The Dish

Here’s where Jamie Bissonnette likes to eat in Boston

As part of our Yes, Chef series, restauranteur Bissonnette shares his local recommendations for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a nightcap.

Chef Jamie Bissonnette in the DJ booth at Temple Records, which is part of his new project on Temple Place.

January 24, 2025

4 minutes to read

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Is it an exciting time to be a Boston diner? As a diner, I ask myself this question a lot. As a food writer, I also ask restaurateurs and chefs, to mixed reviews.

There’s a lot to be uncertain about, particularly as fluctuating prices on goods are at odds with how much customers are willing to pay. It’s a major concern I hear about during most conversations I have with the folks who run our restaurant scene.

But there are reasons to be optimistic — just look at the restaurants opening around Greater Boston. Kaia brings the Aegean Sea and its cuisine to the South End. Saigon Babylon took over the rooftop at the Sonder 907 Main hotel, bringing with it elevated Viet food and cocktails. And in 2025, we can look forward to the eventual opening of places like Fallow Kin and Tall Order.

Here are the New England restaurants and chefs named James Beard semifinalists in 2025

But perhaps no group has made it easier to be hopeful about Boston’s invigorated dining scene like BCB3 has.

The group — which includes Babak Bina, Andy Cartin, and Jamie Bissonnette — brought Boston diners multiple concepts last year. They took over a part of Downtown Crossing with their trio of Somaek, Temple Records, and Sushi @ Temple Records, then they wrapped the year with Zurito’s opening in Beacon Hill. Somaek was named a James Beard Best New Restaurant just this week.

“Everything was starting to feel similar,” Bissonnette said of Boston’s dining scene. He left JK Food Group — his longtime partnership with Ken Oringer — and tried to put energy into concepts that would be a passion for himself and fun for diners.

Babak Bina, Jamie Bissonnette, and Andy Cartin at Zurito

When he isn’t busy opening and running his own concepts, Bissonnette gets out there and tries Greater Boston’s newest offerings. Good news: He likes what he sees, and most of the spots below have opened in the last couple of years.

Breakfast

Bissonnette swears by Cafe Weekend, a breakfast-all-day spot in Allston that opened in 2022 and serves the “croffle,” a croissant-waffle hybrid made popular in South Korea. Go to Shy Bird for their breakfast sandwiches, Bissonnette said. The rotisserie and cafe opened its second brick-and-mortar in South Boston in 2022 and has plans to expand to Fenway this year.

Lunch

A sad reality of post-pandemic dining? “Most of the new restaurants opening up aren’t doing lunch,” Bissonnette said. So the following options aren’t really new, but one did make a very recent comeback. Eastern Standard, which Bissonnette helped open its original location in 2005 as its executive chef, reopened its doors in 2023 after a pandemic closure. Bissonnette still loves the restaurant’s burger even in its new digs. Otherwise, Bissonnette often finds himself at Select Oyster Bar, Picco, or Contessa.

Dinner

For “out of the park awesome” dishes, Bissonnette recommends Moon Bar, the fun offshoot of Carl Dooley’s Mooncusser that opened in 2023. You can’t go wrong with anything on this bright and global-inspired menu, but the tuna crudo, Jamaican beef patties, and roasted chicken thighs are Bissonnette’s favorites. His other dinner pick is Tonino, the two-year-old cozy Italian restaurant in JP that serves fresh pasta and snacks.

Nightcap

A recent night out brought Bissonnette to Desnuda Cocina & Bar, a new entry from MAZI Group, for its already celebrated Latin-Asian food and cocktails. But Bissonnette, who’s as passionate about music as he is about cooking, couldn’t help but give a shoutout to one of his spaces, Temple Records. “I just want to go and listen to records, and all my records are there.”

For your reading list

🏅 Here are New England’s James Beard nominees
❌ Keep up with Boston’s latest restaurant closings
🌯 Rudy’s serves its final queso (Boston Globe)
🍽️ What a TikTok ban means for cooking (New York Times)

For your calendar

🌮 Trina’s Cantina night every Monday
🎧 BYOV (Bring Your Own Vinyl) at Offsuit
🥘 Last chance to try Black Cat @ Vee Vee
🥟 Celebrate Lunar New Year in Boston

What I’m eating this week: Pizza (and lots of it)

Over the next several weeks, you may see an uptick in pizza content, mostly from me, but across our site, Boston.com. I’m taking on the tough task of eating a lot of pizza, and therefore my phone is currently full of pizza pictures and notes on pizza. You’ll hear more about what’s to come soon (including a very fun bracket), but I did want to give one pie a shoutout. This margherita pizza from Ciao! Pizza & Pasta was the much-needed slice I needed in my pizza journey: thin, not greasy, fresh toppings, and just really clean. The owner told me many of his customers make the trek across the bridge to Chelsea just for their pizza, and I can see why.

— Katelyn Umholtz

Katelyn Umholtz

Food and Restaurant Reporter

Katelyn Umholtz covers food and restaurants for Boston.com. Katelyn is also the author of The Dish, a weekly food newsletter.

Here’s where Jamie Bissonnette likes to eat in Boston