Somerville

Marshmallow fluff

• FluffFest: Just by luck, you'll be in town for the annual celebration of our most famous local confectionary spread.

All your earthly needs

• Bow Market: A community hub featuring small local chefs, crafts, and drinks. We have coffee here most Saturdays.
• Cicada: It's a café! A wine bar! A Vietnamese noodle and sandwich shop! Also check out their sister restaurant (The Eaves) and rooftop bar (Saigon Babylon).

Casual eating

• Highland Kitchen: Just up the hill from our house—Southern / Caribbean food (get the goat stew!) and good cocktails.
• Muqueca: Our favorite Brazilian restaurant—order the seafood stew Bahia-style with coconut milk and palm oil.
• Cambridge Common: The pub where we had our first date! (It was 2021, so we sat in a tent in the parking lot in 40-degree weather.) Don't get confused by the park with the same name (also worth a visit).
• Felipe's: Mexican staple in Harvard square with a great rooftop. Narrowly lost out to the Armory as our wedding venue.
• Life Alive: Local chain with grain bowls and drinks in colors you didn't know were safe for human consumption.

Fine dining

• La Royal: Order ceviche and a Pisco martini.
• Giulia: A standout in a crowded field of Italian restaurants—known for their pasta.
• Juliet: A frequent date night spot. Café food from the south of France—we love the mussels and the aioli garni.
• Pammy's: Our special occasion restaurant. Italian-ish; clever wine pairings.
• Spoke: One of the most memorable parts of our spring break trip to Italy was a winery tour from Dora Forsoni (presented entirely in Italian and translated by our cab driver). When we got home, we were amazed to see Dora's portrait hanging in the window at Spoke. It bills itself as a wine bar but the food is just as good (don't miss the sunchoke donuts).
• Comfort Kitchen: Buzzy new restaurant with food from the global African diaspora. Everything is delicious.

Drinking

• Zuzu's Petals: Another regular in the date night rotation. Small, quirky but reliably great set of wines and desserts.
• backbar: Speaking of quirky—rated one of the best cocktail bars in America; don't be surprised if the menu takes the form of a comic book or a piece of Star Wars fan fiction. Or just ask the bartenders to make something up.
• Rebel Rebel: Do you ever find yourself with a hankering for a small-batch natural orange wine fermented underground in a clay pot in Tbilisi, served to you by a gender-non-conforming sommelier who's just finishing up a Ph.D. in English? Or do you maybe just want a glass of wine? Either way, Rebel Rebel is for you.
• Aeronaut: Beloved local craft brewer / beer garden; a great place to sit with a book on a sunny afternoon. Known for their IPAs, but they've been doing some killer lagers recently. Also home to Carolicious, which makes excellent arepas.

Coffee

• Forge: Our neighborhood spot (and maker of our favorite granola). If you've ever wondered just how much butter goes into a croissant, grab a seat by the bakery window in the back.
• Broadsheet: Nearby coffee shop and roaster, perfect for a mid-day coffee break between experiments at the Harvard Biolabs. One of the best almond croissants Zuri has ever had (and she has had many).
• Barismo: Jacob's favorite Boston-area roaster.

Strolling and people-watching

• The Esplanade: Park that stretches all the way along the river in Boston; great for runs, walks and picnics.
• The Somerville Community Path: we took our engagement photos here! See all of Somerville out for a stroll on weekend mornings.

Art and entertainment

• The Gardner: Weird little treasure-box of a museum in which every painting remains exactly where the founder hung it during her lifetime. Site of one of one of the most famous 20th-century art heists. Lots of great John Singer Sargent drawings and watercolors, one extraordinary Rembrandt, and a little bit of everything else.
• Institute for Contemporary Art: Boston's modern art museum. Tiny (just one little floor of galleries) but there's always something memorable. Also a great place to watch super-villains cruise through Boston Harbor in their mega-yachts. Bonus: the museum cafe is run by Rebel Rebel.
• The Black Heritage Trail and Freedom Trail: Two walking tours of historic Boston. A great way to see important sites from the American revolution and explore neighborhoods near downtown. Starts in Zuri's old neighborhood.
• The Lilypad and Club Passim: Local spots for live music.