Black Eyed Susan's
For late-rising revelers, Black Eyed Susans may be a split decision: It serves breakfast until 1 p.m. (yay!), but doesn't serve alcohol (boo!). Nevertheless, the prompt service, potent coffee, and inventive plates emerging from chef Jeff Worster's open kitchen—among the highlights are French toast with oranges, Jack Daniel's butter, and pecans, and a huevos rancheros that will make you forget all other versions—make enduring a dry spell more than bearable. 10 India St., Nantucket, MA 02554-3614, .
88 Supermarket
This is where shoppers from both the 'burbs and Chinatown buy their lime leaves, shrimp balls, bok choy, and soy "pork," in a Star Market-sized store crammed with tidy isles of Asian goods. Bilingual signs and a friendly staff make 88 accessible to the uninitiated; 10 minutes of wandering, and you'll be ready to fire up the wok. No wok? Buy it here. 50 Herald St., Boston, MA .
Meritage
It should come as no surprise that the wine list at Meritage is outstanding. The entire concept of the restaurant is, after all, about pairing food and wine. After 15 years as executive chef of the dining rooms at the Boston Harbor Hotel and of its annual Boston Wine Festival, Daniel Bruce is now cooking for a wine-first audience. The menus at Meritage lead off not with first courses, but a selection of wine styles—sparkling, light, full-bodied, and so on—that are then paired with an appropriate dish. Such a system demands a wine list that's substantial, varied, and reasonably priced, and sommelier Jamie Moore has seen to it that this one is. Moore changes the 850-choice list every two weeks to make room for more bottles of special but recognizable Rhone varietals like Cline, Côtes d'Oakley, or rare gems such as an Aile d'Argent, Château Mouton Rothschild from Bordeaux, or the heaven-on-earth elixir 1990 Château d'Yquem Lur-Saluces, Sauternes. The informed servers want you to enjoy the wine as much as they clearly do, and manage to explain the options in plain English. Boston Harbor Hotel, 70 Rowes Wharf, Boston, MA meritagetherestaurant.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
Wilson's Farms
If it's good enough for Julia Child, it's good enough for us. Sure, it's bigger than your average farmstand, and the weekend traffic on quiet Pleasant Street can be a drag. But the Wilson family has been growing fresh produce since 1884 and selling it to the public for the past 50 years—long before yuppies discovered mesclun, and before the pan-Asian trend gave bok choy its buzz. More than 30 acres in Lexington and 250 in New Hampshire fuel the retail shop, where every conceivable fruit and vegetable is available, not to mention flowers and plants and a full menu of prepared foods, cheeses, condiments and baked goods. 10 Pleasant St., Lexington, MA .
Tony Maws, Craigie Street Bistrot
If ever there was a feel-good pill for these challenging times, chef Tony Maws's cooking at Craigie Street Bistrot is it. Troubles fall away as soon as you set foot in this subterranean restaurant and its cozy dining room, a warmly decorated space that oozes with "aw shucks, c'mon in" charm. (Maws's mother even works the door, making everyone feel instantly at home.) Former sous-chef to Ken Oringer at Clio, Maws has made Craigie Street a stage for showcasing his training in Boston and a previous stint in France. The menu, which features five appetizers, five entrées, and five desserts nightly, seduces diners with casual French country flavors: roasted breast of Muscovy duck, herb-crusted monkfish, marinated skirt steak, and classic crème caramel. Each dish perfectly captures the ingredients, all market fresh and seasonal. If you must choose only one reason to love Tony Maws and his little bistro, it's the price: The three-course prix fixe is only $29.99, a cost anyone can swallow. 5 Craigie Circle, Cambridge, MA craigieonmain.com.
North End Fabrics
<p>It's hard to find a decent fabric store these days. The dwindling number of people who sew their own clothes has caused many textile shops to close, and most of those that remain are either large chains with uninspired inventories or discounters selling remnants, irregular goods, and closeouts.</p> <p>In this wasteland, North End Fabrics, at 31 Harrison Avenue, is an oasis for the home sewer. The small shop on the edge of Chinatown stocks a sumptuous and well-edited assortment of high-fashion textiles including Liberty of London cottons, the beautiful silklike polyester of John Kaldor, handerchief linens, wool suiting, silk jacquards, and tropical-weight wool challises. It even has the dubious honor of carrying New England's largest inventory of fake furs. All these goodies are tucked into barebones quarters, which on Saturday afternoons can set off an epidemic of claustrophobia among the customers. But the hard-core home sewers who flock there don't seem to mind. "I have this theory about fabric stores," says owner Ellen Bick. "It seems as if a kind of reverse ambience is best. Not that you want it to be grungy, but the more it looks like a mill store or a factory, the better the serious sewer likes it."</p> <p>Just how popular North End Fabrics is with serious sewers is demonstrated by its clientele, which includes aspiring fashion designers (Boston designer David Josef shopped there during his start-up years), photo stylists, costume designer, and well-dressed professional women who want couture-quality material for the outfits they sew. October brings a colorful crowd of gay men buying sequins and gold lamé for costumes they'll wear on Halloween at the annual gay ball.</p> <p>Many shops that operated during the heyday of Boston's Garment District (during the early 1900s) are now gone—victims of rising rents, changing times, and chichi real estate developments. But North End Fabrics has stood its ground there for 30 years. If that doesn't mean it's doing something right, nothing does.</p>