The Urban K9
A wag-worthy alternative to the city's many well-intentioned but hospital-like kennels, the Urban K9 is based in a Roslindale home that owners Karen Donoghue and Erika Forssberg are happy to share with their four-legged clients. After being dropped off (or fetched by the duo's 'pet taxi' service), Fido is let out on his own schedule, taken to the park for group romps, and tucked into his very own doggy bed at night. For owners who prefer not to board, the Urban K9 will make dog-sitting (or cat-, bird-, fish-, or hamster-sitting) house calls, too. 129 Malden St., Boston, MA 2118, theurbank9.com.
Sportello
It's a puzzle, how Barbara Lynch can manage to launch four restaurants, a bar, and two retail operations, all in different genres, while preserving the quality and essential Lynchness of each. And so we come to her most casual spot, Sportello, a minimalist midprice Italian diner—only here, the line cooks sling hiramasa crudo, chicken with dates and pine nuts, and mustard leaf agnolotti. It's a testament to the power of the gnocchi alone that the place is bouncing, despite the surrounding Fort Point Channel neighborhood's still-delayed gentrification. No other startup exhibited so much polish out of the gate, or such a pitch-perfect sense of the way we're eating now. 384 Congress St., Boston, MA 2110, sportelloboston.com.
New England Soup Factory
You must take seriously any soup shop that boasts "Triple Strength Chicken Vegetable Available Daily." The Factory means business, with four alternating selections of more than 75 varieties every day. Cool down on a summer evening with a chilled bowl of Blueberry Peach or serve some Gazpacho to guests. When winter rolls around, be ready with Hot Carrot and Ginger, Double Onion with Sherry, or Classic Lentil. The only Soup Nazi-esque thing about this place is the price: a slightly steep $4.25 for a 12 oz. bowl. 2-4 Brookline Place, Brookline, MA .
Ed Owens
When Ed's father, Henry, started the business in 1927, his equipment consisted of one horse and one buggy. Today, the list reads: seven vans, four trailer trucks, two pickups, two cranes, and a thirty-thousand-square-foot warehouse. Affiliated with Global Van Lines, Owens Movers (129 Sherman St., Cambridge, 876-8390) will handle everything from moving large companies (Prudential and Gillette have been moving their customers) to moving pianos (a specialty). "Even so," Ed Owens says, "we're a small, union firm, basically a father-and-son operation. We're honest with folks. We have more to lose, and everything to gain." Owens Movers, 129 Sherman St., Cambridge, MA 617-876-8390.
Dogspa
Care to try some terrier-misu? Or perhaps the matching pet-owner jewelry is more up your alley. Regardless, the two-legged and four-legged alike are barking up a storm about DogSpa, Beverly's grooming, retail, and nutritional haven. For the languorous pooch, there's an aromatherapeutic quiet room; for the vivacious pup, "Smelly Dog" deodorizations; for all of man's best friends, a chrome state-of-the-art grooming zone with anti-fatigue padded mats, HydroSurge spa baths, and expert stylists. All dogs may go to heaven, but really, what can heaven have on DogSpa? 45 Enon St., Unit 5, Beverly, MA beverlydogspa.com.
Frette
With a lot of things having gone "poof" lately, it's good to have something tangible to hold on to—and even better if that something comes in high-thread-count Egyptian cotton, baby-soft cashmere, or even lamb nappa. Admittedly, the four-figure price tag on a sheet set from Milan-based Frette, that luxest-of-the-luxe bedding specialist that arrived on Boylston Street last year, might make one blanch, but the overall aesthetic of these wares is surprisingly restrained; the quality, downright uncompromising. In a time when most folks just want to go back to bed and pull the covers over their heads, the covers might as well feel this good. 776B Boylston St., Boston, MA 2199, frette.com.
Consignment Galleries
If you've tried to furnish your first apartment or even looked for that much-needed desk or even a lamp, you know what the prices are. And we're not even talking period pieces— just something of a certain age, with that certain feel, at just the right price. We've found a good selection of four-drawer chests between $220 and $450; a mahogany twin-pedestal dining table for $550; a carved oak mirror for $95; and a set of 10 Maddox cups and sauces for $65. If your grandmother did not leave you anything, this is for you. 2044 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA .
Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary
Courtesy of Mass Audubon Society/Flickr There are plenty of petting zoos around where you can go to toss a few pellets to the farm animals — but here, it’s more about learning how to care for and coexist with our four-legged friends. Wannabe farmers can wave hello to sheep, goats, pigs, cows — and sometimes their babies — in their pastures, and see how food is sustainably raised at the farm’s Learning Garden. And if your junior farmer is itching for more, go birding on the nature trails and play a game of seasonal wildlife-themed bingo while you’re at it. 208 S Great Rd, Lincoln, MA 1773, massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/wildlife-sanctuaries/drumlin-farm.
Inn at Hastings Park
Lexington will go down in history for two reasons: starting a revolution and being home to this Relais & Châteaux inn. The four-star Forbes Travel Guide property lures travelers with tony accommodations that don’t skimp on luxury (think: in-room fireplaces, marble bathrooms, and handprinted wallpaper). But it’s worth checking in even just for Sunday brunch: Back for the season, the Culinary Garden outdoor space — with wooden farm tables and garden boxes of basil, lemongrass, and other fresh herbs found on the menu — is as idyllic as a night tucked into the Matouk linens. 2027 Massachusetts Ave., Lexington, MA 02421, innathastingspark.com.
The Pop Center
Working from home when you have small children is great — that is, until your four-year-old shows up in the back of a Zoom call covered in fingerpaint from head to toe (only a slightly exaggerated story). With daycare spots limited and nannies harder than ever to find, busy moms and dads have been flocking to this Newton coworking space, where parents and young kids can work and play side by side thanks to wellstaffed playgroups, private nursing stations, and cozy coworking lounges with a call pod and nap rooms (for grownups, too!). 1037 Chestnut St., Newton Upper Falls, MA 02464, thepopcenter.com.
Nightstage
<p>The life span of most nightclubs is short, largely because crowd loyalties tend to change about as often as the Republican candidate for governor. Fortunately, however, that fact has always kept the city's impresarios on their toes. Local club owners know that to make it, they've got to make it happen. With clean sight lines and state-of-the-art acoustics. Or an interior that's as sleek as it is comfortable. Or a consistently solid lineup. Or the right kind of crowd.</p> <p>Club managers Sam Marcus, Robert Gregory, and Chloe Sachs have put together all those elements—under the same roof, no less—at Nightstage, an upscale Cambridge music room that opened a day after Hurricane Gloria, and with all the storm's gusto, last September.</p> <p>Six years ago, Sachs, a devoted fan of the Ann Arbor Blues Festival, sensed a blues revival coming and gambled on it. "Our basic love was the blues," says Sachs. "But we were tired of seeing the acts we wanted to see in such grody conditions."</p> <p>According to Sachs, the concept behind Nightstage, located at 823 Main Street, was "to create a comfortable and sophisticated space in which to hear the music we wanted to hear and to attract the kind of crowd we wanted to attract—namely, people in their middle twenties and older." Six years later the reality is exactly that.</p> <p>Although Nightstage—a two-level room coated in muted lavender, taupe, and gray with recessed lighting, wall-to-wall carpeting, and a mahogany bar—is arguably the best-dressed club in the area, its real success has hinged on the breadth of its nightly (except Monday) performance schedule.</p> <p>Since opening, Nightstage has attracted top names in blues (Memphis Slim, Sippie Wallace, Albert King), jazz (Sun Ra, Carla Bley), folk (Leo Kottke), Latin (Tito Puente), pop (Girls' Night Out), and bluegrass (Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys), plus local talents like the Screaming Coyotes.</p> <p>Says Sachs: "The best part of it all has been the diversity of the crowds and the music we've been able to pull in. We feel that culturally we have really given something to the city, and that's been incredibly gratifying."</p>
Alex Stupak, Clio
After several luxurious courses of chef Ken Oringer's French cooking, concluding with dessert might seem excessive. But when the desserts are as delicious as those made by pastry chef Alex Stupak, a little excess is in order. Despite his propensity toward flavored foams, Stupak's timbale of milk-chocolate with raspberry, tarragon, and tamarind ice cream is, in a word, ethereal. So are his Tahitian vanilla bean crème brûlée and lollipops made from sassafras, chicory, and sea salt-spiked chocolate, True and intense (yet not overwhelming) flavors marry with textures that bend the rules of sensibility by being simultaneously crisp and puffy, like the microthin layers of the rich chocolate and hazelnut petits fours. Such finesse is what makes this 23-year-old pastry chef a talent to keep an eye on—and his desserts an indulgence to seek out. The Eliot Hotel, 370 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA cliorestaurant.com.
Gretta Luxe
According to stereotype, women are supposed to run into the city for a dose of cutting-edge chic. Gretta Luxe has successfully reversed the paradigm: Since it opened four years ago, it's had city fashion aficionados happily schlepping out to Wellesley for designs and investment pieces that are hard to find elsewhere, including Chloé, Barbara Bui, Miu Miu, Habitual, and Strenesse. There are accessories, too, from Marc Jacobs bags to Jimmy Choo shoes. But this is no mere label shrine. The helpful staffers, each blessed with impeccable taste, have well-tuned radar for determining which clothes will flatter a customer (and a merciful flair for avoiding those that don't). If that isn't worth a quick jaunt down Route 9, we don't know what is. 94 Central St., Wellesley, MA grettaluxe.com.
L'Espalier
The maitre d' at L'Espalier is so accustomed to proposals among his customers, he'll happily dispense advice about where to conceal the ring. It's all part of the superb and attentive service at this Back Bay institution, which just so happens to serve equally superb food. Chef Frank McClelland's delectable courses, which start with a dainty amuse bouche, are cosseted with luxury ingredients and inevitably end with tiered trays of precious petits fours—the fabled backdrop to more than a few passion plays. And if all that doesn't whet your appetite for love, consider the surroundings: a dimly lit and tastefully sumptuous townhouse that even includes one chamber known as the Seduction Room. 30 Gloucester St., Boston, MA lespalier.com.
Ken Oringer, Clio
Oringer is fast becoming the Tom Hanks of Best of Boston. Oringer has captured the best-chef nod in three of the past four years—and the year he didn't win, his restaurant, Clio, was named the best in town. It's not that he's such an all-around nice guy (which he really is) that makes Oringer the winningest chef in recent memory. It's that he creates such beautiful food, perfectly balanced in flavor, texture, and proportion. Clio's French menu impresses at every turn with its Asian influences and emphasis on fresh ingredients, from the cassoulet of lobster and sea urchin with yuzu and Japanese pepper to the entrée of roasted Muscovy duck with kumquats and black radish confit. Oringer's new pet project, the sashimi bar Uni inside Clio, shows his versatility and talent. And, as anyone who follows awards presentations knows, those qualities separate the winners from the also-rans. The Eliot Hotel, 370 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA cliorestaurant.com.