Wellesley’s high profile empty storefronts

September 12, 2017 by bbrown 3 Comments

2nd Time Around Wellesley — 2nd Time Around’s old digs on Washington Street

One fun game to play in Wellesley this fall could be called Storefront Bingo. While, a few of the empty storefronts have been spoken for (Smith & Wollensky filling Blue Ginger’s spot as we reported in June, Pressed Juicery taking over Pinkberry’s location, Citizens Bank adding a branch where La Riviera sat, Sweetgreen moving into Bonsoir’s old space and KeynectUp sliding into the former Turnabout Shoppe building), plenty more await their next tenants.

Among them:

former Century Bank location in Wellesley Square — Century Bank’s old location in Wellesley Square

former Susu Bakery — Susu Bakery‘s former space at 575 Washington St.

Belclare retail spaces wellesley — Belclare retail spaces across the street from Susu

former Dayton Homes location at 276 Washington St, Wellesley

The old Dayton Home spot in Wellesley Hills

Former Talbots location, Wellesley Square Former Talbots location in Wellesley Square

Chico's ex-Wellesley Square home — Chico’s ex-Wellesley Square home

former Yogurtology Wellesley Square — Where Yogurtology once stood in Wellesley Square

Hearing anything about what might be going into any of these locations? Let us know: [email protected]

Today’s the day for the Wellesley Theatre Project Cone Crawl

September 10, 2017 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

Beyond Wellesley: Biking along the Cape Cod Canal, fried clams at The Seafood Shanty

September 9, 2017 by Deborah Brown Leave a Comment

With one of our kids safely dropped off at college and the other toiling away at Wellesley High School, we recently took off to play a little late-summer hooky on the Cape. Our requirements were few: we didn’t want to drive further than 90 minutes from Wellesley; we wanted to bike along a nice, level, paved path; fried clams for lunch would be essential; the weather had to be merely serviceable — temperatures above 65, no rain; and we wanted to end up at a beach where we planned to stroll, not bask.

Don’t cross the bridge

We used Herring Run Recreation area as a jumping-off point for this little adventure. The ample parking area, located just before the Bourne Bridge (830 Scenic Hwy, Bourne, MA 02532), was only a 75-minutes drive from Wellesley Square. From there, the uncrowded Cape Cod Canal Bikeway was just waiting for us to bike to Scusset Beach in Sandwich and back to Herring Run, a seven-mile round trip.

After that, it was lunch at the Seafood Shanty, across the street from the Herring Run recreation area. We ordered at the window and then found a picnic table with a view of the Canal. Their fried clams with the bellies were a briny taste of late-summer heaven.

Families welcome

It was the type of day-trip that would be perfect for families with kids of any age. We saw quite a few families with young kids on bike seats and on those fun bike trailers that attach to an adult bike and allow the kids to pedal, or not. There are plenty of interesting spots to get out and rock scramble, as well as benches to sit on and watch the ships and boats go by, plus there are restrooms at Scusset Beach.

Here are a few pictures of time well spent in an area we don’t get to often enough.

A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recreation area, Herring Run is where the Herring River flows into the Cape Cod Canal. Spring-time visitors can see hundreds of herring on their spawning migration upstream.

The Herring Run Recreation Area has plenty of parking, and the Visitor’s Center has clean restrooms.

A map showing the distance and features of the Cape Cod Canal Bikeway from Herring Run in Bourne to Scusset Beach in Sandwich.

A view of the Sagamore Bridge from the Cape Cod Canal Bikeway.

Seafood Shanty, Bourne, Cape Cod — We stopped here after our bike ride, hungry for fried clams (with the bellies, of course). They do a great job on them here at the Seafood Shanty, across the street from the Herring Run Recreation area.

Smith & Wollensky makes Wellesley steakhouse plans official

September 7, 2017 by bbrown Leave a Comment

steak Confirming a pretty open secret that we reported on in June, steakhouse Smith & Wollensky has formally announced plans to open in Wellesley in early 2018 at the 538 Washington St., space that Blue Ginger occupied from 1998 until earlier this year.

The Boston-based business, which has a couple of restaurants in Boston as well as others in cities such as Chicago and Houston, says Wellesley will be Smith & Wollensky’s “first suburban setting.”

“Smith & Wollensky has been thriving in major cities across the US for nearly four decades. Recently we are seeing a shift in some markets where our guests yearn for a similar polished dining experience in their home town, with plenty of parking”, says President and CEO Michael Feighery, who perhaps hasn’t done a lot of parking in Wellesley of late (OK, it’s not so bad at that location, but I just couldn’t resist that line).

The restaurant is shooting to have about 250 seats in a renovated space that will include up to 23 bar seats if the town goes ahead and revises existing rules (a public forum on the topic will be held on Sept. 11). Current rules limit the number of bar seats to 10% of a restaurant’s overall seating, with a maximum of 10 seats. Smith & Wollensky has thrown its legal weight behind the proposal, which it says will accommodate an increase in solo diners and groups of patrons who prefer to sit at a bar rather than a traditional table when chowing down.

MORE: Where to Eat in Wellesley MA

Wellesley public forum to address bar seat rules

September 1, 2017 by bbrown Leave a Comment

Terrazza Wellesley The Wellesley Board of Selectmen will hold a public hearing on Sept. 11 at 7:30 pm at Town Hall to solicit feedback on a possible revision to the town’s alcohol sales rules that would allow establishments to have more than 10 bar seats.

“Recognizing a change in dining establishment design and the increase in single diners, a proposal is considering modifying the regulations to remove the cap of 10 bar seats per establishment. The regulations would continue to limit the number of bar seats to 10% of the number of interior seats within the establishment,” according to the public notice.

The change could be key to enticing new restaurants to town. Smith & Wollensky, for example, is seeking to have 230-255 seats at a new steakhouse location on Washington Street where Blue Ginger previously stood, and is aiming for 23 bar seats. The restaurant argues that solo dining, or even group dining at bars rather than tables, has been on the rise.

If you cannot attend the meeting but would like to send comments, please call (781) 431-1019 ext. 2205 or email [email protected] .

Wellesley has loosened its alcohol-related rules in recent years, with voters overwhelmingly approving revamped liquor licensing in 2012 that allowed establishments with 50 or more seats to apply for a license to serve. More recently, grocery stores such as Fells Market and Roche Bros., were allowed to start selling booze.