Shepard

Back in the day, one of the few restaurants my family and I did enjoy was a French Cuban place on Massachusetts Avenue called Chez Henri. After 19 fruitful years, it closed, and two years later, Shepard was born. Owner René Becker describes it as “simple food, mostly French, Italian, and American-inspired, prepared well—and with a twist.” The atmosphere skews neighborhood bistro, and the menu manages to seamlessly marry innovation, comfort, and sophistication (think farfalle with braised rabbit, steak frites adorned with shallot butter, and fried wild smelt).

Tapas at Little Donkey Photo: Andrea Merrill / Courtesy of Little Donkey

Little Donkey

The highest accolade I can provide about this Central Square restaurant is that it is the number one favorite of my father, a lifelong gourmand and terrific cook. “We’ll go to Donkey, right?” he asks me each time I come to visit, and refuses most requests to dine elsewhere. This “global tapas” spot, which opened in July 2016, is truly irresistible, serving inventive, maximalist mashups like matzo ball ramen with schmaltz tare, cardamom and saffron–scented halibut biryani, and mahi-mahi nachos. Little Donkey was opened by James Beard Award-winning chefs Ken Oringer and Jamie Bissonnette, who also own Boston staples Coppa and Toro, because, in Oringer’s words “every chef likes to have a restaurant where they can cook whatever the hell they want to cook anytime they want to cook it, and [Little Donkey] gives us that freedom.”

Chopped Clam Pizza at Waypoint Photo: Eugene Galdones / Courtesy of Waypoint

Waypoint

With his second Cambridge restaurant (the first being the widely lauded Alden and Harlow), Chef Michael Scelfo wanted to embrace the coastal flavors of New England. For a clientele that Scelfo describes as “young, culinarily adventurous Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston dwellers” Waypoint truly celebrates the riches of the ocean, and the chef’s time along the Atlantic and Pacific shores. The decadent raw bar menu balances the uber casual (smoked peel-and-eat shrimp with saltines and homemade hot sauce) with the refined (a full caviar service accompanied by blini, plankton, and other accoutrements), while the wood oven turns out mind-bendingly tasty pizzas—the whitefish pie with mascarpone, dill, and capers shows up in my daydreams. Among the entrées are a selection of roasts meant to be shared by two to three diners, like Maine lamb shoulder with grilled kale and white bean crema, and a whole branzino accessorized with grilled chicory, fennel, potato, and tonnato sauce. Later this year, Scelfo will open The Longfellow Bar above Alden & Harlow, sure to be another mainstay in a growing empire.