Phantom Gourmet: Cunard Tavern In East Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Whoever said, "you can't go home again" didn't know Chef Anthony Pino.
Pino works at Cunard Tavern in East Boston. It is named after the Cunard Line, that would dock their vessels in Jeffries Point, right down the street.
"This is the neighborhood I grew up in. A lot of it's different, but a lot of it's the same too. I probably walked this block thousands of time in my life. This is kind of the corner I hung out on as a kid, so it's really cool to have the restaurant right here, and it's kind of like a dream job to come back here and work in the neighborhood I grew up in," said Pino.
Nautical touches decorate the dining room, like the stunning masthead hanging in the corner, and the shipping container doors leading to the kitchen where Pino captains the ship.
Cunard Tavern is owned by restauranteur Phillip Frattoroli and the land it sits on used to house a business owned by his grandfather called Oscar's Woodworking. So in designing the restaurant, Frattoroli also paid homage to his grandfather by affixing a hammer to the front door, using screwdrivers for tap handles, and making a host stand out of Oscar's old table saw.
"He came here. He settled in East Boston in the late 40s and really achieved the American Dream in this property," explained Frattoroli.
Today, Cunard Tavern is proud to offer food as diverse as the neighborhood it serves. Having grown up about a block away, Pino knows the area's history and created a menu that honors it.
"East Boston was always a kind of a stepping stone for immigrants coming into the United States. So I tried to pull as many of the cultural influences and culinary influences from those different communities and incorporate them into American dishes to kind of reflect the changing culture of East Boston over the years," said Pino.
