Clarke
This is the ultimate playground for those in the throes of kitchen renovation. Open to the public and the design trade, Clarke lets consumers explore how a kitchen might look and discover the latest in cutting-edge kitchen technology from manufacturers like Thermador, Sub-Zero, Gaggenau, and Dynasty. The 5,000-square-foot show room contains a number of kitchen vignettes, and consultants are on hand to answer questions about models, features, and cooking techniques. Because Clarke is a distributor, there's no pressure to purchase; consultants will refer consumers to any one of 150 stores within its network. 63 South St., Suite 190, Hopkinton, MA .
The Chatham Squire
Overflowing pints of Bass and Guinness, live entertainment including Karaoke Tuesdays, the obligatory logo-embroidered polos for sal—smack in the center of Chatham, the often rowdy Squire is the quintessential Cape pub. Weekend nights host a medley of thirsty characters; stick around long enough, and you've got good odds of witnessing unlikely, though not altogether uncommon, end-of-the-evening trysts between local anglers and summering society types. 487 Main St., Chatham, MA 2633, .
Alden & Harlow
Photograph by Kristin Tieg
When he took over the storied Casablanca space in Harvard Square, chef Michael Scelfo promised that for his first solo venture, he’d serve fare inspired by the dinners he makes for his family at home. We can’t help but wonder—is the Scelfo clan really supping on briny Woodbury clams coated in a rich pig’s-tail-laced sauce, crunchy chicken-fried rabbit drizzled with chili oil, and cocoa-rubbed lamb sirloin? It’s perhaps unlikely—but if true, then they’re as lucky as we are to experience Scelfo’s inspired, flavor-jammed brand of cooking. 40 Brattle St., Cambridge, MA 2138, aldenharlow.com.
Harvard Book Store
It may not have been the same as huddling shoulder to shoulder by the greeting-card racks, but for the bookishly inclined, this Harvard Square mainstay’s online offerings still provided the respite of a Cambridge literary evening during COVID’s darkest days. If anything, going digital only expanded its impressively boldfaced roster, with everyone from Roxane Gay to Margaret Atwood and Carmen Maria Machado stopping by the virtual reading salon 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138, harvard.com.
The Children's Book Shop
With 28,000-plus titles exclusively for kids, imaginations are guaranteed to run wild at this local literary treasure. 237 Washington St., Brookline, MA 02445, thechildrensbookshop.net.
Harvard Book Store
Sticking it to the corporate chains is most satisfying when you can do so without, you know, sacrificing anything. Seventy-five years after Boston native Mark Kramer opened a bookstore in Harvard Square, the supersize word-maven haven is still family-owned (by Kramer's son, Frank) and still doing everything right, with a public library's worth of used tomes, and new releases to rival Barnes and Borders. In a particularly Cantabrigian touch, the shop vows to go to court before disclosing your purchases to the government or anyone else, should they for some reason ask. Take that, Patriot Act! 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA harvard.com.
House of Sarah Books
Loaf on the couches, chitchat with owner Jodi Malone, or mosey through the well-stocked stacks. This place feels like home, complete with a cat stunning in the front window. And the prices penciled in the front of the books are tough to beat. It's sweet relief from the sour pretension so often found in used bookshops. 1309 Cambridge St., Cambridge, MA .
Boston Book Annex
Like a portal to Narnia, a door below street level reveals an impossibly boundless collection of used books, neatly organized into hundreds of irresistible categories, including "espionage," "nature writing," and "UFOs." Two cats doze near the front, and there's quiet but the sound of the creaky wooden floors. 906 Beacon Street, Boston, MA .
Ray Flynn's book
John Paul II: The Personal Portrait of the Pope and the Man, which Flynn sent to Swift when she gave birth to twins. That should put them to sleep at night.
Boston Book Festival
The Boston Book Festival is highly worthy of a city that prides itself on its lengthy literary history. It’s a packed weekend of end-to-end panels hosted at the Boston Public Library and other venues, covering everything from young adult novels to memoirs to spy thrillers. The guest list is always impressive; Margaret Atwood and Edwidge Danticat stopped by last year. bostonbookfest.org.
Beacon Hill Books & Cafe
Photo by Mona Miri Bibliophiles flock here not only to explore literary treasures but also to be seen doing it. The highly Instagrammable four-level space boasts unique book selections and a lovely ambiance to linger in, but the best part just might be the tea service. Indulge in a delightful array of tea sandwiches, freshly baked scones, and sweets accompanied by a pot of custom-blended tea or a flute of prosecco while flipping the pages of whatever you just picked up for your book club. 71 Charles St., Boston, MA 02114, bhbooks.com.
New England Mobile Book Fair
Forgive this book shop for its bizarre name and oddball location. Once you get past the tiny storefront, the Mobile Book Fair stretches through a parking lot and nearly to the horizon: rows upon aisles upon alleys of books. It's as if the Internet put its entire inventory in one place. And the goods here are priced almost as competitively as what you'll find online. 82-84 Needham St., Newton Highlands, MA 2461, nebookfair.com.
Avenue Victor Hugo Book Shop
In a city of scribes, it's little wonder there are so many character-filled used bookstores. But fans of this Newbury Street shop know that every stroll into Victor Hugo uncovers a novel morsel. There's always a cat roaming the original brick floor, and there's always something fascinating to read among the 150,000 books and 250,000 magazines on the stacks, from the stash of Life magazines that date back to 1936 to the first-edition 1934 copy of H.G. Wells's Experiment in Autobiography: Discoveries and Conclusions of a Very Ordinary Brain (Since 1866). In Victor Hugo, even the ordinary is extraordinary. 339 Newbury St., Boston, MA avenuevictorhugobooks.com.
New England Mobile Book Fair
A book lover's paradise. You can spend days in this warehouse and never be bored. 82 Needham St., Newton, MA .
Toscanini's
Gus Rancatore behind the counter of his Central Square scoop shop. / Photograph by Pat Piasecki. The week before Gus Rancatore opened the doors to his ice cream shop, Toscanini’s, in Central Square, he stood on the sidewalk just up Massachusetts Avenue in Harvard Square, surveying the landscape. It was 1981, a time in Boston when Rancatore says there were a “comical number of ice cream stores,” from the hallowed Bailey’s downtown and iconic Steve’s in Davis Square to the small local chain Brigham’s. That day in Cambridge, it was winter — and snowing. “I looked to my left, and I looked to my right, and people were everywhere eating ice cream cones,” Rancatore remembers. “I thought to myself, This will probably work out.” Continue reading ... Cambridge, tosci.com.