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Table Hoppin: Celebrity chef Guy Fieri gives Worcester Tech culinary students virtual pep talk

Table Hoppin: Lucys Cake Shop at home on Park Avenue

Table Hoppin: Abby’s House offers a delicious fundraiser By Barbara M. Houle Correspondent Abby’s House Spring-Tacular fundraiser is a seven-day virtual celebration that begins next month, guaranteed to bring plenty of fun surprises. This year’s 8th Spring-Tacular is presented by the Counseling & Assessment Clinic of Worcester LLC. The event reconnects Abby’s House with local restaurants and businesses, “lighting the way for safety, healing and new beginnings for 45 years,” accordin...

Barbara M. Houle Correspondent News reports that online shopping skyrocketed last year came as no surprise to most of us who probably all were on the same websites clicking away. The U.S. Department of Commerce announced earlier this year that Americans spent $791.7 billion online last year, up 32.4% from 2019. The pandemic and national lockdowns not only added growth opportunities for brands, but also new reasons for businesses to create fun, surprise mail-order food gifts and packages. A qui...

Table Hoppin: Beirut Bite owner sees risk paying off Barbara M. Houle Correspondent Rony Zoghby is an independent restaurant owner who braced for the unknown when he opened Beirut Bite, 156 Shrewsbury St., Worcester last spring. The Worcester resident put his real estate career on hold when he signed a lease in January 2020 for space once occupied by the short-lived C’Mondz international restaurant and before that the popular Meze Greek Tapas Bar & Grill, now Meze Estiatorio located at 166 Sh...

By Barbara M. Houle Correspondent Maura Stevens is an experienced executive chef who last month accepted the newly created position of food and nutrition services manager at Abby’s House in Worcester, joining a dedicated staff and countless volunteers who work to serve women and children who experience homelessness or who have suffered trauma and abuse.  “We are excited to have created a new position this year to further serve women and children access to healthy and nutritious foods," s...

By Barbara M. Houle Correspondent Clear Path for Veterans New England in Devens offers a multitude of programs responding to COVID-19 by providing service members and veterans and their families with boxes of non-perishable food supplies and most recently Grab n’ Go meals. Food insecurity is a continuing issue during COVID-19, said Donna Bulger of Norfolk, executive director and vice president of Clear Path, a 50 (c)3 with the mission “to build a safe, supportive and respectful place for Ve...

By Barbara M. Houle Revadee (Ray) Chueawong is among the city’s newest restaurateurs, opening her first restaurant, Thai Corner, just before Thanksgiving 2020. Originally from Thailand, the friendly and enthusiastic 27-year-old breathes new life into the site at the corner of June and Chandler streets. Thai Corner is the third restaurant to open at this spot that housed Dianna’s Neighborhood Bistro beginning in 2016 and Friends Café, which opened in 2019 and closed last year. Chueawong of ...

Barbara M. Houle Correspondent Restaurateurs and brothers, Joe and Ben Kaplan last November bought JPs Restaurant and Pub, a longstanding fixture on Westboro’s dining scene. It’s their fourth restaurant, but who’s counting. The siblings own and operate Lakeside Bar & Grille in Shrewsbury (six years), Herbie’s in Worcester (four years) and Center Tree Bar & Grill in Rutland (two years). The rumor in 2019 that JPs owners Joseph (Joe) and Linda Antonio were interested in selling the busine...

By Barbara M. Houle Correspondent Che! Empanada at 19 Kelley Square, Worcester, is a new place where you can find a little piece of Argentina. Albie Alvarez-Cote of West Newton and Chef Roy Caceser of Concord, New Hampshire, opened the restaurant Jan. 6 with plans for a grand opening celebration sometime in late February. The business is located in the spot once occupied by Anthem Bagel Co. Che! Empanada is a “dream come true” for Alvarez-Cote, who first started selling her handmade empanad...