1. Mclean Hospital
City: Belmont, MA
Category: Health Care
Telephone: (617) 855-2000
Address: 115 Mill St.
Description: Founded in 1811 and located in residential surroundings on the Belmont/Cambridge line, McLean Hospital is a Harvard-affiliated psychiatric institution offering comprehensive treatment in both inpatient and outpatient settings for adults, adolescents, and children. Ranked among the top psychiatric hospitals in the country by US News & World Report for the past 20 years, McLean’s is especially known for its on-site Pathways Academy, a fully accredited independent private school that caters to children and teens.
2. Il Casale
City: Belmont, MA
Category: Restaurants
Telephone: (617) 209-4942
Address: 50 Leonard St.
Description: It’s worth a special trip to Belmont (an easy 15-minute jaunt from Boston) for some of the area’s best Italian cuisine. The exposed brick, dim lighting, and warm wood panels add to the cozy Old World ambience of this one-time firehouse. Chef-Owner (and Belmont native) Dante de Magistris is a master of his craft, offering superb sfizi (love the pork meatballs!) and rustic-chic dishes like gnocchi with porcini crema and roasted peppers and grilled lamb chops with smoked eggplant and farro salad. Don’t skip dessert; here they are both homespun and indulgent: a slice of chocolate semifreddo with hazelnut anglaise or an affogato of vanilla gelato with a double espresso.