Food Notes, Cape Cod Edition: 7/25
There's more than lobster to Cape Cod dining
The New Yorker checks out Provincetown
New Yorker food correspondent Hannah Goldfield takes a trip to Provincetown to explore the culinary delights. She finds cupcakes and a ham sandwich, eats at the classic diner The Mayflower, and then heads to Sal’s Place, a historic institution of Italian American cuisine. There’s no mention of the Portuguese Bakery’s Malasada, which seems a sad oversight on her part.
Essential Cape Cod Restaurants
The folks at Eater Boston have put together a list of 20 essential restaurants on the Cape. There’s more of a focus on the upper Cape than outer Cape, and I need to point out they overlooked a literal essential restaurant: the Double Dragon in Orleans. This is a classic mid-century style Polynesian inspired-Chinese restaurant with endangered dishes like Low Mein, Chop Suey, and Kung Pao Chicken. The Pu Pu Platter alone might be worth the trip, but the more essential reason is the kitchen is open late, a rarity on the Cape, and all year around. In theory it’s open nightly until 2 am with a small tiki bar serving tourists and locals alike, and we’ve swung by for takeout as late as midnight.
Tasting Cape Cod
I had the chance to eat at Ceraldi in Wellfleet. It’s probably the best restaurant on Cape Cod right now with a hyper local focus. The restaurant offers two seatings for a tasting menu in an intimate setting around the chef’s prep counter. But for more casual encounters, there is also a small plates menu. The schtick is everything on the plate is coming from the Cape, or very close to it.
History Lesson: Howard Johnson’s Second Location
Iconic chain restaurant Howard Johnson’s got it start in Massachusetts. The first, stand alone restaurant was built just outside of Boston. It opened a few months before the stock market crash of 1929. According to Anthony Sammarco in A History of Howard Johnson's: How a Massachusetts Soda Fountain Became an American Icon, the second location opened on Cape Cod at the junction of 6A and route 28. The restaurant has since become the Lost Dog Pub.
