Food Traditional
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New Cape Verdean restaurant coming to New Bedford’s Acushnet Avenue

Bertie A. Kinser

NEW BEDFORD — Two brothers from Cape Verde are bringing the food and music of their home to New Bedford this month. 

Mateus Barbosa, 39, and Salo Afonseca, 37, are opening Morna Lounge and Grill on Acushnet Avenue in the space that was once Tilia’s Cafe. It will be a restaurant and bar with a mix of Portuguese, Cape Verdean and American cuisine. 

“The idea started about two years ago,” Barbosa, a college professor and social services worker based in Bridgewater, said. “I wanted to start a business, a restaurant, but I wanted it to be in a community where there’s a need.”

As a UMass Dartmouth alumnus with family in the city, he said he felt there wasn’t a big, traditional Cape Verdean place for the city’s Cape Verdean community to go and enjoy food and music.  

Morna, he explained, is a type of Cape Verdean music that is

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Food Traditional
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What is nomadic cuisine? Find out at this new Latin fusion restaurant in Wynwood

Bertie A. Kinser

Feb. 4—Andean culture is about to meet Latin fusion in Wynwood.

Restaurateur Diego D’Alvia, who owns the Rex- Best Chivito in Town restaurants in Buenos Aires, is opening Wakyu Restaurant & Bar in Miami next week.

The 2,000-square-foot restaurant, which has indoor and outdoor seating, considers its kitchen experimental. Helmed by Milan-born Chef Matteo Gritti, it aspires to what it calls “nomadic-inspired” cuisine.

What does that mean?

It means you can start with light dishes such as the Krunchies Tuber & Beet Hummus. You can hit the raw bar and order hot and cold fresh tapas. Want something cold? Try the Phantom Ceviche with Patagonia trout, vegetable pickles and green gazpacho which blends Spanish, Peruvian and Mexican flavors. Prefer hot tapas? Get the Arancini stuffed with goat cheese and burnt aioli.

Main courses include the Octopus in The Coral Reef with eggplant, beetroot and red coral, Wayku’s nod to Surf

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Japanese Food
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Popular Ramen Chain Ramen Ryoma Will Open a New Yakitori Restaurant Downtown

Bertie A. Kinser

Portland will soon have a new downtown restaurant dedicated to yakitori. Popular Beaverton restaurant Ramen Ryoma will bring Japanese-style grilled meat skewers to a space in downtown Portland later this year.



a person cooking food on a table: A chef making yakitori

© Photo by Ore Huiying/Getty Images for ISETAN MITSUKOSHI
A chef making yakitori

Although the location is still in negotiations, Ryoma hopes to open its next restaurant SW Morrison Street sometime between April and May of 2021. The location will serve all of Ramen Ryoma’s classic offerings, including corn butter miso ramen, spicy umami ramen, and Japanese style-curry. At night, the location will focus on yakitori, serving grilled chicken and vegetables coated in Ryoma’s special tare, a sweet soy sauce base that clings to the surface of the crisped meat. “We wanted to bring yakitori and more accessible Japanese food that isn’t too expensive or pricey to the Portland community,” says Ryoma floor manager Andy Koida.

Ryoma’s yakitori enterprise

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Japanese Food
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A New Restaurant From Chef Todd Richards Replaces Hazel Jane’s on the Beltline

Bertie A. Kinser

A new restaurant from Lake & Oak Neighborhood BBQ owners Todd Richards and Joshua Lee called Kuro replaces Hazel Jane’s wine bar this spring at the Edge complex along the Eastside Beltline trail. Hazel Jane’s closed last September after less than a year. The closure was partially due to the financial troubles stemming from the ongoing health crisis.



graphical user interface, website

© Edge on the Beltline


Located next to chef Kevin Gillespie’s restaurant Cold Beer, Kuro will focus on seafood and serve a mix of Japanese fare and ingredients fused with Soul food dishes. Both chefs say they have great “respect” for Japanese cuisine and experience with recipe development and the cooking of Japanese foods.

Once open, the menu for Kuro plans to offer seafood dishes and a makimono sushi experience with Soul food dishes incorporating Japanese ingredients and techniques. Dishes likely to make the menu include a vadouvan-spiced cauliflower steak and

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