Best of Boston

The hopeful future of Boston dining — a generational shift toward collaboration over competition — can be glimpsed in the effortless teamwork that co-chefs Butler and Rusch bring to the kitchen at Somerville’s stellar Spoke wine bar. Besides pairing perfectly with the boutique vintages behind the bar, their inventive small plates (say, savory sunchoke doughnuts dusted with XO gouda and powdered leek) speak to a unified vision — hyper-seasonal, polished but playful, highly technique-driven — that is, in a word, singular.