Grub Street Grub Street Boston

Food & Wine and Food Arts founder Michael Batterberry died on Wednesday at age 78, reports the New York Times. Batterberry and his wife, Ariane, developed the concept that would become Food & Wine with goals of "[puncturing] what they saw as the truffled pomposity of Gourmet" and appealing to men as much as women — this was a good 30 years ahead of the dude-food revolution. Batterberry received the James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award at last May's ceremony. While Food & Wine is still quite healthy, the Times notes that he did manage to outlive his old nemesis Gourmet. [NYT]

Boston jut got one step closer to a potential Shake Shack. The Massachusetts legislature approved a measure yesterday that would allow restaurants in the Boston Common's Pink Palace and the Fens' Duck Hut, reports Universal Hub. Once the measure is approved by Governor Patrick, interested parties will submit a formal Request for Proposal. Thus far, the Shake Shack, Legacy Place's Met Burger Bar, and The Common Room, a seafood shack from former Biltmore Room owner Jeffrey Mills, have all expressed interest in the Pink Palace. The park restaurants could open as soon as next summer.

Legislature Agrees to Let City Rent Out Two Old Buildings on Common, in Fens for Restaurants [Universal Hub]

Towne, the epic Lydia Shire/Jasper White/Mario Capone collaboration, opens in the Hynes Convention Center tomorrow and we've got your first look at the menu. As promised, it spans the globe, bouncing from China (pig chop with fried milk and Wuxi riblets) to Italy (a Wednesday and Sunday special of porchetta with anise-flamed broiled summer peach) to America itself (wood-fired lobster with lobster sausage, whiskey butter, and fries). Of note: the menu requests that you order the burger rare. Above all, the food here is fun: a starter of foie gras is paired with a roasted grape risotto, a witty play on the foie gras and jam sandwiches we've seen at so many restaurant parties and the iceberg salad goes by the punderful "Iceberg, Baby." Towne gets serious when it comes to the prices, however: entrees will generally run you $25-35 and it's possible to pay over $20 for a starter.