Media Room

A storied space finds its rhythm

By Kara Baskin Globe Correspondent,Updated March 8, 2026, 10:26 a.m.

Where to: Lou’s.

Why: For subterranean merrymaking in the heart of Harvard Square.

The backstory: This clubby cavern beneath The Gap has seen many lives: It was Beat Hotel, Beat Brasserie, and Beat Brew Hall. The vibe was moody and bohemian. The real estate was prime. The food was very good. But it never quite found a groove.

Now, this space is Lou’s, run by the group behind American Flatbread. Moreover, the kitchen has a not-so-secret weapon: chef Jason Bond, who built a loyal following at the acclaimed Bondir in Cambridge and later Concord.

Bond got his start at No. 9 Park and Beacon Hill Bistro before opening Bondir; in 2012, he was a James Beard Best Chef Northeast semifinalist. Since then, he’s segued from Clover to Eastern Standard before settling here, serving a comforting menu that appeals to professors, Harvard students (here in profusion on the night we visited), and couples catching up over drinks in their cozy, and I do mean cozy, booths. You may find yourself clinging to your seat. Make sure you like your tablemates.

The lounge is dark; the chairs are cushy; there are albums on the wall ranging from Lena Horne to the Marshall Tucker Band, with a DJ station nearby for music later in the night. Arrive by 6 p.m. Things get noisy around 8.

On the eve we visited, a Harvard club had reserved space for a special event, and a line of neck-tied and stiletto-clad students fished for IDs. Nearby, a few elder members of the Cambridge intelligentsia took selfies by the bar. This is not a gossip column, so I will not name them. But the effect was very Harvard Square — not a bad thing.

“The decor is very much like the old clubs. It’s a place you can feel fancy, I think. Where the actual clubs are exclusive and wouldn’t let someone like me in, everyone can come to Lou’s. It’s comfortable and easygoing,” says Bond, a former Kansas State University trombone player.

What to eat: The food skews Italian – American in honor of Lou, the father of Trinity Properties landlord John DiGiovanni. Bond’s favorite dish is Mrs. Sorbo’s parmesan-braised beef with caramelized onion sauce, red-wine glazed carrots, and pappardelle ($28).

When I was pretty new to New England, I worked at a restaurant in Providence, for a guy named Bert Sorbo. His mother cooked for me one day, and this recipe was: just bury a tough cut of meat in sliced onions and parm rind, and put it in the oven overnight. The next morning, you have this deep, amazing sauce,” he says.

Our server — eager to please — also recommends a rich rigatoni alla norma ($24), a comforting tangle of roasted eggplant and tomatoes. My dining companion opts for Lou’s favorite linguine and clams ($29) with pork sausage, white wine, and garlic.

“Pasta was perfectly cooked. Everything you want carbs to be. No notes,” she texted later.

But the surprise stunner? A simple house salad with local greens, radish, cucumber, and tomato in a light French vinaigrette: crunchy, gloriously fresh, with a twinge of salt. It tasted like spring in the dead of winter.

There were a few mysteries. Why did our double-dipped fries ($9), offered with three sauces — curry mayo, shishito mayo, and ketchup — arrive with only two? Our server was quick to make this right. And more crucially: Where was the promised spiced ranch sauce with our basket of fried cauliflower and dill pickles ($13)? After some excavation, we discovered the sauce hiding below the vegetables, like a mattress. Our server, equally puzzled, brought us a nice tub of spicy ranch as consolation.

But the surprise stunner? A simple house salad with local greens, radish, cucumber, and tomato in a light French vinaigrette: crunchy, gloriously fresh, with a twinge of salt. It tasted like spring in the dead of winter.

There were a few mysteries. Why did our double-dipped fries ($9), offered with three sauces — curry mayo, shishito mayo, and ketchup — arrive with only two? Our server was quick to make this right. And more crucially: Where was the promised spiced ranch sauce with our basket of fried cauliflower and dill pickles ($13)? After some excavation, we discovered the sauce hiding below the vegetables, like a mattress. Our server, equally puzzled, brought us a nice tub of spicy ranch as consolation.

Pot de crème, a dense chocolate pudding with hints of lemongrass, was a marvel ($14).

The restaurant knows its audience: There are also share boards of cheese and charcuterie; burgers and wraps; and mussels and fries. You can choose to linger over swordfish — or abort a bad date with chicken bites and minimal drama.

What to drink: Negronis, a variety of martinis including espresso, and a host of mocktails that our server was eager to explain, especially a richly bitter salted fig cordial. Drinks are in the $15 range.

The takeaway: A talented chef. Precious real estate. Hopefully, this beat goes on.

Lou’s, 13 Brattle St., Cambridge, 857-706-1100, www.wearelous.com

By Catherine Parrotta, Boston 25 News March 06, 2026, at 2:47 pm EST

Harvard Square, Brattle Street | 1 PM – 2 PM

Craving something sweet? Head to the 18th Annual Taste of Chocolate Festival in Harvard Square. After being postponed twice due to weather, the event is finally back — and ready to indulge chocolate lovers. Sample delicious treats from local vendors, but get there early… sweets go fast!

Wherever you end up, have a fantastic and fun-filled weekend.

J. August in Harvard Square displays a sign announcing new management and hiring. The nearly 140-year-old store will reopen Friday after a two-month renovation closure. By Lia E. Shepler

By Adam Han, Crimson Staff Writer

Yesterday

J. August, the nearly 140-year-old Harvard Square merchandise store across from Harvard Yard, will reopen Friday under new management after closing for renovations in December.

The store, located on Massachusetts Avenue, will now be operated by Rally House, a Kansas-based sports merchandise retailer that manages more than 300 collegiate-affiliated stores nationwide. The reopening follows a two-month closure that marked the end of J. August’s previous operating arrangement.

The COOP — operating under Barnes & Noble’s management since 1995 — purchased J. August’s lease in 2004, bringing the historic storefront under its control.

In a statement, COOP CEO Jodi Goldstein said the organization partnered with Rally House in hopes of “building on its heritage” while expanding its merchandise to include “archival graphics, classic collegiate design, and the legacy of Harvard.”

Rally House CEO Aaron Liebert said the company plans to give J. August a distinct identity, separate from the COOP’s flagship store.

“We’re not trying to copy the COOP. We’re trying to be different,” Liebert said. “We’re trying to have some uniqueness, give people a reason to shop.”

The store will host a soft opening on Friday, with a grand opening scheduled for March. Rally House has also launched a dedicated J. August website, allowing customers to order merchandise for delivery or in-store pickup.

Liebert said that his team was first introduced to Harvard Square “about a year ago” and has spent months preparing for the reopening.

“Our team has been spending the last several months really trying to curate an assortment that’s unique to Harvard, to the Square, and to Cambridge,” he said.

Fruition Chocolate Works has set up a pop-up shop, lining the shelves with its bean-to-bar chocolate, in Leavitt & Peirce in Harvard Square.

By Ann Trieger Kurland Globe Correspondent,Updated February 24, 2026, 10:00 a.m.

Browsing the shop Leavitt & Peirce in Harvard Square feels more like exploring. Century-old display cases hold colognes, shaving brushes, hair brushes with English boar bristles, chess sets, classic board games, pipes, and tobacco. The rich scent of pipe tobacco hangs in the air, and some say it has seeped into the wood after all these years. Opened since 1883, it’s part store, part museum, and completely its own experience.

Head to the back and everything changes. Suddenly, you’re in a bright, gallery-like space with white walls and glass shelves. It’s modern and unexpected. This is where Fruition Chocolate Works has set up a pop-up shop, lining the shelves with its bean-to-bar artisan chocolate.

Based in New York’s Catskill Mountains, master chocolate maker Bryan Graham — a Culinary Institute of America graduate — founded the company. With his wife, Dahlia, they craft chocolate from organic, ethically sourced cocoa beans and have won nearly 80 awards, including the International Chocolate Awards, Academy of Chocolate, Good Food Awards, and more. Dessert Magazine named Graham one of America’s top 10 chocolatiers.

The 56 percent Spring Salted Dark Milk (made with Peruvian cocoa) has the depth of dark chocolate but melts with a creamy finish; the salt pulls out layers of flavor and a gentle honeyed sweetness. And if you like things bold, there’s a 100 percent dark bar made with beans from the Dominican Republic and Peru — no sugar, just pure intensity (bars are $12 for a 2.12-ounce).

Beyond the bars, there are also playful treats. Little rounds of Passion Fruit Dark Milk with Elderflower and Popping Candy fizz and crackle as you eat them. Salted Caramel Peanut Butter Cups — made with house-made peanut butter, a layer of caramel, and coated in buttermilk or dark chocolate — might ruin all other peanut butter cups for you.

Planned to run through at least spring, the pop-up may stick around longer. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. 1316 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, fruitionchocolateworks.com.

August 08, 2025

• Amelia Mason

On a Sunday in April, Cambridge Common reverberated with the discordant honks and trills of a brass band warming up. Musicians arrived at the park with instrument cases strapped to their backs and slung over their shoulders, or rummaged through a bin full of trombones set out on the ground. Someone tooted serenely on a sousaphone painted with polkadots.

Polkadots are the official uniform for School of Honk, a community brass band that takes a radically inclusive approach to music education. Even on an unseasonably chilly spring day, around 80 people of all ages showed up to the band’s weekly practice.

The group circled up. Dana Gauthier, one of several volunteers in charge, explained the schedule for the afternoon and offered some ground rules for the uninitiated.

“The goal of School of Honk is to have fun,” Gauthier declared. “One way to have some fun is to not worry about wrong notes.”

Next, the group ran through a couple songs — “Stay Human” by Jon Batiste and “Tightrope” by Janelle Monae — and split into sections by instrument. The freshest recruits were assigned “newcomer buddies” for one-on-one attention.

Over with the drums, George Zollinger offered some pointers to a new School of Honk member named Elliet Fisher. Zollinger wore a puffy red-and-white polka-dotted hat that looked like a toadstool mushroom.

“So you’re basically trying to hit the rivet,” Zollinger explained. “And you’re stick’s about a third of the way in.” He gave the edge of the drum a crisp thwack.

It was Fisher’s first time trying drums. It’s not uncommon for people to show up at School of Honk and pick up an instrument they’ve never touched before. Mike Ames, of Lexington, began his brass instrument journey when, after seeing brass bands play in New Orleans, he searched for something similar in Boston.

“School of Honk came up, and I’m reading the description and I’m like, ‘Well, this is a little weird,’” Ames recalled. But he went to see the band perform anyway. “The guy at the back of the parade said, ‘Oh, you can join this band.’ … And so I went, like, the next week.”

By the end of that first practice, Ames found himself marching along in the very same parade he had watched as a spectator, gamely trying to follow along on a green plastic trombone.

Every School of Honk practice ends with a parade. That way, even the most inexperienced musicians get to perform. There is a dance troupe, too, so that non-musicians and even bystanders can join in. School of Honk accepts all comers, but it is especially geared toward people who may be new to music entirely.

“We start with lively, lovable songs that are arranged in such a way that someone could play just a very simple, but very important part to that song,” explained Kevin Leppmann, the executive director of School of Honk.

Leppmann founded School of Honk 10 years ago. A trombone player, he had been involved in the founding of HONK! Festival of Activist Street Bands, a popular event in which brass and street bands from all over the world converge for one October weekend in Somerville’s Davis Square. Leppmann wanted a way to continue the fun beyond the festival itself.

“The idea was to start a community, a school, that would recreate what was happening at the HONK! Festival, every Sunday afternoon,” Leppman said.

From the start, Leppmann designed School of Honk as an antidote to traditional music education. He noticed that kids who struggle to easily master an instrument often decide music just isn’t for them. They carry that belief into adulthood, which makes it even harder to pick up an instrument later on in life.

“Our society in general really evokes this notion that the best music is music that’s performed by professionals, people who have been training all their lives to make music,” Leppmann said. “And the role of everyone else is to consume it.”

Leppmann wants to model a different relationship to music, one unconcerned with perfection and more attuned to music’s ability to foster community.

“We’re trying to do something very different with it,” Leppman explained. “Which is to get people not just to express themselves and realize a piece of themselves, but to see that expression in others and form a connection with other people.”

The strategy seems to be working. Attendance at weekly practices remains high, and School of Honk now offers a summer camp session for musicians age 10 and up. The group plans to raise money to secure a permanent rehearsal space in the near future.

For many School of Honk members, the band represents a chance to rewrite the story they’ve long told themselves about their innate musical abilities.

“ I had played trumpet in middle school for like one year, and I didn’t like it,” said School of Honk member Megan McLaughlin. “I wasn’t good at music, I didn’t like reading the music. And I just quit.”

A friend convinced her to come to a School of Honk practice. McLaughlin again picked up the trumpet, and again struggled. This time, she stuck with it.

“ The first time I came, they played ‘Video Killed the Radio Star,’ and in the middle they do a trumpet solo,” McLaughlin recalled. “I was like, ‘One day, I am doing that.'”

Nearly 10 years later, she has taken more trumpet solos than she can count.

At the end of the April practice, School of Honk set off down Mass Ave., a river of polkadots stretching most of a city block. Fisher, the new drum recruit, marched along with his newcomer buddy, Zollinger. At one point, Fisher made a very audible mistake, and the two burst into laughter.

Zollinger reassured him. “You did it, though,” he said, as the band cranked back up.

This segment aired on August 8, 2025.

By Jason Deng, Lotem L. Loeb, and Sophia I. Scalet

Hasty Pudding Theatricals kickstarted their 177th production season with their annual Woman of the Year Parade – honoring Australian actress Rose Byrne. Recently a Golden Globe winner and Oscar nominee for her performance in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” Byrne took a break from her press campaign for the Woman of the Year Parade and Roast, on Friday, Feb. 13.

By Jason Deng and Lotem L. Loeb

A protestor climbs a pole at the intersection of Holyoke St. and Massachusetts Ave., near Hasty Pudding’s Farkas Hall, to protest against Andrew L. Farkas ’82 and Jeffrey Epstein’s ties with the Hasty Pudding Theatricals prior to the start of the parade.

Rose Byrne is the 76th Woman of the Year with past recipients including Cynthia Erivo and Meryl Streep. The recipients are selected internally by a committee for their contributions to the entertainment industry.

By Jane Petersen

Monday, February 16, 2026

Rose Byrne, center, was celebrated at the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year parade on Friday.

Hundreds of onlookers braved the cold Friday, “Byrne-ing” for a glance at the Hasty Pudding’s Woman of the Year 2026, Rose Byrne. The blockbuster comedy queen and current Academy Award nominee is the 76^th woman to receive the Harvard theater troupe’s designation, the perks of which include a parade in her honor.

Donning a black fur coat and carrying a bouquet of flowers, Byrne waved to fans as she rolled down Harvard Street in a white Bentley convertible. The car was surrounded by “security guards:” Harvard undergraduates dressed in black blazers and sunglasses. Other vehicles in the parade included buses from Ghosts and Graveyards and the Old Town Trolley touring companies.

People came from near and far to see Byrne, who is up for a Best Actress Oscar for her role in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” in which she portrays an overburdened mom frantically juggling her daughter’s illness, difficult therapy clients, and a crumbling house.

“This is my first time coming out. I’ve normally been in class when these things have been going on,” said Zophia Scherrier, a senior at Harvard. She had recently seen “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” and said “I love Rose Byrne … I just thought she was great.”

It was also the first parade for Robert Wallace, who came in from a neighboring suburb.  “It’s really energizing to see all these very talented kids, not just on stage, but on show here in the parade,” said. Wallace, who has attended Hasty Pudding shows for years. “It’s fun to see them off stage. And the costumes, of course, are very clever.”

Behind Byrne’s car, indeed, were dozens of Hasty Pudding members dressed eclectically: a robot, a cactus, several cowgirls, and Marie Antoinette. Throughout the 20-minute parade, which started at Prescott Street, went down Harvard Street and ended on Dunster Street, the students danced to hits like Role Model’s “Sally, When the Wine Runs Out” and Chappell Roan’s “Pink Pony Club.”

Jane Petersen

Also in costume were members of the Freedom Trail Foundation, dressed in full colonial garb. Tim Hoover, who gives historical walking tours while portraying Sons of Liberty Member Josiah Quincy, Jr., said the American Revolution has links to the history of Harvard student theater beyond just geographical proximity.

“A lot of the revolutionary figures were involved in Harvard theatrics before, when it was still illegal to do theater performances in Puritan Boston,” said Hoover. “We as the Freedom Trail Foundation tell the stories of blood, guts and revolution and try to work in the stories that got unfortunately left out of the history books over the years.”

Not everyone was in a celebratory mood, however. Cambridge resident Ian MacKinnon was protesting the event, holding a sign that said “Epstein for $375,000 to Hasty Pudding was made Guardian of the Sphinx,” in reference to the $375,000 sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein made in donations to the Hasty Pudding Institute between 2013 and 2019, as well as his donor status level. Farkas Hall, where Hasty Pudding productions are performed, is endowed by Andrew Farkas, who was known to be a friend of Epstein’s.

MacKinnon says he wants Farkas’s name gone from the building. “I don’t think Farkas should be allowed to continue messing with Harvard Square. I don’t want to look at his name anymore,” he said.

There have been other calls for Harvard to rename the building.  Any name changes will be the purview of the university, which is reviewing its connections to Epstein.

On Friday, the students that comprise Hasty Pudding Theatricals focused on putting on a compelling show.

Following the parade was the annual roast of this year’s awardee, chaired by Hasty Pudding President Daisy Nussbaum and Cast Vice President Izzy Wilson. Oscar jokes and references to her roles in less critically acclaimed (but hit films regardless) like “Neighbors,” and “Get Him to the Greek” were all fair game.

“You have such a storied career,” said Wilson. “Bad stories mostly, but stories nonetheless.”

“We can’t overlook your contributions to the genre of horror,” said Nussbaum. “In ‘Insidious’ you so deftly portray the psychological torture of a mother whose child is overtaken by evil spirits, and in Neighbors, you are married to Seth Rogen.”

Jane PetersenRose Byrne waving to onlookers at the Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year parade.

The hosts also poked fun at Bryne’s Australian heritage.

“There are just so many differences between the two cultures,” Wilson said, comparing Australia and the U.S. “They have kangaroos, we have horses. They eat Vegemite, we eat ketchup. They call you Rose Byrne, and we call you after Margot Robbie and Nicole Kidman have already said no.”

Byrne played along with the several bits thrown her way, including a Rorschach test reading in reference to her role in “Legs,” a dramatic reimagining of her role in “Peter Rabbit,” (“I know you’re using again!” she yelled at a Pudding performer dressed as a giant bunny), and concluding with a “Bridesmaids”-themed impromptu wedding between her and her golden pudding pot award.

“I promise to shout out Hasty Pudding Theatricals in any and all acceptance speeches in my near future,” Byrne read from the vows handed to her by Pudding performers.

During a press conference following the roast, she spoke about the importance of Oscar buzz for smaller films.

“We didn’t have a huge budget for promotion and press,” Byrne said. “It’s meaningful that I think the work is being recognized.”

Byrne called her day at Harvard “magical.”

“[It’s been] so inspiring to be with students. I’ve never been to the campus before, and I have a lot of friends who are alums of heart of Harvard, so it’s such a storied thing.”

---

February 16, 2026

Dozens of cheering fans lined the streets of Cambridge Friday to celebrate the Australian actress Rose Byrne, who was honored as the 2026 Woman of the Year by Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals.

Byrne, the Golden Globe Award winner and Oscar nominee for her leading role in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” waved to fans and blew kisses as her car made its way slowly near Harvard University campus. Byrne, who also has starred in “Bridesmaids,” “Neighbors,” “Insidious” and “Damages,” later received her pudding pot award at a celebratory roast and attended a performance of Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ 177th production “Salooney Tunes.”

In her review of “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” The Associated Press’ Jocelyn Noveck wrote that the film gave Byrne “a chance to display versatility and grit in surely the toughest dramatic role of her career.”

“I’m so excited to be in the parade and to see Rose Byrne. I loved her movie ‘If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,’” said Jacqueline Metzger, a junior at Harvard and president of the university’s short-form improv group. “It was like so anxiety inducing and the best movie I’ve seen all year. So I’m super excited, and we love her. We love Rose Byrne.”

The parade included a colorful cast of characters, some in drag and bright wigs, one dressed as a cactus, and several dressed as revolutionary soldiers. Before heading inside Farkas Hall for the roast, Byrne joined members of the Hasty Pudding Theatricals players in chorus line-style dancing.

At the roast, Byrne was put through a mock therapy session inspired by “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You.” She was asked to interpret a series of ink blots including one painting that Byrne joked looked like a “vagina.”

Based on her work in previous “Peter Rabbit” movies, she was asked to read in a scene from a new, fake entry into the series. This one saw her confronting a rabbit under the influence of drugs who shows up late one night.

“I don’t like it when you lie. Do you even care about the kids?” Byrne yells at the rabbit, who appears to be staggering. “How am I supposed to stay calm when you are ruining our lives? I know you are using again.”

The roast closed with Byrne donning a wedding dress and marrying the pudding pot. “This is marvelous,” she said, after getting her gold pudding pot.

Afterward, Byrne told reporters the day on campus with students had been “magical” and then spoke on what it’s meant for “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” to be recognized this awards season.

“It is a tougher subject; it isn’t a typical kind of Oscar fare, I suppose, and so it is very meaningful that the work is being recognized,” she said. “It really will live on and it’s very fearless and kind of radical and I’m really proud of that.”

live on and it’s very fearless and kind of radical and I’m really proud of that.”

Byrne also talked about returning to the stage in March after five years in the revival of “Fallen Angels” on Broadway, saying she was “absolutely terrified” but looking forward to starring opposite the “brilliant” Kelli O’Hara.

Friday’s event comes more than a week after the Justice Department released a huge trove of records surrounding Jeffrey Epstein, a longtime donor to the organization. The documents showed Epstein regularly donated $50,000 per year to Hasty Pudding between 2013 and 2019 to secure top-tier donor states and received special perks totaling more than $300,000.

In an undated news release announcing Epstein’s donations, Hasty Pudding officials described Epstein as a “well-known science and Harvard philanthropist” and said he “put his substantial support behind Harvard’s famous and oldest theatrical troupe.”

The Pudding is the oldest theatrical organization in the nation and one of the oldest in the world. Since 1951, it has bestowed the award annually on women including actors Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Scarlett Johansson and Annette Bening. Last year, the winner was “Wicked” star Cynthia Erivo.

Byrne also acted in “Juliet, Naked,” “Get Him to the Greek” and “28 Weeks Later.” Her theater credits include “Medea, You Can’t Take it With You” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Actor Michael Keaton, known for his roles in films such as “Batman,” “Birdman,” “Beetlejuice” and “Spotlight,” is the 2026 Man of the Year. He received his pudding pot Feb. 6.

Valentine’s Day weekend is quickly approaching, and Harvard Square is the place to be to celebrate the holiday. Here’s a look at some of the activities planned for the holiday:…

Michael Vyskocil

Published Feb 13, 2026 5:32 AM EST

Valentine’s Day weekend is quickly approaching, and Harvard Square is the place to be to celebrate the holiday.

Here’s a look at some of the activities planned for the holiday:

• Cambridge offers diverse experiences, including Cupid-inspired activities such as photo shoots and Polaroid keepsakes, bouquet giveaways, candle-making, and romance-focused workshops at Lovestruck Books & Cafe.
• The Cambridge Center for Adult Education offers several dynamic activities for couples, including a meet-and-mingle chocolate tasting on Saturday, Feb. 14, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.
• Chocolate and sweets take center stage for the celebrations. Guests can enjoy MUJI Harvard Square discounts, Regattabar and Gourmand listings, and Off Heaten Path Food Tours’ chocolate tours. Amorino will offer a limited-edition Baci macaron filled with raspberry and vanilla gelato for Valentine’s Day in Cambridge and Boston.
• Dining establishments like Grafton Street, Harvest, Henrietta’s Table, and The Hourly Oyster House will offer several dynamic Valentine’s Day menus perfect for enjoying with your Valentine.
• Flour Bakery + Cafe offers delectable bites and sweetheart sugar cookies ideal for a delicious indulgence.
• Hotel packages with a Valentine’s theme offer plenty of luxurious romance. The Charles Hotel and DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Boston-Cambridge are among the two with superb accommodations and amenities for guests.
• A Palentine Wine & Fun Night on Saturday, Feb. 14, offers a shared table for 10 with wine pairings, blue cheese, and chocolate for $75 per person, hosted by Bonde Fine Wine.
• The Brattle Theatre will offer screenings of Casablanca, the Bride of Chucky, Dirty Dancing, and Barb Wire at various times during the weekend.

View more information about these and more events on the Harvard Square website.

Moriah House Feb 8, 2026

Julia Child headshot – Bettmann/Getty Images

Julia Child was a home cooking icon famous for her no-nonsense techniques for whipping up everything from perfect potato salad to the creamiest-ever pumpkin pie. However, the “Joy of Cooking” author also loved a great meal out. The famous cook was a California native (as proven by her fondness for the Golden State’s most iconic fast food chain), but Boston is where she spent much of her adult life and built her career as a celebrity chef. Unsurprisingly, she had more than a few favored restaurants in Beantown. One of Child’s favorite Boston dining destinations was a high-end Harvard Square spot that still has a table in her honor to this day.

As legend has it, Child loved to dine at Harvest, an upscale modern American restaurant in Cambridge. This swanky spot opened its doors in 1975 and quickly became a local favorite, beloved for its colorful neon sign, eye-catching decorations, and contemporary New England cuisine. Child was a regular at the stylish restaurant for many years, and like any good regular, she had a preferred seat. According to local lore, Table 102, located in a cozy back corner of the dining room, was the culinary icon’s go-to spot. Child died in 2004, but over two decades later, her legacy lives on at Harvest — Table 102 is now better known as “Julia’s Corner.”

Modern-day patrons at Harvest may or may not be able to dine in “Julia’s Corner,” but they can definitely taste the chef’s legacy by ordering the “Julia Burger.” The flavor-packed tribute to Julia Child features beef from a local butchery, brandy-caramelized onion marmalade, and Boursin cheese. We can only assume this is a nod to her brandy-enhanced French onion soup recipe, which was Child’s utterly perfect final homemade meal (it’s worth noting that the Julia Burger is only available at lunch or at the restaurant’s bar, because Harvest is fancy enough that you won’t find burgers on the dinner menu). If you’re not in the mood for a burger, the restaurant offers a delightful selection of contemporary New England fare with an emphasis on locally-sourced ingredients, from seasonal salads to seafood towers. 

While Julia Child’s love of Harvest certainly helped build its Boston street cred, the restaurant has earned an impressive reputation in its own right over the past half-century. The upscale spot is beloved for its spacious patio and innovative dishes, and has repeatedly been recognized as one of Boston’s best dining destinations. By the way, Harvest isn’t the only Beantown restaurant that continues to boast about the celebrity chef’s patronage – Child visited one Boston seafood spot so often she had a plaque on the wall.

For more food and drink goodness, join The Takeout’s newsletter and add us as a preferred search source. Get taste tests, food & drink news, deals from your favorite chains, recipes, cooking tips, and more!

https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/02/06/george-howell-coffee-50-year-anniversary#:~:text=Amelia%20Mason,February%2006%2C%202026

It was roasting day at George Howell Coffee in Acton. A shiny industrial roasting machine thrummed loudly, while an employee monitored its vital signs on a pair of computer screens nearby. Howell, sporting his trademark blue vest, peered into the machine, where freshly roasted beans spun in slow circles.

The beans, he explained, came out of the roaster at well over 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The cooling tray was “sucking in the air from the environment through the beans, to cool that coffee as quickly as possible,” Howell said. “Otherwise, what happens is the coffee keeps cooking.”

For Howell, there is nothing worse than an overcooked coffee bean. As the founder of the legendary coffee chain The Coffee Connection, he was an early embracer of light roast coffee — the fragrant, delicate counterpoint to the dark roasts that once dominated the American market.

The Coffee Connection was an influential player in the Northeast coffee scene in the 1970s and ‘80s, perhaps best known for an iced coffee drink made in a soft serve machine called the Frappuccino. Howell sold his company, and the Frappuccino trademark, to Starbucks in 1994. But he remained at the forefront of coffee culture, helping usher in what is now known as coffee’s “third wave,” with its emphasis on single origin beans and direct trade with farms. Howell is sometimes called the godfather of specialty coffee.

Nowadays, light roast is de rigueur among specialty coffee roasters. Howell has simply turned his sights on new innovations. His latest idea is a coffee bag design that signals tasting notes through color: an orange gradient evoking butterscotch, vivid pink-red for cherry, vibrant indigo for blueberry. Standing in the warehouse’s packaging center, he showed me a bag with three slender stripes of yellow, pink and orange — the tasting notes — above a big brown square.

“ Brown is the color of coffee, and all coffees have a basic flavor, which is coffee itself,” he explained. “It’s an irreducible flavor.”

Howell led me to a brewing station at the other end of the warehouse. Jennifer Howell — his daughter and the company’s vice president — was setting up a row of shot glasses of coffee for me to taste. These included beans from Ethiopia, Costa Rica, Brazil, Rwanda and Kenya, as well as a natural coffee from Yemen that retails for $80 a bag.

Jennifer handed me an empty glass and a spoon, and offered me the use of a spittoon in case I started to feel overcaffeinated.

“So pour some in, and then you can sip it,” she said, demonstrating how to ladle a spoonful of coffee out of the sample glass and into my own vessel. I delicately slurped the coffee, which was aromatic and pleasantly acidic.

“Delicious, right?” Jennifer said, before directing me to try the next coffee, which she promised would not be delicious. “Just prepare yourself,” she warned. “It’s pretty bad.”

I took a sip and couldn’t help but pull a face. The coffee tasted bitter and stale. “We call that ‘age,’” Jennifer said. “That’s wood, cedar, paper bag.”

The reason for this, she explained, was because the beans had sat around in the warehouse for a year before being roasted. The point of the exercise was to show how deeply the flavor degraded when subjected to this process. Howell explained that his company freezes their beans in order to avoid this apparently widespread crime.

“We’re the first roasters in the world to freeze green coffee,” he said proudly.

What were the other specialty shops doing to keep their beans fresh, if not freezing them, I wondered. “They very often are selling you aged coffee,” Howell responded with an incredulous chuckle.

At 81, Howell prides himself on remaining vigilant in his pursuit of the best beans, the best roast, the best brew. This week, he marked 50 years in the coffee business with a series of events at his cafes. On Saturday, he will appear at Lovestruck Books in Harvard Square for a talk and tasting.

Sitting in the company’s offices, Howell remembered the first time his father served him coffee, when he was a boy of six or seven.

“He takes a spoon, and pours sugared sweetened cream on top so that it lands in the spoon first and then floats,” he recalled, smiling at the memory. “And I fell in love with that. That was delicious. But later I tried the black coffee alone and I hated it, because it was so bitter.”

Kyle Miller feeds a bag of just roasted coffee into a bagging machine in the production area at the George Howell Coffee roastery in Acton, Mass. 

That aversion to bitterness is how Howell discovered light roast beans in the pioneering coffee scene of San Francisco, where he and his wife lived in the 1960s and early ‘70s. When they moved to Boston, two children already in tow, Howell was appalled at how bad the coffee was in his adoptive city. An art aficionado, he dreamed of opening a gallery to showcase his particular passion, Wixárikan yarn art. He also saw an opportunity in the city’s lackluster coffee culture.

The Coffee Connection opened in Harvard Square in 1975. Along with the displayed artwork, the cafe offered French press coffee and a light roast prepared in the store’s Burlington roastery. Not that Howell had any clue how to roast coffee at first. He recalled “several fires” in those early days, as well as at least one ruined roasting machine.

“I remember we didn’t turn off the gas when I opened the door to the beans coming pouring out into the cooling tray. And this flash of fire came straight for me,” he said.

The Coffee Connection was a runaway success. Howell opened a total of 24 shops throughout the Northeast. In his telling, the chain’s expansion, plus the introduction of private equity, meant that he had to focus more on business than coffee, his true passion. Plus, his six kids would soon be off to college. So when Starbucks offered him over $20 million for the business, he took it.

Howell’s next big idea was an international coffee competition. The farms that won would be able to auction their coffee for a premium, and roasters would discover new, high-quality beans. The contest, called the Cup of Excellence, helped usher in the modern era of specialty coffee, with its focus on sourcing beans directly from single farms.

“People will credit him with serving the first Frappuccinos, but I think he’s way more proud of establishing the Cup of Excellence,” said Matt Roberts, the founder of the Gloucester coffee company Cometeer.

He described Howell as a singular figure in the coffee world.

“The person who criticizes George Howell the most in the industry is George Howell. He just never settles for perfection,” Roberts said. It was common, he added, for people who know Howell to say, “Well, George has been looking for that perfect bean for 35, 45, 50 years now.”

George Howell and his daughter Jennifer Howell discuss coffee samples at a cupping session at the roastery in Acton, Mass.

It’s easy to see why. After opening the Acton roastery in 2004, Howell opened up his first George Howell Coffee cafe in 2012 and has since expanded to four more locations around Boston. This is despite a more competitive coffee industry and a far more costly business environment in almost every sense. In a strange twist, Howell is now competing with a flourishing local coffee scene that has embraced many of the ideas he once championed. This fact does not seem to daunt him. He expects to retire soon – but not just yet.

When I asked Howell how it felt to have had such an impact, he paused. “I hope it sticks,” he said finally.

Howell worries that climate change will wipe out the best varieties of coffee. He worries that young roasters will move away from small farms and meticulous roasts, lured by the false promise of new tech and industrial methods. But when I asked what drove him, he mentioned neither fear of change nor a sense of needing to shore up his legacy.

“I see a gorgeous sunset, I’ve got to drag you in to take a look at it,” Howell said. “That’s what drives me.”

Story by Cat Broughton

A beloved, decades-old Harvard Square fixture has temporarily gone dark.

Charlie’s Kitchen, the longtime Cambridge eatery located at 10 Eliot St, has closed following what the team describes as a “catastrophic leak and extensive water damage.” The restaurant, which first opened in 1951, was forced to shut down last week after a dishwasher malfunction caused significant flooding throughout the space.

Shortly after the incident, owner David Toraji Oshima shared a video on social media showing standing water covering the restaurant’s floor, ceiling panels collapsed onto the ground, and water audibly dripping throughout the space, with a caption noting that Charlie’s Kitchen would be “closed until further notice.”

Two days later, Oshima posted an update, offering a glimpse of early progress. “Water removal from the dishwasher malfunction has been completed,” the caption reads. “Please stay tuned as this long process continues. We are eager to serve you again.” According to ownership, all food on site was donated and no injuries were reported.

To support the restaurant’s staff during the closure, a GoFundMe campaign has been launched. The fundraiser explains that proceeds are primarily earmarked for payroll and employee support, with any remaining funds going toward the extensive repairs needed to reopen.

According to the campaign, the flooding caused major damage throughout the restaurant, including to both electrical panels, necessitating significant construction work. A February 2 update mentions that the team is currently working closely with city inspectors, insurance representatives, and contracting crews to assess and address the damage.

Oshima purchased Charlie’s Kitchen in 2024, with the goal of preserving its no-frills charm while thoughtfully modernizing the operation. The restaurant has long been a Harvard Square mainstay, beloved for its classic burgers, wings, grilled cheeses, and affordable libations.

“We’re thankful for every single donor we’ve had so far… We’re looking to get back to serving Cambridge and giving our staff back their livelihoods as soon as possible,” reads the GoFundMe. “Whether that means opening fully or partially, we’re considering various paths forward. Most of all we miss serving double cheeseburgers to our loyal customers.”