Sneak Peek: Best of Boston 2017

An icy platter of bivalves from Island Creek Oyster Bar’s Burlington location. / Photograph by PJ Couture

FRIDAY

We’ll close out preview week with a few Beyond Boston winners. This weekend, consider our winner for Best Restaurant, General Excellence, North:

Island Creek Oyster Bar

Burlington makes gains as a veritable dining destination with an outpost of the wildly, deservedly successful Island Creek Oyster Bar. While it’s hard to pass up the lobster roll, served warm and buttered, an always-changing selection of fresh local catch provides suitable backup. You can even bring the kids, who’ll flip over the fish and chips.

300 District Ave., Burlington, 781-761-6500, islandcreekoysterbar.com.

Or, for those heading to the Cape, consider our pick for Best Inn, Cape Cod:

Eben House

Housed in a building dating to 1776, this Provincetown inn eschews the floral ruffled bed skirts typical of historically minded B & Bs in favor of crisp white duvets, restored hardwood floors, and inspired breakfast options. Add in the saltwater pool opening this summer, and you may never want to take the short walk to Commercial Street.

90 Bradford St., Provincetown, 508-487-0386, ebenhouse.com.

See the rest of this week’s sneak-peek winners below.

Plus: Congratulations to all of our 2017 Readers’ Poll Winners!

Coolidge Corner Theatre. / Photograph by Lizzy Barrett

THURSDAY

Congratulations to today’s new Best of Boston winners for Best Blowout, Low-Cost:

Drybar

Choose from one of nine signature blowouts ($45), then hand yourself over to a professional who will wash, dry, and style your locks into bouncy, shiny submission in just 45 minutes. What’s more, you get to do it with a magazine in one hand and a beverage in the other.

234 Clarendon St., Boston, 617-449-7287; and other locations; thedrybar.com.

And from the Neighborhood Bests category, the Best Diversion in Brookline:

Coolidge Corner Theatre

This indie cinema manages to strike the delicate balance between new hits and cult classics. Its After Midnite series is a particular delight, recently screening Die Hard on a 35mm print.

290 Harvard St., 617-734-2501, coolidge.org.

Photograph Courtesy of EverybodyFights

WEDNESDAY

Today’s sneak peek Best of Boston winners are the winners for Best Lobster Roll:

Neptune Oyster

It takes a special kind of hot lobster roll to best its chilled brethren, but Neptune’s much-beloved version manages to pull it off. Seven ounces of lobster are tossed in melted butter and heaped on a grilled brioche bun that struggles under the weight of so much sweet claw and tail meat.

3 Salem St., 617-742-3474, neptuneoyster.com.

And to burn off those calories afterward, the city’s Best Luxury Gym:

EverybodyFights

Picture a boxing gym. If you’re imagining a stark room with a ring and fluorescent lighting, you’ve clearly never been to EverybodyFights. George Foreman III’s upscale boxing haven turns the stereotype on its head with boutique-inspired classes, spa-grade locker rooms, and a serious sound system.

15 Channel Center St., Boston, 857-250-4140; One Federal St., Boston, 857-990-3108; everybodyfights.com.

Nomad. / Photo by Lizzy Barrett

TUESDAY

Congratulations to this year’s winner for best Best Gifts:

Nomad

When you’re over hipster onesies and cheeky monogrammed totes, venture to Nomad for rare objects that will remind your favorite dinner-party host of travels to exotic lands. The quiet two-story shop stocks folk art from Mexico, lanterns from India, jewels from Morocco, and other international treasures that change regularly.

1741 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, 617-497-6677, nomadcambridge.com.

And our pick for best Best Greek Restaurant:

Doretta Taverna & Raw Bar

When Doretta popped onto the scene, Michael Schlow fans puzzled over the uncharacteristically conservative menu—especially when compared with the fresh takes offered at nearby Pelekasis, Brendan Pelley’s mod-Greek pop-up. So Schlow did what any pro would do: Once Pelley’s temporary gig ended, he scooped him up as chef de cuisine. Together, they’re a Hellenic dream team, slinging a perfectly calibrated mix of impeccable classics (charry lamb chops) and restless stunners (saganaki fondue with Sichuan peppercorns).

79 Park Plaza, Boston, 617-422-0008, dorettaboston.com.

Juliet. / Photo by Toan Trinh

MONDAY

Congratulations to the Best of Boston 2017 winner for Best Brunch:

Juliet

Joshua Lewin and Katrina Jazayeri’s airy, French-inspired all-day café is at its finest on weekend mornings, when they kick their daily breakfast offerings up a few notches. Rustically elegant, the herb-flecked Gruyère omelet and straight-out-of-a-picnic-basket-in-Paris ham-and-radish-butter sandwich are best when paired with a glass of sparking rosé, bien sûr.

257 Washington St., Somerville, 617-718-0958, julietsomerville.com.

And our winner for Best Museum:

Museum of Fine Arts

A venerable palace of classic works, the MFA upped its contemporary game last fall with #mfaNOW, a celebration of modern art that presented the unique opportunity for visitors to watch all 24 hours of Christian Marclay’s real-time video collage The Clock at an overnight party. But the institution hasn’t neglected its roots, kicking off the warmer months with a Henri Matisse exhibit that you can see for yourself until July 9.

465 Huntington Ave., Boston, 617-267-9300, mfa.org.