The Best of Boston 2001
Boston Magazine • August, 2001
 In a place crowded with
dynamic and exemplary characters, places, products, and services, we're breaking boundaries and revitalizing our
testing process to identify Boston's finest, funkiest, and undiscovered pleasures.As any member of Aerosmith can
attest, success is as much about reinvention as it is about originality. Creating something extraordinary requires
examining past successes and pushing them in new and unexpected directions. With that in mind, we began our planning for
this year's Best of Boston issue by asking how we could keep the process of discovering our city's diamonds
fresh.The answers were nothing short of amazing. In introducing more (and more exacting) criteria for judgment, we also
became further immersed than ever in the city's pleasures. We've also done away with some key boundaries, creating
special sections for suburban winners that are best in their regions.
Above all else, we've erased a few mental boundaries, actively seeking out the unexpected and lesser-known spots,
then measuring them against the city's heavy-hitters. In a place this crowded with dynamic and exemplary characters,
places, products, and services, that has meant a roller coaster of surprises. Who knew that the most addictive pizza in
town isn't anywhere near the north End, for example, or that the most thorough massage isn't even (gasp) on Newbury
Street? Or that the best lesbian club is just as much fun for straight patrons?
by taking a tip from Aerosmith -- a true Boston original, and one of rock'n'roll's most successful
practitioners of reinvention -- we've revitalized not only our discovery process, but also the discoveries themselves.
Like an enduring iconoclast, Boston keeps breaking its own rules, surprising us all, and getting better and better.
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