Biga Breads
We could live by bread alone if it came from Biga Breads, the fledgling bakery that already has an enthusiastic following for its crusty peasant-style loaves. Olive bread and black currant and molasses loaf are especially popular but our favorites are the sour cherry and walnut and the chewy classic baguettes. 50 Terminal St., Charlestown, MA .
The Pop Center
Working from home when you have small children is great — that is, until your four-year-old shows up in the back of a Zoom call covered in fingerpaint from head to toe (only a slightly exaggerated story). With daycare spots limited and nannies harder than ever to find, busy moms and dads have been flocking to this Newton coworking space, where parents and young kids can work and play side by side thanks to wellstaffed playgroups, private nursing stations, and cozy coworking lounges with a call pod and nap rooms (for grownups, too!). 1037 Chestnut St., Newton Upper Falls, MA 02464, thepopcenter.com.
Hot Mess
Booking music for your wedding may feel like the next biggest decision after the dress. Do you want a funk band? R & B? Pop? Hot Mess offers the best of every genre (and the killer vocalists to match), so you don’t have to stress about committing to a single sound for the whole night. The high-energy, bring the-house-down band’s repertoire ranges from the Beatles and Bell Biv DeVoe to Lady Gaga and Flo Rida, but they can also learn new material on request. hotmessrocks.com..
The Catered Affair
This culinary juggernaut is the in-house caterer for a slew of the city’s high-end venues, including the Boston Public Library, Harvard Art Museums, and the Boston Athenaeum (where it also runs a brand-new café open to the public). Which begs the question: If they trust the Catered Affair to handle their cuisine, shouldn’t you? The answer: Yes, you absolutely should. With the goal of creating unforgettable dining experiences, the team here can curate a personalized menu for your big day — think king-crab tostadas and broiled oysters with sea urchin and black lime — that looks as good as it tastes. thecateredaffair.com.
Ocean Edge Resort & Golf Club
Ocean Edge Resort & Golf Club While it’s hard to unwind these days, this luxe resort is making it a little easier to get some much-needed R & R. Extra pre- cautions—including contactless golf-cart pickup, grocery-delivery service, and reduced capacity at pools and at Ocean Edge’s private beach—provide peace of mind, while new private experiences such as beach yoga and oyster tours make it easy to practice social distancing while giving the kiddos an unforgettable adven- ture. So go ahead, book that luxurious mansion suite. Boozy mudslides delivered straight to your beach chair await. 2907 Main St., Brewster, MA 02631, oceanedge.com.
Modern Relik
After months of sitting on the couch nearly ’round the clock, we’d say you’re entitled to a refresh. At Modern Relik’s South End showroom, you’ll find sophisticated sofas in an array of styles, from a nap-worthy mahogany day bed to a quilted sectional with eye-catching lines. Grab a cup of espresso from the front-of-store café while you debate your options, and feel free to chat up the in-house design team if you’re short on inspiration; overseen by design director Jon Dransfield and owner Meg Kimball, the group happily consults on scale, color, materials, and more. 485 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA 02118, modernrelik.com.
Silver Whisk Bake Shop
Hannah Cochran Photography You personalize so many elements of your wedding day—why have a basic cake? Silver Whisk Bake Shop works with each couple to create a confection unique to their style, with two constants: understated elegance and surprising flavors (think: matcha and lychee). And while COVID-19 temporarily puts a pause on parties, the Stoneham bakery has been staying busy delivering wedding-cake tasting boxes and packaged petit fours—jewel-like sponges coated in Swiss-meringue buttercream and sealed with chocolate that are a perfect taste of sweeter times to come. silverwhiskbakeshop.com.
Forage
Why schlep out to pick up locally grown produce when Forage can do the work for you? The farm-to-table restaurant is now partnering with small area growers and producers to offer several options for upgrading your pantry and fridge: multiweek subscription boxes of fresh veggies like local mushrooms and fiddleheads; separate “Goodie Bags,” available à la carte, featuring house-made herb oils, cocktail mixers, and other delights; and weekly orders of unique natural wines. With even delivery available, we wonder: Why wait in supermarket lines ever again? 5 Craigie Cir., Cambridge, MA 02138, foragecambridge.com.
State Road
Spend at least one evening of your Vineyard getaway at this cozy island favorite known for unpretentious, locally sourced dishes, but be sure to reserve in advance. The place is beloved by locals and presidents alike (Barack Obama is a regular on his vacations; his White House decorator designed the space). Return for brunch the next morning and take an extra order of made-from-scratch Limpopo doughnuts home with you. State Road is open for much of the winter, too, when you can enjoy fun off-season specials in front of a roaring fireplace. 688 State Rd., West Tisbury, MA 02568, stateroadrestaurant.com.
Quahog Republic
You will not leave this boisterous hangout sober. It pours some of the cheapest, strongest cocktails we've ever sipped. (At least they're made with fresh-squeezed juices, so we can feel somewhat virtuous.) At $9, a 16-ounce mai tai slurped through a straw is potent and refreshing; after an $8 Quahog Sunset with Smirnoff orange vodka, Triple Sec, and 7-Up, it's lights out. The servers have seen it all before, and they'll treat you like a local from your first tipple. 97 Spring Bars Rd., Falmouth, MA 02540, quahogrepublic.com.
NETA
Shopping at NETA’s Brookline outpost is as far from buying pot off your cousin’s dog walker in a 7-Eleven parking lot as you can get. The vast selection of buds, pre-rolled joints, vape pens, and gummies is housed behind wood-trimmed glass cases in a historical bank complete with a well-styled mini lounge to wait in. And unlike in dubious parking-lot rendezvous, you can be sure that whatever you buy, the product will be top-tier, thanks to NETA’s state-of-the-art indoor cultivation center in Franklin. 160 Washington St., Brookline, MA netacare.org.
GlenPharmer Distillery
It’s the place Franklin never knew it needed, but now can’t live without: an artisanal distillery with its own bustling tasting room and full-service restaurant. Here, friends, neighbors, and couples alike clink glasses of the award-winning vodkas — offered as flights with other spirits or in a variety of creative cocktails — at high-tops inside a former covered bridge and at the cozy, stone-walled bar. Looking to make a day of it? Book a tour of the former mill building turned distillery and get a look at how the spirits in your glass were born. 860 W. Central St., Franklin, MA 02038, glenpharmer.com.
French + Italian
What was once considered a fleeting sojourn into sweatpants has now become the new virtual-business casual — but when you want to step it up a bit for your video calls (while still remaining comfy, of course), you’d do well to pop into Aimee Lombardi’s chic Beacon Hill boutique. Slouchy but well-tailored, classic but vibrant enough to stand out on camera, the carefully curated racks of linen button- downs from Aspesi and sunflower-yellow jersey pants by Sofie D’Hoore will carry you from Zoom calls to a nap to dinner al fresco. Multiple locations, frenchitalian.com.
Villa México Café
You can’t toss a tortilla without striking a trendy New Boston version of a taco joint these days, but we’re still hung up on the humble, proudly homemade fare churned out by Downtown favorite Villa México Café. The immigrant-family-owned spot offers five options for stuffing those soft corn circles; we’ll direct your attention, though, to the spicy chorizo prepared in-house. It’s all served with a side of the rich and smoky black salsa lovingly made by owner Julie (“Momma”) King, bona-fide food-world royalty around these parts. 121 Water St., Boston, MA 02109, villamexicocafe.us.
Brato Brewhouse + Kitchen
Considering all of the craft-beer cans crushed in Allston/Brighton’s indie-rock-blaring bars, it’s wild that the neighborhood didn’t have its own brewery until Brato moved in in 2019. Now, beer lovers citywide flock there to fill growlers with full-bodied sour beers and smooth saisons, and/or get their grub on with gourmet grilled-cheese flights and inventive house-made bratwursts. Head brewer Alex Corona and chef Jonathan Gilman both come from Cambridge Brewing Company, an industry pioneer, and here they’re blazing a trail of their own. 190 N. Beacon St., Brighton, MA 02135, bratobk.com.