Nick Speros, Soma
Speros has run his own restaurant (Gloucester's 197 East Main) and hopped around Boston's top kitchens (Radius and Armani Café) but it wasn't until Soma that he developed a distinctive personal style. Encouraged by fellow Grecian and owner Nik Paras, Speros has embraced his roots, turning out dishes like beet and bean salad with ;skordalia, a Greek garlic sauce, and rare steak salad tossed with yellow wax beans. It's all Greek to us—and it all makes delicious sense. 256 Cabot St., Beverly, MA 1915, somabeverly.com.
Bill Rodgers's
Last December, the Boston Marathoner went to the Globe with a sob story about how evil Bank of Boston was foreclosing on his happy Dover home to settle a bank loan to Rodgers's running-goods store. Lo and behold, four months later, Rodgers announced that the bank had given him a fair price on his home and had signed him to a personal-services contract. Hmmm.
MIT List Visual Arts Center
About every eight weeks, from September to June, the LVAC shows innovative, provocative contemporary work in all media by established and emerging artists, including the likes of Kiki Smith and Louise Borugeois. There are a total of three gallery spaces—more than 4,600 square feet—in this grid-patterned building, designed by MIT alumnus I. M. Pei in 1985. And the atrium, where a giant, colorful Kenneth Nolan painting sprawls across an entire wall, is by far one of Boston's most beautiful sanctuaries. 20 Ames St., Cambridge, MA .
Camden
Boston's answer to the Strokes was spawned at Northeastern when undergrad Jason Bergman joined up with three classmates (Timmy Miles, Jason Sibilia, and Jim Williamson) to form Camden in 2010. This rocking, Stones-influenced quartet has an impressive following at Great Scott, and a few self-pressed vinyl releases to its name. See them now, before they explode: They're in the studio working on a jazzier full-length album, expected to be released by spring 2013.
Tom Frick
The Massachusetts review editor for Art New England, he began reviewing shows for the prestigious Art in America about a year ago. Since then, he has gained a reputation as Boston's brightest reviewer and something of a cut following among artists and museum curators. (Honorable mention to Nancy Stapen, whose reviews in the Herald have raised the profile of the local arts scene.)
Toshi Reagon, ArtsEmerson
When musician and activist Toshi Reagon signed on to work out of Boston for the year, she and everyone else assumed that her masterpiece, a musical adaptation of Octavia Butler’s iconic sci-fi novel Parable of the Sower, would hit the stage in March to wild acclaim. That didn’t happen, of course, but lucky for us all, Reagon is still here, prepping for a rescheduled production this coming October and working on her related Parable Path Boston program, which aims to engage the community around the issues of climate change and social justice. parablepathboston.com.
Red's Best
We’re forever hooked on this superlative supplier of all things local seafood, whose fresh catch from small-boat New England fishermen frequently lands at the city’s best restaurants. Its vendor stall inside downtown’s Boston Public Market (plus BPM’s upcoming Logan Airport emporium) also sells grab-and-go options such as lobster rolls and poke bowls. But even while COVID has kept us from going inside, local delivery and convenient curbside pickup from Red’s HQ on Boston Fish Pier is picking up the slack. 100 Hanover St., Boston, MA 02108, redsbest.com.
Pini Swissa, Pini Swissa Salon
In a sun-drenched studio high above Newbury Street's more fashionable end, Pini Swissa studies your head from every angle, scrupulously analyzing your hair before he makes his first snip. It's that attention to detail that makes Swissa, born and raised in a small Israeli village where he got his start trimming shrubbery, the preferred hairstylist of Boston's first family: Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen. As you sip a cappuccino from a silver plate while Swissa crafts a dapper coiffure straight out of GQ, you, too, will feel like a five-time Super Bowl champion. 18 Newbury St., Boston, MA 02116, .
Belle Maison
You can thank the Tager family's sharp eyes and dead-on sense of balance for many of Boston's most beautiful homes. Principal Sheldon Tager brings to his two New England antique shops in Newton and Nantucket the same originality and knowledge that has made him a nationally acclaimed interior designer. The proof is in the distinctive pieces—from American crafts to French country gems—brought back from regular trips to Europe, antique shows, and auctions. But the true kicker is how the store mixes and presents them: a subtle drama that flat-out nails the art of rustic refinement. 26 Elliot St., Newton, MA bellemaison23.com.
Sunset Grill & Tap
Given all the sterling pubs in Boston, a city that's become a destination for the beer-drinking world, you'd think Sunset would see stiffer competition in this category. Yet there's no arguing with the math: Over 100 beers on tap plus 380 microbrews equals 10 of Boston nods in the past decade. From the Hazed & Infused American pale ale to a host of obscure but lip-smacking Belgians, there's always something new and intriguing on offer. More important: The staff is as astute about beer as sommeliers are about wine, minus the superciliousness. 130 Brighton Avenue, Allston, MA 2134, allstonsfinest.com.
Frank's Steak House
This isn't the place where the suits go to celebrate closing a big deal, or the restaurant everybody talks about down at the club. It is, in fact, something much better: Boston's oldest steakhouse and a Porter Square institution. Locals arrive by 9 Wednesday through Saturday so they can listen to performers such as Preacher Jack on keyboard while digging into a New York sizzler—an unadorned 14-ounce sirloin that arrives at the table sizzling, as advertised, in a cast-iron skillet. The marinated steak tips, prime rib, and seafood are every bit as terrific. Oh, and forget about the wine list: Just order a beer. 2310 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA frankssteakhouse.com.
Savenor's Market
Gourmets and gourmands alike have for generations found solace in this small family-run specialty foods shop; the high culinary priestess herself, Julia Child, called founder Jack Savenor her butcher for decades. No wonder. The friendly, knowledgeable staff will guide anyone through the international selections, doling out advice on how to serve foie gras or properly prepare lion meat. The cases stocked with imported cheeses, a commendable produce section, and bread from Iggy's all earn this neighborhood market an enduring place in Boston's epicurean pantheon. 160 Charles St., Boston, MA savenorsmarket.com.
Julie Michaud, Michaud Cosmetics
A good eyebrow artist can change your face, but a great one can change your world. Part therapist, part girlfriend, and all parts godsend, Julie Michaud is Boston's arch angel. Her minimum-pain tweezing sessions—peppered with good gossip, health factoids, and beauty tips—result in perfect but natural brows fit to flatter every face. And while Michaud's talent has turned her scheduling book into a fortress (be smart and book months in advance), it's also turned the business into a dynasty; if Julie's booked, don't hesitate to make a reservation with any of her equally adept colleagues. 297 Newbury St., Suite 21, Boston, MA .
Schumacher Landscaping
Schumacher has been the grad Poo-Bah of flora for the past 31 years, and is largely responsible for bringing a healthy dose of green to Boston's asphalt avenues. Its creative ingenuity can be appreciated throughout the city at the Fraser Courtyard in the Museum of Fine Arts, the Snell Library Plaza at Northeastern University, and Post Office Square Par. But don't be intimidated if your yard is more like a foot. These doctors of the green thumb are equally adept at smaller residential projects— say, planting pansies around the porch, installing sod over that crabgrass, or mowing your lawn when you just don't feel like it. 17 Electric Ave., Brighton, MA .
Stella
Three years after its feverishly hyped opening, the South End's Stella draws a dinner crowd that's more Newton-Wellesley than bright-young-thing. After those diners have retreated is when the insider action at this stylish modern Italian restaurant gets under way. Until 1:30 a.m., Boston's movers and shakers perch on the tall bar chairs and inhale mushroom and white truffle oil thin-crust pizza and fantastic (and only available late-night) burgers—welcome tidbits for those who would otherwise be scarfing greasy New York-style slices on their stumbles home. 1525 Washington St., Boston, MA 2118, bostonstella.com.