Jeffrey Tao's
Travel Impressions
CAPE COD 2014
Our
annual summer visit to the Outer Cape village of Wellfleet has been a family
tradition since Rachel’s childhood.
For some
years, we’ve been staying at an A-frame house on Newcomb Hill Road, with
stunning views of the Herring River and gorgeous sunsets in the evenings. It
has three bedrooms, a well-equipped kitchen, a hammock and a deck. The deck
comes with a barbecue set, but instead of barbecuing we prefer to sit around
the picnic table, sip white wine and snack on blue fish pâté and crackers
before dinner, when the sky is a blaze of color. By the time the fiery disc of
the sun has dipped below the distant horizon, the bugs would start stinging us,
and we know it’s time to go back into the house and close the screen door.
Other
than the beaches and kettle ponds, food has always been an exciting and much
anticipated part of our visits. We like to savor local delicacies in situ. While Wellfleet restaurants
offer the full range of dishes drawing on local seafood and fruits and
vegetables, some of our favorite meals are had at our cottage. The Boathouse is
a family-run fishmonger, which cooks lobsters and shucks oysters for customers
who, tired from a day at the beach, don’t feel like cooking themselves. Nothing
can quite compare with the succulent texture and briny flavor of fresh
Wellfleet oysters, requiring no seasoning at all, other than a dash of lemon
juice.
Equally,
lobsters freshly caught in the waters off the Cape are best eaten steamed and
whole, as the challenge of cracking through their hard shells to get at the
firm, sweet flesh or coral-colored roe adds to the fun and delectable
experience. What better accompaniment to these fruits de mer than a bottle of dry French Muscadet or a Sauvignon
Blanc from New Zealand? Clams are
another local fare which we enjoy most sautéed in garlic and olive oil and then
combined with linguini to form a pungent, delicious pasta dish, redolent of the
seashore near us. Easily available from Hatch’s (a shop in the heart of the
town) is clam pie of various sizes – an item that’s handy to keep in the
freezer for that rainy, stormy evening, when one wouldn’t want to brave the
elements. Its rich, flavorful chopped clams and flaky pie crust make a filling and
satisfying meal.
That’s
not to say that there aren’t quite a few fine restaurants in Wellfleet and
towns nearby. Pearl’s Restaurant, occupying the original site of Captain
Higgins Restaurant (which itself draws its name from a fishing establishment going
back many years) by the harbor, has inventive and tasty food, a raw bar, a
closed porch and an open deck upstairs —all the ingredients of a delightful
dining experience. Our favorites there are sashimi tuna, expertly sliced and
served with wasabi, and lobster, spinach and Brie quesadilla served with
avocado cream. Each of these appetizers is a meal in itself. Among the entrees
I’ve enjoyed the fish and chips, with local cod fried to perfection and
delicious chips to match. Baked scallops
are also a good choice. At lunchtime, their piéce de résistance is the lobster
roll with eight ounces of lobster meat overflowing from a soft bread roll.
We’ve gone back again and again to have that with a piping hot cup of clam
chowder.
Bookstore
Restaurant has been going for so many years it is practically an institution.
Not many people visit the bookstore anymore but the restaurant is enormously
popular, both for lunch and dinner. Located right on Mayo Beach, it has a
commanding view of the beach, the harbor and the sailboats that go out on
breezy, sunny days. While the food is not as sophisticated as that of the other
two restaurants, the fried clams and oysters and the clam chowder stack up
quite well against the competition. We like the informality and friendly
atmosphere and there’s always parking in the lot by the beach.
Then
there is Winslow’s Tavern, which made a successful transition several years ago
from its predecessor, Aesop’s Tables, which had too formal a dining
environment, into a more informal, pleasant sort of eatery which combines
excellent food and friendly service. From Main Street, one ascends a few stone
steps to reach a delightful patio shaded by lovely trees all around. This is
customers’ favorite spot on summer evenings. Inside the beautiful Cape house
there is plenty of seating, but everyone wants to sit outside, which we
invariably do. My favorite entrée here is cod with slow roast tomato and garlic
confit, which brings out the delicious flavor of the fish. A great appetizer is
yellowfin tuna with compressed watermelon, currants and jalapeno cucumber
vinaigrette. And they have desserts to die for, particularly the warm apple
galette and the salt caramel pie. Every dish is presented in an enticing and
aesthetically pleasing manner. Dining el fresco on fresh local produce,
caressed by gentle sea breezes while night falls and the staff lights the
candles—this is the quintessential Cape Cod experience!
We
noticed a couple of significant changes this year. Our favorite beach, Newcomb
Hollow, seemed much eroded and reduced in width from last year. At high tide,
when families camped on the sand with their towels and umbrellas have to
retreat from the advancing tides, we got a sense of the hitherto expansive
beach now seeming somewhat cramped. While Newcomb Hollow is still enchanting,
with its sculptured dunes and scrubby pines, it was disheartening to see this
happen. The threat of sharks seemed not as strong as that faced in Chatham,
where seal colonies have drawn the sharks to the waters around it. But seals
were much in evidence here too, swimming parallel to the beach in a leisurely
manner, sometimes singly, sometimes in pairs, their shiny heads bobbing up and
down in the waves and glistening in the August sun. Swimmers and surfers seemed
unconcerned that the presence of seals could attract sharks.
A change
also took place at Gull Pond, one of the most visited kettle ponds in the
Wellfleet area. This freshwater expanse is a place favored by parents with
small children because they don’t have to cope with the risks and anxieties
imposed by the awesome power and vagaries of the sea at ocean beaches such as
Newcomb Hollow. I’ve always enjoyed swimming “laps” in an area near the shore
cordoned off for Red Cross swimming lessons every morning. The pond is flat and
still and one can swim without having to watch out for high waves rolling in on
an ocean beach. And Rachel would do her sailing here and Margaret would do her
kayaking. With the sailboats and sunfishes dotting the surface of the
greenish-blue pond, there would always be a festive atmosphere, evocative of
the carefree spirit of summer vacationers. To our surprise and despondency,
Jack’s, the boat rental company that’s operated here for years, was no longer
there, and a much-loved activity can no longer be enjoyed. Disappointed
visitors speculated that environmental concerns might have played a part, but
nobody knew for certain what the reason was.
It has
been customary for us to make the occasionally trip about half an hour’s drive
south on Route Six to the town of Orleans, which according to the Chamber of
Commerce, “was incorporated in 1797, named for Louis Philippe Joseph, Duke of
Orleans, to honor France’s allegiance during the American Revolution.” We would
go to shop at the Stop-and-Shop, drink cappuccinos at the Chocolate Sparrow and
visit the local branch of the Left Bank Gallery, which has a wider selection of
designer jewelry than the Wellfleet branch, and an extensive art gallery
exhibiting fine works by local artists. We always stop at Main Street Books for
a browse and this time we bought a book with wonderful photographs about the
Marais in Paris, where some friends of ours had recently bought an apartment.
Also on Main Street is the Orleans Whole Food Store and
a liquor store with a good
selection of wines.
Dinner
at Mahoney’s was always a satisfying experience, with our all-time favorites
being the tuna sashimi appetizer and the pink and juicy rack of lamb, a nice change
from the seafood-dominated menus of most restaurants on the Cape.
If we
come to Orleans during the day, lunch at the Orleans Inn would be the most
natural thing to do. The building dates back to the late 19th century, and
continues to be an imposing presence overlooking Orleans Town Cove. From the
deck downstairs, customers can view the sailboats and motorboats streaming in
and out of the cove, forming a festive picture of summer fun. In addition, the
clam chowder and lobster roll are delicious and the service invariably
courteous and attentive.
While
this trip has brought with it one or two disappointments, overall, the allure
of the Cape has remained, and we, like many from all over the country and
overseas, will continue to make it our summer vacation destination.
Jeffrey Tao
December 2014