Clio
After four years of flirting with bestowing this award on Clio, we're finally at the swooning point. What makes Clio the best? To begin with, there's chef Ken Oringer's cuisine, marked by provocative flavors and Franco-Asian techniques. Then there's the smart-yet-casual little dining room, the topnotch service, and general manager Christian Touche's French sensibilities that keep the place humming with symphonic cadence. The menu may raise eyebrows with offering such as scallop ceviche with watermelon and a petite "rack of rabbit," but the results are a refreshing culinary free-fall well worth a leap of faith. The tasting menu is the ultimate lesson in creativity, balance, and timing, offering anywhere from 12 to 15 ounces of bite-sized creations in a progression of tastes and textures that run the gamut (hot to cold, raw to cooked, fish to fowl) without once running astray. Eliot Suite Hotel, 370A Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA cliorestaurant.com.
Chez Henri
"French with a Cuban twist" is how chef/owner Paul O'Connell describes his Cambridge eatery. We say twist away, especially if that means more Cuban sandwiches (pork three ways, cornichon cheese and vegetables grilled into a melty, crunchy, stick-to-your-ribs meal), conch fritters, and chorizo sausage with scallion mashed potatoes. Chez Henri's small, narrow bar fills quickly with local neighborhood intelligentsia, who'd rather play a pick-up game of backgammon than watch "Must See TV." On any given night, a regular cast of characters informally gathers to socialize or quietly enjoy a periodista—just one of the notorious Chez Henry speciality drinks. For all the casual camaraderie in the bar, the dining room beckons with floor-to-ceiling windows that remind diners of Paris. It's in here that the menu gets more serious, with thoughtful nods to the French classics ad tasty inventive offerings like duck tamales. Note: You simply can't beat the steak frites anywhere in town. 1 Shepard Street, Cambridge, MA chezhenri.com.
Who Needs the Gym, Anyway?
Who’s keeping Bostonians healthy and fit even as we spend our days baking, watching Netflix, and doing endless craft projects? These four local wellness gurus, that’s who. Pilates instructor Kara Duval was among the first to jump on the Instagram Live bandwagon, and continues to attract more than 200 users to her signature class, the Foundation, every time she logs on. Jessie Burdick, meanwhile, has kept her Zoom (and socially distant outdoor) groups small and her ethos simple: strength training for everyone. Her lighthearted and down-to-earth attitude makes digital classes fun and enjoyable, even as you bust out burpees and what feels like a million straight-leg sit-ups. When finding Zen in a house filled with family members, roommates, or pets is virtually impossible, Billy Gamble’s on-demand yoga classes, offered on his YouTube channel, invite participants to destress with Vinyasa flows and juicy side body bends. And for those a little too self-conscious to try one of Heather White’s heart-pumping dance-cardio classes at TrillFit, the move to Zoom sessions might just be a blessing: Lead instructors keep you moving and shaking every inch of your body until the music stops and you collapse onto your mat.
Who’s keeping Bostonians healthy and fit even as we spend our days baking, watching Netflix, and doing endless craft projects? These four local wellness gurus, that’s who. Pilates instructor Kara Duval was among the first to jump on the Instagram Live bandwagon, and continues to attract more than 200 users to her signature class, the Foundation, every time she logs on. Jessie Burdick, meanwhile, has kept her Zoom (and socially distant outdoor) groups small and her ethos simple: strength training for everyone. Her lighthearted and down-to-earth attitude makes digital classes fun and enjoyable, even as you bust out burpees and what feels like a million straight-leg sit-ups. When finding Zen in a house filled with family members, roommates, or pets is virtually impossible, Billy Gamble’s on-demand yoga classes, offered on his YouTube channel, invite participants to destress with Vinyasa flows and juicy side body bends. And for those a little too self-conscious to try one of Heather White’s heart-pumping dance-cardio classes at TrillFit, the move to Zoom sessions might just be a blessing: Lead instructors keep you moving and shaking every inch of your body until the music stops and you collapse onto your mat.
Michael Schlow, Radius
In the four years since Michael Schlow moved to Boston, he has become not just a major figure on the local culinary scene, but on the national ones as well. So when he left Cafe Louis to plan his own place, foodies eagerly awaited his next move. The impeccably designed Radius more than survived the attendant hype to become the restaurant sensation of the year. Offering a distinctive counterpoint to Boston's culinary old guard, Schlow's strength is his understanding of flavors and texture. To that end, he finds the finest ingredients and uses his mastery of technique to treat them with the utmost respect. His pork confit is memorable, meltingly soft and sweet, made in a classic confit technique of cooking the meat in its own fat, which, paradoxically, heightens the flavors without making the confit fatty. As for his striped bass, Corby Kummer wrote that "the impeccable conception, execution, and presentation would be hard to find in any arrondissement [in Paris.]" With food like that, he added, "I'll fight for a table wherever [he's] cooking." 8 High St., Boston, MA .
Canadian mega-developer Olympia & York is said to have sold half of the 40-floor 53 State Street tower to a Japanese securities firm for <em>two and a half</em> times its original price tag in 1983.
If the reports are true, the flip of the year brought in a cool $250 million.
The Boston Conservatory Dance Theater's performance of septuagenarian Murray Louis's "Four Brubeck Pieces" showcased eight high-octane dancers careening—collaboratively and individually—through a mélange of moods with uncanny finesse.
Romping gave way to meditation gave way to irony gave way to exuberance at the breaking point.