City planners like lanes, alleys, and byways. Winter Place, evoking horse-drawn days, was home to Locke-Ober Cafe. It opened 20 years before Boston began digging America’s first subway under Tremont Street a half-block away.

One election night in the 1970s, Tom Winship, the Globe’s editor, decided to boost morale by suggesting an early dinner at Locke-Ober, where the food was great and the service superb. And with someone else paying, mile-high morale was guaranteed.