Provincetown, the "Outer Cape," and Wellfleet Too

heidih · May 17, 2022

Your pasta dish sounds and looks like spring. I have a sea glass obscessed friend so always on lookout. My best find was a glass fisherman's net float (pale blue) on the ocean side of a sand spit 4 hours north of here. Love imagining all the places it had been.

liamsaunt · May 18, 2022

19 hours ago, heidih said:

Your pasta dish sounds and looks like spring. I have a sea glass obscessed friend so always on lookout. My best find was a glass fisherman's net float (pale blue) on the ocean side of a sand spit 4 hours north of here. Love imagining all the places it had been.

If not for the salt, it would have been delicious. They just opened for the season on Thursday, so I am sure they will smooth out the kinks.

I have never found anything as spectacular as your net float. They sell them occasionally in antique stores around here but that's cheating. Maybe someday!

Yesterday we drove up to Provincetown. It was a windy day, so our beach walk at Herring Cove was a bit short. My sister and niece waited in the car while my husband and I went for a brisk walk.

Dinner was at Mews

Menu

My sister and husband's cocktails. My sister's was a cucumber lemon drop, and my husband had a mezcal negroni. They seemed to enjoy them.

My niece wanted the breadsticks

We also got shrimp cocktail for my husband and I to split.

And my sister and husband shared the lobster dumplings

My sister had a tuna from the specials menu. It was huge

I chose the scallops with artichoke pesto pappardelle. This was very nice

My husband had the lobster tacos. He enjoyed these and said they were a little spicy but not so much as to obscure the taste of the lobster.

And my niece chose the shaking beef. She loved this and ate every bite. It came with rice on the side and she ate all that too.

For dessert we got three of the four options they offered to taste them all. Key lime pie. My niece basically took this for herself. I got a small bite though. I like frozen key lime pie the best (I usually make the one from Nora Ephron) but this one was good too

A berry chocolate mousse torte. We all liked this, especially the berry layer on the bottom, but abandoned most of it in favor of the two other desserts

And our favorite, a mango semifreddo with coconut sauce

After dinner we walked around a very quiet town. Here's the famous Lobster Pot. I'm not a fan, but maybe will give it another try someday

And we made it back to Wellfleet in time for sunset at the beach near the house

My sister and niece are heading home today, and I'm not sure where my husband and I are going tonight. We have reservations for a special dinner tomorrow night, so might just do something simple.

gfweb · May 18, 2022

@liamsaunt I respect good neon.

weinoo · May 18, 2022

15 minutes ago, gfweb said:

I respect good neon.

Which might be the best thing about the Lobster Pot.

Do you, @liamsaunt, ever pop into the legendary Old Colony Tap? Or have pizza at Spiritus (which surprisingly isn't bad, especially when it's the end of an evening)?

liamsaunt · May 19, 2022

On 5/18/2022 at 9:30 AM, gfweb said:

@liamsaunt I respect good neon.

Me too! I took this picture last year when it was dark.

On 5/18/2022 at 9:49 AM, weinoo said:

Which might be the best thing about the Lobster Pot.

Do you, @liamsaunt, ever pop into the legendary Old Colony Tap? Or have pizza at Spiritus (which surprisingly isn't bad, especially when it's the end of an evening)?

I have had Spiritus pizza, and it is perfectly acceptable for Cape Cod. It's definitely better than some of the other pizza options out here! BTW I went by Pop and Dutch yesterday but they are not open yet for the season. Their sign said they are opening this weekend.

Yesterday my niece and I went to the farmer's market in Wellfleet. It's in a clearing near town.

There was not much for sale other than salad greens and baked goods at this point in the growing season. My niece got this mocha cupcake from one of the bake stands. She said it was a nice balance of chocolate and coffee

Beach photo of the day. Herring Cove in Provincetown. As you can see, it was much calmer. We did not even need jackets to walk on the beach. I found a handful of sea glass.

My sister and niece left yesterday afternoon, and now it is just my husband and me. We decided to go casual last night since we have a big dinner planned for this evening, and we went to the Pearl. Menu pictures

I only noticed the note about the cash payment discount when posting these photos. We paid with a card and were not charged the service fee. Odd. (BTW that extra charge is legal in MA as long as it is disclosed on the menu or on signage when entering the restaurant. This is the first time I have seen it personally, but I have certainly read complaints about it in my local restaurant groups).

Husband's cranberry margarita

Banging shrimp appetizer to split

Husband got a lobster roll ($42. Lobster is really expensive this year, so that price is not too bad. Ignore the dreaded lettuce @weinoo 🤣 )

I ordered the pan seared cod with lemon beurre blanc. It was a huge piece of fish, too big to finish.

We were too full to even consider dessert.

rotuts · May 19, 2022

@liamsaunt

wonderful stuff !

thanks for the menu's

they note on the menu they charge 3.9 % fr using a card.

is this common on menu's these days ?

gfweb · May 19, 2022

39 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@liamsaunt

wonderful stuff !

thanks for the menu's

they note on the menu they charge 3.9 % fr using a card.

is this common on menu's these days ?

Not too common in restaurants at least down here.

I think its smarter to build -in the expense to prices... just like any other cost of doing business. I can't imagine that an increase of 3.9% would even be noticed by patrons.

And cash can be PITA in its own right.

rotuts · May 19, 2022

@gfweb

interesting points , all good ones

for me , I appreciate the choice of not rewarding the electronic middle .

I was under the impression there were laws prohibit ' a discount for cash '

or an added fee for CC.

this is an opts out or oupt i9n sort of thing.

this would send a few shudders down the MC/Visa line.

for the price of a wonderful meal w relatives ,

Id take cash , by stopping by an AMT

maybe over the course of a few days ?

heidih · May 19, 2022

For years a lot of smaller places wouldn't take American Express because the service charge was I think 3% and other cardscloser to 1%. Then things evened out as I recall. Even today I have the fee in my head and ask if they would prefer cash. if I have it. Courser with all the cash back prgrams it is a different game for the customer.

That color on the cod is nice.

Edited May 19, 2022 by heidih (log)

rotuts · May 19, 2022

personal choice

makes sense to me .

weinoo · May 19, 2022

4 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

BTW I went by Pop and Dutch yesterday but they are not open yet for the season. Their sign said they are opening this weekend.

Oy - I wish you had asked; but yes, a couple of days away. Seems like a few places pushed back their openings this year.

weinoo · May 19, 2022

4 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

Ignore the dreaded lettuce @weinoo 🤣 )

Oh god, even worse than shredded, which at least doesn't potentially all slide off the bun at once.

Edited May 19, 2022 by weinoo (log)

Kim Shook · May 19, 2022

Gorgeous food and views. My best friend of almost 50 years is in the process of moving to their retirement home in Orleans. All these photos and restaurant reports are making me more and more excited to visit!

kayb · May 19, 2022

My God. Shrimp and grits! That may be as far north as I’ve seen them.

AlaMoi · May 19, 2022

iffin' you haven't guessed, the "cash back rewards" come out of the seller's hide.

not the credit card bank/company.

liamsaunt · May 20, 2022

5 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

Gorgeous food and views. My best friend of almost 50 years is in the process of moving to their retirement home in Orleans. All these photos and restaurant reports are making me more and more excited to visit!

Orleans is a lovely town. We rented a home for a week there last summer. It has a lot to recommend it--beautiful homes, nice beaches, the big grocery store is there, and if you like baseball, the town has a Cape Cod Baseball League team--the Firebirds--that you can watch for free. A number of MLB players go through that system before they head to the big leagues.

We finished our week in Wellfleet with a splurge dinner at Ceraldi. This restaurant does a prix fixe seven course menu. This year the price includes either a reserve wine pairing or a house made soft beverage pairing with the food. Husband did the wines and I tried the soft pairings. Since I am still too full to go to sleep, and we have to be out of here tomorrow early, I figured I would post about it now. Tonight's menu:

Restaurant interior

Welcome beverage. Mine is a cinnamon soda, and husband's was a sparkling rose

The meal always starts with an oyster. This year we got three! They were all delicious, but the rhubarb was my favorite, and my husband chose the sea bean one as his favorite. The chef said the hot sauce on the third one is sold at the Wellfleet farmer's market, but I must have missed that booth on Wednesday. I would have bought hot sauce if I had seen it.

First beverage pairing. Wine was a Gaja Ca'Marcanda Vistamare. We actually have some of this in our wine room at home. The soft beverage was a rhubarb cordial. It was interesting.

Next up, the asparagus course. This was our favorite dish of the evening. The fondue was decadent. It was paired with a lemon tellicherry tonic, which was quite spicy.

The soup course was filled with mushrooms, vegan, thickened with potato. Wine pairing was a 2019 Domaine des Diables L'Hydropathe, and the soft pairing was a lavender-basil tonic.

The panelle in the next course was really good--creamy and crispy, and we loved the olive puree underneath. This was paired with a carrot, ginger and turmeric juice. I usually just have sparkling water with my meals, so only tried a few sips of most of the soft pairings, but I did finish this drink.

At this point my appetite was starting to flag, and we had three more courses to go! Luckily, the halibut course was small. It was delicious, perfectly cooked, and the leek butter was wonderful.

The wine pairing was a 2020 Artisan Vignoble du Reveur, and my pairing was a bitter apple tonic

Next up, the risotto course, paired with a 2015 La Poja Allegrini and a balsamic fig soda

This was delicious, especially the figs with blue cheese on top, but I could not finish it. Too. Much. Food!

Final course: dessert! We've had this mousse here before. I should have had them package one to take home from the outset, because there was no way we could eat two of these. The wine pairing was a Pio Cesare Vermouth di Torino, and my pairing was a bitter digestive tea made from raw honey and dandelion. Despite the odd presentation, I actually really liked the tea. The dessert also came with an espresso.

The sad result of being served a delicious dessert when you are completely full.

That wraps up this visit. We'll be back in Wellfleet the week of July 4th for more sunsets and seafood.

weinoo · May 20, 2022

14 hours ago, Kim Shook said:

Gorgeous food and views. My best friend of almost 50 years is in the process of moving to their retirement home in Orleans. All these photos and restaurant reports are making me more and more excited to visit!

7 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

Orleans is a lovely town. We rented a home for a week there last summer. It has a lot to recommend it--beautiful homes, nice beaches, the big grocery store is there, and if you like baseball, the town has a Cape Cod Baseball League team--the Firebirds--that you can watch for free. A number of MLB players go through that system before they head to the big leagues.

And a really wonderful seafood market (or two)! Cape Cod baseball has, for a long time, supplied the majors with some outstanding players over the years.

rotuts · May 20, 2022

@liamsaunt

thank you for sharing

and thanks for the menu's

Duvel · May 20, 2022

9 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

We finished our week in Wellfleet with a splurge dinner at Ceraldi. This restaurant does a prix fixe seven course menu. This year the price includes either a reserve wine pairing or a house made soft beverage pairing with the food. Husband did the wines and I tried the soft pairings. Since I am still too full to go to sleep, and we have to be out of here tomorrow early, I figured I would post about it now. Tonight's menu:

What a fantastic way to end a lovely holiday … and happy (belated) birthday, @liamsaunt 🤗

liamsaunt · July 4, 2022

We are back in Wellfleet for the week. We are staying at a kind of crazy house that used to be a camp for girls at the turn of the century. The building that we are in is the only remaining structure, and it used to be the camp counselors' dorm. It's been updated and expanded over the years, but still has some of the original stuff from the camp, which I'll show at some point.

The house is filled with books, and has a cookbook shelf. Here's a picture of that:

I own three of these at home: Fish Without a Doubt (very good), Food and Wine Pasta (have not cooked out of it for years, but their tomato sauces used to be my go to recipes) and the Enchanted Broccoli Forest (I have not cooked anything from it since college, but still have it for sentimental reasons)

Here is a menu on the wall of the kitchen. I think that the american cheese and peanut butter sandwich on offer here is one of the worst ideas I have ever heard of.

We had dinner last night at Mac's Shack, our traditional start to every visit to Wellfleet. Halibut turadito

Jalepeno yellowtail sashimi

Spicy tuna mango martini

My sister, niece and husband got sushi for dinner. Toro poke bowl

Big kahuna roll

Maki special. The outside was toro with roasted pineapple, and the inside was hamachi, avocado and cucumber. They got two of these rolls.

My nephew tried a piece of the yellowtail and a maki roll but they were not his favorites, so he got some Mexican street corn to start.

Then he ordered clams and mussels on sun dried tomato pesto fettuccine. It turns out that he is not a fan of mussels, but he did enjoy the clams.

I had salmon with a poblano cream sauce, corn pudding and tomatillo corn salsa. This was really good. my husband filched some.

After dinner we went for ice cream. The line was very long!

This morning my sister, niece and I got up and walked in to town for the 4th of July parade. We stopped by Winslow's Tavern for some coffee and yogurt-granola parfaits

Some parade pictures

What is great after a parade? Gelato!

My niece opted for an affogato (no picture). My sister and I got raspberry and coffee

We have dinner reservations in Provincetown this evening. Parking is going to be a challenge, so we will see if we actually get to eat there!

Edited July 4, 2022 by liamsaunt
duplicate photo (log)

blue_dolphin · July 4, 2022

5 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

and the Enchanted Broccoli Forest (I have not cooked anything from it since college, but still have it for sentimental reasons)

Ahh, I’ve had that one for ages! Recipes I still use…or maybe I should say riff on… are the orange hummus which is good with veggies and is nice to include in a selection of dips, the lasagne al pesto and the pasta with marinated artichoke hearts where you drain the artichoke marinade into the skillet and sauté the onions (and additional vegetables) in it.
Good luck with parking tonight and thanks for taking us along once again!

weinoo · July 4, 2022

6 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

I own three of these at home: Fish Without a Doubt (very good), Food and Wine Pasta (have not cooked out of it for years, but their tomato sauces used to be my go to recipes) and the Enchanted Broccoli Forest (I have not cooked anything from it since college, but still have it for sentimental reasons)

I have so many of those books that it's kinda weird.

liamsaunt · July 5, 2022

16 hours ago, blue_dolphin said:

Ahh, I’ve had that one for ages! Recipes I still use…or maybe I should say riff on… are the orange hummus which is good with veggies and is nice to include in a selection of dips, the lasagne al pesto and the pasta with marinated artichoke hearts where you drain the artichoke marinade into the skillet and sauté the onions (and additional vegetables) in it.
Good luck with parking tonight and thanks for taking us along once again!

I used to make the enchanted broccoli forest recipe all the time to bring to family gatherings where I was the only vegetarian. Nobody else ever ate it haha. I'll have to look inside to see what else I used to make when I get home. The recipes you mention do not sound familiar to me.

We were able to get parking in Provincetown, so we had dinner at Ciro and Sal's. It's Italian, which is my nephew's favorite type of food, and he's only home for a month, so we are catering to his tastes this month. We sat outside in a beautiful garden area, surrounded by flowers. Drinks. My sister had a Pompei, which had vodka, lime juice, and pomegranate. Husband chose a lemon drop, and nephew had a black Manhattan. I just had sparkling water, which they only had in a huge bottle, and they brought it out at room temperature with no ice, which was annoying.

For starters, we got two orders of fried oysters

And a pesto bruschetta topped with tomatoes and eggplant

The oysters were tender and creamy. None of us liked the bruschetta that much. Everyone chose pastas for their dinner.

Niece got carbonara

My sister had a spicy calamari spaghetti. Everyone tried it but me, and they all agreed it was very spicy (in a good way!) The calamari was very tender.

Husband had spaghetti with clams, which he enjoyed

My nephew chose bolognese. He said the one he makes is better haha. I think he uses bison out in Montana.

I chose a ravioli special stuffed with wild mushrooms in a pesto cream sauce. It was good but kind of small. That's an appetizer sized plate in the picture. I think I would have liked one more ravioli.

Niece and nephew got desert. Tiramisu for the nephew

Cannoli for the niece

My sister, husband and I went for kiddie sized ice creams from Lewis' Homemade while waiting for the fireworks. I chose mint oreo, and the other two had salted caramel