A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

My friend Leah is the absolute best. Last weekend, these two moms packed our bags and ran away from home! No kids, no husbands – just a weekend worth of quiet time, good laughs and of course, great food. So we headed over to Logan Airport to catch our Cape Air flight. I’ve been to Nantucket a handful of times, but always took the fast ferry (Leah prefers the slow ferry). The plane is quite small, it seats maybe 10 and prepare yourself, they ask for your weight at check in 😉 It’s a bumpy ride today – generally I am a good with small planes, but this one really made my stomach do somersaults. And just as we land, the guy in front of me proceeds to vomit – great start right?!?

We are staying at the beautiful Harborview Nantucket Hotel. The property hosts 11 luxurious cottages that range from 1-4 bedrooms. As you can see, just steps from the water and a short walk into town, the best of both worlds! We stayed in the “Crow’s Nest”, a two bedroom cottage with one bedroom on the main floor and one bedroom on the upper floor. Each had its own private bathroom, a second sitting room upstairs, a full kitchen with stove, microwave and dishwasher and a washer and dryer in unit. You can request a fire to be built at night – which we did, and it certainly made the cottage feel like home. The cottage also has a widow’s walk – so you (and by you, I mean Leah) can go up early in the morning and watch the sun rise.

General Manager Morag, and her husband Matt run the property seamlessly. They arranged to pick us up at the airport, sent us a list of restaurants that were open for the season, set up our tour at Cisco Brewery and answered all of our questions.

Famished from our plane ride, we popped into The Nautilus for a bite to eat. Open for both lunch and dinner, this rustic restaurant has classic New England dishes with hints of Asian flavors. They make their own bitters and syrups for cocktails and of course, they make their own delicious pickles. Everything on the menu looked delicious, and our eyes were certainly bigger than our stomachs, but we ordered a little bit of everything: the prime cheeseburger, the blue crab fried rice, the fried chicken drumettes and I’ll admit that I even had some of the salad – that dressing was so good! Stay tuned for a full review.

If you know me at all, you know I did my research before we took this trip, and I wrote down all of the bakeries and sweet shops I hoped that we would visit. I had been to Petticoat Row before, but was pleasantly surprised by all the fun treats for Daffy weekend (April 27-29). Fun iced sugar cookies in the shapes of daffodils, and cute little pink and yellow whale cookies. I tried out the morning bun and it did not disappoint. Another fun thing if you are on island for Daffy weekend, stop in and pick up one of these cute picnic baskets for the beach – or the ferry ride home. You can order sandwiches and salads – fruit and drinks, and of course some delicious sweets. Leah ordered a $40 basket and it came packed with two sandwiches, 2 side salads, 2 pieces of fruit, a Nantucket Nectar, and a bunch of cookies – so cute! We thought we would add a Cisco beer and a bottle of wine just for fun. Again, full review coming soon.

For dinner, I chose the Greydon House. The luxury hotel was on Conde Nast’s Traveler’s 2017 Hot List – it has 16 luxury rooms and suites – designed by the same people that did The Ace and The Standard Hotel in New York. No wonder it felt familiar! Chef Marcus Ware has a well rounded menu and it was certainly one of the better meals I have had in a LONG time. We started off by sharing the fusilli pasta with veal ragout – so savory – I could have eaten my body weight in this dish! We shared the caramelized sea scallops with English peas, broccoli and yuzu vinaigrette and the grilled black angus steak with crispy smoked potatoes and bernaise sauce. The potatoes were smooth and creamy on the inside and crunchy on the outside, and that steak was perfectly cooked with just the right amount of salt. We ended the night on a high note with the baked Alaska – chocolate and mint ice cream with lady fingers – torched meringue and strawberry. I couldn’t get enough of the strawberry puree – so delicious. Service was excellent – a must try if you are on the island.

We had the next morning free so we decided to rent a Jeep and head out to the lighthouse. We headed into town and picked up this baby at Young’s. We drove to the Northern most lighthouse, Great Point. You can access it by foot – but it’s a 7 mile walk on the beach, or take a Jeep with a beach permit sticker. We had to let out the air in the tires and popped the Jeep into 4 wheel drive. Leah was at the wheel – I was in charge of photos. We brought breakfast with us and enjoyed eating with the seals that were taking a little nap in the sun. Don’t forge to fill up the tires on the way out!

For breakfast, we had stopped at the Downyflake, a family run diner that I can only imagine is packed in peak season. They serve breakfast and lunch – we took some egg sandwiches to go – which totally hit the spot. And how can you leave without trying some of their homemade doughnuts. Try the sugar coated, the chocolate covered, the maple glazed, the coconut or the plain for just 90 cents each! Don’t forget your cash though, they don’t accept cards (ATM is on site if you need it).

Next stop in the afternoon was Cisco Brewers for a tour and some sampling. We brought our own lunch because the food truck wasn’t open for the season yet – stop in at Bartlett’s Farm next door for a sandwich (we had a Cuban sandwich that was just what we needed after an afternoon of sampling!) Back to the brewery – there’s a free shuttle from the Nantucket Visitor’s Center on Federal Street (check websites for times) which I would recommend, as parking is very limited. We were lucky enough to have Matt from the Harborview drive us over and pick us up. We had a fantastic tour guide – with a witty personality and heavy pour (perks of the last tour of the day?).

For dinner we mentioned to Matt and Morag that we were thinking of the Proprietor’s Table for dinner – they happened to be going there as well so we knew that it would be a good meal! A great menu filled with mostly small plates to share at the table – we had the carrot hummus, the kimchee pancake, the shishitos and the braised short rub cannelloni (which was a larger dish). The restaurant had a cool vibe – everything made you feel like you were in a friend’s garden for dinner – mismatched china plates, cutlery in mason jars – really home-like. The naan for the hummus was probably my favorite part of the dish – and I loved the flavor of the hummus. Star might have been that house made twinkie on the bottom right – a lemon poppyseed cake filled with strawberry. YUM!

Other quick side notes – we stopped into the Nantucket Bake Shop for some treats – we were there close to closing time, so there wasn’t much left. They have an old school feeling about them – pick up some classic pastries or a Jamaican patty for lunch!

We also stopped into Wicked Island Bakery and picked up some adorable sugar cookies made by Amy Hinson. Whale cookies and cookies shaped like the island with a cute daffodil flourish on them will make you the envy of all the other picnic go-ers on Daffy weekend. They didn’t have the morning buns when we were there, but they do sell to the Handlebar Cafe, where was got to try one – they’re made from scratch with pure Vermont butter and Tahitian vanilla – they’re gooey on the inside and sugary perfection on the outside! I also picked up an apple pastry which was pretty darn tasty as well. In the mood for something savory? They have breakfast sandwiches and pizzas as well.

On our last morning on the island, I took Leah to the Brant Point Grill for brunch – it’s located inside the White Elephant hotel. The brunch is AMAZING – so much delicious food to choose from. While Leah had stayed at the White Elephant before, she had never eaten there – so I was excited that I got to introduce her to at least ONE new thing! They’re open 10-2 on Sundays for brunch and have tasty items like lobster scrambled eggs, chicken and dumplings (I am still dreaming about this dish), a fresh raw bar, desserts as far as the eye can see, and even an ice cream cart for the kids! We happened to go on a day where they were having a charity event – so all proceeds went to Community Sailing and Nantucket’s Science Center. The weather was perfect and we sat for a long time – eating our way through the buffet and watching the ferry come in.

Thanks to Leah for being the best!

Have you been to Nantucket? What’s your go – to spot?

Tags: casual dining, fine dining, nantucket, restaurants, trips