A Stamp of Approval: Post 390 brings the warmth back to the post office (Originally posted 6/15)

Was a time when the mail came on time regardless of weather and with a friendly smile from a carrier who knew your name and knew about your family without going through your packages.

These days, warmth and post office are not terms that often go together. Too often, a trip to mail a letter involves waiting in an endless line while the woman in front hand picks individual stamps from the rotating catalog of memorial, celebratory, and just plain silly options, after which she tries to pay with a check from a foreign bank, using her gym membership card as identification.

Fortunately, the folks who took over what was once the Back Bay post office on the convenient but just far enough away from the hustle and bustle of Back Bay to be comfortable corner of Stuart and Clarendon Street have been able to bring back the warmth and personal service of days gone by and combined it with contemporary flavors and forward-thinking offerings.

Continue reading

Book a Date with Davio’s: Customer-focused restaurants make you part of expanding family (Originally posted 5/15)

 

Many Boston restaurateurs have written popular books that reveal their kitchen secrets, but when it comes to the secrets of how to run a successful restaurant, Davio’s Steve DiFillippo wrote the book – literally! With a forward by Patriots owner and community leader Robert Kraft, It’s All About the Guest (Lyons Press), is filled with personal stories, favorite recipes, and advice on how to keep the focus where it belongs- on the customer. This philosophy is evident from the moment you enter any of DiFillippo’s growing family of family-friendly, customer-catering restaurants.

Continue reading

A Flora Grows in Arlington – Mass Ave eatery is a bank-able favorite (Originally published 1/15)

Housed in a 1920s bank and named for the owner’s mother, Flora (www.florarestaurant.com) has a lot of history behind it and a real sense of family. The man who helps craft the menu is the owner’s husband, the bartender is famous for getting to know every guest he can, and on the third Thursday of the month, entertainment is provided by one of Boston’s most famous musical families.

Continue reading

Cozy Coast to Coast – The Cottage offers home cookin’ and comfort from CA to MA (Originally published 1/15)

While more and more people are traveling further and further for taste sensations (as evidenced by the popularity of shows featuring tireless tasters like Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern), it is nice to know that, no matter which coast you are on, you are never too far from a place that combines the comforts of your home with ideas and inspirations from the homes of people who are in the know when it comes to good food.

Such is the case with The Cottage – a family-owned and operated restaurant where the family is bi-coastal but the flavor is just where you want to be.

Continue reading

A Diner with a DIFFERENCE – South Street Diner offers blue plate specials and SO much more! (Originally published 1/15)  

Food trends and the restaurants that chase them come and go, but the diner will be for always. From the days of the horse-drawn carts to the Golden Age of the Worcester Lunch Cart Company, the diner has always been a place where people from all walks of life can gather and eat with friends or, if they come alone, to make new ones.

Such is certainly the case with the South Street Diner in Boston. However, it offers so much more!

Continue reading

Out of This World! – JP’s Bella Luna is a neighborhood place worth leaving your neighborhood for! (Originally published 1/15)

Every neighborhood has that place- That special place where the owners and bartenders know who you are and welcome you with a warm smile even if they do not. That place where you can come as you are and leave satisfied, knowing that you had a good meal and a good time.

For the denizens of Jamaica Plain, Bella Luna is that place. Fortunately, it is large and warm and welcoming enough to encourage and invite people from all neighborhoods with the same warm welcome and great food and entertainment.

Continue reading