Buzzy Back Bay Newcomer Faccia Brutta Changes Its Name to Avoid Conflict

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Hot Back Bay restaurant Faccia Brutta — which means “ugly face” in Italian — has changed its name to Faccia a Faccia, or “face to face,” to head off conflict with Brooklyn-based amari producer Faccia Brutto, according to a spokesperson. Chefs Jamie Bissonnette and Ken Oringer, of Toro, Coppa, and Little Donkey fame, “decided to change the name in an effort to allay concerns raised by another brand close in name,” a press release says, but the website promises “nothing else about the restaurant will be changing.”

Faccia a Faccia, which draws upon the many flavors of coastal Italy, opened along with Bar Pallino, a natural wine bar, in May, and has been well-received, to say the least. “Happily, when Faccia Brutta nails it, which is usually, the food is terrific—not just the execution but the polish of the recipes,” Boston Magazine wrote in a review in late September.

Learn to Cook Dumplings Like a Pro

Nadia Liu Spellman, owner of the excellent Boston-area chain Dumpling Daughter, is releasing a cookbook with her mother, Sally Ling, who was behind the eponymous Sally Ling’s on Boston’s waterfront in the 1980s — the first of its kind in the city, a white-tablecloth restaurant with serving carts and upscale Chinese food. Dumpling Daughter: Heirloom Recipes from our Restaurants and Home Kitchens “features previously unshared family favorite recipes,” according to a press release; expect instructions for Dumpling Daughter’s house fried rice, sesame wontons, cucumber salads from both chefs, and more Chinese and Chinese American dishes.

The cookbook comes out November 8; you can preorder it now for $30 via the company’s online store, which also ships frozen dumplings, buns, and sauces nationwide.

A Classic Back Bay Steakhouse Doubles Its Number of Master Somms

Grill 23’s beverage manager, Alexander Powell, passed the Master Sommelier Diploma Examination in August along with ten of his peers, becoming one of fewer than 300 people in the world with the title of Master Sommelier. Among the advice for MS candidates that he shared with SevenFifty Daily: “Be a sponge. Look for lessons and teaching in everyone you interact with. Everyone holds some information that can make you better, no matter their credentials or age.” (Another MS, Brahm Callahan, is beverage director for Himmel Hospitality Group, which owns Grill 23 as well as Harvest, Bistro du Midi, and the Banks Fish House.)

Get a Tat, Eat Free Hot Dogs for Life

As if the hot dogs weren’t cheap enough already, the Silhouette Lounge, aka “the Sil” — under new management, on social media, and accepting credit cards, but otherwise as delightfully divey as ever since reopening at the end of winter 2022 — is now offering free hot dogs for life to anyone bold enough to permanently show their devotion. After a regular came in with a tattoo of the Sil’s rat with angel wings drinking a beer, the Allston bar offered a free dog every day for life to anybody who got Sil-related ink.

Now that another person has gone under the needle, “The 100^th person to emblazon themselves with something Sil-related will be entitled to unlimited hotdogs every day for life,” the bar says in a press release. Be warned, though: The inked body part must be PG-13, which means you may want to consult with the Sil before deciding where to place such a long-lasting symbol.