to go. I’m a huge foodie, too. I write a gluten-free cooking and health blog under my alter ego character, Holly Pinafore. Check it out! http://www.hollypinafore.blogspot.com.
[...] be eating Worcester’s best sushi this weekend, as previously [...]
Thanks, Danielle! I’m adding you to my blogroll. A very good friend of mine has a gluten allergy and she’s always looking for more diverse recipes. Thanks for sharing!