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The Globe and Mail

Where it’s hip to be square

With all its musty traditions, dozens of bookstores, hordes of university students, and streets crowded with hippies, the homeless and Nobel honchos, Cambridge, Mass., is never boring. September, though, is a singular time of year:

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Harvard Magazine

Al Fresco Dining

In Harvard Square, Om Restaurant, The Red House, and Charlie’s Beer Garden offer popular outdoor dining rooms and a stunningly diverse range of food–all within a block. Inside, Om (www.omrestaurant.com; 617-576-2800) affords some secluded tables in clean, crisp, modern environs that match its exceptionally innovative Asian menu.

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Harvard Magazine

Square Eats: Some favorite local restaurants

May – June 2009
Chez Henri, a Cambridge mainstay since 1994, might be overlooked in the constant rush toward the newly bold and beautiful. Don’t make that mistake this Commencement season. With his French-Cuban menu, chef Paul O’Connell dishes out some of the tastiest fare around. The cassoulet à la Toulouse is an array of slow-cooked white beans, lamb, and garlic sausage; the steak frites pays homage to the flash frier; and the fennel pollen-scented flounder is a delicate alternative to both.

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The Crimson

Passim Begins to Serve Alcohol

Folk and acoustic music are no longer the only substances flowing freely at Club Passim—the legendary Harvard Square venue has begun serving beer and wine, breaking its dry spell for the first time since its founding in 1958.

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The Crimson

Sandrine’s Chef Knighted by French

Although most knights exist only in fairy tales, Harvard Squares’ Raymond E. Ost, chef and co-owner of Sandrine’s Bistro, was knighted yesterday with the medal of the French Order of the Mérite Agricole.

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The Crimson

Valentine’s Dining Defies Recession

For Harvard Square eateries, Valentine’s Day indicated that love is blind—even to recessions.  Every restaurant contacted reported dining rooms booked solid with celebrating couples ordering as if the housing crisis had never happened.  And managers and owners said diners did not scale back, ordering prix fixe menus as well as tipping generously.

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The Crimson

Local Eateries Score High

Two Harvard Square establishments and nine other Cambridge restaurants made Boston Magazine’s first ever list of “The 50 Best Restaurants” in the Boston area last month.  Square fixtures Rialto, which serves Italian food in the Charles Hotel, and UpStairs on the Square, which features American cuisine on Winthrop Street, both made the cut at 21 and 28, respectively.