Boston - June 27, 2005

Got Your Back

The Back Lot Opens

Who likes to be in back? The back of the line? That’s your fate when you answer wrong. Back alleys? Where bad guys hang. The backseat? For those who failed to call shotgun.

Lest you missed the groundbreaking memo: Back is the new front. At least now that Back Lot has opened. Push past the doors of minimalist den Audubon Circle and you’ll find yourself smack in the middle of a mini Shangri-la-cum-al fresco lounge, complete with bamboo plants, a swank but easygoing crew, and quasi-Asian snacks and libations (pot stickers with red pepper and lotus root, for instance).

Summoned up by Audubon owners Chris Lutes and Matthew Curtis, the nook’s an ideal summertime enclave of cool drinks and tranquility in a neighborhood full of traffic and hot city air — a spot tucked so cleverly into its block, you might never know it’s there.

The very definition of a hidden gem. Front to back.

Back Lot, 838 Beacon Street, at Arundel Street, Kenmore Square (617-421-1910).