Commonwealth Brewing Company
Try Boston's Best Burton Bitter. 138 Portland St., Boston, MA .
<em>Boston Globe</em>'s "Mush from the Wimp" editorial headline of March 15, over a commentary on Jimmy Carter's latest economic proposals
Maison Robert
French cuisine in Boston's Old City Hall. 45 School St., Boston, MA .
John Dewar's
For fresh foie gras and game, this is where Boston's best chefs go. 753 Beacon St., Newton Center, MA .
Bobbie Steinbach
A veteran of Boston's theater scene, Steinbach exhibits astonishing versatility—and this year was one of her best yet. As a founding member of the Actors' Shakespeare Project, she played not one but two ancient kings: Nestor and Priam, in Troilus and Cressida. Then, when the Boston Playwrights' Theatre staged Deported, a dream play, Steinbach excelled as an Armenian-genocide survivor. But her biggest triumph was in the New Repertory Theatre's Collected Stories by Donald Margulies. That performance as an aging author betrayed by her protégé won her the Independent Reviewers of New England's best actress award.
Alan Shestack as director of the MFA
The affable writer, scholar, and former director of the Yale Art Museum and the Minneapolis Institute of Art starts work at Boston's MFA next month. Lucky MFA. Lucky us.
The Freedom Trail
Boston's three-mile walk through America's history. Start at the kiosk near the Park Street subway station. Don't miss the USS Constitution, the Old State House, and the Paul Revere House.
A Tie-Boston College's Doug Flutie, Brant College's Jim Hallett, and Harvard's Mark Fusco
Flutie took the Eagles to a Bowl; Hallett was the top amateur in the Masters; and Fusco won college hockey's version of the Heisman.
The Wingo Whiz, Concocted by Bull & Finch Pub Bartender Eddie Doyle for <em>The Boston Herald</em>
Vodka, Midori, milk, and orange juice. We'd like to see Rupert Murdoch choke down a couple of these.
Riccardi
Boston's original denim source—and the pride of Evisu jeans-clad owner Riccardo Dallai—stocks more than 40 "it" lines, among them Prps, Ksubi, and Nudie. 116 Newbury St, Boston, MA 2116, riccardiboston.com.
Brattle Theatre
You can catch an Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu flick at any multiplex nowadays, but you won't see Boston Underground Film Festival highlights or a repertory series of World War II movies—or, for that matter, a weeklong Muppets marathon—anywhere else but the Brattle. The Harvard Square institution has been screening foreign, art house, and classic films for over 50 years, but it's much more than a sleepy civic treasure: It's holy ground for Boston's cineastes, budding film auteurs, and anyone who just likes to watch Casablanca on the big screen. 40 Brattle St., Cambridge, MA brattlefilm.org.
The Jeff Galindo-Marc Phaneuf Sextet
A smokin' supergroup of Boston-based jazz all-stars: Galindo (trombone), Phaneuf (sax), and Ken Cervenka (trumpet) front the hottest rhythm section in New England. Pianist Tim Ray, bassist John Lockwood, and drummer Bob Gullotti round off the group. As individuals, these guys have played with everyone from Dizzy Gillespie to Lyle Lovett to the Boston Pops. After three years gigging around Boston, the band has just issued its first CD, Locking Horns. Cadence Magazine notes that on the album Galindo "uses his lip and slide to twist squeeze notes like warm putty from a tube."
Susan Regis, cochef at Biba
Lydia Shire gets a lot of praise, and she should, but her sidekick deserves much credit for Boston's most creative cuisine. 272 Boylston Street, Boston, MA .
WBCN
Boston's own WBCN, which now airs syndicated New York shows during both the morning and afternoon drive times.
Ed Burke's
Soul, blues, and R&B keep this cozy club cranking in Mission Hill—Boston's most maligned neighborhood. 808 Huntingtone Ave., Boston, MA .