When Bravo’s Top Chef Master Jody Adams isn’t busy running Rialto, her four star restaurant in Cambridge, Mass, or supporting child advocacy and hunger relief organizations like Partners in Health and The Greater Boston Food Bank, she comes home to the leafy community of Brookline to relax with her family: husband Ken, children Roxanne and Oliver, her pug, Velma, and her cat, Coal. Their four-bedroom condo is a freestanding two-unit house, originally built as a two-family. Adams chose to move to Brookline six years ago when her son was entering high school. “It’s hard not to love Brookline, especially if you have school-age children,” she says. “The community values education and repeatedly demonstrates a willingness to pay for it.”
How much are paying to live in Brookline?
We have a mortgage. We pay a lot.
Why did you initially choose this nabe and what has kept you here?
We moved to Brookline the summer after my son’s 8th grade year. Oliver wanted to shift gears from a private to a public school and he had his sights set on Brookline High School. Our daughter Roxanne was entering 3rd grade at the time of our move and we welcomed the idea that both of our children could walk to school–a first for us–and would have friends nearby. Brookline has an extensive and beautiful park system and there is a priority placed on trees, gardens and green in both public and private spaces. We chose the Washington Square neighborhood because it’s close to Coolidge Corner, Washington Square and Brookline Village as well as the schools. It feels more urban than some other parts of Brookline.
Has the nabe evolved or changed in the six years that you’ve lived here?
We’ve watched Coolidge Corner change both in positive and negative ways. The revered independent Coolidge Corner Theater has been renovated, and the Brookline Booksmith continues to operate, but more chain restaurants and banks have moved into the area as well. The restaurant scene in Brookline is quite varied, ranging from wonderful small ethnic restaurants to fun pub spots. We love going to the neighborhood restaurants, ethnic shops, Clear Flour Bakery, Wulf’s Seafood and the weekly farmer’s market.
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Coolidge Corner Movie Theater: http://www.flickr.com/photos/leecullivan/717108672/
Is there anything you wish were different about the nabe?
What Brookline is missing is outdoor seating and a great specialty food store.
What are some of your haunts or places you go to be inspired?
I love the Brookline Booksmith in Coolidge Corner, an ideosyncratic Brookline Village shop called Pod that sells specialty interior accessories and Winestone in Chestnut Hill, where we get a lot of our wine. I also use the main branch of the Brookline Public Library quite often.
As a chef I’m sure you must have scoped out the best restaurants and bars in the area.
Pomodoro, in Brookline Village, is the best for great Italian food and a feeling that you have been welcomed into Shiobban and her staff’s home; Lineage, for great seafood; Shiki in Coolidge Corner for innovative and delicious Japanese food; American Craft for a great beer selection and food to match; Café Fixe for the best coffee; Upper Crust for pizza.
Describe a perfect day in Brookline.
Up early on a spring day. A bike ride around Jamaica Pond and the Arboretum. Coffee from Café Fixe with pastries or bread from Clear Flour on the porch. A walk into Coolidge Corner to the Brookline Booksmith for an hour or so of book browsing. Lunch at Shiki. A walk home, stopping at the nail place in our neighborhood. A grilled dinner with friends, made from items from the Brookline farmers market and some good wine.
Can you compare your nabe to other places you’ve lived?
In many ways Brookline feels like a European town with an international community. People from all over the world live here. For the most part the town is pedestrian friendly, with accessible public transportation, and many people walk everywhere. Politically, the Brookline demographic is quite liberal, a plus in my book. There’s a great sense of community, a commitment to education and a sense of community parenting.
What high school superlative winner would be at home here?
Most creative compassionate world leader.
What a fantastic “perfect day”!! Ms. Adams was certainly right on with all the “best places to eat and drink”. Cafe Fixe has the best coffee in Boston undoubtedly. Booksmith has the best museum of current books. She has such a zest for life that is really captured here. Bravo.
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