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Everyone who loves food has, at some point, been inspired by Julia Child — including some legendary chefs. After all, she made people believe that anyone could cook. Ask any chef or home cook who looked up to her, and they’ll share heartwarming memories of Julia, recalling how she changed the way we cook and sharing knowledge of some of Julia Child’s favorite foods. What about her favorite food haunts? Child’s love affair with French cuisine began at La Couronne, a historic restaurant in Rouen, France, where she first tasted sole meunière — a meal she would later describe as “life-changing”. But what were some of her favorite dining spots in America? It turns out that the legendary chef and author was especially fond of The Blue Room, a Boston-area restaurant. “I love The Blue Room because it smells like a restaurant”, she once told the owner Nick Zappia, according to Conde Naste Traveler.
The Blue Room opened in 1991 in Cambridge, where Child lived with her husband, Paul. The farm-to-table fine dining restaurant was founded by Chris Schlesinger (Zappia later purchased it in 1996), who wanted to bring unique and eclectic dishes from around the world to a curious local crowd. In a 1992 interview with The Christian Science Monitor, Schlesinger spoke of Child with deep admiration. “The most poignant thing I can say about Julia is that she is so supportive [of] us all. I get calls all the time from people she’s recommended me to,” he said.
Is one of Julia Child’s favorite Boston restaurants still around?
It would be surreal, almost moving, for any Julia Child fan to dine at a restaurant she once frequented. The culinary legend, who cried after tasting a dessert because it was so good in one of the episodes of the ’90s PBS series “Baking with Julia”, had a way of stirring deep emotions about the simple joy of indulging in good food. Sadly, that experience isn’t possible as The Blue Room no longer exists. Parts of the restaurant were damaged in a fire in 2015, forcing the owners to shut down for nearly a year. When it reopened in 2016, the space had been almost entirely renovated, but the restaurant struggled to bounce back. The lengthy closure, unresolved insurance issues, and growing competition in the neighborhood all took their toll. The Blue Room reopened only to shut its doors for good in 2017.
Still, like most people lucky enough to have encountered Child, The Blue Room’s co-owner, Nick Zappia, remembered her fondly. He recalled how she always chose a table in an odd corner of the restaurant — a spot most diners avoided before the renovation. He also told Eater how much she loved engaging with the kitchen staff. “It’s so fun to talk to the cooks, and she just loved to engage them,” Zappia said.
While glancing at these tales by dining at the Boston restaurant might not be a possibility anymore, at least we now know a little more about the iconic food connoisseur who changed how people look at culinary art forever.