La Padrona Team Plans New Restaurant in an Iconic Back Bay Space
Timeless classics like prime rib and Dover sole will be on the menu at the former Bristol Lounge address in the Four Seasons, courtesy of A Street Hospitality.
From left: Eric Papachristos, Jody Adams, and Jon Mendez, collectively A Street Hospitality, stand in the under-construction space of their new restaurant, with the Public Garden in view through the windows. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal
The Four Seasons Hotel on Boylston Street has been without a proper dining room since the Bristol Lounge—Boston’s power-lunch hub and self-styled “living room” for 35 years—closed during the pandemic. That’s about to change, and the result will likely be worth the wait.
A Street Hospitality, the acclaimed group behind La Padrona, Trade, and more, is announcing plans to take over the Bristol’s former space, opening a new restaurant with James Beard Award-winning chef Jody Adams dreaming up a menu of old-school refinement, from caviar and blini to Dover sole and prime rib.
A Street isn’t ready to reveal the restaurant’s name yet, but promises it “carries a quiet nod to the heritage of the Back Bay and its classical beginnings,” according to chief executive officer Eric Papachristos, who cofounded A Street Hospitality with Adams and chief operating officer Jon Mendez. But let’s skip the instinct to call this the “new Bristol Lounge”: Papachristos emphasizes that the new restaurant “has no connection to the prior ownership, trademark, or hotel brand,” adding that the group is “not looking back; we are building forward.”
For A Street Hospitality, it’s the Back Bay neighborhood itself, not the storied 200 Boylston St. address, with which the team connects. “We are all longtime Bostonians, with roots deeply woven into the fabric of this city,” says Papachristos. “This neighborhood is iconically classic Boston, and it holds personal significance for each of us. I opened my first nightclub just a block away, 22 years ago, and as a Suffolk University alumnus, these streets were—and still are—quite literally my backyard. When the opportunity presented itself [to open a restaurant here], it felt less like a decision and more like a calling.”
The group focuses primarily on Mediterranean cuisines at its existing restaurants: Italian at Porto and La Padrona in Back Bay and the Venetian in Weymouth; Greek at Trade downtown (A Street’s first, opened in 2011) and fast-casual mini-chain Saloniki. Individually, Adams has long excelled at Italian—the beloved veteran of Boston’s dining scene is well-known for running Rialto at Cambridge’s Charles Hotel for more than 20 years.
This new restaurant seems to pivot from the Mediterranean portfolio, according to what the team is ready to share now. From the prospective menu, Adams names dishes in the American and European repertoires that evoke grand restaurants of years past: “The deep significance of the restaurant’s location, across from the Public Garden, calls for something timeless—a place in Boston that feels like it’s always been there,” she says. “In that spirit, the menu is anchored with classics: local oysters, caviar and blini, beef tartare, lobster bisque, Dover sole, prime rib.” The latter brings up feelings of abundance and nostalgia, while the sole and bisque elicit memories of gone-but-not-forgotten landmarks like Locke-Ober and Anthony’s Pier 4. “For a little comic relief,” continues Adams, “[we’ll have] irreverent upstarts like cheese fondue, king crab mac and cheese, and a mash-up of crêpes Suzette and cherries jubilee.”
The Bristol Lounge was a place where the well-connected, powerful, and famous dined and business deals were made (not to mention Best of Boston burgers). Despite the group’s commitment to “moving forward” from the space’s intrinsic legacy, it’s not a huge leap to see this new restaurant also becoming a magnet for the city’s heavyweights. A Street Hospitality, after all, has a knack for drawing see-and-be-seen clientele, especially at La Padrona. The glamorous restaurant, not even two years old, has already landed on the New York Times’ 2025 list of the best restaurants in America and nabbed a Michelin recommendation in the international dining guide’s first year in Boston.
Despite the hotel address, locals are a priority. “Just as with all of our restaurants, our focus has always been on our fellow Bostonians first,” says Papachristos. “Boston’s hotel culture brings a wonderful energy of international and local travelers, but at our core, we know this city loves its locals—its business professionals, its suburban dwellers, its neighborhood regulars. We are building this for all of them. If the room feels like it belongs to Boston, then we’ve done our job.”
Like La Padrona at Raffles Boston, this new restaurant will be owned and operated independently from the hotel, and it will have its own dedicated entrance on Boylston Street. “We are building something that stands on its own,” he says. Still, in both cases, these seem like winning neighborly relationships even without a direct affiliation. Both hotels garner top ratings for luxury—five stars from Forbes for the Four Seasons, five diamonds from AAA for Raffles—and this group is the only restaurant operator with independent spots inside two such highly acclaimed hotels in Boston. Worldly hotel guests looking for top restaurants won’t have to search too far.
Given its glitzy coordinates, the A Street space will undoubtedly be spectacular to match. “We have worked closely with the lead designer behind La Padrona, and together we have created something that feels both inevitable and unexpected,” says Papachristos. “The design merges Edwardian elegance with modern sensibility, layering jewel-toned natural richness and luxury refinement into spaces that feel both timeless and boldly forward. Think warmth, texture, and a quiet grandeur—a room that draws you in and asks you to stay.”
Papachristos, Adams, and Mendez aren’t ready to announce an opening timeline yet, but construction is in the early stages, with the space a blank canvas for what’s to come. “We are taking our time, and we are doing this right,” says Papachristos. “A Street Hospitality has always believed that great restaurants are not rushed—they are revealed. We look forward to sharing more when the moment calls for it. For now, we will simply say: ‘Boston, something is coming.’”
From left: Eric Papachristos, Jody Adams, and Jon Mendez, collectively A Street Hospitality, stand in the under-construction space of their new restaurant. / Photo by Rachel Leah Blumenthal
When A Street Hospitality’s new restaurant opens, it will serve dinner daily and brunch on the weekends. 200 Boylston St., Back Bay, Boston, astreethospitality.com.
