It's Starting
WineFest at the Farm, New in Food, Soda Fountain Revival and the National Press on Belichick's Girlfriend
The sun rose at 5:19 this morning and will set at 7:53 this evening.
Lilacs are nature’s decoration for the next few weeks, after the Kwanzan cherry trees have shed their color in a rain of pink petals. The late booming daffodils are in their final throes of the season, and if you’re lucky enough to have tulips in a space protected from critters, they’ve been putting on quite a show.
WineFest is this Weekend – Does Anybody Care?
The Wine Festival is this weekend, but it’s a shadow of its former self, since it’s been moved from the White Elephant to a tent at Bartletts Farm. When Denis Toner first started the festival in the mid 1990’s at The Sconset Casino, it was an event that welcomed islanders in spirit and affordability.
It moved around in the early years to a tent at Jetties, to the Nantucket Yacht Club, and finally the White Elephant. I met some of my favorite chefs at the festival over the years from Jasper White (RIP), Lydia Shire, Maria Sinskey, Ming Tsai and Gordon Hammersley.
We learned a lot about wine from Denis and the different winemakers he brought to the island. Denis was the master of embracing the philosophy of “the pleasure of the table,” pairing good food and wine with great company. We saw how that played out when he was orchestrating a wine luncheon or dinner at one of the great island restaurants during the festival.
And, we were fortunate enough to experience that on a deeper level when we visited him in Beaune in 2004 for a story I was writing for Nantucket Today.
He hosted fabulous dinners with winemakers in his home, at his neighbor John Hays’ house, as well as at restaurants. Our teenage kids came along for the ride and helped Denis in the kitchen and serving while we all got an education in Burgundy wines. Those were the days.
I think the best thing about the Wine Festival is the boost in business it gives to island restaurants, hotels and guest houses and shops before the summer begins. An infusion of cash and an opportunity for an early tune up for restaurants is a good thing. But as an event to attend? The thrill is gone.
Searching for Deliciousness
May and June are my favorite months to try what’s new on the island’s cuisine scene. In this segment of Near and Afar I’ll only tell you about the good stuff I discover. Let’s start with my new favorite cold brew, which I stumbled on at Straight Wharf Fish.
I love a good, strong iced coffee. And that’s the only coffee SW Fish serves. Icy cold brew on tap in a glass full of crushed ice and a splash of milk is the best iteration of my favorite way to enjoy coffee.
While Straight wharf Fish does a great job with its fried seafood – clams, shrimp, fish and scallops – I’m partial to their roasted salmon over a bed of pea purée and vegetables and their sautéed wild shrimp salad with crispy shallots over greens. The tuna poke bowl with a soy glaze is another healthy alternative that one does not order simply because it is healthy. Whatever I order, I always get a side of the French fries which are crispy and fragrant tossed in fresh rosemary.
I’ve been to the Brant Point Grill several times for lunch since it reopened last month. They’ve done a beautiful job creating a new and expanded bar area on the deck as well as new tables, chairs and décor in the main dining space. But it is the menu and food that has had a real upgrade.
The Thai Crab salad was light and refreshing and something I would order again if I wasn’t famished. The second time I went I was starving, so I got the lobster mac and cheese, which was a sophisticated take on this classic with curly campanale pasta, an unctuous cheese sauce, loads of lobster – including claw meat – and topped with crispy breadcrumbs. It was a huge portion, and I took half of it home for dinner that night. The little gem salad with gorgonzola dressing that my friend ordered was also a good size with cherry tomatoes and bacon crumbles.
Brant Point Grill is pricey, but no more so than any of the other water view restaurants on the island, and you are treated to a beautiful view of the harbor and the comings and goings of the steamship.
Last week I also stopped in on Mother’s Day for a little dim sum at the bar at The Pearl. I almost always find appetizers more interesting than entrees, and so we ordered the shrimp toast, lobster rangoons, pork dumplings, tuna crispy rice and some oysters. High flavor and satisfaction.
The shrimp toast and dumplings were my favorites, but all were good, leaving little room for dessert – but we did try it and liked the chocolate mousse with sesame brittle and cucumber snow. It sounds weird, right? But it was good.
On the Horizon
The soda fountain at Nantucket Pharmacy should be open by the end of next week with all the usual items on the menu: ice cream, frappes, lunch counter sandwiches, coffee and pastry for breakfast and the like. The people who will run it are local, but that’s all the info I have for now from people on the inside.
And what is going on with the restaurant that was Charlie Noble? The building is closed, the sign is down, there is brown paper over the windows and a sad sign in the window directing people to BACK yard Barbeque.
Word on the street is that the lease was up and the operator decided not to renew it. This space has not housed a good restaurant since it was The Atlantic Café, a concept that originated with Billy Hunter after he bought the property when it was Cy’s Green Coffee Pot and transformed it into Nantucket’s first fern bar with a novel menu and a friendly bar.
Everyone loved it. Why can’t the owners of the property – New England Development – find someone who will revive the old Atlantic Café, or give us a restaurant where we want to go?
National news and the girlfriend scene
The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and New York Times are three digital subscriptions on my phone, but from time to time I’ll pick up a print copy of the Journal or Times. I read these papers for their take on national and international news. It’s better reporting than what TV provides.
I was surprised to see in today’s issue of The Times a full page in the Arts section devoted entirely to a story about the romantic relationship between former New England Patriot’s Coach and Sconset resident Bill Belichick – now coaching at the University of North Carolina with a contract that supposedly makes him the highest paid government employee in that state – and his girlfriend, 24-year-old Jordon Hudson, a former college cheerleader.
The story was ostensibly about her participation in the Miss Maine pageant last week, where she came in third. How is that even news? Who cares? She is not a celebrity, outside of being with Belichick, and hasn’t really done anything with her life and is not newsworthy.
The Washington Post also had a good-sized piece on the couple a day or two ago focusing on her interruption during an interview Belichick did with CBS about his new book, “The Art of Winning: Lessons from my Life in Football.” Unless Belichick is a featured speaker at next month’s Book Festival, there’s not really a need to pursue this further, is there?