Carrie Rickey, <em>Boston Herald</em>
Witty, entertaining, consistent—a breath of fresh air in that paper.
Sesuit Harbor Café
Sure, seafood is easy to come by on the Cape. But you're reading this magazine, so you’re looking for the best. Pack your cooler and sunscreen and snag a picnic table at Sesuit Harbor Café: Yes, you’ll wait in a line out the door, sit outside rain or shine, and BYOB, but once those heaping trays of lobster rolls, fried scallops and clams, and Cape Cod Bay oysters are in front of you, you’ll understand. sesuit-harbor-cafe.com.
Matt Siegel, WXKS-FM
We particularly liked his Cabbage Patch doll promotion. That was the one, you may recall, that had no dolls. Just cabbages. With adoption papers.
Fifth Avenue Limousine Service
Caters to corporate high rollers as well as rock stars. 484 Prospect St., Revere, MA .
Toucan Chocolates
Recycled paper, vegetable-based ink, nuts from the rain forest in Brazil. PC never tasted so good. 31 Wyman Street, P.O. Box 72, Waban, MA .
Arthur Friedman of the <em>Cambridge Express</em>
When Friedman was at the Real Paper, he was quoted all the time. Now he's invisible, but just as good.
Vers
Stock Image via Shutterstock This Chatham spot, which operates out of two spaces in the Orpheum Theater, is a chameleon of sorts: In the morning, the downstairs restaurant and patisserie turns out sausage-flecked " hangover muffins" and fresh-baked croissants; during the day, the upstairs eatery serves fish tacos and cured salmon salads to the lunchtime crowd. But chef and owner Jonathan Haffmans really shines in the evening, turning out gorgeous dishes like ibérico ham paired with beet sorbet, and Cape Cod capon with pork belly and pinot noir sauce. The restaurant’s name is Dutch for " fresh," a nod to Haffmans’s heritage. It also describes the perspective he’s bringing to the Cape dining scene. 637 Main St., Chatham, MA 2633, verscapecod.com.
Today's Bread, Ltd.
A neighborhood secret, already discovered by top caterers. Get here early, or it's gone. 701 Centre St., Jamaica Plain, MA .
Museum of Fine Arts
Even the merest trifle takes on special significance when wrapped in one of the beautiful gift papers form the MFA gift shop. 465 Huntington Ave., Boston, MA .
Chef Lee's Famous Soul Food
From collard greens to pig's feet to fried chicken to sweet-potato pie, Chef Lee's offers a full menu of homey cooking. they cater, too. 1140 Blue Hill Avenue, Dorchester, MA .
Fête Collection
When it comes to paper goods, Fête Collection is in a league of its own. Co-owners Julie Pike and Eileen Sherman have serious experience with the etiquette, timelines, and wording of a full invitation suite, not to mention the design decisions that go into creat 345 D St., Boston, MA 02127, shopfete.com.
Alpha Omega
To some, time is commitment. To others, it's a luxury. Alpha Omega caters to both types with its selection of designer watches well worth locking on your wrist. Watch the minutes tick by on a solid gold Rolex, diamond-studded sparkling Ebel, or sturdy sterling-silver TAG Heuer. Good timing was never so easy. 1380 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, MA .
Pendragon, Ink
For 20 years, Massachusetts native Maria Thomas has been designing hand-lettered, hand-painted stationery. Now she has hit the big time with a line of elegant wedding papers for Crane and Company, the Renaissance Collection, which is destined to be coveted by all who receive them. Crane & Company Papermakers, Prudential Center, Boston, MA .
Park
Park Restaurant This well-decorated, approachable spot caters to the Harvard crowd with a stellar late-night menu and dining areas that have a scholarly feel—"The Classroom" space, for example, features lounge chairs and shelves filled with books. What to Order: The meat pie of the day; patty melt. 59 JFK St., Cambridge, MA parkcambridge.com.
Eileen McNamara, <em>Boston Globe</em>
She had no qualms writing a column criticizing disgraced fellow Metro writer Patricia Smith by name. But when the Globe's Steve Bailey tried to write a column criticizing McNamara by name, she complained to her bosses and voila—her name was removed from the column before the paper went to press.