By the time you’re 94 not only have you outlived almost all your pals but you have, without the least effort on your part, become a dispenser of wisdom. Those of us who have lived as long as I have also know a little secret: Although we’re supposed to have achieved this wisdom, we know it’s a mistake – panic about finding the right words, disguised as sagacity.
But I’m not complaining about the wisdom thing, because I’m just as ego-driven as my younger friends.
So here goes. I’m going to offer an opinionated list of some of the best places in Cambridge, most of them in or near Harvard Square, and a few beyond it.
Petali. This small shop on Mount Auburn Street has three identities: flower and plant shop, gift shop and minimuseum. The growing items rival those in beauty and elegance of nearby Brattle Square Florist, though Petali is smaller. The gift items for sale are, in the words of the owner, “quirky stuff,” but in my words are elegant craftwork, including coffee mugs with wavy rims, embroidered belts, bars of soap the size of hamburger buns and odd miscellany. The “museum” – nothing here is for sale – is of mostly once-useful objects now grown battered by the passage of time: musical instruments, sleds, leather-covered suitcases and more than a hundred bound books from the 19th century and earlier. Sometimes a couple of ancient bicycles rest outside the front door, all retrieved by the proprietor. Petali is “my journey,” he says. (92 Mount Auburn St., Harvard Square)
Gran Gusto. I’ve heard this Sherman Street restaurant described as dispensing the only authentic Italian food in Cambridge. Gran Gusto has a couple of small rooms, a bar and outdoor terrace, and a crew of men and women who serve without chattering at you and who are familiar with the modest menu and delicate operations such as exactly how much Parmesan to sprinkle on spaghetti Bolognese. (90 Sherman St., across from Danehy Park in Neighborhood 9)
Wusong Road. This tiki bar near the heart of Harvard Square is only a couple years old and a little creepy, overdecorated by someone coming out of a nightmare, with weird objects galore, lit like my idea of an opium den. But the food is first-rate, the servings are large enough, the service impeccable and the customers seems happy. Theatrical to the max, but first-rate. Just take a look at its menu. (112 Mount Auburn St., Harvard Square)
Bob Slate Stationer. One of the few places on Brattle Street that was there when we moved to Cambridge in 1959. Named after the owner at the time, it concentrates on olde paper goods: greeting cards, pens, calendars and datebooks, but nothing you have to plug into a wall. Admittedly old-fashioned, Slate’s manages to draw enough people who like the way we used to do it and seems to be going strong. (30 Brattle St., Harvard Square)
Sav-Mor Liquors, scattered over the landscape. The one I shop at is on Alewife Brook Parkway, near Trader Joe’s. Spirits are one of the few things sold in bottles that are the same no matter where. So why not save money? The guys behind the counter are the opposite of loquacious, but extremely helpful.
Memorial Drive, with the ancient meandering Charles River on one side and Mount Auburn Street on the other. Anyone who lives this near the river is almost divinely gifted with sights that change even as we stare at the water, its traffic – especially after dark, when you’re treated to an ongoing light show – and the stunning skyline of Boston. Stay tuned for the demolition of the Riverview, hulking condos on Mount Auburn Street erected in the late ’60s and recently discovered to be a death trap.
Harvard Book Store. All the new books are on the ground floor, and a choice selection of older books are below in the basement. According to friend-to-writers Frank Kramer, the original owner, this place is the only business not associated with the university permitted to use the sacrosanct name of “Harvard.” (1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square)
I’m including two empty shells: the University Theatre – just before its closing in 2012, it was the AMC Loews Harvard Square 5 – and Dickson Bros. Hardware, the first because my husband and I went there weekly to watch a new movie and eat popcorn and the second because it was within walking distance for a large chunk of Cambridge 02138. These establishments are, I’m told, owned by the same man who refuses to do anything with them. Shame on him.
A stronger
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Cheers to all the places you mentioned! Many favorites of mine as well. It is Gerald Chan, the billionaire who owns Church Street retail and Dickinson’s. Shame on him is right and something has to be done as he ignores his responsibility.