HOW TO ENJOY BOSTON LIKE A LOCAL
You can spend a whole weekend here within sight of the water, but getting to really know the city will involve travelling outside the old downtown, and sometimes up the Charles River, where history is better-hidden. Rick McGinnis explores a few places tha
Bodega
Up front it looks like your standard convenience store, but with a nod from the cashier the front of the Snapple machine slides away and you’re in a slick showroom featuring rare collectible sneakers and sportswear. The store sells limited-edition lines from big-name brands alongside imported boutique designs from Japanese and European labels. Prices range from $50 to $850 (U.S.) There are brilliant marketing stunts, such as wares hidden in geochached locations. Details: shop.bdgastore.com
Inman Square
Located between Harvard and MIT in Cambridge, Mass., this up-andcoming neighbourhood is the kind of place you’d want to live, if only so you could make a restaurant like Bisq (bisqcambridge.com) your local, with its fusion of North and South America with Portugal and other points on the globe. The wine list is good and the meat dishes are stellar. If the evening is still young, you have your choice of an Irish pub (the Druid) a well-loved dive bar (Trina’s Starlite Lounge) and a jazz club (Ryles).
MIT Museum
On an early summer weekday, this school museum is full of parents taking kids on tours of their possible future alma mater. This fun two-floor celebration of MIT educates you about its founding, as well as past luminaries, such as photographers Harold Edgerton and Berenice Abbott, and Arthur Ganson’s wild kinetic sculptures. Details: web.mit.edu/ museum If you want a quick day trip out of the city to learn more about the Boston area’s history of innovation, this museum in an old mill complex next to the upper Charles River is a must. The funky, retro vibe isn’t an accident — the Charles River Museum of Industry and Innovation is a steampunk hot spot and hosts an annual festival in May. Exhibits focus on the area — and the building’s — past as a centre for textiles and watchmaking, and as a manufacturing centre for Polaroid. Details: charlesrivermuseum.org
Boston Public Market
Opened last year in a building near the top of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, this non-profit indoor foodie destination combines farmers market with food hall and cooking school, with a priority on showcasing local growers, bakers, cooks, producers, fish and flowers. Merchants feature everything from smoked fish and handcut smoked meat to Hopsters, which specializes in craft beer and spirits produced in New England, and Red Apple Farm’s cider and doughnuts. Details: bostonpublicmarket.org
SRV
This airy restaurant at the top of Boston’s South End is named for the Serene Republic of Venice and features northern Italian cuisine. Chefs Mike Lombardi and Kevin O’Donnell have put exceptional flavour into everything on their menu, from the little meatballs you order with your apéritifs to a rich dish of handkerchief pasta with fava beans and lamb sausage. Say hello to them in the kitchen. Details: srvboston.com
Boston Society of Architects
When it moved into its new headquarters on Congress St. five years ago, the BSA opened its home to the public, turning its halls and meeting rooms into exhibition spaces. “Architects complain all the time about how the public doesn’t understand what we do,” says foundation chair Mike Davis. This move aims to address that complaint, with regular exhibits rotating through the offices. A recent show of local custom bike designers packed 800 people into the place. Details: architects.org/bsaspace