Belmont Historical Society welcomed James C. O’Connell, author of Dining Out in Boston. O’Connell treated Belmontonians to a fascinating look at more than two centuries of culinary trends in Boston restaurants, presenting a rich and hitherto unexplored side to the city’s past. Dining Out in Boston shows that the city was a pioneer in elaborate hotel dining, oyster houses, French cuisine, student hangouts, ice cream parlors, the twentieth-century revival of traditional New England dishes, and contemporary locavore and trendy foodie culture.