This Is Framingham

It’s been a couple of weeks now, but the Shell Station at Sad Plaza on Franklin St.  Closed, got boarded up and is rumored to be demolished.  I can’t say I ever went there because they were a little on the pricey side, but it did add a little life to the plaza and the intersection.   I don’t know if technically it’s on the lot belonging to the plaza owner.   I’d like to think this would just make more of a case for a developer to take over the plaza with all this available space (which includes the bounty of empty shops behind the gas station) but we’ll see.  Only 4 more stores to close until it becomes completely vacant.

Friday night I went to check out Luke Foley (pictured above, left) at his gig at the Eagle’s hall.  Normally I wouldn’t find myself at a 18+ event but I know Luke from work and have been hearing him talk about his DJing for a while now, so I finally got around to seeing him in action.
Being the old lady that I am, I got there when the doors opened at 8:30pm and stayed for about an hour.  It started to really get hopping when I was leaving (coincidence?) and there ended up being 250 people!  Luke knows how to get the crowd going and it was fun just to see the kids have such a great time.

Luke is available for parties, Bar Mitzvah’s, etc… and can be contacted at LightzOuttEnt@aol.com and by phone at 781 572 9894.  Great job Luke-ay!

I was walking by Sampan the other morning and saw it’s for sale. I wasn’t sure if they’re closed and for sale or still open and for sale. Out of curiosity I called tonight to see if anyone answered and they did, so I guess they’re open while looking for a buyer.
I can’t say I’ll miss it since I only went there once but it’s been there for a long time so it’ll be weird to not see it there.
Also, I saw that Astro’s pizza has closed after just opening last September.

I’ve only been to Cintolo’s once before to get some signatures to run for town meeting but I heard they sell great homemade sausage on Thursdays so I went to check it out.
For anyone who doesn’t know, Cintolo’s is a little neighborhood market that has been in business for 70 years and people who go in there end up talking with Mr. & Mrs. Cintolo for a while, sometimes pulling up a chair and staying a while.   The nice thing is that if they don’t know they don’t make you feel like you don’t belong there. When I went in to buy the sausage, Mrs. Cintolo was asking me how I planned on cooking it and gave me suggestions on different recipes. 
Also, I  though it was cute that even though they’ve been in business so long and have a regular clientele, she was interested in how I heard about them.  She was just so nice and easy to talk to.  I went in there to get one thing and ended up talking with her for 10-15 minutes and she asked me to come back and let her know how I liked the sausage.
I sauteed it with onions and peppers and it was dee-licious!

This is one of the most adorable small business in Framingham and worth making the trip for sausage.
Cintolo’s is at 371 Grant Street.  They don’t have a sign anymore, I forgot to ask if it was because of a storm or the ridiculously strict sign regulations in town, but you should be able to recognize it by the striped awning in front of the store.

Doug Stephan of Eastleigh Farm (used with permission)
According to their site, Eastleigh Farm has been okayed (again) to sell raw milk starting in March.
There are people who think it’s a good idea and those who think it’s a bad idea but what it comes down to is that it’s a choice people can make, just like people choose how well they want their burger done.
Personally I’m not a big milk drinker, but I do enjoy cheese made from raw milk and I know there are lots of people who prefer to drink raw milk. I think it would be great for Framingham to be known as a location where you can get raw milk and support a local farm. When I talk to people who don’t live in town they’re surprised when I tell them we have actual farms here – they think Framingham is just crime and shopping.
I had the pleasure of talking with Doug Stephan a few weeks ago and he said the milk will start off being available as milk shares and then in a few months most likely be available by the bottle and then move onto cheese, yogurt and ice cream as well.
Everything you’d want to know about this, like why people want to drink raw milk, and more about the farm can be found on their website: http://www.eastleighfarm.com

Any title I had for this post was going to be tacky so I didn’t even bother finishing it.
As part of my job at the History Center I get to look through lots of boxes with all sorts of artifacts in them.  I recently came across a box that had a bunch of old cocktail stirrers from old restaurants.  I got a kick out them and thought some of you might too. 

From left to right is Ken’s Steakhouse, Finnerty’s (Wayland), Maridor, Timothy’s Too, Framingham Motor Inn, Framingham Liquors and the Knaughty Knights Lounge- whatever that was.   It must have been where Molly Mallone’s is now at the Sheraton Tara.  Not sure if it was a regular restaurant or more of a “gentlemens” bar but anyone remembers that place, I’d love to hear what it was like.

Tonight my friend Miah and I went out for sushi at Samba. I’ve gone here for hibachi and Ethan and I love their Pad Thai, but I’ve never gone here for a sushi evening so that’s what Miah and I did.
We sat in the lounge (also a first) and started off with some drinks, I got a chocolate martini and and Miah got something fruity that the waiter suggested. ???? ??????

We got some edamame and a sushi/maki combo for 2. This was really enough for 3, maybe even 4 and hasd a nice variety of nigiri and maki which was delicious.

I think the best roll was was the spicy tuna maki, which Miah agreed was particularly good. ????? ????????

We had such a great meal here and now have three reasons to go here. ???? ???? Whether it’s for hibachi, Pad Thai or sushi, I’d be happy to go here anytime and it’s good to see that so far Samba hasn’t succumbed to the failed restaurant curse that had plagued this location for previous businesses. Good job Samba!