Karen Akunowicz: Where to Eat in Boston Right Now

Brand new Middle Eastern spot, ramen bar in Chinatown, and Italian takeout.

We ordered takeout five times last week—that’s how much we want to be supporting our local restaurants. So as the bad news drags on pretty much across the board, there’s one good thing you can keep doing: putting your money where your mouth is. If you’re anything like us, you’ve been leaning pretty heavily on your old faves these days, but there’s also no better time to check out some of the city’s newest entries. Yes, believe it or not, recent times have still yielded several exciting openings, from a downtown Middle Eastern spot to a no-nonsense ramen bar to a brand-new Italian takeout option from a favorite Cambridge chef. And if you’re still hungry, keep scrolling for our current lineup of other newer places to get your eat on—with apologies to all the greats that have made the hard decision to hibernate for the winter.

Fox & The Knife

South Boston

The gist: The debut space from Top Chef finalist and James Beard winner Karen Akunowicz brings her Italian techniques front and center, earning her “Best New Restaurant” accolades from Food & Wine in 2019. One more reason we’re in love? Because it’s the rare (only?) all-woman-run restaurant in town.
The food: What are you eating? The taleggio-stuffed focaccia as a starter, a spritz to go with it, and then a homemade pasta dish, like the wild boar tagliatelle Bolognese or maybe the campanelle with feta and pistachio-mint pesto.
The cost: Antipasti are $11-16, pastas and entrees $19-39. Cocktails are mostly $13, and wines by the glass are $11-16.
How to order: Book a table indoors online or order takeout and homemade pastas and sauces to go through the website.