Kitchen Arts
Looking for just the right-size saute pan or properly weighted knife? This family-run shop has all the best accouterments for the kitchen and is notable for its knowledgeable sales staff and selection of gadgets. If you don't see it there, they'll find it and order it for you. What more could you want? 161 Newbury St., Boston, MA .
ArtsEmerson
With its three venues—the Cutler Majestic, the Paramount Mainstage, and the Jackie Liebergott Black Box—ArtsEmerson certainly dominates the Theater District, but its artistic reach goes far beyond the city. This year, executive director Rob Orchard landed the following: Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House, reimagined by Brooklyn company Mabou Mines; a musical about the Shakers called Angel Reapers, co-conceived by Pulitzer Prize and MacArthur grant winners; and The Speaker's Progress, which used Shakespeare's Twelfth Night as the basis for a satire about the Arab Spring. The organization's biggest coup, though, was convincing Cambridge's reclusive John Malkovich to star as a serial killer in The Infernal Comedy. artsemerson.org.
<em>Quartet</em>, ART
Some playgoers escaped art Robert Wilson's Quartet (ART), his sopoforic rendering of Les Liaisons Dangereuses, by nodding off into dreamland; others escaped through the side exits.
Old Cambridge Company
Museum-quality framing (they actually work for local museums), but expensive. 45 First St., Cambridge, MA .
Commonweatlh Shakespeare Company
Even before Leonardo DiCaprio's Romeo and Gwyneth Paltrow's Shakespeare in Love, the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company's free outdoor performances showed Boston just how sexy the Bard can be. Under the brilliant direction of Steven Maler, the young, enthusiastic, multicultural cast of players brings Shakespeare to the Boston Common, using the recently renovated neoclassical Parkmand Bandstand—and all the world—as a stage.
The Wang Center's Young at Arts program
Its stated mission is to "inspire the imagination of children," but it makes adults wish they were back in school. Backstage workshops, art and essay contests, and exhibitions for Massachusetts students, plus workshops for teachers. Our state needs it.
<em>Art New England</em>
A good little publication has the field to itself.
Wally's Café
Nowhere else in this town are you more apt to find pink Izods and gangsta colors in such proximity. This joint, nestled between the gentrified South End and Roxbury and opened in 1947 by Joseph "Wally" Walcott, is a classic treasure. And nowhere else in New England will you find finer jazz in a venue with more soul. Bands gather in the corner of the bar each night—from national acts to aspiring stars still studying at Berklee. The music is played loud enough that you can hear every seductive note, but not too loud for conversation. Don't like jazz? Check out an Afro-Cuban band. If you don't find yourself tapping your foot, it's time to check your pulse. 427 Massachusetts Ave., Boston, MA wallycafe.com.
The Weston-Concord-Carlisle Loop
This ride has everything: shade, scenery, and history. It even has—for the most part—good pavement. Start at Weston Center. Take Conant Road into Lincoln, turn right on Silver Street and left on Weston Road to the traffic circle. Continue straight on Sandy Pond Road past the DeCordova Museum. Turn left on Baker Bridge and right on Route 126, which takes you past Walden Pond, across Route 2, and into Concord Center. Head north on Monument Street past the Concord Battleground and the Old North Bridge. Keep going until you hit Route 225 (Bedford Street). Turn left and ride into Carlisle Center, where the hungry can stop at Daisy's for sports drinks and homemade muffins. Head back toward Concord on Concord Street, which turns into Lowell Road and leads to the Concord Green. Retrace steps back to Weston. It's 30 miles, 14 if you drive to Concord.
John F. Kennedy Library and Museum
A marvelous collection, including both Robert Kennedy's and Ernest Hemingway's papers. Columbia Point, Dorchester, MA .
Piano Craft Guild (Piano Factory)
Good exhibition space, decent studios, lively inhabitants. 791 Tremont St., Boston, MA .
Harcus/Krakow
Can stand up to any New York City gallery in terms of ability to get artists and specific works. 7 Newbury St., Boston, MA .
Paul Gauguin's <em>D'ouvenons-nous-Que sommesnous-Ou allons-nous?</em>
From the French postimpressionist's Tahitian days, this MFA painting asks Important Questions (Where do we come from? What are we? Where are we going?) in an exotic, colorful, and haunting context.
The scultpures on MIT's campus
Including Henry Moore's 1976 Three-Piece Reclining Figure, Draped; Alexander Calder's 1965 Big Sail; Louise Nevelson's 1975 Transparent Horizon; and Pablo Picasso's 1963 Figure Decoupee. Take a walk.
Douzo
Where to go when you're craving fantastic raw creations on a burned-out budget: Douzo, near Back Bay Station, which serves up little sushi treasures that are every bit as pristine (if a tad less transcendent) as those at the city's big-price bars. The loungey space is hopping on weekends, but don't let that distract from the kitchen's deft flavor-texture balancing act, as displayed in the torched toro maki wrapped with asparagus and paper-thin raw jalapeño. 131 Dartmouth St., Boston, MA 2116, douzosushi.com.