A Boston Industry Vet Plans a Restaurant and Fish Market for the Seaport

Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli. / Drew Katz

Boston’s rapidly developing Seaport District has a tendency to attract out-of-town chain restaurants to its ever-growing dining scene, but a local restaurateur will bring a bit of indie spirit to the mix later this year. Tom Schlesinger-Guidelli, owner of the always bustling Alcove in Boston’s West End, will open Hook + Line Restaurant + Fish Market at 10 Fan Pier.

The focus will be seafood, if you couldn’t tell from the name: Schlesinger-Guidelli isn’t sharing specifics yet, but there’ll be “New England classics and fresh takes on modern New England cuisine,” he tells Boston. (Get in a nautical mood by arriving on the water—both the Seaport Ferry and the Boston Water Taxi stop at Fan Pier.)

A seafood restaurant is something Schlesinger-Guidelli has been hoping to open for years, thanks in part to childhood summers in Westport on Massachusetts’ South Coast, mixing drinks at the Back Eddy, soaking up the waterfront views, and crabbing. Plus, most of his restaurant resume leans in the seafood direction. “East Coast Grill & Raw Bar, the Back Eddy, and Island Creek Oyster Bar definitely shaped my love for seafood and the art of hospitality,” he says. “I am proud of what we have created at Alcove, now entering its fifth year, and on the waterfront. To be able to open a second waterfront restaurant in Boston is a pretty incredible opportunity.”

Schlesinger-Guidelli also honed his hospitality skills—and cocktail expertise, too—at iconic local restaurants like Eastern Standard and Craigie on Main before opening Alcove in 2018. So when he says that Hook + Line will be a neighborhood restaurant, you know he means it: It’ll be warm and friendly, and just as suited to a weekday lunch as a Saturday date-night or a holiday celebration, much like Alcove. And you know the drink selection will be exciting, too. (He took home the Best of Boston mixologist award in 2009, after all.) There’ll be a focus on seafood-friendly wines (plenty of whites, rosés, and sparkling selections), “with an eye to up-and-coming coastal wines,” per a rep for the restaurant, but there’s a full liquor license, so of course he’ll be working some cocktail magic.

Along with Hook + Line’s dining room and bar, the restaurant will have private dining space and a patio, plus the standalone fish market. There, customers will be able to buy fresh seafood and grab-and-go dishes with all the necessary accoutrements.

When Hook + Line opens, it’ll be part of a 2023 boom in the neighborhood. This year will also see the arrival of major out-of-town players in the Seaport, such as Austin, Texas-based Alamo Drafthouse Cinema; New York’s Borrachito and the Garret Bar; and Boqueria, a tapas chain with locations in New York, D.C., Nashville, and Chicago. But we’re looking forward to some familiar local faces there, too, like new locations of Cambridge’s Yume Ga Arukara udon shop and Nantucket’s cozy and casual Stubbys, plus the “Southern-inspired supper club” Grace by Nia, from Nia Grace of Darryl’s Corner Bar & Kitchen. (And, in 2024, something new from local legend Lydia Shire.)

“Today’s economics drive the bigger restaurants to come in first,” says Schlesinger-Guidelli, “and then the next layer begins when local independent restaurants like Nautilus and Woods Hill open, offering diverse layers of cuisine and hospitality. That is happening now, and I am very excited to join them and be part of creating a whole new Seaport neighborhood on the waterfront in Boston. I can’t wait to meet the neighbors and to be so close to the source of our local seafood.”

Watch for Hook + Line updates on Instagram, and head to big sibling Alcove to enjoy the patio (opening a few short weeks away on April 1) and events like an upcoming Bordeaux wine dinner.

Hook + Line, 10 Fan Pier, Seaport District, Boston, hookandlinebos.com; Alcove, 50 Lovejoy Wharf, West End, Boston, 617-248-0050, alcoveboston.com.