Dumpster Diving; The 'Hottest Neo-Speakeasy'

UNION SQUARE — The Globe profiles Sam Treadway of backbar, "the area's hottest neo-speakeasy." The hidden spot is worth the search: "At first, it's easy to think that you've accidentally walked into the employees' entrance of a restaurant. But people have found Backbar in droves, and it's become a destination for craft cocktails and sophisticated bar bites." [BG]

SOMERVILLE — "Freegan" Maximus Thaler, who has been getting a fair amount of press lately for his plans to open a free "restaurant" in his apartment serving only foods foraged from dumpsters, hits the international press waters with a feature in The Daily Mail. Commenters are predictably unimpressed. [DM]

BROOKLINE — An eventual closure of Cognac Bistro has been in the works for awhile, and a Chowhounder reports that according to the owner, the time is almost here. It'll close around the end of September, and Nelson Cognac is opening a new restaurant near Jay Peak in Vermont called Big Jay Tavern. [CH]
[Photo: backbar/Facebook]