The ferries ply the New England waters between the mainland and Nantucket, Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard all the year round, and each season has its charms and its degree of activity on those North Atlantic islands.
    Having visited Martha’s Vineyard in both summer and fall, I find the former the most enjoyable away from the crowds that pour into the landing ports at Oak Bluffs and Edgartown, and in the cooler months, the sheer enjoyment of being left relatively alone to explore every inlet and dune of the island is the main draw.
    Right abut now those ferries are packed to the railings with weekenders, which the locals cope with as best they can and the hoteliers, boutiques, restaurants and ice cream and fudge shops do banner business from Memorial Day through Labor Day when everyone who stays on the island, whose year-round population is about 16,500, waves exhausted good-byes to those who are leaving it, whose numbers add 85,000.
    The English settled here as of 1642 and Martha’s Vineyard grew wealthy via the 19^th century whaling industry, but that collapsed with the shift to petroleum by 1870.  Afterwards its chief industry became tourism, and many of the most affluent African-American families long ago settled around Oak Bluffs, known for its colorful gingerbread houses,  and the East Chop area.  There are, incidentally, accredited vineyards on the island sold under the Martha’s Vineyard AVA designation since 1985.
    The movie Jaws was filmed here in 1974 and despite its off-putting storyline, it made the Vineyard more popular then ever before. Summer residents Bill and Hillary Clinton and Barack and Michelle Obama have further helped swell this astoundingly affluent small island with even more of the rich and celebrated.  Each March and in July the island’s film festivals are held, and the arts community is strong and well exhibited in local galleries. A Food & Wine Festival is held in October.
    You can drive around the entire island in a few hours and hit most of the tourist sites, which include five historic lighthouses; the Aquinnah Cliffs; the Trinity Park Tabernacle and Old Whaling Church; the Cottage Museum and African American Heritage Museum; the 130-year-old Flying Horses carousel in Oak Bluffs; the nostalgic and quaint Hank's General Store, and the ring of bright beaches around the island.  Photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt once said of the Vineyard, “Nowhere in the world is there a place more beautiful than this.”  His photo of the giant oak at Oak Bluffs is shown to the left.
    Accommodations on the island run from the very posh to B&Bs, and in the summer they all come at a premium. Off season, many close, as do a majority of the restaurants and emporiums. By November you could go starve at lunchtime; for dinner pickings get slim.  On my last visit in October my wife and I stayed at the very beautiful and exceptionally well maintained Harbor View Hotel (right), which opened in 1891 in Edgartown and has been a member of the Historic Hotels of America since 1996.  For good reason the sprawling cedar shingle clapboard main house and cottages with their creaking rocking chairs and windswept verandahs have been called the “Grand Dame” of the Vineyard, now with 114 guestrooms and two restaurants.  Rarely does a weekend go by, even in late autumn, when the Hotel isn’t hosting one or more weddings.
    Current owners Scout Real Estate has of 2006 poured a great deal of capital into making the property look as fresh and manicured as possible, and the quiet sophistication of the décor within the cottages is as up to date in amenities, furniture, King size beds, TVs, kitchens and Internet access as to make them near-private oases even within the large premises of the property.
    Upscale dining is to be enjoyed at the Victorian-appointed Lighthouse Grill (below) here (which was regrettably open only for breakfast when we visited); its menu runs to four cuts of beef ($32-$50), chowder ($11) made with the local Littleneck clams, and a shore dinner of lobster and corn [market price],  so instead we ate hearty pub fare the Henry’s gastro-pub, which stocks a good array of micro-brewery beers and small plates, including local calamari with pickled banana peppers ($15); Chatham mussels with stewed tomatoes and linguica sausage ($19); a very popular country fried chicken sandwich ($16); and, of course, a hefty lobster roll with remoulade ($23).  For dessert just about every table orders the fresh warm chocolate chip cookies ($9).
    Nearby is the Vineyard’s other best-known dining spot, Alchemy Bistro & Bar, (below), which has gone through a few chefs in recent seasons.  This year it is Brian Woods, so I can’t vouch for his cooking except to say that in style it resembles his predecessor’s, whose menu was updated New England fare in big portions.  The house burger is still here. The wine list is not long but very, very pricey.
    The restaurant’s premises on Main Street are very handsome, two stories with verandahs, upon which a street lantern throws an antique glow.  White walls and white tablecloths keep the interior bright, and despite a voluble crowd, the noise level is somehow kept in check.  Now, in good weather, small tables for two are set outside.
    One other food note—though nothing sublime: There’s a local ritual late at night to trek over to Back Door Donuts, which is actually the back door of Martha’s Vineyard Gourmet Café & Bakery in Oak Bluffs.  There will be a line, everybody will be young and seem to have the munchies, and the donuts are well worth the wait, as donuts always are after midnight.
    Choosing when to go to Martha’s Vineyard should be geared to one’s own preferences, for summer weekends are indeed a crush, though weekdays less so.  Spring is idyllic and early fall imparts a sweet calm to the island, while winter is a time for those who incline towards the reclusive.  But what Henry David Thoreau said of Provincetown will be equally true of the visitor on Martha’s Vineyard in any: “A man may stand there and put all of America behind him.”

 

NEW YORK CORNER
By John Mariani
Photos by Evan Sung

BRASSERIE 8/12
9 West 57^th Street (near Fifth Avenue)
212-829-0812

    NYC’s historic restaurants dwarf in number those of any other city in the world, beginning with America’s very first restaurant, Delmonico’s, in 1837 to the Italian kitsch of Mama Leone's in the 1940s and the grandeur of The Four Seasons and Windows on the World in the post-war 20th century.  These and so many others were as much works of innovative architecture as they were fine dining establishments, and, though some very dazzling restaurants have opened in Las Vegas and Asia in the present century, in NYC only the stunning glass box at Lincoln Center named Lincoln Ristorante (where my son is g-m), opened in 2012, shows signs of an enduring architectural legacy.
    The mere look and feel of Brasserie 8 1/2 is a mid-1970s reverie that fits impeccably into the so-called “Bellbottom Building” on West 57th Street designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (among whose other NYC projects are One World Trade Center and the International Center of Photography).
      Of course, putting a serious restaurant, now managed by the Patina Group, below street level, with no windows, was always risky, so the designers made the entryway as dramatic as possible: a circular staircase just made for a grand entrance by Marilyn Monroe or Rita Hayworth leads slowly down to a huge but not intimidating dining room with an onyx bar, white terrazzo floors, mirrored columns, expansive flower displays, deep leather booths, and a stained-glass mural by Ferdnand Léger (left), along with other original artwork by Matisse.  The whole place explodes with colorful elegance and a kind of glamour not seen much anymore in NYC.  No wonder an episode of “Sex and the City” was filmed there.   No one seems to miss the windows.
      The menu is described as “stylish French brasserie,” so you expect dishes like steak frites and Tarte Tatin. But Chef Franck Deletrain takes full advantage of all NYC markets have to offer, which right now includes some marvelous, fat softshell crabs ($27 or part of a $42 fixed price menu) you don’t want to miss.
     The coral-colored lobster bisque ($14) is outstanding, laced with rather than overwhelmed by crème fraȋche, and there’s no quibbling about the abundance of true jumbo lump crab meat in the lightly packed crabcake, served with a sea bean salad, pickled red onions and golden beets ($18).  White asparagus are now in the market ($17), though they rarely taste as sweet as they do in Europe, here enhanced with chanterelles, smoked duck and a lovely fromage blanc flan.     The only real disappointment among the appetizers was an asparagus risotto with tomatoes and black truffle essence ($18) whose texture was gummy, looking more like guacamole than a rice dish.
     There is a selection of raw shellfish, including generously mounted plateaus (at $48 and $75).
     The filet mignon au poivre ($42), steak frites ($47) and côte du boeuf ($49) are all Black Angus-derived and those crisp French fries are excellent.
      So, too, was a pink loin of veal (a steal at $36) both tender and juicy, served with a woodsy wild mushroom sauce, angel’s hair pasta and fava beans.  Even better was Duck Two Ways ($34), both roasted and as a confit of the leg (left), accompanied by bulgur wheat, tangy rhubarb and an orange gastrique to cut the richness.  Best of all—according to my wife, who is extremely finicky when it comes to moules frites—was the big pot of sweet, steaming mussels ($22), which can be had in either a marinière sauce of white wine and garlic or picantes with espelette pepper.        
     How welcome to have a cheese selection (three choices for $14), and you’d expect solid French desserts with a menu like this. Pastry chef Jerome Charpentier delivers with a superb Tarte Tatin made with tangy-sweet Granny Smith apples and caramel ice cream; classic crème brûlée ($9), piping hot beignets with three dipping sauces ( $10); a raspberry mousse cake with chocolate ice cream and white chocolate Chantilly cream ($9); and a black plum tartlette with almond frangipane, vanilla ice cream and ginger syrup ($9).
       Brasserie 8 1/2’s long tenure and popularity is proof that it continues to serve people very good food at very reasonable prices--its Sunday brunch buffet ($34 and $17 for children) is always packed, and there is a remarkable $29 lunch menu--although it rarely gets mentioned by a food media ever on the lookout only for what’s novel.  Even now, just to walk—or sashay—down the staircase at Brasserie 8 1/2 is to capture some of the swank of the “Mad Men” era that evolved into the “Sex and the City” zeitgeist.  Brasserie 8 1/2 never gets old; it just gets better.

Sunday 11a.m.-9 p.m.; Monday-Friday 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; Saturday 5-10 p.m.

NOTES FROM THE WINE CELLAR

THE FOUR BLACK BULLS OF THE SPANISH WINE
APOCALYPSE  WREAK HAVOC IN THE NORTHERN VINEYARDS

By Gerry Dawes