Perfect 10 Unisex Salon
One look at Perfect 10’s “hair transformation” videos on Instagram or TikTok, and you’ll understand why this salon is a repeat Best of Boston winner. Stylist and owner Kanessa Alexander is adept at working with all hair types and textures, producing some of the most gorgeous crochet braids, silk presses, and all-over color and highlights around. But the most important thing to Alexander is that her clients have healthy hair — something that’s evident in every style she produces. 1896 Centre St., West Roxbury, MA 02132, perfect10hairsalon.com.
Tile Showcase
The tile in your home is as much of an artistic expression as any painting you hang on your wall — an opportunity to bring in colors, textures, and patterns. Tile Showcase has long been known as a mecca for all of the above, from stunning New Ravenna sea-glass mosaics to retro penny rounds and classic subway tile. Bonus: The showroom, located at the Boston Design Center, always has an extensive inventory of in-stock tile, so you may not have to play the home-renovation waiting game. Boston Design Center, Ste. 204, Boston, MA 02210, tileshowcase.com.
School of Rock
Got a budding rock star on your hands? Sign them up for afternoon classes at this edgy music academy, with locations everywhere from Wakefield to Watertown. Here, wannabe drummers, keyboardists, guitarists, and more jam out alongside professional musicians (many of whom trained at Berklee). And forget traditional recitals: Lessons culminate in a full-throttle rock performance that’s more Boston Calling than Beethoven. Multiple locations, schoolofrock.com.
Trade
If chef Jody Adams and restaurant group A Street Hospitality are Boston culinary royalty, Trade is their palace, a soaring testament to Greek and Mediterranean flavors set inside a contemporary-looking taverna accented with verdant foliage. Don’t miss perfectly attuned classics like the grilled octopus or the rosemary-marinated lamb chops, as well as surprising knockouts such as the bulgur chickpea pilaf or the oxtail pastitsio made with fresh pasta and Manouri cheese. 540 Atlantic Ave., Downtown, MA 02210, trade-boston.com.
True Bistro
There are many places to eat meatless meals in Boston these days, but only one place to enjoy a truly sophisticated, fine-dining experience with an entirely vegan menu. Dishes like the crispy oyster mushrooms in guajillo chili sauce with a horseradish-dill aioli will not only dazzle the vegan and vegan-curious in your crew — they’ll also win over the carnivores. 1153 Broadway, Somerville, MA 02144, truebistroboston.com.
Contessa
The crown jewel atop the Newbury Boston, Contessa upgrades the restaurant experience from swanky to downright royal. The service? Attentive without fawning. The drinks? The Sgroppino — with lemon vodka, lemon sorbet, and prosecco — is like basking in the sun. The food? A court of northern Italian delights, from pillowy ravioli to garlicky, hot-from-the-grill lamb chops. All of this in a dreamy art deco dining room, with views that are like looking out over the city from a throne. 3 Newbury St., Back Bay, MA 02116, contessaristorante.com/boston.
Zendaya
Even in a city accustomed to A-listers, Zendaya’s time in Boston was the buzziest celebrity residency in years. All spring, fans chronicled her Tatte coffee dates with boyfriend Tom Holland, and roamed the Back Bay hoping to snag the season’s most valuable keepsake: a selfie with Spider-Man’s MJ herself. Zendaya clearly has great taste: She was spotted at Eastie’s beloved Angela’s Café not once, but twice.
Huntington Theatre Company
Live theater came back with a bang this year at the Huntington. Case in point: resident playwright Kirsten Greenidge’s fantastic Our Daughters, Like Pillars was followed by Greenidge and Melia Bensussen’s Common Ground Revisited, a powerful reinterpretation of J. Anthony Lukas’s Pulitzer Prize–winning book about the struggles of three Boston families during the busing crisis of the 1970s. The material may be old, but in the hands of Greenidge and Bensussen, it feels newly relevant. 264 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA 02115, huntingtontheatre.org.
Jake Brennan, "Disgraceland"
A Boston musician with a knack for storytelling, Brennan broke the true-crime mold with “Disgraceland,” a podcast that explores the dark side of the music business, from bad blood to bands on the run. Now with Double Elvis, the studio he cofounded in 2019, the rock ’n’ roll troubadour is producing more than a dozen shows, many of them hosted by big names in entertainment. And get ready for a little more conversation: This year he inked a big-time deal with Warner Music Group that will expand his roster even further. doubleelvis.com.
Paul Butler and Kelcey Rusch, Spoke
The hopeful future of Boston dining — a generational shift toward collaboration over competition — can be glimpsed in the effortless teamwork that co-chefs Butler and Rusch bring to the kitchen at Somerville’s stellar Spoke wine bar. Besides pairing perfectly with the boutique vintages behind the bar, their inventive small plates (say, savory sunchoke doughnuts dusted with XO gouda and powdered leek) speak to a unified vision — hyper-seasonal, polished but playful, highly technique-driven — that is, in a word, singular. spokewinebar.com.
Maryelle Makeup & Hair Artistry
Maryelle O’Rourke and her team of artists are pros at making brides "I woke up like this" beautiful, traveling to venues in Boston and beyond to give you and yours perfectly dewy skin and fluttery lashes. For proof, take a look at the company’s roster of celebrity clients, which includes Her Royal Highness Meghan Markle and Westworld’s Shannon Woodward. MA maryelleartistry.com.
Toro
Can any Spanish restaurant topple Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette’s always-buzzing tapas spot in the South End? Answer: not this year. The playlist and meticulously curated by-the-glass sherry list still keep the party going well into the night, nearly every night. But it’s the seafood-packed paella, pressed uni sandwiches with miso butter, and beloved grilled corn that continue to make this a true Boston institution—one that’s been imported to Bangkok and Dubai in recent years. 1704 Washington St., Boston, MA 02118, toro-restaurant.com.
York Athletics
Breaking into the sneaker market in a town like Boston is no easy feat. We’re already home to the global headquarters of New Balance, Converse, and Reebok, not to mention Rockport and Saucony, which have offices in the suburbs. But York Athletics’ founders weren’t daunted. Even in Sneaker Town USA, they saw a gaping hole in the market, and an underserved consumer group of independent thinkers they could claim as their own. Read more yorkathleticsmfg.com.
Joan Jonas
Happy birthday to this multimedia pioneer, who turns 83 this month with plenty to celebrate. After decades of medium-defining work—not to mention a Tate Modern retrospective in London and a Kyoto Prize last year— the MIT arts professor emerita continues to leave her mark on Boston. Between her recent light-and-crystal installation Ice Drawing at the MFA and her Isabella Stewart Gardner exhibit of evocative animal drawings, Jonas just may be having her best run yet.
Mincho Pacheco, Avanti Salon
Mincho Pacheco’s station at Avanti Salon is a revolving door of the city’s most put-together gents, from high-powered banker types to Boston Bruins—but really, everyone who makes an appointment is guaranteed to get the VIP treatment. The stylist’s passion for men’s cuts brought him from his native El Salvador to one of the most in-demand Newbury Street salons, where his precise technique makes a compelling argument for guys to ditch the barber shop once and for all. 20 Newbury St. , Boston, MA 02116, avantisalonboston.com.