Sugidama is a hidden gem among Davis Square’s Asian eateries that stands out for its specialty in soba – the classic Japanese buckwheat noodle, made fresh and in-house.

New Year’s is bound to be an indoors affair while a pandemic is till raging outside, but there are ways to make the night festive and unique.

“R.O.O.T. (Recognizing Our Oldest Trees)” takes on worries around tree loss explicitly as well as artistically.

Get some post-Thanksgiving comfort food in the form of an Ultimate Fried Catfish Sandwich from The Smoke Shop, fried chicken from Redbones and sandwiches from the Little Blue Bakery cart in Alewife.

Workers at software companies are used to free food – a perk of white-collar tech jobs common since the dot-com boom. One is now offering a free meal even before you’re hired.

Workers at software companies are used to free food – a perk of white-collar tech jobs common since the dot-com boom. One is now offering a free meal even before you’re hired.

What’s normally a one-day event has become even broader five days of discussion on comic books, science fiction, fantasy, cosplay and other aspects of pop culture, still focused on creators who are women, non-binary, LGBTQ and people of color. (But open to all.)

That thing about movie screens staying dark in Cambridge and Somerville because of the pandemic? Friday that changed, as the Landmark theater in Kendall Square had something of a stealth opening.

This week AMC cinemas will open across the country with theatrically released-only titles such as “Unhinged” starring Russell Crowe as a sociopath. And the Crowe flick will play AMC Boston Common – but it won’t play this side of the river, as theaters from Harvard to Davis await a signal to open.

For takeout to make a sunny lockdown more enjoyable, travel from a coffee and scone at Simon’s to Mexican food at Rudy’s Cafe; delight in some Indian straight from Nirvana; and since summer weather demands seafood, buy sole and monkfish from The Fishmonger and a Whole Foods crabcake.