One of Boston’s biggest names in seafood is returning to a hallowed hall of oysters and lobster rolls. Row 34—helmed by chef-owner Jeremy Sewall—will open a fifth location next summer at 498 Commonwealth Ave., the former site of Island Creek Oyster Bar at the Hotel Commonwealth.
Sewall had been the executive chef at Island Creek Oyster Bar since it first opened in 2010, and left as a partner when ICOB shuttered in 2021. Before that, Sewall had opened the restaurant’s predecessor, Great Bay, a Michael Schlow-led seafood spot that earned national acclaim in the aughts. Sewall was also behind the bygone Brookline fine-dining institution, Lineage. He has penned several cookbooks, including Oysters: A Celebration in the Raw (2016) and The Row 34 Cookbook (2021).
“Returning to Kenmore Square is surreal, without a doubt,” Sewall said in a press release announcement about the news.
The chef and business partner Shore Gregory co-founded Row 34 in Boston’s Fort Point neighborhood in 2013. At the time, they had additional partners, including Island Creek Oyster Farm founder Skip Bennett and Eastern Standard restaurateur Garrett Harker, who both exited the Row 34 group in 2021. Sewall and Shore also have Row 34 outposts in Burlington, Portsmouth, N.H. and Kendall Square, Cambridge.
The fifth location in Kenmore Square will keep up Row 34’s mission of sourcing excellent seafood and matching it with a top-shelf beverage program. Sewall told the Boston Globe that fans can expect Row 34 classics like fish and chips, hot and cold lobster rolls and a daily selection of oysters, “new items, alongside a chef yet-to-be-named.”
After Island Creek Oyster Bar shuttered during the pandemic, Bennett has focused on hospitality at his South Shore oyster farm, debuting a year-round raw bar there as well as the Winsor House restaurant across the street. New York City's Blue Ribbon Hospitality Group has opened Blue Ribbon Brasserie at the Hotel Commonwealth, as well as a now-closed seafood restaurant called Pescador in the former ICOB space.
Harker, meanwhile, has reimagined Eastern Standard in a chic new-build, located off David Ortiz Drive on the other side of Fenway, and opened Equal Measure, a cocktail bar. Harker also unveiled a seafood restaurant over there, the short-lived All That; but it has closed and the space is being reinvented as Standard Italian. (Standard Italian could open as soon as Thanksgiving, according to a representative for the Harker group. Stay tuned for more on that project!)
Row 34 celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2023, and Gregory says continuing to expand the company serves its dedicated employees. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring Row 34 to Kenmore Square. In addition to our excitement about contributing to the fabric of such a storied and dynamic neighborhood in Boston, it also allows us to continue to grow and create opportunities for our incredible team, many of whom have been with us for over 10 years,” Gregory said in today’s statement.
Row 34 is slated to open in Kenmore Square in summer 2025.
