Elburne
With one location already flourishing on Cape Cod, sisters Lauren and Simone Pereira established their second home-décor shop in Hanover’s new Merchant’s Row shopping plaza late last year. It’s not easy to shut your doors so soon after opening them, but online ordering and Instagram teaser shots of Elburne’s ethically sourced furniture, rugs, and artwork kept shoppers engaged through the shutdown. The doors are open once again, but the siblings are still offering curbside pickup to make scoring the perfect pick-me-up even easier. 2053 Washington St., Hanover, MA 02339, elburne.com.
Kimberly Mercurio Landscape Architecture
If designing outdoor spaces is both an art and a science, it follows that the portfolio of urban, rural, and coastal projects by Kimberly Mercurio—a trained landscape architect and ecologist—is the one to beat. With practices in Cambridge and Woods Hole, Mercurio counts a spruce-filled Falmouth yard with an infinity-edge pool and stone walls among her successes. 2 Mason St., Cambridge, MA 02138, kimberlymercurio.com.
Wally's Café
With a hole-in-the-wall atmosphere, raw jazz, and bartenders who bust ass, Wally's is an institution unto itself. A conglomerate of Berklee students, longtime barflies, and twentysomethings keep the narrow bar crowded, while early birds get a shot at one of eight tables. It's a tight fit, to be sure, but the vibe is lighthearted and appreciative. 425 Massachusetts Ave., Boston, MA 2118, wallyscafe.com.
Blackbird Doughnuts
Photograph by Nina Gallant. Styling by Madison Trapkin. This decadent doughnut shop has upped its game this year (which is impressive since its game was already one of the best in town) with the debut of chocolate and vanilla mini doughnut pops and “brioche babies” — or bite-size doughnut holes — in the inventive, indulgent flavors Blackbird is known for, including lavender-matcha and “Oreo sugar.” We’ll take a dozen, please. Multiple locations, blackbirddoughnuts.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.
Le Couturier House of Alterations
Favored by some of the city's most discriminating boutique owners and clotheshorses, Dick Robasson is a stitch wizard straight out of another era. Holed up in his spartan Central Square space, with two sewing machines and a radio humming jazz in the background, the one-time Zegna staffer employs the same concentration when hemming pants as he does when whipping up a suit from scratch. 550 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 2139, .
Le Couturier House of Alterations
Favored by some of the city's most discriminating boutique owners and clotheshorses, Dick Robasson is a stitch wizard straight out of another era. Holed up in his spartan Central Square space, with two sewing machines and a radio humming jazz in the background, the one-time Zegna staffer employs the same concentration when hemming pants as he does when whipping up a suit from scratch. 550 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 2116, lecouturierma.com.
Desfina
You won't find modern, four-star Greek cuisine at this hole in the wall. But in an oddly delightful way, it reminds us of every humble neighborhood taverna we've savored in Greece, from the blue-and-white paper place mats to the scattered but amiable service. The tzatziki is a house specialty, the moussaka hearty and delicious, the ;horiatiki a true Greek salad—all plates so tasty, we'd be loath to smash a single one. 202 3rd St, Cambridge, MA 2141, desfina.com.
Bella Sante
We've tried it at home. We've done the booth. We've stood stark naked before strangers and had every inch of our bodies airbrushed, only to emerge St. Barts brown on one side, Back Bay white on the other. But we never got the elusive all-over glow until we went to Bella Santé, where an almost painfully thorough full-body exfoliation precedes careful application of Phytomer's clear (!) bronzer. It won't streak when you sweat or rub off on your clothes, which means that even after a sticky, slow ride to the beach, we pulled up looking as if we had been there all summer long. 38 Newbury St., Boston, MA 2116, bellasante.com.
Dennis Pines Golf Course
Seven thousand yards of championship golfing, nestled in 170 acres of sweet-smelling pine forest: The 72-par Dennis Pines is a course to be reckoned with. With water at four of the holes, enough trees to test anyone's accuracy, and the notorious par-5 twelfth, the course is arguably the toughest—and certainly one of the most beautiful—on Cape Cod. Amenities are plentiful, including an expansive driving range and practice green, a nice little lounge, and a well-stocked pro shop. Rte. 134, East Dennis, MA dennisgolf.com.
Leon & Co.
You'd expect to find a kindly gardener and art collector holed up in Belmont. But a jet-setting hair- and fashion-industry giant? In Leon de Magistris, they're one and the same. Between chopping models' locks in Italy (where the revered Tocco Magico has named deMagistris its U.S. artistic director) and jaunts to New York to teach other stylists the latest cuts, de Magistris still finds time to keep everyone in his quiet, close-knit suburb trimmed and styled to perfection. 84 Leonard St., Belmont, MA leonandco.com.
Kelley Square Pub
Photograph by Kelsey Cronin It’s easy to see what drew Vinny Paz and Tommy Lee Jones to this watering hole: Here, conversation flows and the beverage selection is ample (including the most affordable pour of Woodford Reserve we’ve ever seen). 84 Bennington St., Boston, MA 02128, kelleyssquarepub.com.
Audio Concepts
Put down the Consumer Reports and delete the electronics in your Amazon cart. No one's going to be impressed by the shoddy home-theater system you're trying to jury-rig. Instead, go to the Audio Concepts near BU, a playground for audio- and cinephiles alike. The top-notch systems here are custom-designed to fit each home—and, mercifully, don't resemble the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. 870 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA 2215, audioconcepts.com.
Charles Street Supply Company
If you've got the project, they've got the product: More than 24,000 home-maintenance tools and supplies cram the shelves at this emporium of all things useful. Need an obscure garden tool? A specific brand of all-weather paint? The gregarious employees have a talent for putting their hands on it fast. The store's old-fashioned setting is paired with an up-to-date outlook—it has, for example, one of the city's best displays of eco-friendly compact fluorescent light bulbs—making it a primo resource for the modern home. 54 Charles St., Boston, MA 2114, charlesstsupply.com.
BCYF Mirabella Pool
Each summer, city dwellers of all stripes—sunbathing nonnas, bronzed Adonises, giddy teens—flock to this urban oasis, making it one of the top people-watching spots in town. Not to mention one of the best bargains: A season pass costs a mere $20. In other words, a whole lot less than a trip to the Cape. 475 Commercial St., Boston, MA 02109, boston.gov/community-centers.