Truly Jörg's

Who would expect to find the recherché charm of an exquisite Champs-Elysées café in Chelsea? Anyone who knows Truly Jörg's—the tiny European-style patisserie crammed with utter delicacies—that's who. Co-owner Jörg Amsler has created desserts for Dubya's dad in Kennebunkport and was trained as a pastry chef and chocolatier in Switzerland, and it shows in every crumb. His chocolate croissants are a perfect blend of bittersweet satisfaction. The tantalizing cakes on sale here range from decadent coffee buttercream and mocha genoise torte to deeply tart-sweet raspberry swirl cheesecake. The dainty petit fours, bite-sized treats that melt on your tongue, will have the most discriminately sweet tooth addicted at first bite. 131 Arlington St., Chelsea, MA trulyjorgs.com.

Courageous Sailing Center

Whoever said you can't get something for nothing didn't know the Courageous Sailing Center. The center teaches mini-mariners to sail for free thanks to finding form the city, adult membership dues, and private donations. Kids start with a half-day "taste" of sailing and progress through four more steps until they are skilled enough to race and teach other youngsters. They'll have a blast tooting around the harbor all summer, but when they sail to the stacks on an all-day outing to the JFK Library, Courageous proves a real parent-pleaser too. Adults can learn to sail for $199, which includes a two-week membership (other learn-to-sail and membership packages are also available) offering use of J-22s and Rhodes 19s, barbecues, sails to Harborlights concerts, and beautiful Harbor island camping trips. 1st and 8th Ave., Charlestown, MA .

Clio

Big egos like big flavors, want big portions, and prefer big tables. Little wonder, then, that breakfast at Clio has reached utopian status among so many heavy hitters. Haggle over freshly baked pecan bread. Intimidate the enemy over creamy scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, chives, and caviar. Impress your peers with the cool-but-elegant setting and finely tuned service that appears as if on cue. of all: The hotel, known for its personalized service, attracts out-of-towners for whom rolling out of bed and going downstairs for a convenient breakfast meeting is a big, big plus. It's helped to lure away the power crowd from Aujourd'hui at the Four Seasons, at least a few morning a week. Eliot Suite Hotel, 370A Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA cliorestaurant.com.

Jacob Wirth

We get the irony that our favorite neighborhood restaurant in Chinatown is a 135-year-old German beer hall, beloved by generations as a great place for a sudsy tall one and a grilled bratwurst. Now that Jacob Wirth has pulled itself from the brink with a new chef and menu, its halcyon days may still lie ahead. Chef Phyllis Kaplowitz's menu offers traditional sturdy German fare from schnitzel to spaetzle, but also pasta with shellfish, grilled steak tips, and garlicky P.E.I. mussels that ought to come with straws for all that luscious broth. And with wholesome entertainment such as live jazz and Mel Stiller's Friday piano sing-alongs—in which rowdy graduate students, old-timers, and tourists alike join in on classics from the last four decades—the old place is as lively as ever. 31-37 Stuart St., Boston, MA jacobwirth.com.

Clio

After four years of flirting with bestowing this award on Clio, we're finally at the swooning point. What makes Clio the best? To begin with, there's chef Ken Oringer's cuisine, marked by provocative flavors and Franco-Asian techniques. Then there's the smart-yet-casual little dining room, the topnotch service, and general manager Christian Touche's French sensibilities that keep the place humming with symphonic cadence. The menu may raise eyebrows with offering such as scallop ceviche with watermelon and a petite "rack of rabbit," but the results are a refreshing culinary free-fall well worth a leap of faith. The tasting menu is the ultimate lesson in creativity, balance, and timing, offering anywhere from 12 to 15 ounces of bite-sized creations in a progression of tastes and textures that run the gamut (hot to cold, raw to cooked, fish to fowl) without once running astray. Eliot Suite Hotel, 370A Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA cliorestaurant.com.

Chez Henri

"French with a Cuban twist" is how chef/owner Paul O'Connell describes his Cambridge eatery. We say twist away, especially if that means more Cuban sandwiches (pork three ways, cornichon cheese and vegetables grilled into a melty, crunchy, stick-to-your-ribs meal), conch fritters, and chorizo sausage with scallion mashed potatoes. Chez Henri's small, narrow bar fills quickly with local neighborhood intelligentsia, who'd rather play a pick-up game of backgammon than watch "Must See TV." On any given night, a regular cast of characters informally gathers to socialize or quietly enjoy a periodista—just one of the notorious Chez Henry speciality drinks. For all the casual camaraderie in the bar, the dining room beckons with floor-to-ceiling windows that remind diners of Paris. It's in here that the menu gets more serious, with thoughtful nods to the French classics ad tasty inventive offerings like duck tamales. Note: You simply can't beat the steak frites anywhere in town. 1 Shepard Street, Cambridge, MA chezhenri.com.

Who Needs the Gym, Anyway?

Who’s keeping Bostonians healthy and fit even as we spend our days baking, watching Netflix, and doing endless craft projects? These four local wellness gurus, that’s who. Pilates instructor Kara Duval was among the first to jump on the Instagram Live bandwagon, and continues to attract more than 200 users to her signature class, the Foundation, every time she logs on. Jessie Burdick, meanwhile, has kept her Zoom (and socially distant outdoor) groups small and her ethos simple: strength training for everyone. Her lighthearted and down-to-earth attitude makes digital classes fun and enjoyable, even as you bust out burpees and what feels like a million straight-leg sit-ups. When finding Zen in a house filled with family members, roommates, or pets is virtually impossible, Billy Gamble’s on-demand yoga classes, offered on his YouTube channel, invite participants to destress with Vinyasa flows and juicy side body bends. And for those a little too self-conscious to try one of Heather White’s heart-­pumping dance-cardio classes at TrillFit, the move to Zoom sessions might just be a blessing: Lead instructors keep you moving and shaking every inch of your body until the music stops and you collapse onto your mat.

Who’s keeping Bostonians healthy and fit even as we spend our days baking, watching Netflix, and doing endless craft projects? These four local wellness gurus, that’s who. Pilates instructor Kara Duval was among the first to jump on the Instagram Live bandwagon, and continues to attract more than 200 users to her signature class, the Foundation, every time she logs on. Jessie Burdick, meanwhile, has kept her Zoom (and socially distant outdoor) groups small and her ethos simple: strength training for everyone. Her lighthearted and down-to-earth attitude makes digital classes fun and enjoyable, even as you bust out burpees and what feels like a million straight-leg sit-ups. When finding Zen in a house filled with family members, roommates, or pets is virtually impossible, Billy Gamble’s on-demand yoga classes, offered on his YouTube channel, invite participants to destress with Vinyasa flows and juicy side body bends. And for those a little too self-conscious to try one of Heather White’s heart-­pumping dance-cardio classes at TrillFit, the move to Zoom sessions might just be a blessing: Lead instructors keep you moving and shaking every inch of your body until the music stops and you collapse onto your mat.

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 .

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