#cape dining

Cape Cod Restaurant Week finishes up this Sunday, but there’s still plenty of time to end things on a sweet note. Take a peek at our picks for the most decadent, mouthwatering desserts and get dining!

Chocolate

Barley Neck Inn - GF Flourless Chocolate Tart  with crème anglaise

Bluefins Sushi & Sake Bar - Miso Chocolate Pot de Crème

Certo’s Trattoria - Chocolate salami, biscotti, chocolate dipped fig & espresso foam

Mad Minnow Bar & Kitchen -  Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich

Seasonal

Bistro on Main - Hemeon's Apple Tarte Tatin, Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, Butterscotch Sauce

Chatham Wine Bar - Pecan Apple Bread Pudding, Cinnamon Apple Pecan Brioche Bread Pudding, with a Bourbon Caramel, and served with Vermont Maple Gelato

Five Bays Bistro - Pumpkin Cake with cream cheese icing and caramel sauce

Finish your Cape Cod Restaurant Week on a sweet note with our roundup of decadent desserts available from Falmouth to the very tip of P-Town.

Nuts

Brewster Fish House - Walnut Rum Cake, Whipped Cream, Caramel Sauce

Belfry Inne & Bistro - Bittersweet Chocolate Crepes served with sweet and salty hazelnuts and whipped cream

Wicked Oyster -  Chocolate-Hazelnut Lava Cake

Berries

Nauset Beach Club - Panna Cotta, Vanilla Bean Custard, Mixed Berry Coulis

Pisces Restaurant - Strawberry Shortcake served with warm white chocolate biscuits with fresh sugar glazed strawberries, whipped cream and strawberry puree

Scargo Cafe - Strawberry Shortcake served with Raspberry Sorbet

Chocolate

British Beer Company (Falmouth) - Uncle Lumpy’s Chocolate Porter Cake

Ocean House - White Chocolate Pudding, chair cookie crumbs, whipped cream

Siena Italian Grill and Bar - Chocolate Madness, a tall layer of rich chocolate mousse on a layer of flourless chocolate cake; served with housemade chocolate sauce (GF)

Rhubarb

Chillingsworth - Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler with vanilla ice cream

Fanizzi’s Restaurant -  Homemade Rhubarb Jelly Roll drizzled with strawberry coulis and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and whipped cream

Old Yarmouth Inn - Strawberry-Rhubarb Shortcake, buttermilk biscuit and whipped cream

Cape Cod Restaurant Week has come to a close, but that doesn't mean that it's time to settle in for a long winter's nap. We had the chance to talk with Bramble Inn & Restaurant Executive Chef Ruth Manchester, who told us that they'll be serving their delicious prix fixe all winter long! 

Here's what she had to say about Fall Restaurant Week:

Q: What made you want to participate in Restaurant Week this time around?

A: Restaurant Week is such a unique concept.  It brings in new customers looking to try a place they haven't been in before at a great bargain price. It allows me as a chef to showcase some of the types of food we normally serve on our regular menu to encourage those who have never been to pay us a return visit. We also appreciate the additional media coverage the entire Cape gets through the marketing you do to promote the event.

Q: Which do you prefer - Spring Restaurant Week or Fall Restaurant Week? Why?

A: Personally, fall is my favorite time of year on Cape Cod. The crowds have left, the pace is slower and the weather is generally gorgeous as with this past week. How lucky were we? It entices out of town visitors to come back and sample a less harried time with no long waits or heavy traffic and is a shot in the financial arm for us as it brings us guest at a traditionally slower market time.

Q: What inspired you when you were planning your Restaurant Week menu? Are there certain dishes that you add or remove to appeal to the RW goer’s palate?

A: FOOD inspires me!! So to be able to offer a menu that utilizes fresh and local ingredients and work with my suppliers to offer something fun, attractive and flavorful at a great price is a win-win situation. I also get a kick out of watching my service staff get all excited again to be so busy. All the nice comments from our guests are also a great inspiration to keep up the good work. If they leave as happy as they have been all week, then I know our work as a team has been a success! We try to change our Restaurant Week menu each season to appeal to all the RW goers, making it interesting and diverse, a little different from our other restaurant friend's offerings.

Q: What dishes have been the most popular on your Fall menu?

A: We added a chicken curry dish this fall - kind of an adaptation of our popular seafood curry dish that is a house special at The Bramble for many years. That and the cod dish we prepared with a creamed corn chowder were the biggest sellers.

Q: Who came in for Restaurant Week this time around - was it more regulars or mostly new faces?

A: We saw mostly new faces this week which was wonderful. Everyone was so gracious and complementary. A few of our regulars come every week no matter what and loved the fact that they could take advantage of the 3 course menu as well. We have decided it was so overwhlemingly popular that we will continue to offer the same menu all winter with only a few seasonal changes as fall turns to winter.

Hold on to your hats - Cape Cod Restaurant Week isn’t over yet!

We were able to pull Chef Florence Lowell from Naked Oyster in Hyannis out of the kitchen for a quick interview. Read on to find out where she’s dying to go this week, and what dishes she’s excited about serving:

Q: Is this the first time the Naked Oyster has participated in Restaurant Week?

A: We have been participating in Restaurant Week for many years, since the program started on the Cape. It is a wonderful way to showcase both the restaurant and our culinary style.

Q: Sounds like you’ve been doing this for awhile, so which do you prefer - Spring Restaurant Week or Fall Restaurant Week? 

A: Spring and fall on the Cape are great seasons to find plentiful local products. The local clientele is also around, which makes it a great time to try out new dishes. We are always excited about Restaurant Week, but we don’t really have a preference because to us, it’s just a good time to try something new.

Q: What inspires you when you’re planning your Restaurant Week menu?

A: First, we always try to look at what will be available at that time on the Cape. We have our own oyster farm, so we always have at least one oyster dish. About a month before Restaurant Week starts, we go to the fisherman and the farm and see what will be available for us to use. I always have a fall garden and we’ll pick a few things from that. I’m from France and even though it’s not a French restaurant, I always try to get that specific taste into the menu as well. I always try to pull in flavors that are more traditional Basque country.

Q: What dishes or ingredients are you really excited about from this Fall’s menu?

A: For the Fall menu, we are really excited to include the orange cranberry gnocchi to the Duck Confit dish. We always have Duck Confit on the menu, but the orange cranberry gnocchi is new for Fall. Personally, I’m really excited about the Pear and Almond Torte – really great flavor.

Q: When you’re not in the kitchen during Restaurant Week, where are you planning to go out to eat? Is there anyone’s menu that you’re excited to check out? Or do you opt for places that are not participating?

A: Lyric has a fun menu that I want to try. Nauset Beach Club’s menu sounds fantastic. I’d also love to check out the Bramble Inn.

Q: Those all sound great! So, who tends to come in for Restaurant Week? Do you see a lot of regulars or mostly new faces?

A: We see a lot of new faces during Restaurant Week. This includes the regulars who come in a lot, and during Restaurant Week they’ll come in many times a week. We also see some younger people, which is really fun for us.

Cape Cod Restaurant Week continues with great weather and even better food!

Lucky for us, we had a little time to chat with David Troutman of Scargo Cafe. Read on to see what he thinks of the week-long promotional event we know and love:

Q: Is this the first time Scargo has participated in Restaurant Week? 

A: Actually, we were one of the first to get involved on the Cape, which is something we’re very proud of.

Q: Since you’ve been doing this for awhile, which do you prefer - Spring Restaurant Week or Fall Restaurant Week? 

A: Since the Spring is a somewhat slower time for us, we appreciate the boost in business in May. But it’s the Fall really presents an opportunity to mix things up culinarily.

Q: What dishes or ingredients are you really excited about from this Fall’s menu?

A: Clearly with the Fall, there’s this type of reliance on root vegetables and somewhat heavier sauces and accompaniments.

Q: Who comes in for Restaurant Week? Do you see a lot of regulars or mostly new faces? 

A: Interestingly, we do get a rather eclectic mix of clientele. To a certain extent, we draw in people looking for a new experience and we often see a lot of new faces. On the other hand, with the deep discounting of the prix fixe menu, many of our regulars who might only have a light item or a single entree take the opportunity to splurge and have the appetizer and dessert that are included during Restaurant Week.  It is not uncommon to see the same diner come in twice as often.

If you haven’t already visited Scargo Cafe, don’t miss your chance! Check out their menu and book a table asap.

Happy May, everyone!

Cape Cod Restaurant Week is fast approaching! From May 13th until the 19th, many of the best restaurants on the Cape will offer fabulous three or four course prix fixe menus for just $25, $30 or $35. Lots of menus are available for you to peruse, so take a look at the new and improved Cape Cod Restaurant Week website and start making your plans!

As if that is enough, some restaurants are offering a little something extra to diners this Restaurant Week....

At 400 East in Harwich, dinner for 2 includes a bottle of wine!

Dinner at Alberto's Ristorante in Hyannis includes a bottle of wine from the menu, or you can apply a $20 discount to a bottle of your choice from their entire wine list.

If you dine at The Black Cat Tavern in Hyannis, you'll get a complimentary glass of wine with your meal.

Your Restaurant Week meal at Brazilian Grill comes with a glass of wine or caipirinha!

If you head to Dolphin Restaurant in Barnstable, you'll get a glass of house red or white wine with dinner.

At Siena Italian Bar & Grill, wine pairings available for an additional $11.95 per person.

We know, we know...there are so many great options, it's hard to choose! Better start making reservations now so you can try as many restaurants as possible.