🤫🍪 The Common’s sweet new secret

It’s Tuesday, Boston.

🥪 Need lunch plans? Bon Me is celebrating its 14th anniversary with a $14 meal deal: Choose between three different meal combos that include items like their namesake sandwich, spicy ginger lemonade, and make-your-own bowls at every location throughout April.

🫶 Also: Happy One Boston Day! Every April 15 is dedicated to remembering the victims, survivors, and first responders of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing by coming together in acts of kindness. You can sign up to volunteer here.

👀 What’s on tap today:

• Boston could be one city councilor short

• Harvard says no to President Trump

• Cape Cod “sharkfluencers”

Up first…

FOOD & DRINK

A new café on the Common

Your walks on the Common are about to get a LOT sweeter. Because today, Flour Bakery & Cafe is opening its 10th location at the Common’s concession pavilion.

Here’s what to know:

🥪 Flour is replacing Earl of Sandwich. Remember those guys? Back in 2013, the Florida-based chain spent $1 million renovating the concession stand from a men’s bathroom but never quite managed to turn a profit, eventually closing up shop in 2024. After a search process, Boston landed on beloved local chain Flour Bakery & Cafe to replace them, which Mayor Wu called “a great fit for this treasured space.”

😎 But this won’t be just any Flour. Thanks to a lack of indoor seating (the pavilion is window service only) and its slightly out-of-the-way location for most commuters, the concession pavilion can be a tough place to do business. But Flour is adapting its offerings to match the space, including an abridged menu of fan favorites, plus location-specific specials, seasonal treats, and hours that change with the sunset. 

🍪 The famous sticky buns will be H-O-T T-O G-O. If you’ve never heard of these buns, they’re straight-up famous (they literally beat Bobby Flay on the Food Network). Just take a look at these babies. The sticky buns will be baked and sold fresh all day exclusively at the pavilion. Other fan faves, like pastries, sandwiches, salads, pizza, and drinks, will also be available.

🌭 As will … hot dogs?! Yeah, you read that right. Specifically, the “Flour dog,” a hot dog on a house-made bun that’s loaded with bean and beef chili, relish, and celery salt. Other menu notable newbies include soft serve ice cream in rotating flavors like vanilla bean and strawberry with toppings like with sprinkles, Oreos, mochi, or sticky bun crumbs (!), plus the “Embrace morning bun,” an all-new babka-like morning bun with chai spices inspired by the Common’s “Embrace” statue.

😋 Here’s what to try first: “It's hard not to recommend the sticky bun,” said Kate Gardiner, Flour’s visual marketing director, specifically one that’s hot and fresh. But she’s also partial to the chocolate chip cookie and the “Embrace” morning bun. Pair both with a coffee or their “spring fling” seltzer, and you have yourself a perfect order, she said.

💬 Any questions? The new spot is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. now! Check here for the latest.

QUICK QUESTION!

😋 Which new item are you most excited to try?

TOGETHER WITH THE ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM 

Gallery-hop into another dimension (literally) 

🧜‍♀️💫🔮 If spring cleaning applied to your soul, this would be it. Artist-in-residence Fabiola Jean-Louis has transformed the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum into a world where history, Vodou, and revolution collide. Start at the Façade of the museum with Ayiti-Tomè (through June 17), an exhibition on the bold declaration of Haitian liberation. Then, step indoors for Waters of the Abyss (through May 25) where sacred altars, spiritual portals, and a few mermaids rewrite the past and reimagine the future. It’s giving power. It’s giving rebirth. Grab your tickets now.

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🗳️ Boston may spend the summer one City Councilor short. City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune is filing a home rule petition to nix a special election if councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson resigns. Though the city charter calls for a special election if a seat becomes empty more than 180 days before the regular election (that’s May 8), Louijeune is worried there won’t be enough time to garner public awareness. Her solution: Whoever wins the November race will be sworn in immediately. Until then, the other councilors will work to fill the gap. Now, the council and state officials will have to give their OK. 

🧑‍🎓 Harvard to President Trump: No dice. Lawyers from Harvard said the school will not agree to a list of demands sent by the Trump administration that include “merit-based” admissions and hiring practices and “viewpoint diversity” audits. Harvard’s thumbs down is the most significant pushback yet to Trump’s university crackdown, and is an especially big deal considering that $9 billion of federal funding appears to be on the line. Now the ball (and funding) is in Trump’s court, but we can think of a few hundred people who will be happy in the meantime.

🚴 Mass. is giving residents $$$ to buy an e-bike. On Monday, the state launched a new incentive program that gives low- and moderate-income residents (think: single adults making under $62,600 a year) vouchers for e-bikes to lower fossil fuel usage and ease traffic congestion. The vouchers max out at $800 or $1,200 depending on your income and adaptive needs (e-bikes usually cost around $2,000). All you have to do is enter here (round one closes April 28), and if you’re selected you can redeem the voucher at a participating shop. 

🌸 Cherry blossom season is going to be LIT. After a few years of lackluster blooms, experts say this spring is going to be a big year for Boston’s cherry blossoms. Why? It’s kinda cute: Basically, if the winter is too warm, cherry blossoms get “confused” and don't realize it's time to come back. So experts think this year’s colder February and March temps (1.45 degrees above average, compared to 3.55 in 2024) should make for a great showing. We can expect peak bloom around April 19. Here’s where to see them.

MEDIA PARTNERSHIP

Join B-Side and Rev'd for an awesome Saturday afternoon!

Train in a 45-minute indoor cycling session at the Rev'd Copley studio, followed by refreshments from Culture Pop and Mother Juice and a chance to get to know other B-Siders IRL. Become a B-Side member for $10 off your entry and a B-Side sweat towel to take home!

MEDIA PARTNERSHIP

Ride to Fuel Alzheimer’s Research

B-Side is a proud partner of Ride to End ALZ New England, a fully-supported cycling event to accelerate progress in the fight to end Alzheimer’s and all other dementias. 

Join the Ride on June 14 at Hampton Beach State Park and cycle 100, 62, or 30 miles along the coast of New Hampshire and through picturesque Massachusetts towns and woodlands. Celebrate at the finish line with live music, barbecue, cold beer, and more! 

Get ready for a day of cycling, camaraderie and the celebration of hope! 90% of funds raised go to Alzheimer's and dementia research. Register here today!

ONE LAST THING

Cape Cod “sharkfluencers”

Mass. fisheries officials’ newest enemy: Influencers. Yes, like, on social media. 

Cape Cod has become a “hot spot” for a very specific type of clout-chasing: Shore-based great white shark fishing. Translation: People trying to bait and reel in massive sharks for social media content. “There’s a lot of social media clout that can be gotten from this,” said Jared Silva, a fishery policy analyst with the Division of Marine Fisheries.

Apparently, some high-profile successes have brought more interest to the practice. Given Cape Cod’s large great white population, it's gotten so bad that local fishery officials had to drop new restrictions on it, which will go into effect later this spring. You can read about the whole saga here.

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🦈 Thanks for reading! I’m sorry, but they’re right — if a video of someone reeling in a great white came up on my FYP, I’d never stop watching.

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, for supporting local journalism and bringing culturally rich experiences to our city. 

👀 The results are in: JK! Soooo … we totally gaffed and forgot to add a poll in yesterday’s newsletter. Oops! Instead, please enjoy this video of a woman painting her bedroom Dunkin’ pink. Her Masshole husband clocked it stat. 

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