Joyce Chen was Boston’s first real celebrity restaurateur and holds indisputable importance in U.S. culinary history. In the same era Julia Child was changing America’s palates through French cooking, Chen was doing just that with regional Chinese, introducing dishes such as Peking duck, hot and sour soup and moo shu pork.

Public meetings this week look at LGBTQ+ issues, Alewife zoning and development, the use of federal Covid recovery funds, the budget for the next fiscal year, a school district sexual misconduct policy, implementing a 988 crisis line and some food, drink and event issues – including a new bubble tea business for Harvard Square.

The thing to have at Koshari Mama is the Mushroom Shawerma Sandwich, a glorious, overflowing medley of sautéed mushrooms, sweet peppers and onions seasoned with garlic and a housemade spice blend.

Join History Cambridge on Sunday on a food tour of Central Square featuring tastings and behind-the-scenes stops at La Fábrica Central, The Middle East and Artifact Cider Project to eat, drink, learn and support our mission to tell the stories of all Cantabrigians.

As overhunting left Canada geese on the brink of extinction, hunters released their captured decoy geese into the wild – but since these birds weren’t used to migrating, they nested where they were released rather than flying away.

A pizza shop at a premier location in Harvard Square has shut down permanently after a hard-fought campaign to open – and little more than three years in business.

Harvard Square has lost two makers of creative and healthy grain bowls but still has Dig Inn, Henrietta’s Table and Bluestone Lane, where – along with the Russell House Tavern – good, savory bowls can be found alongside other brunchy menu items.

An Alewife-area beer garden won approval Monday from the License Commission to take over part of the Fresh Pond Mall parking lot.

Public meetings this week look at $22 million in direct-aid for lower-income families, the city’s budget for the next fiscal year, a moratorium on construction of labs and offices around Alewife, a Fresh Pond beer garden, bike lanes on Brattle Street, municipal broadband and ideas for improving The Port and the future of Cambridge Street.

The first butterfly you probably see each year – and the one you see the most frequently in the summer and fall – is the cabbage white, which has grown abundant and widespread on a diet of vegetables such as cabbage, kale, bok choy, turnips, radishes, horseradish and broccoli.