The WEEKENDER

Eat, Shop, Go

Wicked Queer: the Boston LGBT Film Festival runs until April 7. Photo of Just Friends courtesy of Wicked Queer

April is here and the evidence is everywhere: magnolias are blooming on Comm Ave, sunbathers have been spotted on the BU Beach, and the truly hardy have swapped out winter sweats for shorts. It’s a great time to take a break and head out across the city. There’s an LGBT film festival featuring dozens of movies, an exhibition of masterpieces by Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli, and more. Indulge your senses with delicious Venezuelan cuisine or head over to Harvard Square for some great shopping. These and more are listed in our weekly guide “The Weekender.” If you have suggestions for events or places we should feature, leave them in the Comment section below.

Orinoco

What is Venezuelan cuisine? Head to Orinoco in Brookline Village to find out. This Latin kitchen offers lively, casual dining that blends flavors from the Andes and Caribbean. The menu is inspired by “taguaritas,” family-run eateries along Venezuelan roadsides. And the staff, all from Venezuela, reflects that tradition. Share an order of fresh arepas ($7.50) or empanadas ($9.85) while you wait to sink your teeth into an amazing pabellón criollo ($17), a folkloric Venezuelan dish of shredded beef, black beans, and plantains. For something sweet, treat yourself to torta fluida ($6.75), a molten cake made with 100 percent Venezuelan dark chocolate. It’s worth every calorie. There’s also a great selection of South American wines, beers, and Caribbean-inspired specialty cocktails.

Orinoco, 22 Harvard St., Brookline, serves lunch Tuesday to Saturday, noon to 2:30 pm, and dinner Tuesday to Thursday, 5:30 to 10 pm, Friday and Saturday, 5:30 to 11 pm, and Sunday, 5:30 to 9 pm. Brunch is served Sundays, 11:30 am to 3 pm. Take an MBTA Green Line D trolley to Brookline Village.

Visit Orinoco and treat yourself to zesty Venezuelan cuisine—malanga tacos with caja china roasted cochinito, vigoron salad, and a lemon wedge. Photo courtesy of Orinoco

Black Ink

Looking for an unusual gift or to reward yourself for your studious efforts? Black Ink has you covered. This eclectic Harvard Square gift shop (you’ll also find one on Charles Street on Beacon Hill) is chock-full of trinkets and fun home decor products you forgot existed but now can’t imagine living without. From earthenware water bottles to specialty bar soaps and hand-sewn finger puppets, every item is crafted deliberately and with care. Add a funky coffee mug to your kitchen cupboard. Pick out a bento box to package your lunch. Or select an apron just to your liking.

Black Ink, 5 Brattle St., Cambridge, is open Monday to Saturday, 10 am to 8 pm, and Sunday, 11 am to 7 pm. Take an MBTA Red Line train to Harvard Square.

Botticelli: Heroines + Heroes at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Lust. Violence. Betrayal. These are the subjects of many of Renaissance painter Sandro Botticelli’s greatest works. Now, you can see eight of his late-career masterpieces at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum through May 19. The exhibition’s signature painting, The Story of Lucretia, depicts the violent act that led to the creation of Rome. Bought by Isabella Stewart Gardner in 1894, it was the first Botticelli brought to the United States, and it’s paired for the first time with its companion painting, Story of Virginia, on loan from Italy’s Accademia Carrara. Botticelli was renowned for his narrative paintings that transformed ancient Roman and early Christian heroines and heroes into role models for Renaissance Italy. The Gardner notes that Botticelli, like contemporary graphic artists, envisioned episodic stories featuring the same protagonist, so it’s paired Botticelli’s works, dating from about 1500, with a series of cartoons commissioned by the museum from New Yorker cartoonist Karl Stevens. His pen-and-ink drawings offer an up-to-date interpretation of Botticelli’s paintings. Admission is free to BU students with a valid ID.

Botticelli: Heroines + Heroes is at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 25 Evans Way, Boston, through May 19. Find hours here.

The Story of Lucretia features prominently in Botticelli: Heroines & Heroes, a showcase of the Renaissance painter’s work at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. Photo courtesy of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Wicked Queer: the Boston LGBT Film Festival

Founded in 1984, the Boston LGBT Film Festival celebrates its 35th anniversary with nearly 50 original films, being screened at several venues in Boston and Cambridge, among them the Institute of Contemporary Art, the Bright Family Screening Room, the Brattle Theatre, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Special guests—directors Ruth Caudeli (Second Star on the Right) and Ryan Lonergan (Kill the Monsters) and producer Stefano Gonzalez (Transfinite)—will attend the world premiere of their films.

Wicked Queer: the Boston LGBT Film Festival runs until April 7. Tickets are $8 to $13. Find a complete list of films, locations, and screening times here.

Amos Lee at the Orpheum Theatre

Fans of singer-songwriter Amos Lee will want to catch his performance at the Orpheum Theatre on Friday, April 5, when he arrives in town as part of his My New Moon 2019 Tour. The Pennsylvanian guitarist, a former elementary school teacher, is known for his hybrid mix of folk, rock, and soul. He got his big break opening for Norah Jones. He’s also opened for Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, and Paul Simon, among others. Lee is promoting his seventh album, My New Moon. Appearing with him is Ethan Gruska (of the sibling duo the Belle Brigade), whose grandfather is renowned Oscar-winning film composer John Williams (Hon.’85), a former music director of the Boston Pops.

Amos Lee performs at the Orpheum Theatre, One Hamilton Place, Boston, Friday, April 5, at 7:30 pm. Take an MBTA Green Line trolley to Park Street. Tickets are $39.50 to $69.50. The box office is open 10 am to 5 pm Monday to Saturday. Purchase tickets here.

Graduate student Geoffrey Line (COM) can be reached at gline@bu.edu.