Dogspa
Care to try some terrier-misu? Or perhaps the matching pet-owner jewelry is more up your alley. Regardless, the two-legged and four-legged alike are barking up a storm about DogSpa, Beverly's grooming, retail, and nutritional haven. For the languorous pooch, there's an aromatherapeutic quiet room; for the vivacious pup, "Smelly Dog" deodorizations; for all of man's best friends, a chrome state-of-the-art grooming zone with anti-fatigue padded mats, HydroSurge spa baths, and expert stylists. All dogs may go to heaven, but really, what can heaven have on DogSpa? 45 Enon St., Unit 5, Beverly, MA beverlydogspa.com.
Frette
With a lot of things having gone "poof" lately, it's good to have something tangible to hold on to—and even better if that something comes in high-thread-count Egyptian cotton, baby-soft cashmere, or even lamb nappa. Admittedly, the four-figure price tag on a sheet set from Milan-based Frette, that luxest-of-the-luxe bedding specialist that arrived on Boylston Street last year, might make one blanch, but the overall aesthetic of these wares is surprisingly restrained; the quality, downright uncompromising. In a time when most folks just want to go back to bed and pull the covers over their heads, the covers might as well feel this good. 776B Boylston St., Boston, MA 2199, frette.com.
Consignment Galleries
If you've tried to furnish your first apartment or even looked for that much-needed desk or even a lamp, you know what the prices are. And we're not even talking period pieces— just something of a certain age, with that certain feel, at just the right price. We've found a good selection of four-drawer chests between $220 and $450; a mahogany twin-pedestal dining table for $550; a carved oak mirror for $95; and a set of 10 Maddox cups and sauces for $65. If your grandmother did not leave you anything, this is for you. 2044 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA .
Inn at Hastings Park
Lexington will go down in history for two reasons: starting a revolution and being home to this Relais & Châteaux inn. The four-star Forbes Travel Guide property lures travelers with tony accommodations that don’t skimp on luxury (think: in-room fireplaces, marble bathrooms, and handprinted wallpaper). But it’s worth checking in even just for Sunday brunch: Back for the season, the Culinary Garden outdoor space — with wooden farm tables and garden boxes of basil, lemongrass, and other fresh herbs found on the menu — is as idyllic as a night tucked into the Matouk linens. 2027 Massachusetts Ave., Lexington, MA 02421, innathastingspark.com.
The Pop Center
Working from home when you have small children is great — that is, until your four-year-old shows up in the back of a Zoom call covered in fingerpaint from head to toe (only a slightly exaggerated story). With daycare spots limited and nannies harder than ever to find, busy moms and dads have been flocking to this Newton coworking space, where parents and young kids can work and play side by side thanks to wellstaffed playgroups, private nursing stations, and cozy coworking lounges with a call pod and nap rooms (for grownups, too!). 1037 Chestnut St., Newton Upper Falls, MA 02464, thepopcenter.com.
Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary
There are plenty of petting zoos around where you can go to toss a few pellets to the farm animals — but here, it’s more about learning how to care for and coexist with our four-legged friends. Wannabe farmers can wave hello to sheep, goats, pigs, cows — and sometimes their babies — in their pastures, and see how food is sustainably raised at the farm’s Learning Garden. And if your junior farmer is itching for more, go birding on the nature trails and play a game of seasonal wildlife-themed bingo while you’re at it. 208 S Great Rd, Lincoln, MA 1773, massaudubon.org/get-outdoors/wildlife-sanctuaries/drumlin-farm.
Nightstage
<p>The life span of most nightclubs is short, largely because crowd loyalties tend to change about as often as the Republican candidate for governor. Fortunately, however, that fact has always kept the city's impresarios on their toes. Local club owners know that to make it, they've got to make it happen. With clean sight lines and state-of-the-art acoustics. Or an interior that's as sleek as it is comfortable. Or a consistently solid lineup. Or the right kind of crowd.</p> <p>Club managers Sam Marcus, Robert Gregory, and Chloe Sachs have put together all those elements—under the same roof, no less—at Nightstage, an upscale Cambridge music room that opened a day after Hurricane Gloria, and with all the storm's gusto, last September.</p> <p>Six years ago, Sachs, a devoted fan of the Ann Arbor Blues Festival, sensed a blues revival coming and gambled on it. "Our basic love was the blues," says Sachs. "But we were tired of seeing the acts we wanted to see in such grody conditions."</p> <p>According to Sachs, the concept behind Nightstage, located at 823 Main Street, was "to create a comfortable and sophisticated space in which to hear the music we wanted to hear and to attract the kind of crowd we wanted to attract—namely, people in their middle twenties and older." Six years later the reality is exactly that.</p> <p>Although Nightstage—a two-level room coated in muted lavender, taupe, and gray with recessed lighting, wall-to-wall carpeting, and a mahogany bar—is arguably the best-dressed club in the area, its real success has hinged on the breadth of its nightly (except Monday) performance schedule.</p> <p>Since opening, Nightstage has attracted top names in blues (Memphis Slim, Sippie Wallace, Albert King), jazz (Sun Ra, Carla Bley), folk (Leo Kottke), Latin (Tito Puente), pop (Girls' Night Out), and bluegrass (Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys), plus local talents like the Screaming Coyotes.</p> <p>Says Sachs: "The best part of it all has been the diversity of the crowds and the music we've been able to pull in. We feel that culturally we have really given something to the city, and that's been incredibly gratifying."</p>
Alex Stupak, Clio
After several luxurious courses of chef Ken Oringer's French cooking, concluding with dessert might seem excessive. But when the desserts are as delicious as those made by pastry chef Alex Stupak, a little excess is in order. Despite his propensity toward flavored foams, Stupak's timbale of milk-chocolate with raspberry, tarragon, and tamarind ice cream is, in a word, ethereal. So are his Tahitian vanilla bean crème brûlée and lollipops made from sassafras, chicory, and sea salt-spiked chocolate, True and intense (yet not overwhelming) flavors marry with textures that bend the rules of sensibility by being simultaneously crisp and puffy, like the microthin layers of the rich chocolate and hazelnut petits fours. Such finesse is what makes this 23-year-old pastry chef a talent to keep an eye on—and his desserts an indulgence to seek out. The Eliot Hotel, 370 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA cliorestaurant.com.
Courageous Sailing Center
Whoever said you can't get something for nothing didn't know the Courageous Sailing Center. The center teaches mini-mariners to sail for free thanks to finding form the city, adult membership dues, and private donations. Kids start with a half-day "taste" of sailing and progress through four more steps until they are skilled enough to race and teach other youngsters. They'll have a blast tooting around the harbor all summer, but when they sail to the stacks on an all-day outing to the JFK Library, Courageous proves a real parent-pleaser too. Adults can learn to sail for $199, which includes a two-week membership (other learn-to-sail and membership packages are also available) offering use of J-22s and Rhodes 19s, barbecues, sails to Harborlights concerts, and beautiful Harbor island camping trips. 1st and 8th Ave., Charlestown, MA .
Gretta Luxe
According to stereotype, women are supposed to run into the city for a dose of cutting-edge chic. Gretta Luxe has successfully reversed the paradigm: Since it opened four years ago, it's had city fashion aficionados happily schlepping out to Wellesley for designs and investment pieces that are hard to find elsewhere, including Chloé, Barbara Bui, Miu Miu, Habitual, and Strenesse. There are accessories, too, from Marc Jacobs bags to Jimmy Choo shoes. But this is no mere label shrine. The helpful staffers, each blessed with impeccable taste, have well-tuned radar for determining which clothes will flatter a customer (and a merciful flair for avoiding those that don't). If that isn't worth a quick jaunt down Route 9, we don't know what is. 94 Central St., Wellesley, MA grettaluxe.com.
L'Espalier
The maitre d' at L'Espalier is so accustomed to proposals among his customers, he'll happily dispense advice about where to conceal the ring. It's all part of the superb and attentive service at this Back Bay institution, which just so happens to serve equally superb food. Chef Frank McClelland's delectable courses, which start with a dainty amuse bouche, are cosseted with luxury ingredients and inevitably end with tiered trays of precious petits fours—the fabled backdrop to more than a few passion plays. And if all that doesn't whet your appetite for love, consider the surroundings: a dimly lit and tastefully sumptuous townhouse that even includes one chamber known as the Seduction Room. 30 Gloucester St., Boston, MA lespalier.com.
Ken Oringer, Clio
Oringer is fast becoming the Tom Hanks of Best of Boston. Oringer has captured the best-chef nod in three of the past four years—and the year he didn't win, his restaurant, Clio, was named the best in town. It's not that he's such an all-around nice guy (which he really is) that makes Oringer the winningest chef in recent memory. It's that he creates such beautiful food, perfectly balanced in flavor, texture, and proportion. Clio's French menu impresses at every turn with its Asian influences and emphasis on fresh ingredients, from the cassoulet of lobster and sea urchin with yuzu and Japanese pepper to the entrée of roasted Muscovy duck with kumquats and black radish confit. Oringer's new pet project, the sashimi bar Uni inside Clio, shows his versatility and talent. And, as anyone who follows awards presentations knows, those qualities separate the winners from the also-rans. The Eliot Hotel, 370 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA cliorestaurant.com.
Truly Jörg's
Who would expect to find the recherché charm of an exquisite Champs-Elysées café in Chelsea? Anyone who knows Truly Jörg's—the tiny European-style patisserie crammed with utter delicacies—that's who. Co-owner Jörg Amsler has created desserts for Dubya's dad in Kennebunkport and was trained as a pastry chef and chocolatier in Switzerland, and it shows in every crumb. His chocolate croissants are a perfect blend of bittersweet satisfaction. The tantalizing cakes on sale here range from decadent coffee buttercream and mocha genoise torte to deeply tart-sweet raspberry swirl cheesecake. The dainty petit fours, bite-sized treats that melt on your tongue, will have the most discriminately sweet tooth addicted at first bite. 131 Arlington St., Chelsea, MA trulyjorgs.com.
Clio
Big egos like big flavors, want big portions, and prefer big tables. Little wonder, then, that breakfast at Clio has reached utopian status among so many heavy hitters. Haggle over freshly baked pecan bread. Intimidate the enemy over creamy scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, chives, and caviar. Impress your peers with the cool-but-elegant setting and finely tuned service that appears as if on cue. of all: The hotel, known for its personalized service, attracts out-of-towners for whom rolling out of bed and going downstairs for a convenient breakfast meeting is a big, big plus. It's helped to lure away the power crowd from Aujourd'hui at the Four Seasons, at least a few morning a week. Eliot Suite Hotel, 370A Commonwealth Ave., Boston, MA cliorestaurant.com.
Jacob Wirth
We get the irony that our favorite neighborhood restaurant in Chinatown is a 135-year-old German beer hall, beloved by generations as a great place for a sudsy tall one and a grilled bratwurst. Now that Jacob Wirth has pulled itself from the brink with a new chef and menu, its halcyon days may still lie ahead. Chef Phyllis Kaplowitz's menu offers traditional sturdy German fare from schnitzel to spaetzle, but also pasta with shellfish, grilled steak tips, and garlicky P.E.I. mussels that ought to come with straws for all that luscious broth. And with wholesome entertainment such as live jazz and Mel Stiller's Friday piano sing-alongs—in which rowdy graduate students, old-timers, and tourists alike join in on classics from the last four decades—the old place is as lively as ever. 31-37 Stuart St., Boston, MA jacobwirth.com.