Not sure where to go for Restaurant Week (aka Dine Out Boston)? Take a peek at can’t-miss dishes restaurants are serving or pick a place to try from the list of participating spots below with a James Beard Award-winning chef. A James Beard Award is the highest honor in the culinary space, so you know you’re in good hands at any of these prestigious restaurants. All that’s left to do is to scan the menu at each locale, and choose whichever tickles your fancy.
Blue Dragon
Blue Dragon’s Restaurant Week Menu
Owned by chef Ming Tsai, Blue Dragon offers an East-meets-West twist on small plates. Tsai was nominated by the James Beard Foundation in 1998 for “Best New Restaurant” and was crowned “Best Chef Northeast” in 2002. The Fort Point spot’s Restaurant Week menu is uniquely served tapas-style, giving you a chance to to try the fusion flavors in all their glory.
Menton
After opening No. 9 Park, B&G Oysters, The Butcher Shop, Drink and Sportello, James Beard Award-Winner Barbara Lynch opened Menton in Fort Point. In 2010, the modern fine dining restaurant was nominated by the James Beard Foundation for “Best New Restaurant.” Make your reservation now for Restaurant Week to enjoy a meal at the Congress Street dining room.
No. 9 Park
No. 9 Park’s Restaurant Week Menu
Take a trip to the OG culinary venture from Barbara Lynch. Since opening No. 9 Park in Beacon Hill in 1998, Lynch has received James Beard Awards for “Best Chef Northeast” in 2003 and “Outstanding Restauranteur” in 2014. Stop by the Park Street mainstay for luxurious French and Italian-inspired dishes.
PABU
One of chef Michael Mina’s thirty restaurants across the country, PABU is a bustling izakaya and sushi bar. Mina has been awarded “Best California Chef” in 2002 and inducted into “Who’s Who of Food and Beverage” in 2013 by the James Beard Foundation. He partnered with chef Ken Tominaga to bring his coveted Japanese-style eats to Boston, so get yourself to Franklin Street during Restaurant Week to try it out.
Scampo
Scampo — Italian for “escape” — is located inside the former Charles Street Jail in the Liberty Hotel. The Italian eatery is the sixth culinary destination from chef-owner Lydia Shire, who was honored with the James Beard Foundation award for “America’s Best Chef – Northeast” in 1992 and nominated for “One of America’s Top Five Chefs” in 1996.
Sportello
Sportello’s Restaurant Week Menu
Sportello offers up trattoria-inspired Italian plates for Fort Point frequenters. Owned by James Beard Award-winning chef Barbara Lynch, it’s no surprise that the restaurant stands up to the reputation set by other restaurants in the Barbara Lynch Collective. Restaurant Week is the perfect time to head to Congress Street and sample some of the fresh, handmade dishes.
Summer Shack
Summer Shack’s Restaurant Week Menu
Jasper White’s Summer Shack was honored with a James Beard Award nomination for “Best New Restaurant” in 2001. Stop by the seafood institution in Boston or Cambridge for all the fish-house staples you’re craving, courtesy of the 1991 James Beard winner of “Best Chefs in America” and 1984 inductee into “Who’s Who of Food and Beverage.”
The Butcher Shop
The Butcher Shop’s Restaurant Week Menu
Another one of chef Barbara Lynch’s seven destinations around Boston (she’s a true powerhouse!), The Butcher Shop is the South End’s tribute to the old world European boucheries. In 2003, Lynch won her first James Beard award for “Best Chef Northeast” and was inducted into the James Beard Foundation’s “Who’s Who of Food and Beverage” in America in 2013. In 2014, she was also the second woman ever to receive the award of “Outstanding Restaurateur” from the foundation.
