CAPTION 1: Peter and Celia Rait, owners of the Beacon Hill Bistro, stand outside the restaurant's Charles Street location.

CAPTION 2: Bartender Francie Doyle.

Peter and Cecilia Rait live just around the corner from the Beacon Hill Hotel and Bistro, their establishment at 25 Charles Street that has attracted a considerable following among Boston residents and international travelers.
The Raits opened the Beacon Hill Hotel and Bistro in 2000 following a very successful tenure as the owners of a French brasserie in Lisbon, Portugal.
“We weren’t really looking to buy a restaurant,” said Peter Rait. “Cecilia was working at a downtown law firm and we read about the property becoming available. All of a sudden a light went off and the notion of going back to the roots of what we had studied and worked with before, and aspired toward; it seemed to be the perfect conjunction.”
The Raits have been earned praise for creating a small, very fine hotel with a restaurant in an upscale neighborhood, similar to the jewels you’ll see in the best neighborhoods of the top cities in the world such as London, Paris, and Vienna.
“It is unique what we’ve been trying to do – an intimate, full-service hotel, but in this historical context,” said Rait. “Restaurants have always been important to us. The idea was creating a superb neighborhood-based dining establishment and a true boutique hotel that would not only serve the neighborhood, but a larger clientele from around the world.”
The Raits love their historic location that has been the site of a restaurant since the 1930s. “Beacon Hill is the best urban community in America,” said Peter Rait. “And Charles Street is very special,” adds Cecilia Rait.
The Bistro has become famous for its high-quality French cuisine with a local accent. When Jason Bond became the executive chef in 2006, the Bistro ascended to a new level of sophistication. Bond, who previously worked as chef de cuisine at No. 9 Park, has earned accolades and is held in high regard by his peers. The Bistro received Matt Schaffer’s highest possible rating in his July Boston Herald review.
“Jason has really taken the quality of the cuisine to a superior level in terms of his provisioning as well,” said Peter Rait. “We deal with a lot of locally-farmed organic ingredients, and small farms in Massachusetts and Vermont for our different meats.”
While the seafood dishes and, of course, the steak frites have been the most popular items on the menu, diners enjoy a wide-ranging selection of fresh meat and vegetable-based creations. The price of main courses ranges from $24 to $29 while appetizers are from $8 to $14.
“There are wholesale changes at least four times a year but we’ll be changing individual items on a regular basis,” said Rait. “Sometimes you may have a certain fish that’s running for two or three weeks and we want to take advantage of that. Other times there may be certain tomatoes that are available during one part of the summer. We have a rapidly evolving menu that allows us to take advantage of what is wonderful in the market. Our daily specials are the embodiment of that.”
All of the pastas are hand-made and there are three different kinds of bread that are baked daily. Dessert specials top off a wonderful evening of dining.
The hotel has 12 rooms and one in-room suite. Room rates start at $245 per night and include a full complimentary breakfast.
“People coming to Boston can choose a large hotel that feels like other hotels across the country or they have the opportunity to stay in a great little hotel that truly melds into an amazing neighborhood at the epicenter of the city– it’s all about authenticity,” said Rait. “For people who travel a lot, it’s a real break to have this cozy, intimate place where they are recognized each time they return.”
Peter Rait grew up in Buffalo but started coming to Boston biannually to visit his mother’s family. He attended Tufts University, graduating in 1980. Cecilia Rait attended law school in Stockhom, Sweden where the couple first met. They decided to attend a hotel management school together.
“We were oriented toward the restaurant business and we wanted to learn much more about the hotel side of things,” said Peter Rait.
The Raits moved to Portugal where they opened their first business. They purchased an old antique store in a historic part of Lisbon and converted it into one of the city’s most popular finer dining restaurants.
“We were the first finer dining restaurant to have women serving at the table,” said Peter Rait. “Up until that point in Lisbon, men always provided the table service.”
The Raits sold their Lisbon restaurant in 1998. They devoted their full-time efforts to the Beacon Hill Hotel and Bistro upon their purchase in 1999. Cecilia Rait is the head of the Bistro’s popular four-course wine dinners ($55) and does the bookkeeping while Peter Rait is in charge of human resources and other aspects of the business. The hotel and bistro has 35 employees.
The Raits, who have been married for 15 years, have three children, Jacob, 7, and twins Max and Emma, 5. They are active in Hill House athletics and have been involved in The Esplanade Association. They volunteer their efforts at the Hurley School, a bi-lingual Spanish/English school in the South End, where their children are students.
The Raits are enjoying their ownership of Beacon Hill Hotel and Bistro and like being part of the increasingly popular Charles Street business community.
“Charles Street is becoming a great shopping destination,” said Cecilia Rait.
“The Beacon Hill Civic Association has done a great job with making certain that Charles Street doesn’t become another street on which you would see the same repetition of stores that you would see in every city of the world,” said Peter Rait. “We have a lot of great independent shops where you’ll see a different and more interesting selection than elsewhere. I think for anyone visiting Boston, Beacon Hill, which is so special and unique to Boston and the United States in terms of its place in history, should be the No. 1 attraction.”

Capturing family moments, shooting gorgeous weddings, putting Fido in the spotlight, and satisfying business clients all come naturally to Susan Symonds, owner and principle creative of Infinity Portrait Studios on Beacon Street. With more than two decades of photography experience under her belt, Symonds says there is no place she’d rather be than behind the camera. In focus for her this year is building her connections on Beacon Hill, where her studio is still relatively new at two and a half-years-old.
“I’m ready to dig in and create a presence,” she says.
This past Christmas, Infinity provided photographs with Santa at the Hill House during the annual Holiday Stroll. And Infinity will be providing photography for Jail House Rock, the 36th annual Beacon Hill Civic Association Winter Dance. The event, which raises money to support the BHCA's work to preserve and enhance the residential quality of life on Beacon Hill, will be held Friday, Feb. 8 at the Liberty Hotel.
“I believe life is circular, and it’s important to give back,” she says. “This is one of those ways.”
Symonds opened Infinity Portrait Studios in 2005 as a division of Mainframe Photographic Inc., a full-service, primarily commercial business she started more than 20 years ago that is located inside Brigham and Women’s, for which Mainframe provides all photography. But Symonds’ desire to expand into family and other areas of portraiture led her to open Infinity Portrait Studio.
“I was turning 40 and the reality of ‘What do you want to do when you grow up?’ was setting in,” she says.
For Symonds, photography has always been a key part of her life. Growing up in Rochester, New York, Symonds says her father was an avid photographer and long-time employee of Eastman Kodak. When Symonds came to the Boston area to attend college at Endicott, she received a degree in photography and stayed here to build her career.
“I love to work with people, and I love what we do,” she says. “It still feels like magic.”
There’s no “typical day” for Symonds, who may find herself shooting commercial photography for an area business, setting up a portrait shoot for a family pet, or capturing the birth of a client’s baby. She recently began a “Hello Baby” package that has her on call 24/7 if one of her clients is nearing her due date so that Symonds will be able to rush to the hospital to capture the birth on video and film.
“After 21 years in the business, we’ve done a little bit of everything,” she says. “Diversity is a key part of our success.”
And, she says, experience has taught her to find creative solutions to challenges that not every photographer may be able to solve.
“We’re a boutique portrait studio, which is very different from the mall,” she says. “We offer innovative, creative products.”
Making her clients happy is where Symonds gets her highest level of satisfaction.
“It’s really important to me to spend time with the client and do it right,” she says. “What I’m trying to do is create a decorative focal point for their home.”

CAPTION: Virginia Garbers, a former resident of Ridgeway Lane, swings on the dance floor at last year's Winter Dance.

When was the last time you dressed in your finery and then went to jail?
If you don’t think you ever did, or won’t tell, that’s one good reason to get out the black tie and head to the Liberty Hotel on Friday, February 8, for the 2008 Jailhouse Rock, the Beacon Hill Civic Association’s annual Winter Dance. And, the dress doesn’t have to be black, or even striped with white. This time there will be no guards to keep you in line – only some very active dance committee members who are working hard so that you’ll have a rocking good time while serving your jail sentence.
You see, co-chairs Jacqueline Freeman and Sharon Smith and their creative team have planned a swinging jail sentence that will put you behind bars with 350 of your friends and neighbors... No solitary confinement this time - and that’s a second good reason to go to the dance. You’ll see those fun people you decorated the lampposts with but can’t remember their names. And the lady with the two kids you pass on the way to work every morning.
And, just as fun will be getting acquainted with some of the less congenial early residents of the building, once home to dozens of Boston’s legendary inmates including former Mayor James Michael Curley and Frank Abagnale, Jr., the noted forgerer portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘Catch Me if You Can.’ The dance committee plans to tease you with tons of trivia questions, such as what was the crime of the century? Or, who is the Rascal King? Betty Gram? the women of protests? Imagine, an educational component to a black tie event - learning more about Boston’s seedy side is clearly another good reason to come to the dance.
And then, there are the raffle prizes: gift certificates galore from Beacon Hill shops, plenty of pizzas, a 60 day boating pass, tickets to next year’s dance, even a cup of coffee everyday for one year. More good reasons to come.
The evening kicks off at 7 p.m. at a cocktail reception, complete with strolling musicians, on the historic catwalk surrounding the 90-foot central rotunda and cupola of the historic granite building. Constructed in 1851 as the Suffolk Country Jail, it was closed by federal court order as being unfit for prisoners and opened late last year as a luxury hotel following an extensive $150 million acquisition, renovation and construction process. The dance itself begins at 9 p.m. in the ballroom located on the first floor, where guests can enjoy swinging to the music of the Perry Rossi Orchestra, talking with fellow cellmates and dining on an array of desserts far tastier than bread and water.
Part of the BHCA annual appeal, Winter Dance guests contributing $300 or more per person are invited to small dinner parties held in private rooms off the catwalk in the hotel or in BHCA members’ homes. Those who purchase dance tickets only, at $125 per person, can count on heavy hors d’oeuvres at the cocktail party or could consider a casual meal in the restored cell blocks at the hotel’s Alibi, the first floor bar housed within the jail’s former ‘drunk tank,’ or at Clink restaurant, where the wait staff wear uniforms featuring hand-stenciled ‘prison’ numbers representing the 1851 opening and its rebirth in ‘2007.’
To hear more about Jailhouse Rock, call the BHCA at 617-723-9006 or check its website www.bhcivic.org. Because there is another really good reason to come to the dance: It’s a great way to support the organization that helps make your neighborhood a very special place to live.

BHCA co-sponsored with City Councilor Mike Ross and the Beacon Hill Nursery School a Public School Forum to introduce Beacon Hill parents to the John Eliot, Quincy, Hurley and Blackstone elementary schools at 74 Joy Street last Thursday. Above, Martha Pierce, a Garden Street resident who works in the Mayor’s Office, told the group about how well her children had done in Boston public schools. Also, pictured is Councilor Ross.