The January Hit List: Field & Vine, June Bug, Contessa, and More

What if we told you that the owners behind Field & Vine took their restaurant’s fresh, in-season ethos and applied it to a wood-fired pizzeria? Well, we’d be telling you about June Bug, which just set up shop directly across from the team’s first restaurant. The vibes may be similar, with a vegetable-forward menu that offers dishes like roasted maitake mushrooms with egg-yolk jam and crispy potatoes with black garlic bagna cauda, plus naturally leavened pies topped by ‘nduja and majorjam, or clams, cabbage, and vermouth cream.

Even if its name weren’t literally in lights outside the building, the opening of NYC import Blue Ribbon Brasserie in Fenway would be big news. The formula that made it a Manhattan hit — a blending of bistro classics and craveable late-night fare — pertains to its Boston home, where you’re just as likely to start an evening with foie gras terrine or a New York strip, or end one with fried chicken and collard greens or a double-patty smashburger.

Call 617-634-0404 for reservations.

The historic Rosebud diner, which has existed in one iteration or another in Davis Square since 1941, has been reinvented again. Its latest form is a merger of classic diner fare and modern Indian cuisine, which in practical terms makes it the sort of place where lunch can be a butter chicken pot pie, tandoori steak frites, or a simple bacon cheeseburger. We like that kind of place.

As it enters its fourth year of business, Contessa remains a hot ticket — one of the hottest in town. Which is why it’s a smart idea to take care of the usual post-holiday lull to try and snap up a table for two (or more) and either get reacquainted with or finally experience all the rigatoni carbonara and veal Milanese-related hubbub, of the sort that made Major Food Group restaurants like Carbone into modern dining legends.

We might be biased, but we’d like to think that you can never have too many restaurants focused on New England seafood. Particularly Seaport newcomer Hook + Line, which not only serves up thoughtful takes on classic Yankee fare (baked scallops with lemon butter and breadcrumbs, fried Ipswich clams, etc.) but also tackles more global flavors with a whole roasted branzino accompanied by Calabrian chili crisp or tiger prawns flavored by tasso ham and XO sauce.

Call 617-860-6003 for reservations.

The arrival of pizza-focused sibling June Bug (see above) is also a good reason to check back into Field & Vine. Given its emphasis on locally sourced, seasonal ingredients, the menu is rarely static, and currently affords dishes like steak tartare with nuoc cham aioli, smoked beets with raspberry vinaigrette and almond coffee cream, or a grilled swordfish swimming in guajillo broth with hominy.

If you’ve spent any time at bars around Boston in the last 10 years, chances are that Seth Freidus has made you a drink. And now you can belly up for a cocktail at Seth’s own bar, the freshly opened Good Company in Charlestown. Each drink on the solo venture’s opening menu is a riff on a single, seasonal ingredient, such as the “Carrot” that blends blanco Tequila with curry-roasted coconuts and Thai coconut milk, or an equally ambitious “Squash” that balances rum, sherry, and Irish whiskey with smoked spelt grains and acorn squash.

 Call 617-712-7700 for reservations.

State Park just marked its 10^th anniversary… although to be honest, it looks a lot older, as much of its furnishings were salvaged from a legendary Somerville bar that shuttered back in 2012. A decade on, it doesn’t feel like a stretch to say that State Park has developed into something of a legend itself, with lively live music and DJ nights, a pool table that’s seldom out of use and house classics like the chicken katsu sandwich and a stiff gibson with house-pickled onions. Rock on, State Park.

It only took 393 years from its founding, but Boston finally has a mezcaleria. Sabina Mezcaleria — which as you may have already guessed, is a bar focused on Tequila’s smoky cousin — has hung its shingle on Newbury Street. Inside its industrial-yet-cozy space, you’ll encounter a robust list of mezcals and Tequilas by the glass, plus cocktails like the Dos Con Panocha mixed with mezcal, panocha syrup, chile liqueur, mint and chocolate bitters. Meanwhile, the edible side of the ledger promises tapas like a smoked fish quesadilla with Oaxacan cheese or corn tamales with queso fresco and black truffle cream.

Call 857-449-6023 for reservations.

In a world of delivery apps and fast-casual spots, lunch can go underappreciated. But not at the Salty Pig, which recently added afternoon dining service. Now a Resy in the afternoon presents the chance to nosh on an Italian grinder with cherry peppers and provolone or a meatball sandwich with Sunday gravy, as well as the house charcuterie boards and wood-fired pizzas available in the p.m.