Where to Eat in November: Sarma, Faccia a Faccia, Saltie Girl, and More

Almost nine years to the day it first opened, Sarma has earned the Boston Globe’s first five-star review. We extend our congratulations to chef Cassie Piuma — and caution that it might be a little tricky to get a table for the time being (but luckily, we can help with that). However, this is as good an excuse as any to return to Winter Hill for inventive Middle Eastern meze like halloumi cheese curds with ranch, venison-wrapped dates accompanied by pistachio labneh, and harissa barbecue duck with carrot brown butter and orange blossom.

Nightshade Noodle Bar clinched the Globe’s second five-star review only days after Sarma’s honorific. That’s quite the achievement for the tasting-menu restaurant just three years into its existence, and the honor may have a lot to do with chef Rachel Miller’s deft blending of French and Vietnamese flavors in dishes like bone marrow fried rice with smoked raisins and black vinegar butter or lobster glacé with a vanilla chile vinaigrette.

The Jamie Bissonnette and Ken Oringer restaurant formerly known as Faccia Brutta has dropped the “Brutta” but doubled down on “Faccia.” It’s now called “Faccia a Faccia,” or “face to face” in Italian. What hasn’t changed is everything else, including a focus on coastal Italian cooking and housemade pastas that can be experienced in dishes like bucatini aglio e olio with Manila clams or squid ink trottole with uni, corn, and melted leeks.

Read about what to know before you go here.

Kendall Square has a brand-new purveyor of French cuisine in the form of Batifol, which is serving Parisian bistro favorites like coq au vin with fresh fettucine or steamed moules frites in a saffron-chive cream sauce. Return on the weekend for pastry baskets, croque monsieurs, or smoked salmon and leek Benedicts during brunch service.

Call 617-945-0345 or email info@batifolcambridge.com for reservations.

Back Bay’s very own Saltie Girl — which will soon be joined by outposts in Los Angeles and London — has debuted its fall menu, and there’s not a pumpkin-anything in sight. What can be had are baked oysters with pancetta-guanciale butter, foie gras terrine toast with blackberry jam, and Maine lobster Bolognese. No wonder it’s anxious to share itself with the rest of the world.

With news that a standalone Tenderoni’s will take over the former Orfano space in Fenway by the end of the month, now’s a fine time to check in on the stall that originated the concept in High Street Place. In addition to their fluffy-yet-crispy Detroit-style slices, Tenderoni’s has added daily pasta specials to the menu and decadent “grindahs” like the My Pal Sal stuffed with Italian meats, provolone, marinated peppers, shredded lettuce, and hots mayo.

Walk-ins only.

After making landfall on the Boston dining scene with the opening of Contessa in 2021, Major Food Group has returned. This time it’s to introduce a local location of his red sauce-centric chain Parm, which is ensconced within Copley Place in Back Bay. Inside, you can treat yourself to Sunday dinner-classics like garlic butter pizza knots, 10-layer eggplant Parm, and housemade fettucine Alfredo, all of which should be washed down with a glass of house red.

Walk-ins only.

Andy Husbands’s burgeoning barbecue empire — which now counts locations in the Seaport, Kendall Square, Harvard Square, and Assembly Row — has rolled out its new fall menu across all locations. That means sticky fried ribs, mashed sweet potatoes, house-smoked turkey and stuffing sandwiches, and the extension of the previously Harvard Square-exclusive Nashville Hot chicken sliders to the rest of its outposts.

Shojo has revived its lunch service two months after marking its 10th anniversary. Once again, afternoons in Chinatown can be graced by creative fusion fare including Hong Kong egg waffles with fried chicken thighs, quarter pound “Shojonators” with kimcheese sauce, and mushroom mazeman with truffle oil and poached egg.

The Sound End’s barbecue bona fides have received a big boost in the form of Reunion BBQ. The new restaurant, which takes over the space vacated by Masa during the pandemic, sits squarely in the comfort food sweet spot with mac ‘n’ cheese bites, pork belly buns, and Buffalo cauliflower wings. The main attractions, including its sliced prime brisket, smoked pork belly, and dry-rubbed wings, can be had as sandwiches or ordered as trays accompanied by sides like collard greens or crispy potato bites.

Call 857-317-2979 for reservations.