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The Basics: Toro restaurant information

Toro

1704 Washington St
Boston, MA 02118
617-536-4300

Toro restaurant information
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Since its 2005 opening, Toro, nestled in the South End, has become Boston's premiere destination for authentic and innovative Spanish-style tapas. With its cozy, comfortable atmosphere, extensive menu of traditional pinchos and tapas, and exclusively Spanish wine list, Toro offers all the best features of authentic Spanish tapas bars.

Guests can choose innovative cocktails like signature Sangria, or celebrate by passing around a porron filled with cava. Whether shaking off the winter chill by the fireplace, or dining al fresco on the patio, this all-season hot spot is not to be missed.

News and Events at Toro restaurant

Vinny's Tip Jar
This Memorial Day, the Hotel Commonwealth hosts Vinny's Tip Jar, a fundraiser and auction in support of Vinny Sapochetti ...

A Caliente Night in the South End
On Friday, May 4th, friends of the Hurley School in the South End will be taking over the Ben Franklin ...

Where's the Beef? At the BCAE
On Thursday, April 19th,the Boston Center for Adult Education is hosting What's Your Beef?, their first annual fundraiser ...

Ken Oringer

Chef at Toro

Chef Ken Oringer at Toro

New Jersey native Ken Oringer's career began inauspiciously; washing dishes in a local restaurant as a teen. He caught the kitchen bug, however, and went on to study restaurant management at Bryant College in Rhode Island and then received a degree from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, where he was voted Most Likely to Succeed by his classmates.

After graduation, Oringer's first position was at David Burke's River Café in New York, followed by a pastry chef position at Providence's legendary Al Forno, and sous cheffing under Jean Georges Vongerichten at the Marquis de Lafayette in Boston. Next, he briefly operated Terra Trattoria in Greenwich, Connecticut, which won three stars from The NY Times.

In 1992, Oringer moved to San Francisco and became chef de cuisine at Silks in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. There, his distinctive, Asian-accented style and flair with cutting-edge ingredients began to get noticed. Conde' Nast Traveler magazine listed Silks as "one of the top 20 restaurants in America." Raves followed in Gourmet.

In 1995, Oringer returned Boston, and won praise for his work at Tosca in suburban Hingham.  Within a year, the restaurant was dubbed "Best on the South Shore," and Ken was profiled on CNN. In 1997, he and a partner opened Clio in Boston's Eliot Hotel, with a contemporary French/American menu that married skilled technique with an artful, Asian-inspired approach.

The restaurant's phenomenal success catapulted Oringer's reputation into the stratosphere, and the accolades never stopped. Clio has been a Gourmet magazine Top Table, and has been lauded in most national magazines and daily metropolitan newspapers. Oringer has also appeared on several Food Network shows, as guest, cook and winning contestant. After nominations in 1998 and 1999, he won The James Beard Foundation's Best Chef - Northeast Award in 2001.

Intellectually restless and an enthusiastic traveler, Oringer eventually sought new outlets for his culinary curiosity. In 2002, he opened Uni, an intimate sashimi bar in Back Bay. In 2005, he opened Toro, a Barcelona-inspired tapas bar in Boston's trendy South End.  In 2007, he opened La Verdad, an authentic Mexican concept located adjacent to Fenway Park, and lent his name and knowledge to KO Prime, a modern steakhouse in Kimpton's Nine Zero Hotel on Beacon Hill.

Diversification aside, Ken is known to be a hands-on kind of chef who can often be found manning the stove at Clio, procuring farm-raised beef for KO Prime at local farms, mixing margaritas at La Verdad, or creating surprises for the patrons at Uni.

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Dictionary
 
Cabrales
1. noun A noted Spanish blue cheese.
Chorizo
1. noun Crumbly, spiced pork sausage.
Confit
1. noun Meat (usually goose, duck or pork) that is slowly cooked in its own fat and preserved with the fat packed around it as a seal.
Escabeche
1. noun A Spanish dish of poached or fried fish covered with a spicy marinade.
Farro
1. noun Tuscany's mainstay, a small, light brown grain.
Foie gras
1. noun Expensive, silk-textured goose or duck liver that has been enlarged by a process you don't want to read about if you're going to eat this dish.
Gazpacho
1. noun A Spanish soup served chilled, originally a puree of cucumber, tomato, onion, bell pepper, celery, vinegar, breadcrumbs, olive oil and garlic.
Hummus
1. noun Mashed chickpeas flavored with lemon juice, garlic and oil.
Jus
1. noun French for juice, jus also refers to the unthickened juices from a piece of roasted meat.
Lovage
1. noun A celery-like vegetable.
Oxtail
1. noun A very flavorful cut of meat usually from beef or veal tail. Can be very tough so, often requires long, slow braising.
Paella
1. noun A saffron-flavored rice dish with meats, vegetables and shellfish; named for the large shallow pan in which it is traditionally cooked.
Panko
1. noun Coarse breadcrumbs used in Japanese cooking.
Panna cotta
1. noun Egg-less Italian custard.
Queso
1. noun Spanish for cheese.
Ratatouille
1. noun A Provençal dish of eggplant, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, and herbs in olive oil.
Risotto
1. noun Italian dish made from rice cooked by intermittently adding small amounts of stock or broth. Other ingredients are added as required.
Romesco
1. noun Catalonian sauce of finely ground tomatoes, red bell peppers, onion, garlic, almonds and olive oil.
Tapenade
1. noun Thick paste - made from olives, anchovies, capers, lemon juice, olive oil and seasonings - that can be a condiment or a spread.
Tartare
1. noun Ground or finely chopped, seasoned raw meat (traditionally beef). May or may not come mounded, and with a raw egg.
Za'atar
1. noun An herb, or spice blend of sesame seeds, sumac, and herb za'atar that is used in Middle Eastern cooking, sprinkled on bread or on grilled meat.