Vine Brook Tavern Opens in Lexington and More Nearby Bites

We know Winchester residents don’t only stay in town when they want a night out and a break from cooking. 

Restaurant coming and goings, new businesses and the best dishes and recipes are among the items that have appeared on Patch sites around the region over the past month.

Below is a look at the restaurant and food stories covered in the past month.

Lexington

PHOTOS: Vine Brook Tavern: Not Colonial Fare

Buckman and Munroe are Lexington’s most treasured and historic taverns. After last Wednesday there is a third: The Vine Brook Tavern on Waltham Street. Vine Brook isn’t your great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather’s tavern. Buckman’s colonial guests dined on freshly-shot game made into a stew of the day, washed down with grog. Vine Brook owners Marcus Palmer and Brian Lesser, along with Chef Chris Frothingham, offer modern and more appetizing fare for 21st century visitors. During last Wednesday night’s grand opening guests noshed on morsels from the tavern’s extensive menu.

Firm with Ties to Ousted Original Upper Crust Pizzeria Owner Wins Bid for Lexington Store

When Wednesday's auction of the embattled Upper Crust Pizzeria chain was done yesterday, and the smoke (somewhat) cleared, a company with ties to the pizzeria's founder, Jordan Tobins, reportedly had won control of the Lexington store site. The Boston Globe reports that a Ditmars Ltd.  affiliate— a private equity firm connected to Tobins — submitted the high bid of $110,000 for the Waltham Street location. That offer, says the Globe report, is only for the store lease and restaurant equipment, not rights to use the Upper Crust name.

Arlington

New Barismo Opening Today

The new, larger Barismo is opened on Dec. 20, according to Boston Eater. Barismo’s Pete Cannon told Eater that the shop will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The new spot, at 171 Mass. Ave., is just a laundromat away from the old. For more information on the move, see 

PHOTOS: Holiday Treats at Angelina's Pastry

Angela Daley opened Angelina's Pastry at 1193A Mass. Ave. in Arlington Heights a little over a year ago. Daley, a 2007 Arlington High graduate who went onto Johnson & Wales' baking and pastry program, named the bakery after her maternal grandmother. 

A new gluten/wheat free bakery, Something Sweet Without Wheat, and Chinese restaurant Jade Garden changing its name to Szechuan Dumpling were two of the items that went before the Arlington Board of Selectmen in December.

Somerville

Joshua Tree, one of Davis Square's main watering holes, is getting a "makeover," according to an announcement from the restaurant and its website. This comes after the sports bar, which opened in 1997, recently updated its menu to include "more chef driven, fresh, and local dishes," the announcement says.

Oleana's Owner Comes to Somerville to Take Over the Former Paddock Restaurant

Ana Sortun, owner and chef of Cambridge's highly acclaimed Oleana and Sofra Bakery and Cafe, is coming to Somerville. Boston Magazine's "Chowder" blog reports that Sortun will take over the space formerly occupied by The Paddock at 249 Pearl St. The Paddock, which had a  according to one reader, closed in July.

On Oct. 30, 2011, the owners of Kee Kar Lau, a Chinese restaurant in Teele Square, watched from a doorway across Broadway as their building burned. The fire had started in a neighboring dry cleaners, and although Kee Kar Lau was mostly spared from the flames, the whole building was eventually demolished. Now, slightly over a year later, they opened a new restaurant, Chow n' Joy, on Somerville Avenue between Porter and Union squares.

Union Square Might Get New Donut Shop

Union Square could be getting a new donut shop called, well, Union Square Donuts, according to one of Boston's top food blogs. Boston Eater says the folks behind Somerville's Culinary Cruisers debuted Union Square Donuts at the Dec. 2 "Local is for Lovers" holiday market and that they may open a retail shop at 201 Somerville Ave., near the Target.