Luxcouture
The era of the mass-hyped, massively obvious It-bag is over (Arrivederci, Fendi baguette! Au revoir, Vuitton bowling bag!), clearing the way for the kinds of expertly crafted, anti-status designs that are Sari Brown's stock in trade. Having built a global clientele with her LuxCouture website, she opened a shop in Newton Highlands last year so that local fans could skip the shipping and go straight to shelves loaded with uncommon Sang A clutches, JT Italia baguettes, and Elena Ghisellini totes. Unlike at competitors Gretta Luxe and Luna Boston, the labels here trend unique, not ubiquitous, and the service is far more personalized than at the department stores. Balenciaga? Bah! 21 Lincoln Road, Newton Highlands, MA 2461, .
Rialto
Chef Jody Adams is clearly a romantic: Her menu is loaded with graceful, elegant dishes that can make even the most stoic diner swoon. Her refined palate is tempered with whimsy, and all ingredients are procured locally. Favorite dishes: Grilled lamb chops in pomegranate molasses; lobster fricasse with fresh corn; coconut and passion fruit Napoleon with caramel rum sauce. In addition to the New American food, the restaurant also has very professional service, a sexy backlit bar area with cushy booths, tango dancing lessons every Thursday night, and nearby rooms in the Charles Hotel in which to discreetly retire. 1 Bennett Street, Cambridge, MA rialto-restaurant.com.
Twentieth Century Limited
What becomes immediately clear upon entering the small shop are the hours needed to fully appreciate it. Cases chock-full of vintage jewelry line the perimeter of the room and reach almost to the ceiling. And there's even more than meets the eye; ask to see cuff links, for example, and numerous trays appear from the bottoms of cases that weren't initially visible. Ask to see more (if you dare) and bags and bags, filled to the brim, materialize. It's as if all of Beacon Hill's grand dames came here to empty their jewelry boxes. 73 Charles St., Boston, MA 02114, boston-vintagejewelry.com.
My Boston Maids
If you need a cleaning service, odds are you don't have the time (or desire) to wrestle with a multi-step quote process. My Boston Maids' user-friendly homepage asks only three questions—number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, and desired appointment frequency—and immediately spits out a flat-rate charge. Select a time, then wait for a crew to carry out its 50-step cleaning protocol. Gleaming countertops and fuzz-free carpets beckon. mybostonmaids.com.
MWI Fiber-Shield
In this day of open-plan living, and with pets and children in all areas of the house, stains happen. Thankfully, when your carpet takes a hit or the sofa gets spotted with red wine, the folks at MWI Fiber-Shield are there to help. It’s miraculous, really: With Michelle and Wayne Southworth at the helm, technicians clean furnishings using ecofriendly products that remove or rinse out even the most daunting stains and spills to reveal clean rugs, draperies, window treatments, and fabric and leather upholstery without changing the item’s texture or appearance. 516 E 2nd St., Ste. 3, Boston , MA 02127, mwifibershield.com.
Brown and Coconut
No unnecessary (or unpronounceable) ingredients here: Created by Medford-based sisters Letisha Izuchi and Zeena Brown, Brown and Coconut’s much- loved line of plant-based beauty products (think: cleansers, toners, body butters, and more) focuses on delivering results through gentle, non-irritating elements such as aloe vera and juniper berry oil. Take, for instance, the duo’s clarifying kale mask: Packed with French green clay, lemon verbena, and honeysuckle, it promises to fight blemishes in the healthiest way possible. brownandcoconut.com.
Tremendous Maid
Few things are more intimate than hiring someone to clean your home. Tremendous Maid, thankfully, is all business: Fill out an Internet request form with your square footage and home layout, and you'll quickly hear back about scheduling options. The actual cleaning was both impressive and a bit guilt-inducing, as the team scrubbed items we willfully ignore: baseboards, toaster oven, mini blinds. By the time they were done, our house was as pristine as the day it was built. 270 Centre St., Jamaica Plain, MA tremendousmaid.com.
Ecoluxe
Name the stain (ketchup, dirt, car oil—we tried it all); Ecoluxe can get it out. Quickly, flawlessly, without hurting a fiber of the fabric, and without using medically and environmentally harmful cleaning products. With convenient home delivery and pickup service, plus tailoring and alterations, Ecoluxe is not only the next wave in clothing care; it's the ultimate in clean living. One Harvard St., Brookline, MA .
Ecoluxe
At long last, a dry cleaner that cares about you and your clothes. Ecoluxe has banished the chemicals commonly found in garden-variety dry cleaning (linked with a handful of harmful effects), as well as a pile of other dirty laundry: nonchalant service, for example, and depressing surroundings. Owner Shelly Mars has instead created attractive, environmentally friendly storefronts with remarkable personal service and excellent cleaning and pressing. For those too harried to make the trek to Brookline, Mars offers delivery to Newton, Wellesley, Milton, Cambridge, and parts of Boston. 1018 Beacon St., Brookline, MA .
Kelly's Underground Dog Grooming
Between the cooing and the teeny-tiny hair bows, dog grooming is a silly affair. At least to the dogs, who honestly don't care about being clean, and would much rather spend their time making new friends. At Kelly's, everyone wins: The pups are washed and trimmed and, unlike at many groomers', permitted to run around and socialize if they have the proper manners. Which means they come home clean, happy, and, most important, totally tuckered out. 248B W. Newton St., Boston, MA 2116, .
If we could dream up a 2020 all-star squad of heroes, champions, and advocates, it would look a lot like this: Community organizer Gladys Vega (1) of the Chelsea Collaborative, who has spent the past two decades fighting for social justice but swiveled her focus to feeding 11,000 residents each week as the coronavirus ravaged her city. Public health advocate and Harvard professor of epidemiology Marc Lipsitch (2) would also make the team, in no small part due to his consistent and clear message, whether speaking to us in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, or the Boston Globe: Never underestimate COVID-19. Our best city politician is Julia Mejia (3), the first immigrant and Latina on the Boston City Council, who fought back against racist harassment after taking office in early 2020. She has also worked to improve bilingual communications in Boston and even made a series of TikTok videos with her daughter to liven up the mood at City Hall during the early days of the pandemic. Ibram X. Kendi (4), meanwhile, is the man of the hour and our hope for humanity. A bestselling author, the 2019 Guggenheim Fellow recently became a history professor and the founding director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, where he’ll lead many of the country’s brightest minds to solve problems of racial inequity. His books, including How to Be an Antiracist, are already required reading among those in the know around town. As for the best social justice advocate in Boston? That’s Monica Cannon-Grant (5), a Roxbury mother of six adopted children who rallied tens of thousands of residents to Franklin Park to peacefully protest police brutality. She also runs a victim-assistance program and free-meal delivery service through her organizations Violence in Boston and Food for the Soul. And though he’s best known for his moves on the court, Celtics star Jaylen Brown (6) is our clear choice for celebrity ambassador—he’s peacefully protested, regularly speaks about race in America, and was honored at the State House this year for his charity work with children. We’re proud to have him on our home team.
Boston Book Festival
Who said the Internet would bring the death of print? Clearly no one at the 2014 Boston Book Festival, where traditional media and information-age innovation collided. While crowds converged on Copley Square to attend panels and keynotes with such international luminaries as Herbie Hancock, Doris Kearns Goodwin, and Norman Foster, last year also saw the unveiling of the "Books Come Alive" series, which connected readers and writers through streaming chats. Authors signed hard copies of their works, while the "One City One Story" selection, Jennifer Haigh's "Sublimation," was distributed as a free download through the BBF website. There's no longer any need to oppose the Kindle. We can all live together. Happily. bostonbookfest.org.
The People Who Gave Us Hope
If we could dream up a 2020 all-star squad of heroes, champions, and advocates, it would look a lot like this: Community organizer Gladys Vega (1) of the Chelsea Collaborative, who has spent the past two decades fighting for social justice but swiveled her focus to feeding 11,000 residents each week as the coronavirus ravaged her city. Public health advocate and Harvard professor of epidemiology Marc Lipsitch (2) would also make the team, in no small part due to his consistent and clear message, whether speaking to us in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, or the Boston Globe: Never underestimate COVID-19. Our best city politician is Julia Mejia (3), the first immigrant and Latina on the Boston City Council, who fought back against racist harassment after taking office in early 2020. She has also worked to improve bilingual communications in Boston and even made a series of TikTok videos with her daughter to liven up the mood at City Hall during the early days of the pandemic. Ibram X. Kendi (4), meanwhile, is the man of the hour and our hope for humanity. A bestselling author, the 2019 Guggenheim Fellow recently became a history professor and the founding director of the Boston University Center for Antiracist Research, where he’ll lead many of the country’s brightest minds to solve problems of racial inequity. His books, including How to Be an Antiracist, are already required reading among those in the know around town. As for the best social justice advocate in Boston? That’s Monica Cannon-Grant (5), a Roxbury mother of six children who rallied tens of thousands of residents to Franklin Park to peacefully protest police brutality. She also runs a victim-assistance program that supports men, women, and children of color through her organization Violence in Boston. And though he’s best known for his moves on the court, Celtics star Jaylen Brown (6) is our clear choice for celebrity ambassador—he’s peacefully protested, regularly speaks about race in America, and was honored at the State House this year for his charity work with children. We’re proud to have him on our home team.
The Maids
Amid a flurry of cleaning services catering to on-the-go urbanites, the Jamaica Plain outpost of this national operation shows an unbeatable blend of polish and professionalism. After setting the appointment and sending an e-mail confirmation, your cleaning team will arrive armed with grime-busting equipment and a dozen sprays, as well as a rigorous 22-step plan for restoring your home's sparkle. The Maids will even pick up and drop off your keys at work—another excellent reason to fork over the $159 fee, which is lowered if you book monthly follow-ups. 179 Boylston St., Jamaica Plain, MA 2130, .
MaidPro
When your abode has become inhabitable, call on this Boston-based cleaning service for quick, friendly, and professional help. Founded in a small Beacon Hill storefront 10 years ago, MaidPro now keeps houses spick-and-span here and in 10 other states. With its 49-point checklist (are the baseboards clean? Lamp shades dusted?) there will be no surface left uncleaned. of all, MaidPro's team is well versed in the art of straightening, rather than putting away, so that all of your belongings will be exactly where you expect to find them—only neater. 180 Canal St., Boston, MA maidpro.com.