Tasting Counter Opens a Retail Market for House-Made Hot Sauces
Take home jars of preserves, vinegars, and more from the Somerville fine-dining restaurant.
The late-night wine bar at Tasting Counter. / Photograph by Emily Sotomayor for “The Best New Wine Bars in Boston Right Now”
The brightly colored crocks of hot sauce, preserved lemons, and oak-aged vinegars that line the white walls of Tasting Counter can now enliven your kitchen at home. The Somerville restaurant just launched a web store called TC Market, with a line of house-made condiments for sale. The Tasting Counter retail sauces include preserved farm-fresh fruit, lacto-fermented hot sauces, organic honey, and more.
One of the most unique restaurants in the Boston area, Tasting Counter is primarily a sleek, 20-seat open kitchen, where diners buy tickets in advance for an immersive, inventive, carbon-neutral feast of nine courses by chef Peter Ungár and his tall-toqued team. It’s a multi-year Best of Boston winner, a top three-Best Restaurant in Boston, and a mighty fine natural wine bar, as well.
Situated in the back of the warehouse also home to Aeronaut Brewing Company, Tasting Counter has set aside space since opening in 2015 to grow its own herbs and greens, using kitchen compost. Ungár has also grown a collection of fermentations. Among the $10-$15 bottles for sale through TC Market are “the original,” tangy Fresno chili hot sauce; a yuzu kosho-inspired hot sauce made with fermented citrus and peppers; peach preserves with red currants and hibiscus; and a craft beer malt vinegar.
These stocking stuffers are the latest way local gourmands can bring the flavors of Boston’s restaurants home. Tasting Counter sauces are available online and in-person at the wine bar beginning Monday, November 26.
14 Tyler St., Somerville, 617-299-6362, tastingcounter.com.
Photos provided by Tasting Counter
