"We want to be the place that you go for dinner every week, maybe even twice a week." Deirdre Auld, CEO of Coda Restaurant Group, said that to Boston.com the day after Celine opened at 324 A Street. The restaurant took the former Blue Dragon space, which had been empty for a long time, and opened on Monday, September 28.
Twenty days earlier and a few blocks away, Hawksmoor opened its 280-seat London steakhouse at 15 Necco Street. Restaurant sections have mostly covered these as two more fall openings. In Fort Point they mean more than that. The neighborhood lost its casual weeknight restaurant at the start of the year. It has now gained one new place sized for a big night out and another built to be a habit. The 46th Fort Point Open Studios, October 16 through 18, is the first big neighborhood weekend with both of them open.
The Table Fort Point Lost in January
Pastoral ARTisan Pizza + Kitchen + Bar closed after service on Friday, January 30, 2026. It had been at 345 Congress Street since 2013, serving Neapolitan pizza, pasta, and Italian and Mediterranean plates. A staff member's goodbye post, reported by Boston Restaurants, asked people to "come hang for one last slice."
Thirteen years is long enough to become part of a neighborhood's routine. For eight months after it closed, no new restaurant in Fort Point pitched itself mainly to the people who live here. Shawn Wolfgang, who leads Celine, said as much to the Boston Globe before opening. He thinks the neighborhood is looking for "that kind of cozy neighborhood spot that you can do a couple times a week if you wanted to, and it doesn't have to be an event." Asked what the neighborhood is like, he said, "We'll find out." He pointed to the brunch line at Citrus and Salt, to Mooo, "which has been there forever," and to Hawksmoor, "that just opened up."
One Place for a Big Night, One for a Regular Weeknight
Hawksmoor and Celine are close enough to walk between, but they aim at different evenings.
Hawksmoor, 15 Necco Street
- Opened September 8 with 280 seats, a large bar, and an outdoor terrace.
- Steaks cooked over charcoal, ash-baked beets, beef fat fries, and New England seafood: wild-caught Maine lobster, local oysters, and Cape Cod scallops.
- Sunday roast every week from 11:45 a.m. to 4 p.m., at $48 per person or $120 for a sharing roast for two or more.
- Reservations online or by phone at 781-208-8300.
Celine, 324 A Street
- Opened September 28 with 80 seats.
- Coda's goal is a full meal plus a cocktail or glass of wine for $50 or less.
- Dinner only. Sunday through Wednesday, the kitchen runs 4 to 10 p.m. and the bar stays open until 11. Thursday through Saturday, the kitchen runs 4 to 11 p.m. and the bar stays open until midnight.
- Phone 617-936-4397.
Hawksmoor's $48 roast is a single plate before drinks. At Celine, the $50 target covers dinner and a drink. That gap shows how each restaurant hopes to be used, and both are reasonable bets.
Hawksmoor's lunch hours make it an option at times of day that Celine doesn't cover. The kitchen serves lunch from noon to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and from 11:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Monday is dinner only, from 4 to 9:30 p.m. The Globe reviewed it within its first week and singled out the lobster crumpet. Boston Magazine published a guide to the menu on September 10.
What Celine Puts on the Plate
Executive chef Joe Cooke grew up in Medford and previously cooked at Viale in Cambridge. For Celine he drew on Montreal restaurants, including Joe Beef, Liverpool House, and Rôtisserie La Lune. Starters include:
- a Lyonnaise salad made with an eight-minute jammy egg topped with deviled egg filling
- chicken liver mousse with schmaltz toast
- a breakfast-for-dinner sandwich with foie gras, bacon blueberry jam, and maple syrup on a drop biscuit
Mains are a Gruyère burger on a housemade brioche-style bun, duck confit cassoulet, steak frites, and rotisserie chicken and duck. There's also poutine, made with beef tallow fries, cheese curds, and chicken- and duck-dripping gravy, with an extra gravy boat on the side.
Coda also runs Salty Pig, SRV, Gufo, and Baleia, so the group knows how to run a neighborhood restaurant that keeps regulars. Auld designed the room herself. It has exposed brick, turmeric banquettes, and three themed bathrooms, one of them full of Céline Dion memorabilia. Wolfgang told the Globe he hopes it works as "an approachable everyday space that people can come to whether they live in Fort Point or the Seaport or Southie."
Open Studios Is the Weekend That Tests It
Fort Point Arts Community's Open Studios runs Friday, October 16, from 4 to 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, October 17 and 18, from noon to 6 p.m. It's free and open to all ages. More than 110 artists take part, with live music and free hands-on workshops. This is the 46th year. Studios and exhibits are spread across these addresses:
- FPAC Art Space, 70a Sleeper Street
- The Artist Building, 300 Summer Street
- 259 A Street
- 249 A Street
- The Boston Button Factory
- Midway Artist Studios
- The Eli Lilly Building, first floor
Two of those stops are on A Street, the same street as Celine. The hours line up well with both restaurants:
- Friday: Open Studios runs 4 to 7 p.m., and Celine's kitchen opens at 4. Walking from the A Street studios to dinner takes a few minutes.
- Saturday: Hawksmoor serves lunch from 11:45 a.m. to 4 p.m., which covers the studio hours. Celine's kitchen stays open until 11 that night.
- Sunday: The Hawksmoor roast runs 11:45 a.m. to 4 p.m., the same afternoon the studios are open from noon to 6.
For Open Studios weekend, call Celine ahead of time. Coda's own website still listed Celine as "Coming Soon" after it opened, so check details directly with the restaurant.
What's Open Nearby, and What Isn't Yet
The Current, at 100 Seaport Boulevard, has its seasonal Fireside pop-ups. The venue gives the season as September 24, 2026 through January 31, 2027. Hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday. The lineup includes MYKA, a Greek frozen yogurt pop-up.
Two expected openings haven't happened yet. Danny Meyer's Ci Siamo is "coming in late fall" at Commonwealth Pier, according to the Globe's September roundup. An earlier Globe story placed it at Commonwealth Pier, 200 Seaport Boulevard, the mixed-use development that includes Fidelity office space, and expected it by late 2025, so the date has already slipped once. Sally's Apizza was announced for 30 Thomson Place with a target of the first half of 2026. That window has passed.
For now, Fort Point has two new restaurants on its own streets: the steakhouse on Necco Street and the tavern on A Street. Open Studios weekend will be the first time both are open while the artists' buildings are full of visitors.
When a neighborhood loses one restaurant and gains two, it changes how a block feels to live on, and that kind of detail rarely shows up in listing data. If you're weighing how Fort Point or another Boston neighborhood fits your next move, William Darling can help you think it through calmly and clearly. Schedule a consultation.
