😋🍦 Cone appétit

It’s Wednesday, Boston.

😎 Want a sick view of Monday’s solar eclipse? View Boston is offering a $10 eclipse deal from 1 to 5 p.m. on April 8 where you can watch it all go down from the top of the Pru (special eclipse glasses will be provided). Grab tickets here!

👀 What’s on tap today:

• It’s nor’easter o’clock

• Greater Boston’s rent report

• “Stick Season” meets Sesame Street

Up first…

RESTAURANTS

April’s best bites

Springtime is all about bringing in the new, and that includes new restaurants. Boston.com’s list of April restaurant openings they’re excited about just dropped. 

Here’s what’s reservation worthy: 

🍨 Van Leeuwen, Chestnut Hill. The French-style New York ice cream famous for its creamy texture and funky collabs is opening its first three brick-and-mortar locations around Boston this spring, starting with Chestnut Hill. Their menu will feature a sampling of their 30 or so signature flavors (including vegan options!), plus chocolate chip cookies, cookie sandwiches, sundaes, and milkshakes. And as an opening gift, the new location will be offering $1 scoops from 2 to 6 p.m. on Friday, April 12. Their menu hasn’t dropped yet, but you can check out some of their NYC offerings here.

Flavors to try:

• Honeycomb 

• Brown sugar cookie dough chunk

• Toffee brown sugar bar

🍸 F1 Arcade, Seaport. While food and drinks may not be the main attraction at America’s first ever F1 arcade, we’re here to assure you it’s nothing to sniff at. The menu mostly consists of elevated bar food, like tacos, flatbreads, burgers, and chicken, but also includes a raw bar (with a whopping $180 caviar service, if you’re feeling irresponsible). Plus a full drinks bar, with signature cocktails, mocktails, craft beers, and more. The arcade is set to open April 22, and you can check out the menu here.

Things to try:

• Wagyu beef sliders

• F1® Arcade classic burger

• Foraged mushroom and fresh truffle flatbread

🐟 Seamark Seafood & Cocktails, Everett. Seafood and slots just sound right together, and that’s exactly what’s happening at Encore Casino’s newest culinary addition, helmed by James Beard-awarded chef Michael Schlow. The menu seeks to highlight New England’s seafood bounty while avoiding the typical clichés, but does have a classic raw bar. Bonus: This opening is a two-for-one, with Old Wives Tale, a nautical-themed swanky speakeasy, hidden inside the restaurant. But, as you’d expect from a swanky spot, the offerings ain’t cheap (think: $30+ for an entrée). Check out the menu here.

Things to try:

• Spaghetti fra diavolo 

• Lobster frites 

• Spicy seafood stew

🥩 Matria, Seaport. The InterContinental hotel’s newest addition is an Italian steakhouse, as part of a rebrand from their previous in-house French spot, Miel. The new concept will serve up the best of Italy’s Piedmont region, which translates on the menu to housemade pasta, prime cuts of steak, and an extensive selection of wine to compliment it all. The majority of the menu is still under wraps, but expect upscale, Italian bites. Bonus: They’ve also fully renovated their patio just in time for outdoor dining season. 

Things to try:

• New York rib eye

• Seared wild shrimp and balloon mozzarella

QUICK QUESTION

😋 Which of these new spots would you like our two cents on?

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🌧️ Brace yourself for some wet and windy days. It is officially day one of this week’s nor’easter, which, between now and Friday morning in Boston, could bring us about three inches of rain, 50 mph winds, a high possibility of flooding and power outages. And for our northern neighbors, a boatload of heavy, wet snow. We can expect the worst of the storm tonight into Thursday morning, so keep that in mind for your commutes later this afternoon and tomorrow morning. In the meantime, hunker down, get ready, and keep up with the latest here.

⚽ Everett may get one step closer to a new soccer stadium. Long story short: The Kraft Group wants to put a professional soccer stadium for the New England Revs near Encore Casino (here are some initial renderings of what it would look like), but there’s a zoning issue bogging things down. In a hearing on Tuesday, legislators heard arguments for and against removing a designation of a “port area” from the planned building zone (currently a defunct power plant), which would bring the long permitting process one step closer to breaking ground. Some speakers expressed concerns — mainly with traffic the project would generate.

❓ Mass. doesn’t know how many migrants have arrived. According to a Globe report, Mass. doesn’t have an accurate count of how many migrants have arrived in recent years, a key metric in considering how to fund and manage our emergency shelter crisis. Why? The state only officially counts migrants who receive federal services, which excludes migrants who don’t qualify for certain legal statuses. By the numbers: Gov. Maura Healey’s admin has logged more than 11,000 migrants from October 2022 through September 2023 (the federal fiscal year), an increase of more than a 152% increase over the previous fiscal year. And that’s still not a comprehensive count.

🏘️ Greater Boston’s rent report just dropped. And surprise! It’s not great. Zumper, a rental-finding platform, just released some truly tragic new data on one-bedroom apartments across Mass, with the median one-bed rental prices in Cambridge, Boston, and Brookline all averaging over $2,700 a month (Cambridge beat Boston at $3,000!). Worcester and Gloucester had some of the fastest growing rents, too, both up 20% year-over-year. But if you’re looking for a deal, head to Brockton, Manchester, and Haverhill, whose average monthly rents sit between $1,500 and $1,700.

ONE LAST THING

Stick season  🤝 Sesame Street

Our favorite Watertown resident just paid a visit to Sesame Street. Noah Kahan, “Stick Season” singer and general New England treasure, stopped by the show recently, which he described as being “one of the best days of [his] life.”

During his time on set, Kahan met and chatted with classic characters like Elmo and Cookie Monster, but he also made a friend in a new character, a stick (aptly named … Stick), who thanked Kahan for ushering in a new era for their kind: “Everyone is always talking about leaves, leaves, leaves,” it said, “But now, sticks have finally made it.” 

Kahan recapped the day with an adorable instagram post, which you can see here. 

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🍃 Thanks for reading! I wonder when we’ll have to stop referring to him as a “Watertown resident”? Hopefully never.

🕺 The results are in: Club Cafe and Lansdowne Pub took out Scholars and The Sil to make their way into our nightlife madness final four. And, to the reader who wrote in and asked what The Sil is, all we have to say is, you’re missing out!

💃 Keep up with us @BostonBSide on IG, TikTok, and Twitter. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].