Peggy Hernández

When I lived in Tokyo, I became hooked on mahjong through classes organized for English-speaking ex-pats. But, long back in the United States, I hadn’t played this centuries-old Chinese tile game in at least a decade. Then Mei Mei Dumplings’ Mahjong on a Mission enticed me back. Mei Mei is offering Hong Kong-style mahjong — one of more than 40 variations played — once a month through April.

BROOKLINE — Veo Robert has spent most of his professional career as a chef mastering European cuisine in some of Boston’s best restaurants. Now, in the wake of homesickness for the food of his youth following the COVID-19 pandemic, he is staging pop-up dinners to test the area’s appetite for the dishes of his native Laos.

Detours with locals. Travel tips you can trust. One Square Mile By Peggy Hernandez Photos by Iaritza Menjivar Central Square Cheapo Records MIT Museum The Middle East Nightclub Graffiti Alley Pandemonium Books & Games Pammy’s Cuchi Cuchi View on Google Maps Central Square used to be the gritty, orphaned neighborhood between Harvard University and MIT. It’s still a bit gritty, despite new development. Yet, a number of longtime businesses have thrived and some excellent new restaurants have opened.