Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1342831
105 favorites to explore everything from homemade pita and saganaki on Greek night to El Salvadorian pupusas with curtido slaw. "[Zoom classes] literally saved me during quarantine," says Maitland. "As a chef, you're supposed to just push through everything, and I didn't know how to push through this." People sign up in advance, paying $75 for dinner for two, including beer or wine and a bag of ingredients—many already measured, but with enough prep required to make you feel like you're cooking something. Pick up is Mondays, and the live class is Tuesday evenings. "Teaching is the fun part," Maitland says, noting that the preparation is pretty intense, from choosing a theme to scaling down recipes for home cooks—and making sure they work. "I really like the feeling of having a big social gathering. There's a lot of energy— you can see everyone running around [in their kitchens through Zoom windows]." Zoom has also become an important tool at The Castle: A Board Game Café in Beverly, where Monday night trivia has moved online. "We put it off for a while, afraid it wouldn't be as fun as in person, but it's actually been really great," says Ryn Grant, who owns the café with her husband Kevin. The pair serve as quiz masters, and give groups their own virtual breakout rooms to chat and discuss their answers. "It's just nice to see folks," she adds. "Plus, since its virtual, we have Castle supporters from all over the country tune in." In addition to Zoom trivia, the café now offers an online retail site, where people can purchase board games and accessories hand-selected by the Grants. The café is open with very limited seating (one group per room), but Ryn says the majority of patrons prefer take-out these days—accompanied oftentimes by board games they can rent alongside food orders. Takeout is the only option at Nightshade Noodle Bar in Lynn—the pint-sized dining room doesn't really lend itself to social distancing, notes chef/owner Rachel Miller. It was especially painful, as the restaurant had debuted just a few months before to glowing reviews. To augment that income while serving the community, Miller has been selling breakfast sandwiches as a preview to her new venture, Sin City Superette—a miniature version of a traditional grocery store, with all the same departments, including hot and cold prepared foods, baked goods, and household staples, all at affordable prices. "Options in this neighborhood were very limited and I was really inspired to do something about it," says Miller, who expects to open by this spring. "Nightshade's price points (and niche) disenfranchise many members of the community, especially in this climate. My team and I are capable of making a bigger, more important impact for this community [while] still growing as chefs and hospitality professionals." Sin City Superette has been functioning as a popular breakfast pop-up weekday mornings at Nightshade, while construction continues on the new site, and Miller is excited about the potential. "I want to create jobs, save the jobs I already have at Nightshade, pay living wages, and also have a revenue center that can feed Nightshade if we ever end up in another crisis," she says. Miller's sentiment is echoed across the board, as businesses hope that their constant reinventions will be enough to get them through the next few months. As Ledger's O'Neil put it, probably speaking for everyone on the North Shore: "The whole key is getting to spring." PHOTOGRAPHS BY JARED CHARNEY The Grants own The Castle and offer an online trivia night as well as game rentals.