Cambridge

Cambridge's modern food record is inseparable from two television cooks who lived and worked there. Julia Child made the city her home and bought meat from Savenor's Market, open since 1939, which supplied "The French Chef." Joyce Chen, sometimes called "the Chinese Julia Child," ran Cambridge restaurants — the first predating Child's arrival — alongside a cookbook, her own public television series, and an import and kitchenware business.

Harvard Square long anchored the restaurant trade. The Wursthaus served sauerbraten, schnitzel and imported beers for some 79 years, owned from 1942 by Frank Cardullo, who opened Cardullo's Gourmet Shop across the street in 1950; its menus won National Restaurant Association awards in the 1970s and were offered in Braille from 1977. Charlie's Kitchen, opened by Charlie Lambrose in 1951, still trades on double cheeseburgers and a beer garden. Harvest, opened in 1975 at 44 Brattle Street by Benjamin and Jane Thompson beside the Design Research store, held Child's regular seat and functioned as a training kitchen: Lydia Shire was its first chef, and Barbara Lynch, Frank McClelland, Chris Schlesinger, Bob Kinkead and Sara Moulton worked there.

On the beverage side, Cambridge Brewing Company opened in Kendall Square in 1989 — the oldest brewpub in the greater Boston area — under owner Phil Bannatyne and brewmaster Will Meyers. It closed in December 2024, its brands acquired by Castle Island Brewing.