After Teele Square Fire, Restaurant Owners Start Again on Somerville Avenue

Chow n' Joy opened about a year after a fire destroyed Kee Kar Lau in Teele Square.

On Oct. 30, 2011, the owners of Kee Kar Lau, a Chinese restaurant in Teele Square, watched from a doorway across Broadway as their building burned. The fire had started in a neighboring dry cleaners, and although Kee Kar Lau was mostly spared from the flames, the whole building was eventually demolished. Now, slightly over a year later, they opened a new restaurant, Chow n' Joy, on Somerville Avenue between Porter and Union squares. According to the new restaurant's website: "The same owners of Kee Kar Lau in Teele Square has now relocated their restaurant ... We serve mainly Chinese food with a Cantonese twist, we also have a variety of other foods such as Pad Thai and curry dishes." The website says customers should try the noodle soups…

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SCHOOL DAY

Culinary Arts Program Offers Students Chance to Run Restaurant

The Culinary Arts Program at Somerville High School offers students an alternative to regular education, a foundation of cooking and baking techniques and an opportunity to run a restaurant.

On a recent Friday morning, students fill the kitchen of Somerville High School’s Culinary Arts program. Two at the baking station are preparing desserts for the day’s Highlander Cafe buffet. Dressed in a white chef’s hat and coat, one carefully pours cappuccino-flavored cheesecake batter into round tins. Another classmate stands beside her ready to lend a hand. But something is amiss. According to the recipe, the dark brown-flecked batter should have been lighter and smoother.  Someone has mistakenly mixed the brownie crumb into the batter. The students hesitantly taste their chocolaty creation and then confidently hand a spoonful to baking instructor Richard Brunet, who likes the flavor, too. “Some of the greatest things ever made …

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