july 31, 2012 - august 13, 2012
www.stuffboston.com
hot 100
the people, places, and trends you need to know about, now
Whether Day or Night, We Have Your Look Sleek, innovative and cutting edge, G2O offers men and women a
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278 Newbury St . Boston | 617.262.2220 www.g2ospasalon.com | Photo: Drink
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july 31, 2012 – august 13, 2012
GET ...this or that 13 ...seen 14 ...close 16 ...cultured 18 ...pretty 20 ...out 22 STYLE 26
FEATURE
hot 100 28
FEED
food coma 65 5 courses 66 stuff it 67 liquid 68 RESIDE 70 SEX 72 FLASH 74 barbara lee’S STUFF 78
28 Need to cool off this summer? Revere Hotel Boston Common (200 Stuart Street, Boston, 617.482.1800) offers a summer Wet & Wild package that includes an overnight stay, cocktails, and reserved space on its rooftop pool deck. (The inflatable is ours; the hotel has the real thing.) Rates start at $219; find details at reverehotel.com. Photos: Conor Doherty. Hair: Patricia Guiggey of G2O Spa & Salon. Makeup: Rosalie Piazza of G2O Spa & Salon. Models: Erica F., Joel S., and Matt N., all of Maggie Inc.
Letter from the Editor
Hot damn. I don’t know whether it’s indicative of global warming or just me turning into my father (a man who, much to my mother’s <8> 7.31.12
dismay, would be perfectly happy living in a meat locker), but this summer has felt especially collartugging, brow-wiping, restlesssleep-inducing hot. It’s easy to let lethargy take over in temps like these, but don’t forget that there’s a steamy urban jungle out there that’s filled with restaurants (ooh!), bars (ahh!), and boutiques (heavens!) that are all — wait for it! — air-conditioned. Okay, okay. If you need some other reasons to hit the streets and discover Boston’s best spots to eat, drink, shop, and play, you’re in luck: we have 100 of them. Our annual Hot 100 issue collects the buzzworthy places, people, products, and popculture trends of the moment. It’s
a labor of love about the world we love, and it represents a year’s worth of work and research distilled into one place. For the STUFF staff, it’s a pretty special issue. I hope it is for you, too. It will definitely be a special issue for me. (Insert: awkward segue.) This issue marks my last as editorial director. After three amazing, exciting, extremely wellfed years with STUFF, I’m moving on. I’ve realized that the time has come to evolve the direction of my own story, and that means taking on new challenges, exploring new opportunities, and finding new ways to express myself (hey, hey). I’ll still be on the scene, so feel free to cyber-stalk me to see what I’m up to and stay in touch. I’m
a writer; we’re all exhibitionists! (Um, not in the pervy Internet way. Unless — well, what do you pay per word? Let’s talk.) Thanks for joining me on my journey with the magazine; as they say in showbiz, you’ve been a great crowd! (God, I’ve always wanted to say that.) Now, though, I leave you in the talented hands of a STUFF team I’ve been privileged to work with. They’ll take great care of you, I promise. As for me? I’ve got to run. Deadlines, you know? I’ve got a life story to file. Scott Kearnan Editorial Director @TheWriteStuffSK
55 Huntington Avenue • 617.536.0770 • www.harusushi.com
$ 2 0
Red Hot. Editorial Director: Scott Kearnan Senior Managing Editor: Jacqueline Houton Design Manager: Janice Checchio Staff Writer: Miles Howard Food Editor-at-Large: Louisa Kasdon Fashion & Beauty Editor-at-Large: Lauryn Joseph Contributing Writers: Kara Baskin, Marissa Berenson, Renata CertoWare, Cheryl Fenton, Jeannie Greeley, Meghan Kavanaugh, Heather Bouzan McHugh, MC Slim JB, Luke O’Neil, Erin Souza Contributing Photographers: Natalia Boltukhova, Lara Callahan, Kelly Davidson, Michael Diskin, Kim Gray, Tim Gray, Eric Levin, Gina Manning, Melissa Ostrow, Chris Padgett, Joel Veak Party Photographers: Derek Kouyoumjian, Erica Magliaro, Natasha Moustache, Michael Young Interns: Luke Milardo, Hilary Milnes Vice President, Sales and Business Development: David Garland Vice President, Print Media Sales: Marc Shepard General Sales Manager: Sean Weymouth Senior Account Executive: Luba Gorelik Account Executives: Nathaniel Andrews, Chris Gibbs Advertising Operations Manager: Kevin Lawrence Traffic Coordinators: Jonathan Caruso, Colleen McCarthy Director of Marketing and Promotions: Brian Appel Interactive Marketing Manager: Lindsey Mathison Promotions Coordinator: Nick Gemelli Director of Creative Operations: Travis Ritch Advertising Arts Manager: Angelina Berardi Production Artist: Kelly Wight Online Content Coordinator: Maddy Myers Senior Web Developer: Gavin Storey Director of Finance: Scotty Cole Circulation Director: Jim Dorgan Circulation Manager: Michael Johnson STUFF Magazine is published by the Phoenix Media/ Communications Group Chairman and Publisher: Stephen M. Mindich President: Bradley M. Mindich Senior Vice President: A. William Risteen Vice President, Integrated Media Sales: Everett Finkelstein Director, Interactive Media Sales: Brian Russell Senior Account Executive of Integrated Media Sales: Margo Dowlearn
The Langham, Boston, 250 Franklin St., Boston 617.956.8765 bondboston.com <10> 7.31.12
For advertising rates, call 617.425.2660. For editorial inquiries, call 617.536.5390. Subscriptions: Bulk rate $89/year. Bulk-rate postage paid, Boston, MA; allow 10 days for delivery. Send name and address with check or money order to: Subscription Department, STUFF, 126 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215 • Copyright ©2009 Stuff Magazine LLC, 126 Brookline Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, 617.536.5390. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission, by any method whatsoever, is prohibited. Printed by Cummings Printing, Co.
Boston’s most award winning salon
30 Newbury Street • Boston • 617.266.7222 Station Landing • Medford • 781.393.6800 www.jamesjosephsalon.com
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cultured
GETthis...
As Boston becomes an increasingly bike-friendly city, even one-time skeptics have warmed to using two-wheel transit. For one, it’s cheaper; a week’s worth of parking tickets costs more than the value of our beat-up Toyota Camry. And what better way to spend a warm Sunday afternoon than by whizzing along the Minuteman Bikeway? (Those killer calves we’ve developed don’t hurt either.) So show off your pedal-power pride with a bicycle-chain picture frame ($20), fashioned out of a recycled bike chain by artisans in India. This fair-trade frame displays one four-by-six-inch photo, so be sure to take some snapshots when you’re biking through Bangkok, riding around Riviera Maya, or just popping wheelies on your way to work. In the meanwhile, roll into Ten Thousand Villages (252 Washington Street, Boston, 617.372.8743) to get yours.
or that...
Perhaps you’d rather not display your photos front and center for roommates and late-night visitors to gawk at. For a more discreet option, consider carrying your photos, credit cards, and cash (how old-school, we know) in this hand-printed leather wallet ($40). Local designer and artist Shara Porter scours thrift stores for vintage leather accessories like this wallet; then she hand-prints her quirky designs in permanent ink, breathing new life into old leather goods. Head to Magpie (416 Highland Avenue, Somerville, 617.623.3330) to find this creative twist on recycling.
— Susan Johnston
bottom photo by janice checchio
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GETSEEN …at the Seaport World Trade Center for the New England Warrior Benefit
Aimee Maillett, corporate communications manager at Abiomed
Rachael Murray, director of entertainment at USO of Metro New York
Aimee put a modern spin on 1950s-style party wear with a dress, necklace, and sash from White House Black Market, Jessica Simpson peep-toe pumps, and a Kate Spade patent-leather bag. She looked like a first lady of fashion, having added strands of faux pearls for the patriotic occasion. Jackie O would be proud. She describes her style as classy with a touch of funk. She sticks to classic shapes and adds color or print to make them her own, as she did with this polka-dot floral belt.
Rachael’s simple but vibrant dress and sassy haircut offered a lesson in effortless chic. She paired a Calypso dress with Guess nude pumps and a Johnny Swain clutch (with which we were totally obsessed). This working mother flies from city to city for her job, so she sticks to pieces that travel well and make getting ready a snap. Think simple dresses and this “Love” clutch with a detachable strap that doubles as a necklace. Genius. Her idea of an all-American outfit? A classic white T-shirt, jeans, and a unique accessory — like, say, the stacked Van Cleef & Arpels and Cartier rings she wears every day.
STUFFY:
Reilly King, student
Reilly showed sartorial wisdom beyond her years in a highlow-hemmed dress from a Texas boutique, wedge sandals from Target, and earrings from Tilly’s, a mall shop in her native Virginia. She loves to embrace trends and femininity in her wardrobe, but she sees her style evolving as she matures. “I am able to try more things and take more risks.” Reilly fell in love with Boston — and its style — on her first visit to the city, a trip she made specifically for this gala. “Women really go for it here and aren’t afraid to stand out,” she says. “It’s inspirational.”
Jillian Dalmolin, dietetic intern at Mount Auburn Hospital We followed Jillian to her seat (mildly creepy, we know) because we had to ask about her gorgeous goddess outfit. The asymmetric dress, gilded belt, and bracelet were last-minute finds from BCBG Max Azria. This very “Jillian” outfit represents her wardrobe because it’s comfortable, body-conscious, and on-trend. “I like things that show off my shape.” This bride-to-be, who is tying the knot in September, chose a romantic-yet-contemporary gown for her big day. We won’t give away any secrets, but we’ll say the gown nods to her love of figure-flattering cuts and interesting necklines. Best wishes, Jillian!
On the Edge of Your Seat
It’s summer party time: you’ve swept your postage-stamp-sized patio, blackened those shish kebabs, and acquired a case of Flo Rida’s favorite champagne. Everything is perfect — that is, until you realize that the only guest chairs at your disposal are those folding metallic bum-bruisers that typically adorn PTA meetings. Fear not: your cookout just got classier thanks to the ingenuity of the Dutch furniture designers behind the Flux Chair. Now available at Room 68 (68 South Street, Jamaica Plain, 617.942.7425), this stylish seat boasts a unique shape that strikes us as a hybrid of postmodern sculpture and Star Trek aesthetics. Each model is crafted from weatherproof polypropylene (ketchup-resistant, we presume?) and available in eight different colors. And here’s the best part: you can fold the Flux into an ultra-thin envelope, complete with a carrying handle. This origami-esque twist allows you to stack up to 21 folded Fluxes into a mere foot of closet space, so it’s good for apartment dwellers (and leaves ample room for your still-dusty Bowflex, thank heavens). Priced at $199, the Flux may be a weighty investment for a folding chair, but your guests deserve only the finest. Now pass the PBR.
— Miles Howard
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GET SEEN PHOTOS BY melissa ostrow; text by erin souza
GETclose ...with Aerosmith’s Tom Hamilton Boston’s claims to American history aren’t limited to midnight rides and tea parties. We’re the city that birthed the best-selling American rock band of all time: Aerosmith. (However, the “Bad Boys from Boston” actually played their first gig at this writer’s old high school, Nipmuc Regional in Mendon, Massachusetts.) In mid-July, the band’s Global Warming Tour filled TD Garden with favorite hits and new tunes from the forthcoming studio album Music from Another Dimension!, their first in eight long years. Dimension was largely produced by Jack Douglas, who shaped four of Aerosmith’s multi-platinum albums, and the ’70s vibe of lead single “Legendary Child” is evocative of the band’s early material. Makes sense. We caught up with bassist Tom Hamilton and learned that the band mates’ famously dicey dynamics haven’t changed a bit. Thankfully, neither has their knack for crafting epic rock anthems. Any memories of that first Nipmuc show? Oh sure, I remember being set up in our little corner of the gym. I remember being excited because it was our first show as Aerosmith. And I remember the fights, the arguments. [Chuckles] Over how loud the guitars were; it’s that a lot. A lot of how we relate to each other always stays the same. It was the same way last week as it was at that first show at Nipmuc. The same relationships, quirks, and weirdness, it’s still there. Ever consider walking away while making Dimension? I don’t think so. My mantra has always been “Try harder.” A lot of people doubted whether this band could get along well enough to make a record. This is the proof that we wanted to do it again. Jack Douglas was our coach, and probably the only guy we could have worked with and come out with a finished record at this point. After eight years, why now? We’re at a point in our career where we’re kind of these wise old wizards. We wanted to do something that spoke to what we’ve learned by being together all these years. And it was a tough project. There was a lot of the same craziness that’s always been around in this band and made our career so up and down and all over the place. But one thing we were unified on is that we really wanted to put something out that showed we’re still hungry to be creative. “Legendary Child” has been called a return to the band’s roots. Valid? What inspired you in making this album? Different guys in the band will say different things. But I don’t remember sitting down and in my mind saying, “Let’s make an imitation of a record from the ’70s.” . . . I’m inspired by being extremely hungry for certain things, and by realizing that life is not open-ended. You never know what’s going to happen. You can’t take for granted that there’s going to be a band today, tomorrow, or a year from now. And it’s really about trying to create something that will in some way stand up to the music of my idols, the people who were my musical heroes when I started. <16> 7.31.12
Now you and your band mates are idols. That was something that I never really thought about. I think it was in the ’80s when somebody was talking about — I think Guns N’ Roses — and they said, “Aren’t you guys pissed off?” I’m like, “About what?” And the person said, “All these bands trying to imitate you.” I thought, that’s ridiculous. Now, I realize it’s probably true that we influenced other well-known bands. The Global Warming Tour — is the name political? [Laughs] We’re about as far from being a political band as you possibly could be, and I like it that way. It’s tongue in cheek. We’re obviously not one of Al Gore’s darlings, out there showing the world how we want to save everybody. I think of it as us bringing some warmth into a cold, cruel world.
What’s one fan-favorite song you don’t like? I guess some of the ballads are a little schmaltzy and corny. But you know what? We get up and play them, and you see people in the audience that look like hard-ass rockers — and they’re just loving it, with their arms around their girlfriends. When we started in the ’70s, most of our fans were sweaty guys with no shirts on. When girls show up for the shows — well, I don’t complain about that. Most important, how do I beat the Aerosmith edition of Guitar Hero? Believe me, I never even beat that game. But my ADD is out of control. Every time I get started playing, I’m like, “I want to play my bass!” I have to put it down and play the real thing.
— Scott Kearnan
photo by george trickel
ALWAYS ENJOY RESPONSIBLY. ©2012 Anheuser-Busch InBev S.A., Stella Artois® Beer, Imported by Import Brands Alliance, St. Louis, MO
GETCULTURED Action Jackson
Michael Jackson’s untimely passing was the obituary heard round the world: a collective spill-your-beer, text-your-friend, post-your-favorite-video moment. At the height of his moonwalking, lung-busting craft, the King of Pop seemed immortal — a living incarnation of soulful dance rock who cast a shadow that still looms large in modern electro-pop. And this summer, his catalog is receiving an artistic homage courtesy of Cirque du Soleil. The Quebecois circus collective is staging Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour, a kinetic performance that puts a new visual spin on Jackson’s hits — no small task, considering the already-indelible images associated with Jackson. How will the Cirque numbers hold their own against the original music videos that accompanied his songs? Curious, we compared Jackson’s most memorable screen moments with their stage-bound reinventions. Take a look, and then catch The Immortal yourself on August 3–4 at TD Garden (100 Legends Way, Boston, 617.624.1050). Find tickets ($50–$175) at ticketmaster.com.
— Miles Howard
Tag, You’re It
“Thriller”
“Beat It”
The video (1983): Run! Run for your lives! The dead have risen from the earth! And they’re . . . dancing? The Immortal: Honoring the 1983 version’s spooktacular style, Cirque vamps out its stage with tombstones, fog, and . . . mummies. Yes, bandaged boogeymen take the spotlight, recreating the group dance with characters that look like escapees from Imhotep’s tomb.
The video (1983): The red jacket. The street fights. The West Side Story references. Totally timeless, this “Beat” goes on. The Immortal: The show nods to Eddie Van Halen’s guitar-shredding contribution to the single, pitting two axe handlers against each other. As they savage their respective strings, a giant white glove rises from the stage and begins to dance.
“Scream”
“Billie Jean”
The video (1995): In this angsty response to tabloid attacks, Michael and little sis Janet go intergalactic, bouncing around the corridors of a clinical-looking spaceship. We suspect Stanley Kubrick might have approved. The Immortal: In an eerie update, a troupe of gymnasts and acrobats take darkened center stage, tumbling, twisting, and flying across their mats. Noting the original video’s monochromatic photography, the troupe arrives garbed in black-and-white uniforms.
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The video (1983): A video that helped blow up MTV to monolithic proportions, it showed Jackson being stalked across the city by a paparazzo. Jackson’s final disappearing act, amid the tousled sheets of Billie Jean’s bed, remains one of the great mind-fucks of musicvideo history. The Immortal: The Cirque dancers take the stage in multicolored glow-in-the-dark suits one wouldn’t normally encounter outside of Tron: Legacy. After a dance breakdown that imitates Jackson’s original undulations, the stage explodes with light as the song segues into a megamix of “Black or White.”
If tagging the nearest T station after midnight strikes you as a risky form of artistic expression, just imagine whipping out your paint and unleashing your graffiti upon the mean streets of São Paulo, a city notorious for its police brutality and corruption. That’s where the world-famous street-artist duo Os Gêmeos — “The Twins” in Portuguese — daringly honed their handiwork. Identical twin brothers Gustavo and Otávio Pandolfo began adding their paintjobs to buildings in 1987, when hip-hop culture and breakdancing were sweeping Brazil. After years of speedy getaways and a chance meeting with renowned San Francisco painter Barry McGee, whose scrapbook of American graffiti photos proved a major influence, the twins quit their banking day jobs to focus on art full-time. Drawing on their dreams, the urban energy of their São Paulo neighborhood, and rural traditions like folk art and Carnival, they create everything from small tags to huge, complex murals, many depicting yellowskinned, hoodie-clad youth who leave their own mark on innumerable city surfaces. Now, after more than two decades of activity, Os Gêmeos will get their first US solo exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art (100 Northern Avenue, Boston, 617.478.3100). Running August 1 through November 25, the show should allow ample time to gather inspiration for your own buildingbeautification projects. Don’t worry: your secret is safe with us.
— M.H.
ItĂs a religious experience.
GETpretty Pretty Projects Try your hand (or nails?) at DIY treatments The phrase “DIY project” usually makes us think of beautifying our homes — maybe refinishing a bookcase or repainting a wall. (Ah, the glamour.) But the DIY philosophy is also transforming beauty routines. Whether we’re layering on the perfect gel polish or giving ourselves a gorgeous blowout, we’re taking matters into our own self-manicured hands and tackling treatments once reserved for the pros. “It’s not about the money. It’s about the time,” says Amy Chien Bailey, a busy mom and owner of The Beauty Mark, a Beacon Hill cosmetics boutique. Being professionally pampered is a beautiful thing, when you can swing it, but those with busy schedules sometimes find it easier to squeeze in an athome version of their favorite treatment. “I’ve been trying to get into the salon for the past month, but I can’t just go when I want to,” Bailey says. “If I can’t fit it in, I would do it myself.” “The do-it-yourself trend is big now. It’s allowing people to be more creative,” adds Michelle Lee, co-owner and manager of Salon Eva Michelle (118 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.262.8118). The salon now offers an hourlong one-on-one blowout class, sharing secrets straight from the stylist’s chair so you can perfect your own at-home blowouts. And DIY trends like hair chalking (one of our Hot 100 entries — see page 37) allow you to put a unique spin on your style. Of course, you shouldn’t have to sacrifice salon quality in at-home attempts. So we found a few products that replicate professional-level services for every beautiful part of your body — and provide easy entry points to the DIY domain.
— Cheryl Fenton
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• If you have steady-enough hands to give yourself a manicure, master the art of making lasts-for-ages gel nails with the new Red Carpet Manicure Pro 45 Starter Kit. This four-step process creates gel nails that maintain the same no-chip quality of salon manicures. The Pro 45 light cures color in just 45 seconds, and the gel formulas are user-friendly enough for first-timers. Available at Ulta (15 Mystic View Road, Everett, 617.381.0040) for $79.99, the starter kit also comes with tough-asnails polish remover. • Much as we’d love to hit Los Angeles’s Kinara spa and gossip with Halle Berry while getting side-by-side treatments, adding airfare to our salon bill seems a little over-the-top. At least we can rely on Kinara’s at-home Red Carpet Facial Kit. It touts the same results as the LA spot’s famous facial, a glitterati favorite. The facial peel refines texture with lactic and malic acids, while the neutralizer deep cleans with an intense tingle. Finish up with the polishing mask to hydrate and soothe. Swing by The Beauty Mark (33 Charles Street, Boston, 617.720.1555) to pick up a kit for $150 — and get ready for your close-up. • We’ve previously written about the potential anti-aging benefits of red-light therapy. But instead of paying big bucks to hit the local red-light booth several times a week, consider investing in the hand-held Tanda Luxe, whose LED bulbs deliver concentrated beams of red light for DIY phototherapy. Wash skin, strap on the goggles, and then treat fine lines and brighten your complexion with two threeminute weekly sessions. The Tanda Luxe also boasts a vibrating massage head, something the bed lacks. This red-hot technology is available at Nordstrom (Natick Mall, 290 Speen Street, Natick, 508.318.2600) for $195. • It takes time to master, but with practice the Temptu AIRbrush Makeup System delivers flawless coverage you thought only a makeup artist could achieve. Attach the AIRpod to your AIRbrush, turn the dial to your desired coverage level (from sheer to heavy), and squeeze the trigger to apply foundation, blush, or highlights. You can also airbrush on a sun-kissed tan and camouflage spider veins or bruises. Find the system at Temptu.com for $225. • You know what makes us smile? The idea of not sitting in a dentist’s chair. The light-activation technology of the Luster 1 Hour White system brightens your notso-pearly whites up to six shades in one hour, minus any pesky tooth sensitivity. No, it’s not the same light intensity as in-office treatments, but it uses similar technology and claims professional results. Bonus: the included Super Whitening Gel and Accelerator Mouth Rinse boost the whitening process. It’s available at most drugstores for $31.99.
An exclusive styling and finishing line that turns a daily moment into a moment of well being. BY Framesi is available at
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New Davis Square location opening in September!
GETOUT FRIDAY, AUGUST 3 We may have tweaked our neck vertebrae at yoga class, but after one look at the Floorlords’ 31st Anniversary contestants and their gravity-defying moves, the physical dangers of downward dog suddenly seem quite inconsequential. On August 3–5, the legendary local crew’s stomach-churning showdown will have Boston’s best breakdancers competing for cash prizes and the illustrious honor that comes with being able to spin like a human dreidel using only one’s scalp muscles. The event will feature fresh beats from local DJs and even open workshops, where brave souls can try their own hands — or heads? — at breakdancing. You can find the full schedule at floorlords.com, but the weekend kicks off at Hibernian Hall (184 Dudley Street, Roxbury) on Friday at 7 p.m. The cover is $10 at the door.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 4
TUESDAY, JULY 31 If your band decides to borrow the name of Greek mythology’s most fearsome god, one thing is certain: you’d better sound good. Thankfully, we’d imagine even the Big Guy himself would be tapping his sandal-clad toes to Zeus. This Canadian foursome pounced onto the scene in 2009 with pin-wheeling, overdriven guitar jams that sound like what Neil Young might compose if he ever picked up a Devo album. Their sophomore album, Busting Visions, hit stores in March, so expect Zeus to showcase new bangers like “Are You Gonna Waste My Time?” when they headline an 8:30 p.m. show at T.T. the Bear’s Place (10 Brookline Street, Cambridge, 617.492.0082). Grab tickets ($10) at ticketweb.com.
We don’t remember much of our last visit to Rio, other than waking up naked on a beach with a pounding headache and a collection of new piercings that even Lady Gaga would consider “a bit much.” So this year, we’re getting our Brazilian fix closer to home, amid the cushy comforts of the Ocean Club at Marina Bay (333 Victory Road, Quincy, 617.689.0600). Pay a vicarious visit to the South American country when the waterfront lounge hosts Brazilian Style, an 8 p.m. bash with big beats from Brazilian turntable master Tomate. For tickets ($59), check out wantickets.com.
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 1
THURSDAY, AUGUST 2
SUNDAY, AUGUST 5
We’ve got a hunch that Kevin Micka, the brain behind Animal Hospital Ensemble, spent much of his childhood wandering the zoo. Like Mother Nature with her menagerie of bleating beasts, the colorful compositions of the Jamaica Plain–based musician teem with wild sounds: unchained guitar riffs, looping medleys, and earth-shaking percussive breakdowns. Now, after years of studio tinkering, Micka will perform his dizzying tracks live at the Museum of Fine Arts (465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, 617.267.9300) while flanked by a staggering 30-piece band. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. in the open-air Calderwood Courtyard. Grab tickets ($16–$20) at mfa.org.
Literature has Aesop, the (supposed) storyteller behind dozens of fables with pretty clearcut morals. (“The Goose That Laid the Golden Eggs”? Greed equals bad. We get it.) But rap has Aesop Rock, an artist known for his more abstract lyrics. He’s emerged as a master of batshit, absurdist hiphop, busting stupefying rhymes on cuts like “None Shall Pass” and “Daylight.” The San Francisco altrapper took a lengthy hiatus starting in 2007, but now he’s back in bizarre form with his brand-new album, Skelethon. Catch Aesop strutting his stuff in Boston when he plays a 7:30 p.m. show at the Paradise Rock Club (967 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, 617.562.8800). Grab tickets ($18) at ticketmaster.com.
We went into mourning when Lost went off the air in 2010. (No more distraction from crash-surviving
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castaways? We’ll have to fold laundry!) But our loss pales in comparison to the tragedy suffered in Be a Good Little Widow, the debut production of new Boston theater company AIM Stage. The play follows a young widow named Melody whose husband has been killed in a plane crash — and who struggles to mourn in a manner her “professional widow” mother-inlaw deems appropriate. Seesawing between tears of anguish and of laughter, the show will play on August 2–5 and August 9–12 at the Davis Square Theatre (255 Elm Street, Somerville, 617.684.5335). Grab the Kleenex, and find tickets ($20) and show times at brownpapertickets.com.
MONDAY, AUGUST 6 If there’s one thing you can count on August to yield, it’s a downpour of down-home reggae beats. Late summer is already stacked with soulful gatherings for genre fans, from Colorado’s Reggae on the Rocks to Rhode Island’s Newport Waterfront Reggae Festival. And to prepare for the latter, we’ll be swinging by the Phoenix Landing (512 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, 617.576.6260) for Makka Monday. Each weekly ode to Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, and other guitar-slapping stars features DJ Uppercut and Voyager:01 spinning a burnin’ bevy of classic and contemporary reggae hits, engineered for a serious dance-floor inferno. Doors are at 10 p.m., and the cover is $7.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 7 We’d love to island-hop through Polynesia, but we sadly aren’t quite equipped to stage our very own sequel to Eat, Pray, Love. So until continued on p24
aesop rock
GETOUT continued FROM p22
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 8 A lot can change in 26 years: it’s the difference between the adorably chubby cheeks of infancy and the anxiety-inducing sighting of a first gray hair. (Not that we would know!) Luckily, after more than two decades and several member shakeups, Sebadoh still consistently delivers the lo-fi guitar-rock goods. The band originally formed in 1986 in Westfield, Massachusetts, but with fuzzy shoegazerock numbers like “On Fire,” they’ve managed to influence plenty of nationally known indie acts. (Pavement, anyone?) Now, nine albums and as many lives later, Sebadoh is back in its “classic” trio lineup and ready to swing by the Middle East Downstairs (480 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, 617.864.3278) for a 9 p.m. show. Grab tickets ($20) at ticketweb.com.
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we’ve saved the necessary green for an exotic escape, we’ll content ourselves with venturing to Tiki Tuesdays, a recently launched weekly installment at the Charles Hotel’s Noir (1 Bennett Street, Cambridge, 617.661.8010). Running through September, the series features sounds and spirits of the tropics, from the Caribbean to the South Pacific. Expect live music and tasty Tiki libations, including classic recipes from the days of Don the Beachcomber and Trader Vic as well as originals concocted by the evening’s host, local music and mixology legend Brother Cleve. Admission is free, and Cleve keeps the fires burning from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 9 Charles Busch is a man of few inhibitions. The acclaimed New York playwright, performer, and screenwriter has chronicled the lives of vampire lesbians (Vampire Lesbians of Sodom), slashed hapless surfers into a bloody mess (Psycho Beach Party), and done much of it in drag. So we’re excited
to take in The Third Story. Busch’s scintillating triple narrative nods to witchcraft, gangster movies, and Hollywood’s Red Scare. After premiering in La Jolla in 2008, the play hit NYC in 2009 with Kathleen Turner and Busch himself in pivotal roles. Now it’s in the hands of Titanic Theatre Company, a new local stage collective dedicated to edgy contemporary work. The Third Story opens at 7:30 p.m. tonight in the Black Box Theater at the Arsenal Center for the Arts (321 Arsenal Street, Watertown, 617.923.8487) and runs through August 18. Find tickets ($10–$20) at arsenalarts.org.
FRIDAY, AUGUST 10 If you’ve already breezed through our Hot 100 feature, you know about the resurgence of ’90s bands sweeping the tour scene. Want to experience a sonic flashback firsthand? Swing by House of Blues (15 Lansdowne Street, Boston, 888.693.2583), where SoCal rock trio Eve 6 will play a benefit concert for the Massachusetts Iraq and Afghanistan Fallen Heroes
GETOUT eve 6
Memorial Fund. All proceeds support the fund, so while you’re swaying to “Here’s to the Night” and drifting back to your 2001 prom after-party, know that the nostalgia trip is for a good cause. Like, totally awesome. The show starts at 7 p.m., and tickets ($50) are available at livenation.com.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 11 Skinny jeans, Buddy Holly glasses, a striped sweater, and a winter hat worn without regard to weather: if
you ask us, the titular character of those Where’s Waldo? books fits the description of your average Somerville hipster. But it’s Faneuil Hall we’ll hit at 12:30 p.m. for the Where’s Waldo? Crawl, organized by Crawl in Boston to celebrate everyone’s favorite spectacled (and strangely elusive!) traveler. This lager-soaked tour of Boston’s brew houses will see hundreds of red-andwhite-striped crawlers gallivanting around the area. Bring your thirst, a $5 donation for the education
nonprofit Jumpstart, and your best Waldo costume: this is the one time showing up in the same outfit as a fellow partygoer is completely acceptable. Check out the full schedule at crawlinboston.com.
for the all-inclusive trip ($80), visit culinaryfishingtryst.eventbrite.com. More of a landlubber? Just skip straight to dinner, available à la carte for $38.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 12
When it comes to musical tales of botched sex changes (which is admittedly a short list), John Cameron Mitchell’s Hedwig and the Angry Inch is the gold standard. But if you only know the 2001 film version, inch on over to OBERON (2 Arrow Street, Cambridge, 617.496.8004), where Rose Tinted Productions will stage the story of Hansel Schmidt, an East German boy reborn as a transgender rock star after a failed operation leaves him in below-the-belt limbo. With a killer guitar-filled soundtrack and alternately hysterical and heartbreaking writing, Hedwig still holds the power to bring down the house. The show starts at 8 p.m. on August 13, 14, 20, and 21. Find tickets ($20–$25) at cluboberon.com.
New Englanders love a seafood dinner, but few can say they’ve actually braved the high seas for their supper. (To be fair, navigating the T with a shopping bag of stinky salmon has earned us some pretty dangerous glares.) But now adventurous diners can get a taste of the great blue yonder with A Culinary Fishing Trip, an excursion dreamed up by chef Paul Turano of Tryst. After departing from Walsh’s Deep Sea Fishing (76 Marine Boulevard, Lynn, 781.596.3474) at 8 a.m., you’ll set off for five hours of fishing. Then it’s back to the mainland to enjoy the fruits — uh, fish — of your labor at Tryst (689 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington, 781.641.2227), which will serve up a delicious three-course seafood dinner from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. To reserve a spot
MONDAY, AUGUST 13
— Miles Howard
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tyle
Do Your Whites All those in favor of wearing white after Labor Day, say aye. (“Aye!”) We wish the judgmental style juries of yesteryear could see today’s runways, which have largely eradicated the idea that post-holiday whites are a fashion faux pas. But if you’re still nervous about breaking with tradition, use striking accessories for just a cool, clean pop of white. Whether found in a chunky lacquer necklace or a textured clutch, white always adds a timeless elegance — and you now have carte blanche to wear it all year long.
— Lauryn Joseph
WHERE TO SHOP
Clockwise from top left: Radà fringe necklace, $275 at Calypso; Kate Spade “Rock the Casbah” clutch, $148 at Nordstrom; “Nantucket Evenings” bracelet, $58, and “Snow White” bracelet, $78, both at Isabel Harvey; “Rockstud” wallet, $525 at Valentino; “Winter Solstice” oval ring, $15 at Jenny Boston; “Chain of Love” bracelets, $58 each at Isabel Harvey; Michael Kors “Griffin” retro sunglasses, $105 at Nordstrom; Frye “Veronica” shortie, $287.95 at Nordstrom; “Lunar Eclipse” necklace, $24 at Jenny Boston
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Calypso, 114 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.421.1887 Isabel Harvey, 41 Central Street, Wellesley, 781.237.3038 Jenny Boston, 117 Trapelo Road, Belmont, 617.489.2451 Nordstrom, Natick Mall, 290 Speen Street, Natick, 508.318.2600 Valentino, 47 Newbury Street, Boston, 617.578.0300 Producer: Lauryn Joseph Photographer: Danny Kim of Visceral Photography Stylist: Melissa Dunne of Team
HOT100:2012 <28> 7.31.12
What do gourmet burgers, thigh-high hemlines, and paint-splattered parties have in common? They’re all adding a little extra sizzle to our summer. Each year, we rally a roundtable of contributors to take the temperature of trends in dining, fashion, pop culture — you name it. Then we narrow down our observations to 100 undeniably “hot” people, places, and phenomena. Here’s the result: your guide to everything — and everyone — you need to know to be a well-informed urbanite. We know it’s already been a scorcher of a summer (cough, global warming, cough), but that’s no excuse to not bone up on the best that Boston has to offer. Afterwards, you can always cool off with a quick swim or an ice-cold treat. So dive on in — at the very least, you’ll discover just what to order from the pool bar.
photo by conor doherty
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HOT100:2012 HOT COMING ATTRACTIONS
Locally Filmed Flicks We were psyched to see Ted take the American box office by storm in July, but we’re excited that next year, the world will get a glimpse of Boston that moves beyond bong-ripping teddy bears and Mark Wahlberg (much as we love Mahky Mahk). Filming now in Roxbury is Paul Feig’s The Heat, a buddy-cop comedy that pairs Sandra Bullock with Bridesmaids scene-stealer Melissa McCarthy. Acclaimed action auteur and Bourne Ultimatum helmer Paul Greengrass is also stopping by Boston to film certain land-based scenes for his upcoming Somali pirate thriller, Captain Phillips, which features Tom Hanks in the title role. Even the South Shore gets a day in the spotlight, with Wareham’s Water Wizz water park serving as a backdrop for The Way, Way Back, a coming-of-age story starring local guy Steve Carell and conceived by the Oscar-winning writers of The Descendants. A few purely popcorn flicks are filming too (like Adam Sandler’s Grown Ups 2), but these ones have us really buttered up.
HOT SKIN SHOW-OFFS
Shorter Men’s Shorts Sorry, gents, but the heyday of long, ill-fitted shorts expired alongside puka-shell necklaces and eyebrow piercing. In spring/summer 2012 collections at Milan’s Men’s Fashion Week, designers like Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, and Louis Vuitton strutted their short shorts, which hit mid to high thigh. The California-based men’s line Chubbies (chubbiesshorts.com) is sweeping the university set — especially in college towns like
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Boston — thanks to a network of “campus ambassadors” spreading the gospel of the brand’s high hemlines and preppy, Ivy Leaguer aesthetic. South End shop Uniform (591 Tremont Street, Boston, 617.247.2360) spotlights the trend with buys from Original Penguin and Scotch & Soda; it also stocks reversible shorts that look good cuffed, ideal for those still experimenting with shorter shorts. And guys who need help gauging how to work their gams should stop by Back Bay’s new Bonobos (85 Newbury Street, Boston, 857.263.7340), only the second brick-and-mortar “guideshop” for the perfect-fit-focused online retailer and WASP fave, to get a showroom-style personal sizing appointment.
HOT VEGAN HAVEN
Allston’s Union Square The last 12 months have given vegans and vegetarians plenty to chew on, from the opening of Cambridge diner and bakery Veggie Galaxy to new outposts of Clover and Life Alive. But if local herbivores have a headquarters, it’s at the corner of Cambridge and North Beacon streets, home to gourmet vegan pizza place Peace o’ Pie (487 Cambridge Street, Allston, 617.787.9884), vegan Asian kitchen Grasshopper Restaurant (1 North Beacon Street, Allston, 617.254.8883), and now alternative ice creamery and café FoMu (481 Cambridge Street, Allston, 617.903.3276). Opened in late May, it serves coconut-based (and therefore vegan) ice “cream” in enticing flavors like bananas Foster, Dark & Stormy, Thai peanut, and salted caramel, all locally made, CHUBBIES
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MIXX free of refined sugar, and delicious enough to convert skeptical omnivores. Pretty sweet.
but beer and pretzels? It’s the stuff of dreams. Sven and Hans, get thee to Boston; we’ll save you a seat.
HOT HOPS
HOT AND CRISPY
Harpoon Brewery’s Beer Hall Brew bros, your moment has arrived. If you’ve ever fantasized about pulling up a seat at a Munich beer hall and clanking steins with fellow strapping suds lovers named Sven and Hans, well — here’s a start, at least. The Hub’s own Harpoon Brewery plans to open a 300-seat Bavarian-style beer hall on Northern Avenue. It’s part of the brewery’s $3.5 million expansion project, which also includes plans to purchase new high-tech machinery and enlarge its visitors’ center. Blahblah-freaking-blah. Back to the beer hall: imagine a huge space filled with kettles, fermenters, and long tables lined with jolly brew-swilling patrons. Need something to soak up the suds? The hall is expected to serve one (count ’em, one) form of edible: oversized pretzels. A Seaport venue dedicated to nothing
New Slices of Bacon For what now feels like forever, bacon has been riding a trendy bandwagon, making stops at gourmet dinners, ice-cream counters, and even craft breweries. (To be honest, we preferred the idea of Rogue’s Voodoo Doughnut Bacon Maple Ale to the actual drink.) But some of Boston’s innovative food pros are giving bacon (not to mention actual oinkers) a new lease on life by styling strips out of other meats — and even veggies. For a Mediterranean flavor, chef Mark Goldberg of PARK (59 JFK Street, Cambridge 617.491.9851) offers house-cured lamb bacon, finished with feta and black olives. Chef Michael Leviton of Lumière (1293 Washington Street, Newton, 617.244.9199) creates grass-fedbeef bacon, lovingly smoked. And chef Brian Poe tops his potato
journalist Tom Brokaw, and author and food activist Michael Pollan were in the 2011–2012 lineup. Next season’s roster of intellectual superstars includes Bill Clinton and former Mexican president Vicente Fox. Scope the full list at bostonspeakersseries.org.
HOT DIY Dessert
skins with no fewer than seven bacon varieties, including boar, at his Tip Tap Room (138 Cambridge Street, Boston, 857.263.7614). Even vegetarians can get a piece of the action, thanks to chef Dave Becker of Sweet Basil (942 Great Plain Avenue, Needham, 781.444.9600), whose crunchy eggplant is made zippy with tomato and soy accents.
spirit, guests will relax in a private reception area before entering the main space, and there will also be a separate compartmentalized room for perm and relaxing treatments, equipped with a special ventilation system to handle any fumes. And to think, some of us are just hoping our next apartment has counter space for a Keurig.
ONE HOT MOVE
HOT TALK
Avanti Salon As much as you may love a home, eventually the time comes when you need to find bigger digs. And who can blame the folks at Avanti for taking up residence at 20 Newbury Street (above Armani) in early August? The new salon will boast around 3,500 square feet; that’s about 1,000 more than their existing location at 11 Newbury. Twelve stations will provide plenty of workspace for the team’s trademark cuts, but Avanti will be adding a pretty robust suite of new services: manicures, pedicures, facials, waxing, and massages. In a spa-like top photo by gina manning
The Boston Speakers Series In an era of abbreviated sound bites and 140-character cyber-blurts, we often lament the loss of robust live discussion and protracted speech. (The world’s important issues can’t be reduced to a text or a tweet.) So call us geeks if you want, but we hung on every word uttered during the Boston Speakers Series at Symphony Hall, which wrapped its inaugural season in April. World leaders and sundry distinguished personalities swung through Boston to make their voices heard. Pulitzer Prize–winning author David McCullough, renowned
Self-Serve Fro Yo When you want something done right, sometimes you’ve got to do it yourself. That’s the philosophy at an increasing number of Boston frozen-yogurt shops, which are handing spoons over to us so we can create customized treats. First was Berry Freeze (273 Harvard Street, Brookline, 617.738.3300), where we can smother our chocolate fro yo with crushed Oreos and Cocoa Puffs. Then came Mixx (66 Brighton Avenue, Allston, 617.782.6499), YoBro (141 Cypress Street, Brookline, 617.879.0649), and, last but not least, Zinga! (508 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, 857.263.8496), which opened in Kenmore Square this winter and offers unique “bottomz” — sturdy fro-yo foundations made of freshly baked cake, brownie, or waffle cone. More DIY destinations are in the works, and we dig the endless possibilities offered by all those topping bars. But beware the heavy hand: self-serve is usually priced by weight.
HOT HEMLINE
The Mullet Finally, there’s a hemline for the indecisive fashionista: the mullet skirt, as seen on the runways of edgy industry veterans like Donna Karan, Lanvin, and Jason Wu. Like its namesake hairstyle, the mullet is short up front and long in the back. (Trust us, this looks far better on a hemline than on a hillbilly.) It’s the best of both worlds, combining the sexiness of a mini skirt with the modesty of a maxi skirt — and it’s flattering on almost all body shapes and sizes. The mullet’s high-low mix adds instant drama and beautiful balance. And best of all, it works for day and night wear: you can don this skirt to hit the clubs until the wee hours, and then pick it up off the floor for brunch the next morning.
HOT HAIR CUTTER
Mitt Romney’s Belmont Stylist His policy stances seem fairly — ahem, adaptable. But there’s
one thing about Mitt Romney that doesn’t change with the winds: his hair. From his time as Massachusetts’s governor to his current presidential run, Romney has boasted the same signature flawless coiffure. (The style is so distinctive that it has its own Facebook page.) And for more than two decades, Belmont stylist Leon de Magistris has been the man behind the mane. The Italian immigrant owns salon Leon & Co. (84 Leonard Street, Belmont, 617.484.4777), where, if you long to look like this longtime client, you can ask for the cut by name: The Mitt. According to a New York Times article, the barber — who is also the father of Dante de Magistris, chefowner of Restaurant dante and il Casale — has urged the pol to try a more natural, tousled look. Romney has always demurred. Must be the conservative streak.
HOT FROM 9 TO 5
Shared Office Space Once upon a time, startup companies and independent workers struggled in solitude, gamely making a go from barebones home offices. (Read: bed.) But today, with more professionals choosing (or being forced) to eschew corporate rigidity in favor of entrepreneurial ventures, many more-amenable, shared spaces have sprung up to offer the resources of larger office settings: there’s Oficio in the Back Bay, WorkBar and Space with a Soul in the Seaport, and Cambridge Innovation Center in Kendall Square. They offer desk space, equipment, meeting rooms, and packed schedules of networking and social events — and frequently, you’ll find free snacks and coffee, too. (A must for any office.) And in May, ground was broken on the $5.5 million Boston Innovation Center on the South Boston waterfront, a 12,000-square-foot facility that will have meeting and event spaces, video studios, and even a test kitchen. We smell a creative economy cooking.
HOT HAND décor
Nail Art At first we were nervous about nail art seeing a resurrection in 2012. After all, it usually brings to mind nightmares of early-’90s mall rats with poofy bangs and trashy tank tops. But then we got a look at the continued on p32
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slated to open this fall. He promises “modern American, seasonal New England food,” plus a 10-person oyster and charcuterie bar. Hopes are high. Gilson says it’s because he’ll bring a unique evening concept to a lunch-heavy neighborhood. “This will be casual fine dining,” he says, “with a comprehensive cheese and pastry list.” And, thanks to the young chef’s heavy Twitter presence and industry support, which have kept him in the local scene’s spotlight even while between projects, Gilson has plenty of buzz on his side.
HOT CULINARY COMEBACK — WELL, SORT OF
macarons at the hawthorne bold patterns and popular looks that are part of the revival. If we’re feeling nautical, we can add an anchor or stripes. If we’re feeling frisky, leopard patterns are made easy with sticker varieties, like Sally Hansen Real Nail Polish Strips. The ombré trend, oh-so-hot for hair, has made its way to our fingertips via gradating colors and designs. And nail art has come a long way since the tacky jewel embellishments of junior-prom fame. Crushed gemstones, metal foils, and “caviar” beads offer more ways to trim our tips. We didn’t think we’d say it, but this trend nails it.
HOT COOKIE
Cocktail Macarons Cocktail snacks are so predictable. Peanuts? Yawn. Wasabi peas? We’re over them. But The Hawthorne (500A Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, 617.532.9150) has introduced us to some clever confections that are as exciting as the beverages they complement: cocktail macarons. Pastry chef Lauren Kroesser collaborated with the Hawthorne’s bar star, Jackson Cannon, to create special cocktailinspired macaron flavors: mojito, Sazerac, strawberry daiquiri, and Dark ’n’ Stormy are just a few of about a dozen that are already available. (And expect the list to continue growing.) Thanks to the Hawthorne’s new nibbles, we can <32> 7.31.12
pair our actual libations with an edible version — and really make it a double.
HOT DRINKING BUDDIES
Sam Adams and Berkshire Mountain Distillers Beer is the Rolling Stones of drinks. It is suitable for any occasion, varies radically in style, and never goes out of fashion. So who would mess with it? We’ll tell you: every single whiskey distiller. Whiskey is essentially distilled beer, albeit generally a rather light one that probably wouldn’t be meant for drinking. It makes perfect sense, then, that a Massachusetts craft distillery and a local craft brewer would collaborate. Chris Weld, founder of Berkshire Mountain Distillers, tapped Samuel Adams founder Jim Koch to help create two new whiskeys, one made from Samuel Adams Boston Lager and another made from Cinder Bock, a limited-edition brew. Weld distilled thousands of gallons at his Great Barrington facility, and the result is presently aging in wooden barrels. Expect a Sam Adams whiskey taste test sometime in 2015. A wise man once crooned: “You can’t always get what you want.” Yeah, right.
HOT FLASH OF SKIN
The Upper Midriff Dolce & Gabbana and Prada have gone retro this season, offering
spring/summer collections that flaunt the exposed upper midriff made popular by pin-up girls, rockabillies, and ’50s-era jet-setting socialites. Everyone from Miley Cyrus to Gwyneth Paltrow has been baring skin in high-waisted skirts and pants topped with barely-there bustiers and cropped blouses. Fortunately, here’s one skin-flashing fashion trend that doesn’t require rock-hard abs to pull off. (Although that never hurts!) This silhouette is slimming, creating the illusion of a small waistline and killer curves while keeping muffin-top in check. Just be sure to keep the bottom half of the outfit modest: pair the exposed upper midriff with loosefitting, tailored trousers or a ladylike skirt that is at least knee length — go too tight or too short, and you’ll look like an extra from a Britney Spears music video.
HOT CULINARY COMEBACK
Chef Will Gilson’s bridgestreet Gilson spent a year in selfproclaimed “culinary purgatory” after leaving Cambridge gastropub Garden at the Cellar in 2011, a move that left his fans heartbroken. For a while he helmed a pop-up at Adrian’s in Truro and pitched in at the Herb Lyceum, his family’s restaurant and farm in Groton. Now he’s putting down roots in Inman Square with bridgestreet (1164 Cambridge Street, Cambridge),
Chef Todd English’s Olives Some say you can’t count on Todd English. But you can’t count him out, either. The bad news: English’s tourist-centric Kingfish Hall has abruptly closed amid allegations that he left the place an unsightly mess and owes thousands in unpaid dues to the Faneuil Hall Marketplace Merchants Association. The good news: English has (finally!) returned to his roots with the reopening of Olives (10 City Square, Charlestown, 617.242.1999), his flagship restaurant that was shuttered — and, for a while, seemingly abandoned — after a fire. Now the restaurant is back in full swing, with a focus on Mediterranean small plates and an expanded bar area. A steady stream of regulars is again flocking to pay homage to the celebrity chef. Is English finally speaking Boston’s language again? Kingfish Hall’s sudden closure left a bad taste in our mouths. But with Olives on the upswing, here’s hoping.
HOT RABBLE-ROUSER Future Boston Alliance This year Future Boston Alliance (FBA), a nonprofit founded by Karmaloop kingpin Greg Selkoe, hit the gas on efforts to create a hipper and more innovative Hub for young professionals and artists. FBA is concerned that Boston loses too much of its creative workforce to cities that offer a more vibrant urban culture. So it recently launched a startup accelerator program to help savvy entrepreneurs develop and implement business plans. It also picked a public fight with Mayor Menino, depicting him in an FBA-made video as a City Hall stick-in-the-mud emblematic of a photo by janice checchio
staid civic power structure. Politico and media reactions to FBA have largely focused on the group’s ancillary efforts to encourage later closing times for nightclubs and subway service. But reducing FBA to a nightlife lobby is dodging a more nuanced conversation about Boston’s culture and whether enough is being done to attract and retain young talent. Props to FBA for starting a dialogue; we hope it keeps going.
HOT BOX
The Gardner Museum’s Calderwood Hall The dreamy palazzo-style building Isabella Stewart Gardner once called home stood solo for more than a century. Then, in January, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (280 The Fenway, Boston, 617.566.1401) unveiled a shiny new sibling, the brainchild of acclaimed Italian architect Renzo Piano. Eleven years in the making, the Gardner’s new wing offers a modern, airy, sun-soaked counterpoint to the adjoining original (which remains fundamentally unchanged, per its founder’s strict stipulations). The project more than doubled the museum’s size, adding a contemporary special-exhibition gallery, conservation and education spaces, a cozy living-room-style visitors’ area, a greenhouse, twin artist-in-residence apartments, and more. Its crown jewel? We’d have to say that’s Calderwood Hall, a 6,000-square-foot venue for the Gardner’s expanded concert programming that features to-diefor acoustics from Japanese soundsmith Yasuhisa Toyota. The ceiling of the striking cube-like space soars 42 feet high, and its three balconies offer unique seating arrangements: each contains just one row of seats, so hundreds of concert-goers can enjoy a front-row view. Sounds like music to our ears.
HOT AND SKY-HIGH
Skirt Slits We owe Angelina an apology. We were among those chuckling at Ms. Jolie during that memeworthy moment at the Academy Awards when she stuck out her leg from a sky-high slit like she was displaying her Oscar. Turns out, she was just ahead of the trend. Va-va-voom vertical slits have since sexed up the runways of Prabal Gurung and Monique Lhuillier, and photo by nic lehoux
other celebs like Kristen Stewart and Jennifer Lawrence have been spotted following in Jolie’s stilettoed footsteps. We do love these slits’ ability to teeter between modest and unabashed: with just a single jut, your gams go from simply glam to “hot as hell and here to party.”
HOT HISTORY LESSON
Mass General’s New Medical Museum Fortunately for all of us, medical technology has leapt forward in the century and a half since William T.G. Morton performed the world’s first public surgery using ether in Massachusetts General Hospital’s surgical amphitheater (now called the Ether Dome). To celebrate these advances (and to remind us why we should never again complain about the relatively minor discomfort of the old “turn your head and cough” routine), MGH created the new
Paul S. Russell, MD Museum of Medical History and Innovation (2 North Grove Street, Boston, 617.724.8009), which opened in April. The 7,800-square-foot museum features relics like the glass-and-brass inhaler thought to be the one used in that historic ether surgery, as well as slasherflick-worthy drills and saws used for brain surgery in the 19th century and, on a slightly less scary note, a cross that Florence Nightingale gave to the director of the MGH Training School for Nurses. All we can say is, thank God for progress.
HOT AND HISTORICAL
Old-timey Cooking Move over, molecular gastronomy: futuristic foams seem passé as chefs increasingly look back — way back — for culinary inspiration. Consider the “time-honored The gardner museum’s calderwood hall
cookery” at Kitchen (560 Tremont Street, Boston, 617.695.1250), the latest venture from chef Scott Herritt of Marliave and Grotto, who spent thousands on antique cookbooks; now his new South End spot offers fare like the Grand Sallet (circa 1638) and Tornedos Rossini (circa 1833). Meanwhile, Cuisine en Locale’s locavore chefs teamed up with Terroir Studio’s event curators for the Culinary Heirloom Project (culinaryheirloomproject.com), which staged its first throwback feast in May. Drawing on the epic culinary collection at Harvard’s Schlesinger Library, they served a Mother’s Day tea using recipes from 1890 to 1932, all found in the letters and diaries of a single Massachusetts family. And in July, while the tall ships were in town for the War of 1812’s 200th anniversary, chef Matt Piuma of The Living Room (101 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, 617.723.5101) created a modern (and more appetizing) reimagining of the early-19th-century sailor’s staples of hardtack, salt pork, and dried peas. The trend dovetails with the farm-to-table movement and the resurgence of heritage breeds and heirloom veggies, channeling food’s pre-industrial past. We bet Boston will eat it up.
FILE UNDER: HOT
GIF Clips A picture is worth a thousand words, so maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that GIF images, presently the digital darling of Tumblr, have proven so effective at expressing our Internet-age emotions. The moving, multi-second clips, often culled from movie and TV scenes, are used to wordlessly convey situational humor. Though #WhatShouldWeCallMe (whatshouldwecallme.tumblr.com) is credited with jumpstarting the meme, there’s now a GIF-loaded, inside-joke-laden Tumblr for every occupation, demographic, and location. Among those Bostonians will appreciate is Gif Hub of the Universe (gifhuboftheuniverse .tumblr.com), where clips from The Simpsons, Jersey Shore, and Star Wars describe reactions to the MBTA, Boston Common food trucks, and the Red Sox. Give a quick Google to find collegespecific sites dedicated to Harvard, BC, and BU. And for a funny nicheoriented approach, scope The continued on p34
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HOT100:2012 Boston Gays (thebostongays .tumblr.com), where Beyoncé videos and Real Housewives clips are used to wax on everything from the local bar scene to national politics. #CallUsEntertained.
HOT UGLY BEAUTY INGREDIENT
Mushrooms We already know a few creative uses for ’shrooms. We won’t mention those: what happens at Burning Man stays at Burning Man. However, let’s discuss our recent discovery of mushrooms’ role as a secret ingredient in a number of beauty products. We shouldn’t be surprised, since mushrooms are high in vitamin D and antioxidants. That’s made them key in products that reduce redness, prevent the effects of aging, and promote smooth skin, like Clinique’s Redness Solutions Makeup, and in Smashbox’s Photo Finish Targeted Pore and Line Primer, which contains ultramoisturizing Chinese mushroom extract. And by the way, we’re not just talking about fancy truffles — many treatments, like Aveeno’s Positively Ageless Night Cream and Murad’s Age-Diffusing Serum, use garden-variety mushrooms like the shiitake, which is known to exfoliate, increase elasticity, reduce inflammation, and fade sun spots and acne scars. Mushrooms may not be pretty, but they’re sure helping us look that way.
Hot Big-Box buys
Polka Dog Bakery and PATCH NYC Once upon a time, Target was the type of place you would only venture to for bundles of paper towels or a retro Mountain Dew
T-shirt. (Hey, it was cheaper than the Urban Outfitters version!) But lately, the megastore has not only launched buzz-worthy collaborations with the likes of Jason Wu and Missoni, but has also turned its eye to artful indie products, giving specialty stores from select cities nationwide exposure through the new program dubbed The Shops at Target. And not one, but two of our favorite Boston boutiques were in Target’s crosshairs: South End décor and gift mecca PATCH NYC and canine-confection purveyor Polka Dog Bakery. Polka Dog’s signature biscuits and doggie dishes hit Target locations this spring, and you can look for PATCH NYC’s latest home collection — designed specifically for this promotion — on shelves in September.
HOT AND HARD
Hard Cider Cider has long been perceived as nothing more than a beer-hater’s beer substitute: sweeter relief from a brew’s watery blandness or intense hoppiness. But now it’s being recognized for its true mouth-whetting merits, and a fresh offering of craft ciders that nod to classic European styles has cropped up at refined restaurants — like Bergamot (118 Beacon Street, Somerville, 617.576.7700), where Trabanco, a Spanish variety from Asturias, is sold by the glass. The Independent (75 Union Square, Somerville, 617.440.6022) serves Maine’s Downeast Cider on tap. And Hungry Mother (233 Cardinal Medeiros Avenue, Cambridge, 617.499.0090) and Local 149 (149 P Street, Boston, 617.269.0900) are two of about 40 bars and restaurants that offer Wunderkind from Bantam Cider, a local tipple launched in January by two Cambridge women who use Massachusetts apples for the cider and produce it at a nearby winery. Sounds hard to resist.
Hot 100th
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Fenway Park In April of 1912, mere days after the Titanic disappeared into the North Atlantic, Boston mayor John F. Fitzgerald threw out the first pitch at a newly minted stadium called Fenway Park. Fast forward a century and Fenway is not just one of Boston’s defining landmarks, but also arguably the most
famous ballpark in the country. (It is America’s oldest in the major leagues.) Not to get all weepy, but the cheers that emanate from Yawkey are like the heartbeat of the Hub, and the game-day experience keeps inspiring new generations of Red Sox fans. To celebrate the centennial this spring, the king of film composers, John Williams, wrote an original orchestral anthem, “Fanfare for Fenway,” and performed it with the Boston Pops. There’s one epic score; here’s hoping the Sox deliver one too. We can think of no greater birthday present for the legendary ballpark than a home-run hundredth year.
HOT HOURGLASS AMP
The Peplum It’s not often we welcome adding a few extra inches to our waistlines. But lo and behold, here comes the return of the peplum: ruffled midsection overskirts that have been cropping up everywhere. Taking its
name from the Greek word peplos, which means “tunic,” the peplum was revived in the 1940s to create the illusion of an exaggerated hourglass figure. Now appearing on the runways of Rodarte, Dior, Givenchy, and others, the modern peplum’s pouf is amplified — a tribute, we suppose, to our 21stcentury state of mind: go big or go home!
HOT AND SPICY
Late-Night Spice at Market Yeah, we know that spicy food before bedtime isn’t always wise. (We blame bad chimichurri sauce for one particularly hallucinogenic dream that involved penguins, Betty White, and a pair of fuzzy leopardprint handcuffs. Don’t ask. Please.) But sometimes potato chips and leftover lunch doesn’t suffice for preslumber snacking. Thankfully, master chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten is addressing our cravings with his just-launched Late Night Spice
fenway park
menu at Market (100 Stuart Street, Boston, 617.310.6790) in the W Boston hotel. Borrowing influence from Asian street-food classics, the lineup is stacked with enticing items like roasted cod with Malaysian chili sauce, spiced chicken samosas, and Vietnamese coffee ice cream. Each $10 small plate is available on Friday and Saturday from 10 p.m. to midnight. We look forward to a full — key word! — night’s sleep. (Oh, and just in case — the safe word is “St. Olaf.”)
IN HOT MEMORIAM
East Coast Grill’s Pasta from Hell When Chris Schlesinger announced he was selling Inman Square institution East Coast Grill (1271 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, 617.491.6568), there was sniffling in the STUFF office. Sure, once we found out it would remain open — and in the capable hands of chef Jason Heard — we dried our tears. But our eyes are still watery
over the loss of one beloved, tearduct-stinging dish: Pasta from Hell, a signature plate featured for 20 years on East Coast’s famous “Hell Night” menu. Smothered with tongue-searing habanero chili peppers and the restaurant’s Inner Beauty hot sauce, this flaming concoction would give the devil hot flashes. Sadly, it has been exorcised from future Hell Nights due to “circumstances beyond our control,” according to the restaurant’s website. (Anything to do, we wonder, with pasta-related emergency-room trips last year?) However, you can still find the recipe via a quick Google search. Just be careful if you dare to try this at home.
HOT ’Do
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August 12th to 18th
Brazilian Fashion Week Usa
atop a gal named Heidi: the halo braid. Now spotted on glamorous types like Scarlett Johansson and Kirsten Dunst, it’s definitely the style of the summer, and the boho look happens to be a handy way to hide a bad hair day. In fact, the messier it is, the better. (Good thing, since it’s tricky to do yourself and requires enough bobby pins to set off a mall security alarm.) A few loose wisps will keep you from being mistaken for a bridesmaid or a milkmaid — and show that underneath that halo, you’re really devil-may-care.
HOT ICE
August 18th VIP show At the tAJ hotel.
www.brAzIlIAnfAshIonweekusA.com
Druzy Jewelry “Druzy” sounds like a word Snoop Dogg would make up while rapping about his level of intoxication. (Repeat after us: “I’m druzy, fo’ shizzle.”) But in geological terms — or more importantly, fashion-speak — “druzy” refers to a coating of tiny crystals on a rock, like quartzcovered geodes. Designers like Rachel Roy and Alexis Bittar are offering druzy necklaces, rings, and other accessories. They say diamonds are a girl’s best friend — but we’re glad that, unlike supershiny precious gems, these earthier options more subtly reflect the light. It’s bold bling that’s still appropriate for everyday wear.
HOT SHOTS
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Shots We’re Not Embarrassed to Order On the evolutionary spectrum of drinking, shots, like scales, get sloughed off when we can stand on two legs. (Or at least, once we’re out of the primordial slime of our college days.) But some bars are serving up fun, well-made options that don’t make us cringe the way saying “I’ll have a redheaded slut” did. The Cha-Ching shots at Moksa (450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, 617.661.4900) come in beer-and-spirit pairings inspired by the four elements: wind involves vodka; fire, bourbon; water, rye; and earth, sake. Patrons yell “Cha-Ching!” when you throw one back. Brick & Mortar (569 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge) downsizes its daiquiri and offers less-familiar options like the Diamondback, a mini mix of rye, applejack, and Green Chartreuse. And Saloon (255 Elm Street, Somerville, 617.628.4444) offers house-made drams like the Southie Comfort, featuring pork-belly-
infused rye. We’re ready to pound a few rounds.
HOT STREAM
WFNX Online First, the news: in May, alt-rock radio station WFNX, a sister company to STUFF, announced the sale of its 101.7 FM frequency to corporate conglomerate Clear Channel. Then, the reaction: Boston’s music community stood to lose an independent radio station (and a slice of the hippie dream), and we were facing the nerverattling fear that we’d no longer have our go-to way of discovering wicked-awesome music and groundbreaking bands. But finally, a silver lining was revealed: at a jam-packed farewell concert, The Seaport Six, WFNX announced that it would live on as an onlinestreaming station via wfnx.com and mobile applications. Details on programming are still coming together, but it warms our hearts to know that the WFNX format will survive — on the web, if not the dial.
HOT STRANDS
Chalked Hair As much as we love our favorite hair stylists, we’re sort of stoked that the summer’s hottest hair trend doesn’t even require setting foot in a salon. Chalked hair is a DIY domain: pick up a palette of soft pastel chalks from a craft store, spritz your hair with water, apply pigment, air dry, and set the color with a warm curling or flat iron. (For tips, tricks, and inspiration, scour the Hair & Beauty boards of Pinterest.) The dummy-proof process is used to best effect at the end of piece-y curls, à la Lauren Conrad and her style gurus at thebeautydepartment .com, or tucked within a fishtail braid or along errant strands of a high, wispy sock bun. And even color commitment-phobes can feel free to experiment with multiple hues, since the brightest will wash out in a day or two.
HOT YET HANDSOME
Women’s Blazer/Shorts Combos Here’s the thing with women’s power suits: a good one looks snazzy and sharp, but a bad one looks like a remnant from Working Girl’s ’80s-rific wardrobe department. (Sigh. Just one more thing that men in the corporate world don’t need to worry about.) Luckily, designers like Dolce &
Gabbana and Marni have been breathing new, stylish life into things. Instead of heavy, ho-hum gray and black uniforms, we’re seeing more fabulous, airy fabrics in bubblegum pinks and minty pastels. Some of these runway looks may be tricky to pull off in real life, of course. But we’re seeing the trend trickle down from the catwalk in a more-accessible incarnation: fitted blazers are increasingly being paired with tailored mid-length shorts, creating looks that can be both work- and play-appropriate — while summer lasts, at least.
HOT SONIC SPINOFF
Into the Alpha Alpha may be the first letter of the Greek alphabet, but it’s also the second act for Gentlemen Hall singer/guitarist Cobi Mike, who is taking the radio-ready pop sound of his “day job” and filtering it through an experimental sonic blender. A new band that may soon play side project no longer, Cobi’s neurotic and hypnotic Into the Alpha enlists
Luke Nukem on synths and effects and Al Cleveland on live drums for a multi-pronged aural assault on the senses that is impossible to categorize. Shifting from R&B to dubstep to blues to electro to — well — whatever, in the same song, the result is fusion rock tripping face on acid. While we await studiorecorded material, we can get down to live versions from recent gigs at Middlesex Lounge and Church for a quick taste of this new musical innovation.
HOT AND CROWDED
Communal Dining If you gave us a choice between sitting at a private table and being squeezed shoulder-to-shoulder with fellow diners, like pigs at the trough, we’d almost certainly opt for the former. But it seems like elbowrubbing is increasingly on the menu, as more and more new restaurants boast of communal-dining tables. In the past year, Sweet Cheeks, PARK, and Trade have joined early continued on p38
chalked hair
SECOND INNING
STRETCH DINING IN THE FENWAY TRIANGLE
CONQUER YOUR FEAR OF DINING IN FENWAY ON GAME NIGHT Come to one of our four signature restaurants after 8:00 p.m. on any night of a Red Sox home game this year and we’ll save you a free parking spot! To learn more about The Second Inning Stretch and how you can earn a free dinner for up to eight people, visit www.SecondInningStretch.com.
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HOT100:2012 adopters like Toro, The Gallows, and Local 149. Now that at least one communal table seems de rigueur at hot new spots, we’re slowly (very slowly) getting used to the trend. Maybe it just took some extra body heat to warm our icy Hub hearts.
HOT TIN
Canned Craft Beers It took a while, but canned beer has finally overcome its reputation as a lowbrow lawn-mower accessory. Ubiquitous Narragansett has helped convince skeptics that craft beers can compete in a world of watery macrobrews. Now expansive canned-beer selections are a bragging point for bars and restaurants. Tasty Burger (1301 Boylston Street, Boston, 617.425.4444) boasts 30-plus canned options, including full lines of Sixpoint and 21st Amendment brews. Davis Square’s newly opened Southern-comfort spot, M3 (382 Highland Avenue, Somerville, 617.776.8100), has more than 20 canned varieties. (Better to grab a can with greasy fingers than dirty up the glassware, right?) Fenway pub Sweet Caroline’s (1260 Boylston Street, Boston, 617.424.1260) spotlights a different canned craft brew weekly, and sleeker spots like Franklin Café (278 Shawmut Avenue, Boston, 617.350.0010) are now rotating them in regularly. Unsure where to start, now that the stigma is gone? Stop by The Lower Depths (476 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, 617.266.6662) for a five-can variety bucket for $28. Seems like a can’t-miss proposition.
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and the South End by spring. Additional plans could convert under-utilized roadways and alleys into landscaped “pocket parks” to provide permanent outdoor gathering spaces, like public backyards. The purported environmental, aesthetic, and health benefits sound great — but they certainly won’t make finding a parking spot any easier.
smoothies, and cleanses. (We’re partial to the aptly named Green Juice, a blend of kale, romaine, parsley, spinach, cucumber, lemon, and apple.) It’s the brainchild of Susan Cabana, who refocused on healthy living after her husband’s sudden death at age 37, eventually leaving the finance world to become a yoga instructor and wellness consultant. Lauri Meizler, founder
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1920s Style Fashion is cyclical, and the next “it” look is often little more than a fresh spin on a well-worn idea. The latest example of sartorial nostalgia is the return of 1920s style. In spring 2012 collections, Marc Jacobs updated the flapper dress by swapping fringe for shredded plastic, Tory Burch went luxe with Art Deco details and sequins, Ralph Lauren showed feathered shawls and cloche hats, and Marchesa made metallic gold fringe feel totally modern. Local event producers are looking to this bygone era for inspiration too, staging speakeasystyle soirees around the city. Eventdesign firm Assembly channeled the days of bootleg booze for Bully Boy Distillers’ recent anniversary bash, and Opus Affair’s Big Party celebrated young-professional arts organizations with a garden party fit for Daisy Buchanan. When the Great Gatsby movie hits theaters in December, we’re betting the decade of decadence and opulent dressing will still be a roaring trend.
HOT EXPORT
Toro Heads to NYC Here in the Hub, we get giddy when some trend-setting New York restaurateur opens a local outpost. But two of Boston’s own chefs are turning that paradigm on its head. Come fall, Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette, the duo behind South End hotspots Toro and Coppa, will open a New York outpost of Toro in the former Nabisco factory in Chelsea. Like its South End sister restaurant, the Chelsea location will feature modern tapas made with locally sourced ingredients. Eat your heart out, NYC!
HOT OASES
Mini-Parks Our urban jungle isn’t the greenest of places. But that may soon change, thanks to a plan to convert two- to three-car sections of metered parking space into pedestrian-friendly “parklets.” Having proclaimed that the “car is no longer king” and already made the city more hospitable to cyclists through bike-lane expansions and programs like Hubway and Bike Fridays, Mayor Menino has now sketched a pedestrian-friendly project called boston.PARKLETS, which aims to create three-season patios with seating and planters. Following in the footsteps of San Fran and NYC, the pilot program could bring parklets to Jamaica Plain, Mission Hill, Allston,
HOT THROWBACK
canned craft beer at the lower depths
HOT AND FRESH
Juicing Once, the word “juicing” conjured visions of Hollywood fringe dieters and hippy-dippy patchouli devotees — but now even Starbucks is getting in on the game, having opened its first Evolution Fresh juice bar in Seattle this spring. We, of course, are more pumped about home-grown happenings. June saw the opening of Nourish Your Soul (17 Playstead Road, West Medford, 888.995.8423), which cold-presses organic fruits and veggies to extract extra nutrients for its juices,
of Newton-based brand Joos (drinkjoos.com), followed a similar path: the onetime Wall Street food and beverage analyst quit the corporate rat race to study nutrition and Ayurvedic medicine. Now she packs 10 to 14 types of organic produce into each bottle of Joos, available via home delivery and pick-up points at fitness studios around Greater Boston. And even on-the-go commuters can get a fresh fix: Juice (145 Dartmouth Street, Boston, 617.248.5828) opened inside Back Bay Station this spring.
HOT AND HOLLYWOOD-BOUND
Noise Industries Thanks to tax incentives designed to lure Hollywood movie crews to the Bay State, movie-goers have become more accustomed to seeing shots of the Common or the Pru on the big screen. But while they may not be as immediately recognizable as those landmarks, the visual contributions of local graphics-software company Noise Industries are just as cool. Founded by a pair of BU grads and headquartered in the South End, Noise Industries has launched hundreds of software continued on p40 photo by janice checchio
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Revere, the structure has become a work of art. Its splashy April opening featured a vertical fashion show: models strutted down the side of the building in the hotel staff’s MassArt-designed uniforms. Lobby display cases rotate works from local artisans and boutiques. Coming soon is a series of onsite pop-up exhibitions curated by the founders of the innovative but recently shuttered Yes.Oui.Si. gallery. This fall, programming launches in the property’s Theatre 1, which boasts a “wall of fame” of plaster hand casts honoring Boston arts bigwigs, like ART artistic director Diane Paulus. And in August, in conjunction with the opening of their first solo US show at the ICA, Brazilian street-art duo Os Gêmeos will paint a jawdropping mural on the building’s façade. Any hotel willing to offer itself as a canvas to top graffiti artists deserves big props for brightening our local color.
plug-ins that can be purchased and downloaded through their website (noiseindustries.com). Now they’re being used to create special effects for commercials and even recent blockbuster movies, like Rise of the Planet of the Apes and The Avengers. We’re impressed to hear that Noise is causing such a commotion.
HOT COLD ONES
Adult Milkshakes and Slushies As children, we loved mixed drinks like Shirley Temples — they made us feel like adults. (“Ooh, grenadine! They had to get it from the bar!”) Who knew that as adults we would become obsessed with alcoholic drinks that make us feel like kids again? Chef Michael Schlow’s latest, Happy’s Bar + Kitchen (1363 Boylston Street, Boston, 857.753.4100), offers numerous alcoholic “adult milkshakes”; so does burger bar Grass Fed (605 Centre Street, Jamaica Plain, 617.553.2278), which serves four variations. On Tuesday nights, the barkeeps at Citizen Public House (1310 Boylston Street, Boston, 617.450.9000) rev up the blenders and use fresh fruit to make spirituous slushies. On Swizzle Sundays at The Hawthorne (500A Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, 617.532.9150), cocktail wizards hit the patio to create boozy, blended beverages of the tropical variety. (The kind dad drank on family vacations!) And for the ultimate in nostalgia, Blue Inc. (131 Broad Street, Boston, 617.261.5353) serves up a biscotti-liqueur-based cocktail called Nana’s Cookies — crumbs and all. Think it fits in a sippy cup?
HOT PINK
Rosé Wine Rosé wine once was dismissed as the Red Bull of Provence: overly sweet and kind of tacky. Then it became trendy, popping up on menus like the cupcake of corked goods. Finally, rosé is a genuinely acceptable (nay, awesome) option, carrying neither shame nor novelty status. Refreshing and dry, it can be particularly flavorful when paired with the right plate — such as the designer pizzas at Tavolo (1918 Dorchester Avenue, Dorchester, 617.822.1918), which offers a by-the-glass selection. Radius (8 High Street, Boston, 617.426.1234) just wrapped up a July rosé-and-burger-pairing series. <40> 7.31.12
MINI HOT-EL
adult milkshakes at happy’s bar + kitchen You can super-size your order at Catalyst (300 Technology Square, Cambridge, 617.576.3000), where a French rosé variety comes by the magnum. Naturally, the same goes for Provençal showplace Bistro du Midi (272 Boylston Street, Boston, 617.426.7878), which recently debuted a special L’Après Midi weekday menu designed to pair perfectly with sips from its wellcurated rosé list. See? Even the finest diners needn’t blush when ordering.
HOT CLOSET CLEANSER
Fashion Project Who among us hasn’t felt guilty over a designer suit or shoes left gathering dust in the closet? Enter Fashion Project (fashionproject .com), a new Boston-based site cofounded by two Harvard JDs that accepts donations of namebrand clothes and accessories
and resells them online, donating a portion of the profits to the charity of the donor’s choice. Current partners include the National Autism Center, the Ellie Fund, and the March of Dimes — and you can add your own, too. Those Gucci shoes may have pinched your toes, but donating them for a worthy cause feels oh-so good. A few other incentives: participating local retailers offer rewards for donating to their favorite charities, and Fashion Project provides a pre-paid donation box for shipping the results of our wardrobe purges. Excuses for holding on to unworn outfits are hereby eliminated.
HOT-EL
Revere Hotel Boston Common As a Radisson, 200 Stuart Street wasn’t the most beautiful building on the block. But since reopening as the extensively redesigned
YOTEL Countless travelers have braved the grimiest of hostels when journeying on a budget, but soon Boston visitors may have the chance to experience sleek yet affordable accommodations. In June, the UK’s headline-grabbing YOTEL hotel group announced plans for North American expansion, and Boston’s South End is at the top of its list of likely locations. Initially, YOTEL opened in London’s Heathrow and Gatwick airports, offering travelers posh “pod-sized” rooms for cleansing and catching up on slumber between flights. The chain has since opened a full hotel in NYC, where guests can leave their belongings in the care of a first-of-its-kind robotic storage system before retiring to capsulelike rooms, inspired by first-class aircraft cabins, that are small on square footage but don’t skimp on niceties. (Monsoon showers? Sure!) Site details and construction dates are still coming together, but our excitement is already full-scale.
HOT Jock Shocks
Kevin Youkilis and Ray Allen Experts predicted it, but we were still blindsided when Red Sox infielder Kevin Youkilis was traded to the Chicago White Sox. (In exchange, we receive Brent continued on p42 photo by gina manning
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Lillibridge and Zach Stewart.) A critical player in Boston’s 2004 and 2007 World Series wins, Youkilis will be sorely missed; days after the announcement, President Obama was showered with boos when he thanked a crowd of Boston fundraisers for the trade. (Clearly the Oval Office wasn’t briefed on the rabidity of Hub sports fans.) Shortly after, Boston Celtics fans reeled from news that star Ray Allen was leaving for Miami — while the wounds from our season-ending defeat at the Heat’s hands were still fresh. (And he’s going for half the salary. Salt, added.) The Celtics signed former Dallas Maverick Jason Terry, and we’re excited to see him gear up in green. But the losses still smart; funny, you’d think we’d be used to heartbreak by now.
HOT CAUSE
The Anti-Obesity Movement It’s a major medical concern (unless you’re Dr. Pepper). More than two-thirds of Americans are now considered obese or overweight, which spells serious trouble for the country’s physical and economic health. While the anti-obesity crusade is nothing new, it’s certainly reaching new levels of visibility with the tireless efforts of Michelle Obama, the recent HBO mini-series The Weight of a Nation, and June’s announcement that Disney will ban junk-food ads from its TV and radio stations and websites. The effort’s public enemy number one? Soda. SW1
ramen at uni Last year, Mayor Menino banned the sale of soft drinks on municipal properties. Then this spring, NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg famously proposed a ban on sales of sugary drinks over 16 ounces in restaurants and some other businesses; now Cambridge mayor Henrietta Davis plans to propose a similar action limiting soda sizes in restaurants. When it comes to the obesity epidemic, it seems we’ve reached a tipping point.
HOT YOUNGER SISTER
SW1 Ever wish one of your favorite brands had a hot kid sister — one with the same classic beauty and reliability, but with a bit more spunk and edge? First of all, we’re talking shoes, guys — don’t get so excited. Second of all, check out SW1, the newly launched line from accessories pioneer Stuart Weitzman. Under the creative direction of Alvaro Gonzalez, formerly of Jimmy Choo, this offshoot line maintains the craftsmanship on which Weitzman has built his international career (one that began, we should add, in his father’s shoe factory in Haverhill, Massachusetts). But SW1 is designed to appeal to younger, more modern and fashion-forward consumers. The line certainly hits all of the trends, boasting superstructured bags and shoes with gorgeous geometric accents. Kid sister is looking pretty good.
HOT LIST
The Good Ones Pop-up parties aren’t new to the Hub. We’ve hit up plenty of timesensitive soirees at restaurants and salons, gas stations and art galleries. But a new Bostonbased website, The Good Ones (thegoodones.co), is taking the concept a step further: in July, its team started throwing themed, <42> 7.31.12
invite-only events in unusual spaces, using a membership approach to create a list of likeminded guests for each gathering. Every event is thus a carefully curated experience, one where you can look for love, friendship, or business connections. Members complete a Personality SnapShot covering everything from eating habits to career and dating attitudes. If eHarmony and Eventbrite got busy one boozefueled night, this would be their love child.
HOT NOODLES
Late-Night Ramen Ramen is having a moment in Boston. No longer simply the centerpiece of ill-fated dorm meals — but still perfect as late-night nosh — these Japanese noodles in flavorful broth are wiggling onto menus throughout the city. Chef Ken Oringer has debuted a late-night ramen menu at Uni Sashimi Bar (370 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, 617.536.7200), serving haute creations starting at 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Guchi’s Midnight Ramen, meanwhile, is a pop-up from O Ya chefs; tickets to their limitedspace slurp-fests are tougher to come by than Gaga tickets (but feel free to stalk their Twitter account, @GuchiRamenNight). Even French stalwart Sel de la top photo by melissa ostrow
Terre (774 Boylston Street, Boston, 617.266.8800) is getting in on the action, offering a Korean twist on the trend with its Late Night Seoul Kitchen. Starting at 10 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays, L’Espalier pastry chef Jiho Kim crosses over to the sister restaurant to serve noodle selections along with steamed buns, fried chicken, and savory tarts. This ramen rollout sure beats our college microwave days.
HOT AIR
Blowout Bars Our grandmothers spent hours getting their hair done and gossiping under the dryers in salons. (At least, that’s what the movies have convinced us.) We don’t have that time. But blowout bars are making it easier to get our hair “set” to perfection with minimal time (and cash) commitment. Fenway’s Phillipostyle Hair Studio has offered an In & Out Style Bar menu for several years now, and Back Bay’s Mario Russo introduced a holiday blow-dry bar last December. But now dedicated spaces for blowouts are putting down roots here. Popular on the West Coast and in New York, such spots don’t offer cuts or coloring; instead, they cater to clients who want a quick blow-dry and style before an event or at the start of a workweek (a good wash and blowout should last a few days). National chain Blo (437 Columbus Avenue, Boston, 617.262.0105) just set up shop in the South End, and Drybar is rumored to be scouting space for a Boston outpost. (Newton private-equity firm Castanea Partners invested a cool $16 million in the company earlier this year.) Insert “blown away” pun here.
HOT PIECE OF MEAT
100-Day Ribeye With the notable (and grotesque) exception of Twinkies, few edibles can hold their own after three months of aging. But at Grill 23 & Bar (161 Berkeley Street, Boston, 617.542.2255), chef Jay Murray’s 100-day ribeye not only withstands the test of time, but improves with age. Sourced from California’s Brandt Beef, one of the most acclaimed all-natural ranches in the nation, this senior-level steak is so tender that it nearly negates the purpose of a carving knife. The delicate aging process breaks down the fat deposits in each piece, making for a more flavorful
cut than anything you’ll find at the supermarket counter. Served à la carte at $49 a plate, the ribeye is an investment, but we suspect you’ll stomach the damage just fine.
HARVARD SQUARE HOTSPOTS
The Sinclair and Liberal Servings Those street musicians by the T stop won’t have to wander far if they ever hit the big time: slated to open this fall on Church Street is The Sinclair, a live-music venue that will be operated by Bowery Boston, an extension of the NYCbased Bowery Presents agency. Bowery Boston currently books all the acts at Royale in the Theater District; this new Cambridge project will bring acts across the river and into a space with a state-of-the-art audio system and a vibe modeled on Brooklyn’s beloved Music Hall of Williamsburg. With 10,000 square feet (that’s about a 525-person capacity), it will rival other area music clubs in size. Acts not ready for major throngs can try to book a show at another new venue currently in the works, Liberal Servings, slated for a spot just around the corner on Brattle Street. Beehive co-owner Jack Bardy is seeking to open a 300-plus-person dinner and live-jazz spot there in 2013.
r e s ta u r a n t s
hot fun in the summer!
locations in boston’s seaport & theater districts! casually elegant dining with classic italian favorites express dining & late night bar menu available validated & discount parking
HOT FOODIE FORT
Fort Point Right now, Barbara Lynch has the ’hood on lockdown with her holy trinity of Menton, Sportello, and Drink. But Fort Point looks set to get new spots from other celebrated chefs soon. There’s strong buzz that Ming Tsai is making plans to open a restaurant in the not-soclearly delineated neighborhood, which is good news for fans of the Simply Ming host and foodallergy activist; right now, we have to trek to his Blue Ginger in Wellesley. Meanwhile, Tavern Road is a restaurant expected to inhabit the former Blue Wave space on Congress Street — and rumor has it that chef Louis DiBiccari (of Storyville and his own Chef Louie Night pop-up series) and his brother Michael, a manager at Eastern Standard, are the masterminds behind it. And finally, chef Jason Owens, the man behind Somerville restaurant M3, plans to elaborate on American Provisions, his South Boston market, with a larger-scale
225 northern ave.
boston seaport 617.737.5454
545 washington st. boston’s theater district 617.737.5555
to view menus, hours & make reservations online: salvatoresrestaurants.com
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grocery on the ground floor of a Farnsworth Street office building. On point.
Krysta kranyak at grass fed
HOT SHOPPING AIDS
Pingup and LevelUp What do breakups, job acceptances, and drug deals have in common? All can happen via text message. We have mixed feelings about the impersonal Age of the iPhone, but one digital development we’re warming to fast is locally born startup Pingup (pingup.com). The smartphone app lets users communicate with participating restaurants, shops, and entertainment venues by text. (Better than waiting on hold while being subjected to a tinny recording of “Jessie’s Girl.”) With a few taps, you’ll be making reservations at your favorite restaurant, checking availability of nearby squash courts, and monitoring the progress of your dry cleaning. (Pingup is also active in Miami, and given the recent completion of a $1 million round of financing with backing from Cambridge venture-capital firm Avalon Ventures, further expansion seems likely.) When you ultimately make your purchase, maybe you’ll use LevelUp (thelevelup.com). Created by Boston-based company SCVNGR, the app lets you scan a QR code at checkout, automatically deducting payment from a linked account and earning you reward credits for future purchases. Cost to human contact? Significant. But the convenience? Priceless.
HOT BEEF PATTY
Boston’s Burger Renaissance Burgers are an all-American sandwich, but they’ve rarely gotten all-star treatment. (“Pink slime,” anyone?) Thankfully, the fast-food staple is now getting its due as the centerpiece of high-profile openings for every taste, including a slew of better-than-average chains such as Five Guys Burgers and Fries, in nearby suburbs, and NYC-based 5 Napkin Burger, which opened here last year. Next year, the Big Apple’s famous Shake Shack comes to the Chestnut Hill Shopping Center, and Colorado-based Smashburger will begin opening a dozen Bostonarea restaurants. The Wahlberg brothers’ Wahlburgers in Hingham is hoping for a national rollout, starting with more Boston-area spots. For boutique burgers in casual settings, we have Four <44> 7.31.12
617.536.7200), mixologist Todd Maul’s sidecar-esque Frank-O cocktail contains smoked ice and liqueur-soaked wood chips. On the other side of the river, Backbar (9 Sanborn Court, Somerville, 617.718.0249) uses cinnamonsmoked ice, Bacardi Oakheart spiced rum, Moxie, lime syrup, and bitters in the Smoke ’n’ Coke. Consider us fired up.
HOT ’HOOD
Jamaica Plain Some worry that an influx of trendy restaurants will detract from JP’s quirky character and gentrify its diverse population. (“Sounds familiar,” sighs the South End.) Us? We can’t lie; we like having new reasons to explore this oftneglected part of the Orange Line. First came Scottish pub The Haven, gastropub Canary Square, and tapas restaurant, record shop, and bookstore Tres Gatos. This year they’ve been joined by gourmet burger bar Grass Fed (run by Krista Kranyak of the neighboring Ten Tables); Caffè Aromi, a Euro-style café in an ultra-modern, stark-white space that looks like an art gallery; Tonic, an upscale American spot; and Whisk, a pop-up restaurant that offers prix fixe tastings. Next up: Irish pub Eugene O’Neill’s, named for the playwright buried in Forest Hills Cemetery, and Centre Street Sanctuary, a restaurant slated to open this fall in a converted Catholic church. Pray the food is as cool as the setting. Burgers — a Cambridge classic that crossed the river last year — and Fenway’s Tasty Burger, soon to add a Southie location. And this spring Krista Kranyak of the refined Ten Tables restaurants unveiled Grass Fed, a JP “burger bar” that serves responsibly sourced meats with inventive toppings and sides like poutine.
Boston’s Together electronic-music festival will aim to equip students with all the DJ skills necessary for laying siege to any dance floor, offering courses in a Cambridge rehearsal space stocked with all the latest mixing gear. The project has been raising funds and hopes to launch by fall, so stay up to date at mmmmavenagency.com.
HOT PIECE OF CLASS
SMOKING HOT
The Mmmmaven Project At some point or another, many of us have watched a soul-patched club DJ laboriously fade from Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” to Kanye West’s “Stronger” and wondered, “How hard can that really be?” Soon you’ll be able to find out, thanks to The Mmmmaven Project, an educational institution for aspiring turntable warriors. This new endeavor from the minds behind
Smoky-Flavored Cocktails The Bay State may have banned smoking in bars back in 2004, but one cocktail craze offers a new (and legal) twist by working smoky flavors into drinks. Post 390 (406 Stuart Street, Boston, 617.399.0015) serves the Smoky Paloma, mixing house-smoked sea salt, Zapopan 100% agave tequila, fresh grapefruit juice, agave nectar, and bitters for a tangy summer sip. At Clio (370A Commonwealth Avenue, Boston,
HOT HEAD HONCHO
Hillary Clinton Some of us feel that, from her first-lady days through her 2008 presidential run, Hillary Clinton never got a fair shake in the court of public opinion. (“She’s too icy!” “Crocodile tears!”) Now, sweet vindication. There are the hard numbers: recent Gallup polling shows Secretary of State Clinton enjoying nearly career-high approval ratings — which top those of the administration’s other top dogs. But we’re equally impressed by morezeitgeisty evidence, epitomized by online tributes that have recast her from the role of Uppity Woman to that of Badass Boss. The nowfamous “Texts From Hillary” Tumblr got guffaws with captioned images of a stern-looking Clinton sending terse correspondence to everyone continued on p46 photo by melissa ostrow
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HOT100:2012
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from Jay-Z to Sarah Palin. Then came viral videos of her downing pilsner and dancing the rumba in Colombia and wearing Mardi Gras sunglasses and beads during a swearing-in ceremony. (“Coolest secretary of state ever?” gushed People.) The meme-sphere is crammed with lists of comically captioned photos — “26 Things Hillary Clinton Thinks About You!” — that cast an appreciative glow on her once-polarizing persona. Finally, she’s #winning.
HOT INDIE ROCK
Animal Talk Now that Boston is churning out some high-gloss pop acts (see: Gentlemen Hall, Karmin, and Young London), it’s high time that our indie-rock bands add a slick coat of polish to their sound. Rising post-dance-rock quartet Animal Talk fit the bill. Though really, they can fit any bill, having shared the stage with Wolf Gang and Young the Giant and gigged both way north (Toronto’s NXNE) and way south (Austin’s SXSW). They teased new track “Teenage Rocker” at a recent WFNX Alternatour show, and the cruising pop joyride should go over well when they join Deftones and Bad Rabbits at August’s KahBang festival in Maine. To prove they don’t take themselves too seriously, they’ve been peppering their live sets with smiling covers of Phil Collins and Billy Ocean songs. Animal Talk, we see roaring mainstream success in your future.
HOT BELLY BUSTER
The Paleo Diet History is littered with the skeletal remains of fad diets. (Atkins? We hardly knew ye. South Beach?
You seemed like Atkins with a sexier name.) The latest entrant: the Paleo diet, a regimen that only allows foods our ancestors (supposedly) ate in the Paleolithic period, more than 10,000 years ago. The controversial craze calls for caveman-friendly meats, fish, nuts, and veggies, plus plenty of exercise. That means no grains, dairy, legumes, or refined sugar. (You can still have a sweet tooth, though. Falmouth’s White Lion Baking Company sells only Paleo baked goods.) The diet has its origins in the 1970s, but it’s caught fire more recently (helped, perhaps, by increased attention to gluten sensitivity). But devotees’ claims have elicited smirks and sighs from anthropologists and nutritionists alike. The Paleolithic period lasted 2.5 million years. We somehow doubt the Paleo hype will last 2.5 years.
HOT AND HIGH-PROFILE
Bianca de la Garza In Boston, anchors don’t just report the news — they often make it. After athletes and politicians, Hub media personalities probably enjoy the next-largest slice of local-celebrity status: they’re coveted party guests and popular event hosts. And right now, it’s the Year of Bianca. The WCVB-5 anchor is everywhere (and, it seems, always looking glam), hosting and helping with fundraisers for nonprofits — from the Ellie Fund to the Zack Heger Foundation for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy — and mingling with fellow glitterati at restaurant and nightspot openings. (How she’s up and looking lovely in time for her EyeOpener newscast, we have no idea.) De la Garza’s continued on p48
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process. Impressive. But does she know all the words to “Dear Mama”? We thought not.
HOT ACT OF DOWNSIZING
shockwave at equinox visibility has made her a societycolumn mainstay and the heir apparent to Frances Rivera’s vacated throne as the must-know newscaster on the small screen — and the social scene.
Hot Burn
(Sort of) Wet Workouts Summer’s reliably roasting temperatures can have you soaking in sweat before you’ve even walked through the gym doors. But this year, some fitness centers are taking cues from water sports for their workout classes. Shockwave, a recently unveiled cardio and strength-training class at Equinox (225 Franklin Street, Boston, 617.426.2140), offers a high-intensity circuit challenge that revolves around the Indo-Row rowing machine. And we can soon work on our board skills (not to mention our triceps and pecs) with SurfSET Fitness, which offers fatburning, muscle-building workouts on state-of-the-art RipSurfer X machines. Boston Athletic Club offered a sneak peek of the new regimen last fall, and it’s slated to hit gyms in our market in September (keep an eye on surfsetfitness.com for location updates). And if you really want to dive into your workout routine, head to Commonwealth Sports Club (1079 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, 617.254.1711), which features numerous aquatic<48> 7.31.12
exercise groups that focus on flexibility, coordination, and muscle toning. You’ll have that beach body in no time.
HOT AND WHOLE
Fin-to-Tail Dining Feasting on whole beasts is nothing new: from nose-to-tail dinners at Craigie on Main to pig roasts at Citizen, whole-hog dining is de rigueur. Now here comes fin-to-tail dining, a hot (and more heart-healthy) alternative. At Jody Adams’s Trade (540 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, 617.451.1234), you’ll discover a whole roasted trout with pineapple pique, cilantro, and plantains. At il Casale (50 Leonard Street, Belmont, 617.209.4942), Dante de Magistris’s whole trout with citrus, Italian slaw, and salsa Genovese is a menu mainstay. Post 390 (406 Stuart Street, Boston, 617.399.0015) also does whole grilled fish, eyes and all, while Michael Leviton at Area Four (500 Technology Square, Cambridge, 617.758.4444) — whose specialty is “whole beast” cooking — rolled out a salt-baked whole Maine halibut. And this summer, Island Creek Oyster Bar (500 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, 617.532.5300) introduced a whole black sea bass, designed to serve one hungry diner. It’s battered in rice flour and fried up whole. (Cod cheeks, grilled with
spicy tartar sauce, are a more virtuous alternative.) Truly intrepid? Head to Chinatown’s Peach Farm (4 Tyler Street, Boston, 617.482.1116) for whole fish-head soup.
HOT AND MULTIDIMENSIONAL
Holograms Seeing your favorite living artist perform in holographic form? That’s kind of cool. (See: the 2006 Grammy Awards, which opened with an animated meeting between Madonna and Gorillaz.) Seeing your favorite dead artist resurrected that way? That’s kind of — well, creepy. Yet hologram technology is undeniably hot: first 2Pac made a surprise “return” at Coachella. (Buzz has it that the rapper might soon join Dr. Dre, who commissioned the hologram, on an Australian tour.) Since then, rumors have swirled that artists like Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes of TLC, Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, and Jim Morrison might all receive holographic revivals. Locally, you can check out state-of-the-art displays at “The Jeweled Net: Views of Contemporary Holography,” a new MIT Museum exhibition on view through September of 2013. Plus, Logan Airport visitors are now getting familiar with “Carla,” a “virtual assistant” hologram who guides travelers through the dos and don’ts of the screening
Mini Desserts Gone are the days of stuffing your pie hole full of molten lava cake and quivering mountains of chocolate mousse. Mini desserts are a crafty way to get a sugar fix without overdoing it (or at least, without looking piggish while picking at social events). Todd English’s Olives (10 City Square, Charlestown, 617.242.1999) serves a trio of mini cupcakes from his daughter’s shop, Isabelle’s Curly Cakes. MET Back Bay (279 Dartmouth Street, Boston, 617.267.0451) doles out free push-pops on the terrace when it’s steamy outside. At Coppa (253 Shawmut Avenue, Boston, 617.391.0902), a morning stuzzi sandwich of Nutella and bananas lets you eat dessert first. Even food trucks are getting in on the action: at the ever-creative Staff Meal (staffmealboston.com), a bite-sized square of foie gras baklava is a totable treat.
HOT AUSSIE IMPORT
Aesop No fable here. It’s true: Australiabased brand Aesop — revered for its fabulous plant-derived skin, body, and hair-care products — is bringing its natural beauty goodies from the Outback to Boston. Scheduled to open in early September, the new outpost at 172 Newbury Street promises a striking blend of reclaimed wood and modern design. This is only Aesop’s third US store, so expect the works: new launches like the Sage & Zinc Facial Hydrating Cream SPF 15 and the Control Anti-Blemish Gel, plus trusted standbys like its Parsley Seed line, its ever-popular deodorant, and its Fabulous Face Cleanser (a city dweller’s best friend). We hear they chose Boston because we’re smart, progressive, and a hotbed for scientific progress. Who are we to argue?
HOT DOSE OF REALITY
South Boston The neighborhood received a reality-TV-style spoofing with those hilarious “Real Housewives of South Boston” videos. (Speaking of — isn’t it time for another?) But it’s also the ’hood of choice for continued on p50
HOT100:2012 those trying to launch real Bostonset reality shows: in the past year, at least five Southie-based shows have been pitched, with producers visiting to scout locations and recruit potential cast members. Viacom reps were spotted near Castle Island in March, casing the hot-dog-munching crowds at Sullivan’s for Dirty Water: The Real South Boston. Also vying for a piece of the pie is A&E: the network’s upcoming Southie Rules will follow a South Boston family grappling with gentrification. And 495 Productions, the “minds” behind Jersey Shore, are readying Southie Pride for TLC’s fall lineup. The show will go inside the homes of five South Boston women, which sounds awfully similar to the RH concept. Fingers crossed they wind up brawling at Jackie’s Packie.
HOT HOMETOWN ATHLETE
Alexandra Raisman For most of us, childhood gymnastics provided nothing but sprained ankles, mat burns
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in awkward locations, and photographic evidence that, once upon a time, our parents found it acceptable to publicly humiliate us by dressing us in sequined leotards with matching headbands. But for Alexandra Raisman, growing up near a Burlington gymnastics school led to more-fruitful ends: specifically, the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. We’re ready to root for the 18-yearold first-timer as she represents the USA at this year’s epic games, and we can’t wait to see how her dizzying floor routines look on a world stage. Better than they would in the ’80s, we’re sure.
HOT BOTTOMS
Floral Jeans For the last couple of years, fashion fans’ gaze has been drawn downward as tops have increasingly taken a backseat to bold bottoms. First bright hues breathed new life into standard jeans; now floral prints have sprouted up in new territory. Flowers powered spring continued on p52
Alexandra raisman <50> 7.31.12
photo by Mitchell Haaseth/NBC Olympics
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Throwback Thursday - A Summer of Charity Every Thursday in August the 21st Amendment will be pairing a local Boston “celebrity” with a past bartender for the charity of their choice! All of the tips from the evening will be donated to the designated charity! Sponsored by: Blue Moon August 2nd The NE Patriot’s Max Lane with Heather Wicken & Sophia Harden Bartending for Alliance for Lupus Research
August 9th The Dropkick Murphy’s Josh ‘Scruffy’ Wallace with Jen Cravotta Bartending for the Claddah Fund
August 16th TV Diner’s Jenny Johnson with Cy Clark & Jimmy Dolan Bartending for the Pan-Mass Challenge
August 23rd The Boston Bruin’s Bobby Sweeney with Cy Clark & Nicole Filipponi Bartending for the Boston Bruins Foundation
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HOT100:2012 denim collections from hip brands like Current/Elliott, and celebs like Katie Holmes, Jessica Alba, and Minka Kelly have all been sporting pretty printed skinnies, from colorful tropical styles to surprisingly chic updates on Granny’s dusty wallpaper. The trend isn’t meant for shrinking violets, but when paired with a simple, solid top, florals should look great on your stems. Look for them at denim destinations like in-jean-ius (441 Hanover Street, Boston, 617.523.5326), where we’ve spotted fun, flirty looks from the likes of Citizens of Humanity.
HOT REBALANCING ACT
New Brighton Landing Brighton is a neighborhood known for residential streets and studentfilled brownstones. Massive commercial complexes? Not so much. That’s about to change. Brighton-based shoe giant New Balance is about to undergo a Godzilla-sized expansion. This March, New Balance unveiled a $500 million development plan for a new headquarters, which will integrate several Guest Street buildings into a mixed-use complex dubbed New Brighton Landing — the center of Boston’s “emerging health and wellness district,” according to the project website. Slated to begin construction early next year, the company’s new home base will include a 175-room hotel, multiple restaurants and retailers, and a high-end sports complex with an ice rink and a 200-meter track and field facility. And to lure the masses, New Balance has struck a deal with MassDOT to open a nearby MBTA commuter-rail station on the Framingham/Worcester line. If the train’s ever down, at least we’ll have stocked up on running shoes.
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ZuZu’s daytime restaurant-withina-restaurant, delivers funky sounds from DJ Leah McFly and decadent dishes like the Kathy Bates, which updates eggs Benedict with oat waffles, fried green tomatoes, and avocado smash. And on Sundays, the FiDi’s Blue Inc. (131 Broad Street, Boston, 617.261.5353) hosts a Superhero Brunch, where costumed staff serve up kapowpacking plates like the Superman and cocktails like the appropriately green Kryptonian’s Delight.
HOT TROT
Hub-to-Cape Ventures We love summer escapes to the Cape and the Islands — but wouldn’t it be nice to have an excuse to visit at other times of the year? Maybe that’s why so many Hub hospitality types are opening outposts down there. Ten Tables owner Krista Kranyak added a
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HOT CAPE TRANSPLANT
Chef Bill Brodsky of City Landing If you’ve breezed by the Cape’s swank Wequassett Resort and Golf Club in the last few years (and surely you have, Muffy), chances are that you’ve spotted some starry-eyed diners at Twenty-eight Atlantic. Under the direction of chef Bill Brodsky, the gourmet flagship has earned a four-star review from Forbes, four-diamond AAA status, and reverence from locals. But now, Brodsky has taken his tongs into new territory: Long Wharf. With the opening of Brodsky’s latest outpost, City Landing (255 State Street, Boston, 617.725.0305), Bostonians can experience his boldest creations without enduring weekend traffic on Cape bridges. Inventive edibles like a salmon, egg, and crème fraîche pizza round out the robust menu, sourced from the same local growers Brodsky has partnered with throughout his career. We’re particularly pumped for the Bar Crumbs menu, which will have City Landing toques trying to “out-foodie” each other, creating daily-changing offerings like foie gras BLTs.
MAD HOT
HOT HANGOVER CURE/CAUSE
Party Brunches Okay, we still don’t have NYC’s bottomless mimosas and Bloody Marys. But Boston restos have been adding extra helpings of fun to their weekend feasts, offering quirky themes and party vibes along with their omelets. At The Brahmin (33 Stanhope Street, Boston, 617.723.3131), Social Sundays wake us up with beats by DJ Chris Roxx, drink specials, an indoor dance floor, and an al fresco lounge. The Saturday Disco Brunch at Z Rant (474 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, 617.864.3278),
Provincetown spot to her miniempire (which already includes JP and Cambridge locations). Kathy Trustman’s MET Restaurant Group, whose holdings include MET Back Bay, opened MET on Main, which stands on the former site of a Nantucket ice-cream shop where she worked as a teen. And the island is also now home to Sea Dog Brew Pub Nantucket, the fourth Bay State spinoff of the Maine-based brew pubs; it’s owned by Bostonian Hospitality Group, the same folks behind downtown’s Nix’s Mate. Finally, several of the team members behind Boston’s Stoddard’s Fine Food & Ale recently purchased the longstanding Dennis Port party spot Improper Bostonian, revamping its bar and offering near-nightly live entertainment. Guys, we get it: any excuse to hit the beach for work sounds fine by us.
superhero brunch at blue inc.
Sterling’s and Granary Tavern Who would hang at Sterling’s (60 State Street, Boston), slated to open in early September in a Financial District high-rise by Faneuil Hall? For starters, its namesake, Roger Sterling of Mad Men (played by Boston-born actor John Slattery). The spot is for the “hard-drinking and classy, with tons of swagger,” says Travis Talbot of the Glynn Hospitality Group, the firm behind spots like Dillon’s and Brownstone. Expect an ample patio and décor evocative of a 1960s steakhouse parlor: rich woods, lots of leather. Though not a theme restaurant, Mad Men–associated cookbooks and cocktail guides inspired its menu of American comfort foods and classic cocktails. Sterling’s opens just months after the debut of another Glynn venture, Granary Tavern (170 Milk Street, Boston, 617.449.7110), a two-floor restaurant in an 1816 granary. That Greenwayside spot offers a rustic vibe and a menu with charcuterie, corn in the husk, and an Emmental fondue made with Harpoon IPA. So whether we sip Negronis or pound beers, the already-prolific Glynns are giving us even more options. continued on p54 photo by melissa ostrow
HOT100:2012
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HOT BEATS
Moombahton No, Moombahton is not the name of an alien assassin that your Star Trek–geek ex-boyfriend would have ceaselessly squawked about; it’s the name of an EDM subgenre that your current music-geek boyfriend is ceaselessly squawking about (in Internet forums, anyway). With dubstep’s inevitable expiration date drawing near (the world can only handle so much Skrillex), electronic-music aficionados think Moombahton might be the dance-floor-firing trend to watch. The newly birthed style fuses slowed-down house music with reggaeton for a hip-grinding effect that feels global and groovy — but without the breakneck pace and freneticism of other EDM sounds. Its creation is credited to DCbased DJ Dave Nada, but we’ve started to catch Boston acts like Wobblesauce and DJ Vous moving crowds to Moombahton at spots like the Milky Way in JP and Wonder Bar in Allston, where a recurring Moombahton night, Watch Your Ton, launched in the spring.
HOT AND SWEATY
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Military-Grade Workouts Let’s face it: that hour on the treadmill is excruciatingly dull. No matter how hard you run, you’re still exactly where you started (next to that skeevy dude flexing in the mirror). No wonder many are turning to workouts that are less monotonous — and more hardcore. Consider CrossFit, a strength and conditioning program involving minimal equipment and brief but brutal workouts that change daily. Having won legions of military, lawenforcement, and civilian fans, the
regimen has launched thousands of bare-bones affiliate gyms, including Reebok CrossFit Back Bay (31 St. James Avenue, Boston, 617.203.2132), which opened in January. Then there are the growing ranks participating in adventure races like Tough Mudder, Warrior Dash, and Muddy Buddy; runners brave water, fire, mud, barbed wire, and other obstacles on their down-and-dirty journey to the finish line. Ready to enlist? Register at spartanrace.com for Spartan Race, which hits Fenway Park on November 17 and 18.
HOT AND (NOT) SWEATY
Ministry of Supply Any Bostonian who has commuted by bike or crowded subway car, especially in this summer heat, knows the agony of arriving to work sweaty and miserable. Leave it to MIT-trained engineers to come up with a sci-fi-worthy solution: dress shirts made with the same technology used in NASA spacesuits. Following this summer’s wildly successful Kickstarter campaign, one that raised more than 10 times its $30,000 goal, new Boston business Ministry of Supply (105 South Street, Boston, 617.651.2340) is selling men’s dress shirts through its website, ministryofsupply.com, and at its Leather District showroom. Its wrinkle-free, machine-washable Apollo shirt is designed to pull heat and moisture away from the body when it’s hot — and release that heat back to its wearer once things cool down. (Bonus: an antimicrobial coating neutralizes odor.) Now if only we had spaceships to skip the morning rush on the Red Line. continued on p56
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HOT100:2012 HOT HOLDUP
Massachusetts Casinos Once the state legislature approved the licensing of up to three geographically distributed resortstyle casinos, some thought it would be a smooth ride to a Vegas-ized Bay State. But proposals are meeting roadblocks: a potential Gillette Stadium-side casino, masterminded by Bob Kraft and Vegas resort mogul Steve Wynn, was smothered by hardnosed opponents in Foxborough. (Power to the people!) MGM Resorts rescinded a Brimfield proposal and asked the Massachusetts Gaming Commission to simplify bidding processes before they resubmit. (Diva much?) And though Suffolk Downs is partnering with Caesars Entertainment on an East Boston bid, interest in eastern Massachusetts is so scarce that the commission may reach out to Wall Street to court investors. It’s not inertia everywhere: in July, the state negotiated a revenue-sharing deal with the Wampanoag tribe for a proposed Taunton casino. Considered among the most lucrative of its kind, it promises Massachusetts around 21.5 percent of gambling revenues (12 to 15 percent is typical in tribal casinos). We’re in the money. Almost.
HOT MESS
Paint Parties Recently you might have seen friends on Facebook (or college kids wandering down Lansdowne) looking like neon Pollock paintings. No, it’s not performance art — it’s just what happens when someone brings bottles of neon paint to a club and splatters every soul in sight. In tandem with the rocketlike rise of EDM in America, paint
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parties — like those staged by the Dayglow brand — are cropping up like rainbow-colored raves. Here’s how they work: everyone arrives in white and neon outfits, and once the DJ drops the beat, the scene devolves into a hurricane of flying paint. Combined with black lights and lasers, the paint-flinging melee seems like a surreal snippet from a Daft Punk video. The bashes have been going down across the country at clubs, festivals, and college campuses, and locally we’ve caught them at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell and Boston’s House of Blues, where Dayglow will return on September 17 and 18. Color us ready for a redo.
HOT STUFF
The Donna Summer Effect In honor of Dorchester’s queen of disco, we’ll call it the Donna Summer Effect, a term for the bereavementinspired sales spikes of departed musicians’ back catalogues. This year we’ve lost an absurd amount of icons: Summer, Whitney Houston, Etta James, Davy Jones, Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys, and Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees. (Not to mention Dick Clark, whose radio and TV work gave countless musicians their big break.) We’ve mourned by tweeting our misery, Facebooking our sorrow (alongside nostalgiainducing music videos), and buying shitloads of songs we finally appreciate as pop-culture artifacts. Summer’s sales increased 3,277 percent after her death, catapulting four albums from the ’70s superstar onto 2012’s Billboard charts. Seven Beastie Boys albums re-entered Billboard after Yauch’s death. (Their 1986 debut, License to Ill, hit number 18.) And at one point, 28(!) Houston songs appeared on iTunes’ list of the top 100 sellers. Twenty years after its release, one ballad rocketed dayglow
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all the way to Billboard’s numberthree spot: “I Will Always Love You.” Naturally.
HOT REWIND
’90s Bands In 2011, New Kids on the Block and the Backstreet Boys launched a joint tour. Clearly, this was an omen: we’ve entered the age of Clintonera comeback attempts. This year has already yielded new albums from industrial-rock band Garbage (Not Your Kind of People), the pop punks of Eve 6 (Speak in Code), and grunge act Soul Asylum (Delayed Reaction). In July, Boston hosted a stop on the Summerland Tour, which boasts a dream bill (assuming you’ve been asleep since 1998) of Sugar Ray, Everclear, Lit, Gin Blossoms, and Marcy Playground. No Doubt just dropped “Settle Down,” the lead single from their first album in 11 years, Push and Shove, due in September. That’s the same month Green Day will release ¡Uno!, the
first in a planned trilogy. And this fall will see the debut of Viva Forever!, a musical based on the Spice Girls catalogue. The good news: we love this shit. The bad news: we’re old.
HOT — AND HIP?
Fanny Packs Though once strictly associated with “mom jeans” and overweight tourists, the fanny pack (or “belt bag,” as designer and fanny fan Donna Karan prefers to call it) has quietly become an acceptable — even stylish — accessory in the fashion world. First DVF unveiled a collection of “belted satchels.” (Ah, a rose by any other name . . .) Then we spotted fannies on the spring 2012 runways of Michael Kors, who served up high-end leather versions, and Topshop. Mainstream retailers like Urban Outfitters have recently carried cool studded looks. And they’ve been attached to trendsetting stars like Rihanna, who was recently snapped wearing a
garbage
dollar-sign-studded Joyrich number carried by Boston’s own Karmaloop .com. Finally, we’ve noticed the hipster contingency embracing fringed and neon-colored nylon looks with predictable irony. Given the bag’s utility — as convenient storage space during spastic dance sessions at summer concerts, for instance — we begrudgingly suggest that maybe there’s nothing funny about the fanny after all.
BUBBLING HOT
Carbonated Cocktails Soda water or a champagne float easily adds a little effervescence to a cocktail. But in mixology, the longer road can lead to more delicious destinations — so influential bars throughout the country are starting to fully carbonate cocktails. Area bars like Clio, Area Four, and Backbar are dabbling in the process, as is ArtBar (40 Edwin H. Land Boulevard, Cambridge, 617.806.4122), where food and beverage director Troy
Clarke uses the Perlini carbonated shaker. (It’s available for home use, though the similar iSi Twist ’n Sparkle was recalled for certain dangers.) The Perlini shaker is pressurized with carbon dioxide; instead of adding soda water as in most sparkling cocktails, you premix, carbonate, refrigerate, and drink — a fun prospect for bar nerds who obsess over factors like ice and dilution. Clarke will be offering a class on carbonated cocktails at Art Bar on September 20, so home bartenders looking to finesse their fizz should keep an eye on artbarcambridge.com for complete deets.
HOT BLING
Gypsies and Debutantes We really didn’t need to get sucked into yet another reality TV show. But then along came TLC’s My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding. Looking like an unholy marriage of Bridezillas and a Romani version continued on p58
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of Jersey Shore, it presented an endless parade of incredibly ornate, glitzy wedding gowns handcrafted by Waltham designer Sondra Celli, daughter of local style icon Yolanda Cellucci. We were hooked. We also begrudgingly started admiring the Gypsy gals’ moxie for rocking rhinestone- and crystal-covered wardrobes. But since those dresses are a tad too ostentatious for office wear, we’ll just accessorize with Gypsies and Debutantes (gypsiesanddebutantes.com), a line from Boston designer Lana Soussan that’s available at Ku De Ta (663 East Broadway, South Boston, 617.269.0008). Soussan, whom STUFF once named among Boston’s most stylish, creates bejeweled cuffs and colorful friendship bracelets inspired by her childhood in Morocco and loaded with Swarovski rhinestones, studs, spikes, and other outré accoutrements. Boho meets bling, they indulge our Gypsy leanings on a smaller scale. <58> 7.31.12
WHITE HOT
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Le Dîner en Blanc Our first “white party” was hardly dignified. It involved copious amounts of body bronzer, pharmaceutically enhanced dancing under strobe lights, and a hookup with a go-go dancer named . . . well, we’re not sure we ever knew it, frankly. But now we’re older, wiser, sophisticated, and ready for Le Dîner en Blanc, an elegant affair that arrives in Boston on August 16. It’s like a pop-up picnic crossed with a flash mob: up to 1000 revelers, dressed all in white and carting an elegant feast, will descend on an as-yet-unrevealed public space (disclosed at the last minute to preserve anticipation) for an impromptu picnic with live music, dancing, and festive white décor. Le Dîner en Blanc launched in Paris 24 years ago, taking over sites like the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Pyramid. Last year, it made its US debut in NYC, where 30,000 signed
up for the 1,000 slots; now Boston is one of nine American cities joining the party. Reserve a ticket ($25– $35) and sign up for notifications at boston.dinerenblanc.info.
HOT AND BOTHERED
Fifty Shades of Grey The fastest-selling paperback of all time began as Twilight fan fiction, typed, likely with one hand, by a middle-aged mum using the pen name “Snowqueens Icedragon.” (Hear that? It’s the sound of a million MFA candidates shredding manuscripts in despair.) Its virginal heroine, freshly minted college grad Anastasia Steele, meets mysterious millionaire Christian Grey, a 27-year-old business tycoon with a traumatic past and singular sexual tastes who introduces her to his “red room of pain.” In return, she saves him from his emotional prison. (Gag us, indeed.) Fifty Shades of Grey and its “mommy porn” sequels have sold more
than 20 million copies, spawning many an awkward morning-news segment, endless speculation about casting for the forthcoming film adaptation, and countless Tumblrs and Twitter accounts chronicling its clunky prose. We’re all for exploring flavors beyond vanilla, but this Danielle Steele–meets–Dawson’s Creek drivel hardly does sexual subcultures a service. And while the kink is pretty tame, the brutal assaults on the English language left us screaming our safe words.
HOT DINING VIBE
The All-American Cookout There’s something in the air — and it smells like rib sauce and freshly cut grass. The local dining scene seems to have been marinating in the spirit of the all-American cookout. The retractable roof installed over the recently opened beer garden at Sweet Cheeks (1381 Boylston Street, Boston, 617.266.1300), filled with stacks of
Le Dîner en Blanc
firewood and wooden barrels used as cocktail tables, demonstrates our dogged determination to enjoy outdoor barbecues in any weather. Back Deck (2 West Street, Boston, 617.670.0320) is a new Downtown Crossing spot themed like a permanent indoor cookout (see page 67). For outdoor fun, Area Four (500 Technology Square, Cambridge, 617.758.4444) keeps a stash of lawn games like bocce, croquet, and Frisbee so guests can unwind in its neighboring courtyard. Special grilling and barbecuefocused dinners are sprouting in every style of spot, from a recent BBQ picnic at Grafton Street (1230 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, 617.497.0400) to a series of popup grill nights at UpStairs on the Square (91 Winthrop Street, Cambridge, 617.864.1933). And Mediterranean spot Casbah will soon reopen as the Fat Man Café (26 New Street, Cambridge, 617.245.0440), a barbecue concept
with outdoor grilling and skewers. Bring it on.
HOT SAKE SPOT
Shōjō We hate to say it, but we haven’t been particularly discerning in our Chinatown drinking experiences. We’re usually just stopping for a post-club nightcap somewhere (anywhere!) that the waiter gives the wink-wink-nudge-nudge when we ask for “cold tea.” (A request that’s followed by a birdbath-sized bowl teeming with cocktail umbrellas.) This has changed with the opening of Shōjō (9A Tyler Street, Boston, 617.423.7888), an Asian restaurant and lounge from the China Pearl team. Shōjō not only boasts a serious craft-cocktail menu — house-infused spirits, check! — but an extensive sake list designed to familiarize Hub dwellers with quality forms of the rice wine. (Sakeappreciation classes will even be continued on p60
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the uber team
offered.) The menu includes plenty of tasty treats, from tuna sliders with wasabi mayo to suckling-pig bao. But we’re really amped for the emphasis on special events and music programming, which will include late-night DJs spinning from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. Cheers, Chinatown.
Broadway, Cambridge), which also pours tasting flights on Thursday afternoons. And highbrow baristas looking to hone their craft can soon get schooled in Union Square: North Carolina’s Counter Culture Coffee is expected to open a training center in September at 374 Somerville Avenue. Sounds buzz-worthy.
HOT CUPPA
HOT WHEELS
Coffee Snobbery My, how far the humble cup of Joe has come. Coffee drinkers are increasingly savoring their brews the way oenophiles do fine wine, scrutinizing flavor profiles, bean origins, and preparation methods like never before. Such taste-enhancing techniques include the pour-over (in which hot water is poured slowly, over several minutes, into a filterlined cone filled with grounds) and cold brewing (in which grounds are steeped for hours in cold or roomtemperature water). Both are offered at newish spots Render Coffee (563 Columbus Avenue, Boston, 617.262.4142) and dwelltime (364 <60> 7.31.12
Uber Now that we’re officially over the novelty of food trucks, allow us to sing the praises of a different four-wheeled fleet that recently rolled into town: Uber. Since its inaugural test run in San Francisco, the smartphone-summoned car service has expanded to nine US cities and several abroad; it reached Boston in the fall. These aren’t gum-on-the-carpet taxicabs. Uber commuters enjoy the luxurious leather accents of jet-black town cars, service by experienced drivers, and on-demand availability, perfect for impromptu after-hours journeys across town. (The app,
downloadable at uber.com/boston, shows nearby rides and anticipated wait times.) Our favorite part: the fares are automatically charged to a credit card on file, tip included — so save your dollar bills for the bar.
cream. There’s even a souped-up ice-cream truck, Frozen Hoagies (frozenhoagies.com), whose handmade ice-cream sandwiches just might have us sprinting through the streets once more.
HOT AND COLD
HOT MEN
Gourmet Ice-Cream Sandwiches The freezer-burned ice-cream sandwiches of our youth have gotten a major upgrade. We’ve devoured gourmet versions of the classic summer treat at spots like Somerville’s Bergamot, Back Bay’s Forum, and Sportello (348 Congress Street, Boston, 617.737.1234), which sandwiches zabaglione gelato between almond shortbread. Meanwhile, the wizards at ’Wiches of Boston (wichesofboston.com) have been working their magic at private parties and swanky events around town, using local and organic ingredients and a little liquid nitrogen to create on-thespot confections, like a lemonsnap cookie sandwich stuffed with fresh- and candied-ginger ice
The Rugged and Refined Maybe Midnight in Paris struck a nerve with modern men, because it seems like guys are wandering Hub streets as if dressed for a man-date with Hemingway. (Hey, it worked for Owen Wilson.) Think tweeds, plaids, flannels, boots, and bowties evoking romantic Americana and harking to an unspecified old-timey time — the sartorial extension of the recent spate of gentlemanly cocktail dens. Stock your wardrobe from spots like the South End’s Sault New England (577 Tremont Street, Boston, 857.239.9434), home to New England Shirt Company button-ups, Jack Spade bags, and Forage ties. Or hit Ball and Buck (3 Lewis Street, Boston, 617.742.1776; 144B Newbury Street, Boston, 617.262.1776), the photo by gina manning
DOWN TOWN CROSSING Day2Night Convertible Heels North End store that recently opened an extended pop-up on Newbury Street, complete with a barber shop for trims and straight-razor shaves; in July, it launched its own line of bowties, pocket squares, and hankies. And from Yankee Candle’s new “man candles” to the handsome apothecary products now stocked by vintage shop Oona’s (1210 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, 617.491.2654), there are plenty of home and grooming goods that leave guys smelling like wood, whiskey, and nostalgia.
Hot and Haute 2.0
Online Fashion Startups GQ may have named Boston the worst-dressed city in America, but several fashion-focused startups are giving the city’s style rep a makeover. Last year, soon after receiving a master’s degree from Babson College, Candice Leigh Cabe raised more than $16,000 through Kickstarter to fund Day2Night Convertible Heels (convertible-heels.com), a line of shoes with snap-on heels of different heights that move instantly from kitten heels to stilettos. And in January, Harvard grad Aubrie Pagano launched Zoora (zoorafashion.com), where members “co-create” garments with up-andcoming designers by entering their measurements and choosing details like colors or necklines. Meanwhile, the Woburn-based True Fit (truefit .com) uses “top-secret” algorithms to determine your correct size and recommend items based on what you buy and what’s already in your closet. Picture Siri meets a personal shopper. Pretty soon, Boston will have a whole new look. Or at least, Bostonians will.
HOT ON THE HORIZON
South End Dining Spots When it comes to acknowledging highly anticipated restaurants, the South End is the Meryl Streep of the category: we know its showing is predictable, but we can’t help it if the ’hood keeps cranking out great projects. So, for your consideration, here are our picks for the hottest coming attractions. There’s Boston Chops, a steakhouse from restaurateur Brian Piccini (dbar, Deuxave), which will open in the former home of Ginger Park. A few steps down Washington Street, BoMa will bring American regional cuisine to the space that fleetingly housed Bombay Club. (Before that, it was neighborhood favorite Pho Republique.) Though he just opened the Tip Tap Room in Beacon Hill, chef Brian Poe is also partnering on Estelle’s, a casual joint opening at the corner of Mass Ave and Tremont Street within months. And the Aquitaine Group’s first Italian concept, Cinquecento, opens soon in the old Rocca spot, while South End Buttery is adding a second location on Clarendon Avenue. Every hit needs a sequel.
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foodcoma
Long-Cooked Beef Pho at Empire Asian Restaurant & Lounge A food-writer pal of mine once archly suggested that there are only five types of fine-dining restaurants in Boston. He was being satirical, but barely — the longer you dine out here, the easier it is to experience déjà vu. Consider this one: a soaring, nightclubby place with an over-the-top Asian theme, a big bar, lots of lounge seating and conventional dining tables, a sushi bar, a dining bar overlooking an open kitchen where wok masters ply their trade, a thumping Euro-house soundtrack, many fancy cocktails, and an eclectic list of beer, wine, and sake. The food is better than you expect from nightclub people, the prices a bit eye-popping. Sound familiar? Regular readers of Food Coma may be reminded of our summer 2011 review of Red Lantern, the Back Bay’s answer to Tao and Buddha Bar on Stanhope Street. Not content with that smash, its owners have essentially recreated Red Lantern on an even larger scale (with 350 seats and 14,000 square feet) in the white-hot Seaport District. Called Empire Asian Restaurant & Lounge (1 Marina Park Drive, Boston, 617.295.0001), it repeats many Red Lantern kitchen motifs, including a lineup of cooked-seafood maki like the “fish and chips” roll ($14), which wraps skillfully tempura-fried cod and maltvinegar mayo in sushi rice. Other Red Lantern hits like a creditable stir-fry of PHOTO BY joel veak
Singapore street noodles ($23 bowl, $42 platter) and warm steamed buns ($10 for two with shiitakes, $15 with Wagyu beef) also recur here. Inari-style sushi ($8 for two pieces) stuffs fried-tofu pouches with rice, green beans, carrots, shiitakes, microgreens, and a lot of mayo-based sauce; it’s messy but tasty, reminiscent of Hawaiian cone sushi. The price of long-cooked beef pho ($26 small, $46 large) will draw eye rolls from your food-nerd friends who haunt Dorchester Vietnamese joints. Regardless, this bowl packs a lot of flavor: a rich stock with proper accents of charred aromatics, thin rice noodles that require vigorous stirring to finish cooking in the steaming broth, and thin-sliced rare tenderloin and meltingly tender oxtail with a wonderful hint of star anise, plus mung-bean sprouts, daikon, fresh mint, holy basil, and chopped bird chilies to add by hand. Its gorgeous clay-pot presentation is of a piece with Empire’s broader appeal: it’s exquisitely packaged, located in Boston’s hot-hot-hot dining neighborhood of the moment, and packed with pretty, fetchingly attired staff and patrons. With those sexy, shiny trappings, you may well forgive the familiar concept and premium prices.
— MC Slim JB
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COURSES with:
Jason Heard of East Coast Grill
It says a lot that when Chris Schlesinger decided to sell East Coast Grill (1271 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, 617.491.6568) — after 27 years and umpteen high-octane cooks on the line — the guy he turned to was exec chef Jason Heard. When Heard took over as chef-owner this spring, regulars were worried. Would it signal a change in concept for the Inman Square landmark? What would happen to its Scoville-scaleshattering Hell Night? We checked in with Heard to hear about his background — and his plans for East Coast’s future. How did you become “the one”? I was working in Key West, and one of the waitresses where I worked became my wife. She said we had to move back to the real world, and to her that meant Boston. In 2008, we bought a house in Cambridge. . . . By chance, East Coast Grill was on my walking path, a block away from home. I took a grill job. People left. I moved up. More people left. I moved up again. And again. Last November, Chris took a close look at my résumé and asked if I’d like to buy the place. I thought he was kidding or drunk. I sort of blew it off. A few weeks later, he asked if we’d gotten our finances together. We began calling everyone we knew and got the money together, and by April we were ready to move forward. You’re a Southerner? I’m a military kid. My dad was a Green Beret officer, and we moved all over the world. I was born in Texas, lived in Georgia, Hawaii, and Germany. There is a lot of insanity when you grow up going to four different high schools and living in 10 different places. But my father wanted us to blend in wherever we lived, so we always ate local food, never “American food.” My dad was in Korea and brought back kimchee. We lived in Hawaii. I fell in love with Hawaiian whole-pig roasts. And then we moved to Germany, where you shopped every day for whatever you were going to eat. You went to the bread store to buy bread, the cheese store to buy cheese. Everything was fresh every day. Germany is where I first had street food. When we moved back to Georgia, I ate my first rattlesnake. Uh, rattlesnake? Yup. The Claxton Rattlesnake Roundup is a big event every year. It’s a little oily but good. They nail the rattlesnakes to trees, take a stick — maybe that’s enough detail. The Center for Disease Control shows up and takes all the venom, the boot makers show up for the skin, and the rest is food. Have you made any changes yet? So far, the only thing we’ve done differently is to open for lunch on Saturdays so that people who can’t get in for dinner can still eat at East Coast Grill. You don’t mess with success. . . . Most of the staff was here before I ever crossed the MasonDixon line. I’m hoping we can outlast Chris and still be here 27 years from today. People were afraid that it would be different. But today when I look out across the restaurant from the cooking line, I’m seeing fewer and fewer people asking, “Did you change the tuna?” Is Hell Night still part of the plan? Absolutely. I like heat too. But I don’t believe in dumping a load of chiles in someone’s food just for the hell of it. Heat shouldn’t be about burning your face off. It has to do something for the dish, not take away from the dish. . . . Hell Night can’t be about getting sick and calling the ambulances. That’s TV ratings stuff. Not cooking.
— Louisa Kasdon
Louisa Kasdon can be reached at louisa@louisakasdon.com. photo by michael diskin
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Don’t get us wrong: we love city living. But occasionally, most often in the summer, some of us start to wistfully daydream about a quaint and simple life in the suburbs. It’s an idealized fantasy, of course — one involving a cat, a dog, 2.5 kids, and a grassy backyard and patio where a good old-fashioned cookout can be accomplished more readily than on our rusty fire escapes. (Noticeably
absent from this utopian scenario: soccer moms, strip malls, and the slow, withering malaise that sets in when you live on a steady diet of Applebee’s and unrealized dreams.) Here’s a compromise measure: Back Deck (2 West Street, Boston, 617.670.0320). The newly opened restaurant is intended to evoke the vibe of a backyard cookout in, of all places, the middle of
Downtown Crossing. Design-wise, that means an interior composed of three distinct “deck” areas with varying flooring and patio-style furniture, wide-open street-side windows, and plenty of greenery. Its menu is made up of cookout-apropos eats (think Point Judith squid, kabobs, burgers, and sundaes), nearly all of which are cooked in the open kitchen on one of three hardwood-charcoal grilling units: “Big Red,” an eight-square-foot behemoth; “Monty,” used mainly for smoking and roasting; and “Nelly,” a charbroiler. (Yeah. We have a name for our favorite high-tech grill, too: “George Foreman.”) What should you ask them to slap on the grill? We suggest the beer-can Cornish game hen ($21), a juicy bird that has been slow-roasted atop a can of Narragansett beer. Tender and tasty, it’s served with herb-flecked rice and sautéed spinach, making for a plate that’s sating yet still relatively light for cookout-inspired fare. But if you want something really rich? Stick around for the Back Deck s’mores ($6), a decadent take on the classic cookout finale. The oversized s’more stuffs two house-made graham crackers with espresso marshmallow and Hershey’s chocolate. No, not Godiva, not some organic, sustainably produced, fancy-pants brand, but Hershey’s. And that’s how we like it — because sometimes, especially in the summer, it’s the simple things that taste sweetest.
— Scott Kearnan PHOTO BY joel veak
experience The gardner museum’s new wing aT nighT. soak up The aTmosphere of The hisToric courTyard. live music. wine bar. arTisT Talks. gallery games.
Thursday, augusT 16, 5 – 9pm
roman holiday
Explore Boston’s own palazzo—Italy awaits
Jazz aT The gardner
Darren Barrett Quintet, 7pm featuring emerging artists from Berklee College of Music gardnermuseum.org/visit/afterhours Box office: 617 278 5156
Thursday evening programming is supported in part by The baupost group, llc, and the national endowment for the arts. fidelity investments is the opening year sponsor of Jazz at the Gardner. The museum receives operating support from the massachusetts cultural council. Gardner After Hours media sponsor: The boston phoenix.
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You Like: Cabernet Try: A Greenwich Sour 2 oz. of rye or bourbon ¾ oz. of lemon juice ¾ oz. of simple syrup ½ oz. of cabernet
Quick Summery A few easy ways to tweak winter drinks for the heat We love a nice summery drink when we’re sipping on the beach, double-fisting at barbecues, or hanging on the front porch as much as the next guy in jorts. But for many of us, it’s during the colder, darker winter months that the best drinking is to be found. Trouble is, you don’t want to break out the hot Scotches, fortifying brandies, robust red wines, or heavy porters when it’s sweltering out. So we found a few options that summerize favorite winter drinks. Think of it like putting your favorite tipple in a bikini and taking it to the beach — although not as weird as that sounds.
— Luke O’Neil
Got an idea for Liquid? Email lukeoneil47@gmail.com.
You Like: A Rich Burgundy Try: A Royal Plush Rosé Prosecco Add ice to a Collins glass and fill it halfway with rosé; then top with prosecco. Garnish with a sprig of mint. • The traditional Royal Plush already summerizes a rich Burgundy red by pouring it over ice and topping it with sparkling wine. But you can take it one step further, says Back Deck general manager Mark Corcoran, by subbing in a light, crisp rosé and garnishing it with a sprig of mint to make the seasonal aromatics pop.
You Like: Whiskey Cocktails Try: A Blackberry-Ginger Cocktail 1½ oz. of Woodford Reserve bourbon ½ oz. of simple syrup 2 blackberries 3–4 mint leaves 1–2 oz. of Gosling’s ginger beer A squeeze of lemon In a cocktail glass, muddle the mint, blackberries, simple syrup, and squeeze of lemon together. Fill glass with ice and add the
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Woodford Reserve. Top off with the ginger beer. • There’s nothing like whiskey to warm you up in winter. And there are plenty of time-tested ways to lighten up your favorite bourbons for the summer, says Paul McAvoy of Del Frisco’s. Whiskey smashes, mint juleps, and Old Fashioneds all make for great summer drinking. But here’s a refreshing take that evokes a winter-worthy ginger flavor.
You Like: Applejack Try: The Pink Lady 1½ oz. of London dry gin 1 oz. of applejack ½ oz. of grenadine ¾ oz. of lemon juice Egg white Dry shake all ingredients, and then add ice and shake again. Double strain into a small chilled wine glass or cocktail glass. • Applejack is traditionally associated with winter. Not only was it long made by freeze distillation, but it shows up in a number of toddies and ’nogs in the winter as well. Plus, it pairs nicely with spice and is quaffable warm, says Russell House Tavern’s Sam Gabrielli. Here the botanicals from the gin and the citrus notes substitute for the wintry spice you might typically mix in.
Shake the whiskey, syrup, and juice with ice. Strain into a double Old Fashioned glass filled with fresh ice (or serve up in a chilled cocktail glass). Float wine over the top. • A whiskey sour is a natural fit for the summer, but let’s say you’ve got a bottle of robust cabernet you didn’t get around to finishing. No problem, says Sam Gabrielli of Russell House Tavern. “Adding a deep, rich, and dry red wine as a float on a whiskey sour, which becomes a Greenwich Sour, is an awesome way to utilize that big cabernet you can’t seem to drink during those hot summer nights. It allows the oak and fruit characteristics of the cabernet to play along with the refreshing whiskey classic.” It’s like sangria for a man’s man — but please, don’t call it man-gria.
You Like: Drinking on Thanksgiving Try: Thanksgiving In July 2 oz. of dark rum ½ oz. of cranberry shrub ½ oz. of cranberry juice ½ of a rosemary sprig A pinch of pumpkin spice A pinch of allspice Freshly squeezed lemon to taste Shake and serve over ice. Garnish with an orange peel candied with brown sugar. • Wember Castillo, bartender at the Alley Bar at Rowes Wharf, is doing summery versions of a bunch of winter staples, like a hot toddy served over ice with Scotch, honey simple syrup, and lemon and a chilled butter rum done with dark rum, brownsugar simple syrup, and butterscotch and cinnamon liqueurs. But if you ask us, this recipe packs the most cold-weather flavor in a glass. photos by joel veak
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At Home with Jay Heaps The Soccer Coach Kicks Back in His Aptly Named Great Room Jay Heaps doesn’t have much time to relax. Midway through his first season as head coach of the New England Revolution, he’s focused on keeping his team of soccer stars in tip-top shape on their quest for a cup. Next up: a double-header at Gillette Stadium on Saturday, August 4. Game one is an international faceoff between Italy’s AC Milan and Honduras’s Olimpia, and game two pits the Revolution against Sporting Kansas City. When Heaps does have a chance to unwind, you’ll probably find him in this great room in his Franklin home. The comfy space is the perfect place to indulge in his favorite pastime: kicking back with his wife, three children, and beloved chocolate lab, Bella. We stopped in for a time-out.
— Scott Kearnan
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A. It was five years ago that Heaps moved to the suburbs from a South Boston condo. Once he and his wife had their second child, Heaps says, it seemed like “the walls there were shrinking!” There’s plenty of space here: he designed the room to have a high-vaulted ceiling and tall windows that let in plenty of light from the grassy backyard. But many of us miss our smaller starter homes when we upsize, and Heaps was no exception. So he chose this cherry hardwood flooring; not only does its rich tone complement the calming grayblue walls and gold accents, but it’s the same flooring used in his old Southie condo. B. This leather armchair was a housewarming gift from Heaps’s parents, and it’s where you’ll find him staying up late to watch DVR recordings of other teams’ games. As for nonsports shows? His guilty pleasures are Survivor and — wait for it — The Bachelorette. “I like it better than The Bachelor, because it’s more interesting to see the competitive spirit between the guys.” Naturally, Coach. Still, we think Heaps will get a kick out of watching the women fight over his players at Win a Date with a Rev on Thursday, August 9. The charity fundraiser will place players like Stephen McCarthy, Kelyn Rowe, and Chris Tierney (whom STUFF once named among “Boston’s Sexiest”) on the auction block. Visit revolutionsoccer.net for details. C. Heaps’s home electronics are wired through a serious surround-sound system, which makes his great room, well, great for entertaining. So does its layout: the room flows directly into the kitchen (important when your wife has a “big Italian family,” says Heaps) and adjoins his grill-equipped backyard, where he hopes to host a BBQ with his players later this summer. They certainly have reason to celebrate: the Revolution recently signed a new forward, Jerry Bengtson, inking his deal on the Fourth of July. (How’s that for a good omen?) Right now though, bankable Bengtson is representing his home country of Honduras at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Heaps’s words of encouragement? “I told him, ‘Before you leave, score us some goals as a warm-up,’ ” chuckles the coach. D. As these jerseys show, Heaps isn’t just the Revolution’s head coach; he’s a former player for the team, and he also played with the US men’s national team. (He earned four caps at the ’09 CONCACAF Gold Cup, his last before retiring as a player.) But soccer isn’t his only sport: Heaps played basketball at Duke University. Today, this dad is already seeing signs of athleticism in his children, especially in his daughter, Olivia. “Athletics come naturally to her,” says Heaps. Gymnastics is her sport of choice — and with space like this, she has plenty of room to practice. phoTo by melissa ostrow
sex
Split Decisions
PRESENTS
Cocktail Caravan COMe pARTy wITh STUFF & SAppORO AT The GRANARy TAVeRN!
TUeSdAy, AUGUST 14 6pM – 8pM RSVp AT www.COCKTAILCARAVAN.COM 21+
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My girlfriend and I recently conducted an interesting relationship exercise, asking, “Who would you get to keep in the breakup?” Perhaps this seems morbidly fatalistic. But it’s a sad fact that if and when relationships go south, a ripple effect undulates through circles of friends. If the ground rules aren’t clear, it can cause a lot of awkward jockeying of loyalties — and possibly turn exes into enemies. Historically, I’ve enacted a strict ban on allowing friends to remain friends with my exes. (Fortunately, they haven’t liked many of them enough to try.) But this time is different. Having recently celebrated our three-year anniversary, my girlfriend and I have come to the realization that our lives are inseparably intertwined. We share an unusually close circle of mutual friends, having met through one of them, and I do believe my mother now likes my girlfriend better than she likes her own daughter. A certain close friend even regularly warns me not to break up “the family” — hinting at the fact that our split would inconvenience our friends’ lives as well. We’ve all heard horror stories of relationships and friendships “lost in the divorce.” And we’ve all probably experienced breakups where we realize we miss the person’s friends and family more than we miss the miserable bitch we actually dated. Even now, if I think about some of my closest friends, I would certainly want to remain friends with their partners or spouses if their relationships met their demise. It can be tough to navigate the muddy waters of a breakup. But when it comes to maintaining mutual friendships, there are a few generally agreed-upon laws of social etiquette. For instance, if a friend explicitly asks you not to remain friends with his or her ex, either due to some deceit or the mere fact that it will make the breakup more difficult, the request should be respected. Things might change over time, but allow for at least a respite before you and the ex are off getting mani-pedis together. Second, if you do remain friends with someone’s ex, you should try to tame the catty, gossipy bitch in you (we know it’s tough) and
refrain from talking about the other ex — or offering relationship advice. And, most important, never, ever report back on how great the ex is doing, how great he or she looks, or who the ex might be dating. Remember, the only real reason people allow you to remain friends with their exes is to have an informant, and all they want to hear is that the ex has become an obese troll who desperately misses them. Remember, real friends lie when they need to. But would any of these rules actually help if my own relationship ended? For all intents and purposes, my girlfriend and I are treated like conjoined twins. So what happens if the day comes when we need to be surgically extricated from each other and learn to live and breathe on our own? Would all of our mutual friends engage in awkward games of rockpaper-scissors to decide who gets invited to which event? Worse, would they diplomatically invite us both and test our bravado? Or what if they realize, sadly, that they’ve always liked one of us better? For now, we don’t need to know the answers to these troubling questions. In fact, after we reviewed these hypothetical scenarios, during which I cried real tears at the thought of our splintered existences (and the inability to have access to her home on the Vineyard), we came to one firm conclusion. The best people to worry about holding onto are each other.
— Jeannie Greeley
Jeannie Greeley is a freelance writer who will now let her friends awkwardly discuss this topic amongst themselves. She can be reached at jeannieg@comcast.net.
Hot Summer. Cool Prices. When you shop at THe Goodwill SToreS you support Goodwill’s job training, career services, and youth programs.
www.goodwillmass.org • Allston-Brighton • Boston • Boston Outlet Store • Cambridge • Hyannis • Jamaica Plain
• Quincy • Somerville • South Attleboro • South Boston • Worcester
KicKoff the football SeaSon with coorS light at: Join the Coors Light Girls on August 9th from 8:30 – 10 You could win a pair of New England Pro Football tickets! And remember … Whenever at T.K.O. Malley’s Enjoy your Coors Light Rocky Mountain COLD!
T.K.O. Malley’s 194 FrOnT sTreeT, sciTuaTe Mass 781.545.4012 • www.eaTTKOMalleys.cOM
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mda fundraiser at dillonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
1. Charlene Zapata and Charissa Zapata; 2. Lyubo Karadashkov and Jessica Yoshimura; 3. Katherine Jacobson and Michelle Acosta; 4. Ashley Wagner and Brittany Ferreri; 5. Beverly Doughty and Cathie Dauphine; 6. Zach Dubin, Rachel Warner, Lynn Davidson, and Terry McGowan; 7. Gabrielle Stuart, Curtis Jean, Angela Scialdone, and Alison Clair; 8. Allie Miller, Kendra Butters, and Catie Hsieh; 9. Ian Reid and Sarah Dion; 10. Jeanette Pollara, Jennifer Costa, Amanda Dalicandro, and Heather LaChance; 11. Gonzo, Mark Sanders, John Howard, Mike Kennedy, and Kevin Jordan.
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newbury street league gala
1. Marilyn Riseman, Salvatore DeGeorge, Corinna Luebbe, Patrick Blangy, and Rice Wales; 2. John Morrell, Denny Cruz, and Bill Shapiro; 3. Ashley Shind, Sheri Berg, and Katherine Fortier; 4. Abbe Bonnevie and Beth Damon; 5. Drew Abysalh, Maxwell Burke, and Daniel Collins; 6. Matt Marra and Nick Mathews; 7. Annlouise Welch and Kashmir Asvaraksh; 8. Janet Massone, Jimmy Massone, James Massone, and Ashley Stockbridge; 9. Katie Bonadies, Gena Bonadies, and Kat McDonagh; 10. Josh Ferranto, Stephanie Paolini, Denise McGarry, and Matt McGarry; 11. Giovanni DeCunto, David Bolton, Michele Messino, Ed Amaral, and George Kaplan.
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Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve Been Making Cocktails Since the 1700s Come see what 300 years of experience can bring! OCTOBER 4TH-6TH 2012
The Boston Cocktail Summit OCTOBer 4-6, 2012 The first-ever citywide cocktail event will celebrate the culture of the cocktail with three days of events, parties, trade exhibits, educational seminars, and galas. Mixology superstars will dazzle with creative and classic cocktails, celebrated Boston chefs will prepare delicious cocktail dinners, and local and international spirits authorities will offer informative and educational seminars. Craft beer and wine events, too!
For more information visit www.bostoncocktailsummit.com
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chefs in shorts at the seaport hotel and world trade center
1. Lindsay Rotondi and Mariellen Burns; 2. Olivia and Isabelle English; 3. Ian Alley and Carlota Dao; 4. Meaghan Coughlin and Pamela Keener; 5. Dave K. and Zack Taylor; 6. Ryan Wolf and Rachel Frechette; 7. Jason Ouellette and Katy Frost; 8. Michelle Crowley and Luke Oâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Neil; 9. Keith McPherson and Cheryl Fenton; 10. Lauren Carey, Christine Driscoll, Jenn Majewski, and Jennie DeStefano; 11. Ryan MacDonald, Jessica Doyle, and Chris Buss.
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1. Herb Chambers and Terri Stanley; 2. Adam Castiglioni and Jacki Morisi; 3. Todd English and Jenny Johnson; 4. Jessica Diaz and Alisa Kapinos; 5. Rodney Murillo and Marc Orfaly; 6. Harvey Allen and Steve DeFillippo; 7. Jeff Goldberg and Charles Diaz; 8. Alyson Cooper and Mary Beth Boyle; 9. Laura Walsh and Mindy Valone; 10. Todd, Isabelle, Simon, and Oliver English; 11. Mary Beth Boyle, Alyson Cooper, AJ Gerritson, Samantha Melendez, Halley Sheffield, and Pamela Dubuc.
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Barbara Lee’s STUFF The Cambridge-based Barbara Lee Family Foundation and Barbara Lee Political Office are the brainchildren of their eponymous founder, a political powerhouse and unflappable feminist committed to ensuring that women are fairly represented in politics. (Consider this: women represent 50 percent of the population — and just 17 percent of Congress.) A highly respected campaign researcher, advocate, and trustee of the Institute of Contemporary Art, she’s a force to be reckoned with. She was even one of the top national fundraisers for Hillary Clinton’s presidential run. But luckily Lee is down to earth, and she was happy to talk to us about her affinity for another highly visible heroine: Wonder Woman, who graces the cover of several comic books and magazines she has collected. When did you begin collecting Wonder Women? When Ms. magazine came out in the early ’70s. My first Wonder Woman magazine cover was actually a Ms. At my son’s first birthday party, instead of giving presents to the babies, I gave favors to the mothers — the very first edition of Ms. in 1972. A number of Wonder Women were on Ms., and I have them in little cellophane folders. I have a few other covers with Rosie the Riveter. I have girl-power imagery and memorabilia. It’s a playful reminder, because my mission is to get more real-life wonder women into the political pipeline. Who are the women to watch right now? Elizabeth Warren has what it takes to be a political superhero, and I think she’ll be a great leader in the Senate and a fighter for working people. She’s at the top of my list in Massachusetts. Kirsten Gillibrand in New York, who was appointed to the Senate when Hillary Clinton became secretary of state, is up for her first full term. Also, there’s an incredible woman in California, Attorney General Kamala Harris. She’s extraordinary; she could be president. What do these women have in common, besides gender? They have a drive to make a difference. They’re motivated to help people and to improve our society rather than running to get elected. For instance, Elizabeth Warren is tough; people see her as willing to stand up to Washington insiders. She’s strong, smart, and determined. <78> 7.31.12
What advice would you give to young people wanting to get into politics? Run for office in high school or college. There’s an organization called Running Start that trains girls in high school and college about the importance of their involvement. New research shows that 37 percent of women in state legislatures were class officers in high school and college. How has the tide changed for women in politics since you launched the foundation? I started this in 1997, and back then people questioned women’s credentials on economics. Today women can be 360-degree candidates. They can use their professional and personal lives to connect with voters. Especially in these times of economic stress, women can talk about the price of food, understanding how tough it is to make ends meet; basically, voters believe them and trust them. In 1998, when we did our first set of research, people weren’t as comfortable with women on economic issues. But women are the ones balancing the checkbooks. What makes Massachusetts fertile ground for women in politics? Well, what is shocking is that out of our 10 districts, just one is represented by a woman, Niki Tsongas — and only four women have ever been elected to Congress [here]. People think of Massachusetts as being a progressive leader. But politics is a blood sport in Massachusetts, and we have a very strong old boys’ club. I’m trying to create a new girls’ network so that women can mentor and develop the skills and the power they need to be able to infiltrate the system and have a critical mass. Who’s your political role model? Eleanor Roosevelt: she could be president if she were alive today. She was tough, smart, and determined to make a difference, even after she was no longer first lady. She’s made a difference for everyone in this country, fighting discrimination, standing up for working people. You also love political memorabilia. What’s your favorite piece? This is fun for me! I have two bulletin boards covered with political buttons. I have two great buttons: “It’s a man’s world unless women vote” and “Give ’em Hill!”
— Kara Baskin
PHOTO BY michael diskin
July 17th 2012
Liberty Hotel Boston
O
n Tuesday July 17th 2012, 42 Below Vodka invited 13 of Boston’s top ‘tenders to gather and compete for a chance to travel to New Zealand (Home of 42 Below) and put their mixology skills to the test against some of the best bartenders in the WORLD. Tuesday night saw some of Boston’s brightest Bar Stars from many of the TOP restaurants and bars in the city: Happy’s Bar + Kitchen, The Newtowne Bar & Grille, Ole Mexican Restaurant, KO Prime, Stella, Top of the Hub, Local 149, Market, Clink, Scampo and Alibi! One by one cocktails were mixed, presented and tasted by a panel of esteemed judges … and now it is time to recognize the winners who will move on in the competition and represent Boston proudly. They are: Domingo – martin Barreres from market at the W with his delicious 42 Below K.I.S.S.
samuel treaDWay from BackBar with his delicious 42 Below Elvis!
Congratulations to our winners and let’s all wish them well as they move on for the chance to shake it up against the Best in the World! Cheers!