Auburndale residents — many of whom have been asking for a local place to grab dinner and a drink — will have their wishes granted later this month.

The Bocca Bella Cafe & Bistro will be opening soon at 442 Lexington Street, around the corner from highly rated village diner The Knotty Pine. Bocca Bella will be a full-service restaurant, serving “great food and libation.” The restaurant’s phone number is — or will be– (617) 928-1200.

Space adjacent to the restaurant houses the LuckArt Gallery, which will host musical concerts and art exhibits.

Bocca Bella joins relative newcomer Wally’s Wicked Good Ice Cream & Treats , also highly rated, which offers gourmet ice cream flavors like Purple Cow and Kahlua Chip, and Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip frozen yogurt.

Hungry yet?

bb café 27 Lincoln Street, Newton Highlands Homemade soups, salads, sandwiches and paninis, along with a full breakfast daily. Michael Baker, a Newton resident, established the restaurant in 1984.  He has 30 employees.

[Read more →]

A petition by Pie Bakery and Cafe comes before the Board of Aldermen’s Land Use Committee on Tuesday night.

As you may recall from our earlier post (and op-ed in the Newton Tab), Pie’s owner Ellen Kaplansky must lease basement space in order to qualify for six of the 24 seats patrons use. This is because antiquated parking requirements make it especially hard for restaurants to open in village centers.

Kaplansky is requesting permission to add 24 seats in her existing restaurant space at 796 Beacon Street in Newton Centre. In the coming months, Panera Bread and the Deluxe Station Diner will be opening their Newton Centre locations, both with more than 50 seats.

If you would like to show support for a local restaurateur, please come to the Land Use Committee meeting at 7:45pm Tuesday, July 13, in the Aldermanic Chamber at City Hall. (Thanks to Philippe Wells of Prana Cafe for the reminder.)

Download the details (PDF) from the city’s planning department: 151-10_796 Beacon Street

Despite the persistent gray skies, the rain stayed away, and hundreds of people turned out for Village Day in Newton Highlands on Sunday.

A crowd milled along Lincoln Street on Sunday.

Several blocks of Lincoln Street were closed to traffic as local merchants opened their doors and in many cases took to the sidewalks and street to meet and greet neighbors and friends.  [Read more →]

The city zoning ordinances that require businesses to provide off-street parking have not been revised since 1963, the same year the Massachusetts Turnpike was being constructed through Newton, when cars ran on leaded gasoline that cost around 30 cents per gallon.

A lot has changed since then. These parking requirements have not. Today, they serve to repel new business and hamper existing businesses that wish to expand. [Read more →]

For all of the concerns voiced this year about parking meter rates and parking enforcement, the city has far more important parking issues to address. For starters, as a city, we need to make it easier for businesses, especially restaurants, to open in our village centers.

Today, almost every village center has vacant storefronts. Granted, these are difficult economic times, and the cost of a commercial lease in Newton presents no small challenge. While the city has no control over these market factors, our zoning ordinances do present an effective barrier to entry: outmoded parking laws that require businesses to provide off-street parking.

Don Levy (left), with his lawyer Michael Field, offers a slice of coconut pie at the Deluxe Town Diner in Watertown.

Of all village businesses, restaurants really take it on the chin. [Read more →]