I moved to Boston in 2013 and didn’t leave until 2021. I was in London for two of those years, but Boston was still home. Boston has lots of higher-education institutions so it’s a hugely diverse and young population. There are places like Cambridge which are a bit older and fancier, and then you get an area like Allston-Brighton near Boston University which has great bars and restaurants. So, you get a little bit of everything in one city.
It’s a place full of contradictions. You’ve got the Boston Athenaeum, a beautiful library and museum right next door to a Dunkin’ Donuts. It’s not just a place for old stuff; it also has the coolest cultural programmes like recitals and other events which are free or very affordable.
From there you can walk around Boston Common which, on a lovely day, is the closest thing to the lawn at Glyndebourne Opera but with people running around with their shirts off. It’s like a portrait of real life where you can go and do things for free; you can take in history, you can have a really nice meal, you can have a really basic meal and pay five bucks for it! The international student scene is such a big part of why there’s so much going on at any sort of budget level.
Boston’s full of great neighbourhoods like North End which is very Italian-American. It’s home to Neptune Oyster which specialises in lobster roll. It’s served on a brioche bun either as a kind of salad with some veggies or they’ll do it with just hot butter and salt which is much tastier. It’s light and so it’s not like you want a nap afterwards. They have great drinks like pomegranate mimosas and other things that are really bougie.
Then there’s Brookline, which is a very Jewish neighbourhood and home to the not-to-be-missed Coolidge Corner Theatre, an Art Deco art house theatre that runs curated film festivals with visiting speakers. It has great local beers on tap there.
Brookline also has the best restaurant in Boston, Zaftigs, a proper Jewish delicatessen.
Its latkes are the best I’ve ever had. It does these thinly sliced bits of bagel – bagel chips – and it gives them to you with big tubs of cream cheese. So good! It’s the only place where I’ve eaten gefilte fish and really liked it. The Reubens are delicious – everything it does is just amazing and it’s really affordable as well.
I’d rent a bike if you want to explore further afield. You can pick one up at Forest Hills at the end of the Orange Line subway and ride it all the way up to Centre Street in Jamaica Plain. I used to live there when it was kind of up-and-coming. Now it’s a very family-friendly area with gyms and really cool taco restaurants.
There’s an ice cream chain called JP Licks (it started in Jamaica Plain) where you’ll always see kids playing in the front patio area. Another place I’d recommend is Kitchenwitch which sells Staub cast iron pots and fancy knives, but it’s also got really interesting bizarro products like hand tools that you can use and have for 25 years in your kitchen.
From there I’d bike over to Jamaica Pond and do this beautiful loop around a man-made pond where you can hire a row boat. A little further you’ll go past Arnold Arboretum. It’s not that big but it’s really beautiful, it reminds me of certain parts of Central Park. It’s a wonderful place to visit in the snow.
I’d end the day at Brookline Booksmith. It’s one of the best bookshops ever, like a younger version of The Strand Bookstore in New York with lots of autographed books, children’s books, cookbooks, interior design and little trinkets so if you don’t like books, it’s a great shot for you as well.
Mathew Tucker is a freelance TV producer and journalist
