News Bites: Coastal Greek Restaurant Kaia Opens in the South End

Kaia. / Photo by Birch Thomas

Maybe your thoughts are already on next week’s turkey, but there’s plenty of food-related excitement happening this week. We’re back with the details on the latest restaurant openings, closings, events, and other news to know.

You can catch up on past installments of our food news roundups here, and reach out via email with news that should be on our radar.

Jump to: Openings | Closings | In the Works | Things to Do This Week

Openings

D16. / Assembly Design Studio

• D16 Lounge & Bar debuts on November 20, with globally inspired small plates (pork belly bao buns, gambas al ajillo, nori tacos, etc.) and lounge-y vibes, including a long bar. The name is a reference to the Boylston Street space’s decades as the home of the Boston Police Department’s Division 16. Glynn Hospitality Group (the Black Rose, Dillon’s, Granary Tavern, and more) is behind the new spot. 955 Boylston St., Unit A, Back Bay, Boston, 617-421-1818, d16boston.com.

Kaia’s cabbage with house miso revithada, sweet goldenrod, and almonds. / Courtesy photo

• Coastal Greek restaurant Kaia—from the award-winning team behind Bar Vlaha, Krasi, and more—opens November 22. The seafood-focused menu features a variety of raw dishes, small plates, and whole fish preparations, with various caviar and truffle options if you’re feeling fancy. Reservations are available via Resy, but there’s also a lot of space held for walk-ins. (“Who knows who’s going to be hungry at 7 p.m. on a Thursday in two weeks?” as Xenia Greek Hospitality CEO Demetri Tsolakis said previously.) 380 Harrison Ave. (the Quinn), South End, Boston, kaiasouthend.com.

A Levain cookie. / Courtesy photo

• New York City-based treat shop Levain Bakery—known for its enormous cookies—adds its second Boston location on November 22, this one in the Seaport. (The first is on Newbury Street.) The doors open at 8 a.m., and the first 100 customers on opening day will get special swag; plus, the day’s proceeds will be donated to the South Boston Neighborhood House. Look for seasonal dark chocolate peppermint cookies alongside year-round core flavors like chocolate chip walnut and oatmeal raisin, plus breads, pastries, weekend-only sticky buns, and more, all baked onsite. 107 Seaport Blvd., Seaport District, Boston, levainbakery.com.

A spread of food at Mimi’s Chūka Diner, including nikudango, sweet and sour meatballs. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal

• You won’t be able to get the full sit-down Mimi’s Chūka Diner experience just yet, but the soon-to-open Somerville restaurant begins takeout service on November 19 with dishes such as nikudango (sweet-and-sour pork meatballs), stir-fried garlic noodles, and butter mochi. It’s inside Aeronaut Brewing Company, so grab your meal and then settle in at the taproom for a beer. 14 Tyler St. (inside Aeronaut Brewing Company), Somerville, mimischukadiner.com.

Tonkotsu shoyu at Muku Ramen. / Courtesy photo

• After a lengthy hiatus, Muku Ramen has reopened in Cambridge’s Central Square. The schedule is irregular, the menu is limited, and payment is cash only while the team gets back up to speed, so keep an eye on the website for updates. Once the full menu is available, you’ll see a variety of tonkotsu-style ramen options, plus vegetarian ramens with vegetable-soy milk broth. 411 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, Cambridge, 617-865-7888, mukuramen.com.

Closings

Wood-fired pizzas at Posto. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal

• Italian restaurant and wood-fired pizzeria Posto—one of Greater Boston’s best spots for Neapolitan-style pizza—has closed its 15-year-old Davis Square location in anticipation of its move to Somerville’s Assembly Row, opening “in the next few weeks.” The spacious new location will have room for events and cooking classes. Now closed at 187 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville; opening soon at 400 Assembly Row, Somerville; postoboston.com.
• Roxy’s Grilled Cheese & Burgers closes its decade-old Allston location on November 24, but it’s not the end of the road for the casual comfort-food purveyor. Find Green Muenster Melts, double-fried chicken sandwiches, poutine fries, dulce de leche shakes, and more at Roxy’s Cambridge location (which has an attached arcade and cocktail bar for the 21+ crew). The Roxy’s truck is still running, too, bookable for private events. Closing soon at 485 Cambridge St., Allston, Boston; still open at 292 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, Cambridge, 617-714-5203; roxysgrilledcheese.com.

In the Works

• Lou’s—a 10,000-square-foot subterranean restaurant, bar, and lounge with live music—will open in spring 2025 in the former Beat Brew Hall space in Harvard Square. The project is a collaboration between John DiGiovanni (president of Trinity Property Management) and Thomas Keane and his team at investment management firm Churchill James, the group behind American Flatbread. Portsmouth-based design firm Elder & Ash, which recently reimagined the Hotel Portsmouth, is working on the space. 13 Brattle St., Harvard Square, Cambridge.
• It’s been a bit of a long process, but the forthcoming Irish pub from the team behind the Ford Tavern in Medford is nearing the finish line. Medford’s mayor, Breanna Lungo-Koehn, shared a sneak peek at the under-construction Mrs. Murphy’s, opening in Medford Square in early 2025. Looks like it’ll have a patio out back and lots of cozy wood and brick details inside. 25 Salem St., Medford.

Lobster roll at Row 34. / Photo by Morgan Ione Yeager

• Row 34 owners Shore Gregory and Jeremy Sewall are planning a fifth location of the local seafood superstar for summer 2025, continuing the longstanding fish focus of a space at the Hotel Commonwealth in Boston’s Kenmore Square. Most recently home to Pescador, 498 Commonwealth Ave. previously housed Island Creek Oyster Bar, the former Row 34 sibling. And that’s not Sewall’s only connection to that space: He was also the executive chef of Great Bay, the seafood restaurant at that address before Island Creek. Talk about full circle. “Returning to Kenmore Square is surreal, without a doubt,” said Sewall, via press release. “In a million years, I don’t think I could have predicted this happening. We’ve been lucky to have seen the neighborhood throughout its many iterations and are honored to be a part of its next chapter.” When it opens, Row 34 Kenmore will join locations in Fort Point, the original; Kendall Square, Cambridge; Burlington, Massachusetts; and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. 498 Commonwealth Ave., Kenmore Square, Boston, row34.com.

Things to Do This Week

See also: our general Things to Do guide for music, comedy, art, and lots more. 

This Month

• Bistro du Midi is celebrating its 15^th anniversary this month, bringing back some favorite cocktails and bar bites from over the years. The bar bites—$15 each, and available during dinner service through November 21—include lobster croissants, venison tartare, bluefin crudo, and more. 272 Boylston St., Back Bay, Boston, 617-279-8000, bistrodumidi.com.
• Also celebrating an anniversary this month? North End mainstay Neptune Oyster. For the restaurant’s 20^th anniversary, current chef Joaquin Sepulveda has collaborated with original chef David Nevins to bring back a dish of Georges Bank scallops with chestnut bread pudding, fontina crema, and caraway butter. (The dish was featured on a cover here at Boston magazine in the early aughts.) Proceeds from the dish during the month of November will benefit the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Pan-Mass Challenge, says owner Jeff Nace. 63 Salem St., North End, Boston, 617-742-3474, neptuneoyster.com.

November 19, 2024

• Café Gloria—a neighborhood coffee shop from talented local bartender Will Isaza—isn’t quite ready to open in East Boston yet, but you can get a preview, albeit a boozy one, at a pop-up at Leather District bar Offsuit. Presented by liquor brand Drambuie, the event will feature coffee-and-Drambuie cocktails and light bites. Tickets required; grab one here for $50 (which includes two drinks and snacks). 5 Utica St., Downtown Boston, offsuitboston.com; cafegloriaeastie.com.
• Chef, writer, and artist Tunde Wey, a Loeb Fellow at Harvard, will run a public test screeningof his new docuseries, Hard to Swallow—“a food show not about food”—at the university. (The event is free, but register here.) Stay for a panel discussion with other Loeb Fellows and a Q&A with the filmmakers and a subject from the series. Attendees will receive a jar of spices featured in the show, while supplies last. Gund Hall Piper Auditorium, Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, 42 Quincy St., Harvard Square, Cambridge, gsd.harvard.edu; fromlagos.com.

November 20, 2024

• Buttermilk & Bourbon is hosting a New Orleans-inspired seafood boil at its Watertown location, featuring Maker’s Mark pairings (and swag). The three-course dinner includes Old Bay and cheddar biscuits, the seafood boil, and fried sweet potato pie. Tickets are $75, which includes the drinks. 100 Arsenal Yard Blvd., Watertown, 857-760-7128, buttermilkbourbon.com.

November 23-24, 2024

• Newbery Street Coffee Roasters, a Boston-based Thai business, is popping up at Brookline’s Thai-inspired bar Merai on November 23-24 and several subsequent weekends with various coffee and tea options. For food, this weekend features tiramisu cake, a chicken sandwich, and a secret menu from Merai, while December dates feature bolo bao from Rubato in Quincy. 14 Harvard St., Brookline Village.

Plan Ahead

These events are further into the future, but you might want make your plans now; visit the links for more details and tickets/reservations.

• November 25: Kaia opens on November 22 (see above) and is wasting no time getting into events, hosting globe-trotting French bartender Nico de Soto (of Wacky Wombat in London and more) for a guest shift.
• November 26: Best of Boston Malaysian pop-up Sekali has been quiet for a few months, but it’s back for a collaboration with Lê Madeline in Quincy, a Malaysian- and Vietnamese-inspired Thanksgiving dinner.
• December 2: The Boston Comic Arts Foundation brings a discussion on the art of culinary cartooning to Aeronaut Brewery ($5 suggested donation; register here), featuring artists Sarah Becan and Jarrett Melendez, moderated by Milk Street chef Rayna Jhaveri.
• December 3: Acclaimed baker and cookbook author Christina Tosi, owner of Milk Bar, will discuss her new cookbook, Bake Club, at the Brattle Theatre, in conversation with Boston restaurateur Ken Oringer.
• December 4 and 14: Tickets are now on sale for Cirque du Soufflé’s next five-course dessert tastings in Melrose.
• December 5: Celebrate Spanish vermut culture with pours and tapas from wine-loving pop-up First Crush at East Cambridge’s First Street Market.