In This Issue

Summer House Beachside Bistro
Refined Dining in a Wild Setting

Nestled on the beach amidst the dune grass and the scrub pine is a restaurant that offers refined dining in an alfresco setting surrounded by the beauty of wild Nantucket.  The elegant patio of the Summer House Beachside Bistro is the ideal summer escape.  Apart from the downtown hustle and bustle, this ‘Sconset retreat is a place to kick back, relax, and enjoy refreshing libations and superb cuisine. 

The flagstone patio of the Beachside Bistro is filled with white tables under wide market umbrellas.  On one side is the ‘Sconset bluff, with its honeysuckle and lush herb garden, and on the other is ‘Sconset Beach, with its clean sea breeze and sounds of the Atlantic surf.  Midday here, you can bask in the summer sunshine while you enjoy a lunch by the sea that can include Baja Fish Tacos, a traditional Lobster Roll, or Pizza Margarita with shrimp or with lobster.  The Bistro patio is the ideal spot to meet for afternoon cocktails and share a Seasonal Fruit Platter, a Meza Platter, or the Fruit de Mer with shrimp, lobster, crab, calamari, and cod cakes.   Evenings, you can watch the sun set and the stars come out as you savor a memorable meal cooked with care and top-notch ingredients.

This season, the Bistro has a new chef, Brady Duhame, who adds to this exquisite setting some of the best food being served on Nantucket.  

Chef Duhame may be new to the island, but he is far from new to the kitchen.  He started cooking at the age of twelve as a result of mowing the lawn.  He explains:  “I kept whacking down my mother’s rhubarb, so she explained to me what it was, brought me into the kitchen, opened up the Joy of Cooking, and we made strawberry rhubarb pie.  That’s when I caught the bug.”

After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America 1992, Duhame went on to cook at Bouley, at Picholine, and at the Park Avenue Café in New York City.  He recently helped open Alta Strada, Michael Schlow’s new restaurant at the MGM Grand in Foxwoods.  Duhame came to Nantucket and to the Summer House Beachside Bistro at the suggestion of friend and colleague Chef Marc Orfaly.

In the talented hands of Chef Duhame, the casual coastal cuisine of the Bistro has become something you’ll want to experience again and again.  The preparations are familiar but the execution is so very well done that each dish sets a new standard.  Duhame describes his food as “contemporary New England” but not too “fancy-schmancy.”  “People come to New England to eat seafood...they want to have a chowder...I add my little twists and nuances.”  These “little twists and nuances” applied to top-notch ingredients make Duhame’s cuisine sensational.

	We began our meal this week with an assortment of house specialty drinks as we perused the menu.  Our favorites were the Mojo Ito, made with three types of mint grown in the restaurant garden, and the Summer House Cocktail, a refreshing mix of watermelon, canteloupe, honeydew, and citrus vodka.  The Bistro also has a well planned wine list, with 20 wines available by the glass.
	More than a dozen starters are offered at the Bistro, most featuring fresh seafood.  One of the appetizers that comes highly recommended by the chef is his Tuna Tartar Martini.  Unlike any we’ve had before, this tartar is built in layers.  First there’s warm sticky rice, then a cool and smooth avocado puree, and finally a generous portion of chilled fresh tuna, chopped fine and gently blended with dijon mustard, garlic, and olive oil.  The different textures and temperatures come together to make a stunning composition, which we dispatched in a few moments of bliss.
	We adored Chef Duhame’s Mouille Frites.  One of the more straightforward offerings, this dish is simple and simply delicious!  The bright orange mussels, delicate and tender with a fresh ocean taste, peek out of their blue-black shells from a pool of luscious garlic herb butter.  Piled on top are crisp batter-dipped shoestring fries, hot and salty and topped with squiggles of aioli.  Again, Chef Duhame takes full advantage of the contrast in textures.  What was left of the butter sauce after we devoured the mussels and the fries, we mopped up with the Bistro’s very good sweet Portuguese bread.  This dish alone would lure us back to ‘Sconset.
	It’s difficult to pick a favorite between the Summer House Crab Cake and the Atlantic Coast Cod Fritters.  Both are sensational!  Duhame succeeds in achieving perfect light yet crunchy exteriors with beautifully browned panko and moist interiors that are full of gorgeously seasoned crab and cod with no apparent filler.  We don’t know how they hold together. The Crab Cake on a platform of corn salsa with kernels of roasted corn, bits of red onion and tomato, cilantro, and a dusting of chipotle for a touch of smoky heat.
	The cod in the Fritters, which does include chunks of potato, actually flakes apart.  The Cod Fritters are served on a chilled bed of crunchy coleslaw; After finishing every crumb and every drop of each appetizer, we could hardly wait for the entrees.
	Chef Duhame revealed that one of his favorite entrees on the Bistro menu is the Lobster and Shrimp Fra Diavolo.  “I love to cook Italian:  I cooked in Italy for four months, so that is near and dear to my heart.”  Duhame’s passion truly shows in his rousing version of this classic dish.  The large, plump shrimp and the lobster meat are tossed with fettucine in the garlicky, spiced tomato sauce. There is heat, but not enough to overpower the shellfish—each element retains its flavor and its integrity.
	Also very good is the Pasta Pomodoro.  The penne pasta is served with large chunks of crimini mushrooms, fresh tomato, fresh basil and herbs from the Summer House garden, olive oil, and parmesan.  We ordered this dish with chicken, and were impressed that the chicken breast was shredded and incorporated into the entree rather than just sliced overtop.  Thought goes into every step taken in Chef Duhame’s kitchen.
	We were very impressed by the Baked Sole Oreganado, another straightforward dish that is prepared with great skill and attention to detail.  The thick filets of sole are perfectly cooked.  Perfectly!  They’re moist and flaky, with just enough crumbs and oregano pressed onto the fish to give it a golden brown crust and a compelling aroma.  The sole is served on wilted spinach and anointed with a rich lemon butter sauce that heightens the natural sweetness of the fish.  Fresh, juicy cherry tomatoes are sliced in half and strewn about the plate.  Another beautifully balanced dish, this is best when some of each element is eaten together.
	It doesn’t get more “bistro” than Steak Frites, and the steak frites served here are supremely satisfying.  The 14-ounce slab of New York Strip is grilled exactly to temperature and with a dollop of herb butter melting luxuriously overtop.  It’s served on the best creamed spinach we’ve ever tasted (you can even detect the nutmeg in the fresh bechamel) next to hot, crisp frites with the lovely crystalline crunch of sea salt, prized by Chef Duhame for the way it “opens your palate.”
	Chocolate lovers will be delighted by the desserts offered at the Beachside Bistro.  There are three different ways to enjoy chocolate mousse:  Sequoia Cake, which encases the mousse in a “wood grain” swirl of white and milk chocolate topped with dark chocolate adornments...
	... a Chocolate Mousse Pyramid ...
	...and a Triple White Chocolate Mousse Cake, with layers of white, milk, and dark chocolate mousse.
	For a lighter finish, there’s also a variety of sorbets with or without fresh berries.  Espresso, cappucino, or American-style—even the coffee at the Bistro is excellent.