Tamarind Bay

There's plenty of tasty Indian food around town—witness the lines of hungry grad students at Cambridge's Punjabi Dhaba, for one. But Harvard Square's Tamarind Bay Bistro (along with its newer sibling, the seafood-oriented Coastal Indian Kitchen in Brookline) is in a class of its own because it treats Indian cuisine as, well, an actual cuisine. Here you'll find regional distinctions more precise than 'northern' and 'southern,' and taste the kinds of dishes, like butter chicken curry and the exceptional vegetable biryani, in which individual flavors sing out clearly, instead of fading into a haze of spice. 75 Winthrop St., Cambridge, MA 2138, tamarind-bay.com.

The Stonehedge Inn

Male wine collector and female wine collector meet and fall in love. The result? A marriage of private wine cellars that would send any oenophile to the nearest singles bar. The Stonehedge Inn is the lucky home to such a cellar, cultivated by Dawn and Levent Bozkurt. The wine list is an insane document—clearly the work of people who live and breathe the world of wine. There are 15 years of Chateau Latour, including a 1945 bottle for about three thousand dollars. You probably won't find bargains here; what you will find is that wonderful, rare wine you never thought you'd drink in your life. 1160 Pawtucket Blvd., Tygnsboro, MA .

Regattabar

With all that energy and spontaneity rippling off the stage, hearing jazz live is always best. Less clear-cut is the choice between the atmospheric, loosey-goosey neighborhood haunt or the more polished concert venue, with the Hub having sterling examples of both. Inman Square's Ryles excels at being that corner joint, and its jazz brunch and weekly salsa lessons are bona fide fun. But show for show, set for set, it's the Charles Hotel's upscale yet intimate Regattabar—with its unparalleled roster of talent, from young bloods like Joshua Redman to legends like Coltrane pianist McCoy Tyner—that consistently hits the high note. 1 Bennett St., Cambridge, MA 2138, regattabarjazz.com.

Grill 23 & Bar

It’s notoriously difficult to unseat an incumbent. Such is the case with the city’s standard-bearer steakhouse, a Best of Boston winner year after year (after year, after … ). Look, we’d love an excuse to vary our endorsement, but — straight talk, people — nobody throws red meat to the voters (i.e., our stomachs) like this chief-executive-courting chop shop with a world-class wine program and hand-rolled cigars. And besides, as those famous 100-day-aged rib-eyes make clear, some things only get better with time. 161 Berkeley St., Boston, MA 02116, grill23.com.

Luxcouture

The era of the mass-hyped, massively obvious It-bag is over (Arrivederci, Fendi baguette! Au revoir, Vuitton bowling bag!), clearing the way for the kinds of expertly crafted, anti-status designs that are Sari Brown's stock in trade. Having built a global clientele with her LuxCouture website, she opened a shop in Newton Highlands last year so that local fans could skip the shipping and go straight to shelves loaded with uncommon Sang A clutches, JT Italia baguettes, and Elena Ghisellini totes. Unlike at competitors Gretta Luxe and Luna Boston, the labels here trend unique, not ubiquitous, and the service is far more personalized than at the department stores. Balenciaga? Bah! 21 Lincoln Road, Newton Highlands, MA 2461, .

Rialto

Chef Jody Adams is clearly a romantic: Her menu is loaded with graceful, elegant dishes that can make even the most stoic diner swoon. Her refined palate is tempered with whimsy, and all ingredients are procured locally. Favorite dishes: Grilled lamb chops in pomegranate molasses; lobster fricasse with fresh corn; coconut and passion fruit Napoleon with caramel rum sauce. In addition to the New American food, the restaurant also has very professional service, a sexy backlit bar area with cushy booths, tango dancing lessons every Thursday night, and nearby rooms in the Charles Hotel in which to discreetly retire. 1 Bennett Street, Cambridge, MA rialto-restaurant.com.

Twentieth Century Limited

What becomes immediately clear upon entering the small shop are the hours needed to fully appreciate it. Cases chock-full of vintage jewelry line the perimeter of the room and reach almost to the ceiling. And there's even more than meets the eye; ask to see cuff links, for example, and numerous trays appear from the bottoms of cases that weren't initially visible. Ask to see more (if you dare) and bags and bags, filled to the brim, materialize. It's as if all of Beacon Hill's grand dames came here to empty their jewelry boxes. 73 Charles St., Boston, MA 02114, boston-vintagejewelry.com.

My Boston Maids

If you need a cleaning service, odds are you don't have the time (or desire) to wrestle with a multi-step quote process. My Boston Maids' user-friendly homepage asks only three questions—number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, and desired appointment frequency—and immediately spits out a flat-rate charge. Select a time, then wait for a crew to carry out its 50-step cleaning protocol. Gleaming countertops and fuzz-free carpets beckon. mybostonmaids.com.

MWI Fiber-Shield

In this day of open-plan living, and with pets and children in all areas of the house, stains happen. Thankfully, when your carpet takes a hit or the sofa gets spotted with red wine, the folks at MWI Fiber-Shield are there to help. It’s miraculous, really: With Michelle and Wayne Southworth at the helm, technicians clean furnishings using ecofriendly products that remove or rinse out even the most daunting stains and spills to reveal clean rugs, draperies, window treatments, and fabric and leather upholstery without changing the item’s texture or appearance. 516 E 2nd St., Ste. 3, Boston , MA 02127, mwifibershield.com.

Brown and Coconut

No unnecessary (or unpronounceable) ingredients here: Created by Medford-based sisters Letisha Izuchi and Zeena Brown, Brown and Coconut’s much- loved line of plant-based beauty products (think: cleansers, toners, body butters, and more) focuses on delivering results through gentle, non-irritating elements such as aloe vera and juniper berry oil. Take, for instance, the duo’s clarifying kale mask: Packed with French green clay, lemon verbena, and honeysuckle, it promises to fight blemishes in the healthiest way possible. brownandcoconut.com.

Tremendous Maid

Few things are more intimate than hiring someone to clean your home. Tremendous Maid, thankfully, is all business: Fill out an Internet request form with your square footage and home layout, and you'll quickly hear back about scheduling options. The actual cleaning was both impressive and a bit guilt-inducing, as the team scrubbed items we willfully ignore: baseboards, toaster oven, mini blinds. By the time they were done, our house was as pristine as the day it was built. 270 Centre St., Jamaica Plain, MA tremendousmaid.com.

Ecoluxe

Name the stain (ketchup, dirt, car oil—we tried it all); Ecoluxe can get it out. Quickly, flawlessly, without hurting a fiber of the fabric, and without using medically and environmentally harmful cleaning products. With convenient home delivery and pickup service, plus tailoring and alterations, Ecoluxe is not only the next wave in clothing care; it's the ultimate in clean living. One Harvard St., Brookline, MA .

Ecoluxe

At long last, a dry cleaner that cares about you and your clothes. Ecoluxe has banished the chemicals commonly found in garden-variety dry cleaning (linked with a handful of harmful effects), as well as a pile of other dirty laundry: nonchalant service, for example, and depressing surroundings. Owner Shelly Mars has instead created attractive, environmentally friendly storefronts with remarkable personal service and excellent cleaning and pressing. For those too harried to make the trek to Brookline, Mars offers delivery to Newton, Wellesley, Milton, Cambridge, and parts of Boston. 1018 Beacon St., Brookline, MA .

Kelly's Underground Dog Grooming

Between the cooing and the teeny-tiny hair bows, dog grooming is a silly affair. At least to the dogs, who honestly don't care about being clean, and would much rather spend their time making new friends. At Kelly's, everyone wins: The pups are washed and trimmed and, unlike at many groomers', permitted to run around and socialize if they have the proper manners. Which means they come home clean, happy, and, most important, totally tuckered out. 248B W. Newton St., Boston, MA 2116, .

If we could dream up a 2020 all-star squad of heroes, champions, and advocates, it would look a lot like this: Community organizer Gladys Vega (1) of the Chelsea Collaborative, who has spent the past two decades fighting for social justice but swiveled her focus to feeding 11,000 residents each week as the coronavirus ravaged her city. Public health advocate and Harvard professor of epidemiology Marc Lipsitch (2) would also make the team, in no small part due to his consistent and clear message, whether speaking to us in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, or the Boston Globe: Never underestimate COVID-19. Our best city politician is Julia Mejia (3), the first immigrant and Latina on the Boston City Council, who fought back against racist harassment after taking office in early 2020. She has also worked to improve bilingual communications in Boston and even made a series of TikTok videos with her daughter to liven up the mood at City Hall during the early days of the pandemic. Ibram X. Kendi (4), meanwhile, is the man of the hour and our hope for humanity. A bestselling author, the 2019 Guggenheim Fellow recently became a history professor and the founding director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, where he’ll lead many of the country’s brightest minds to solve problems of racial inequity. His books, including How to Be an Antiracist, are already required reading among those in the know around town. As for the best social justice advocate in Boston? That’s Monica Cannon-Grant (5), a Roxbury mother of six adopted children who rallied tens of thousands of residents to Franklin Park to peacefully protest police brutality. She also runs a victim-assistance program and free-meal delivery service through her organizations Violence in Boston and Food for the Soul. And though he’s best known for his moves on the court, Celtics star Jaylen Brown (6) is our clear choice for celebrity ambassador—he’s peacefully protested, regularly speaks about race in America, and was honored at the State House this year for his charity work with children. We’re proud to have him on our home team.