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Last week was busy for Boston’s sports teams: The Celtics and Red Sox both cut new contracts for their coach and star rookie, respectively, and a statue of former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was unveiled at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on Friday.
today, let’s get to this week’s news:
Dine with the (potential) stars: It’s the last week of Dine Out Boston, the city’s semi-annual prix fixe dining event. It started earlier this month and runs through Saturday. It’s also the last Dine Out Boston event before The Michelin Guide announces in November which — if any — Greater Boston restaurants have earned a star (or three). While we don’t know who’s officially in the running yet, there’s a lot of speculation around which spots will make the cut. The good news is that many of these local darlings are participating in Dine Out Boston this week.
- Michelin mania: Ever since Michelin inspectors started to descend on Boston in the spring, the excitement within the city’s restaurant scene has been palpable. “You can feel the energy in the culinary hospitality community right today,” said David O’Donnell, a spokesperson for MeetBoston, which runs Dine Out. You can get in on the buzz this week by checking out some of the Dine Out specials at many spots named in early Michelin predictions. Northern Spy — which Michelin Chef Tiffani Faison thinks will appear somewhere in Michelin’s North East Cities Guide — is offering a lunch and brunch offer for Dine Out Boston. Boston Globe restaurant critic Devra First’s picks for the guide include Select Oyster Bar, Grill 23, Bistro du Midi and Bar Volpe, all of which you can also taste on a budget this week.
- The details: Dine Out Boston lunches range from $27 to $36, and dinners from $38 to $55. O’Donnell suggests using MeetBoston’s filter tool to search across nearly 200 participating restaurants for a place that fits your budget, diet and schedule.
- Go deeper: Looking for more affordable things to do on a weeknight? Check out this list of five free recurring events happening this summer in Boston.
Attention commuters: Starting today, the Foxboro/Franklin line will be running on a modified schedule after a downed Amtrak wire caused an MBTA signal bungalow to catch fire on Aug. 1. Amtrak crews are working to repair the damaged infrastructure, but it may take several weeks before service is restored. The trains will bypass Forest Hills, Ruggles, and Back Bay stations. Commuter rail riders heading in either direction should expect delays of up to 25 minutes, according to the MBTA. (You can view the adjusted train times here.) And after 9 a.m. on weekdays, any riders going between Forge Park 495 and Franklin station will need to take a shuttle bus.
- That’s not all: Blue Line riders are also getting the shuttle bus treatment. From today through Aug. 17, trains won’t run between the line’s Airport and Wonderland stations in order to accommodate track work, according to the MBTA. Riders should allot 20 to 30 extra minutes for their commute. (Good news: You can get five free BlueBike rides during this service disruption with the code MBTABLUE825.)
PSA: The heat waves we’ve had this summer may have fueled a spike in West Nile Virus among mosquitoes, according to public health officials. As of last week, 135 samples of West Nile had been detected statewide, with no human cases of illness reported yet. “August is really the start of the peak time when we see transmission of these diseases to people,” state epidemiologist Dr. Catherine Brown told WBUR’s Cici Yongshi Yu.
- What to know: People over the age of 50 are at greater risk for severe illness from West Nile. The state public health department says about one third of communities in Massachusetts are at “moderate risk” currently, including Boston, Worcester and much of the metro west region.
- And the heat keeps coming: Bostonians may be getting their third heat wave of the summer. Mayor Wu declared a heat emergency starting today, thanks to temperatures expected to anthem the mid 90s through Wednesday. Stay cool and safe out there, folks.
P.S. — There isn’t an all-out ban on broker’s fees in Massachusetts, but it’s likely you won’t need to pay them when renting an apartment in Boston this September. WBUR’s Katie Cole explains a few of the exceptions in this video.
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