Joe McGuirk, B-Side Lounge
The B-Side Lounge has the feel of a real neighborhood establishment, but ever since Joe was written up in Details magazine as a great bartender, tourists have been showing up looking for him. What makes him so great? He's flirtatious with the ladies and chummy with the regular guys. He'll hand over a cocktail menu and with an impressive snap of the shaker, he'll pour an elegant drink. Proud of the fact that B-Side "isn't anything like Sonsie," Joe is as genuine and real as his bar. He got started in the business eight years ago after saying to a friend, "If I don't get a raise, I'm bartending for the summer." It's been a long summer. 92 Hampshire Street, Cambridge, MA .
Whole Foods Market, River Street Location
We thought the "freedom fries" movement was absurd, and we can't imagine a diplomatic conflict grave enough to make us swear off truffles. But somewhere a line must be drawn: In this age of geopolitical anxiety and economic uncertainty, no self-respecting American foodie should drop 10 bucks on a teensy chunk of French goat cheese at the neighborhood fromagerie—not when the exact same item costs less at Whole Foods Market. This outpost of the supermarket juggernaut stocks everything from shredded organic mozzarella to imported moldy raw-milk rounds from Europe displayed in a special climate-controlled case. Like the produce section, the cheese shop highlights the work of local farmers and takes care to remove overripe products. Monthly specials entice aspiring cheese snobs to try new varieties, and pairing a bottle of red with your purchase couldn't be easier: The store's expansive wine section is just across the aisle. 340 River St., Cambridge, MA wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/riverstreet.
West Side Lounge
The stretch of Mass. Ave. between Harvard and Porter squares may teem with restaurants and bars, but it's the laid-back-yet-sophisticated West Side Lounge that draws the locals. The main reason: chef Alex Jenkins's dinner creations. Available at the bar or in a candlelit booth, Jenkins's menu includes such straight-ahead appetizers as house-cured olives or grilled pizzas , along with more complex, but still humble, main courses, including roasted chicken, sliced tenderloin of steak, and pan-seared tuna with eye-watering wasabi mashed potatoes and ponzu sauce. The bar provides a solid backbeat, with classic martinis and margaritas, and eyebrow-raising beverages like the "little Debbie," a thick, liquor-soaked chocolate drink that is definitely not for kids. 1680 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA westsidelounge.com.
Sonsie
Ever since Europe found itself firmly on Dubya's bad side (and the dollar took a nosedive), the idea of traveling overseas for a café-and-culture fix has grown a little less appealing. No matter. With its continental feel and sidewalk-side tables (not to mention its potent, delicious espresso), Sonsie can supply your Eurofix. Of course, it takes more than attitude to make a great neighborhood restaurant, and chef Bill Poirier takes care of that by serving up tempting, fashionable fare, from brick-oven pizzas to café classics like steak au poivre. And now that the downstairs Red Room lounge provides a place for cocktails and late-night revelry with the restaurant's own soundtrack mix, who needs Europe? 327 Newbury St., Boston, MA sonsieboston.com.
No. 9 Park
It's one thing for a restaurant to generate buzz during its first year in business. It's quite another to be the talk of the town after five years. But talk this town does, about chef/owner Barbara Lynch's No. 9 Park, a restaurant as perfect today as the day it opened. We're not the only ones who think this. So do the fans who line up nightly for a seat in the stylish Beacon Hill dining room, and so does the James Beard Foundation, which this year named Lynch the best chef in the Northeast. What everyone is buzzing about is the masterful French and Italian creations coming from Lynch's kitchen (and, in particular, the melt-in-your mouth signature prune-stuffed gnocchi). Delivered by the city's best-trained, casual-but-professional wait-staff, and paired with an impressive wine list created by wine director Cat Silirie, dinner here is a delight from start to finish. 9 Park St., Boston, MA no9park.com.
Blu
Finding the right place to discuss a delicate legal matter or negotiate a contract can be a conundrum in this town. Sure, there are plenty of restaurants open for lunch, but by noon most are too packed, and the staff too hurried, for the finesse a business deal needs. With its location just a stone's throw from the Financial District and the State House, the glass-walled dining room at blu offers just the right stage for business deals with an elegant-but not-too-fussy menu and a waitstaff that knows how to keep a meal on a timely track. The sting of dropping stock-option prices can be less sharp, and the guarantee of a confirming handshake firmer, with a lobster, pancetta, and tomato sandwich on the table, or handmade spaghetti alla guitarra with fresh crabmeat and lemon bread crumbs. 4 Avery St., Boston, MA bluerestaurant.com.
Armani Cafe
When it comes to sidewalk repasts, it's been years since we felt the call of Newbury Street—too much pretense, not enough table space. But something is very back about the Armani Café. Maybe it's the improved menu, rejiggered under executive chef Seth Woods to include such straightforward, reasonably priced Italian staples as fettuccine alla carbonara and tiramisu. Or maybe it's the self-consciously Euro stylishness of it all, which goes from laughable to lovable as soon as the black-clad waitstaff serves up your first glass of wine. Or maybe it's just the luxuriously wide, sun-dappled stretch of pavement that feels tailor-made for scoping out Newbury's passing parade of humanity. 214 Newbury St., Boston, MA .
Hi Rise Bread Co.
One step inside this Cambridge bakery and you know you're in a serious place for serious bread. Half of the shop is an open baking area where workers mix, cut, shape, and bake loaves in an oven the size of a station wagon. A heady, yeasty aroma wafts through the air. Owner René Becker uses handmilled wheat for his classic whole-wheat loaves, and rye and corn breads. The daily specials are equally alluring: walnut- or olive-studded rounds, sesame and sunflower seed-coated ficelle, potato boules, or cheddar-pepper loaves. The extra care and craftsmanship comes at a slightly higher price than at many other bakeries, but after one bite, you'll happily hand over your cash. 208 Concord Ave., Cambridge, MA hi-risebread.com.
Pho 2000
Sure, they serve pho at this hole-in-the-wall storefront in Dorchester: great steaming bowls of it, delicately flavored with lemongrass and scallions. But the soup is just the beginning of an adventurous menu of rare and authentic Vietnamese dishes. There's a reason why the tables beneath the tourist prints and buzzing neon are always crowded with locals. The highlight is the chef's specialty, dac biêt bò báy món, seven courses of beef served six ways to Sunday. Thin slices of pure pink meat are offered with the tools to cook it yourself at the table—boiled in vinegar, flash-fried in butter and garlic—then followed up with soup, skewers, and three other gut-busting courses. While no alcohol is served, you can wash down your meal with such exotic beverages as jasmine limeade, salty plum soda—even egg soda. 198 Adams St., Dorchester, MA pho2000boston.com.
Midwest Grill
In Brazil, restaurants like Midwest Grill are everywhere, which helps to explain why Brazilians traditionally consume their largest meals at lunch: Feasts like those served up by this Inman Square establishment take time to digest. The format is all-you-can-eat, and the fare centers on grilled meat: skewers of sausages, pork loin, lamb, chicken hearts, and sirloin, carved by hand at your table until you finally beg the friendly servers to bring you no more. The accompanying buffet features salad fixings, fluffy mashed potatoes, tasty casseroles, and what might be the best rice and beans outside of Rio. It does not include dessert, but you won't mind—you'll be too full anyway. 1124 Cambridge St., Cambridge, MA midwestgrillrestaurant.com.
Alex Stupak, Clio
After several luxurious courses of chef Ken Oringer's French cooking, concluding with dessert might seem excessive. But when the desserts are as delicious as those made by pastry chef Alex Stupak, a little excess is in order. Despite his propensity toward flavored foams, Stupak's timbale of milk-chocolate with raspberry, tarragon, and tamarind ice cream is, in a word, ethereal. So are his Tahitian vanilla bean crème brûlée and lollipops made from sassafras, chicory, and sea salt-spiked chocolate, True and intense (yet not overwhelming) flavors marry with textures that bend the rules of sensibility by being simultaneously crisp and puffy, like the microthin layers of the rich chocolate and hazelnut petits fours. Such finesse is what makes this 23-year-old pastry chef a talent to keep an eye on—and his desserts an indulgence to seek out. The Eliot Hotel, 370 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA cliorestaurant.com.
Ken Oringer, Clio
Oringer is fast becoming the Tom Hanks of Best of Boston. Oringer has captured the best-chef nod in three of the past four years—and the year he didn't win, his restaurant, Clio, was named the best in town. It's not that he's such an all-around nice guy (which he really is) that makes Oringer the winningest chef in recent memory. It's that he creates such beautiful food, perfectly balanced in flavor, texture, and proportion. Clio's French menu impresses at every turn with its Asian influences and emphasis on fresh ingredients, from the cassoulet of lobster and sea urchin with yuzu and Japanese pepper to the entrée of roasted Muscovy duck with kumquats and black radish confit. Oringer's new pet project, the sashimi bar Uni inside Clio, shows his versatility and talent. And, as anyone who follows awards presentations knows, those qualities separate the winners from the also-rans. The Eliot Hotel, 370 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA cliorestaurant.com.
The Plough & Stars
A real pint of Guinness takes time to pour. So while you're waiting at the bar in this old Cambridge haunt, take a gander at the great menu (with standbys like steak and roasted fish, all under $10) or a soccer game broadcast from Europe. Or just kick back and listen to one of the surprisingly talented musical acts that show up nightly. The crowd—a mix of intellectuals and down-and-outers, young and old, casual drinkers and straight-up drunks—makes for good people watching. Not a Guinness fan? The bar serves 20 different beers and all the usual boozes. And if you're in the mood for a smoke, go ahead and light up (at least until October 1, when Cambridge bans smoking, too)—you're not in Boston anymore. 912 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA ploughandstars.com.
Via Matta
This Back Bay nuovo Italian restaurant is as self-consciously trendy as its downtown sister, Radius, but damned if they don't mix a thumpingly good basil gimlet here, poured with iced Ketel One and a garnish of fresh basil leaves. It's a sunny drink for a bar that aspires to Tuscany via Fifth Avenue. There's cool elegance in the beige-coated bartenders at the twin bars, while the round marble tabletops are pure Mediterranean café—perfect for a social grappa. Equally elegant, although perhaps a touch more florid, is the high-end clientele, and while elbows rub through Prada sleeves and the wine list flows with beauty, the absence of smoldering MS Clubs means it will never quite smell like Italy. 79 Park Plaza, Boston, MA viamattarestaurant.com.
Bauer Wines & Spirits
You've planned the menu and invited the guests. Now you need the perfect wine to make the dinner party a success. Look no further: Bauer Wines & Spirits buyer Howie Rubin knows his wines, has an encyclopedic knowledge of food, and can direct even the most confused oenophobe to the right bottle. Rubin may not offer as expansive a selection as some shops, but the juice he stocks is superlative, and his advice—unobtrusive but freely offered for the asking—is comforting and practical. He and his well-trained staff can steer you toward the perfect bubbly for caviar, the ideal sauvignon blanc for oysters, or a new shiraz for lamb to suit your menu, taste, and budget. Added bonuses: Cases are sold at a discount of 10 percent and delivery is free. 330 Newbury St., Boston, MA bauerwines.com.