Boston Restaurant Talk

Thursday, December 18, 2025

Venchi Opens in Boston's Back Bay

A chocolate company that got its start in Italy nearly 150 years ago has opened its first shop in Boston.

According to a press release, Venchi is now open in the city's Back Bay neighborhood, moving into a space on Newbury Street beneath Diptyque. The new store offers such items as Italian chocolates, hot chocolate, gelato, and crepes, and it is the 20th location to open in the United States (and its first in Massachusetts). Venchi, which started out in Turin in 1878, today features more than 350 chocolate recipes and 90 gelato flavors.

The address for Venchi in the Back Bay is 123 Newbury Street, Boston, MA, 02116. The website for the company is at https://us.venchi.com/

(Follow Marc on Bluesky at @marchurboston.bsky.social)

[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]

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Wednesday, December 17, 2025

Barcelona Wine Bar Plans to Expand into the Former Ivory Pearl Space in Brookline's Washington Square

A location of a group of tapas restaurants may soon be getting larger.

According to a source along with an article from the Brookline News, Barcelona Wine Bar in the Washington Square section of Brookline is planning to expand into the former Ivory Pearl space next door, with the article saying that the expansion would add 2,700 square feet of space including a new service kitchen and another dining room and bar. The Brookline location of Barcelona was the region's first (opening in 2013), with outlets subsequently opening in Boston's South End and in Cambridge.

Ivory Pearl was a seafood restaurant and cocktail bar that shut down in the spring of 2024 after being in business for four years, with mixologist and restaurateur Ran Duan being behind it.

(Follow Marc on Bluesky at @marchurboston.bsky.social)

[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]

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Tuesday, December 16, 2025

Molly Tea Opens in Boston's Chinatown

A tea chain that is based in China has expanded to downtown Boston.

Based on information from a poster within the Friends of Boston's Hidden Restaurants Facebook group page along with the social media for the business, Molly Tea has soft-opened in Chinatown, with the Beach Street shop slated to have a grand opening on Thursday, December 18. The new spot is currently offering a limited menu of teas including pistachio jasmine coconut tea, jasmine milk tea, and white champaca milk tea, along with a few other options.

Molly Tea first started out in China in 2021, today having more than 1,400 stores around the world, debuting in the United States in 2024 with a shop in New York City.

The address for Molly Tea in Chinatown is 67 Beach Street, Boston MA, 02111. The website for the company is at https://usa.mollytea.com/

(Follow Marc on Bluesky at @marchurboston.bsky.social)

[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]

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Chef George Mendes to Open Agosto, Baby Sister in Boston's South End

An acclaimed chef who was once based in New York City and now calls Boston his home is planning to open not one, but two new spots in the city.

According to an article in Boston Magazine, George Mendes is planning to open Agosto and Baby Sister in the South End, with the former being a 45-seat restaurant on Washington Street with a chef's counter and a tasting menu, while the latter will be a bakery-cafe that is located next door (and both will have Portuguese influences). It looks like Agosto could open next summer, and Baby Sister is hoping to debut later next year.

George Mendes was the opening chef at Amar at Raffles in the Back Bay which opened in 2023, while also being behind Aldea, a Michelin-starred Manhattan restaurant with Portuguese and Spanish influences that closed in 2020 after more than 10 years in operation.

The address for Agosto and Baby Sister will be 1673 and 1679 Washington Street in the South End.

(Follow Marc on Bluesky at @marchurboston.bsky.social)

[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]

Please help keep Boston Restaurant Talk and Boston's Hidden Restaurants going by making a one-time contribution or via a monthly subscription. Thanks! (Donations are non-deductible.)

Toscana Forno to Open in Reading

The people behind three dining spots in the northern suburbs of Boston will be opening a fourth restaurant north of the city, and this will be a second location of one of their businesses.

According to an article from the Reading Recap, Toscana Forno is planning to open in Reading, moving into the space on Walkers Brook Drive that had been home to a location of Bertucci's. Once it opens, the new spot will join another Toscana Forno in Peabody along with Toscana's Ristorante (also in Peabody) and Toscana Bar Italiano in Beverly, all of which are run by the Perrina family.

If all goes as planned, Toscana Forno could be opening in Reading at the beginning of February.

The address for the upcoming Toscana Forno is 45 Walkers Brook Drive, Reading, MA, 01867. The website for the Peabody location is at https://toscanaforno.com/

(Follow Marc on Bluesky at @marchurboston.bsky.social)

[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]

Please help keep Boston Restaurant Talk and Boston's Hidden Restaurants going by making a one-time contribution or via a monthly subscription. Thanks! (Donations are non-deductible.)

Monday, December 15, 2025

Temazcal Tequila Cantina and Tony C's in Boston's Seaport District Are Closing

It looks like a couple of dining spots along the Boston waterfront that are part of the same restaurant group are shutting down.

According to multiple sources, along with an article from the Boston Business Journal, Temazcal Tequila Cantina and Tony C's in the city's Seaport District are both slated to close their doors because of non-renewal of their leases, with the BBJ getting the information on the closures from a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act filing that indicates both places shuttering January 31. Both spots (which are located in the same building on Northern Avenue) are part of Rebel Restaurants, Inc. and have multiple locations, with the Seaport location of Temazcal opening in 2011 and the Seaport location of Tony C's debuting in 2016.

The address for Temazcal and Tony C's is 250 Northern Avenue, Boston, MA, 02210. The website for Rebel Restaurants is at https://rebelrestaurants.com/

(Follow Marc on Bluesky at @marchurboston.bsky.social)

[A related post from our sister site (Boston's Hidden Restaurants): List of Restaurant Closings and Openings in the Boston Area]

Please help keep Boston Restaurant Talk and Boston's Hidden Restaurants going by making a one-time contribution or via a monthly subscription. Thanks! (Donations are non-deductible.)