One autumn evening in 2020, the late poet Louise Glück walked into the snug dining room of the Somerville Peruvian restaurant Celeste. Glück found her usual table — the one between the two air conditioning vents — and greeted her usual server, Gonzalo, who waited on her every time she stopped in for ceviche de pescado and an IPA. But this evening was different from the others.
Glück had been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature the day before and, amid a wave of public attention, craved the normalcy of enjoying a meal at one of her favorite restaurants. Ahead of Glück’s standing reservation, Celeste’s founders Maria Rondeau and chef JuanMa Calderon had filled the dining room with friends to ensure the new Nobel Laureate could dine in peace. A tabletop bouquet was the only memento marking her achievement.
“All she wanted was to be at Celeste and not think about anything else,” said Rondeau. “At the same time, we were nervous. We’d waited on the same lady every day, but now she was something else. It was a moment of joyous togetherness.”
Glück’s connection to Celeste is uniquely intense — so intense, in fact, that Rondeau and Calderon’s new restaurant opening in Back Bay, Rosa y Marigold, shares a name with Glück’s last published work. It’s also a particularly profound example of how Boston writers have long found comfort, camaraderie and sometimes safety in the city’s bars, cafes and restaurants.
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From the bygone Harvard Square Spanish spot Irunåa where Robert Lowell hosted post-workshop office hours to the old Ground Round off Soldiers Field Road where reporters for The Boston Globe, Boston Magazine and the Boston Phoenix grabbed drinks after media-league softball games, local eateries have literally and figuratively fueled generations of Boston academics, journalists, novelists and poets. So, we asked some of these writers to tell us where they typically go for a coffee, a meal, a conversation, or a moment of peace.
Zarlasht Niaz, novelist
Zarlasht Niaz, author of novel-in-verse “Unfurling,” at the Newsfeed Cafe at the Boston Public Library. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Zarlasht Niaz recently came to Boston from Minneapolis to begin her tenure as the Boston Public Library’s 2025-26 writer-in-residence. The Afghan American writer is managing an online literary journal that centers writing from and about Afghanistan while working on her debut novel-in-verse. Despite her newcomer status, she has already found some gastronomic staples.
Niaz regularly stops into BPL’s Newsfeed Café for arepas from the Somerville-based Venezuelan catering company Carolicious; lattes from a talented, unnamed barista — “When that person’s working, I get really excited,” said Niaz — and live public radio programming from the other NPR affiliate in town.
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She also frequents Anoush’ella’s South Boston location, whose Eastern Mediterranean flavors call to mind home food. “They have these salads with a lot of different herbs and they remind me of the salads I grew up eating,” said Niaz. Turmeric House in Braintree hits similarly. “A perfect cup of chai. A perfect kebab. Yeah, I can’t wait to go back.”
Stephen Greenblatt, literary historian
Author Stephen Greenblatt at Cambridge restaurant Giulia, on Massachusetts Ave. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Having devoted decades to unpacking the work of Renaissance writers, particularly William Shakespeare, it’s no wonder that the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning literary historian Stephen Greenblatt gravitates toward cuisine that could’ve conceivably appeared in “Julius Caesar.”
The Cambridge Italian staple Giulia is his undisputed go-to. “I know Italian food quite well, because we spend quite a lot of time in Rome,” said Greenblatt. “Guilia is unusually creative.” He often orders the pappardelle with wild boar topped with black trumpet mushrooms and parmigiano.
“The chef, Michael Pagliarini, is extremely talented and alert to what really good Italian food is like,” he said.
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Greenblatt also ventures to the eastern edges of the Mediterranean basin when visiting Oleana (which recently received a Michelin Guide recommendation), but his dessert of choice there is decidedly American. “I like Oleana quite a lot, particularly for the wonderful baked Alaska, which is, I think, one of the great desserts that one can get,” said Greenblatt.
Golden, poet and photographer
Golden moved to Boston in 2018 following a celebrated poetry slam guest performance at Haley House in Roxbury and quickly became a fixture within the local literary scene. In the time since, the Black, gender-nonconforming trans writer and photographer has turned out two collections of poetry and images, served as Boston’s 2020-21 artist in residence, and earned a handful of high-profile fellowships. Golden is now relocating to their home state of Virginia to pursue an MFA, but they depart with close community ties, including connections to a couple of keystone Jamaica Plain restaurants.
Galway House, on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain, Boston. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
“When I first moved to Boston, I lived on Centre Street by Jackson Square and we would always go to Galway House,” said Golden. “They have affordable, consistent food and a lot of community members I know love going there.”
The Haven, one of the Boston area’s only Scottish spots, is another JP essential for Golden. “I love the Haven Burger — it’s one of my favorites. And I love a good French fry and you can’t go wrong with that there,” Golden said. “I love filling food and food that you can enjoy with friends. That’s where my brain goes when I’m deciding where to eat.”
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Laura Zigman, novelist
The fiction of Laura Zigman often hinges on the heightened emotionalism that comes with navigating life’s highs and lows, beginning with her debut 1997 novel “Animal Husbandry,” which was optioned and became the basis for a romantic comedy starring Ashley Judd and a young Hugh Jackman. But when it comes to going out for a drink or something to eat, Zigman looks to avoid drama at all costs.
Bar Enza, located in the Charles Hotel near Harvard Square, is her ideal venue for meeting friends. “They have really nice wine and cocktails, even though I really don’t drink anymore,” Zigman said. “When you come in for a drink, they’ll give you a velvet banquette that’s beautiful where you can talk and actually hear each other and I just love it.”
The entrance to George Howell Coffee and Lovestruck Books, in Cambridge, Mass. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
For coffee, Zigman prefers George Howell Coffee nestled inside the nearby Lovestruck Books. The location itself is freighted with Cambridge cafe history, standing not far from where Howell’s original Coffee Connection once operated between 1975 and 1996 before Starbucks acquired and rebranded it and its 18 local sister stores.
“Coffee Connection was one of those places that I just lived in when I was a teenager,” said Zigman. “They had French roast, French presses, and big barrels of coffee beans with burlap covers. The new George Howell inside Lovestruck is great — it’s cozy, smells like coffee, and it’s pink and red inside.”
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Paul Tremblay, novelist
Author Paul Tremblay, by the Hamilton Restaurant and Bar, near Coolidge Corner in Brookline, Mass. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Brookline Booksmith near Coolidge Corner is a key location for the multi-time Bram Stoker Award-winning horror novelist Paul Tremblay. He visited the shop for the first time early in his writing career to attend a Stewart O’Nan reading and, in the years since, has gone back numerous times to do readings of his own and participate in author events.
Virtually every trip Tremblay makes to Brookline Booksmith goes hand-in-hand with a stop at Hamilton Restaurant and Bar, whose distinctive red awning with a silhouette of its namesake Founding Father casts a shadow on Beacon Street less than a block away.
“Invariably, before the event starts, usually at 7 p.m., all the writers involved and sometimes their family too will meet at Hamilton,” said Tremblay. “It’s such a relaxed vibe — a pub-style place with friendly staff, good food and drink, and, when the weather is warm, a nice outdoor space.”
When Tremblay is nearer to home in the Greater Boston suburbs, he regularly visits Northern Spy, a Canton-based restaurant from the owners of Loyal Nine that serves New England cuisine and operates out of Paul Revere’s historic Rolling Copper Mill.
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“It’s a newer restaurant and it’s got a beautiful interior,” he said. “For people who dare trek outside of Boston and want to meet, it’s a go-to place.”
Megan Marshall, biographer
Biographer Megan Marshall looks across Belmont Street from the window of Praliné French Patisserie’s location in Belmont, Mass. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Megan Marshall arrived in the Boston area in 1973 and has since seen slews of writer-saturated restaurants come and go. She remembers meeting the eminent editor Justin Kaplan at the long-defunct Harvard Square fondue place, Swiss Alps, to get guidance on her biography of Elizabeth, Mary and Sophia Peabody, which eventually earned her the Pulitzer Prize. And she recalls grabbing coffee and cinnamon toast from a drugstore with an old-fashioned soda fountain that once stood on Boylston Street in between research sessions at the Massachusetts Historical Society.
These days, Marshall often finds herself at the Cambridge French patisserie Praliné. “They’re such lovely people there and they speak French, which makes me feel cosmopolitan and their croissants are, I think, the best in the Boston area,” said Marshall.
She also enjoys Praliné’s imported French loose-leaf tea, Mariage Frères. “I get little boxes of it to give as presents. People I know who have spent time in Paris say, ‘Oh, you must be just back from Paris,’ because there’s this impression that you can only get Mariage Frères there,” she said. “But you can get it at Praliné and impress anybody you know who’s Parisian.”
BEACH BASH Head to Revere for its fifth annual Beach Pride Celebration. The outdoor seaside party — in case of rain, revelers will relocate to the Marriott’s Springhill Suites — will feature face-painting, a photo booth, and live DJ and drag performances. Bring your (most sand-friendly) dancing shoes. June 28, 1-6 p.m. Free. Waterfront Square, 500 Ocean Ave, Revere. revere.org
Revere Beach celebrates Pride month.Handout
DANCING QUEENSSomerville returns for their annual “Big Gay Dance Party,” featuring drag performances, music from DJ Live, and LGBTQ organizations tabling. This year’s event is themed “Gender Euphoria,” and the organizers encourage guests to dress up whatever makes the feel the most like themselves. June 27, 4:30-8:30 p.m. Free. Union Square Plaza, 90 Union Sq., Somerville. somervilleartscouncil.org/events
PRIDE RIDE Bike lovers, put on your helmets for a community ride celebrating Pride. The Cycle Loft shop hosts a cruise down Vine Brook and Minuteman Bikeway. They will also offer free snacks, drinks, stickers, and temporary tattoos. June 7, 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Free. Cycle Loft, 43 Middlesex Turnpike, Burlington. trekbikes.com/cycle-loft
ZOO-TIFUL Spend a family day among giraffes, red pandas, flamingos and more. In celebration of Father’s Day, dads will get in for free to the Stone Zoo and Franklin Park Zoo. Tickets are required for all other attendees and can be purchased online or in person. June 21, 9 a.m.- 6 p.m. Free for fathers. Franklin Park Zoo, 1 Franklin Park Rd. and Stone Zoo, 149 Pond St., Stoneham. zoonewengland.org
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A baby Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra nuzzles with his mother at the Franklin Park Zoo.John Tlumacki/Globe Staff
DRAWINGS FOR DADNeed a no-cost (but from the heart) present for pops? Head to the Hyde Park Branch of the Boston Public Library for their Father’s Day Crafts event. The library will provide all materials to make cards and other paper crafts. June 20, 9:30-11:30 a.m. Free. Hyde Park Branch of the Boston Public Library, 35 Harvard Ave., Hyde Park. bpl.bibliocommons.com/events
SYMPHONIC SUNDAY Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) hosts a free Father’s Day Concert at New England Conservatory’s Jordan Hall. Conducted by BMOP artistic director Gil Rose, the ensemble will play works composed by modern American composers, including “Miami Variations” from Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Moravec, “History of the World” by John Aylward, and Avner Dorman’s concerto “Inner Fire,” featuring cellist Kristina Reiko Cooper. June 21, 7-9 p.m. Free. Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory of Music, 30 Gainsborough St. bmop.org
Boston Modern Orchestra holds a Father’s Day performance at Jordan Hall.Handout
FOOD FEST For the foodie fathers, head over to the Rose Kennedy Greenway for an Asian Food Festival. Attendees can purchase street food, bubble tea, desserts, grilled items, and a variety of other items from different Asian cultures. The event will also feature free entertainment, including Taekwondo demonstrations, cultural dance performances, and a guest Japanese singer. For brewery lovers, the event will also feature a beer garden from Thai company Singha Beer featuring games and merchandise giveaways. June 20, 11 a.m.-7 p.m. and June 21, 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Free. Rose Kennedy Greenway. rosekennedygreenway.org
FAMILY FUN Enjoy the warmer weather at MIT Open Space’s summer party. The outdoor event will feature free soft serve ice cream, herb planting with a horticulturist, a drop-in sketching activity with Blue Mouse Gallery art school, and a performance from the Continuum Dance Project. June 24, 12-2 p.m. Free. Kendall/MIT Open Space, 292 Main St., Cambridge. openspace.mit.edu
MIT Open Space hosts a summer party.Noah Phoenix
BANDS AND BREWS Bask inthe sunshine with live music, cornhole, and Giant Jenga at Sam Summer Saturdays. Each week, a musician will take the stage at the Samuel Adams Boston Brewery beer garden. Artists scheduled to perform this month include Pittsfield singer-songwriter Autumn Phoenix (June 6 and 27) and R&B and soul artist Tenille Ja’Nae (June 13 and 20). For seasonal eat and drink, attendees can purchase burgers, hot dogs, and Samuel Adams summer ale. Multiple dates, 1-4 p.m. Free. Samuel Adams Boston Brewery, 30 Germania St. samadamsbostonbrewery.com
Sam Adams Boston Brewery hosts free live music this summer.gene buonaccorsi
ANCHORS AWAY For the aspiring sea captains in your life, Charlestown Marina and Boston Harbor Shipyard and Marina invite families to board a ship, make nautical bracelets, and meet representatives from local sailing schools and clubs during their Massachusetts Kids Boating and Fishing Week celebrations. Attendees at Charlestown Marina can also enjoy hot dogs, hamburgers, and chips. Charlestown Marina: June 6, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Pier 6, 1 8th St. Boston Harbor Shipyard and Marina: June 7, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. 256 Marginal St. Free. masskidsboatingday.org
Charlestown Marina and Boston Harbor Shipyard and Marina host a family boating event.Handout
SUMMER SOLSTICE Mount Auburn Cemetery celebrates the longest day of the year with meditations, live music, and more. Throughout the day, the cemetery will host both free and ticketed activities. No-cost events include an outdoor meditation in the facility’s Hazel Dell (registration required) and a bat net demonstration from Tufts University biology instructor Dr. Chris Richardson. The celebration ends with a pay-what-you-can performance of Celtic and Middle Eastern inspired music from guitarist Ira Klein, the cemetery’s artist in residence, and fiddle player Cate Byrne. June 21, 10 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Free. Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn St, Cambridge. mountauburn.org
Mount Auburn Cemetery hosts a summer solstice celebration.Billy Hickey
GREENWAY GAINS The Rose Kennedy Greenway becomes a free fitness hub this season. From parkour to children’s yoga, the park offers something for everyone. Additional classes include mat pilates, Zumba, yoga, barre, and HIIT workouts. Multiple dates and locations. Free. rosekennedygreenway.org
The Rose Kennedy Greenway hosts a variety of free fitness classes.Nicole Marie Photography
WATERSIDE WORKOUTS Put on your gym clothes and head to South Boston for a waterfront fitness workout. Sessions include dance workouts, yoga (bring your own mat), and revamp training, a method that combines resistance band exercises, cardio dance, and bodyweight workouts. Multiple dates, 5:30-6:30 p.m. Free. 9 World Trade Center Ave. massport.com/community/events
PARK SERIES During the summer, Boston Parks hosts daily outdoor fitness classes in locations like the Frog Pond, Hynes Playground, and Christopher Columbus Park. Workouts include yoga, Zumba, dance fitness, strength training, and tai chi. Multiple dates and locations. Free, registration recommended. boston.gov/events
Boston Parks hosts chair yoga during their summer fitness series.Boston Parks and Recreation Department
SUFFOLK DOWNS SWEAT The Blue Line Flex series returns to Suffolk Downs. From June to September, the Yard at Beachmont Square will host a variety of fitness classes every Tuesday and Thursday from local fitness studios and instructors. Offerings include pilates, yoga, boxing, cardio dance, and high intensity interval training. Saturday sessions will also feature music from a DJ. Multiple dates, Tuesdays, 6 p.m. and Saturdays, 10 a.m. Free, registration required. The Yard at Beachmont Square, 10 Suffolk Downs Blvd., Revere. atsuffolkdowns.com
Annie Sarlin can be reached at annie.sarlin@globe.com. Follow her on Instagram @anniesarlinjournalism.
When Priscilla R. Mafalda left for Florida last week, she sounded exhausted but happy.
“Friend, I’m very tired, but thank God I’m finally taking some vacation time. I’m going to Florida,” she told her work friend, Thaiz Ramos, on Thursday.
Ramos said Mafalda promised she would call when she arrived.
“I am still waiting for that call,” Ramos said Sunday afternoon, “because part of me still cannot believe she is gone.”
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Mafalda, 25, of Worcester, was identified over the weekend as the fifth person killed in the devastating Interstate 95 crash in Virginia that also claimed the lives of four members of the Doncev family from Greenfield, Massachusetts. Authorities said Mafalda was traveling in a separate vehicle, a Chevrolet Suburban, when it was struck by a passenger bus that failed to slow for traffic near a work zone.
Friends say Mafalda, who was born in Inhapim, Brazil, had built a life in Massachusetts. A GoFundMe, which refers to her as Priscilla Ramos, no relation to Thaiz Ramos, was created after her death and says relatives are raising money to return her body to Brazil for burial.
The GoFundMe said that her husband, Igor Ernesto, was also in the vehicle and hospitalized. Mafalda’s family and GoFundMe organizers could not immediately be reached for comment.
By Sunday , over $14,000 was raised.
Ramos worked with Mafalda for years at a Massachusetts house-cleaning company. She described her as “one of the kindest and hardest-working people I have ever known.”
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Virginia State Police said the crash happened around 2:35 a.m. Friday in Stafford County, when a bus traveling from New York to North Carolina struck slowed traffic near a work zone, setting off a chain-reaction collision impacting Mafalda’svehicle. It forced her vehicle into the Doncev family’s Acura SUV and several others. The bus driver has been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, with additional charges pending.
This is a developing story.
Sarah Rahal can be reached at sarah.rahal@globe.com. Follow her on X @SarahRahal_ or Instagram @sarah.rahal.
What to know about MLB’s ABS robot umpire strike zone system
MLB launches ABS challenge system as players test robot umpire calls in a groundbreaking season.
The 2026 MLB season has surpassed the quarter mark, and after each team’s first 40 games, there’s plenty of reasons to tune in all summer long.
Chicago White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami has already proven doubters wrong by launching 17 home runs, Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes consistently looks like the best version of himself on the mound and Milwaukee ace Jacob Misiorowski is throwing harder than any starter in the majors.
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The MLB action continues on Sunday as the Boston Red Sox visit the Cleveland Guardians.
Here’s everything you need to know to tune in for the first pitch.
See USA TODAY’s sortable MLB schedule to filter by team or division.
What time is Boston Red Sox vs Cleveland Guardians?
First pitch between the Cleveland Guardians and Boston Red Sox is scheduled for 1:40 p.m. (ET) on Sunday, May 31.
How to watch Boston Red Sox vs Cleveland Guardians on Sunday
All times Eastern and accurate as of Sunday, May 31, 2026, at 6:32 a.m.
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Matchup: BOS at CLE
Date: Sunday, May 31
Time: 1:40 p.m. (ET)
Venue: Progressive Field
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
TV: Guardians.TV and NESN
Streaming: MLB.TV on Fubo
Watch MLB all season long with Fubo
MLB regional blackout restrictions apply
MLB scores, results
MLB scores for May 31 games are available on usatoday.com . Here’s how to access today’s results:
