Nantucket Restaurants 2010?
Jun 6th, 2010, 05:28 PM
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,961
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Nantucket Restaurants 2010?
We are looking forward to our annual visit to nantucket and I was wondering what the buzz was this season with restaurants. Are there any new and noteworthy or tried and true? we usually love The Pearl, the galley, 21 federal. tried Town and Dune last year- thought they were good not great. Would love to get some recommendations for this summer. TIA
Jun 8th, 2010, 02:55 PM
#3
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 375
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
You've already mentioned all of my favorites! There is nothing new that has opened in town this summer that I am aware of (maybe Ackislander can also chime in). Todd English is collaborating on the menu at The Summer House in Sconset (he opened Figs last summer at the old Woodbox). Also in Sconset is the re-opened Chanticler, now run by the owners of Blackeyed Susans. I don't know if you want to venture to Sconsel, though. Some other recommendations for dining in town would be 56 Union (a short walk down Union Street), Blackeyed Susans (they have an early and a late seating and you make a res the same day starting at 5:00) and also Corazon del Mar (from the owners of The Pearl and Boarding House). A new, casual Cal Mex spot is going in to the old Westender in Madaket but I don't know when that will open. You can't go wrong with the places you've mentioned but those are some other suggestions. Be sure to report back, and enjoy.
Jun 11th, 2010, 08:28 AM
#6
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 10,169
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Just back. We ate at the Galley on Wednesday and are going to Corazon del Mar with friends on Saturday.
We enjoyed the Galley, though it was raining and there was no sunset. The place was packed since it is restaurant week, and everyone is offering reasonably priced menus, partly to attract customers and partly I am pretty sure to work out the bugs in the kitchen before the big spenders arrive. I had the salt cod cake followed by braised and grilled short ribs, then their signature brownie with icecream. I have had better versions of the short rib on other occasions, but it was still good. My wife and our friends all had huge portions of skate wing, and I got to help them out! Best of all were highly drinkable wines on special at $25 a bottle. One new development: waitresses this year! Ours was Marcela, from 21 Federal, and she was great.
I loved Corazon last year and pray that it will be just as good this year. We will be a group six foodies, so we should be able to put the menu to the test!
Our go-to place over the winter was LoLa41, which stayed open for lunch AND dinner through the darkest, coldest, most miserable days. I hated this restaurant in its first incarnation. It was expensive, snooty, packed, and very much filled with the kind of people you want to avoid. In its winter presentation, we had delicious food at very moderate to low prices (for Nantucket). The main thrust is Asian fusion (I think) but their burgers, tuna and beef, are fabulous. If I don't go there lots this summer it will only be because I try to avoid scenes.
We heard bad things about Town at the beginning of last season, mostly about the staff, but by the time we ate there Columbus Day weekend, the kinks had been worked out, and we had a good dinner, well-served, despite the place being packed.
This bring up a point of which you are surely aware: every restaurant is different every season, depending on who is in the kitchen and who is in the front of the house. I don't really keep up with kitchen gossip, but I'll post when I eat out happily!
Peeve: I wish chefs would get over their fascination with beets. They were on three menus that I looked at yesterday. Yes, they are pretty, but they taste like dirt!
We enjoyed the Galley, though it was raining and there was no sunset. The place was packed since it is restaurant week, and everyone is offering reasonably priced menus, partly to attract customers and partly I am pretty sure to work out the bugs in the kitchen before the big spenders arrive. I had the salt cod cake followed by braised and grilled short ribs, then their signature brownie with icecream. I have had better versions of the short rib on other occasions, but it was still good. My wife and our friends all had huge portions of skate wing, and I got to help them out! Best of all were highly drinkable wines on special at $25 a bottle. One new development: waitresses this year! Ours was Marcela, from 21 Federal, and she was great.
I loved Corazon last year and pray that it will be just as good this year. We will be a group six foodies, so we should be able to put the menu to the test!
Our go-to place over the winter was LoLa41, which stayed open for lunch AND dinner through the darkest, coldest, most miserable days. I hated this restaurant in its first incarnation. It was expensive, snooty, packed, and very much filled with the kind of people you want to avoid. In its winter presentation, we had delicious food at very moderate to low prices (for Nantucket). The main thrust is Asian fusion (I think) but their burgers, tuna and beef, are fabulous. If I don't go there lots this summer it will only be because I try to avoid scenes.
We heard bad things about Town at the beginning of last season, mostly about the staff, but by the time we ate there Columbus Day weekend, the kinks had been worked out, and we had a good dinner, well-served, despite the place being packed.
This bring up a point of which you are surely aware: every restaurant is different every season, depending on who is in the kitchen and who is in the front of the house. I don't really keep up with kitchen gossip, but I'll post when I eat out happily!
Peeve: I wish chefs would get over their fascination with beets. They were on three menus that I looked at yesterday. Yes, they are pretty, but they taste like dirt!
Jun 12th, 2010, 05:42 AM
#8
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,961
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
LOL, I think with the new Farm to Table rage, beets scream "I just came from the farm!" and are all the rage. But ACK has been Farm to Table forever, so nothing new for it.
Thanks everyone, I think we will just go to our old favorites again this year, and add 56 Union to the repetoire. But ACK, we're not going til July, so I welcome your posts! Thank you!
Thanks everyone, I think we will just go to our old favorites again this year, and add 56 Union to the repetoire. But ACK, we're not going til July, so I welcome your posts! Thank you!
Jun 14th, 2010, 11:46 AM
#9
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We have just returned from a 5-day dash to Nantucket to check out and photograph the restaurants for my column at Examiner.com. (see www.jameswcooper.com for the link). The big change is that the Summer House is now under the umbrella of Todd English and it looks to me like the menu has been dumbed down. If any one kept a restaurant guide from last year where they can scan and send me the Summer House menu page, please let me know.
Other than that: Dune is better than I expected, Straight Wharf is not. Galley Beach and the Pearl are top notch. Another guest staying at our B&B said he was disappointed in the Wauwinet. We'll check this on our next visit.
Other than that: Dune is better than I expected, Straight Wharf is not. Galley Beach and the Pearl are top notch. Another guest staying at our B&B said he was disappointed in the Wauwinet. We'll check this on our next visit.
Jun 14th, 2010, 12:09 PM
#10
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 10,169
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Six of us had dinner at Corazon del Mar on Saturday. We are all fairly serious foodies and thought the meal was delicious, even better than last year.
We had: Spanish almonds, grilled dates stuffed with pepper and cheese and wrapped in serrano ham, tongue taco, duck and foie gras taco, grilled baby octopus salad, tacos al pastor, fish tacos, roadside chicken, and yucca fries. I am pretty sure I am leaving something out here, and of course we had multiple portions of most items.
Favorite new treat: grilled baby octopus salad Favorites old treat missing from menu: zucchini and corn flan, but our waitress told us it would be back when the zucchini is in (next month?
Six covers, three bottles of wine, tip, about $60 per person and worth every penny.
The only downside is that a party of six has to be seated upstairs, and we were "joined" at the next table by a party of 30 something women friends who had already had plenty to drink and who basically screamed at each other from one end of the table to the other. We probably would have had dessert and coffee, but we were basically driven out by their noise. It is one of the reasons my wife and I eat out a lot less in season than we could afford to do (see my comments about LOLA 41 above).
But our weekend visitors went away thrilled by the food, and I cannot recommend the restaurant strongly enough if you find the kinds of food above to be to your taste. Just skip Friday and Saturday nights!
We had: Spanish almonds, grilled dates stuffed with pepper and cheese and wrapped in serrano ham, tongue taco, duck and foie gras taco, grilled baby octopus salad, tacos al pastor, fish tacos, roadside chicken, and yucca fries. I am pretty sure I am leaving something out here, and of course we had multiple portions of most items.
Favorite new treat: grilled baby octopus salad Favorites old treat missing from menu: zucchini and corn flan, but our waitress told us it would be back when the zucchini is in (next month?
Six covers, three bottles of wine, tip, about $60 per person and worth every penny.
The only downside is that a party of six has to be seated upstairs, and we were "joined" at the next table by a party of 30 something women friends who had already had plenty to drink and who basically screamed at each other from one end of the table to the other. We probably would have had dessert and coffee, but we were basically driven out by their noise. It is one of the reasons my wife and I eat out a lot less in season than we could afford to do (see my comments about LOLA 41 above).
But our weekend visitors went away thrilled by the food, and I cannot recommend the restaurant strongly enough if you find the kinds of food above to be to your taste. Just skip Friday and Saturday nights!
Jun 14th, 2010, 06:57 PM
#11
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
American Seasons has abandoned its 4-regions menu for a somewhat shorter one, which the chef claims he did so he could use more local ingredients. Some of the dishes are the same as last year, but there seem to be fewer of them. Too bad, I thought the 4 regions made the restaurant somewhat unique, and on good days, this is/was a very good restaurant.
I found last year's Summer House menu and will be publishing a comparison in my column shortly.
I found last year's Summer House menu and will be publishing a comparison in my column shortly.
Jun 15th, 2010, 06:56 AM
#12
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
In theory, Millie's, the new Cal-Mex restaurant occupying the Westender opens today. See http://digg.com/d31T4Bp
Jun 16th, 2010, 05:42 AM
#13
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The new dumbed down Todd English Summer House menu http://digg.com/d31UAjm
shown next to last years.
shown next to last years.
Jul 14th, 2010, 05:46 AM
#15
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 10,169
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Actually I ate there last week after twenty years of not eating there.
It was delicious, though pricy, especially if you had an entree. A primi and a pasta course were well within reason, and there were wines at reasonable prices.
Our food was delicious, attractively presented and well-served. We ate upstairs where tables were nicely spaced.
Why did I not eat at DeMarco's for twenty years? I have a major mental block against paying high prices for Italian food when I know I can get similar pasta in Boston for 1/2 the price.
We have not had pleasant experiences at Sfoglia, and the staff has been neither knowledgeable nor pleasant to deal with.
Sfoglia served the wine in what looked like my grandmother's juice glasses, the kind you save from Kraft Old English cheese spread. When we questioned it, the waiter said "That's the way that do it in Italy." Well, they do serve wine in tumblers in Italy as opposed to crystal ballons, but I have eaten a sufficient number of meals there (Rome, Lazio, Toscana, the Veneto, to know they aren't glasses like that. He was condescending and ignorant, a deadly combination.
At Sfoglia, many of the dishes do not come with vegetables. Okay, you have to order contorni separately in Italy. But they may also come without garnish, giving the impression of cheapness at their not insubstantial prices.
Sfogila is apparently hooked into the food press by marriage and friendships, but the reviews and our experiences and our friends' experiences are miles apart.
Give DeMarco try.
It was delicious, though pricy, especially if you had an entree. A primi and a pasta course were well within reason, and there were wines at reasonable prices.
Our food was delicious, attractively presented and well-served. We ate upstairs where tables were nicely spaced.
Why did I not eat at DeMarco's for twenty years? I have a major mental block against paying high prices for Italian food when I know I can get similar pasta in Boston for 1/2 the price.
We have not had pleasant experiences at Sfoglia, and the staff has been neither knowledgeable nor pleasant to deal with.
Sfoglia served the wine in what looked like my grandmother's juice glasses, the kind you save from Kraft Old English cheese spread. When we questioned it, the waiter said "That's the way that do it in Italy." Well, they do serve wine in tumblers in Italy as opposed to crystal ballons, but I have eaten a sufficient number of meals there (Rome, Lazio, Toscana, the Veneto, to know they aren't glasses like that. He was condescending and ignorant, a deadly combination.
At Sfoglia, many of the dishes do not come with vegetables. Okay, you have to order contorni separately in Italy. But they may also come without garnish, giving the impression of cheapness at their not insubstantial prices.
Sfogila is apparently hooked into the food press by marriage and friendships, but the reviews and our experiences and our friends' experiences are miles apart.
Give DeMarco try.
Jul 14th, 2010, 11:19 AM
#16
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,961
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Ackislander, by any chance, were we having dinner together at sfoglia? LOL. we had the same experience there 2 summers ago. I will not go back, under any circumstance.
I'm glad you enjoyed demarco- I'm going to give it a try this coming week. Cannot wait!
Thank you for your help, as always.
I'm glad you enjoyed demarco- I'm going to give it a try this coming week. Cannot wait!
Thank you for your help, as always.
Jul 14th, 2010, 11:28 AM
#17
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 685
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Well, I must say the side by side menu comparison is interesting and I wonder what the review are from people who have dined on both menus. English's sure looks rather routine and uninspired, for an island that I consider to be a top food destination.
