Let's Talk About Boston's Michelin Guide Selections
The Michelin Guide has arrived in my home city so I'm sharing 11 must-order items at my favorite restaurants on the list.
After living and visiting cities where the Michelin Guide defined their fine dining scene, the time has come for my home city of Boston to join the ranks.
Last night, the Michelin Guide revealed its 2025 selection for Northeast Cities with 26 Boston restaurants among them. Since I’ve been to the majority of the 19 Michelin-recommended and six Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurants, I thought it would be timely to suggest one must-order dish at each restaurant based on my past dining experiences.
Admittedly, I haven’t been to all of the selections, but like many of you, I’ve added them to my list. And given the only restaurant to earn One Michelin Star, 311 Omakase, is a set menu, I can’t really narrow down one dish to order there but I can forewarn you of the hoops you’ll have to jump through for a reservation; the 10-seat chef’s counter was already nearly impossible to reserve prior to its accolade.
Let’s dig in…
Michelin Recommended:
Lenox Sophia
Must order: Duck
Tucked away off a South Boston side street, this bring-your-own-wine (or beer) intimate dining room offers two prix-fixe menus: omnivore and vegetarian. The duck is a recurring course on the former menu, and a specialty of which its preparation varies with the season. I’m sure their veggie menu is a delight but IMO you come here for the duck—in fact, on Wednesdays and Thursdays they offer a four-seat, chef’s counter duck press meal that serves an entire duck over the five courses. It’s an exceptional experience that would probably make my veggie friends cry but any epicurean swoon.
Mooncusser
Must order: Sourdough Grilled Cheese
When you walk into this restaurant’s ground floor Moon Bar, it feels like you’ve entered a different planet of palms and tiki cocktails that aren’t necessarily synonymous with Michelin. Continue up the staircase, however, and the white table cloths mark a shift in ambiance. The five-course, seasonal tasting menu varies depending on the time of year but if the Sourdough Grilled Cheese is listed as an option to start, you simply have to order it. While many grilled cheeses can leave you feeling sluggish and wishing you didn’t eat the whole sandwich, this perfectly portioned rectangle of Vermont cheddar layered with housemade kimchi actually leaves you wanting more. I last ate this in March 2024 and I’m still dreaming about it.
Note: Chef Carl Dooley’s multi course menu really dazzled me and I was quite surprised this well-deserving restaurant didn’t obtain a Star this time around.
Neptune Oyster
Must order: Lobster Spaghettini
In 2005, during the filming of “The Departed,” Leonardo DiCaprio slid into a bar seat at this North End hotspot and ordered the nightly special. On that evening, it was the lobster spaghettini—thin noodles in a garlic, white wine, and tomato sauce, smothered in Maine lobster meat, breadcrumbs, and Parmesan cheese (freshly shaved truffles are available if you’re feeling fancy). The story goes that he didn’t say a word for three minutes; he was so quiet that owner Jeff Nace was nervous he didn’t like it but when he eventually praised it with multiple “wows,” Nace knew it had to stay as a Monday night special.
Nightshade Noodle Bar
Must order: Garlic Noodles
It’s a choose-your-own-adventure at this notable Lynn restaurant, about 30 minutes north of Boston. Diners can opt for a blind tasting where chef Rachel Miller selects from her impressive menu of French-Vietnamese fusion or they can direct their own nine, 14 or 21 course meal. Whatever you opt for, the garlic noodles are a can’t miss—confit garlic twirled with Parmesan cheese, candied lemon and fennel pollen. Bonus: if the claypot caramel foie gras is on the menu (some items change throughout the year) be sure to add that to your order for its creme brulee-esque juxtaposition of crispy caramel and savory, custardy foie.
Pammy’s
Must order: Lasagna Bianca
Unless you dine at Pammy’s nightly (which, hey, I wouldn’t judge you because it’s that delish) no two dining experiences will likely be the same since their menu is ever-evolving. There is, however, one signature dish that is usually always listed—the lasagna bianca, which was born out of a challenge that owner Pam Willis presented to her husband Chris many years ago. Rather than a bechamel base that usually replaces red sauces, Pammy’s white lasagna uses housemade fonduta and shredded mozzarella from Malden spread between sfoglia noodles and mushrooms grown by the Willis’ friend in upstate New York.
Select Oyster Bar
Must order: Blue Crab Salad
Given my former apartment was a half block away from this haute seafood concept in Back Bay, I’ve tried a good chunk of the menu. One item that’s non-negotiable is the blue crab salad with celery root remoulade, grain mustard, lemon and chives. It’s utterly fresh, from the quality of the crab to the accompaniments of citrus and celery root so that whether you’re ordering it as a starter or as a shared side, there’s still room to devour the bounty of seafood on the rest of the menu.
Urban Hearth
Must order: Chef’s Tasting Menu
Chef Erin Miller presents both a seasonal menu and four-seat, chef’s tasting menu experience that adapts to what’s available from her network of local farmers so it’s challenging to pin down one dish here. Instead, I’m recommending the entire chef’s tasting menu—a five-course experience which usually starts with delicately dressed oysters before a land and sea protein, veggie-forward dish and, finally, a sweet treat.
Woods Hill Pier 4
Must order: Crispy Lamb Ribs
Take every pre-conceived notion you have around farm-to-table dining and toss it out, then go dine at this Boston Seaport venue for a new perspective. So many urban environs attach the FTT label to their menus but at Woods Hill Pier 4 you can actually feel, and taste, the distinction as they source the majority of their proteins and produce from The Farm at Woods Hill in Bath, New Hampshire. I was torn between highlighting the steak tartare which absolutely melts in your mouth and the lamb ribs but went for the latter because of the fall-off-the-bone tenderness and warming blend of urfa pepper and red wine glaze that elevates a classic finger food.
Bib Gourmand:
Bar Volpe
Must order: Sardinian Paella
Fregola pasta replaces the standard short-grain Spanish varieties widely used for paella in Karen Akunowicz’s riff on the classic. It makes sense, given her menu is inspired by the time she spent living and working across Italy. The combination of this spherical, semolina pasta with artichokes and mixed shellfish like shrimp, mussels and clams, plus nduja, is so unique that even paella purists would order it again.
Fox & The Knife
Must order: Milanese di Maiale
Also owned by Akunowicz, Fox & The Knife presents an emphasis on Italian favorites through a modern lens. The Milanese is something I’ve ordered consistently for its perfectly crisp exterior and saffron aioli that takes it to the next level. The generous topping of mustard greens and honey crisp apples creates a balanced acidic bite to break up the fried goodness and prepare the palate for another bite… and another, until somehow the behemoth cut you thought you could surely never finish has disappeared before your eyes!
Mahaniyom
Must order: Kang Puu (Crab Curry)
It’s been seven years since I visited Thailand and it completely ruined me. Thai is one of my favorite cuisines and the level of flavor intensity and unique dishes served on native turf that varied with the different regions I visited, I mean, I couldn’t find any of it back home. That is until I discovered Mahaniyom in Brookline. Crab curry is one of the dishes I fell in love with on the shores of Ko Yao Noi—a rich, umami, red curry broth laced with tongue-tingling chilis and crab meat. I finally found a comparable version at Mahaniyom where it’s served with the traditional Vermicelli noodles. Co-owner Chompon “Boong” Boonnak also won the Exceptional Cocktail Award and while there are a line-up of seriously creative libations on the signatures list, I’d recommend going with the rotating special of the day. The last time I went, it was the Milele, a bourbon-based libation with honey-lemon saccharum, nigori sake, lemon, saline and passionfruit.
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XO,
Love it!