SMALL PLATES 
56 JFK St., Cambridge. 617-441-0056. A meal at Small Plates is reminiscent of a dinner party given by someone who is cooking to please you. The restaurant feels a bit like a living room, and the food is lush in conception, if not always as good as it means to be. As you would guess, the menu is mostly made up of small plates. What's on them ranges from Cajun braised rabbit to blue cheese raclette, chicken satay, and "Pi a la Mood: whatever we feel like serving." The result is an appealingly bohemian whimsy. (02/06/08)
KINGSTON STATION 25 Kingston St., Boston. 617-482-6282. The space that used to be Peking Tom's is now Kingston Station, and the scorpion bowls and red walls have been replaced by red wine and white tile walls. Though it excels at dishes such as onion soup and steak frites, Kingston Station isn't playing French. You can also get ribs with excellent baked beans or a burger (albeit one topped with a fried egg and gruyere). For theatergoers and the nine-to-fivers of Downtown Crossing, Kingston Station is a welcome addition. (1/30/08)
CLINK 
215 Charles St., Boston. 617-224-4004. Shh. If you listen closely, you can hear the sound of laughter. It's the ghosts of prisoners past, chortling in disbelief at the Beacon Hill residents and wannabes lined up outside what used to be the Charles Street Jail. They are waiting to get in. The stone fortress is now the Liberty Hotel, and it's a scene unlike anywhere else in the city. Inside is the restaurant Clink (ha), where the food and service plays second fiddle to socializing. Maybe new executive chef Joseph Margate can help turn things around - he comes from the much-praised Eleven Madison Park in New York, part of hospitality-driven restaurateur Danny Meyer's group. (1/23/08)
SHIKI 
9 Babcock St., Brookline. 617-738-0200. Sushi is everywhere, but there's so much more to Japanese cuisine: feather-light custards chockablock with seafood, cutlets in crunchy panko coatings, fish dishes both homey (cod broiled in a miso sauce) and delicate (teeny tiny sardines with eyes no bigger than pin pricks, served over raw grated radish). A wonderful place to explore these options is Shiki, a cheery, yellow-and-rust-painted basement space on a side street in Coolidge Corner. The menu of small plates offers 60-plus dishes, the artfully presented kaiseki lunches are a steal, and not to worry - Shiki serves sushi, too. It's an awfully long flight to Osaka; how nice to have a real Japanese neighborhood restaurant right here. (1/16/08)
L'ANDANA 
86 Cambridge St., Burlington. 781-270-0100. The immediate popularity of L'Andana confirms there's a hunger for high-quality food beyond the city limits. L'Andana's is excellent, worth driving to Burlington for, which doesn't really come as a surprise - it's run by the Columbus Restaurant Group, the not-exactly-slouches behind Boston's Mistral, Sorellina, Mooo...., and Teatro. You'll find wood-grilled meats and fantastic pasta in a room that's part mod, part Tuscan farmhouse - wood floors, chandeliers made from wine barrels; track lighting, cream-colored banquettes. In a few years, we may all be heading to Toro Foxborough and Petit Robert Revere for a night out. (1/9/08)- DEVRA FIRST
