The Boston Globe - 11.03.2020

WednesdayFood

THE BOSTON GLOBE WEDNESDAY, MARCH 11, 2020 | BOSTONGLOBE.COM/FOOD

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DINING OUT

NIGHTSHADE TAKES ROOT IN LYNN

Chef Rachel Miller’s Vietnamese-inspired restaurant celebrates fresh herbs, artful cocktails, and the joys of being a local

BY DEVRA FIRST | GLOBE STAFF

PHOTOS BY BARRY CHIN/GLOBE STAFF

Thegreen

papaya

salad.

BunchaatNightshadeNoodleBar.

FriedricewithDungenesscrab.

By Sally Pasley Vargas

GLOBE CORRESPONDENT

A trip to a big box store last week confirmed

shoppers are frantically preparing for a corona-

virus outbreak. There are customer limits on

toilet paper and bottled water at Costco, and

there are empty shelves in grocery stores where

the hand sanitizer used to be. Even the ingredi-

ents for homemade hand sanitizer (aloe vera gel

and rubbing alcohol) are sold out. It’s a good

sign that people are preparing: The Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention recommends a

14-day supply of food, cleaning supplies, water,

and other personal accessories in the event of

school or business closings.

I made a shopping list that included items I

normally buy and would definitely use in the fu-

ture, whether or not quarantine is necessary. I

tried to imagine what two weeks at home would

feel like for my family, or another one with kids

at home to feed and amuse. With a disruption

in normal everyday routines, why not make

those two or three weeks, if they occur, into an

adventure? I pondered how to use ingredients

outside my usual routine, and I invite you to do

that, too.

You may have a different list of preferred in-

gredients. This one is not meant to be all-inclu-

sive, but should serve as a jumping off point for

CORONAVIRUS,PageG6

GLOBE STAFF/FILE

You can make interesting meals with

items you probably have in your pantry.

Supermarkets are changing,

soyouwillhavetochange,too

By Sheryl Julian
GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
The lettuce is wilted. Pars-
ley, dead. Broccoli florets fad-
ing to yellow. Something gray
and fuzzy is going on in the
middle of a container of
strawberries. Staff carts filling
online orders are clogging
aisles. Watch out! They’re
glued to their phones and

hardly look up. Rows of

shelves are empty. Looking for

familiar brand names? Well,

good luck.

I'm at my local Whole

Foods Market, a chain that's

been the crown jewel of su-

permarket shopping. I regu-

larly shop at three locations,

but visit others if I happen by.

These incidents didn't hap-

pen all at once. But one or two

on every shopping trip. It's

not just me noticing; shop-

pers around the Boston area

are telling me similar inci-

dents. In the last decade, we

got used to breathtaking pro-

duce, a wide variety of ingre-

dients, brand names we came

to love, and clear aisles.

SHOPPING,PageG5

LANE TURNER/GLOBE STAFF/FILE

INSIDE

ComicsG8

WeatherG9

TV ListingsG10

There are

apps that

can help

you keep

your

shopping

list

straight.

Howtofeedyourfamily

during a coronavirus outbreak

T

he food arrives, lush with fresh herbs, mint and ci-

lantro gradually releasing their crispness into hot

broth amid a tangle of noodles. Rau ram, or Viet-

namese coriander, creeps up the side of a bowl like

ivy; a vertical papaya salad wears a crown of dill.

The herbs are in the cocktails, too, potions of lem-

ongrass gin and curry-infused bourbon, sprigs

clipped to the side of the glass with cunning minia-

ture wood clothespins. This room is a berth, in deep greens

and blues, jungle fronds painted on a dark wall that opens to

reveal chef Rachel Miller’s kitchen. The restaurant’s neon

sign pulses, delightedly anatomical, the logo a flower with

petals proudly spread.

This is Nightshade Noodle Bar, a botanical jewel box, filled

with potted plants, blooming in Lynn. The city is in transi-

tion, at that point where there are loft apartments and wine

bars and coffee shops, but there’s also still room for weird-

ness, coolness, vision, art. Miller’s love letter to Vietnamese

food fits right into that moment.

Anyone who eats in Boston restaurants has been hearing

from Miller for years, likely without knowing it. Her talents

became clear when she signed on as sous chef at Bondir; she

went on to work at TW Food, Coppa, and Clio, where she was

chef de cuisine when it closed. What next? The right opportu-

nity wasn’t waiting for her, so she created one for herself.

Miller had been immersing herself in Vietnamese cooking,

watching countless YouTube videos, reading about it, prepar-

ing it, and eating it. In 2017, she started a pop-up called

Nightshade, serving dishes inspired by the cuisine. Mean-

while, in downtown Lynn, the couple who ran the Campus

Coffee Shop for more than 30 years decided to retire. Miller, a

Lynn resident, had gotten to know them. Everything aligned.

DININGOUT,PageG7

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