The avocado Benedict at Pembroke’s Gather

IN THE KITCHEN It’s not unusual to see chef-owner Shelton Perkins wander into the dining room at Gather in Pembroke and talk with guests. The chef and his partner, Nick Wilson, are as intentional about creating a place where people can gather to slow down and share a meal as they are about good food. “Quality food, quality time” is the restaurant’s tagline. Wilson runs the front of house, and Perkins takes care of the kitchen. “We do comfort food taken up a notch,” said Perkins, whose resume includes sous-cheffing at Stephanie’s on Newbury in Boston. Gather is open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and both the breakfast and lunch menus are offered all the time. The restaurant also offers a prix-fixe, three-course Sunday family dinner that you need to reserve in advance, and an extensive catering menu.

THE LOCALE Gather is on Route 27 in the Bryantville area of Pembroke with its many large lakes and rural feel. The 34-seat dining room is warm and bright, welcoming with friendly servers, and has a homey yet professional feel. The partners renovated the former Mayflower Grove Grill before opening in February 2018, bringing in several farmhouse tables that get moved in and out depending on what’s happening in the restaurant. Perkins and Wilson offer pop-up cooking classes and host private events off hours. There’s counter seating, communal tables, and a row of two- and four-tops. Oh, and definitely add Gather to your list of great outdoor eating places: The front porch seats an additional 22.

ON THE MENU The menu offers all the great American breakfast dishes along with some of Perkins’s specialties, including corned beef breakfast poutine and a breakfast pot pie. There are create-your-own omelets and egg dishes with potatoes or a salad, mixed fruit, French toasts, vanilla butter for pancakes, and real maple syrup. Lunch includes two salads, a burger, and a few sandwiches. Everything can be made with gluten-free bread. The family-friendly kids’ menus are smaller and include French toast sticks and corndogs. Check out the upcoming Sunday family dinners online for each three-course menu: They range from salmon to fried chicken to brined pork chops with all the trimmings.

Lots of places overlook regular brewed coffee, but Gather’s is very good. Half and half comes in a little pitcher. Nice. The owners’ desire to create a friendly community place must be working because the woman sitting at the next table one morning couldn’t help but rave to me about the avocado Benedict ($13) and she was right. Served on a rectangular white plate, the grilled English muffins are spread with guacamole, topped with poached eggs, covered with Hollandaise, and sprinkled with goat cheese and scattered pomegranate seeds. (The seeds add an appreciable pop of flavor.) On my next visit, another woman started talking to me, this time to tell me how great the burgers were and how Gather is the best place around for breakfast and lunch. I couldn’t argue with that while devouring a plate of the something hearty ($12): a platter of scrambled eggs, great potatoes and pancakes, very nicely done bacon, and a grilled English muffin. I can also vouch for the breakfast burrito ($12): a tasty concoction of scrambled eggs, veggies or a breakfast meat, home fries and sweet potatoes encased in a flour tortilla and served in a sea of mornay sauce. To lighten things up, order it as a breakfast burrito bowl. Or, try the sweet potato and arugula salad ($10) with grilled (hormone-free) chicken added-on ($4). It’s good.

Gather, 35 School St., Pembroke, 781-754-0931, gatherandeat.com.

Joan Wilder can be reached at joan.wilder@gmail.com.

Steel & Rye chef Brendan Joy’s resume is a who’s who of great kitchens. In Boston alone, it includes Radius, Clio, Toro, No. 9 Park, and Sportello.

Joy took the helm at Steel & Rye in 2016, replacing chef Chris Parsons, who opened the restaurant in 2012 with owners Dan Kerrigan and Milton native Bill Scannell. The massive kitchen was built for creating elaborate preparations, for the traditional preserving of seasonal commodities, and for proofing and rolling homemade pastas and breads.

“We do lots of bulk purchasing during harvest periods to preserve products for the colder seasons,” said Kerrigan.

A satellite kitchen, with a blazing wood-fired oven, is installed across the big space in a red-painted corner with high shelves that hold 50-pound sacks of flour and grains.

THE LOCALE

Steel & Rye is tucked into a hillside in Milton Village, a.k.a. Lower Falls, right on the Dorchester border. Originally built as the garage for a DeSoto car dealership, the 7,000-square-foot space is operatic in scale: You could fly stage sets up into the 30-foot rafters, raising and lowering them for scene changes.

The most pleasing part of this gorgeous restaurant is the whole right-hand side, where a long spacious bar faces a long spacious banquette of comfy tables. High windows span one wall, and all you see through them is trees. If part of what you love about dining out is being in a beautiful space, this is one to for you.

ON THE MENU

The menu is small. There are snacks, apps, pizzas, mains, and a couple of sides. For the most part, the dishes are elaborate, the result of putting each of many ingredients through labor-intensive preparations.

On only two visits, I’m not sure we ordered the best it has to offer, but we’ll be back. Do not miss Joy’s stellar seeded sourdough bread. Among the snacks, the fried olives ($5) are funny little deep-fried breaded ovals, carefully perched on nickels of peppered cream cheese. The coal-roasted oysters ($3 each) — each shell balanced on a pile of rock salt — are covered in a tasty but coarse breading.

The appetizer plate of fried clams ($8) is a small skillet of tiny, local mollusks served with a tartar sauce that makes us suddenly wonder if the condiment’s name derives from the word tart. The confit duck wings with Jamaican jerk sauce ($13) pop with the pungent flavors of freshly ground spices.

The pizzas here are great: Our margarita ($15) is perfectly charred and bubbled. The outstanding Maine halibut ($35) is exquisitely prepared and served in a beautifully composed plate: The filet is set over a small pool of straight-forward celery sauce, surrounded by roasted mussels and small creamy potatoes wearing fascinators of shiso leaves and parsley.

Never a pretty dish, the (black) squid ink campanelle ($28) has that delicate flavor of the sea infused in every frilly bell of pasta. Another of the chef’s homemade pasta dishes is the good hubbard squash gnocchi ($27), served with a light pork ragu. A side of baby Brussels sprouts ($9) comes from the wood-fired oven, all charred and delicious.

The apple upside-down cake ($10) is served in a pool of caramel sauce, with ginger ice cream and oat streusel scattered around. Wonderful.

Steel & Rye, 95 Eliot St., Milton, 617-690-2787, steelandrye.com.

Joan Wilder can be reached at joan.wilder@gmail.com.

Roasted haddock is a tender filet of haddock served in a slightly soupy sauce of Roma tomatoes and Kalamata olives over a large portion of steamed, very fresh spinach.

IN THE KITCHEN

You can spot new chef-owner Brian Hennebury at work in the small open kitchen of 5 South Main in Cohasset for breakfast, lunch — and now, dinner, too. Fresh off a nine-year stint as executive chef of Hingham’s upscale Tosca, the Rockland resident bought this gem of an eatery from Jennifer Warshaw in March. Longtime fans of the restaurant’s popular brunch and lunch menus have nothing to worry about. “I’ve tweaked some of the dishes, but my attitude is why fix it if it isn’t broken,” said Hennebury. The big news here is that the chef has opened for dinner and, in August, secured a beer-and-wine license.

THE LOCALE

Cohasset fits the definition of a quaint New England town, and 5 South Main is in the heart of the village, just beneath the oversized bell tower of St. Stephen’s church. The restaurant seats 28 people, and another eight outside. It’s a cozy, pleasing space, with a half wall providing some angled corners for tables. You can also sit in the sun at two streetside window booths. Hennebury had been searching for a location to open his first place and, like so many, couldn’t resist the charm of this spot.

ON THE MENU Dinner — with its starters, salads, pastas, and a half-dozen entrees — lets its new chef shine. “I don’t like big menus,” Hennebury said. “With a smaller menu you can focus on keeping things fresh and made to order.” Offering pasta dishes in either starter or entrée sizes expands options and so do the protein add-ons (lemon rosemary chicken, pesto shrimp, and flat iron steak) offered with the four salads. Sitting outside one night, we start with lobster sliders ($16). Sandwiched between buttered and grilled brioche buns — a wondrous reminder of the magic of simple ingredients — the pair are overstuffed with a summery lobster salad lightly dressed with lemon aioli. Among the mains, the roasted haddock ($23) is a welcome and uncommon preparation. A tender filet of haddock is served in a slightly soupy sauce of Roma tomatoes and Kalamata olives over a large portion of steamed, very fresh spinach. I could eat it every day. Hennebury described his cuisine as casual bistro with an Italian accent, and his Bolognese says ciao. The dinner portion ($22) is a big bowl of al dente rigatoni, in a clingy ragu, topped with dollops of whipped ricotta. Even better though — actually outstanding — is his cacio e pepe ($12), the deceptively simple cheese-and-pepper dish sometimes used to measure a chef’s skills. We order it as an appetizer, and the kitchen nicely divides even that smaller portion into two beautiful bowls. Creamy yet light, the bucatini again al dente, the dish is absolutely fantastic. Another evening, we enjoy the roasted organic chicken ($21). Served with light mashed potatoes and fresh asparagus, it’s a good dish. The pesto roasted shrimp ($22), over fresh cavatelli and roasted peppers, can’t erase a longing for more cacio e pepe.

Hennebury is about to roll out a new fall menu, which should be exciting as his creativity expands in his own kitchen. I love small neighborhood places, like this one, when a great chef-owner is behind the line.

5 South Main, 5 South Main St., Cohasset, 781-383-3555, 5southmain.com.

Joan Wilder can be reached at joan.wilder@gmail.com.

Oysterman’s fried oyster appetiser

IN THE KITCHEN As I bite into a fried oyster on my first visit to The Oysterman, my mood lifts. The dish is good and good-looking, too, with yellow, cornmeal-coated oysters set atop pink pickled onions, green lettuce, lime wedges, and dots of an orange aioli. The plate sends a message: Someone cares in the kitchen.

That someone is a team of chefs who work with owners Dermot Loftus and Chris Schweiger. “We’re not creative geniuses,” Loftus said. “I’ve been 30 years in the business and know what people like to eat. We have a scratch kitchen and a great team and we serve good quality food in a pub atmosphere.”

Loftus, who owned the Porter Cafe in West Roxbury before selling it last year, fell in love with all the oyster farming in Duxbury, thus the restaurant’s name. Schweiger, too, came up through the restaurant ranks — he worked at Lydia Shire’s Scampo in Boston — while earning a master’s degree at Boston University (ask him about the trombone).

The patio at the Oysterman in Duxbury’s Millbrook Noah Johannis

THE LOCALE Duxbury is rural and the new buildings, renovated structures, businesses, and restaurants on the corner of St. George Street and Railroad Avenue, a.k.a. Millbrook Station, is a welcome new destination.

“When we first walked down here, it was just a few dilapidated buildings,” Schweiger said. But thanks to developer Michael Juliano and more than a dozen local business people, the corner is filled with unique shops in buildings with a cohesive but not cookie-cutter style.

The Oysterman is outfitted in reclaimed wood, a marble bar, black leather banquettes, industrial metal chairs — high and low — and a pristine stainless steel raw bar that’s all ice and white subway tiles. There’s also a great, fenced-in patio with plenty of tables, a comfy sofa, and canvas sail shades.

ON THE MENU My first time at the Oysterman (on that one winter day we had in late August), I ate for comfort on the patio with a heater on. A week later, in the sweltering heat, I ate for Tom Brady. Well, not exactly Brady, but for someone wanting to eat lower on the carb and fried side. While the menu is big on comfort foods, its raw bar, hummus, salads, and grilled fish are nice options when you want to be good.

“We tried to have something for everyone,” said Schweiger.

After those first oysters ($15), we had the steak egg rolls ($12). These hearty little pockets are packed with braised meat and melted cheese and served with a creamy dip that’s an upgrade on traditional duck sauce. The gorgeous shrimp and lobster scampi ($29) is a large bowl of shrimp and lobster meat over pasta in a delicious garlic wine sauce. The shrimp are perfectly cooked and all that wonderful lobster just a bit overdone.

The Oysterman’s fish and chips ($17) do its Irish owner (Loftus) proud and the popular Buffalo cauliflower ($9) converted my cauliflower-hating friend, with its flowerets deep-fried in a Buffalo-seasoned batter. The balsamic glaze drizzled over the lovely pan-seared salmon ($20 lunch/$25 dinner) isn’t mailed in: it’s pungent and sweet. The filet is served atop an arancini-like patty and fresh string beans. Linguini again, this time with clams ($19), is another delicious pasta dish.

The Oysterman doesn’t serve dessert, so why not walk around the corner and have a cookie at Loftus and Schweiger’s beautiful, brand new cafe, The Anchor (if it’s daytime; it closes before dinner). Or stroll through the landscaped pathway out back and have an ice cream at Farfar’s across the street. Everybody does.

The Oysterman, 30 Railroad Ave., Duxbury, 781-934-2900, www.anchorandoysterman.com.

Joan Wilder can be reached at joan.wilder@gmail.com.

Oscar’s fish and chips

IN THE KITCHEN General manager Mike Tallon’s hosting skill makes Oscar’s feel welcoming, like somebody’s home. And although Tallon doesn’t own this terrific little pub in Dedham Square (it’s owned by an investment group headed by Boston’s John Gibbons), Oscar’s was his idea and he’s its face.

His enthusiasm for creating a “third place” pub experience — not work, not home, but a third place where people can hang out — extends beyond the 20 craft beers on tap, to what’s on your plate. Tallon works with his cooks and consultant Frank van Overbeeke to create dishes that are both affordable and good. The team is continually tweaking the menu, both with the seasons and to cater to Dedham’s changing demographic. “The concept is to see you two, three times a week,” said Tallon. “We want quality food with a price point that’s affordable.”

The bar at Oscar’s

THE LOCALE Since the 2012 Dedham Square Improvement Project kicked in, this it’s-not-Legacy-Place spot has become a cool little destination with three cafes; a vintage movie theater; several new restaurants and stores; and now, Oscar’s. Working with architect Jonathan Cavanaugh, Tallon and company completely rebuilt an abandoned storefront from the ground up. The pretty 39-seat space has windows, plenty of wood and stone, banquettes, a big bar and, best of all, a working fireplace. If you’re curious about the picture of the dog behind the bar, ask Tallon to tell you the story of how Oscar the mutt was buried in Tanzania. (It involves elephants, poachers, sanctuaries, and bars.)

ON THE MENU Oscar’s offers a good assortment of lunch and dinner dishes with appetizers, small plates, salads, sandwiches, and entrees. You can stop in and eat any time: The menus change over at 4 p.m. and many items appear on both.

I dropped in late one midafternoon and felt perfectly at ease eating alone at the bar. Lovers of fish and chips ($15 lunch, $18 dinner) fall into different camps and I had my own high hopes for Oscar’s tempura version. Although it doesn’t hit the bulls-eye (a bit too hard-crusted), that didn’t stop me from devouring it whole with my hands. The tartar sauce (often criminally overlooked) was up to the task, the cole slaw fresh and bright, and Oscar’s fantastic fries crispy and soft.

Oscar’s fireplace

On two subsequent visits, the place was busy and we used cutlery. The clam chowder ($5) is a contender with a nice volume of clams and potatoes. The mussels appetizer ($15), sided with grilled bread, is offered three ways, and those tender little shellfish are nice in the tomato garlic version.

The grilled salmon filet ($17) is perfect: the tender fish savory, the sides of rice and sautéed veggies just delicious. (Turns out the rice is an old Tallon family recipe cooked with fennel, coriander, cumin, and a bit of turmeric.) The roast chicken ($20) on the dinner menu is as satisfying as great baked chicken can be: two pieces of crispy bone-in chicken sided with creamy mashed potatoes and a mixed sauté of fresh asparagus, flat beans, round beans, and carrots.

The popular burger ($13) didn’t need the fried egg we added on, and the small chopped salad ($6) with add-on shrimp ($5) is only perfectly OK. (I’m not in love with its sweet dressing and grilling didn’t do the shrimp any good: Just order shrimp cocktail.) That old seducer, the tuna melt ($13), was plenty satisfying but I’d ask that it be more melted next time.

Vegetarians will enjoy the lovely spicy green beans ($8) in a light peanut sauce, and so will anyone else. Oh: I so appreciate that Oscar’s is using paper straws and paper boxes for take out. (Who needs more plastic?)

Oscar’s, 380 Washington St., Dedham, 781-686-9705, www.oscarsdedham.com

Joan Wilder can be reached at joan.wilder@gmail.com.

Photo Linda Pedersen

IN THE KITCHEN

A big pan of puffy popovers, balanced on the end of a countertop, looks oversized in Simply Smith’s tiny kitchen. Chef Greg Smith serves the tasty quick breads with all dinners – a homey touch that guests seem to love. Never mind its small size, the kitchen has been turning out good, affordable dinners, lunches, and weekend breakfasts since it opened in early 2017. A longtime caterer and cook, he knows how to adapt. “I love baking, but we don’t have the room, so I make popovers,” said Smith, who learned how to cook from his Sicilian grandfather. “Greg graduated from Boston College in business, but his true calling is cooking,” said Jean Sullivan, Smith’s partner and the restaurant’s owner, who runs the front of the house. “He gave up Wall Street to do what he loves.”

THE LOCALE

Simply Smith’s is just around the corner from the South Shore Art Center in Cohasset village. The 28-seat restaurant is the face of the James Brook Shops, where Green Light Cohasset juice bar used to be. The simple dining room has white walls, wooden floors, and is prettily fronted by windows. In the evening when a train rumbles by across the street, the red crossing lights sparkle on the glass.

ON THE MENU

The dinner menu has about a dozen dishes and several daily specials. Smith’s been on a lobster roll this fall, and so have we. His four-lobster-tails special ($28) is offered a number of ways, including Newburg (rich and delicious), scampi, and fra diavolo. When we ask to have it steamed with butter, the kitchen obliges beautifully. This week, it is served with the same string beans and fingerling potatoes that side all entrees that don’t come with pasta. Another night, we have the meat-of-one-lobster scampi ($28) over great homemade fettuccini (also very good, with lots of lobster). That’s as pricey as Simply Smith’s gets. Most entrees, which are all served with fresh popovers and a small salad, are remarkably reasonable, running $14-$18.

The salmon ($18) is a good grilled filet served over a light smear of bright lemon aioli and sided with beans and potatoes. On another visit, we ask for chicken instead of veal in the veal Marsala ($14), and the server knows she can say yes. But the chicken isn’t as tender as it should be, and the potatoes need more baking. I’m guessing Smith’s best dishes are his specials and the old classics he and Sullivan favor: veal parm ($16), stuffed veal ($18), and baked cod ($17).

That’s definitely the case with the rich and wonderful pappardelle Bolognese ($15). Smith’s homemade pasta is perfectly al dente, and the ragu has hunks of slow-roasted beef, pork, and veal. An elegant European man in cashmere raves over the dish while four people at another table, in windbreakers and shorts, eat their popovers. Across the room, two women choose from the wine list.

Smith’s lunch menu is big with sandwiches, burgers, steak tips, prime rib, sliders, and house-smoked pastrami and corned beef. There’s even a vegetarian burger (and the dinner menu has a pasta with almond pesto we want to try). We’ve had the very good turkey sandwich ($9), with thick slices of turkey breast, not deli meat, and the tuna salad ($7).

For dessert, Smith and Sullivan serve pies from a local baker that are out of this world. They are priced at $4.95 with no extra charge for ice cream. Who does this? Desserts are nearly double that price at most places.

“If there’s anything our customers want, I’d like to know,” said Smith. “I want them to frame what we do.”

Simply Smith’s at One Pleasant, 1 Pleasant St., Cohasset, 781-923-1872, www.simplysmithscatering.com.

Joan Wilder can be reached at joan.wilder@gmail.com.

IN THE KITCHEN

A massive, stainless steel smoker that can hold 800 pounds of meat at a time — brisket, pastrami, ribs, sausage — is the centerpiece of Precinct 10’s kitchen. Not that the restaurant is a BBQ place — it’s not. The family-friendly menu offers a large number of regional American favorites. Overseeing a group of chefs is owner Kevin Hynes, who was both a Weymouth police officer as well as a cook at the Red Coach Grill in Hingham years ago. Precinct 10 opened on New Years Day 2017, increasing Hynes’s roster of restaurants to four. They include Stockholders in Weymouth, Bay Pointe Waterfront in Quincy, and 42 Degrees North in Plymouth.

THE LOCALE

Located in a Weymouth strip mall, the 250-seat restaurant is a large space that makes up for what it lacks in windows with an abundance of TV screens (28, to be exact). Housed where the former Hilltop Butcher Shop used to be, the totally renovated space was fashioned after an old-time speakeasy. It’s dark with dark wood, red velvet booths, a tin ceiling, and glass chandeliers. A U-shaped bar accommodates 42. The adjacent lounge has black leather couches — a comfy spot to have drinks — and a half-wall divides the bar and lounge from a dining area.

Grilled Salmon photo Joan Wilder for Boston Globe

ON THE MENU

The menu is big, so everybody should be able to find something to like. Fish? There’s a New England fried platter, San Francisco cioppino, ceviche tacos, paella, truffalo shrimp. Missing New Orleans? Have a muffuletta. Missing mom? How about some meatloaf, mac & cheese, or Southern fried chicken? There are also burgers, chops, pastas, salads, sandwiches, tater tot poutine, soups, and more.

You do have to wonder, though, what Tom Brady would order. This is the kind of kitchen that hails from an older, more carefree time when people didn’t worry about using extra virgin olive oil, their cholesterol, or inflammation.

So, bring on the house-smoked brisket sandwich ($13)! Served on a brioche with some great French fries, it’s covered with Swiss cheese, pickles, and red slaw.

Following this dish, reverently remembering Tom, we try to order as healthfully as we can. On three visits, the service is great and the kitchen obliging, so know that subbing in a whole food, like a baked potato instead of those fries, is always an option.

The best dish I had is the grilled salmon ($12) on the lunch menu. It’s a very large filet, cooked nicely and served over a creamy asparagus risotto that has nuggets of that vegetable and julienned zucchini.

Swordfish nuggets

The mussels ($12), on one visit, are tiny and tasty in a mild white sauce. The cranberry beet salad ($12) is a very nice pile of lightly dressed arugula studded with red beets, avocado, red onions, and sunflower seeds. All the salads can be ordered with protein add-ons — always a smart option. The spaghetti squash salad ($12) is a good dish. The squash is delicious atop a pile of arugula with cukes, red pepper, tomato, red onion, and olives. We order it with what is a very generous portion of added-on scallops ($8). They are perfectly, lightly grilled, but in some kind of commercial oil-butter mix that mars their sweet flavor. The swordfish nuggets ($16) are nicely pan-fried with a light breading, which we aren’t expecting. They taste much better than they look, though, and are served over an arugula salad with good, cold, baby Yukon Gold potatoes.

At the end of one meal, when our friend orders the coconut cake ($8.50), really, who are we to refuse a bite? Not Tom Brady!

(To see this article on Boston Globe site, click here.)

Novara investor Jordan Knight of New Kids on the Block (photo by DeBee Tlumacki for Boston Globe)

IN THE KITCHEN

The open, V-shaped, stainless steel kitchen in the rear of Novara looks like the crowded prow of a ship forging the way forward. At the helm, overseeing six to eight cooks, is executive chef Tony DiRienzo, who performs the same role at Abby Park, two doors up the street. A ’94 graduate of Johnson & Wales University, DiRienzo cut his teeth cooking under various Boston chefs, including Lydia Shire. With subsequent experience as an executive chef at several area restaurants, DiRienzo consulted on the design of Abby Park in 2009, and subsequently took the lead on Novara.

THE LOCALE

Originally the home of the old Milton Cinema movie theater in East Milton Square, the space is a soaring, open rectangle with 23-foot ceilings (as tall as a two-story house). The 170-seat restaurant is owned by the crew from Abby Park, along with a few other investors, including Jordan Knight of New Kids on the Block. Designed to look like an outdoor Italian piazza, the space has stone finishes, rustic sconces, street lamp-inspired lighting, polished concrete floors, and a marble bar. One trompe l’oeil wall is painted to look like the exterior of a building, complete with windows from which Juliet might call out to Romeo below. Two massive TVs at the bar are dwarfed by a 163-inch flat screen, high above the kitchen. And in the warm months, a wall of glass doors will open onto a small outdoor patio (the better to get away from the TVs)!

ON THE MENU

On three recent visits, the restaurant was completely packed with couples, old and young, groups of friends, and families. Novara was built for a crowd, and a full house makes it a lively, exciting place to be.

I love small menus, and this one is a great size with 10 appetizers, a handful of salads and sides, several homemade pastas, five or six mains, and a half-dozen pizzas. Things are still evolving as the kitchen learns what’s working best: New dishes appear, others disappear, and still others get modified. DiRienzo’s flavors are robust. Among the early best bets: the Tuscan white bean soup ($8) with crispy pancetta, topped with wilted kale, and the burrata appetizer ($13) — a nicely-sourced, creamy ball served amid slices of tomatoes, basil, and balsamic. You can also enjoy the burrata sliced atop the pizza Margherita ($15, pictured), which, like all Novara’s pizzas, is a wonderful, thin, nicely-charred pie. If, like us, you had a pizza here in January with a crust as hard as a cracker, try again: The kitchen was getting used to its pizza oven. Several of the pizzas can be ordered gluten-free ($18), which are never great anywhere but Novara’s was still ever so welcome by our gluten-free friend. DiRienzo’s red sauce — sampled with the olive oil and Parmesan that come with the crusty house bread — is very, very good. It also makes the chicken Parmesan meatball appetizer ($11) delicious.

The crispy-skinned brazino ($29), now gone from the menu, was two fantastic filets served with crushed potatoes in a tomato lemon cream sauce with truffled arugula. In its place is a good but lesser fish dish: salmon piccata ($25), served with baby potatoes and roasted red pepper pesto. The porchetta ($25) is a confusing spiral slice of slow-roasted pork loin with pork belly, and the delicious beef tenderloin ($32) comes with leek Gorgonzola mashed potatoes and a meaty mushroom ragout. I love DiRienzo on principle for putting so much garlic in the saltimbocca sandwich ($15), but I might be alone on that one. Never mind, have a delicious dark chocolate mousse ($8) or an affogato ($7) for dessert, wend your way through the happy crowd, and call it a night.

Novara, 556 Adams St., Milton, 617-696-8400, www.novararestaurant.com.

Chef Marcos DeSouza and manager Erica White with citrus glazed Long Island Duck Photo by Debee Tlumacki for The Boston Globe

IN THE KITCHEN

It’s been almost 12 years since chef-owner Brian Houlihan opened Bia Bistro — cooking his heart out in what was then a 45-seat restaurant. Houlihan arrived in Cohasset after working in restaurants in his native County Cork, Ireland, and several years as executive chef at the Regal Bostonian’s Seasons and sous-chef at the Four Seasons. As his beautiful little bistro found an audience for its home-style, mostly French comfort food, Houlihan expanded to 80 seats, hired and trained cooks and chefs, and started thinking about creating other restaurants.

In 2009, he opened a second (The Tinker’s Son in Norwell), and in 2013, a third (Scituate’s Galley Kitchen & Bar). Today, chef Marcos de Souza, who’s worked at Bia for almost 10 years, runs the kitchen, while Houlihan sources local foods, creates specials and menu changes with Souza, and pops in and out of the kitchens of his three places throughout the day.

THE LOCALE

Bia is nestled in the first floor of an old white colonial with green shutters in the heart of Cohasset Village. Its tiny entranceway opens into a beautiful front dining room with an L-shaped bar on the left and tables on the right. Every inch is richly decorated, with shelves of sparkling glasses, bottles, and pendant lighting. Reflections in the gleaming wood of the bar, tables, and floor add visual layers to the dark walls, heavy taffeta drapes, mirrors, and white linen. The scale of the old building makes the restaurant look small, but it isn’t: A crooked rear hallway (that leads to another dining room) feels adorably like a funhouse. On warm nights, you can sit on the front patio under trees and St. Stephen’s soaring bell tower, watching the quiet town go by. Bia’s one of the prettiest restaurants around.

ON THE MENU

On two recent visits, the restaurant was busy with what felt like many regulars. And, if plans work out, Houlihan hopes to expand the kitchen — so things are good at Bia.

In such an unforgiving business, though, you can’t help but hope that management is supporting the kitchen enough to bridge the gaps left when an eager chef-owner is no longer overseeing every plate that leaves the kitchen.

The hearty menu features classic French appetizers (escargot, charcuterie, duck pate, oysters with mignonette sauce), a few salads (a lovely Caesar with whole leaves and fresh anchovies), a few pizzas (mushroom-garlic-truffle oil-arugula), risottos, and pastas. Entrees favor seafood dishes, and include fowl and meat.

On one visit, the grilled shrimp in the shrimp with grits appetizer ($12) were cooked beautifully — and it’s hard to say what the grits tasted like. That same night, all the mussels in the steamed Chatham mussels with garlic, lemon, and white wine appetizer ($12) were actually tough. The composed Caesar ($11) was fresh and good.

The citrus-glazed Long Island duck delivered as it has for more than a decade ($29): The confit leg was crispy and tender, the wintery roasted sweet potato side delicious, the breast meat lean and rare.

The pan-roasted salmon ($26) was done nicely, served with both a good chimichurri and tapenade, and sided with satisfying roasted fingerling potatoes.

On another visit, sitting happily on the patio, the kitchen obliged us with a gluten-free version of the evening’s special haddock ($29) that arrived bare and just fine. The salad that sides it had two little hunks of delicious lobster. The winner that night was the free-range duck-fat-roasted chicken ($24). The bone-in fowl is beautifully crispy, the meat robustly flavorful, the Madeira jus a light, rich sauce. It was served with a few asparagus and a carrot. Rustic and nice.

Bia Bistro, 35 South Main St., Cohasset, 781-383-0464, www.biabistro.com

Joan Wilder can be reached at joan.wilder@gmail.com.

Fish tacos Photo Debee Tlumacki for The Boston Globe

IN THE KITCHEN One bite at The Jetty and you can’t help but wonder who the heck is in the kitchen. Midafternoon at a remote beach on a cloudy summer weekday — and you can’t expect much. Yet, restaurants live or die by their capacity to produce consistently good fare any time of any day.

Turns out, it’s chef Scott Thompson, who last ran the kitchen at (the wonderful) Pomodoro in Brookline and credits award-winning Boston-area chef Jimmy Burke (who opened Pembroke’s Orta and Scituate’s Riva) with teaching him his best moves.

Thompson calls The Jetty’s food progressive American, drawing inspiration from international street foods and his years cooking Italian.

THE LOCALE Perched on the ocean at the tip of a curved jetty in Marshfield’s Brant Rock section, the restaurant is the former Bailey. Summer residents Tracy and Richard Vaughn bought the place, renovated it, and opened mid-summer 2014.

The 99-seat sports bar is aimed at those who not only watch sports, but also participate in them — a water cooler with paper cups just inside the front door provides a drink for runners, bikers, swimmers, or surfers. The large rustic space has rough wooden floors and wallboards, cavernous ceilings, and butcher block-thick wooden tables. Windows along the street lend light, but there are none on the beach side. There’s plenty of room for live music and open mike nights.

ON THE MENU Appetizers, sandwiches, and burgers, salads (with add-on proteins), a few main courses for dinner, and nightly specials make Thompson’s smart lunch and dinner menus easy to maneuver while offering something for every appetite.

Lunchtime’s soft pita sandwich ($11) is so full-flavored and full-bodied that it’s a surprise when you realize it’s vegetarian. The chef’s spin on this Israeli street food is meaty with non-meat proteins (hard-boiled egg slices, feta cheese), fresh (cukes, tomatoes, mint), juicy (tahini spread, yogurt sauce), and creamy (roasted eggplant).

Fish tacos (offered for both lunch and dinner) ($11/$14) are just right — with a light, crispy batter on the deep-fried cod, bright pico de gallo, and spicy mayo.

A platter of the Mexican street corn ($8) surprises and delivers. Four roasted half cobs — flavored with Parmesan, garlic aioli, chili powder, cilantro, and lime — are served on skewers. Great with a beer at the bar.

Taking the cake at dinner one night was oven-roasted cod ($18). Served with a thick slice of grilled garlic bread and a handful of arugula, the naked-looking cod is baked in a light wine, garlic, tomato, olive, caper sauce.

Breakfast is served daily and so are all-fruit, honey-sweetened smoothies ($7).

Open just a year, The Jetty’s a solid new place to eat.

The Jetty, 278 Ocean St., Marshfield, 781-319-2181, www.thejetty-marshfield.com.