Best place for a clandestine lunch
What's so secret about a restaurant owned by two of the city's most recognizable restaurateurs, run by two of its brightest chefs, and situated smack on a bustling corner of one of the world's most illustrious campuses? Nothing, really, and therein lies your secret - for who'd ever think to look for you, conducting your shady business, engaging in illicit affairs, at UpStairs on the Square? Besides, even the most dogged detective could, upon entering, get so dazzled - first by the Fauvist interior and then by the sumptuous eats of the Monday Club Bar (think lobster pizza and pistachio pound cake) - he'd forget all about you and your companion in trench coats and Ray-Bans. Amid such an extravaganza, your secret is safe.

Like its paradoxically conspicuous co-winner, the Other Side Café also derives its name from its own location. Ensconced on the wrong end of Newbury Street, this diner for the post-alt set, with its vinyl booths and murals of flying sandwiches and java mugs, is the kind of place where everyone is either too cool to notice you and your indiscretions or too mellow to care. It's perfect for kicking back worry-free with your paramour over smoothies or lattes or even imported beer - of which there's a striking selection - to the tunes of whatever you-heard-it-here-first band the knowing staff is digging that day. Ah, blessed obscurity - isn't it romantic?

UpStairs on the Square, 91 Winthrop Street, Cambridge, (617) 864-1933, www.upstairsonthesquare.com; Other Side Café, 407 Newbury Street, Boston, (617) 536-9477.