Water Views And Fire Pits: It's Patio Season In Boston
Every New Englander knows the feeling – when sunlight lasts past happy hour and the daffodils are bringing pops of spring, we all just want to grab our sunglasses and soak up the vitamin D. Alas, spring is fickle around these parts — so you may need a heater to keep you warm, or a view to make you forget the cold. Or both. Here are some patios with outstanding features to get you back outside.
It's ocean breezes on all sides at The Overlook at Legal Harborside.
Photo by ©An LeFevre | AnOriginal.com
When the weather is fine, both the walls and the roof retract at this four-season rooftop spot, surrounding diners with Boston Harbor. Order the Moulin Rouge (Hendrick's Grand Cabaret gin with crème de pêche and Fever-Tree lime and yuzu soda) and a Lobster Tempura Roll to celebrate the sun.
Romance is in the air at Harvest.
Harvest
Splurge on some caviar to top your house-made Chips and Onion Dip, perhaps paired with Champagne Taittinger, available by the glass, at this legendary spot marking 50 years of elevated American dining. Tucked along a cobblestone pathway in Harvard Square, the patio at Harvest features a fireplace and a partial roof, making al fresco dining a four-season experience.
Firepits keep you warm as the Financial District glistens in the distance at Mare.
Mare
Order a seafood tower, packed with 18 oysters plus clams, shrimp, half a lobster, and Alaskan king crab, and a Tequila Spritz and sink into a couch on this lounge-y patio hidden from the street and the crowds of tourists that pack the North End. This seafood-focused restaurant from local Italian impresario and chef Frank DePasquale, which recently moved from Richmond Street, will keep you warm with fire pits and a charming view of the Financial District skyline.
Seth Greenberg's critically acclaimed Italian restaurant at the Royal Sonesta Boston Cambridge boasts a large patio right at river level, with views that stretch from the Museum of Science to the spiky towers of the Back Bay and beyond. Order a Cucumber Collins, made with V-One Vodka and sparkling cucumber enhanced with lemon, thyme and rosemary, with a Norcina Flatbread (topped with buffalo mozzarella, sausage and mushrooms), but be sure to check social media before making plans – this patio is totally open to the elements and is thus a fair-weather friend.
The view from the top of the Hub is delightful at Stratus.
Stratus
There are rooftops, then there is Stratus, located on the 51st floor of the Prudential Building at View Boston's observation deck. It's sundowners at sunset, so try the 'Cue the Duck Boats' a tiki-inspired blend of rum, and more rum, as well as passionfruit, citrus and Angostura bitters, naturally. Add an order of Maple-Whiskey wings to keep the party going.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Fewer foreign tourists are visiting NYC. The city is feeling the pinch
Bill Martin says he has heard all kinds of concerns lately from people considering a visit to the United States. 'Worries about getting in, worries about being detained at the border. I think there is a worldwide fear about what is happening here,' said the Australian, who spoke to CNN recently while on an open-air bus tour of New York City. Martin is on a six-week trip that's included a cruise from Tokyo to Vancouver and a stopover in New York. Along the way he says he's had lots of conversations with his fellow travelers about how the US' status as a magnet for tourists has changed. 'There is doubt as to whether people will get in (to the country),' he added. 'And that causes people to think of a better destination to visit than the USA.' Eman Moretti, an Italian who is studying in the United States, said President Donald Trump's hard-line immigration policies have made him nervous about his family visiting him in New York. 'With Trump it was a bit harder even for them to come,' said the student, flanked by his mother, father and his two brothers on a recent midday stroll through Times Square. 'It was challenging, because you never know if people get in through customs. So it was a bit (of a) hostile environment.' 'Your visa could be canceled,' added Javier Muenala, visiting Times Square from Ecuador. 'So it's a lot of risks that many people don't want to take.' This anxiety from foreigners about travel to the US in 2025 is increasingly reflected in the numbers. Spending by international travelers to the United States is expected to be down $12.5 billion this year, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council. Some of the nation's leading tourist destinations, including Orlando, Miami and Los Angeles, are bracing for how the decline will impact businesses that rely on spending from international travelers. The downturn is being felt especially hard in New York City, the nation's top destination for international travel. New York City Tourism + Conventions, the city's official marketing organization, has cut its forecast for international tourists in 2025 by 17%. Julie Coker, the group's CEO and president, told CNN the city is expected to host 2 million fewer international travelers this year than in 2024. 'We are still hopeful, but we are starting to see the bookings slow down some,' Coker said. 'International tourism is extremely important to us because while it only makes up 20 percent of our total visitation, it accounts for 50 percent of our visitor spend. This was to be the year we were to hit pre-Covid levels … and so to have this stall or pause it's what's disappointing.' New York City is the most popular port of entry for international visitors to the US. And more people historically visit the US from Canada than from any other country. But there's recent evidence that some Canadians, offended by the political rhetoric coming from Washington, are boycotting the US. Coker says the decline in New York City tourism is partly the result of having fewer Canadian visitors. Tour operators such as Matt Levy, who has seen a slowdown in business, agrees. 'They're going to Halifax, they're going to Nova Scotia, they're going to Vancouver. They're spending money in their own country, said Levy, owner of Spread Love Tours, which offers customized tours of New York for art lovers, foodies, families and other groups. Levy has been leading tours of the city for three years. He says much of his business relies on international tourism, especially Canadian student groups. But in recent months Levy says Canadian travel agents have told him their clients are avoiding the States because they're unnerved by threats of tariffs or turned off by Trump's comments about making Canada the 51st state. Levy said that if the political climate doesn't improve, business for him will likely be even worse in 2026. 'Next year is going to be hard. Next year is going to be vicious,' he said. 'My three largest Canadian clients, all three of them told me universally (that) the PTA boards aren't going to let the kids come to America. They're going to say, no, we're going to spend money in our country instead,' he said. 'That's 40 percent of my business.' Renée Rewiski has been a tour guide in New York City for more than a decade and says she has not seen numbers like this since the doldrums of the Covid-19 pandemic. 'This time last year (we had) 20 people on the tour. We have five today,' Rewiski said on a recent day as she led a handful of tourists around lower Manhattan. 'I'm just seeing fewer people and from fewer countries,' she said. Rewiski is a guide with Tours by Foot, which offers walking tours of such landmark New York neighborhoods as Brooklyn, Harlem and Greenwich Village. She worries that if something does not change soon, jobs could be at risk. 'I'm not sure what we can do. I'm not sure how to change the attitudes, but just know people are losing their jobs in New York City (and) you're hurting the wrong people,' she said, addressing her comments to foreign tourists. 'The people who are doing some of the things you're not liking are not the ones getting hurt,' she added. 'We're the ones that are being hurt.' Despite the recent headwinds, no one CNN spoke to in the New York travel industry says they're giving up. The hope is the heated political climate will cool down and events such as the 2026 World Cup in nearby East Rutherford, New Jersey, and the US' 250th anniversary next summer will boost interest among international visitors. In the meantime, Coker of NYC Tourism + Conventions says her organization has been promoting the city with a campaign that's been running since May outside the US. It's called, 'With Love + Liberty, New York City.' Coker has a message for anyone thinking about visiting the Big Apple. 'What we say to them is… New York City is open for business,' she says. 'And while we have hit a bump in the road, we're here when you're ready to visit.'
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Jeff Bezos & Lauren Sanchez's Prenup Expected to Survive Any ‘Legal Challenge'
As Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's wedding date nears, the businessman gears up with a watertight prenup. The couple will tie the knot in Venice in a lavish three-day ceremony from June 24 to 26. However, a recent report suggested that the businessman refuses to gamble with his fortune. Prominent California lawyer Alphonse Provinziano reportedly claimed that the robust agreement is more complex than business mergers and will survive any 'legal challenge.' RadarOnline exclusively learned from Alphonse Provinziano about Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's prenup weeks before their wedding. Provinziano, who regularly works alongside celebrities and wealthy A-listers, compared the complexity of the agreement to some business mergers. He claimed Bezos' intention wasn't just to devise any prenup, but one that would 'survive any legal challenge.' The lawyer further explained that certain states mandatorily require prenups to be 'conscionable.' This allows fairness to both parties and proves essential to the side with fewer resources, which is Sanchez in this instance. Provinziano made it clear that Bezos was under an obligation to maintain full disclosure with his fiancée. Additionally, he offered her facilities such as her own team of lawyers and more than enough time to review and analyze the agreement. Alphonse Provinziano disclosed more details about what Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez's prenup and other documentation entail. 'For someone as rich as Bezos, that means preparing documentation of the complex accounting arrangements and business deals he's involved in,' the lawyer announced. He further elaborated that this would prevent the journalist from claiming 'that he hid certain assets from her' if things go south in their marriage. Provinziano said it has been 'a lot of work for teams of lawyers.' The couple is ramping up to say their vows in one of the most extravagant wedding ceremonies. A source aware of the preparations claimed, 'People are almost hysterical with excitement – from water taxis to the hotel concierges.' Reportedly, the nuptials will happen at a centuries-old Italian villa, with guests including the Kardashian-Jenners and other Hollywood A-listers attending. The post Jeff Bezos & Lauren Sanchez's Prenup Expected to Survive Any 'Legal Challenge' appeared first on Reality Tea.
San Francisco Chronicle
9 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
One of Napa Valley's oldest winemaking families debuts a major tasting room transformation
It's a story made for Hallmark Channel: Tired of the hustle in Hollywood, a screenwriter returns to his sleepy hometown, realizes the story of his career was right in front of him all along and decides to tell it through the revitalization of his family's historic wine business. It sounds scripted, but that's exactly what Greg Pestoni has spent the past decade doing. Now, the transformation of St. Helena's charming Pestoni Family Estate Winery is ready for its premiere. Pestoni credits famed director and winery owner Francis Ford Coppola for inspiring his move from his native Napa Valley to Hollywood after high school in the 1980s. Since the third grade, he was friends with Coppola's son, Roman, and recalls watching rough cuts of 'Apocalypse Now' on a Betamax before it was released. Napa was a quiet agricultural valley, and he was anxious to get out. 'You didn't idolize (your friends) who worked in the vineyard,' said Pestoni.'It was as sexy as picking walnuts.' But after 27 years in the film industry and two discouraging Guild strikes, the screenwriter, who worked on 'The Godfather' movies, returned to a very different Napa Valley, one that felt a lot more like Hollywood than when he left it. There, he found a story he desperately wanted to tell: His family's 130-year-old wine journey. 'This was an unsung period of winemaking,' Pestoni said. 'When you think of the 1890s and the bunch that was making wine, who is still here doing it? Just a few.' In the 1880s, the Swiss-Italian Pestonis arrived in Napa Valley. In 1892, Greg Pestoni's great-grandfather, Albino Pestoni, planted vineyards and built a winery in the Eastern hills on Howell Mountain. The winery shut down due to Prohibition and was sold in the early 1920s; a few years later, Greg Pestoni's grandfather, Henry Pestoni, purchased a property on Whitehall Lane in the Rutherford wine region, now the home of Pestoni's Sauvignon Blanc vineyard. Like many wine families, the Pestonis picked up other agricultural pursuits during Prohibition. Over the years, the family raised chickens, hogs and dairy cows, but it also grew grapes and made bootleg brandy. Henry Pestoni allegedly sold his brandy to staff at the Napa County courthouse and, in return, they'd tip him off about upcoming federal raids. Greg Pestoni's uncles also owned a Napa Valley winery and bootlegged alcohol; the original stone building is now the home of Ehlers Estate. In the early 1960s, Greg Pestoni's father, composting pioneer Bob Pestoni, founded the Upper Valley Disposal Service, revolutionizing winery waste recycling. He went on to own a second operation, the Clover Flat Landfill just south of Calistoga. (The family sold both companies in 2023; last month, federal prosecutors closed an investigation into environmental crimes and obstruction of justice related to both properties, now owned by a company called Waste Connections.) The family went decades without commercially producing wine, but they continued to grow and sell grapes. Then, in 1994, the winery next door came up for sale. Bob Pestoni bought it, and Greg Pestoni's brother, Andy Pestoni, became the winemaker. They named the winery Rutherford Grove after a eucalyptus grove on the property, but it created confusion with two other local businesses, the Rutherford Grill restaurant and Rutherford Hill Winery. 'Someone would ask if we served the duck burger,' joked Greg Pestoni, adding that he felt the name 'sounded like a big operation,' when the winery only makes a few thousand cases of wine a year. Shortly after Greg Pestoni returned home in 2014, he convinced his father to change the name to Pestoni Family Estate Winery. He called relatives to compile old family photos and wrote up the family's history for the website. 'It helped make it a much more personal experience,' Greg Pestoni said. 'I think what's really missing in Napa these days is the people behind something and the story behind something.' The winery has been one of the last remaining embodiments of a down-home era in Napa Valley, before luxury resorts, Michelin-starred restaurants and multi-million-dollar tasting rooms, like its flashy new neighbor, Bella Union. 'You get the feeling of going to somebody's house or being in somebody's yard,' said Greg Pestoni. 'People would say, 'You're like a Sonoma winery in Napa.' They don't want the secret to get out of this place, they don't want to tell anybody.' But remaining a secret isn't good for business, especially during a global downturn in wine sales. Despite Pestoni's prime positioning off Napa Valley's busy Highway 29, the winery has remained under the radar, and like many of the region's older wineries, the family decided to renovate. 'We're in Napa,' Greg Pestoni said. 'We needed to step up.' They started with the large, grassy picnic area surrounded by eucalyptus and redwood trees, which became a COVID-19 pandemic hot spot. 'Saturdays and Sundays were bananas. We were serving on picnic tables and our staff were crossing the lawn in 100-degree heat,' recalled Aimee Pestoni, Greg Pestoni's wife. 'People wanted to be outside, and they still do.' Pestoni kept its picnic lawn — one of the few kid-friendly spots in Napa Valley — but built a new pavilion for more formal tastings. The striking cedar pavilion, featuring a bar, tables and heaters, was designed by the same architect behind San Francisco's Rolex boutiques. Yet a much more significant transformation took place inside the 1995 tasting room. 'There were no seats, you'd slam (the wine) down and go on your way,' said Aimee Pestoni. While the lawn maintains Pestoni's classic, old Napa feel, the new tasting room interior catapults visitors to the present: It's moody, sophisticated and edgy, designed like a cozy study found within a luxurious mountain escape. The space features dark wood, a stone fireplace, velvet bar stools and leather armchairs with fur throws. Geometric fur rugs look like tile from a distance, while custom wallpaper features layers of burlap, hand-painted and then fringed, by an Alaskan artist. The change is a jarring departure from the family's humble roots, but upon closer observation, visitors will find ties to the Pestoni story in every nook and cranny. There's a wall of black and white family photos, including a 1919 capture of Henry Pestoni at his coming home party from World War I, taken at the William Tell Hotel in St. Helena. Historic documents sit underneath the glass top of a coffee table, including the assessment taxes for the original 1892 winery ($2 for four gallons of wine) and a corn sales ledger. A bookshelf displays an antique winemaking tool and remnants of a wooden backpack, which Albino Pestoni made and used while herding in the Swiss Alps in the 1870s. Noted Napa Valley designer Erin Martin also incorporated eclectic homages to the family's history, like an ornate, hand-carved cuckoo clock that nods to their Swiss-Italian heritage. The centerpiece is a massive chandelier constructed from a round, wooden form, which was used to make wine casks in the 19th century. A black crow sculpture sits on the chandelier, a quirky tribute to Joe, Greg Pestoni's pet crow that the family rescued and fed when he was growing up. Andy Pestoni recently retired, so his brother hired renowned consulting winemaker Aaron Pott to help craft the wines, which include classic Napa grapes like Petite Sirah, Sangiovese and Barbera. Fancier tasting experiences ($50-$125) launched with the renovation, but the winery can still accommodate walk-ins and kids. Those looking for something casual can opt for a self-guided tasting at a picnic table ($45) and bring their own provisions, which most Napa Valley wineries don't allow. 'We want to keep that vibe,' said Aimee Pestoni.
