Pomodoro
On any given night you can find crowds gathered on the sidewalk outside this cramped, noisy, hole-in-the-wall North Ender, jostling for the chance to dive into some of the freshest homestyle Italian cooking in Boston. Pomodoro is not fancy; it's cash only, and offers only two wine choices, house red and white. But it is damn good. Our advice: While you wait for a table, nibble from a plate of crisp, lightly fried calamari with tomato sauce, and save room for pastas, seafood, and veal dishes that sing with simple bold flavors. Ever-present properietor Siobhan Carew makes this place a gem. 319 Hanover Street, Boston, MA .
Larry O'Connor, Black Magic
O'Connor's men (he's got two crews) dress in the traditional top hats (tails optional in summer) to do your chimney. And now's the time to get an appointment: fully three quarters of the company's business is done between September and December—and we're talking about thousands of chimneys. O'Connor started in Stowe, Vermont, in 1973, and moved here five years later. He's good, and very neat, too. "We make sure we keep our customer's homes clean by taking along an industrial vacuum cleaner to every job." Ah, progress. Cambridge, MA
Mamaleh's
We'd love to tell you how tasty the hot house-smoked pastrami and creamy blintzes are at Mamaleh's, but oy vey, we're stuffed like a kishka and can barely finish writing this. For years the area has been short on real-deal Jewish delicatessens, and now we finally have one that satisfies all of our cravings, right down to the cherry phosphates and crisp, golden latkes just like Mom used to make. Bring the experience home with you via the takeout counter, generously stocked with all manner of smoked fish and cold cuts. One Kendall Sq., Cambridge, MA 02139, mamalehs.com.
Loehmann's
Its hit-or-miss tendencies require a true shopper's mentality, but savings can be as much as 60 percent. Rte. 9, Natick, MA .
Cambridge School of Weston
It holds its own Punk Day. MA
Leon & Co.
Some women regard the perfect haircut as the answer to every ill. It melts away pounds, increases IQ, and does your taxes. In reality, it does something almost as tough: It makes you—the real you—simply look your absolute best. Enter Leon de Magistris, salon sculptor-cum-scientist, and his team of experts. Their cuts are exercises in beauty and precision, flattering and natural while also classic and modern—and unlike so many Stepford Wives-type styles, carefully varied to flatter the face. 84 Leonard St., Belmont, MA leonandco.com.
Jessica Thornton, the Green Room
Okay, so you caved and bought boxed hair dye from the drugstore before you got the vax, and it didn’t go well. There’s no shame at Thornton’s exclusive one-chair salon — just unparalleled color correction and plenty of good vibes. Let her wave her magic wand (er, comb) and create exactly the look you’ve been dreaming of since quarantine ended — whether that’s a head full of rich, gorgeous highlights or just all-over color that makes you feel like you again. 40 River St., Boston, MA 02108, greenroomboston.com.
Crane & Co. Paper Makers
Most people don't give stationery a second thought. Then they get engaged and suddenly need an expert opinion on a forest's worth of papers—invitations, save-the-date cards, programs, thank-you notes. Dalton-based Crane, manufacturer of the most classic and elegant wedding stationery collections on the finest-quality paper, makes sense of it all. For tastes that veer toward the modern, there's a newer line of invites that don't follow the classic models. An experienced staff helps you find exactly the right paper and style to fit your budget, and even occasionally eschews tradition by letting you in on a little secret: You don't need that expensive second envelope nowadays. (Our saleswoman whispered that it was used to keep the invitation clean back when mail was carried on horseback.) Prudential Center, Boston, MA crane.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.
Twinkle Star
Hey, we have no quibbles with Winnie the Pooh's red belly shirt or Corduroy's hobo-chic overalls. Our storybook buds have long proven they can work the one-piece look. Kids need more head-to-toe options, though. To outfit your own little character, look to Twinkle Star. Recently relocated to Porter Square from Somerville, this boutique covering infants to age seven now features a broader mix of big names (Le Top, Zutano) and love-at-first-sight labels (Beary Basics, Revo Baby) than the hipster-kid boutiques you'll find in the Back Bay. Twinkle Star's prices are friendlier, too. Owners (and parents of three) Kerri and Lucas Friedlaender have an eye for eco-friendly wares, like Kicky Pants' silky bamboo separates, and modern colors. Cambridge, MA 2140,
Bella Sante
We've tried it at home. We've done the booth. We've stood stark naked before strangers and had every inch of our bodies airbrushed, only to emerge St. Barts brown on one side, Back Bay white on the other. But we never got the elusive all-over glow until we went to Bella Santé, where an almost painfully thorough full-body exfoliation precedes careful application of Phytomer's clear (!) bronzer. It won't streak when you sweat or rub off on your clothes, which means that even after a sticky, slow ride to the beach, we pulled up looking as if we had been there all summer long. 38 Newbury St., Boston, MA 2116, bellasante.com.
The Minuteman Bikeway
Last year, this award went to the Esplanade. What changed? Our tolerance for bladers. (Will they please stop kicking out so wide?) And while the Minuteman Bikeway is hardly devoid of in-line skaters, at 12 feet wide it can easily handle the traffic. Starting from the Alewife T station in Cambridge, it's a straight shot of paved and shaded paths six miles to Lexington and 11 to Bedford, along roughly the same path Paul Revere followed on his midnight ride. The bonus? At the very end, if you're really feeling ambitious, you can spin off onto some hilly roads and wend your way over to Walden Pond for a dip. It's a ride through history with a refreshing finish—something the Esplanade can't offer. After all, are you really going to jump into the Charles? MA
India Palace
With its great taquerias, Irish pubs, and Korean restaurants, this thriving Somerville neighborhood offers plenty of restaurants to try. Our vote this year goes to India Palace. Sure, the friendly service and simple décor make dining here a pleasant experience, but it's the delicious, inexpensive, and exotic food that brings us back. Tandoori specialties like chicken marinated in spiced yogurt, vegetarian dishes such as chana masala (slow-cooked chickpeas in a rich tomato-based sauce with coriander and sweet onions), and a creamy mix of onions, nuts, and herbs called rogan josh make it hard to decide which dish to try. So go ahead and try them all. The prices are that low, and with plenty of experience from their busy takeaway business, the servers will be more than happy to pack up your leftovers for you. 23 Union Square, Somerville, MA indiapalacesomerville.info.
Merrimack Valley Textile Museum and Museum of Our National Heritage
Two sleepers. 800 Massachusetts Ave., North Andover and 33 Marrett Rd., Lexington, MA .
Hubert Jessup's decision to hire Rory O'Connor as director of the Neighborhood News Network and its half-hour nightly telecast for Boston cable-TV subscribers.