Is it a cocktail bar? Is it a restaurant? Is it a lounge? Is it a library? Lehrhaus is all of those things. The kosher tavern and house of learning is a place meant “to encounter what it means to be in a Jewish space,” as co-founder and rabbi Charlie Schwartz puts it. The menu — designed like a page out of the Talmud, supplying lots of context around ingredients — highlights the many foodways of the Jewish diaspora, from fish and chips and its Portuguese Sephardic Jewish history to a savory rendition of the Ashkenazi Jewish noodle dish kugel that takes its cues from culinary historian Michael Twitty’s latest cookbook. Keep an eye on upcoming events at the tavern here.

Is this the restaurant of the summer in Boston? The nightly crowd of diners at Prima, an Italian steakhouse on the edge of City Square Park in Charlestown, might be ready to throw down on that debate. The restaurant is a stylish, ambitious affair that ups the ante for a group best known for reliable neighborhood spots in Charlestown (Waverly, Monument) and South Boston (Lincoln, Capo). Sample the mozzarella bar and don’t skip the seafood mains, including the fish en papillote, wrapped in parchment paper and baked with shrimp, clams, and a bright citrus salad.

If you’re looking for a more casual Italian experience, head to Gufo, a new cafe and restaurant from the talented team behind pasta hot spot SRV in the South End and charcuterie expert the Salty Pig in between the South End and Back Bay. Start off the meal with an artful selection of snacks — don’t miss the eggplant caponata with whipped ricotta — and then round out each order with other subtly experimental dishes like a snap pea Caesar and a pizza topped with merguez, a smoky, subtly spicy North African lamb sausage.

Elegant Chinese restaurant Jiang Nan is a popular stop in NYC, with a few locations there, but this is its first appearance in Boston — and there are lines out the door at dinnertime. There’s a bounty of fish on the menu and the steamed lotus root stuffed with sticky rice and stir-fried pig kidneys are solid bets, but everyone is buzzing about the restaurant’s succulent roast duck. Order it “two ways” to get the meat and skin wrapped into steaming pancakes, and the bones, too, in a brothy soup with tofu and cabbage or in a crispy salt-and-pepper seasoning.

A highly anticipated opening this spring, Grace by Nia is among a handful of local restaurants shaking up the Seaport’s chain-heavy scene. Nia Grace of well-loved, jazzy Boston hangout Darryl’s, is behind the glittery Seaport space, along with nightlife heavyweight Big Night. Sip on a smoky cocktail, dig into a Southern-inflected menu — including a fried green tomato dish that tastes like a deconstructed mozzarella stick, and molasses-braised oxtail and coconut grits — and sit back and relax with nightly live music acts.

Marseille is the latest opening from the popular French restaurant group behind the South End’s Petit Robert Bistro and Batifol in Kendall Square. As the name implies, this spot takes its cues from southern France and, more broadly, the Mediterranean coastline. Head out to the large outdoor patio, order a glass of wine, and feast on oysters, grilled octopus, and a rich bouillabaisse brimming with scallops and meaty shrimp.

Grab a group and head to Bar Vlaha, where a lesser-known side of Greece takes center stage. The restaurant draws its inspiration from the Vlachs, nomadic shepherds that are native to northern and central Greece. Dig into creamy Greek cheeses, wood-fired savory pies, spit-roasted meats, and a plate of crispy fried oyster mushrooms that might be the best funghi preparation in the city right now.

What would a restaurant, butchery, and grocery store look like if it was built by the community, for the community in Roxbury’s historic Nubian Square? That was the precedent behind Nubian Markets, which traces the intersecting African and Muslim diasporas by way of a fast-casual menu that includes a chickpea peanut stew with coconut ginger rice and pickled plantains, and one impressive burger. Shop the grocery aisles while you wait for your food and check out products from local Black and brown purveyors, including spice blends from Hapi African Gourmet and hot sauce from Hillside Harvest.