Lydia Shire to open new restaurant at Seaport Science Center in 2024

Plus, Sloane’s brings comfort food to Allston, and Harvard Square continues its breakfast evolution in a post-Darwin’s world.

Lydia Shire, who has been on the Boston dining scene for a long time, is still cooking. She plans to open a new restaurant on the ground floor of Seaport Science Center next year.Suzanne Kreiter/Globe staff

Coming Soon: Star chef Lydia Shire isn’t stopping anytime soon. She’s now on track to open a new restaurant on the ground floor of Seaport Science Center (601 Congress St.), slated to open in 2024. The James Beard award-winner has been a superstar in Boston’s culinary constellation for decades: In 1974, she became chef at Maison Robert; she went on to run signature city restaurants including Biba, Pignoli, and Excelsior. She now presides over Scampo, serving Italian food at the Liberty Hotel. No name for this restaurant as yet, but I’m told that the menu will focus on grilled dishes — with “lots of specials,” per a rep.

Chef Sarah Wade (Stillwater) will open a second restaurant, Sloane’s, in Allston early this summer in the old Our Fathers space (197 North Harvard St.). The 80-seat restaurant, named for her daughter, will serve comfort food and cocktails. Stillwater specializes in mac-and-cheese, fried chicken, doughnuts, and other calorie-laden delights. Of note: Sloane will have an indoor-outdoor bar, wherein guests can sit al-fresco at an open window. “It reminds me of a swim-up bar,” Wade says, no swimsuits required.

Pulled pork mac and cheese at Stillwater Restaurant.Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff

Scene-y South End icon Stella will make a suburban comeback early this spring. Chef Evan Deluty’s restaurant will reopen in Newton (549 Commonwealth Ave.), according to his rep. The original Stella closed in May 2020 after a heady 15-year-run, specializing in pastas and grilled pizzas.

“Walking into Stella is like walking into a time capsule. The white-on-white decor of opening day remains. The menu has barely changed. And some of the same customers seem to have been sitting at the bar the whole time. If they have aged as well as the restaurant, they are lucky,” Globe critic Devra First wrote in 2015. (In 2006, she praised the food but also the Paris Hilton-style people-watching. Remember Paris Hilton?)

Deluty is hardly the first city chef to settle in Newton: In 2020, Kate and Trevor Smith from spots like Coppa and Toro opened Thistle & Leek. In 2021, chef Douglass Williams opened a Newton branch of MIDA, and ex-Babbo chef Mario LaPosta opened an eponymous Newton pizzeria.

Deluty promises a “smaller, more intimate version” of Stella this time around, with a breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu. Longtime fans will find mainstays like arancini, Bolognese, and meatballs, plus new items like matzo ball soup and potato pancakes.

Openings: Harvard Square’s evolution continues: Roust is now open in the old Darwin’s space (148 Mt. Auburn St.), serving coffees, breakfast sandwiches, avocado toast (but of course), and pastries. Visit daily until 3 p.m.