Provincetown, the "Outer Cape," and Wellfleet Too

weinoo · July 6, 2022

6 hours ago, Smithy said:

What was it about the bruschetta that fell flat for you? It looks appealing in your photo.

It certainly looks as if it's on some weird bread.

liamsaunt · July 6, 2022

9 hours ago, Smithy said:

What @kayb said.

But truly, the food looks delicious! What was it about the bruschetta that fell flat for you? It looks appealing in your photo.

The bread was weird. Texturally, it reminded me of a quick bread, rather than a crusty bread like you normally use as bruschetta. From a taste perspective, it reminded me (in a bad way), of this cottage cheese dill bread I used to bake in college. In fact, I just looked at the cookbook to confirm, and it was a Moosewood recipe from the Enchanted Broccoli Forest! The vegetables on top were fine, I guess. The cheese was bland.

Last night my nephew requested that we drive back to Eastham to go to a Mexican restaurant, Casa del Cabo. Traffic was extremely heavy, so I doubt we will be heading back that way again this week, unless my niece convinces me to go used book shopping. Drinks: two spicy margaritas for my husband and nephew, one plain margarita for my sister, and one sparkling water with ice for me.

Appetizers: my niece wanted tuna sashimi (at a Mexican restaurant?)

My nephew ordered fried calamari with marinara (???)

My sister, husband and I split some seveche. The fish was salmon and swordfish

For main dishes, my niece opted for a special of ribs with rice and beans

Nephew ordered chicken tacos

I had cilantro lime chicken thighs with rice and beans

Husband had swordfish on a salad with chimichurri sauce

And my sister got a roasted salmon with a yogurt dill sauce and roasted potatoes

We split a couple of desserts. They were both excellent. One of the best flans we have ever tasted

And a warm churro bread pudding with melted chocolate inside and vanilla ice cream

The sun is trying to peek out, so we might actually go to a beach in a bit. Not to swim of course, none of us even brought bathing suits!

heidih · July 6, 2022

Maybe that was "Mexican" to him since his time in Montana?

lindag · July 6, 2022

29 minutes ago, liamsaunt said:

The sun is trying to peek out, so we might actually go to a beach in a bit. Not to swim of course, none of us even brought bathing suits!

You spend so much time there, do you ever consider relocating in that area?

liamsaunt · July 7, 2022

On 7/6/2022 at 10:41 AM, lindag said:

You spend so much time there, do you ever consider relocating in that area?

That would not really be practical right now. Although my husband is 99% remote for work, he does have to go in occasionally, and Wellfleet would be 3-4 hour drive from Boston on a weekday because of traffic/congestion. Plus, we both have elderly parents that are still alive and in easy driving distance from our current home (my parents live one town over, and his Mom is an hour away).

Yesterday we went to an early dinner at Winslow's Tavern at my nephew's request. We arrived at opening for a table on the patio, which is first come, first served. Things started off on a sour note when they insisted that as a party of five, we had to sit at a square table that was meant for a party of two or four. This was the first time in our many, many times eating here that they tried to make us sit at a table like that. Normally they just push two tables together, but they said they would only do that yesterday if we had six in our party. It would have been cramped and uncomfortable to sit at the table they were offering outside, so we ate inside instead, where they were willing to seat us at a larger table. I'm still annoyed about it this morning, to be honest, so these pictures are the last photos of food at Winslow's Tavern that I will be posting for a very long while.

Nephew wanted an order of veal and pork polpettino as his appetizer. Nobody else wanted to try them. but he said they were tasty.

My sister and husband shared an order of lobster croquettes. My niece and I skipped appetizers.

For entrees, my sister got the braised zucchini pasta with ricotta salata. She said it was too salty and only ate half.

Nephew got short rib pasta. He also said his was too salty, but he ate it all anyway 🙂

My husband, niece and I all got the sweet corn risotto with scallops. This was very good, and not too salty.

We skipped dessert. Here are a couple of sunset pictures from last night. That's my niece, me, and my sister heading down to the beach. I am the shortest as you can see haha

Glorious sunset

Edited July 7, 2022 by liamsaunt (log)

liamsaunt · July 8, 2022

Fried food alert! Yesterday we went to the Beachcomber, which is located in an old Coast Guard lifesaving station on the dunes at Cahoon Hollow beach. Every year the dune seems to be a bit narrower. My nephew was shocked when he saw it. He thought it looked like it had lost 20 feet of frontage since he was last here. I'm not sure it was that much, but it definitely lost some depth. We have a house rented for three weeks later this summer on this same dune, but further down the road. Hopefully it is not teetering off the edge.

Here is the beach below the restaurant. Those people you can see in the water are braver than me. A great white shark ate a seal about three feet offshore at a beach down the road the day before. Someone captured it on video and the local paper posted a link. After viewing that, I'll stay on the sand, thanks.

Restaurant

Drinks for my husband and nephew. A margarita and a mezcal paloma

Fried whole belly clams to share

Nephew wanted a cup of chile con carne

and a black bean burger

I got a grilled swordfish steak. The corn went uneaten. The fish was good.

Husband got an oyster po boy

Sister had swordfish tacos

and my niece ordered a steak tip sandwich, which she devoured

Beachcomber does not serve dessert.

Here's the sunset from last night

weinoo · July 8, 2022

8 minutes ago, liamsaunt said:

Every year the dune seems to be a bit narrower. My nephew was shocked when he saw it. He thought it looked like it had lost 20 feet of frontage since he was last here.

My friend Jack lives in and fishes out of Chatham. Every year, they have to reassess where the cuts are, in order to boat in and out safely - drones have helped a lot.

He shared this picture of the research center at the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, which is off Chatham as well...

Pictures are from March 16, 2022, the day of the slide. The Cape is ever evolving.

gfweb · July 8, 2022

31 minutes ago, weinoo said:

My friend Jack lives in and fishes out of Chatham. Every year, they have to reassess where the cuts are, in order to boat in and out safely - drones have helped a lot.

He shared this picture of the research center at the Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge, which is off Chatham as well...

Pictures are from March 16, 2022, the day of the slide. The Cape is ever evolving.

I'd get some trees in the ground PDQ

**Smithy** · July 8, 2022

@liamsaunt, your description of the food at Winslow's Tavern this time around makes it sound as though the food is going downhill as well as the service. That said, it seems as though you've been regular and enthusiastic customers there over the years. Have you considered talking to the manager about your treatment regarding the outside tables? Voting with one's feet, without explaining why, isn't much help to a business.

weinoo · July 8, 2022

Pretty interesting article about the seasonal workers on the Cape who come from Jamaica. Many of the seasonal workers further out seemed to me to be from southern Europe...

Pass the Chowder, and the Curry: Jamaican Chefs Add to Cape Cod’s Culinary Delights

Quote

Thanks to Jamaican seasonal workers, the taste of Cape Cod now extends beyond the known lineup of Yankee favorites, to golden patties, jerk-rubbed meats and turmeric-rich curries.

At Mac’s On the Pier in Wellfleet, a majority-Jamaican kitchen staff makes jerk pork and a Caribbean seafood bowl alongside fried codfish sandwiches and clam chowder.

“Collaboration in the kitchen leads to more diverse and well-rounded food, so I’ve always encouraged that,” said Mac Hay, the chef and restaurateur behind the ten Mac’s Seafood restaurants and seafood markets that dot the Cape.

The Jamaican-inspired dishes started appearing on the menu thanks to Neily Bowlin, a former chef at the Pier who now manages two Mac’s Seafood markets. About 10 years ago, Mac’s had a smoker and the restaurant was serving barbecue ribs. Mr. Bowlin suggested doing jerk pork, and Mr. Hay loved the idea.

liamsaunt · July 9, 2022

20 hours ago, Smithy said:

@liamsaunt, your description of the food at Winslow's Tavern this time around makes it sound as though the food is going downhill as well as the service. That said, it seems as though you've been regular and enthusiastic customers there over the years. Have you considered talking to the manager about your treatment regarding the outside tables? Voting with one's feet, without explaining why, isn't much help to a business.

I did speak to the manager on duty at the time. I am sorry if that was not clear. I will say that the owner (who we know from prior visits) was not there, and she usually is, so perhaps that had something to do with it. In any case, they offered us the table and I declined it, explaining that it would be too small. We offered to sit anywhere they wanted on the patio at a larger table. They discussed it amongst themselves, came back, and offered us the same table again, moving the chairs around to show us how they wanted us to sit at the table (squashed together and with table legs between at least three people's legs). I politely declined again, they discussed again, and then they offered us the inside table. I would have preferred to leave at that point, but my nephew really wanted to eat there, so we just sat inside. I was not going to make any more of a fuss about it and make everyone involved uncomfortable. Their restaurant, their choice of how to seat people I guess.

17 hours ago, weinoo said:

Pretty interesting article about the seasonal workers on the Cape who come from Jamaica. Many of the seasonal workers further out seemed to me to be from southern Europe...

Pass the Chowder, and the Curry: Jamaican Chefs Add to Cape Cod’s Culinary Delights

Thanks, I missed this article. There are lots of Jamaican cooks in the Wellfleet area, including where we ate last night, where, according to our server, the kitchen staff is entirely Jamaican this year. Blackfish in Truro. It's in an old blacksmithing house from the 1700s. I should have taken a picture of the outside, but forgot.

Drinks. An elder 75, a cucumber martini (I think), and a ginger margarita. Plus my water of course.

We got raw oysters to start, but no picture of those. We also ordered fried oysters

I had a special salad offering to start. It was a caesar salad with smoked bluefish swapped in for the anchovies. It was very nice

My niece got the other salad special, which was a roasted beet and strawberry salad with burrata. She gave me a bite and it was tasty.

For entrees, I chose the panko crusted sole with lemon buerre blanc, asparagus and mashed cauliflower. The fish and asparagus were delicious but the cauliflower was startlingly bland. I left that behind

My husband's brother chose their famous tuna bolognese. I like this a lot, but you have to be especially hungry to eat it. It's a large option and very rich

My niece chose the red wine roasted short ribs with carrots and mashed potatoes. She really enjoyed this

You will have to visualize my nephew's dinner in your mind, because my husband took the picture of it and it came out blurry. He had a special of Jamaican jerked chicken and gravy over pasta. One of his housemates in Montana has celiac disease, and he keeps a gluten free kitchen to keep things safe for her, so he is loading up on gluten filled foods while home this month.

My husband and sister both chose a special entree of roasted striped bass and spring vegetables with grapefruit gastrique. They both said the fish was perfectly cooked, but the gastrique was overpowering.

We ordered two of the four desserts on offer to share. Niece chose the molten chocolate s'mores cake. This was only OK. The center was not molten, and the graham cracker crust was way too thick

My nephew chose the roasted cherry and mint panna cotta. We all agreed this dessert was more successful.

The sunset was obscured by clouds last night, but there was still a pretty sky.

liamsaunt · July 10, 2022

Yesterday my nephew headed back to our house to attend a barbecue at one of his friend's homes. My sister, niece and I went to town for breakfast. The Fox and Crow recently reopened in a new, larger location, so we decided to try it. Menu pictures

My sister and niece both got the Fox breakfast sandwich

And I chose the gravlax plate, which actually came out as a sandwich. The cream cheese on it was goat's cream cheese, which I like, but I was glad my sister did not order it, because she hates goat cheese!

I brought half home for my husband. I hope they do well in their new location.

For dinner, we went to Mac's Shack since my husband's brother had not been there yet. Specials (we did not get any)

Drinks.

Oysters

Halibut seveche. This was excellent

My niece wanted to get the spicy tuna mango martini again

I really wanted a salad, so chose one with peaches, blue cheese and bacon

Husband's brother chose cod in a cream broth with clams

Sister had scallops with corn, gnocchi and bacon

Husband had ritz cracker bluefish

I had spicy swordfish with cilantro rice and watermelon relish

Niece had some sushi

After dinner the sunset did not disappoint

heidih · July 10, 2022

Interesting how the cod in the cream broth had a bit of crust. Was not expecting that as my mind as thinking more chowder like. Everything as is almost always the case. looks great.

liamsaunt · July 12, 2022

Last installment for this visit. The house we rented was pretty quirky. Here are a couple of funny things from the house. This hanging from when the house was part of a girls' summer camp was on the wall of the kitchen--it's about five feet high

The instructions for the toaster oven made us laugh

As did the list of what was available to use in the kitchen. At the bottom of the list, it said "rock, paper scissors, top right drawer." I opened it, and indeed the drawer contained nothing but a huge rock, a pad of paper, and a pair of scissors!

Strangest book found in the house award goes to....

After we left the house, we stayed one more night in a hotel to avoid trying to drive home in traffic on Sunday. We spent the extra day in Chatham. Breakfast was had at the Captain's Table

Smoked salmon benedict

French toast

Breakfast slilders

BLAT

After breakfast we walked up to the town center to check out the whales on auction. Every year local artists decorate these and then they are auctioned online for charity towards the end of the summer. They used to make sharks, and the event was called Sharks in the Park, but they stopped that after a young surfer was killed by a shark in Wellfleet a few years ago. Now the artists decorate whales and it is called "Art in the Park." I'd really like to have one of these, but the bidding usually gets crazy.

Some of this year's whales

and a few of my favorites

My husband's brother went home in the late afternoon, and the rest us of who were staying at the hotel had dinner at La Bella Vita. Drinks

Calamari

My niece wanted fried mozzarella. She ate almost the entire thing

She also had a salad with strawberries and burrata

My husband got risotto with shrimp, scallops, salmon, broccoli, and bacon. He said it had too much bacon. Is there ever such a a thing? Apparently so.

I chose shrimp pasta in a cream sauce. Most of the pasta got left behind, but the shrimp were good

Sister chose linguini with clams

We were all too full for dessert. One last sunset at the first beach we ever stayed on out on the Cape: Thumpertown Beach in Eastham. The house we used to rent directly on it more than doubled their rental rates and is too expensive for us now, but the beach is open to anyone.

rotuts · July 12, 2022

@liamsaunt

thank you for taking the time

to share this trip

and so many others

Ive enjoyed them all.

JoNorvelleWalker · July 13, 2022

9 hours ago, liamsaunt said:

Last installment for this visit. The house we rented was pretty quirky. Here are a couple of funny things from the house. This hanging from when the house was part of a girls' summer camp was on the wall of the kitchen--it's about five feet high

The instructions for the toaster oven made us laugh

As did the list of what was available to use in the kitchen. At the bottom of the list, it said "rock, paper scissors, top right drawer." I opened it, and indeed the drawer contained nothing but a huge rock, a pad of paper, and a pair of scissors!

Strangest book found in the house award goes to....

After we left the house, we stayed one more night in a hotel to avoid trying to drive home in traffic on Sunday. We spent the extra day in Chatham. Breakfast was had at the Captain's Table

Smoked salmon benedict

French toast

Breakfast slilders

BLAT

After breakfast we walked up to the town center to check out the whales on auction. Every year local artists decorate these and then they are auctioned online for charity towards the end of the summer. They used to make sharks, and the event was called Sharks in the Park, but they stopped that after a young surfer was killed by a shark in Wellfleet a few years ago. Now the artists decorate whales and it is called "Art in the Park." I'd really like to have one of these, but the bidding usually gets crazy.

Some of this year's whales

and a few of my favorites

My husband's brother went home in the late afternoon, and the rest us of who were staying at the hotel had dinner at La Bella Vita. Drinks

Calamari

My niece wanted fried mozzarella. She ate almost the entire thing

She also had a salad with strawberries and burrata

My husband got risotto with shrimp, scallops, salmon, broccoli, and bacon. He said it had too much bacon. Is there ever such a a thing? Apparently so.

I chose shrimp pasta in a cream sauce. Most of the pasta got left behind, but the shrimp were good

Sister chose linguini with clams

We were all too full for dessert. One last sunset at the first beach we ever stayed on out on the Cape: Thumpertown Beach in Eastham. The house we used to rent directly on it more than doubled their rental rates and is too expensive for us now, but the beach is open to anyone.

Down here we have no whales but for some reason we decorate cows...

**curls** · July 14, 2022

@liamsaunt thank you for journaling your vacation. Always great to see the Cape, sunsets, ice cream, seafood, etc.. Yes, I too would be tempted by those whales. Safe travels home. Looking forward to your next vacation.

johnnyd · July 15, 2022

@liamsaunt Outstanding photologue, Madam. I've never thought of making Ceviche with Halibut. Shack's plates look great. All of them look good, some more creative than others. I'm definitely swapping in smoked bluefish in my next Caeser.

Ostensibly, I'm scrolling through these after a huge breakfast and find myself hungry.

Thank you!

liamsaunt · August 14, 2022

Well, we are back in Wellfleet. The timing of rental availability has us here this week, then home for a week, then back for two more weeks, all in the same house. This place has a decent kitchen and grill so I will likely be cooking at least half of the time. Here's the view.

We stayed here last year. There is access to the beach via a long stairway. No swimming for us though, at least not in the ocean. It's cold and there are sharks. We have a beach sticker to swim in the kettle ponds in town, and we all enjoy a good beach walk. This week the group is myself and my husband, my sister, my niece, and my brother. My husband's brother is coming for a couple of nights at the end of the week.

First night's dinner had to be at Mac's Shack.

We all (except my brother, who does not eat appetizers) started with a spicy tuna mango martini. I forgot to take a cocktail picture, but that's my brother's mezcalito to the side. It's like a margarita but made with mezcal. I tried one back when I still drank alcohol and thought it was too smoky, but he and my husband really like them and order one every time we come here. I also forgot a picture of the dozen oysters. I am sure we will order them again.

We also ordered some halibut seveche, which was terrific.

My sister and niece got sushi. Sister had tuna poke

and niece got a poke special which was made with toro

Then they got my niece's two favorite rolls, the gon jah mon and the big kahuna

I ordered a blackened salmon special, which came with a salad of black lentils, brussels sprouts and peppers, and a roasted red pepper sauce

Husband got the classic ritz cracker crusted bluefish with mashed potatoes and creamed spinach

and brother ordered the blackened swordfish with cilantro rice, watermelon-fennel-cucumber salad and sweet potato. I have had this before and think it is really tasty. He eats no vegetables or fruits other than some citrus, herbs, white potatoes, cooked onion, and the occasional carrot, so did not get the full experience by leaving almost all of the sides on his plate (He is weird about food, and I don't know how he remains alive with his limited diet, but he has made it this far, so I have given up trying to change him). He did enjoy the rice and fish.

We were all too tired to go to the sunset, but we saw a beautiful moonrise from the deck after we came home from dinner.

kayb · August 14, 2022

Beautiful moonrise!

liamsaunt · August 15, 2022

Where we are staying has beautiful views, but I do wonder how many more years it will be here. Erosion is a big problem on this part of the Cape. I found a couple of not so great pictures to compare. Here is a (blurry) picture I took last June of a moonrise with the home's flagpole in the shot. The dark line you see running behind the bottom of the flagpole is the edge of the dune the house sits on.

And here is that same flagpole just over one year later, teetering on the very edge of the dune.

I would guess there is about 20-25 feet between the end of the house's foundation and the edge of the cliff.

My sister had to drive back home and go in to the office today and tomorrow, so she asked to go out to dinner again last night. She chose the Wicked Oyster. I remembered to take pictures of the specials and the front page of the menu, but not the back page. Oops! Specials

Appetizers and salad

My niece wanted the bread basket

and my sister and husband wanted to try the lobster dip with truffled potato chips. The chips were a bit stale (hard not to be in the humidity out here) and the dip only tasted of shallot, so that was a bit disappointing.

My niece and I both got the entree size tuna tataki from the appetizer section of the menu. It was fine--but a little boring.

My sister had the scallop special. They were beautifully seared on the other side, so I don't know why they presented them upside down! Anyway, she said it was delicious.

Brother ordered the grilled halibut. He left behind the broccoli of course, but enjoyed the fish and potatoes.

My husband got the lazy lobster. He enjoyed it.

We were too full for dessert or any ice cream, so went for a long walk after dinner instead. Here's the sunset afterglow from the house.

TicTac · August 15, 2022

Thanks for the virtual vacation!

Everything looks fresh and delicious....

...minus the cream cheese in the sushi - apologies, but some lines must not be crossed!

Kim Shook · August 15, 2022

44 minutes ago, TicTac said:

...minus the cream cheese in the sushi - apologies, but some lines must not be crossed!

See, I'm thinking that the cream cheese is a good idea. It might mitigate the taste and texture of raw fish and would certainly mask the flavor of the seaweed wrap. 😄

TicTac · August 15, 2022

27 minutes ago, Kim Shook said:

See, I'm thinking that the cream cheese is a good idea. It might mitigate the taste and texture of raw fish and would certainly mask the flavor of the seaweed wrap. 😄

You may want to consider a cream cheese bagel in lieu of Sushi, then! Or just some rice and cream cheese (if that's your thing!) 😛

Kim Shook · August 15, 2022

6 minutes ago, TicTac said:

You may want to consider a cream cheese bagel in lieu of Sushi, then!

Yep! Cream cheese and lox on an ET bagel is my idea of good sushi! 😁

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