G Spa
Is there anything worse than suffering through another boring bridal or baby shower? Spare yourself by throwing a spa party instead. G Spa's private lounge is perfect for showers, birthday parties, and girl-power get-togethers. The white couches make a stylish setting for muscle-soothing massages and skin-brightening facials. Bring in a party of six or more for two treatments apiece, and you'll get exclusive use of the lounge and the swift work of the well-trained staff. Because if you have to shower your friends with gifts, you might as well get something for yourself, too. 35 Newbury St., Boston, MA gspa.com.
Backworks
You can go to a luxurious, candlelit spa where they'll charge you a C-note to slather lavender ointment on your aching back, or you can go somewhere where licensed therapists will actually help get to the source of the problem. Enter Backworks, where serious muscle healing, soft-tissue tretament, and stress reduction are the foundation for easing a bona fide injury or soothing the aches that result from simple daily stress. After just one intense hour of deep-tissue massage, we left in a physical state we haven't known since childhood: utterly care-, stress-, and knot-free. 34 Batterymarch St., Boston, MA backworksinc.com.
KingFish Hall
We know it's in, yikes, Faneuil Hall Marketplace. And we know it's owned by, yawn, Todd English. Still, KingFish Hall blows all the other seafood joints in town right out of the water. The décor is kitschy but cool: overstuffed booths in the shape of monster scallop shells, shimmery fish mobiles hanging from the ceiling, and plenty of brightly colored sea glass adorning the walls and stairwell. The open kitchen—featuring a huge lobster cauldron—churns out delicious seafood dishes that boast a hint of Asian influence. Don't miss the Thai-spiced grilled squid or miso Chilean sea bass. South Market Building, Faneuil Hall Marketplace, Boston, MA .
The West Side Lounge
Walk through the door of this swank eatery, and you can't help but feel 10 times cooler than you really are. Subtle lighting, high-backed leather booths, and R&B playing just above the gentle hum of conversation—they call it ambiance, and the West Side Lounge has it in spades. The food is equally hip. Inspired by the Kentucky roots of chef Alex Jenkins, the menu offers such comfort dishes as bourbon-marinated pork chops and homemade peanut butter ice cream. Even the martinis, complete with blue cheese-stuffed olives, have a style all their own. 1680 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA westsidelounge.com.
Urban Hearth
The “slow food” movement is a mindset that Erin Miller understands better than anyone. Yes, the classically trained Cambridge chef sources the ingredients for her exquisite yet homey New American cuisine from local soil, such as the foraged mushrooms that bring big umami energy to bowls of green curry with broccoli. More than that, though, her intimate restaurant’s kitchen-facing chef’s counter invites us to five-course dinners — served with highly palate-soothing, settle- and-stay-awhile wines — that unfold at a leisurely pace we welcome in these fast times. 2263 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA 02140, urbanhearth.net.
Eliza Dushku and Peter Palandjian
The hush-hush August wedding of Buffy the Vampire Slayer actress Eliza Dushku, a Watertown native, and local real estate exec Peter Palandjian started with the bride and groom joining the Boston Bike Party and ended with a bash (and this sweet photo) at deCordova Sculpture Park and Museum in Lincoln. The dreamiest part of the festivities, though? Their intimate ceremony in the courtyard of the Boston Public Library, where the couple swapped vows.
Tatte Bakery & Café
Tatte is on a roll this year (no bun intended). Since 2016, it’s opened three new cafés—with a Seaport outpost on the way—which means there are now even more of those sweet, swirling chocolate roses to go around. A Boston with Tatte in every neighborhood is a future we can get behind, especially if it means stopping in for a croque-madame in the morning and picking up an ultra-flaky almond croissant for the walk home. Multiple locations. 1352 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02215, tattebakery.com.
The Newbury Boston
What better place to celebrate your future than in a glamorous ballroom steeped in Boston’s past? When the former Taj reopened in 2021, the 1927 landmark building was reimagined as the Newbury Boston, complete with updates to the hotel’s storied party spaces. Book the Assembly Ballroom for thoughtfully preserved crystal chandeliers, silver-leaf-adorned ceilings, and dramatically draped, floor-to-ceiling windows that frame sweeping Public Garden views. 1 Newbury St., Boston, MA 02116, thenewburyboston.com.
West Side Lounge
From the day it opened, the West Side was a draw for Cantabrigians looking for a perfectly made cocktail and a darkly lit booth. But when chef Alex Jenkins arrived last fall, there was another reason to visit: Her menu of Mediterranean and creative American standards goes a step above most bar food, mixing flavorful recipes with straightforward presentation. The reasonably priced menu changes seasonally and makes good use of local ingredients. Tried-and-true dishes like centra di tavola—with artichoke and olive spreads—and the bistro pizzas are the best bets. 1680 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA westsidelounge.com.
Fresh
Going on a fashion bender along Newbury can leave even hard-core shoppers feeling a tad wilted. Good thing Fresh is close at hand: With white-tiled walls and elegant white fixtures, the locally based chain's recently renovated Back Bay outpost soothes like a Victorian powder room, while simultaneously offering pep-promoting potions. Perfumes are touched with intriguing notes like Moroccan basil; skin care is punched up with lemon oil and cucumber extract; and a number of body products (even deodorant) feature real sugar in the mix. Just when you thought you'd lost your will to buy, it's back. 121 Newbury St., Boston, MA 2116, fresh.com.
Flour Bakery + Cafe
Let the cupcake lovers revel in their frosting-induced myopia; those of us who truly love pastry still embrace tarts, cakes, and cookies. Particularly when they're made the way Joanne Chang's crew bakes them: carefully (à la the sharp-flavored lemon lust tart), creatively (like the hazelnut-almond dacquoise with coffee buttercream and dark chocolate ganache), and with the best ingredients around (as in, everything they sell). 1595 Washington St., Boston, MA 2118, flourbakery.com.
Sofra Bakery and Cafe
Trailing orange blossom syrup and rose petal sugar, Ana Sortun's year-old bakery-café comes on like a Salome of sweets, beguiling the cupcake-and-cookie crowd with such Middle Eastern-inspired delicacies as Egyptian bread pudding and Syrian shortbread with rhubarb-rose jam. To pastry chef Maura Kilpatrick, our oversugared palates owe thanks for a much-needed dose of spice. 1 Belmont St., Cambridge, MA 2138, sofrabakery.com.
Clear Flour Bread
This tiny Brookline shop has made its name—quite literally—on its nubby olive rolls, grainy loaves, and airy brioche. But when we line up on weekends, it's for something a bit sweeter, in the form of cinnamon morning buns, stunning fruit tarts, and showstopping pain au chocolat—a pastry so buttery and deeply chocolaty, you'll make the pilgrimage for a warm one each morning. 178 Thorndike St., Brookline, MA clearflourbread.com.
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
Khao Sarn Cuisine
Unlike the now-ubiquitous Asian fusion restaurants it resembles, this Coolidge Corner newcomer serves food that is authentically exotic. Fortunately, the knowledgeable waitresses excel at coaching diners who might otherwise steer past the Northern Thai specialties and play it safe with spring rolls and pad Thai. The miang kum appetizer (roll-your-own packets of baby spinach leaves filled with bits of lime, coconut, peanuts, fresh ginger, onion, and dried shrimp) reveals a different texture and flavor combination with every bite. The haw moak (chicken or salmon seasoned with red curry and coconut milk and steamed in a banana leaf) brings a hint of heat, but not too much. Spicy dishes—and there are many here—are rated on a scale of one to three chile peppers, and the kitchen doesn't sacrifice subtlety when adding fire. If you still manage to torch your taste buds, you've got an excuse to order the soothing mango sticky rice for dessert. 250 Harvard St., Brookline, MA khaosarnboston.com.