The September Hit List: Celeste, Our Fathers, Contessa, and More

Franklin Café is back up and running for the first time since March 2020, and the return of this South End fixture certainly warrants celebration. Make a Resy for their newly refreshed dining room or first-ever street patio; either seating situation promises smoky skillet mussels, shrimp and scallop paccheri in a spicy tomato sauce, and their famous steak frites slathered in melty Roquefort butter.

Boston’s small share of rooftop bars just got a little bigger with the opening of The Blue Owl above Central Square’s 907 hotel. Aside from panoramic Cambridge views, its 40-seat outdoor terrace provides an open-air space to snack on global street foods like zaatar-spiced crispy lamb ribs, chicken vindaloo skewers with mango chutney, and Brazilian-style hot dogs with potato sticks and corn relish. All this should provide a suitable base to absorb house creations like Atlantic Andes (Fernet Menta, espresso liqueur, vanilla, mint, absinthe, chocolate bitters) and Caprese #2 (mozzarella-washed vodka, basil, tomato, bianco vermouth).

For reservations, call the restaurant at 617-349-2967.

Just when you thought the dust had settled from the opening of the Major Food Group’s first Boston-area restaurant, Contessa goes ahead and announces the start of weekend brunch. For the foreseeable future, your Saturday or Sunday schedule could involve a carbonara scramble with pancetta, pecorino and black pepper, smoked salmon carpaccio with cucumber and dill, or a prosciutto and black truffle focaccine.

Someone must have said a prayer for Our Fathers, because after 15 months of radio silence the Jewish-deli-cum-gin-bar is alive and kicking. For now, they’re easing back into things by operating as a daytime deli; swing by before 4 p.m. to enjoy a hand-cut pastrami sandwich on twice-baked rye or a smoked whitefish salad melt on white bread.

Walk-ins only.

The ceviche-forward Somerville restaurant gained a sibling this summer with the June opening of Esmerelda in Southern Vermont. Which makes this a great time to revisit where the magic started; drop on by Celeste to rekindle your passion for Peruvian-style tuna sashimi, seared scallops with squid ink fettucine, and a frothy pisco sour with a chicha chaser.

Jason Santos has brought his brand of Big Easy-inspired Southern decadence to Watertown with a new location of Buttermilk & Bourbon at Arsenal Yards. As with anything Santos-related, the results are gloriously over-the-top: think tin ceilings, baroque chandeliers, red velvet banquettes, and a four-season patio with a retractable roof. Indoors or out, you’re noshing on boiled peanut hummus, pulled pork croquettes, and buttermilk fried chicken with white barbecue sauce.

For reservations, call the restaurant at 857-760-7128.

Planning a big, end-of-summer backyard cookout is fun in theory. What’s easier is making your way to Black Lamb to partake in its fried chicken platter, which pairs ultra-crispy pieces of buttermilk-brined bird beside potato salad, watermelon, tomatoes, and jalapeno cornbread with hot honey on the side. Pair with a Pimm’s Cup or a gimlet spruced up by grapefruit and salted lime cordial.

The Lexington chef Will Gilson’s ever-expanding project at Cambridge Crossing, has one more trick up its sleeve before fall begins in earnest. Picnic Grove at The Lexington is a freshly launched extension that sees black pepper-glazed chicken wings, braised pork nachos, and fish tacos with mango salsa served out of a tropically adorned shipping container. And before you ask; yes, there are cocktails: consider a frozen pina colada or the wonderfully named Crisp Linen Pants (rye whiskey, pear liqueur, cinnamon, pineapple).

Walk-ups only.

Any day this month is a fine opportunity to enjoy a melty, American cheese-topped Gray’s Burger and a glass of albariño on the patio of Southie’s premier natural wine bar. But September 13th is a particularly fine day, as it sees Gray’s Hall hosting Shirley for a four-course dinner celebrating the late-summer bounty of New England farms. Tickets are on sale now and can be bought here.

A new drink menu is reason enough to check up on Chinatown’s go-to destination for funky cocktails and remixed Asian fare. The former category includes the Belly Slaps (butter-infused Japanese whisky, miso brown sugar, Averna, mole bitters) and the Seoul Swizzle (mezcal, green apple, gochujang, lime, perilla leaf), while the latter continues to provide sriracha sweet-and-sour chicken wings and barbecue pork bao.