Happy Tuesday!

• Today, we delve into the state's campaign to make flounder a staple again, yesterday's air travel mess and U.S. News' top-ranked university.

⛅ Today's weather: Partly sunny, with a high of 62 and a low of 50.

📬 Enjoying the newsletter? Consider becoming a member and further support our work.

You're invited: Ajay Agarwal of Bain Capital Ventures will join Axios on stage in Boston next Tuesday for our "AI Across America" event. Register here.

Today's newsletter is 1,006 words — a 4-minute read.

Sāsha Coleman's cooking has filled tables at Comfort Kitchen and earned her a James Beard Award nomination.

• Now the executive chef is using her talents to reintroduce locals to flounder, serving cassava flounder croquettes with shito aioli at the Pavilion Pier.

Why it matters: New England's flounder population has rebounded since the fish market collapsed 30 years ago, but demand hasn't, says Daniel McKiernan, director of the state Division of Marine Fisheries.

Threat level: Despite the ample supply, flounder hasn't caught on because fishermen lose money on it.

• Restaurants rely on cod, haddock, salmon or imported fish, causing wholesale flounder prices across New England to fall below $1 a pound in recent years.
• Some fisheries have given up on flounder, and now fish cutters specializing in flounder are a dying breed.

State of play: That's why DMF is working with the chef's council, of which Coleman is a member, to revive the market.

• Ten restaurants across the state are offering flounder specials through the end of the month as part of the "Flat is Back" campaign.

What they're saying: "I love flounder … it's just something I grew up on," Coleman tells Axios.

Zoom in: She grew up fishing with her family and attended an annual fish fry held for her grandmother's birthday.

• Now she buys fish at the pier to incorporate into her dishes served at Comfort Kitchen in Dorchester, highlighting seafood dishes across the African diaspora.
• "It fits perfectly because it's something local to what we do, but also we talk about the immigrant story, so how do immigrants bring a food tradition here, and how they use the resources that are close," Coleman added.

Where to go: Comfort Kitchen is offering flounder specials, along with Bistro du Midi, Catalyst and Puritan Oyster Bar in the Boston area.

• Davio's is offering the specials in Boston, Lynnfield and Foxborough.
• Row 34 is offering specials in Boston, Cambridge and Burlington.
• Other restaurants include the Chatham Bars Inn, Straight Fish Wharf in Nantucket, the Sail Loft in Dartmouth, Sloane's Tavern at Miraval Wyndhurst in Lenox and three New Bedford restaurants — the Black Whale, Candela Cucina and the National Club Mexican Cantina.

Tell a pescatarian

It's like a scene from "The Office."

• A construction crew mistakenly cut a fiber line in New Jersey, unwittingly taking flights across the Northeast offline for several hours.

Why it matters: The mistake threw air travel schedules into chaos, delaying hundreds of flights at Logan Airport alone.

Catch up quick: The delays started after airports in New York City issued ground stops due to a telecom outage on Monday.

• Transportation officials have been pointing fingers ever since.

State of play: U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy posted on X that an Amtrak construction team "accidentally cut into a fiber line" in New Jersey.

• Amtrak said in a statement that the incident happened on New Jersey Transit property and involved a NJ Transit contractor.
• NJ Transit didn't immediately respond to a call from an Axios reporter.

By the numbers: More than 350 flights were delayed and 50 were canceled at Logan, per CBS Boston.

The latest: Duffy posted before 6pm that the telecom line was repaired and all airports were resuming flights.

Yes, but: A separate ground stop order remained in effect yesterday in Boston due to weather, causing delays of 105 minutes on average, per the Federal Aviation Administration.

Tell a fellow traveler

🤖 Boston Dynamics opened a facility within a Hyundai Motor Group plant in Georgia to train its humanoid robots to build cars. (Axios)

🏙️ Alexandria Real Estate Equities proposed turning Moderna's former Cambridge headquarters into affordable housing. (BBJ)

Lindsay Clancy's attorney asked the Plymouth Superior Court judge overseeing the case to conduct "a limited inquiry" into the juror who became the holdout, leading to a mistrial. (Globe)

A federal judge last week dismissed an ER doctor's case challenging Tufts Medical Center's decision to fire him in 2021 for refusing the COVID vaccine on religious grounds. (Universal Hub)

MIT rose to the top of U.S. News' rankings for best universities in the country, unseating Princeton University.

Why it matters: Princeton had held the ranking since 2012.

Driving the news: MIT led the national rankings, followed by Princeton (No. 2) and Harvard University (No. 3).

• Princeton came in second, followed by Harvard University.
• They were the only Massachusetts universities in the top 25.

Zoom in: Nine Massachusetts schools ranked in the top 100:

• Boston College and Tufts University tied with New York University at No. 31.
• Boston University (No. 34), Northeastern University (No. 42), Brandeis University (No. 59), UMass Amherst (No. 59) and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (No. 73) rounded out the list.

Yes, but: Other Massachusetts colleges got high marks in other rankings.

• Williams College in Western Massachusetts topped the list for national liberal arts colleges.
• Babson College in Wellesley and Bentley University in Waltham ranked first and second, respectively, among regional universities in the North.

Share this story

🍻 Pour one out for Cunard Tavern. The East Boston spot is closing its doors after nearly a decade in business.

🍔 Yeanie's, the Dorchester 1950s-style burger joint, opened a second location in West Roxbury.

🥪 Mike & Patty's is opening in Charlestown where Johnny Pomodoro once was, per Boston Restaurant Talk.

🇫🇷 LPM Restaurant and Cafe opens in Back Bay on Thursday.

Deehan can't stop watching this video.

Steph is not at all surprised that a crew from Jersey is behind yesterday's travel snafu.

This newsletter was edited by Jeff Weiner.