restaurants + chefs
Boston’s restaurant scene has boomed for decades. Some of the best chefs in the Northeast, like Lydia Shire and Todd English, called the city home long before Joanne Chang, Douglass Williams, Karen Akunowicz and a host of other local luminaries made their names in our city. But celebrity chefs and James Beard Award winners are a small sliver of what makes Boston restaurant culture unique. For each fine dining hotspot in Boston, there are dozens of go-to family restaurants and under-the-radar neighborhood gems–the North End’s classic Italian trattorias and Chinatown’s century-old dim sum halls, suburban diners and vegan takeout. Independent restaurants are the heart and soul of Greater Boston’s cities and neighborhoods–some are glamorous, some are cozy. Each is important.
