Now is the last chance to store your final summer food memories in your brain until 2026 rolls around.

Here’s my list of 5 sneaky stunners plus 2 bonus stunners I’ve only heard rumors about. And then there’s a weird item you need to see.

Put all of them on your summer food zen bucket list. They will all make you say: “OMGOMGOMGTHAT’SSOGOOD”.

Aalia’s. Oak Bluffs, MA. Foul Moudamass. AND the cinnamon bun.

This tiny little spot has it going on. It is punching way over its weight. Everything on the menu is great. The coffees lean toward the Italian variety - with specialties like cortados, macchiatos, cappuccino and latte. The food has a Lebanese twist. Here’s what to experiment with:

• Foul Moudamass. I know. A weird name. It’s a fava bean stew invented in ancient Egypt and now considered a stable there. The Aalia version is fava beans cooked in a ton of garlic and other spices I couldn’t decipher, served with soft, hot and chewy pita bread. It’s addictive and very shareable. $15.

  

The Cinnamon roll. The baker has been baking this yeast roll for over 20 years and he clearly knows what he is doing. The dough itself is soft and only slightly sweet, like Challah bread. It’s rolled around cinnamon and sugar. After baking, it is topped with a heap of whipped and sweetened cream cheese. I can’t do it justice with words. Just try it. $6.

Beach Road. Vineyard Haven, MA The Hot Dog. And the always weird bonita flakes on the shoshito peppers.

• The hot dog. All summer, I’ve been telling anyone who will listen to me to go to Beach Road Restaurant and order the hot dog. Yes, the hot dog. It’s a perfectly spiced beef dog, on a brioche bun, then covered in a grainy mustard, kimchi, and, to top it off, a handful of fried onion rings. On the side is a pile of thin and nicely spiced fries. Just do it. $24. And well worth it.

• The Shoshito peppers.

The shoshito peppers are delicious. Perfectly cooked and salted. And then topped with Bonita flakes, which are dried, shaved pieces of tuna. When the flakes feel the heat of the peppers, they dance. $14.

19 Raw. Edgartown, MA. The Lobster Salad.

It was lunchtime, a random Tuesday. Edgartown was bustling with tourists sporting name tags and looking for a place to eat. The Atlantic was closed. The line at the Seafood Shanty looked like it could crawl forward for days. And Behind the Bookstore just didn’t appeal. We ended up on the front patio at 19 Raw.

I took what felt like a food risk and ordered the lobster salad. By a risk, I mean I was hoping the lobster wouldn’t be drowning in mayonnaise. In fact, the salad I received was one of the freshest tasting, healthiest feeling lobster salad I have ever had. A mound of fresh, local lettuces like arugula and spinach, baby tomatoes, some sliced watermelon, a little gorgonzola and what looked like meat from an entire 1 pound lobster. And a light lemony dressing. I’m telling you, it was perfect. It’s $34.

Homeport. Menemsha. Lobster Dinner.

Feel the trend? Nothing says summer in New England like lobster. And eating a whole 1.5 pound boiled lobster, with the fixins’, on a deck overlook Menemsha pond, is an experience that cannot be beat. The fixins’ include steamers, mussels, boiled dilled potatoes, an ear of corn, it’s impossible to resist. $69. Pricey, I know.

And while you are there, give the green gazpacho a go. Honeydew, cucumber, what grapes, almonds and olive oil. Slightly sweet, with depth, refreshing. $15.

S&S Kitchenette. Vineyard Haven. Go for the pastries. Stay for the flowers.

S&S is a gem – small, quirky, personal. The counter is on the left and a communal table is on the right. The table is lined with fresh flowers, that are changed weekly. They are worth the visit.

The coffee comes in an old fashion teacup. I love the scones.

They serve dinner as well, but I haven’t made it there yet.

Two bonus extra-secrets.

I haven’t tried these but I plan to:

Covington. Edgartown. The home made root beer.

I’m secretly hoping there is ice cream in it.

Expresso Love. Edgartown. the burger.

And I know - would never think of going there for a burger.

I’m sad summer is closing down. But, as always, when one door closes another door opens.

We’ll have a few more posts from Martha’s Vineyard in the next 6 weeks, but stay tuned for “Eating in Belgium” and “Eating in Miami”.

Enjoy!

Anne

Do you have any sneaky menu stunners you want to share? On the Vineyard or elsewhere? Tell us about it! I’ll go anywhere for memorable food.

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Ten minutes late and the meal is half made.

That’s because Jenny DeVivo, the chef in charge, moves so fast. She darts around, grabbing veggies, giving out assignments, impatiently slicing some of the carrots herself, laughing, telling a joke. “Hello, my friend”, she says in my general direction as I stare around the room, bewildered by the noise and activity.

Cooking with fresh, local ingredients begs for creativity and flexibility.

The class is called “Cooking from the Island: What’s Fresh and What’s Local”. It is held regularly throughout the summer at the Farm Institute.

The title is a bit misleading because Jenny focuses as much on spontaneity as she does on specific ingredients. She’s all about creativity and flexibility and just plain old joy while pulling together a meal with what is fresh, local and in the frig.

This class focused on veggies that are around now: cabbage, lettuce, carrots, mint, spring onions (even though it’s late summer) and green beans.

The goal was to use these ingredients in different dishes. Menu building focused on a taste profile, which I would define as “vaguely Asian”. We basically used peanuts, soy sauce, ginger and honey in different ways.

The evening’s menu:

· Fresh rolls (fresh veggies and noodles wrapped in rice paper and dipped into a peanut sauce)

· A chopped salad with a ginger, soy dressing

· Pork cubes marinated in honey and soy, 3 to a skewer, roasted in the oven

· Roasted green beans and onions

There were no printed or shared recipes. Did I mention that Jenny was all about spontaneity and creativity? There was also not a lot of measuring or complex technique or time-consuming whatevers.

I learned how to make restaurant-like Vietnamese fresh rolls. And so can you!

Ever wondered how to make fresh rolls - those rolls of diced vegetables, protein and noodles served with some kind of peanut/soy dipping sauce in Asian restaurants. They are a healthy treat that feel daunting to make.

Now I know the secret. Buy a package of these discs.

Yes, they look like plastic placements. You could use them for an art project. But they are actually spring roll wrappers, made out of rice flour and water. You can find them in virtually any supermarket. Dip them in water to soften them, layer some sliced veggies of your choice on them, wrap and serve. It is literally as easy as that. The wrapping and rolling part admittedly needs a little practice and yields a lot of shapes:

Clearly, our wrapping skills were not top-notch. But what we lacked in skill, we made for with enthusiasm and humor.

Here’s what we layered in:

• lettuce

• thinly sliced/diced carrots

• thinly sliced cabbage

• thinly sliced cucumbers

• diced mint

• Rice noodles

• scallions

Here’s what it looks like pre-wrapping:

You can literally make it with whatever you have on hand, including bits of pork or chicken or tofu or shrimp.

To make the dipping sauce, whisk or whir these ingredients:

• 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter

• 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar

• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce

• 2 Tablespoons honey or maple syrup

• 1 Tablespoon toasted sesame oil

• 2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

• water as needed

The whole meal - the fresh rolls, the pork, sautéed shoshito peppers, a salad (same ingredients as the spring rolls, just chopped and put in a bowl) and green beans - took less than an hour to prepare.

And at the end, we got to enjoy the fruits of our labors on the farm porch.

If you have any spontaneous recipes using fresh local ingredients, send them along!

Or sign up for a class at the Farm Institute on Martha’s Vineyard if you are on the island:

Farm Institute
14 Aero Ave
Edgartown MA 02539
508-627-7007

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Turns out, yes it was. But. She offered to create an adult class. Just for us.

So I said yes, please.

I was searching for a different kind of activity – one that would be a bit of a surprise and a little off the beaten path for summertime visitors to the island. And ice cream-making at the Farm Institute, a gorgeous property with almost views of the ocean and a constant gentle sea breeze, seemed just right.

On the day of the class, I could tell my guests were skeptical about going. Full transparency, I was too. Maybe it will be a little too childish – despite the “adults only” designation. Definitely fattening. But life is a bit of an adventure, I thought, so let’s give this one a go.

The Farm Institute: a Martha's Vineyard's Hidden Gem

The Farm Institute is a gift for this island. Originally cultivated by the Wampanoag Indians (because every place on this island was settled first by the Wampanoags) and then European settlers, it is a 162 acre working farm as well as a farm-based educational hub.

It runs weekly farming and cooking programs for kids, families and adults. It also leases its land to other local farms. It’s a kick to walk around, pick and pop a strawberry into your mouth, snap off a piece of asparagus, google at the baby cow, and gawk at the sheep, goats, chickens and ducks roaming around.

Custard vs. Regular Ice Cream: It’s a matter of taste. And mouth feel.

But my group was on an ice cream mission.

We walked into the kitchen, a bright, airy and air conditioned space set up with ice-cream making work stations.

The leader walked us through how to make a custard ice cream vs regular ice cream.

Basically, custard is what happens when ice cream goes to culinary school and comes back talking about "mouthfeel." It’s richer and denser than regular ice cream because it’s loaded with egg yolks; it feels more indulgent. And it is.

We watched as our teacher prepared a batch of custard-based ice cream. I’m thinking to myself, “this looks easy enough…not sure why I need her.”

And then it was our turn. She distributed instructions and we all freaked out about what to do first! She walked us through the process step by step. Here’s what we did:

1. Gently combined 1 cup whole milk, 1/2 cup granulated sugar, 2 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder, pinch of salt and 2 cups heavy cream in a saucepan. Simmered and continuously stirred it.

2. Whisked 3 egg yolks and remaining 1/4 cup sugar until ribbons formed.

3. Tempered the eggs with the warm milk. That means we added some of the warm eggs to the milk and then slowly returned the eggs to the saucepan. We stirred the eggs and chocolate milk over gentle low heat until it thickened. The “tell” is when you drag your finger across the chocolate coated spoon and your fingerprint stays.

4. Finally, we cooled the mixture and churned it according to directions. You can add chocolate chips before and/or after churning if you are a chocolate freak looking for double or triple the chocolate-y-ness..

The simple recipe for “regular” ice cream that actually works.

The regular (ie., no eggs/not custard-based) strawberry ice cream was more straightforward. You mix all the ingredients together and put it into the ice cream machine and watch it churn and turn into dessert.

The ingredients are:

• 2 cups whole milk

• 2 cups heavy cream

• 1 cup granulated sugar

• 2 tsp vanilla extract

• pinch of salt

• mashed strawberries - about 2 cups. or to your preference.

We mashed the strawberries growing right outside the window and added it into the mixture at the end.

Despite the very specific ingredient amounts, batches by different teams turned out differently. Some of us put in a little extra cream and, well, then the ice cream turns out creamier. Some of us added more strawberries and well, then, the ice cream turns out more intensely strawberry. Some of us did both (not saying who those indulgent-seeking ice cream makers were…..) but the result won the blind taste test. Just sayin…..

Thankfully, no matter what we did, it turned out great.

I now have a lifetime supply of creamy cold deliciousness.

We each left with a pint or two of our creamy deliciousness. My guests were leaving the next day and couldn’t take the ice cream with them. So, oh no! I ended up with 10 pints of homemade ice cream. That translates into many nightly bowls of the freshest, most luscious ice cream of my life.

What does it take to make ice cream at home?

An ice cream maker. Like this one from Cuisinart and available on Amazon.

The more I eat the homemade version of ice cream, the more I want.

The fresh, creamy taste with no chemical additives is so great, I could become an addict. Give it a try if you can, and let me know what you think. It will put a smile on your face. It certainly put a smile on ours.

The Particulars:

The Farm Institute
14 Aero Ave.
Edgartown MA 02539
508-627-7007
email: thefarminstitute@thetrustees.org
Class costs vary from $16 -$40/person depending on class

When Chef Ting took over a struggling restaurant site in Oak Bluffs , she knew the place required more than a menu update; it needed a total reboot. She started by clearing away the (literal) cobwebs, as well as the disappointments and the failures that came before.

She burned sage to clear out the bad juju. Not once. But four times.

She did it for you. She wants you to be in the right frame of mind – joyful and fresh – when you enter the restaurant.

When I walked into Black Joy Kitchen, I didn’t know all this. But I was immediately struck by the light-hearted spirit of the place. The white walls, the gleaming, ship-wood tables, the hint-of-Morocco light fixtures, the adorable young man welcoming people in and the joyful hugs of neighbors and friends running into one another in this intimate space. It all just made me feel good. And that was before I got to the food.

The menu is a journey through the African Diaspora with its bold and accessible flavors.

Chef Ting weaves the story of the Black Diaspora into her menu, starting with African royalty in 560 BC and traveling with enslaved Africans through South America, the Caribbean and the American South. It’s a story of resilience, artistry, bold flavors, and best loved flavors from grandmas’ kitchens around the world.

Sukuma Wiki: Tanzania’s Comfort Food

We started our journey through the diaspora in Tanzania, trying the Sukuma wiki; basically stewed greens (in this case, spinach) in a peanut sauce. The phrase Sukuma wiki means “stretch the week”, it’s one of those flexible recipes meant to transform left-over food into something new. I would describe it as a deeply comforting and warming food, like a hug for your stomach.

Gullah Red Rice: Carolina’s West African Heritage

Gullah Red Rice is a savory, smokey one pot red rice dish brought to the Carolinas by the Geechee people of West Africa. In America, they worked cotton and rice on isolated plantations along the southern coast, where they retained their traditions, social, cultural and culinary.

The Gullah red rice combines West African cooking techniques with “New World” ingredients, like tomatoes. The result is a satisfying, deeply flavored dish, with the texture of the best paella rice you’ve ever had.

Billionaire’s Bacon Bouquet: Best. Bacon. Ever.

Bacon is generally a love it or hate it item. I’m a lover. And the Billionaire’s Bacon Bouquet, for me, is reason enough to visit Black Joy. Over and over again. First of all, it served in a glass that vaguely resembles a bouquet:

The bacon is thick, deeply smoky and flavored with brown sugar mambo. Mambo is a sweet/tanging concoction, made from brown sugar and, typically ketchup and vinegar. The melted brown sugar brings a caramelly-molasses flavor to the bacon. Try it and see if you agree.

BBQ Meatballs: Unexpected Excellence

Five BBQ meatballs arrive in a molasses, bourbon sauce with just the right dab of pineapple:

Black Joy Kitchen

I’m generally not a fan of meatballs, but this one is a winner.

Other menu items I want to try at Black Joy.

Chef Ting organizes her menu around journeys: The Greens Journey, the Rice Journey, Animal Safari. It’s a clever organizational device. And it truly reflects her approach to food: a journey to new flavors from places seen through fresh eyes.

When I return, I want to try the Jollof Rice from Ghana, to see how it compares to the red rice as well as the whole piri piri snapper from Cape Verde and the Sya Honey drumstick chandelier from Cameroon.

Black Joy Kitchen Particuliars

Location: 7 Oakland Ae., Oak Bluffs, MA 508-338-7750
Cuisine: African Diaspora, Traditional American
Our dinner for 3: $215.76 , including tax and tip for the following:

• BBQ Meatballs

• Gullah Red Rice

• Billionaire's Bacon Bouquet

• Sukuma Wiki

• Awaze Scallop

• Eritrea House of Brown Wine

• 2 Mixed Drinks

Visit Black Joy Kitchen for an authentic taste of African diaspora cuisine in the heart of Oak Bluffs' dining scene.

Want to know more about food on Martha’s Vineyard:

Read about a 5-stop Martha's Vineyard food tour that tells the history of The Vineyard, bite by bite.

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Recently my friend Sue asked me to attend a history lecture about Martha’s Vineyard. Well, I thought, I’m better than my high school self and maybe it could be interesting and if wasn’t, well, we could bolt the lecture and go out to dinner.

A History Lesson Worth Staying For

It turns out that Bow Van Riper, the research librarian at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum, had me at hello. He doesn’t do dates and battles. He tells stories. Thematic ones.

With a sly sense of humor and a wealth of knowledge, Bow weaves a tale of faith, art and community throughout Martha’s Vineyard history. Taking notes as he spoke (I might have hated history class, but I was always a good student), I kept whispering to myself: “oh that’s why the island attracts so many artsy people” and “oh that’s why there are so many churches in Vineyard Haven”.

Being food obsessive, I also started thinking about how food connects the dots between today and yesterday’s life on the island.

All of which led me to this: a five-stop food tour (+one bonus extra stop) that traces the island’s history, one delicious bite-by-the-next.

1. Orange Peel Bakery: Wampanoag Spirit in Every Slice

Location: Aquinnah | Best for: Pizza nights, bread, community, the spirit of Wampanoag Indians past and present.

The Wampanoag people lived on this island for thousands of years before the British came. Their legacy lives on in the earth and at Julie Vanderhoop’s Orange Peel Bakery.

Julie is a Wampanoag tribal elder and a member of her town’s Board of Selectmen. Her feet are firmly planted in these two cultures and her bakery embodies that melding.

The Wampanoag lived off the land and the sea and with values that privileged respect and community. As Julie says, “it is community that will feed your soul.”

Step foot on the property and you can feel these values at work. A huge outdoor stone oven welcomes you with the scent of a campfire. Julie bakes pizza in the oven on Wednesday nights in the summer. Bring some beer, pull up a chair, eat communally or take the pizza home. Whatever you decide, it’s some of the best pizza you will ever eat.

Julie’s breads and pies had me oohing and aching. The bakery runs on the honor system; another way for her to bring to life the Wampanoag spirit of building strong community based on trust and caring for your fellow being.

In my mind, these Wampanoag values are the foundation of this island’s extraordinary community spirit.

2. Grace Episcopal Church on Friday nights: Lobster Rolls and Faith

Location: Vineyard Haven | Best for: Lobster rolls, chowder, old-school community

Churches, lots and lots of churches, anchored the various villages on Martha’s Vineyard throughout the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

John Sanders, an ex-slave turned pastor, brought the Methodist religion and its firebrand commitment to community and social justice to Martha’s Vineyard in the late 1700s.

Vineyard Haven, formerly known as Holmes Hole, was the working center of the island because it was - and is - the most accessible port on the island. Its large population attracted churches. The churches competed for parishioners and according to Bow, the Methodists, led by Sanders’ example, were the undisputed winners of the Church ratings game. They were the Elvis Presleys of their day - passionate, energetic, committed to community. Townspeople flocked to the churches to hear the Methodist preachers. The Congregationalists and Baptists? Not so much. They were the Pat Boones of their time: quiet rule-followers, pious without the pizzazz.

Fast forward: today, you can taste the legacy of churches as community centers every Friday night at the Grace Episcopal Church. Come for what many call the best lobster rolls on the island, chat with neighbors and enjoy the friendly vibe.

You’ll also find chowder, pie and hot dogs, served by volunteers and steeped in community spirit. Order online here, walk up on Friday night, or call 508-693-0332 by Thursday.

3. Farmers’ Market at Ag Hall: The heart of island agriculture every Wednesday and Saturday

Location: West Tisbury | Best for: Fresh produce, heritage, and that sheep-meets-sea feeling.

While the island lacks the convenience of Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods and Starbucks (to name my personal favorites), it overflows with farms that can be traced back, well, forever.

Farming and fishing were – and continue to be – the guts of the island. Whaling, too, but all that’s left of the whaling days are the stately homes the sea captains built.

Allen Farm, established in the late 1700s at the same time the Methodists were doing their thing, is the oldest, continually operating farm on the island. Jonathan Allen purchased land and built a farmhouse in 1770. The house is still standing. Records about who he purchased the land from and for how much are very sketchy, so you’ll have to imagine what that land deal might have been like. Today, sheep roam the property and the shop sells beautiful woolens.

In the mid-1800s, the Allens banded together with other local farms to create the Agricultural Society, because:

The Society built Agricultural Hall, an important site in the middle of the island. If you want to get a taste of all that the Vineyard produces from land and sea, visit the Wednesday and Saturday Farmers’ Markets at the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury.

All the farms are there.

For a special treat, check out the scallops from the Martha Rose, a local scallop fishing boat. They are, IMHO, the best in the whole entire world.

4. Chili on the ferry: Comfort in a Cup.

Love ‘em and hate ‘em, the ferries were - and are - a critical part of island life, both the life-blood and life-line.

In the 18^th and 19^th centuries, the waterways around the island were teaming, the boat traffic comparable to Route 95 around Boston at rush hour. The ports, and especially Vineyard Haven (Holmes Hole) were truck stops for the crews.

In 1817, coal-burning, steam wheel-churching passenger boats arrived. These boats brought summer people and summer people brought money. With the summer people came the desire to build resorts. Oak Bluffs is the only MV town built to be a resort. which was the stimulus behind building Oak Bluffs, the only MV town built as a summer playground.

The Ro-Ro (meaning roll on-roll off) boats arrived in 1923. For the first time, cars could roll on and roll off the boat. Oh my goodness, that brought even more summer people! And their cars!

Nothing warms my soul on a Ro-Ro trip to or from the island like a cup of ferry-chili. Hot and spicy and full of beans and onions and a little burger, it’s the perfect comfort food.

Maybe, someday, the powers-at-be will re-brand the perfect taste treat “Ro-Ro Chili”.

5. Giordano’s and Homeport: where restaurants on the island began.

Locations: Oak Bluffs (Giordano’s) & Menemsha (Homeport) | Best for: Pizza and pasta at Giordano’s; lobster and other seafood at Homeport; old-school island vibes at both

The 1800s brought summer people, a mania for self-improvement and a desire for a more perfect world. Interest in wellness, lifelong learning, lectures and salons lured artists and playwrights and poets and novelists to the island. The beauty, the peace, the quiet, the light, the mood are a creative cocktail.

Sadly that creative cocktail had no public landing spot until the 1930s. That when the first restaurants - real ones, with menus and a wait staff - emerged on the island. Before that, taverns and inns served set fare to travelers, but places that focused on food and conversation were missing.

Giordano’s and Homeport are the two oldest-standing restaurants on the island. Giordano’s is the OG of Oak Bluffs: red sauce, pizza, family-style everything. Homeport, in Menemsha, brings seafood, sunsets, and lobster rolls, a feel of ocean breezes and the taste of summer freedom.

Bonus Stop: The Sweet Life (Literally).

Want a place that blends food, art, and the Vineyard’s long-standing obsession with self-improvement? Sweet Life Café in Oak Bluffs hosts intimate author dinners where the conversation is as nourishing as the meal.

Final Thoughts

Martha’s Vineyard is, and always has been, about faith and farming, the arts and, most of all, community. To understand the history, you could bury yourself in books. Maybe memorize a key date or two. But I were you, I’d follow the food. Because history isn’t something you learn from a textbook. It’s a story you can actually experience, one bite at a time.

For other stories about experiencing history, bite by bite, check out

Traveling through a wormhole in Monemvasia, Greece, gave me a chance to see, hear, taste, smell, and touch a bit of the past.

Cook and eat with locals when you travel! Tasting the history of Crete with Ozlam and Traveling Spoon.

I love your comments! Feedback! Requests! Leave any and all here!

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The Specifics:

Orange Peel Bakery
tel:+15086452025
682 State Rd, Aquinnah, MA 02535
julivanderhoop@gmail.com

Grace Church Lobster Nights
P O Box 1197
Vineyard Haven, MA 02568
(508) 693-0332

SteamShip Authority
Schedules available.

Giordanos
18 Lake Ave.
Oak Bluffs, MA 02557
508-693-0184Ho

Homeport
Menemsha, MA
508-645-2679

Agricultural Hall Farmer’s Markets
35 Panhandle Rd.
West Tisbury, MA
Wednesday and Saturdays, 9 - noon

Recently, I put on my big girl pants and went out alone to eat, alone, twice in one week. Not to grab a quick sandwich, but to eat a dinner and try a new drink. And here’s the thing: each event was a blast in its own way: communal enough and definitely satisfying and liberating. I’m already looking forward to “next time.”

Beach Road on Martha’s Vineyard: The Best Hot Dog on MV and a Warm Welcome Home

There’s a briny Vineyard bite in the air as the ferry pulls into the Vineyard Haven Steamship terminal in Vineyard Haven. The sky is that lovely lavender-blue color reflecting off the water. I’ve been gone all winter and it feels good to be back.

I go home, drop off my bags, and start thinking about my stomach. I am hungry and the house is food-empty. I could go to the Stop ‘n Shop, but I don’t want to. I want to mark my return with something a little special.

So I take myself to my favorite restaurant on the island: Beach Road.

I’m secretly hoping to see someone I know (how fun!) and just as secretly hoping I won’t (is it sad to be solo?)

Inside, the place is buzzing. Every table is taken. I slide onto the one lone stool at the bar. The menu feels pricier than I remember, even after living in Miami all winter. I order my favorite glass of wine, a Nebbiolo ($15), and—to offset my sticker shock —the cheapest meal on the menu: the hot dog. Price: $24.

Except it isn’t really a hot dog.

It is steak disguised as a hot dog. The meat is Black Angus from 44 Farms in Texas, a place where cows are raised with care and the people have been ranching the same land for over a century.

The “steak dog” was hot and juicy and spicy with a crispy skip. It sat in a soft brioche bun and was topped with kimchi and mustard. I’ve been on a kimchi kick lately (take a look at Peter Kim’s hangover soup from the NY Times and you’ll see why). This kimchi-addition brings a little crunch and chew, fire and funk, to the delicious dog.

The pile of fries on the plate are everything fries should be: crispy on the outside, tender in the center, properly salted. The bartender tells me they soak the potatoes “just the right amount of time” to pull out the starch, then double fry and salt them. Nothing fancy. Just done right.

There is absolutely nothing healthy about this meal, which is definitely part of its allure.

And I do run into a friend, with whom I have a happy reunion. And I chat with a film producer and his wife, a designer who are sitting next to me while I munch on fries.

So solo at Beach Road can be pretty great. And I am home, tucked into bed by 9:30, feeling liberated and content.

Mezcal Magic at Sweet Life, Martha’s Vineyard

A few days later, Sweet Life, an Oak Bluffs restaurant housed in a rabbit-warren of rooms in an old Victorian house, sends a late afternoon email. “Andrew and Filipe from Yola Mezcal are taking over the bar, bringing with them their own flair and cocktails….one night only.”

I have a thing for Mezcal and want to go. All my friends have other plans. So I think, “what the hell, I can just go by myself”.

The plan is simple: Go early. Try one drink. Ask questions. Be home before dark. So I collect my courage (because going to a bar solo seems scarier than going to a restaurant solo) and drive over.

It is early and quiet as I walk in; I am one of three at the small bar; the vibe is laid back, welcoming, totally comfortable. Filipe and Andrew, the mezcal experts and bartenders, have time to share mezcal basics as well as the particulars of their brand, Yola Mezcal, with me.

They explain that all tequila is mezcal, but not all mezcal is tequila. Both are made from the agave plant. Here’s the difference:

• Tequila is made from one particular type of agave plant: blue agave, which is known for its high sugar content.. Mezcal can be made with 30 or 40 different types of agave (the number of types depends on the your source of information, evidentally!).

• Tequila and mezcal are made differently . Tequila is generally cooked in ovens or steamed while Mezcal is smoked in underground pits. Mezcal tends to be earthier, smokier and more robust than tequila.

This night at Sweet Life is all about Yola Mezcal, a mezcaleria in Oaxaca owned and operated by women….a pretty special situation in Mexico.

Yola Jimenez is the central figure at this distillery. She is a Mexico City native who inherited her grandfather’s mezcal farm. She now has two other (female) partners and they are committed to preserving the traditional mezcal techniques while promoting the economic independent of women. Workers at the farm are all women.

The drinks that are being showcased at Sweet Life are pretty special. Not too sweet. Not too acidic. Formulated with interesting ingredients.

I have the Fresca Verde, a perfect combination of Mezcal, cucumber, cardamon and citrus. It is perfectly blended, cool and refreshing.

As I finish the drink and my endless questions, the Yola men-behind-the-bar offer me a drink of Yola Pechuga. Pechuga literally translates to chicken or turkey. It is a very special kind of mezcal created through a third distillation process, where a raw chicken or turkey breast is suspended in the still along with fruits, nuts, herbs, and spices. It sounds gross. But it is pretty great. The drink is surprisingly clean with a complex, nuanced flavor profile.

I loved it and plan to give it as a gift to a Mezcal lover I know!

My Bottom Line on Solo Eating and Drinking. Or rather Ruth Reichl’s bottom line. Because she said it better.

Ruth Reichl, a famous food writer, says in her book, Garlic and Sapphires:

In other words, dining alone is an act of solitude in the best possible sense. It can be an opportunity for self-discovery, mindfulness, and indulgence (I’m talking to you, hot dog and fries!)

So, if you are reading this, give it a go. And let me know what your experience is like.

Cheers, Anne

Beach Road
79 Beach Road
Vineyard Haven
Martha’s Vineyard
508-693-8582
info@beachroadmv.com

Sweet Life
63 Circuit Ave.
Oak Bluffs, MA 02557
508-696-0200

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We, the full-time, year-round Islanders, are hunkered down with Netflix. The wood burning fire place makes us cozy and dozy.

And yet even we hearty Vineyard souls need to get out of the house sometimes, to literally break bread with friends and share a laugh or two or three or maybe even four. And some gossip.

Vineyard Haven, or Tisbury, is one island town that stays alive during the off season. I recently ate at two coffee shops that help keep the winter blues away. If you are on island, or planning to visit, make these your go-tos!

Catboat Coffee, in the Tisbury Marketplace..

Catboats are a New England thing. Invented in Massachusetts, they are much beloved because they are small and stable and can navigate tricky waters easily.

Like the original catboat, Catboat Coffee is small, stable and highly lovable. They’ve got all manner of coffee drinks, including a turmeric latte, which is my particular fave. On a warmer day, the rose lemonade is swoon-worthy. The selection of breakfast sandwiches, flatbreads, salads or bowls, all have a Mediterranean twist. The Lebanese dips like muaramma are as authentic as they come.

My friend got the sausage, egg and cheese on an English muffin while I had the Breakfast Bowl, which is lettuce, tomato, cucumber, olives, avocado, eggs, and pita chips with zaatar and olive oil with either hummus or Labneh (strained greek yogurt).

My friend’s full-of-protein breakfast sandwich tasted amazing, she said. The english muffin was definitely hearty, not thin. And the sausage, egg and cheddar cheeses were the perfect combo.

I started to have a bit of sausage/egg envy until my Breakfast Bowl arrived. It’s a super healthy breakfast and salad; with Labneh, fresh veggies and za’atar, a blend of dried oregano, thyme, sumac and toasted sesame seeds. I loved the Labneh, the veggies were super fresh and everything worked well together. If you have never tried the spice za’atar, try it! It’s a blend of dried oregano, thyme, sumac and toasted sesame seeds.

I also discovered Thursday take-out night dinners. You need to preorder, but they offer dishes like a Lebanese mixed grill which includes chicken and beef kabobs, also a Fattoush salad and Baba Ghanouj.

Can’t wait to try some of these dishes in addition to a couple of their specialty lattes: a latte with warm Lebanese tahini and maple syrup, or a mocha latte with Cayenne pepper. Did I mention the amazing prices?

Breakfast at Catboat for two: $34.

Sausage egg and cheese breakfast sandwich
Breakfast Bowl
2 lattes: $10

Quitsa Kitchen

Knock those warm winter socks off at the new Quitsa Kitchen. For you Islanders, it’s where the old Humphries Bakery used to reside in the Woodlawn area. The first thing you notice when entering is the dazzling wall paper and seating. Who doesn’t love a blue velvet chair?

There’s a large communal table (better for local gossip!) and several cozy nooks in the bay windows. Theresa Manning’s new adventure has both take out and eat in items. They also have a variety of scones, cookies, cheese breads and croissants. Breakfast items include Shakshuka, the blue corn waffle plate, and biscuits and gravy. Lunch items vary from a French onion grilled cheese, to a fire and honey chicken (fried chicken with honey sriracha aioli on focaccia! Yum!!

Conveniently located next to my current work out facility, I come starving, post workout, and the Shakshuka hits the spot. Two eggs simmered in tomato sauce with peppers, onions, and garlic, a sprinkling of feta and served with a warm pita. Great all around dish, and it hit all those important macros details that people care about these days!

Another fave is the breakfast burrito - scrambled eggs, beans, cheese, salsa, scallions with a side of guac.

Next time I will try it with bacon. Oh, and I want the Blue Corn Waffle Plate too: house made blue corn waffle with 2 eggs and sausage patty served with a spicy hot maple syrup.

Aside from the main menu, they sell grab and go dinners such as baked ziti bolognese, house roasted pulled pork, beef stroganoff, mac n’cheese and chicken pot pie. There’s also a variety of salads and take away sandwiches. The sandwich that caught my eye was the fig, brie and arugula with prosciutto- wowza!

Breakfast for two: $33.

Shakshuka
Blue Corn Waffle Plate
Breakfast Burrito: $10

Where to go for brunch on Martha’s Vineyard

Catboat Coffee
79 Beach Road
Vineyard Haven, MA
Open 7 days a week, 7AM - 3PM

Quitsa Kitchen
455 State Road, #9
Vineyard Haven, MA 02568
Open Tuesday - Sunday, 6:30 AM - 5PM

Do you have your own brunch experiences? Leave a comment!

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“The Girls” are my besties from high school. We’ve been friends for (gulp) 45 years. And whenever we brunch, we go to the BDT (Black Dog Tavern). It reeks of comfort and laughter and views of the water drifting to infinity.

Now, being that The Girls Who Brunch have eaten at the Tavern, I’d say, a minimum of 1000 times, we know the menu. That’s what it means to be a local. You know stuff, cuz stuff doesn’t change much. There’s comfort in that. We know what’s coming. We don’t need a lot of the bright, shiney and new. We like what we like, the trued and true.

A cool thing about Black Dog is that all the names mean something. Today, I splurge on the Thank Georges Bank. The name is a reference to the incredible fishing on the seafloor of Georges Bank, off of Cape Cod. My meal consists of 2 poached eggs sitting on a fishcake and topped with Hollandaise. Decadent for sure, with eggs cooked to perfection, and the fatty, buttery, oh-so-rich-and-delicious Hollandaise oozing off the top. The tasty fishcake on the bottom (thanks to the bottom of fish-a-luscious George’s Bank!) is the foundation of this dish. And the Hollandaise is the icing on the proverbial cake.

The Hollandaise brought me back to 1980 when my brother Michael owned a bike shop right behind the Tavern. His best friend Jamie Norton worked on Coastwise wharf, right next door. The two of them would frequently meet up for breakfast. Their favorite was the Egg McDog, a take on the classic poached egg, ham and cheese on an English muffin. But they would only order it on Thursdays and Sundays, the 2 days of the week when the chefs made Hollandaise. Today, the Egg McDog (now called Coastwise) is still available. Every. Single. Day. With. Hollandaise. It’s the comfort of the familiar.

Speaking of the 80s on the Vineyard, locals would often choose an off-the-menu-known-only-to-Vinyarders special called the Loretta. The Loretta was named after Loretta Balla, the owner of the then-grand Seaview in Oak Bluffs. Loretta ran the Seaview with gusto; attracting musicians and entertainers. She was notorious for threatening customers with a bat and breaking up fights by banging a small billy club against a metal pot! Her partner in crime was the infamous Johnny Seaview- a story for another time!

Today, the Loretta is officially on the menu. In 1980, your 2 eggs, toast and home fries cost $1.50. Today it’s $18.

We also ordered the Green Monster (that’s a Boston Red Sox reference for those not from New England) and Back to the Capital (no idea what the reference is here)

If you want to more tastes of the Black Dog Tavern in your own home, check out Anne’s post featuring the hilarious Kate Morris demonstrating how to make the famous Black Dog Clam Chowder. The video is funny and the recipe is awesomely good and easy to make if you are in the mood for New England chowda’.

What we spent: $74, including tip, for 3. about $27/person

Thank Georges Bank
Green Monster
Back to the Capital
Tea
Endless cups of coffee

Where to find it:

Black Dog Tavern
20 Beach Street Extension
Vineyard Haven, MA
508-693-9223
open breakfast, lunch and dinner

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We (a group of friends) decided to take the day to explore the local farm stand scene. We began with a map of the island’s 50 farm stands (thank you Agricultural Society!) but in the spirit of a crawl, we didn’t know where we were going or what we were going to find. We did know we were hoping to find the best of what each farm and each stand had to offer.

Lesson learned: Taking a specific shopping list on a farm crawl is an exercise in futility.

Shopping the smaller local stands is like going to an antique store: you don’t know what you will find, you just want it to be special. Maybe it will be the best tomatoes of the season! or the best corn!

We found these classic fall foods on our tour, for sure. And we found so much more.

We discovered stands with unique personalities and points of view, different kinds of products and different payment models.  Yet they all had one thing in common: they are local, small-town, home grown. It feels good to buy from these farmers and proprietors who are working so hard to care for their land – and for us, their customers.

What we unearthed (pun intended!) on our Martha’s Vineyard Farm Crawl.

Tomatoes (heirloom, beefsteak, baby and big were everywhere. We also found bok choy and honey, sea salt and scones, fall lettuces, fresh lamb, jams and soups, homemade breads, wool blankets, pies and gnocchi. We found unattended stands with honor payment systems that sometime worked and sometimes didn’t. We found a tiny bakery with an outdoor stone fire pit and chimney; they are known for their pizza, if you can only figure out when the pizza is going to be made! We found farm stands with gorgeous wedding venues, wool sweaters and hats, and a funky spot with year-round spooky Halloween decorations.

As a group of adventuring women open to possibility, we also found a cool little boutique filled with on sale summer dresses.

If you go on Farm Crawl, you’ll find something different. That’s the beauty of the experience. Here’s what we found on this special little island off the coast of Massachusetts.

Welcome to Farm Crawl 2024 (Martha’s Vineyard version).

Ghost Island Farm. It’s owned by a Halloween obsessed farmer who collects creepy stuff and sells a small selection of wonderful foods.

Ghost Island Farm is eclectic, unstructured, off beat. It is run by a free spirit named Rusty who collects creepy Halloween related items.

It’s also a pretty great place to shop. It offers a different kind of CSA (Community Supported Agriculture System). You pre-pay a set of money, say $100. It’s like putting it on account. In return, you get a 10% discount on everything you buy, whenever you buy it, plus the ability to walk in the flower fields and pick your own. For free. They supply containers, clippers and water.

Ghost Island was a bonanza for us. The flowers were the best! The tomatoes were on sale. There was garlic hanging from the ceiling and sprouts growing in containers. The bread is great.

Allen Farm. This beautifully landscaped farmstead sells gorgeous wool items and a some of the best lamb you may ever eat. Oh, and it’s a wedding venue too.

We knew something was different about Allen Farm the moment we drove in. Its grounds (yes, I’d call them grounds!) are immaculate and cared for; it oozes substance and history. Its six acres include manicured lawns, a wedding venue overlooking the water, and a working farm that has been operating continuously since 1762. There’s nothing ramshackle or quirky about this place.

The farm stand label feels like a misnomer. While most of the farm stands have a ramshackle quality, this one is well attended, well organized, well cared for. The products come from the sheep raised on the land: beautiful wool skeins, sweaters, blankets, hats and fun baby clothes. Off in the corner is a small somewhat disorganized cooler, where the farm-raised lamb is sold.

Orange Peel. A farm stand featuring a large stone fireplace/pizza oven that sells knock-your-socks-off breads and scones and cookies.

The Wampanoag tribe were the original settlers on Martha’s Vineyard. This bakery, owned and operated by Julie Vanderhoop, builds on her tribal heritage. With an eye towards building community, Julie makes delicious breads, pies, muffins and scones. Thanks to the stone enclosed wood fired oven she commissioned, you can stop by for pizza. This bakery is on the honor system and it works! Because sometimes you really do get what you give.

Beetlebung Farm. Beetlebungs are cool trees that grow around here.

Beetlebung Farm is a small farm committed to regenerative farming. That’s worth noting because regenerative farming is a small and steadily growing movement that works to literally “heal” the land and the climate by using a fairly big box of techniques, some of which have been around a long time, while others are new and technologically driven. Beetlebung is a no-till/low-till farm, a technique which tries to increase the organic matter in the soil and reduce erosion.

The farm offers both farm grown items as well as some pre-packaged items, like blue cheese stuffed gnocchi.

I really wanted the gnocchi (pan fried gnocchi is addictive) but I couldn’t figure out how much it cost or how to pay for it. I couldn’t find it listed in the self-serve pay station. So I bought some bok choy instead and moved on!

North Tabor Farms. Another farm owned by a family who cares about keeping the land safe and healthy.

This 6 acre family owned farm is committed to the health of the land and the community! It is another unattended farm-stand where you are on your honor and have to figure out how to work a payment system that is just hard to figure out! The veggies were luscious! The pay stations are confusing but so well-intentioned you have to embrace them.

Wondering what happens when you get home after a hard-day farm-standing!

You make a dinner with your “haul”! Totally worth it!

Where to find these farmsteads:

Ghost Island Farm
27 Davis Look Rd.
West Tisbury, MA 02575
508-693-5161

Beetlebung Farm
521 South Road
Chilmark MA 02535

North Tabor Farm
4 North Tabor Farm Road
Chilmark MA 02535
508-645-3311

Allen Farm
508-645-9064

Orange Peel Bakery
22 State Road
Aquinnah MA
508-864-2025

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1. The Food: a modern spin on traditional diner.

Let’s talk avocado toast first. You may love it or hate it – but I know you’ve had it. It’s ubiquitous. I’m an unabashed lover. I order avocado toast all the time. I also make it at home almost every morning. Call me an avocado toast expert. And I award the Art Cliff Diner Avocado Toast a golden ticket to the finals, a 10 on that 1 – 10 scale, a winner in the best avocado toast in the universe contest.

The ArtCliff version scores so high because it’s got it all: presentation, taste, uniqueness. It arrives looking all bright and red and yellow and cheery. It just made me happy to look at it.

The warm toast had a smear of goat cheese. Sliced (not smushed) avocado and those luscious tomatoes sat on top of the cheese. The uniqueness came from a dribble of nut pesto.  Nut pesto is a bunch of nuts (in this case, Brazilian, walnut, almond, I think) ground up with oil and salt and used like salad dressing. I’d never heard of nut pesto but I am now a fan. It gave the avocado toast this slighty nutty undertone. 10 stars for sure.

Next up: grilled corn beef sandwich with fries.

The traditionalist at our table ordered this classic. I’ve never ordered a corn beef sandwich in my life. I think of them as salty and fatty and just plain bad for you. But this one was – not that. It tasted of the cured beef but was neither salty nor fatty. And the rye bread wasn’t too rye-y. The fries…well, it’s hard to go wrong with fries.  These are the skinny kind. They weren’t crispy but they were hot and perfectly salted.

Looking for healthier options? The resident health nut at our table was overcome with a case of “Back-to-School” syndrome, i.e., a yearning for routine and better health after a summer of too much fun. The Andean B-Vitamin Recharge hits that spot. It’s quinoa, sweet potato, red pepper, broccoli and Swiss with two eggs. It’s all things good for you in a bite.

The final touch for everyone was the peach scone: tender, flakey and moist with a golden crust and a small melon-ball scoop of soft butter.

2. The Vibe.

It’s retro, it’s artsy, it’s got a rebellious diner charm; it feels like it’s been around forever, yet still knows how to keeps things fresh and unexpected. There’s quirky art, a satisfying energy and a funky, slightly offbeat attitude. It’s got the soul of a retro roadside joint mixed with artsy island grit and a sense of fun and adventure. I love it.

The place has been around since the 1940s but Gina, the current owner/chef, just renovated it to reflect her indomitable spirit.

3. The Chef

Gina Stanley is a classically trained chef with a presitigious resume. Trained at the Culinary Institute, she continued her education working at LesPinasse, the most expensive Washington DC restaurant AND the Blair House, where all dignitaries visiting the White House stay. Looking for a new challenge, she started looking for a diner to buy on Nantucket, where she had cooked for four years. She found her diner, but it was on a totally different island, visited in winter, and bought into the place.

What I love about Gina is her willingness to follow her instincts and try new things. For example, she recently saw an 8 foot tall spruce tree at a garden store. She loved it and bought it for $300. It’s sitting in a pot outside the diner. Now she wants to bring it inside. Why, you think?

A: “It will be fun to decorate for Christmas.”.  

Q: But how are you going to get it in, Gina?”

A: “I don’t know. We’ll figure it out”

That sums up Gina – her creativity (let’s just try this…or that…), her world view (so full of possibilities!), her aesthetic (eclectic with a twist of vintage) and food (just damn good. Better than good actually. The kind of great that makes you want to go back again and again.)

It’s the creativity that drives her to create new menu items, continually improve the diner and bring cheer to so many people.

She certainly made my small group of eaters extremely happy!

Plates and Prices: $94.05 (including taxes/tip). $31.35/person

Grilled Corn Beef with fries
Avocado Toast Special
Andean B-Vitamin ReCharge
Peach Scone
3 Ice Teas

The Particulars

Art Cliff Diner
38 Beach Road
Vineyard Haven MA
508-693-1224
artcliff@msn.com

Want more like this?

Here’s a link to a post about another great informal diner-ish spot on Martha’s Vineyard: Mo’s Lunch. Check it out!

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Let’s say you are looking for a new place to eat. Something unique, a little different, off the beaten path, a hidden gem.. You google “hidden gems” and the recommendations that you get are all the places that everyone knows because they are in all the guidebooks. On a small island like Martha’s Vineyard, the situation is even worse: the universe of restaurants is small and fairly steady; there is little that is not publicized.

But!! Occasionally the real deal hidden gem emerges – a somewhat unknown venue with rare and distinct sensibilities.  Mo’s in the PA Club on MV is one of those rare places.

Mo’s is literally hard to find.

Mo’s is hidden in the PA Club, a.k.a the Portuguese American Club. The PA Club is, itself, a hidden gem, a 90+ year old membership organization committed to the local community. On the outside, it’s a simple-looking place; on the inside, you’ll find good works and good times!

The PA Club awards scholarships to local youth, provides a place for memorial services, hosts fundraisers and other community events, and is generally associated with good will.

Part of the good-will is the bar. It vaguely resembles Gilly’s, the quintessential townie bar in Urban Cowboy, the movie where where John Travolta dances and Debra Winger rides a mechanical bull.

No mechanical bull at the PA club, but there is live music, an even livelier bar (where the most expensive pinot noir sells for $7.50 a glass) and pool.

And then there’s Mo’s Lunch, a knock your-socks-off kitchen where Mo (that’s short for Maura) produces great and messy food you can eat-in or take out.

I went to Mo’s on quiet’s evening, with a small group of friends. We walked into the main room, a community center where the tv runs a loop of the traffic in a key town and tables are spaced wide apart.

We walked across the room to the counter to order our food.

I ordered the ban mi fish sandwich, the waffle fries and the largest shortbread cookie you’ll ever see. (Mo’s is well known for its large portions.)

The sandwich of fried filet of haddock, some bluefish mash, pickled carrots and onions, cilantro and fresh chewy bread was so big, I could barely take a bite. But I did - thankfully. At the beginning of the bite, you taste the mild fish and pickled veggies, then the doughy bread. It finishes a peppery kick. The all-together bite is a bit of mouth magic!

And the waffle fries! Waffle fries are a southern specialty. I look at them and wonder “how did they do this?”. Some googling around explained they are made with a special attachment to a mandolin. Waffle fries are amazing because their shape holds spices so well. These waffle fries are as satisfying as they come. They are crispy, salty, with soft chewy potato-y inside. The taste lingers longer than ordinary fries.

For dessert Mo’s offers the largest $5 cookies you’ll ever find. I love the shortbread cookie with sprinkles that tastes a bit like wedding cake. I took the picture on the measuring tape so you can get a sense of its dimensions!

We enjoyed our dinner in the bar.

It feels like eating in the high school cafeteria, but with beer, wine and the occasional vodka and tonic.

If you want to know more about Mo’s, here’s a fun 6 minute video featuring Mo (aka Maura Martin). If you meet her, she’ll tell you the place is full of regulars - Islanders who are teachers, hospital workers, builders, landscapers. They come because they love the huge sandwiches and the low prices. Mo, her partners and staff welcome everyone, from regulars to one-time visitors, with a smile as big as the sandwiches and cookies.

If you are looking for reasonably priced hidden gem, give this one a go! You won’t regret it.

What I paid: $53.48

fish banh mi
waffle fries
shortbread cookies
2 glasses of “the most expensive” (and fairly drinkable) pinot noir.

Where to find it:

Mo’s Lunch
137 Vineyard Avenue
Oak Bluffs, MA 02557
508-687-9744
info@moslunch.com

Know of hidden gem? Leave a comment so we can all go to it if we can! (I know; it seems like heresy to promote hidden gems….and still…it’s a win/win situation, don’t you think?)

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Every time I walk in, I fall in love with the place. The short darkish entryway that opens up to a spacious dining room. High ceilings and funky vaguely nautical lights bathe the room in a mellow glow. A wall of windows overlooks green marsh and the Lagoon Pond. It’s warm and cozy and light and summery all at once.

This place is busy. All the time. An energetic buzz makes you feel part of an interesting cocktail party and yet nothing impedes or overwhelms your own conversations.

Chris, the manager, greets all the guests with a just-right mix of cordiality and calmness. Everything feels under control. A particular shout out to Adrienne and Taryn at the bar for making every single “walk-in” person feel welcome. They welcome you with a smile and make an extra effort to find you just the right drink.

Jim Murrin’s epic summer painting of a man at the beach on a perfect summer day oversees all the tables. It sets the tone: looking forward to something pretty great.

The menu is simple and short.

A few signature items (I’m talking to you, fried chicken cornbread and fries) really rise to the top of my favorite-things-to-order list, while other offerings switch in and out with the seasons and, presumably, the chef’s interests.

If you go, make sure to order the corn bread. It’s worth a trip to the island just to bite into it!

Seriously. It arrives hot and moist, but not heavy, in a cast iron pan with salted honey butter on the side.  It is so fu@%ing good you can’t believe it.

Cornbread backstory: One of the secrets is the cornmeal: a fine grind white cornmeal from Anson Mills in Columbia South Carolina. Anson Mills is the lovechild of Glenn Roberts - a guy with a restless and curious spirit who played the French horn for the San Diego symphony, flew planes for the Air Force, sailed around the world, rode horses in dressage competitions and drove long-haul trucks for a living. Yup, he’s my kind of adventurous guy.

Somewhere along the line, he dove into exploring the history of food in general and heritage crops in particular. He roamed South Carolina looking for heritage rice, which he turned into celebratory meals.

Driving around the back roads near Dillon, South Carolina, he found a bootletter growing a specific kind of corn known for its high mineral content and floral characteristics. Long story short, he fell in love with it and found a unique way to mill this corn into the corn meal that used at Beach Road. So, thank you, Glenn Roberts, for enhancing the meal experience of those who eat at this lovely restaurant.

And for you who love to cook, here’s the Cornbread Recipe so you can try it at home.

Another must-have: the fries

….at least if you are a fry freak like me.

Fries are my “stranded on a desert island” food and I order them as often as humanly possible. The Beach Road fries are the skinny kind and they arrive hot, crispy outside and silky smooth inside. The herby aioli hits all the right notes. Of course, there is ketchup as well. Don’t you just want to pull one out of that homey wooden box?

The “real food” is great as well.

The fried chicken is a signature dish at Beach Road; it has a crispy perfection to it; it’s not highly spiced or seasoned.  

The Torchio is a curvy 1/2” wide pasta seemly infused with a butter sauce, as well as perfect summer veggies:  zucchini, roasted corn, tomatoes. This dish tastes so buttery and yet fees so light; it’s a great vegetarian option.

The roasted carrots and Brussel sprouts, like the fries, are crispy on the outside and creamy in.

If you are a Nebbiolo lover, try this one (PS: if you aren’t one, you might consider becoming after you give this one a try)

This Fantino Rosso Dei Dardi is a younger, lighter, fresher Nebbiolo that is a great companion to summer dining. The Fantino brothers are known for their Barolo’s but wanted to put their south facing Piedmont slopes to good use so they developed this wine as an alternative. It’s about $20 at retail; a great price for a highly drinkable wine.

What we ordered:

Summer salad
Roasted Carrots
Brussel Sprouts
Cornbread
Fried Chicken
Torchio
Fries
Bottle of Fantino Nebbiolo

The tab: $210.79 BEFORE taxes and tip for 3 people. ($70.26 per person)

If you go:

Beach Road
79 Beach Road
Vineyard Haven
Martha’s Vineyard
508-693-8582
info@beachroadmv.com

“If you have something to say, say it to my face”, as Kamala recently said. Seriously, I’d love to hear from you:

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Thank you for getting this far! Anne

So many famous chefs – Alice Watters, Ottolenghi, Jacques Pepin, Bobby Flay, Anthony Bourdain, the list goes on and on – have published gorgeous cookbooks featuring their signature recipes. These books make me drool with envy. I turn the pages, fantasizing about hosting glamorous dinner parties and serving Julia Child’s Coq au Vin or Gordon Ramsey’s beef wellington; Mary Berry’s Lemon Drizzle Cake would definitely be on the dessert table.

Dreams aside, despite one successful outing with Julia Child’s Coq au Vin, my success rate with famous chef recipes has been in the  single digits. These dishes take a commitment I don’t have and skills and talents too hard for me to master. Plus, as Joan and Ruth and Francis shared, the recipes themselves can be daunting. What exactly does it mean to brunoise a vegetable, or to put tomatoes into a Cambro? Why do chefs measure in kilograms and not cups? You get the picture!

Which is why I am beginning an occasional series: “Home cooks recreating signature recipes”.

We begin with Kate Morris recreating the clam chowder recipe from the Black Dog Tavern on Martha’s Vineyard.

The story of the Black Dog starts with a man, a dog and a boat.  Robert Douglas was an Air Force fighter jet pilot who spent his childhood summers on Martha’s Vineyard. After retiring from the military, he went to Maine and got a job in a boat yard. A curious and experimental dude, he became obsessed with traditional boat building. He ultimately designed and built a 108 foot topsail schooner, which he sailed from Maine to the Vineyard In February 1964. This is what he built:

In 1967, he brought his dog, a black lab he named “Black Dog”1, on board the ship.

Winters were cold and long.  One cold day in 1969, over a bitter cup of coffee and a dry, packaged, store-bought donut, Douglas and his builder friend Allen Miller began fantasizing about how great it would be to have a place on the island where people could enjoy a good cup of chowder and friendly conversation year-round.  The dream became a sketch on a napkin which turned into a reality in 1971 when The Black Dog Tavern opened its doors on the harbor in Vineyard Haven Massachusetts.

It was an immediate success. Everyone said that the chowder was just right.

Flash forward to today. The Black Dog franchise is now an empire of restaurants and retail stores. Its owns 2 tall ships and a non-profit that runs programs for the island kids. You can see people around the world wearing clothes with a black dog logo. And the chowder is still going strong.

Here’s Kate, at the Black Dog Tavern, explaining why she decided to tackle the recipe:

And here she is making the chowder and overcoming the inevitable obstacles faced by the home cook when tackling a restaurant recipe.

I love how this video captures an experimental and inventive home cook stumbling on - and overcoming - the unexpected. The video is a little less than four minutes and worth watching to the end!

Finally, Kate and I went back to the Black Dog so Kate could “taste test” their chowder vs hers. Turns out, both are pretty good!

If you want to try this recipe at home (and I recommend that you do!), click here. It will take you immediately to the Black Dog Chowder Recipe.

I need your feedback! Please tell me what you think about this post and the idea of stories featuring home cooks making signature recipes.

And…..if you would like to be featured re-creating a favorite recipe, let me know by leaving a comment or email me at anne@trustedtables.com:

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Here’s my definition: MFMs happen when a meal is elevated to the level of a memorable experience. MFMs can happen around many kinds of tables with many kinds of meals. The best ones happen when every aspect of a meal melds perfectly and magically.

That happens, for me, when I walk into a space and it’s so special in some way (maybe cozy or quirky or romantic or woodsy) that I feel a jolt in my heart. It’s when I take a bite of something and the taste elicits a spontaneous “wow”. It’s when the wine hits that perfect mysterious note. Most importantly, it’s when all these elements of the meal mash up with deeply engaging dining companions and conversation.

MFMs are like falling in love or laughing very hard. They are physically, sensorily, emotionally nourishing moments, good for the soul, something to look wistfully back on as time goes by. (You do remember Sam singing “As Time Goes By, in Casablanca, right?)

I had an MFM recently at The Homeport Restaurant in Menemsha, a tiny fishing village at the outer tip of Martha’s Vineyard.

Homeport has been part of Martha’s Vineyard for almost 100 years.

Homeport is the solitary restaurant on Menemsha harbor, unless you count the soft-serve ice cream place kitty corner across the street. It’s a large space, with knotty pine walls – the kind of walls that feel so out-of-date in living rooms and feel so perfect in summer camp dining halls. The wood paneling, large wood tables, open windows overlooking the water, all work together to create perfect summer-on-the-beach dining. Outside, a patio and raw bar encircle 1/2 of the building.

If you can come, request the patio when you reserve a table; it’s not an easy thing to get. Some friends and I recently snagged one of those coveted tables. Here we are, kicking off our meal with oysters and cornbread.

You can tell by our smiles and the setting that we are off to a good start.

A little about Homeport

After a pandemic shutdown, the almost 100-year-old Homeport welcomed new owners, Seth Woods and Eric Berke. Woods and Berke are seasonal residents on the Vineyard and established Boston restauranteurs. They have a clear vision for the restaurant:

“We’re not doing anything precious. Locally grown and regionally sourced and paying attention to the craft of it, maybe not necessarily the artistry….keeping it solid, bold flavors, and focusing on the ingredients.”

The goal is “be a local restaurant that’s firmly established in the community.”  It is secondarily a tourist destination.

The prix-fix meal is $83./person For that you get to choose from a lengthy list of appetizers, entrees and dessert. It’s straightforward, honest, local food, presented deliciously and simply.

The town of Chilmark (of which Menemsha is a part) is dry, so we brought a cooler with various wines and beers.

The food looks and feels like the salty fresh air.

Maybe lobster and scallops and green gazpacho and steamers and cornbread and blueberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream just taste better when you are sitting out on the deck, with fun friends, a sun setting over sparkly water. But to me the food at Homeport is just damn good.

I ordered Stuffed Quahogs - also known as Stuffies - as my starter. Who can resist something called a Stuffie! Stuffies are a Portuguese speciality as synonymous with “New England” as Fenway Park, Paul Revere and Sam Adams beer. They are a mixture of diced clams, spicy sausage, breadcrumbs and spices. The briny sea air taste of the clams, grounded in the earthiness of sausage and the comfort of bread, with undertones of garlic and onion and your choice of spices is irresistible on a summer night. If you are interested in making a Stuffie, here’s a great recipe.

Everyone else at our table had something steamed to start. The steamed clams (aka steamers) and the steamed mussels were fresh and perfectly cooked.

The main course menu features all sorts of seafood as well as chicken, meat and a vegetarian option. But honestly I’m here for the traditional lobster dinner: a 1.5 lb lobster, a baked potato, corn on the cob and slaw.

There is just something satisfyingly messy and celebratory about digging into the lobster. Here’s Melinda capturing the essence of the experience:

And then, of course a bit of New England dessert. You just can’t go wrong with a warm blueberry cobbler with vanilla ice cream or the key lime pie.

The foodie in me loved the mango sorbet with tamarind sauce, chili lime tagin and sea salt. The cold, sweet, slightly salty combination is intriguingly refreshing. Tagin is chili and lime seasoning blend. It’s a Trader Joe’s specialty and is great on things like watermelon and avocados!

Bring your own wine!

If you have the opportunity to go to this remarkable place, remember to bring your own wine and beer. My summer wine of the moment is an Italian Rose: rosabella 2023, from G.D. Vajra vineyards.

The rose is made from the Nebbiolo grape, my favorite grape of all time; it’s known for its freshness and high tannins. This 3d generation family vineyard has a cool story. The young owners are looking closely at climate change and the environment, experimenting with bio-dynamic farming, as well as bringing back heritage grapes in the area.

What we spent.

This is a prix course event, so it’s simply $83/person plus tax and tip.

In other words, it’s not cheap. But the servings are well proportioned; you won’t go away hungry. Oh, and we loved Oliver, our young waiter, who couldn’t have been more charming and responsive.

Bottom line

What motivated this post, for me, was trying to capture the Magical Food Moment - the elements that elevate a meal beyond the food. For me, MFMs are the reasons that make a gathering around food so relevant and important!

If you’ve had any Magical Food Moments (and I know you have! We all have!), I’d love to hear about them. Leave a comment in the box below.

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Or send me a message!

The restaurant is off Beach Road, a main drag leading to the town of Vineyard Haven. It’s hard to figure out where the restaurant actually is. It’s part of a marina and everything in this cull-de-sac looks like a place to buy boat stuff. A small, easy to miss blue sign is the only marker.

The steps at the end of the cull-de-sac-cum-parking lot put you face to face with the hostess standing behind the desk on a small deck. The restaurant is a mini-complex, with several small indoor eating areas, outdoor dining on balconies, plus chairs on the beach where you can dig your toes in the sand and enjoy a cocktail. Every table has a water view.

You won’t find any pretension in this place – it’s got a relaxed, wind-in-your-hair, kick-back-and-linger vibe. The service is friendly, but a tad slow. You sometimes worry you’ve been forgotten – but it doesn’t get to the point of irritation.

In contrast to the lobster-shack vibe, the food is very gourmet – with prices to match.

We were a party of three and ordered:

• Goat cheese and pistachio carrots

• Citrus salad

• Tomato feta salad

• 2 olive oil poached halibuts

• 1 sea scallop

• Salted caramel ice cream

• Brea pinot noir

• Minuta rose

• Vodka and tonic

Cost: $380 before tip.

The Experience.

The dinner made me happy – so happy!

Sitting at the quiet table at sunset, breeze blowing in the windows, the view of the harbor and boats in front of us was so relaxing.

Two of us started by splitting the citrus salad. Unasked, the kitchen split the salad for us so we each got a beautiful presentation of the tangy greens and pistachio with just enough blue cheese to give it a unami undertone.

The tomato feta salad was composed and looked delicious – apparently it was so delicious, the friend who ordered it didn’t care to let us share.

The goat cheese and pistachio carrots arrived with a thinned goat cheese spread covering the plate. Roasted multi-colored carrots, high in flavor, sat on the spread; the carrots were sprinkled with pistachios and spices

The the delicacy of the perfectly cooked halibut could bring tears to your eyes. A fairly small piece, maybe 1.5” x 2” long, was moist and delicate. It was served with a a ginger citrus broth poured over the top that added just the right hint of ginger-citrus.

Here’s the sad news. Despite my fondness for the halibut, I had scallop envy most of the night. The sea scallops were so fresh and sweet. They were presented with a fried something – maybe lotus root. It was a high taste dish, with just a perfect amount of subtle Asian seasonings.

The restaurant is known for its wine list but seemed to be having trouble restocking menu items. This was a special night out for me, and I wanted to splurge on a $25 glass of Anthill Farm Pinot Noir, only to be told they were out of it. They substituted a BREA Pinot Noir, which is another coastal California wine. The BREA was pretty great – a medium to deep purple with a pronounced nose, medium body and alcohol, and a long finish. I think the shocker was that the $25 glass came from a $20 bottle of wine, according to what I found on Google. Seemed a little pricey, and yet oh-so-enjoyable.

The Minuty rose was made from black grapes: Grenache, Cinsualt and Syrah. It was a glass of provencal delight - light, pink, off-dry,  perfect for a warm summer night.o

Bottom Line:

I’m picturing a return to Garde East very soon. I want to bring visitors,  explore more of their wine list while my toes dig in the sand, and then stay for a leisurely dinner as the sun sets. The perfect ending to a summer day.

Garde East

52 Beach Road, Vineyard Haven

508-687-9926

info@gardeeast.flywheelsites.com

Make a reservation

Martha’s Vineyard is a rural island full of wealthy summer people, a lot of vacationers, and a year-round eco-system of contractors, construction workers, landscapers, farmers etc. It’s a peaceful, green island of fields and vistas and private parties, political fund raisers, author readings and the occasional pop up show featuring famous local summer residents like Amy Schumer and Seth Meyers.

Restaurants here are run by hard-working, well-intentioned islanders who work hard to eeke out a living in this seasonal economy. The restaurants are great but I have to be honest and say they are also stomach-churningly expensive and hard to get into. Simple entrees can easily run $50/person. Glasses of wine generally start at $15/glass. Dinner runs $150/person. My favorite avocado toast is $18, before tax and tip. It takes for-thought, planning and a big budget to eat out here.

Which is why Mo’s is a huge find. 

Mo’s Lunch lives in the Portuguese American Club, also known as the PA club and the Holy Ghost Society. The PA club is, indeed, a club, and one that anyone can join for $75. It was founded by 6 old Portuguese men in the 1930s. You know it’s worthwhile since it’s been around for almost 100 years. It is both a social club and a benevolent society that runs a variety of events supporting islanders.

Mo’s operates daily out of the main club house. It’s a large room that resembles a community center. It has a few tables/chairs in the middle, a tv that runs a closed circuit camera monitoring a traffic corner in town, a few plants and my favorite, a scale.

Walk up to the window and you are greeted with a smile, patience and recommendations.

We ordered take-out lunch. My hungry daughter wanted to try everything so we over-ordered:
·      Polenta fries

·      Broccoli rabe

·      Lentil curry soup (vegan)

·      An Italian sandwich (definitely not vegan)

·      A choco-cookie

Cost: $64.38 for two people.

This might seem like a lot of money for two people for lunch. But it was so much more than lunch. Here’s what’s happened so far:

• We ate a lot for lunch and hardly put a dent in the food.

• At dinner, we made a pasta dish from the broccoli rabe and some of the meat and cheese from the Italian sandwich. We cooked some pasta and sauteed the rabe and meat in olive oil. We added the pasta and cheese and voila- a delicious dinner.

• For breakfast the next day, we stir-fried some broccoli rabe, left over polenta and avocado and served it with a fried egg.

• For lunch on day 2, we had the soup and some more of the sandwich.

• And we’ve still got ½ quart of soup and ½ cookie left over to enjoy tomorrow.

That’s the part of it that is “a deal”. Now let me tell you about the food.

The polenta: about 2 inch long, ¼’ deep “fries”. Crispy and salty on the outside, hot, gooey, cheesy on the inside. Perfect.

The rabe: well cooked, well-seasoned with garlic and nuts and hot pepper. Very green, very healthy, a hit of spice.

The sandwich: layers upon layers upon layers of various types of thinly sliced Italian meats, a few slices of cheese interspersed, and a hint of red pepper and chopped lettuce, all rolled up in a log about 3 inches thick and snuggled into a loaf of Italian bread.

The soup:  deep, rich curry flavor, not too spicey, with lentils cooked down to a rice-like texture, some red pepper for color.

The cookie: huge, probably 5 inches in diameter,  crisp on the outside, chewy on the inside. Chocolately perfection.

This place is about home-made and plentiful food. It’s a place that reminds me of Cheers, a place where everybody knows your name - or might, if you shared it with them. There’s nothing precious about the place. And the food! It’s hot, it’s delicious, it just feels great to support a small place delivering a great experience at a great price.

I have a lifelong love affair with strawberries. The pure red sensuous shape, the little green handle, the tiny seeds, they hold a brief promise of the perfect culinary moment as well as seasonal joy. Savor it quickly because, like summer, fresh, real strawberries don’t last long.

Strawberries are also a molecular marvel. That sweet/acidic/earthy/caramely strawberry taste is the result of about 350 molecules.  Some of the molecules are incredibly important to the berry taste and smell and others less so. Change them and the strawberry changes. Dial up gamma-decalactone, for example, and the strawberry will start to taste like peaches.

Strawberry season here on Martha’s Vineyard is brief, very brief, like 3 weeks brief. It starts in mid June and ends when Wimbleton ends. But for strawberry lovers, those three weeks are an edible valentine, a moment of zen, an ode to the perfect summer moment.

Strawberry season is also competitive. You have to arrive at the local farm stand, Morning Glory, at the exact moment they are bringing in the berries from the field. That happens about once an hour. Within 5 minutes, strawberry lovers have grabbed all the baskets off the shelf. If you aren’t there, forget about it. It’s an hour wait for the next batch. Last week, I scored with my timing and nabbed 3 boxes.

My daughter, a cocktail lover, was visiting, so what could be more natural than playing around with a strawberry-based cocktail. We thought about a strawberry marguarita but we were missing some key ingredients, namely tequila and Cointreau. But we did have mescal, tequila’s mother and a smokier version of the agave drink. We created something with what was on hand, figuring out amounts via taste as we went along.

Here's what we did: we loaded and crushed these ingredients in a blender:

·      about a cup of sliced fresh berries,

·      2 mint leaves, maybe 3. It was an experiment

·      about an inch of jalapena pepper, with seeds

·      juice of one lime

·      ¼ cup of simple syrup

·      ¼ cup of smokey mescal

·      Ice

We tasted as we went along, to get the balance right.

Then we salted the rim of a glass by rubbing the lime rind on the glass and dipping it in salt. We poured in our drink,deco rated the glass with a cut strawberry and sipped it on the back porch. It was definitely a moment of zen.

Try it and let me know how it goes. Or send me your perfect strawberry moment so we can build the ultimate strawberry-hazed blog of summer loves.