Ice cream fans are one step closer to rejoicing. Toscanini’s is getting closer to reopening. After launching a blog to solicit donations for its $167,000 tax bill, the owners report that they’ve received enough money to make a down payment to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue and will hopefully start scooping soon.

But the owners are still accepting donations if you want to help them out.

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The Toscanini’s saga continues to unfold, four days after its surprise shuttering for unpaid taxes. On Friday, owner Gus Rancantore informed us that he and sister/partner Mimi were working to set up a payment plan with the state, and hoped to reopen on Tuesday. On Saturday, the Rancantoris launched Save Tosci’s, a PayPal-enabled blog aimed at raising $25,000 for a down payment on their bill. They also sent out a public statement. (more…)

As of Friday afternoon, Toscanini’s remains closed. However, owner Gus Rancantore sent us this update:

“We were trying to prevent this from happening and we thought we could get things in order by today, Friday, noon. That’s not going to happen and because of the MLK weekend we probably won’t be able to do anything until Tuesday.

“We do owe money to The Commonwealth. The DOR does not want to close us and we certainly don’t want to close. We have been discussing the amount owed and the payment plan. Right now we are, per their suggestion, filing abatements for certain months and running around.

It has been amazing to have so many people say and write nice things about the store, its workers and our ice cream…We just want to get this settled and reopen.” (more…)

Everyone here at Chowder was dismayed (devastated?) to learn via Bostonist that beloved Cambridge ice cream parlor Toscanini’s had been shuttered this morning—seized by the Commonwealth for nonpayment of taxes. It was bad enough to lose the Harvard Square location in 2006. Could this be the end of the micro-sundae?

We’re (cautiously) happy to report that there may be reason for hope: Owner Gus Rancantore tells us that he’s hoping to have this matter sorted out very quickly, possibly within days. Though he didn’t get into details, he indicated that he’s spent the day running around, sorting through red tape. (more…)

Now that last week’s warm weather has given way to snow-covered streets, we’re back to craving carbs. Forget eating healthier in ‘08: we want Chocolate Covered Cherry Cookies.

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Last weekend’s snowstorm may have wreaked havoc with my tightly-packed holiday schedule, but it did have an upside. Being snowed in gave me an opportunity to bake some Christmas cookies. While they may not be a thing of beauty, it’s not Christmas at my house until the chocolate-covered cherry cookies are cooling on a wire rack.

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It has become an annual tradition in the Chowder household to build a gingerbread building. Not a little cottage or an A-frame chalet, but something a little more interesting. One year, it was the Guggenheim. This year, it was a pair of Back Bay brownstones. (more…)