Amanda Lydon, Truc
So what if Food & Wine Magazine stole our thunder by making her one of America's best new chefs for the year? They read about Lydon's talents here first, courtesy of reviewer Corby Kummer. Indeed, Kummer knows true talent when he tastes it: Lydon's holistic approach to food involves combining the very best local ingredients with proven French techniques. Her frogs' legs, her lamb chops, her simple touch with vinaigrettes and sauces—she's a star on the rise for sure. Lydon makes it look effortless; we can't wait to see what she'll concoct next. 560 Tremont Street, Boston, MA .
Cutty's
It may be heretical to say this in Brookline, but here goes: Go ye on the Sabbath to Cutty's and get yourself some pork. The Saturday special pork sandwiches, to be specific. Once a week, the slow-roasted pig comes in fresh to this Brookline Village café and is sliced thin for inclusion in such delicacies as the pork-and-pickled-fennel sandwich with roasted garlic on a crusty sesame-seed bun. With apologies to our rabbi, it's a borderline religious experience. Oh, and the rest of Cutty's (more-kosher) sandwiches, which are served all week? They're not so bad either. 284 Washington St., Brookline, MA 2445, cuttysfoods.com.
Beacon Hill Chocolates
How does this local master of all things chocolat—which last year left its Pinckney Street location for bigger digs on Charles Street—continue to win our affections? It's simple: Paula Barth's array of elegantly displayed truffles, sourced from around the globe and ranging from the traditional (champagne-flavored) to the exotic (the Dragonfly, a dark chocolate bonbon with the essence of kaffir lime leaves, coconut milk, and pieces of candied ginger). We also can't seem to leave Beacon Hill Chocolates without some ultracreamy gianduja chocolates and a few salted caramels. 92B Pinckney St., Boston, MA 2114, .
Franklin Cafe
Just because a restaurant's in the South End doesn't mean it's a South Ender's restaurant (ahem, Stephi's on Tremont). This place, however, is the real deal. The soul of Boston's now-crowded foodie enclave since opening 12 years ago, the Franklin fills with almost all regulars craving their specific comfort food—in our case, the garlic-grilled calamari and cornmeal-crusted catfish, with a glass of grüner, please!—every night of the week. And it doesn't hurt that the kitchen keeps on serving those calamari, and the rest of the menu, until 1:30 a.m. 278 Shawmut Ave., Boston, MA 2118, franklincafe.com.
Michael Schlow
Being a great chef isn't just about respecting good ingredients or cooking with passion. It's also about being a good manager and building relationships with the guests you serve. Michael Schlow is all of the above, and more. With three restaurants in his expanding stable (Radius, Via Matta, and Great Bay), Schlow may not be the man who personally prepares you dinner, but he juggles each of his top-notch kitchens with aplomb. Schlow understands the culinary parameters of his ventures better than anyone—he knows, for example, that at Radius, less is more; that at Via Matta, cooking pasta is an art; and that at Great Bay, it's all about the bounty of our local waters. Radius, 8 High St.; Great Bay, 500 Commonwealth Ave.; Via Matta, 79 Park Plaza, Boston, MA michaelschlow.com.
Winston Flowers
Yes, it's a chain. But our search for comparable quality and variety in the area always leads us back here. Visit the artfully arranged shop in person and you'll come face to face with bushels of oversized dahlias, silky long-stemmed roses, and of course, dozens of the store's signature, precisely designed arrangements. The space feels like a Tuscan villa, with topiary trees and buckets of seasonal blooms. As for out-of-state delivery, the staff's well-deserved reputation for attention to detail means you'll never have to worry about red carnations getting in the mix. 31 Central St., Wellesley, MA winstonflowers.com.
Lizard Lounge
It is with good reason that the Lizard Lounge consistently tops our live-venue list: It's still the favorite choice for established rock acts, and, for all its renown, is still every bit as intimate as a suburban rec room. Crowded cocktail tables stand inches away from the Oriental rug-lined stage, where, on any given night, a classic jazz trio, alt-rockers, or spoken-word poets perform to no more than 105 fans. Adding to the club's character are the laid-back punks behind the bar who dole out boutique draft beers such as Mojo IPA and Victory Golden Monkey. 1667 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 2138, lizardloungeclub.com.
Parsons Table
It's teensy. It's not fancy. It's in sleepy Winchester, where the nightlife scene doesn't exactly buzz. And yet this place is near the top of our reservation wish list, in the city or in the 'burbs, because the food is so reliably good. Chef Chris Parsons makes a revelatory burger, crowned with portobello mushrooms and tangy balsamic onions. When he steams Maine mussels in lobster broth, they're sop-up-the-juices good. And the farm-egg-and-bacon-topped frisée salad makes you wonder why other restaurants even bother. 34 Church St., Winchester, MA 1890, parsons-table.com.
Dine Out and Give Back
It's the perfect equation: Good food plus a great cause means everybody wins. The Place: Pammy's The Order: Chef Chris Willis’s artisanal breads (rustic Pugliese, please!), available for $20 a loaf. The Cause: Half the bread-loaf proceeds benefit a weekly-changing charity supporting BIPOC communities, like the American Civil Liberties Union. aclu.org The Place: Trina's Starlite Lounge The Order: Chill out during a socially distant summer with the frozen whiskey smash ($12). It gets a hit of crème de cacao alongside the standard lemon and mint. The Cause: Two bucks per drink—made with booze from a Black-female-run Tennessee distillery named for Nathan “Nearest” Green, an enslaved man who taught Jack Daniels whiskey making in the 1850s—goes to Black Lives Matter Boston. blacklivesmatterboston.org The Place: The Picnic Grove at Cambridge Crossing The Order: Take your pick! At this two-month-long al fresco pop-up, chef Will Gilson will preview multiple menu highlights from the Lexington, his restaurant/café/rooftop bar juggernaut that is slated to open in September. The Cause: A portion of all July and August proceeds goes to Lovin’ Spoonfuls, a food-rescue organization marking its 10th year of service. lovinspoonfulsinc.org
Michael Schlow, Radius
In the four years since Michael Schlow moved to Boston, he has become not just a major figure on the local culinary scene, but on the national ones as well. So when he left Cafe Louis to plan his own place, foodies eagerly awaited his next move. The impeccably designed Radius more than survived the attendant hype to become the restaurant sensation of the year. Offering a distinctive counterpoint to Boston's culinary old guard, Schlow's strength is his understanding of flavors and texture. To that end, he finds the finest ingredients and uses his mastery of technique to treat them with the utmost respect. His pork confit is memorable, meltingly soft and sweet, made in a classic confit technique of cooking the meat in its own fat, which, paradoxically, heightens the flavors without making the confit fatty. As for his striped bass, Corby Kummer wrote that "the impeccable conception, execution, and presentation would be hard to find in any arrondissement [in Paris.]" With food like that, he added, "I'll fight for a table wherever [he's] cooking." 8 High St., Boston, MA .
Lumiere
Like moths to a flame. That's how we're drawn to Michael and Jill Leviton's extraordinary Newton restaurant, Lumière. The couple's recipe for refined simplicity and excellent service starts with the crisp, white-on-white tones of the dining room, tempered with warm-hued upholstery you can't help but run your hands over. But the main ingredient is chef Michael Leviton's cuisine. His menu is mostly French in inspiration, though he dips into other parts of the Mediterranean, and occasionally into Asia, for plates that are minimalist in design and void of fussiness, yet bright and bold in flavor. He lets the principal ingredient anchor a dish like pan-seared, pristine sea scallops, then surprises us with rich and sweet truffled foie gras butter or a taste of caramelized fennel. He also keeps a watchful eye on everything from the homemade bread to the desserts. The cherry on top is the calm, efficient, confident, thorough, and knowledgeable service. We wish there were more restaurants like Lumière on this side of the city limits. 1293 Washington St., Newton, MA lumiererestaurant.com.
Get Konnected!
There would be a lot more strangers in Boston without this multicultural networking group, which aims to remind business leaders of all backgrounds that our economy is a web, stronger when we work together. Run by public relations maven Colette Phillips, the organization has long linked a diverse range of professionals through job listings, a digital magazine, and high-profile events honoring influential people of color. Now it’s doing so through webinars about how small businesses can survive the pandemic, mentoring sessions with senior execs, and more—all online for everyone to take part in. getkonnected.com.
Sheherazad
Call it meal-on-a-bun fatigue: Occasionally we grow weary of gyros, grilled cheeses, and Maggi-splattered bánh mì—no matter how good they are. Hence our obsession with this truck’s Iraqi and Middle Eastern street food, which features feta-stuffed phyllo, fattoush salads stippled with sumac and fresh herbs, and Persian specialties like khoresht-e bademjan brimming with hunks of beef and roasted eggplant. Correction, July 1, 9 a.m.: A previous version of this post stated that Burke Weston is the chef of Sheherazad food truck and that the truck serves no sandwiches. In fact, Weston is no longer the chef, and the truck serves wraps. We regret the error. sheherazadfood.com.
Christina's
Partisans know Christina's does weird very, very well. Honey-lavender? Refreshing. Kaffir lime? Luscious. What truly sets it apart, however, is its finesse with more-familiar flavors, like coffee, pistachio, even vanilla—not to mention a frozen chocolate mousse that's better, and cheaper, than any we've found on a restaurant dessert menu. Our favorite scoop, peanut butter chip, is so thick and creamy you half want to eat it with a knife and fork, though in the end the standard cone does the job nicely. 1255 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 2139, christinasicecream.com.
EHChocolatier
Whether you’re a cacao purist or someone who thinks outside the standard chocolate box, you’ll no doubt find something to savor from this Somerville-based online chocolatier. Cofounders Elaine Hsieh and Catharine Sweeney have a knack for inspired flavor pairings (pomegranate, jasmine tea, and Guinness Stout have all shown up in their chic bonbons), but their more-traditional varieties—hazelnut bark, single-origin dark chocolate "pods," chocolate-chew candy bars—are just as fun to savor. And because the duo recognizes that we eat with our eyes first, each handcrafted confection is as strikingly beautiful as it is delicious. ehchocolatier.com.