Restaurants & Inns Revue and Guide©
Chew and Chat Eateries
With John Rega,
food and restaurant commentator
This month I should be writing about all the unknown Cape Cod restaurants but I have
been asked to narrow it down to just a few... since it would take at least two years and
1,400 pages to cover them all. Here is just a sample of "down Cape" local
eateries and exceptional small intimate restaurants that only Cape Codders and seasoned
"wash-a-shores" know about ... My foodies call them "Chew and Chat"
places.
Grilled Quahog Cakes; Seafood Chowder; Baked Oysters au
Gratin; Seafood Fettuccini...
and 30 more entrees can be sampled at this "out of the way" eatery known as
the Kettle Ho! in Cotuit. Since 1915 a coffee shop... the 60's transformed
into a breakfast and lunch restaurant. And now 36 years later, you can stay for all your
daily meals, including dinner. Local, as local can be, with a "cup of
gossip" to help you digest some great foods. Must try is the grilled quahog cakes as
an appetizer... then to the dinner choice... Seafood Fettuccini... with lobster, scallops,
shrimp and crab in a garlic cream sauce. Remember you're on vacation... so the calories
don't count. Do look up at the five color pastel tin ceilings and some artifacts made by
old Cotuitites. (508) 428-1862
Blackened Beef with Charred Pepper Relish; Warm Spinach
and Scalloped Salad; Pork Loin with Apples and Goat Cheese; Poached Salmon with Ginger,
Soy Sauce and Scallions...
reflect the innovative approach of chef/owner John Pontius at Finely J.P.'s in South
Wellfleet. My first taste experience was the Warm Spinach and Scalloped Salad with a
touch of toasted sesame oil and then on to the entree, J.P.'s Cataplana with Cajun
Andouille sausage, presented with a half a 1½-pound lobster, littlenecks in a spicy fresh
tomato sauce over long grain rice. After a few moments of the first entree, I did have
room for the homemade Flan and Espresso. This is a small intimate restaurant on Route 6,
just minutes from the Wellfleet flea market (the Cape's largest!). (508) 349-7500
Fried Calamari; Steak Umbriago; Scrod Palermo; Shrimp
Florentine; Seafood Fra Diavolo; Linguine with Mussels Pompeii...
became my favorite at Mantano's in North Truro and 10 years later Bob
Mantano, chef/owner, still creates the entrees that have this family restaurant a favorite
enjoyed by locals and seasonal visitors year-round. You must try the Steak Umbriago,
trimmed sirloin with sautéed onions, garlic, roasted peppers, mushrooms, olives and
wine... or the Scrod Palermo, sautéed with marinated eggplant, artichoke hearts, olives,
garlic, wine, light red sauce. You make the choice or try both! (508) 487-2026
Some other "Chew and Chat" places you must try...
Jack's Out Back... everyone knows this one. Jack Smith, co-owner, stands on
Route 6A, Yarmouth Port, with a "sandwich sign" every afternoon pointing
to his parking lot, a few steps beyond Hallet's Drug Store, the only authentic old
fashion fountain served milk shakes, frappes and malts in southern New England. It has
been told both establishments have been there since the town first paved the road. You
make the decision on the food. Both are exceptional eateries.
Let me not forget: Nonnies, Route 6A in Orleans, hearty
breakfast and over 30 President plates decorate the walls. Larry's PX, Route 28 in Chatham,
a local news stores with a large horseshoe lunch counter. Great sandwiches.
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