Jim Solomon is the Founder of Shack with the Chef. Mr. Solomon explores hidden gems in New England, Miami, and wherever he travels. Celebrating small independents, and family-owned businesses, he primarily highlights those fabulous restaurants which do not always benefit from the publicity they deserve or are best known only in their own neighborhoods. 

Occasionally, Jim does also spotlight some especially exceptional, well-known restaurants, that Jim wants you to know about. 

Jim is best known for being Chef/Owner of The Fireplace, formerly located on Beacon Street, in Brookline, Massachusetts (2001 – 2017) , a sophisticated ‘New England Grill’ celebrating the bounty of the region and its Colonial influences.  The restaurant gained a reputation buying from local farmers and fisherman, from the six New England states., serving only what was fresh and in season.  

In addition to being the 1st Certified Green Restaurant in Boston, the restaurant won numerous awards and mentions including Outstanding Wine List (Wine Spectator), Chocolate Madness Winner – (Pastry Pleasure), People’s Choice Best Burger in Boston (Boston Magazine), Boston’s Top 10 Breakfasts – (City Search), Best in Show & People’s Choice Winner, and Boston Lamb Jam – (American Lamb Board), People’s Choice  (Boston Taste of Elegance - National Pork Board), Greenest of Them All (Boston Globe), Most Romantic in Boston (Top of the Heights), Best Neighborhood Brunch (Boston Magazine, Best Places to Kiss (Boston.com) & Most Authentic New England Cuisine in Boston (Boston Globe) and Coziest Restaurant (Boston Magazine) amongst many others.

Prior to a tremendously successful sixteen years owning and operating The Fireplace, Jim earned an MBA at The University of Michigan and worked with some of the country’s finest chefs including Paul Prudhomme (K-Paul’s), Thomas Keller (Bouchon/The French Laundry) and Todd English (Figs/Olives). 

As Boston’s first ‘Certified Green’ restaurant (Green Restaurant Association) The Fireplace was widely recognized for playing a vital role in raising awareness of local environmental issues.  In honor of his efforts, Jim was named to the Board of Directors for Boston Green Tourism, which works to help other Boston restaurants and hotels earn ‘green certification’.  Jim was additionally sworn-in to the Brookline Selectman’s Climate Action Committee.  He was one of the founders of the Brookline Green Expo, Brookline Winter Farmers’ Market and Brookline Local First.   

In Brookline, and the restaurant’s Washington Square neighborhood, Jim served as Vice President on the Board of Directors for the Brookline Chamber of Commerce and was a founding Steering Committee member of Brookline Local First.  Jim spent years donating his services for live auctions, as dinners in private homes for numerous causes and hospitals in Metropolitan Boston.

Jim also contributes his culinary talents and time to the arts.  Amongst other organizations Jim is in his fifteenth year on the Board of Directors of The Terezin Music Foundation (TMF) to preserve the music and memory of works composed in WW2 concentration camps.             Today, with his sister & brother, Jim co-owns the Colorado Rockies Double A Minor League Baseball Team, the Hartford Yard Goats. 

Instagram: @shackwiththechef

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Music provided by the great INTOISHUN. You can listen to more of his work on Bandcamp and Spotify.

not for the city, but for the people. a visit.

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Highschool reunion, all stolen.

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Music provided by the great INTOISHUN. You can listen to more of his work on Bandcamp and Spotify.

Najiba is a chaplain and life coach who hails from NYC. She received her B.A. in Peace and Justice Studies from Wellesley College and her Masters in Social Work from Boston College. She did her coaching training with Integral Coaching Canada. She currently serves as the Muslim Chaplain at Tufts University, and lives in Wayland, MA with her husband and three children.

Check out her podcast: Muslim Enneagram https://open.spotify.com/show/680Tyt4cMdlOXkEyJsHMpA?si=82c67e4c8dc840c2

Thank you for listening! Follow the podcast on Twitter @9928podcast; send in guest suggestions, questions, or poems.

Music provided by the great INTOISHUN. You can listen to more of his work on Bandcamp and Spotify.

As the Boston Public Library’s Chief of Communications, Lisa is responsible for sharing with the world the immense breadth and depth of all the BPL has to offer.  To attempt this nearly-impossible feat, she’s responsible for the direction of BPL’s website, social media, media relations, marketing, and advertising. 

Prior to joining the Library in 2018, Lisa led public relations around Boston’s affordable housing plan and efforts to end chronic homelessness at the Mayor’s Office of Housing.  Her public service has also included time as Chief Communications Officer for the City of Boston under Mayor Marty Walsh, and service in the press office of the late Mayor Thomas M. Menino. 

In addition, Lisa spent nine years as a strategic communications consultant in the private sector, specializing in health care, human services, and education. 

A Boston resident, she co-owns garage rock record label Rum Bar Records with her husband Lou and wishes she had more time to ride her motorcycle. 

Thank you for listening! Follow the podcast on Twitter @9928podcast; send in guest suggestions, questions, or poems.

Music provided by the great INTOISHUN. You can listen to more of his work on Bandcamp and Spotify.

Ben Einsidler is a fourth-year rabbinical school student at Hebrew College, from which he has previously earned Master's degrees in Jewish education and Jewish studies. He is currently a Rabbinic Fellow at Brandeis University Hillel, and has extensive experience as a Jewish educator in both formal and informal settings.

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Music provided by the great INTOISHUN. You can listen to more of his work on Bandcamp and Spotify.

I enjoyed this episode endlessly and left our conversation with hopes for another one soon. This is the second in my series on religion.

Darrell Hamilton is an ordained Baptist minister. Darrell’s ministry is centered on advancing diversity, inclusion, and advocacy for the vulnerable and marginalized as aspects of the Christian tradition to inspire our world toward greater justice and love for all people. Darrell is a graduate from Wake Forest School of Divinity where he received his Masters in Divinity in 2017. Darrell also has an undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Central Oklahoma. 

Darrell’s preaching, teaching, leadership, and community engagement is inspired by the principles and scholarship of James Cone, James Baldwin, Kelly Brown Douglas, and Jeremiah Wright, Jr., and the examples of Martin Luther King, Jr., William Barber, II, Otis Moss, III, and others. Darrell is the former Executive Minister for Operations and Resource Development at Middle Collegiate Church in New York. Prior he was the Pastor for Formation and Outreach at the First Baptist Church in Jamaica Plain, Program Director for City Mission Boston's Urban Pastoral Ministry Program, and held leadership positions with the Massachusetts Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. Darrell’s vision for ministry is to lead an intentional welcoming, affirming, and progressive Christian community, as he conspires to advance the economic, spiritual, and systemic liberation for all marginalized people.

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Music provided by the great INTOISHUN. You can listen to more of his work on Bandcamp and Spotify.

Partha Biswas serves as a spiritual trainer in the lives of many spiritual aspirants coming from all walks of life. His deep faith in spiritual principles is a result of seeds that were sown when he was 10 years old. Since then, he has inculcated habits of regularly reading scriptures and practicing meditation. His practices and realizations matured with the opportunities to receive directions from various qualified teachers. As an offering of gratitude to his teachers, he founded meditation clubs at various universities (UCI – 2003, Tufts – 2006, Northeastern – 2009) to share his knowledge of how to live scriptural principles in contemporary settings. Partha is a Director at MathWorks, with a Bachelor’s from the Indian Institute of Technology, and a PhD from the University of California, Irvine. Despite having high-profile responsibilities under his belt, he strives to live a very simple and humble life of devotion toward God. He believes that when we take upon responsibilities of life as a service to God, we can tangibly experience God’s presence even in so-called mundane affairs of life. He attributes his material and spiritual achievements to the ongoing guidance of his spiritual teacher and mentors.

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Music by the great INTOISHUN

Intoishun is a friend, artist, and apparently gifted tennis player from the West coast who I met on the East coast. His work can be found on Bandcamp and Spotify. You can also check out his Instagram @notintuition

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