Claire Dunphy
After a few years of aerobics and step classes, you realize there's just so much pounding the joints can take. Enter the Pilates method of exercise— a gentle-but-tough way to strengthen every inch of your abused bod. Professional dancers swear by this system, which involves a spring-loaded contraption called the Reformer to work every muscle you have, and some you didn't know you had. Clare Dunphy is certified by Pilates Studio in New York (not everyone who hangs out a Pilates shingle is certified), has all the right equipment, and will have you strong and flexible without the impact of most exercise classes. Progress at your own rate with an encouraging "Ahhh! Now doesn't that feel good?" from Clare. And it does. Dimensions in Fitness, 12 Station St., Brookline, MA .
The fresh food drinks at Legal Sea Foods
Roger Berkowitz claims he spends his Carribbean vacations studying native bartenders. Park Plaza Hotel, Boston, MA .
Ermenegildo Zegna
It's not just the meticulously cut, stunning suits, though it could be—they're that good. Nor is it only the luxury fabrics (topnotch weaves of wool and mohair, cashmere and silk) or the customized, informed, and otherwise flawless service. It's all of the above, and what they add up to: a shopping experience and (ultimately) a wardrobe that are studies in refined but easy elegance. 39 Newbury St., Boston, MA zegna.com.
<em>Valparaiso</em> by Don DeLillo, A.R.T.
A surreal study of the spreading mediascape featured the most interviewed man in the world. Novelist DeLilo's second play said something true and haunting about how the national obsession with fame is corroding our souls.
Tiger's Baku
In Japan, a baku is a creature reputed in mythology to eat bad dreams. Here, it is a blend of jazz and fusion that soothes the savage beast. Tiger (aka Toru Okoshi) came to Boston from Japan in 1972 to study at Berklee. He's been in the mainstream of the local jazz scene ever since.
F.D. Hodge Interiors
There’s a certain lightness to a Frank Hodge–designed space. His rooms are polished, not stuffy. Artful, not overdone. Hodge has impressed us with projects ranging from a serene study with Venetian plaster walls and framed Claude Lorrain landscapes to his own South End brownstone, brimming with antique pieces. 748 Tremont St., Boston, MA 02118, fdhodgeinteriors.com.
Mahoney's
It was a happy day for urban gardeners when the great Mahoney's of Winchester opened a branch on Memorial Drive. All kinds of indoor and outdoor plants and supplies, small trees, all-natural fertilizer and insect sprays—everything you need for a city garden, at reasonable prices and with helpful staff who understand and cherish the plants. 889 Memorial Drive, Cambridge, MA .
Dan Gordon Landscape Architects
Photo by Neil Landino Dan Gordon understands that our outdoor spaces set the backdrop for the special times in our lives. That’s why Gordon and his close-knit team are methodical and precise in studying the settings they work in long before the design phase begins. The most beautiful aspect of the firm’s work, from city roof decks and historical-inspired parterres to lush, tree shrouded lawns and extensive pool areas, is its timelessness: The landscapes never feel new or contrived, but rather as if they’ve always been there. dangordon.com.
B&G Oysters
If hyperfresh seafood is the sole requirement, Legal and McCormick can deliver the same still-quivering quality for a few clams less. It takes a hypertalented chef like B&G's Barbara Lynch, however, to gussy it up with refined flavors and textures that accentuate without stealing the show. That intense focus on pristine ingredients is evident throughout the small, cleanly constructed menu. The cult-spawning lobster BLT is a study in restraint, and a sauteed halibut rings sweet above grassy artichoke, tangy tomato, and briny black-olive consomme. 550 Tremont St., Boston, MA bandgoysters.com.
Ellen Signaigo Brockman, Coldwell Banker/Hunneman realty
With the real estate market showing few signs of slowing, the only way to find your dream home is to have a great broker by your side. Ellen Brockman specializes in Cambridge real estate—she knows every property, every building, every transaction that occurs. For buyers, she's a quick study on your likes and dislikes, and her instincts are dead-on when it comes time to make an offer. For sellers, she offers tried-and-true advice for showing your home at its best and getting the right potential buyers in the door. 40 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA .
Marathon Sports
This is not your average athletic-shoe store. The staff will study your strut to determine whether your feet pronate or roll outward, and whether you need a wide shoe or a skinny one. Then they'll hold your hand and guide you through a sea of brands, sizes, and models until you find the perfect fit. Athletes swear their knees, heels, and other weak points improve after a proper fitting at Marathon. 255 Washington St., Wellesley, MA .
Washington Square Tavern
In Europe, the luckiest of travelers lost on some tiny rue or strasse will happen upon the bar their guidebooks forgot: barely marked, yet packed with locals eating, drinking, and socializing with gusto. Such a find is the Washington Square Tavern, whose book-lined walls and scattered Orientals suggest a boozy study, an irresistible combination for largely literate, well-off Brookline (and the odd wayward traveler). 714 Washington St., Brookline, MA 2146, washingtonsquaretavern.com.
Sadie Higgins, Sarra
There are plenty of beauty rituals that can survive a rushed appointment. Eyebrow shaping is not one of them. Sadie Higgins spends a full 45 minutes studying the shape of your face while tweezing (no wax) a natural arch precisely where it was meant to be—even if nature had other ideas. She also dispenses at-home maintenance tips, all in a gorgeous loft space. 840 Summer St., Boston, MA sarrastudios.com.
Anne Gottlieb
Gottlieb is an actress and a scholar at Brandeis's Women's Studies Research Center. Her disparate talents dovetailed in uproarious fashion last fall, when she performed in the SpeakEasy Stage Company's feminist farce In the Next Room (or the Vibrator Play), about the 1880s women who first discovered the sexual freedom that comes with...electricity. But then she somehow made sultry innuendo poignant in the New Repertory Theatre's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.