From the Somerville Arts Council’s Nibble Blog
Nibble scribe Raleigh Strott chats with Alberto Cabré, co-owner and head chef of Casa B, about dessert, produce and the intersection of architecture and culinary arts. Photos by Rachel Blumenthal.
In many restaurants you often find the “Dessert Divide,” where chefs shy away from baking and focus on the main event: entrées. Not so with Alberto Cabré, head chef and co-owner of Casa B in the heart of Union Square. “I love baking,” he says. “It comes from my background in architecture; the careful measuring comes easily to me.” In fact, the owners of Casa B—Alberto and his wife Angelina Jockovich—are both trained architects.
This background in architecture proved invaluable in opening their restaurant, which serves up creative Spanish and Caribbean food. Upstairs, the feel is light, airy, elegant yet homey. Yet the real transformation is downstairs. In what was once a dingy basement, there is now a modern kitchen (on view to diners), stylish upholstered stools and loveseats and a “living wall”—a vertical garden packed with leafy green plants that cover an entire wall. Casa B’s square footage is modest, yet Alberto and Angelina have created a sense of effortless spaciousness.
In the kitchen Alberto combines his two passions: architecture and cooking.
Upon arriving, we were seated quickly and brought tall steaming glasses of tea, a very welcome respite from the cold. While we perused the menu, James clarified for us that many of the dishes served come from the southern-most areas of South Korea, where there is a strong Chinese influence. He explained to us that about 80% of the Korean vocabulary comes from China, and is also present in the food. For example Jajangmyun, a noodle dish served with pork, onion, potatoes, and zucchini in a sweet black bean sauce, is one such entrée; in Korea it is considered “Chinese food”, although such a dish is not common in China. It makes sense for such a delicious treat to be on the menu at Buk Kyung, the “Buk”, pronounced with a long “oo” sound, translates to “Beijing” in Korean and signifies the specialty dishes at this establishment.
Ginger Explosion number 3
