The Sunset Grill & Tap
Back when good beer selection meant both Bud and Miller Lite, these hopheads did their damnedest to broaden our horizons. A decade later, the bar stocks nearly 500 microbrews, including 110 on tap and three beer engines for those cask-conditioned ales. 130 Brighton Ave., Brighton, MA .
Pignoli
Hurray for the late-night spaghetteria, Wednesday through Saturday til 2! Chef Daniele Baliani's Penne with Crispy Eggplant, Roasted Garlic and Tomato Parmagiani and Potato Gnocchi with Wild Mushrooms and Truffled Gorgonozola make us twirl our forks with glee. 79 Park Plaza, Boston, MA .
Nectar Pies
Nectar Pies, the class version of Eskimo Pies, available for fifty-nine cents at health-food stores far and wide (try the General Nutrition Center, 361 Boylston St., Boston). Our favorite is the Mocha Pie—natural mocha ice cream between two granola cookies, coated with carob. General Nutrition Center, 361 Boylston St., Boston, MA .
Spascape Day Spa
Whether you go for an invigorating facial featuring South African Environ products or a skin-brightening body cocoon, it's impossible to leave Spascape feeling anything but light and rejuvenated. We like to finish our appointment by pulling up a chair on the spa's deck and enjoying the peaceful view of Scituate Harbor with a glass of wine. Scituate, MA 2066,
The Underdog
The Underdog, 6 Bow St., Cambridge, is top dog in our book. The franks are meaty and tasty—the stuff of an Oscar Mayer dream. Marty's Famous, on Cambridge Street opposite City Hall, also hawks hot-stuff red hots. 6 Bow St., Cambridge, MA .
Rosenfeld
Photograph by Scott M. Lacey Arguments over who makes the best challah can go on longer than Rosh Hashanah services. Our pick? Rosenfeld, where the loaf (pictured at left) is delightfully dense, moist, and balanced in its egginess and sweetness. If you can resist tearing it apart, slice it thick for sandwiches—it absorbs brisket juice like a beast. 1280 Centre St., Newton, MA 2459, .
John Brockelman, executive director, Massachusetts Republican Party
The GOP attack dog is successfully pitching the idea that the state is running short of federal money to pay for the Big Dig because our all-Democratic congressional delegation has lost its clout in D.C. It couldn't have anything to do with the fact that the project costs so damn much, could it?
Rev. J. Donald Monan, Chancellor, Boston College
What Father Flanagan was to Boys Town, Father Monan is to our little burg, Boyos Town—brokering the stadium deal that kept the Pats in town in much the same way he did when he rescued the Fleet Center years ago from the usual tribal mischief.
John Dennis, Channel 7
We know, we know—he was Worst last year. But we're nothing if not open-minded, and Dennis has changed our minds by providing the only consistently tough and aggressive sports reporting on television. Besides, aren't you sick of Bob Lobel?
Davis Clarke
Via Instagram Who knew 9-to-5 quarterly reports needed a hype man? This guy, apparently. Since January, the 27-year-old Citizens capital manager from Winchester has become a viral sensation for his ruthlessly earnest motivational clips and video selfies in which he roars about tackling desk-job mundanities — like Excel spreadsheets or dial-in work meetings — with the “locked in” intensity of 1,000 linebackers charging a quarterback. “This has to be a joke, right?” asked one commenter on Instagram, where Clarke has amassed more than 720,000 followers. It is not: What may’ve first seemed like a hustle-culture send-up has played out like an endearingly real-life micro-reboot of The Office. In other words: Michael Scott, come get your son! instagram.com/davis.clarke.
Adelita
COURTESY PHOTO Arcade games, sippy cups, and free kids’ meals before 6:30 p.m. Monday to Thursday. No, this isn’t your local Chuck E. Cheese—it’s the latest hot spot from Kristin Canty, the brains behind West Concord favorite Woods Hill Table. At her new, family-friendly-but-still-sophisticated entry to the town’s dining scene, the focus is on Mexican cuisine—and not just any Mexican cuisine. Here, the pasture-raised pork, chicken, and beef stuffed into every tempting taco, burrito, and quesadilla comes straight from Canty’s New Hampshire farm, so you can feel good treating the little ones (and yourself) to dinner here any day of the week. We’ll raise a guava margarita to that. adelitaconcord.com.
Burlington Mall
Who says malls are dead? Once a ho-hum suburban shopping center, this overhauled megaplex now stands out not only for its selection of upscale shops but also its destination-worthy dining and drinking spots: It’s home to the only Boston-area Parm (Contessa’s casual little sister); an outpost of Maine’s beloved Bennett’s Sandwich Shop; and Common Craft, a 9,000-square-foot space where you can sip bevvies from your favorite local distillers, brewers, and wine makers after browsing the wares at Anthropologie and Tory Burch. Toasting a new home purchase? A brick-and-mortar Joss & Main store, from local online home-goods purveyor Wayfair, is slated to move in this summer. 75 Middlesex Turnpike, Burlington, MA 1803, simon.com/mall/burlington-mall.
The Baldwin Bar and The Baldwin & Sons Trading Co.
Photo by Joe St. Pierre Foams, tinctures, syrups, elixirs: Onetime GQ cover guy Ran Duan is the tiki-driven scientist behind the Baldwin Bar, a tropical island hideaway, and the Baldwin & Sons Trading Co., a speakeasy devoted to experimental drinks. The ornate mansion that houses both concepts was originally transformed by his dad, a former opera singer, into the Sichuan Garden restaurant — and you can still order stellar Sichuan food alongside ethereal cocktails you simply won’t find anywhere else. Ask for the Betty Draper, an icy gin-lime creation crowned with clouds of coconut foam, by name. And if you’re lucky, you might get to test-drive a libation slated for Duan’s upcoming tropical haven Birds of Paradise, opening this summer in Brighton. 2 Alfred St., Woburn, MA 1801, thebaldwinbar.com.
Galley Beach
Elizabeth Cecil Close your eyes and imagine an open-air restaurant with tables right on the sand and canvas canopies that flutter in the gentle sea breeze. No, it’s not the scene at some all-inclusive Caribbean resort — it’s dinner at Galley Beach, where every table has a prime view of Nantucket Sound. At sunset, diners often leave their shoes under the table and walk barefoot to the water’s edge for photo ops beneath a painted sky, making this the perfect spot to celebrate the end of yet another beautiful day on Nantucket. Be sure to check out the new, reservation-only prix-fixe bar menu, offered only during that wonderfully languid time between lunch and dinner, but be forewarned: You may still be there by dark. 54 Jefferson Ave., Nantucket, MA 02554, galleybeach.net.
Buk Kyung
With a Korean joint seemingly popping up on every corner, Allston Village is steadily earning its K-town reputation, but the noodle dishes at neighborhood stalwart Buk Kyung still go unmatched. We’re not just talking about pop hits like the inky, pork-rich sauce in the jajangmyeon or the glassy sweet potato threads in the japchae. Because if you haven’t tucked into a bowl of dduk mandoo gook—Korea’s take on beef-noodle soup, carbed up with house dumplings and glutinous rice cakes—or the party-size platter of seafood, stir-fried veg, and potato-noodle shards served with a sweet-hot mustard sauce (otherwise known as yangjangpi), you’re missing out. Multiple locations. 151 Brighton Ave., Allston, MA 02134, bukkyungrestaurant.com.