About Us

rolling mill at Paul Revere Heritage Site

Northern Spy is a new New England family restaurant centered around a wood-fired hearth in Canton, Massachusetts. 

Northern Spy, in operation since December 2020, “serves exceptional New England food with soul” according to the Boston Globe. The menu features grass-fed Massachusetts beef, local fresh seafood, and classic dishes like brown bread and sticky toffee pudding. The bar at Northern Spy is known for its craft cocktails, especially the Northfashioned - a our version of a Old Fashioned, made with rye, bourbon, apple brandy, and spice. 

In 2021, Boston Magazine named it one of the top 50 restaurants in and around Boston and the 2021, 2022 Best Brunch South of Boston.

photo of Chef Marc Sheehan of Northern Spy restaurant

Food was always a central part of Chef Marc Sheehan’s life, you could even say it was in his blood: his great grandfather's Boston area bakeries, his grandfather's famous blueberry turnovers, his father's roasts and gravy. This upbringing motivated him to pursue cooking as a career. 

While studying early American history at Holy Cross, Sheehan began to discover a New England culinary tradition that was somehow completely foreign to him. It was at this point that he decided to tailor his cooking focus to his home region.

In 2008, Sheehan began working for the critically-acclaimed Chef Dan Barber at Blue Hill at Stone Barns. During this time, Sheehan also graduated from the Culinary Institute of America. A return to Boston gave Sheehan the chance to work at Menton under Chef Barbara Lynch. These fine dining experiences  inspired him to create Brasstacks in 2011, a somewhat-secretive pop-up supper club. The dinners sold out in minutes.

In fall of 2013 Sheehan joined Bondir in Cambridge as Chef De Cuisine, for the first time creating his own menu and running a kitchen with an ever-changing hyper seasonal menu.

In spring of 2015, Sheehan opened Loyal Nine as Executive Chef and Co- Owner. Named one of the Best New Restaurants in the country by Bon Appetite and Eater in 2015, Loyal Nine also earned Sheehan recognition from the James Beard House as a Semifinalist for Rising Star Chef (2016), and Best Chef: Northeast (2017). Plate Magazine also named Sheehan a Chef to Watch in 2016.

historic signage of revere copper mill

LOCATION: Early American patriot Paul Revere founded the Revere Copper Company in Canton, Massachusetts in 1801. Today, settled along the Neponset River, Northern Spy inherits Revere’s striking brick Rolling Copper Mill. For more than two years, the site has been meticulously crafted with historic materials, a custom French kitchen from Boston’s legendary L’Espalier restaurant, and new copper roof from the current Revere Copper Products Company now operating in Rome, New York. 

The restaurant is nested at the center of the larger Paul Revere Heritage site, a mixed use space that will contain a historical museum, housing, and a rolling town green. Northern Spy features an open sectional dining room, sprawling garden patio, a large separate full bar, and private rooms both big and small for weddings, holiday parties, and feasts galore.

northern spy applesU.S. Department of Agriculture Pomological Watercolor Collection. Rare and Special Collections, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD 20705