Best of Boston

Expectations were high for the self-owned debut from Top Chef contestant (and James Beard Award winner) Karen Akunowicz. And yet somehow the Myers + Chang alum has exceeded them at her buzzy Southie enoteca. Though the place hums like she’s been at it for years, her Modena, Italy–inspired cuisine—from supple, Gorgonzola-dolce-filled tortelli to a grilled-broccoli riff on Caesar salad, all washed down with aperitif-invoking cocktails—is fresh and frisky.