The APsaA Boston Dining Guide By Laurie Bain Wilson
for the American Psychoanalytic Association
The APsaA Boston Dining Guide Prepared Exclusively for: The 111th Annual Meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association June 1-5, 2022
apsameeting.org
WELCOME TO BOSTON! We're so glad you're attending the 111th Annual Meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association. The Boston Park Plaza Hotel enjoys a splendid location close to many wonderful restaurants and we've prepared this guide especially for you. Bon appetit! Carolyn Gatto, Scientific Programs and Meetings Director Tom Newman, Executive Director Bill Glover, Ph.D., President Kerry Sulkowicz, M.D., President-Elect American Psychoanalytic Association
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Laurie Bain Wilson is a travel and food writer based in New York City and Boston. She specializes in all things New York and New England and has written for the Boston Globe, Travel Channel, Real Simple, Open Table, Wine Enthusiast and many other publications and outlets. A graduate of Boston University, Laurie is the author of a number of popular travel guidebooks to New York City and New England. With her father, the legendary author and ghostwriter Donald Bain (Coffee, Tea or Me?, Veronica, Margaret Truman's Capital Crimes series), Laurie co-wrote several books in the Murder She Wrote series. Laurie is an experienced book and magazine editor and can be reached at LaurieHeather@yahoo.com
YOUR BOSTON DINING GUIDE
Storied restaurants that have captured the hearts of Brahmins through the decades, sunny al fresco patio spots, waterfront dining with lovely views and new kids on the block that are the talk of the town - this dining guide will give you the skinny on dining out in Boston. Sam Adams and Paul Revere might have been Boston’s trailblazers for freedom. But Julia Child led another revolution in this town - a food revolution that changed the culinary scene here forever. Julia and husband, Paul, lived just across the Charles River in Cambridge for 40 years (until 2001). In fact, the idolized chef’s TV series’s the French Chef, was filmed in Boston. Of course Julia frequented the best restaurants in town for the freshest cuisine and finest wines. She also mentored some of Boston’s most celebrated chefs, including Lydia Shire and Jasper White and you can dine at their restaurants - they are included here, in our neighborhood dining guide. Our guide starts with the Back Bay - your home for the week!
THE BACK BAY
Location, location, location. The Boston Park Plaza is beautifully located in Boston’s Back Bay, the heart of Boston. The hotel is a short stroll to the Boston Common and Boston Public Garden - perfect for a breath of fresh air midday breaks. And, fortunately for you and the other attendees of the 111th Annual Meeting, there are many fabulous restaurants - all within walking distance of the Boston Park Plaza.
BACK BAY DINING CHOICES
Bistro Du Midi 272 Boylston Street • 617-279-8000 A lovely, reimagined French-inspired menu, and just across the street from the Monet-esque Boston Public Garden, this restaurant - with elegant patio seating tempts with dishes like Bouillabaisse du Midi and Foie Gras Terrine. There’s also a proper selection of charcuterie and pate. And, of course, an impressive French wine list. bistrodumidi.com Saltie Girl 279 Dartmouth Street • 617-267-0691 Newbury Street’s darling tin-sized (25 seats) restaurant is unique - the menu features globally sustainable tinned fish specials, as well as popular dishes like the fried waffles and lobster with sweet corn butter and spicy maple syrup. A raw bar, and patio seating, too. saltiegirl.com Summer Shack 50 Dalton Street • 617-867-9955 Julia Child’s friend and chef Jasper White is behind this casual, nautical-themed New England seafood restaurant with menu standouts like a clambake, fried clams, pan-roasted lobster and huge raw bar. Summer Shack is a local Boston favorite for seafood. summershackrestaurant.com
MORE BACK BAY DINING CHOICES BACK BAY DINING CHOICES
Ramsay's Kitchen 774 Boylston Street • 857-289-0771 There’s a just-debuted Gordon Ramsay restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental Boston starring the celebrity chef’s most applauded dishes like his Beef Wellington, and New England-inspired dishes like the signature Bouillabaisse inspired by local traditions/ingredients. gordonramsayrestaurants.com Abe & Louie's 793 Boylston Street • 617-536-6300 A classic, timeless steakhouse, Abe & Louie’s has had a presence in Boston for decades and is still turning heads. Expect a traditional steak menu with all the trimmings and seafood selections, too. Patio seating. abeandlouies.com Joe's American 181 Newbury Street • 617-536-4200 Classic, comfort food culinary experience with fantastic burgers, Mac ‘N cheese, braised short rib meatloaf, fish n chips. There's also a raw bar. Joe’s is a Newbury Street standout. Note: there is second waterfront location. joesamerican.com
MORE BACK BAY DINING CHOICES
Krasi Meze and Wine 48 Gloucester Street • 617-536-0230 Evan Turner, sommelier and wine director at this handsome, intimate and lively Greek restaurant in the Back Bay, leads the largest Greek wine list in the country (second to Molyvos, a 25-yearsrunning restaurant in New York City that closed last year, but has plans to reopen this year.) There's patio seating, too. krasiboston.com Atlantic Fish Company 761 Boylston Street• 617-267-4000 Steps from the Boston Marathon Finish Line, on Boylston Street, and a skip from the hotel, this seafood spot has been dishing out classic fish and seafood dishes like the Seafood Tower and haddock, halibut and other local fish for 40-plus years. atlanticfish.com Contessa 3 Newbury Street • 617-536-5700 This rooftop restaurant has great views of Boston Public Garden. Contessa sits pretty at the top of the newly-debuted Newbury hotel, which for many years was the Ritz Carlton, then the Taj Boston. The glass roof is retractable for open-air dining and the approachable menu features the best of Italian cuisine from antipasti to primi to secondi courses. contessatrattoria.com
MORE BACK BAY DINING CHOICES
The Banks Fish House 406 Stuart Street • 617-399-0015 You can bank on this new restaurant for a celebration of the freshest New England seafood sourced from local purveyors in the spirit of a New England Fish House revival. Think lobster rolls, fried clams, caviar, a popular clam chowder flatbread, smokehouse bluefish pate, fried fisherman’s platter, lobster bake and raw bar. Yum! thebanksboston.com Deuxave 371 Commonwealth Avenue • 617-517-5915 Modern French cuisine with a heavy accent on locally-sourced ingredients served in an elegant but unpretentious dining room - Julia Child would surely be a regular here for the French wines and unfussy dining experience. deuxave.com Select Oyster Bar 50 Gloucester Street • 617-239-8064
A lovely brownstone restaurant just off Newbury Street, Select Oyster is a pearl. Expect nothing less than the freshest of local oysters and seafood. Craft beer, artisan cocktails and a seafood-friendly wine list completes the experience. selectboston.com
MORE BACK BAY DINING CHOICES
Rochambeau Boston 900 Boylston Street • 617-247-0400 Located next to the Prudential Center, this brassiere restaurant has a sprawling patio and a menu that features French standards like coq au vin, escargot and steak frites. Thinking about dessert? The profiteroles with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce are the finishing touch. rochambeauboston.com City Table 65 Exeter Street • 617-933-4800
How sweet it is: This restaurant in the Lenox Hotel is the buzz of town - literally - thanks to the beehives on the rooftop. And that means you can order a dish or cocktail made with that uber-local honey. This casually elegant neighborhood restaurant always features fresh, local ingredients and chef-inspired regional touches. citytableboston.com
Next Up: The North End
In the mood for Italian food? Of course you are!
BEYOND THE BACK BAY: The North End
Boston’s own "Little Italy" is the North End, with narrow streets flocked with festive and lively Italian restaurants and bakeries. It's about a two-mile walk or quick Uber/taxi ride from the Boston Park Plaza Hotel. You'll find many choices in the North End, and here are a few to get you started! Mare 3 Mechanic Street • 617-723-6273 Mare means ‘sea’ in Italian and this lively restaurant and oyster bar is best defined by its seafood-focused menu, like the Homemade Gnocchi Frutti di Mare, and the Lobster Ravioli. There’s also Caviar Service and Tableside Cacio de Pepe on the menu. Boston skyline views and patio seating, too. mareoysterbar.com
Bricco Ristorante 241 Hanover Street• 617-248-6800 This lively spot features everything you’d expect from a traditional Italian menu, but there’s also a swank enoteca with late night Italian dishes and sips from 11:30 pm to the wee hours. Late night dining is unique for Boston. Visit Bricco's website and get your tastebuds ready for the finest in contemporary Italian dining. bricco.com
BEYOND THE BACK BAY: The North End
Mamma Maria Boston 3 North Square • 617-523-0077 The most popular dishes at this elegant North End restaurant, set in a lovely 19th century row house, are the Veal Ossobuco, local Duxbury oysters baked with Prosecco Zabaglione, Venetian-style Carpaccio, and Lobster Agnolotti Pasta filled with Maine lobster. And an impressive Italian wine list, of course. mammamaria.com Antico Forno 93 Salem Street • 617-723-6733 This festive mom and pop restaurant has been in the North End for decades. Almost everything on the menu is cooked in a rustic brick oven - in fact, antico forno is Italian for ‘old oven.’ Expect authentic pizza and dishes like Parmigiani di Pollo straight out of that brick oven. anticofornoboston.com
Cannoli & Cappucino?
Mike's Pastry (300 Hanover Street) and Modern Pastry (257 Hanover Street) are two of the most popular North End spots for frothy cappucino, cannoli and other tasty Italian treats. mikespastry.com and modernpastry.com
BEYOND THE BACK BAY: Seaport District
Boston’s newest neighborhood celebrates the water and only about 1.5 miles from Back Bay. The Seaport District is home to many waterfront restaurants with outdoor patio seating and a lively atmosphere.
Woods Hill Pier 4 300 Pier 4 Blvd. • 617-981-4577
A Seaport gem, the menu is all about the ecologically viable and sustainable ingredients sourced from The Farm at Woods Hill in New Hampshire and other local purveyors. Enjoy the big patio for waterfront dining and pretty views. woodshillpier4.com Lola42 22 Liberty Drive • 617-951-4002
Sister to Nantucket’s Lola41 this restaurant has one of the largest waterfront patios in the Seaport. New summer menu offerings include Pork Tenderloin Saltimbocca with a blackberry reduction and Braised Short Rib with Pinot Noir jus and acorn squash puree. Or, come for the sushi and Grilled Whole Branzino. lola42.com
BEYOND THE BACK BAY: Seaport District
Ocean Prime 140 Seaport Blvd. • 617-670-1345 Prime time for summertime eating, this handsome restaurant offers prime steaks with all the accessories, lobster tails, and sushi, too. ocean-prime.com Legal Sea Foods Harborside 270 Northern Avenue • 617-477-2900 One of Julia’s favorite restaurants was Legal Sea Foods (the Cambridge location). She adored the mussels, oysters on the half shell, swordfish and salmon. While now a nationally known chain, the concept was born here and for some reason the lobster always seems to tastes better. With several locations in town, Harborside is especially desirable thanks to its waterfront location. legalseafoods.com Thinking about a side trip from Boston? From the Seaport District you can grab the ferry to Cape Cod for a day trip (or overnight).
BEYOND THE BACK BAY: Neighborhood Favorites
o ya
9 E Street • 617-654-9900 Leather District Less than a mile from the Boston Park Plaza, in Boston’s Leather District (a nod to its 19th century leather industry roots) O Ya is all about the nightly omakase dinner - a chef’s choice menu of 20 courses including sashimi, nigiri and cooked dishes. A special occasion experience at $250 per guest (exclusive of drinks, tax and gratuity) and very popular. o-ya.restaurant Harvest 44 Brattle Street, Harvard Square Cambridge 617-868-2255 A favorite of Julia Child’s, in the heart of Harvard Square since 1975 and worth the trip across the river. Snag a seat at Table 102, known as Julia’s Corner and order comfort food like roasted chicken off the modern New England menu, and a glass of fine French wine. There is also a pretty garden patio harvestcambridge.com Beehive Restaurant 541 Tremont Street • 617-423-0069 The South End For a funky, jazzy experience, Bostonians enjoy this elevated bohemian spot. Sit at a patio table and watch the buzz of this trendy Boston neighborhood (about a mile from Boston Park Plaza) with lovely shops, brownstones and restaurants. The menu - dolled-up burgers, steaks, roasted chicken and vegetable couscous are very popular. dishes. Live music indoors. beehiveboston.com
BEYOND THE BACK BAY: Neighborhood Favorites
Scampo 215 Charles Street • 617-536-2100 Beacon Hill Scampo is chef-owned by Lydia Shire, her culinary pedigree inspired by good friend, Julia Child. Aptly named, Scampo means ‘to escape’ in Italian. Located in the Liberty Hotel, formerly the Charles Street Jail, the restaurant’s elegant patio was once the exercise yard for inmates. The Italian-inspired menu also has Mediterranean and Middle East influences - bread made in tandoori ovens, lobster bisque infused with jasmine rice and curry. There’s also a mozzarella bar and Julia Child’s onion soup is on the menu, too. scampoboston.com Union Oyster House Faneuil Hall 41 Union Street • 617-227-2750 Slurp oysters at the semi-circular Oyster Bar or settle into a wooden booth, like the second-floor Kennedy Booth, JFK's favorite. A designated Historic National Landmark on the Freedom Trail, this iconic eatery opened in 1826. Paul Revere and Daniel Webster were regulars. Apparently, Webster came daily, ordered six plates of oysters, washed down with tumblers of brandy. Perennial menu favorites include broiled Boston scrod, lobster, baked beans and Boston Cream Pie. unionoysterhouse.com
Round Out Your Boston Visit
Fenway Park and Museum of Fine Arts Bleacher Bar (Fenway Park) 82A Landsdowne Street 617-262-2424 Make your Boston trip a Home Run with a visit to iconic Fenway Park, less than two miles from Boston Park Plaza. The Bleacher Bar is a sweet spot beneath the centerfield bleachers. A huge garage door window gives diners a peek at the outfield action, without stepping foot in the ballpark. Add classic baseball eats and brews, and it’s a great outing - a Red Sox game without having to score a ticket! www.bleacherbarboston.com Museum of Fine Arts, Boston 465 Huntington Avenue 617-267-9300 Among the many exhibits are two featuring artists addressing changing times: Turner's Modern World and Philip Guston Now. Visit the museum website to learn about all current exhibits and three eateries at this world-class museum located less than two miles from Boston Park Plaza. www.mfa.org
The APsaA Boston Dining Guide Author: Laurie Bain Wilson
Design: Claire Meyerhoff Please note: Information in this guide is not guaranteed and subject to change. At the time of publication, we have made the best attempts to verify accuracy. Questions should be directed to: cmeyerhoff@apsa.org The APsaA Boston Dining Guide Prepared Exclusively for: The 111th Annual Meeting of The American Psychoanalytic Association June 1-5, 2022
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