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What to Eat in Julia Child’s Boston

Julia's Cambridge kitchen
Julia’s Cambridge kitchen Photo: Wikipedia

While you may not be able to afford a jaunt to France’s La Corunne, the restaurant where Julia Child first tried the sole meunière that would forever change the course of her life, a visit to her favorite Boston food shops and restaurants seems much more doable. Child, who spent almost 40 years living at 103 Irving Street in Cambridge, just outside of Harvard Square, befriended many Boston food world figures. We spoke to two of them, Hamersley’s Bistro’s Gordon Hamersley, and Lydia Shire of Locke-Ober and Scampo, to help find some of Julia’s favorite haunts.

Hamersley’s “She was a huge fan of our chicken and she would almost always have a tossed green salad. She loved the grilled duck and a dish I actually borrowed from one of her cookbooks of a salad with raspberries and raspberry vinegar.” –Gordon Hamersley

Locke-Ober, where Child spent her last night in Boston before moving to Santa Barbara. “She pretty much always ordered duck every time she came into one of my restaurant. She was a great example of someone who ate butter everyday, she had a little cream everyday. Her philosophy was everything in moderation. She said once ‘If nutritionist zealots, the scareheads, take hold in America, they are going to kill gastronomy.’” –Lydia Shire

New Shanghai and Peach Farm. Child “loved Chinatown,” says Shire.

Jasper’s and Summer Shack. Child and chef Jasper White were friends, according to Hamersley.

Rowes Wharf Restaurant. “She liked the old restaurant at the Boston Harbor Hotel and its chef, Daniel Bruce,” Hamersley says. (Child left Boston before Bruce’s Meritage opened.)

Savenor’s Market. “Her favorite place to shop was Savenor’s Market. Jack Savenor was about her age. You can still go in and find rabbit and quail. She trusted Jack. The two of them together were just fabulous.” –Lydia Shire

What to Eat in Julia Child’s Boston