Otto: Pizzas for the Topping Enthusiast

A hip new Portland-born pizza joint arrives in Coolidge Corner.

I have to be upfront about something here: I was on my way to another Coolidge Corner eatery when the delicious smells wafting out of Otto yanked me through the doors like some puppeteer was holding my strings. Boston-area Otto enthusiasts will be familiar with the tiny, standing-room-only Harvard Square location, selling slices for immediate face-stuffing gratification as well as whole pies for takeaway.  But the story begins in 2009, when Otto co-owners Anthony Allen and Mike Keon joined forces to open the 3-stool-capacity flagship location in Portland, Maine.  The following year, they opened Otto 225 in Portland, while simultaneously scouting the Harvard Square spot. Otto’s fourth location, the 60-seat Coolidge Corner site, opened a …

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The Bounty Hunter

Far and Away

Trying to make the most of our local produce...when we’re not so local.

Summer is prime growing season—but for many of us, it is prime travel season as well. A couple of times each year, I face the challenge of what to do about our local CSA veggies when we, ourselves, will be anything but local. We could always suspend delivery while we’re away, but the problem is not with the box that arrives that week—it’s easy enough to find a neighbor to pick up our share and leave it at our door the next day in exchange for a few of the goodies inside. No, the problem was with the share we picked up on our last day in town: a veritable mountain of green leaves—lettuce, chard, beets, arugula, kale—accented with a generous scoop of sugar snap peas and a few bright yellow summer squash, courtesy of last week’s heat wave. …

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Bites Nearby

Pizzeria Dante: The classics, with a bit of creativity

Why this Coolidge Corner pizza joint has a loyal following is in the name.

There are dozens of different types of pizza, and each with their own proponents, but there's one thing we can all agree on: a well-made pie is a thing of beauty.  And something beautiful can be found at Pizzeria Dante, a casual restaurant just outside of Coolidge Corner, with bright red walls and a checkerboard ceiling of emerald and mint green. A loyal delivery and takeout crowd means relative quiet, and seats available for the taking. The menu purports to offer "real New York pizza," those wide, thin-crust slices that almost require folding to allow a bite. As the restaurant's name implies, pizzas are the specialty here, and the Margherita is at the top of the charts. Legend has it that when Italian Queen Margherita visited Naples in …

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Viewfinder

Viewfinder: Pie in the Sky

A behind-the-counter look at some of the pizza places around Brookline

Step into the kitchens of some of Brookline's pizza places to watch a ball of dough be transformed into the perfect pie.

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