It started mid-Cape with mouthwatering seafood cakes dipped in Dijon tarragon mayonnaise, and it ended on the outer Cape with juicy Wellfleet oysters, that town’s pride and joy. My culinary quest to savor authentic Cape fare (or, more accurately, consume locally caught lobster drenched in drawn butter) was a tough assignment, but hey, somebody had to do it. By the time I finished, I’d traveled almost 1,200 miles, consumed several dozen fried clams, and gained a few pounds—but I’d also experienced the ebb and flow of the hospitality industry on the Cape. And you can, too. When on the Cape, stop by one of these establishments, enjoy a meal, and say hello. These grads love meeting their fellow UMies.
Ebb Tide • Van Rensselaer’s • Moby Dick’s • Hearth ’n Kettle •
Ebb Tide
Dennisport
In 1959 Richard and Helen McCormick opened the Ebb Tide in an antique
captain’s cottage facing Nantucket Sound. The establishment has since
grown into a rambling New England–style building hung with portraits
of salty sea captains and punctuated by ocean-blue leather armchairs.
An elegant two-story lobby envelops the façade of the original cottage,
including some of its shingled roof.
For almost 50 years, the Ebb Tide has remained a family-run business,
now with three generations involved. The parents are semi-retired but
still active; Gail McCormick Knell ’82, ’84G, and
her siblings Paul and Patty are in charge now; and some of the seven
McCormick grandchildren are starting in the business.
Paul’s oldest, Mary Catherine, 19, is a waitress. Gail’s two sons,
Christopher, 11, and Michael, 10, “like to hang around the kitchen,
pitching in,” Gail says, “on small tasks like breading.”
Gail oversees the front of the house, including six intimate dining rooms, each with formal white tablecloth settings. Paul is executive chef, and Patty manages the bar and computer operations. There is always a McCormick working at the Ebb Tide; you can count on it.
Gail’s parents
ran the place according to certain values. They decreed there would
be no yelling or swearing in the kitchen, a rule that still holds today.
That emphasis on treating others with respect is one of the reasons
Gail went into the famil business in the first place (she started
waitressing when she was 11 years old). She readily recites a family
motto, “Our parents always said, ‘family first.’”
Although the restaurant is closed in the winter months, the five
principals meet weekly year-round to make policy, decide on food purchases,
etc. “It takes longer this way,” says Gail, “but it results in a better
decision.”
The parents have handed down another important piece of advice: Always
listen to your customers.
The Ebb Tide’s intermezzo course is a memorable example. Every entrée
comes with a palate cleansing sorbet, in addition to a house salad,
homemade breads, vegetable, and potato.
At one point the McCormicks dropped it, but when their loyal customers
demanded its return, the intermezzo was back on the menu three days
later.
Tasting Notes: Ebb Tide, Restaurant by the Sea, 508-432-2027; 94 Chase Ave., Dennisport. ebbtiderestaurant.com. |
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Van Rensselaer’s
South Wellfleet
Named for a Dutch ancestor of founders Howard and Anne Hall, Van Rensselaer’s
is another restaurant in the hands of the second generation. In 1980,
Peter Hall ’76 took over the business his parents started in 1968.
VR’s offers moderately priced seafood, as well as traditional American
fare—steaks, pasta, chicken—in a family-friendly, casual setting.
There are three dining rooms, a bar, and a screened patio, a family
favorite. When you walk through the door, chances are you will meet
Peter or his wife, Diane, in the front of the house—they alternate
between Van Rensselaer’s and their Catch of the Day eatery nearby.
Peter makes it a point to visit briefly with every customer and ask
how everything was. That’s how I learned that he and Bob
Paquette ’77,
WFCR’s senior producer and local Morning Edition host, were floor-mates
at UMass Amherst.
The waitstaff is well-trained and professional. Many are local young
women who return every summer until they graduate from college and
land permanent jobs, to be replaced by younger siblings. Following
a trend in restaurants nationwide, Hall also hires employees on H2B
visas from Eastern Europe, South America, Africa, and Asia. These workers
may start out washing dishes and move up the ladder as their skills
and their English improve. Foreigners pay nominal rents to live in
apartments that the Halls provide. Last year, 15 out of a staff of
70 were from abroad.
Peter and Diane enjoy being part-time surrogate parents. Peter tells
the story of one Polish worker, Szymon, who started dating a fellow
employee from Taiwan several years ago. They are getting married in
Taiwan this summer. When Szymon’s younger brother also came to work
at the restaurant, Peter received a plaintive request from the boy’s
mother, now missing her elder son halfway around the world: “Peter,
please discourage my son from going out with any ‘visa ladies!’”
Tasting Notes: Van Rensselaer’s Restaurant and Raw Bar, 508-349-2127. 1019 Route 6, South Wellfleet. vanrensselaers.com. |
Twenty-five years after taking over his folks’ Route 6 restaurant in South Wellfleet, Peter Hall ’76 opened Catch of the Day in 2005 just a few doors down. At Catch, you can eat your lobster dinner inside the bright eatery and market, outside on the patio, or get it to go. |
Moby Dick’s
Wellfleet
When Richard and Patrick Barry bought Al’s Hamburgers in 1982, they
had in mind summer employment for their teenage daughter and three
college-age sons. Eventually their eldest son, Todd
’88G, took over
the reins. Todd met his wife, Mignon, when on her rounds as a traveling
nurse she walked in the door in 1992 “looking for a clambake.” You
can find Todd
and Mignon roaming the restaurant every day May to October, seeing
to the needs of their many customers.
Over 26 years, the hamburger stand evolved into three dining rooms
that back onto the Wellfleet marsh by Cape Cod Bay. The menu offers
seafood and traditional American fare—including hamburgers. Patrons
order at the counter, and their food is brought to their table, where
it is eaten with plastic utensils off of disposable plates. The quintessential
fish-shack is decked with buoys, nets, and other nautical items, including
navigation instruments from decommissioned ships. The parking lot is
paved with crushed seashells, and one dining room is paneled with driftwood
Todd Barry has collected from the beach. Because informality is de
rigueur here, Moby Dick’s is a favorite destination for families with
children. A patron once paid the restaurant an indirect compliment,
“one of the best I’ve ever received,” Barry says; surrounded by the
remains of her now-consumed lobster, the customer stated triumphantly,
“I’d never eat this way at a real restaurant.”
Part of Moby’s charm is its BYOB policy and crew of 20-something servers,
two traditions the family is sticking with, even though a liquor license
and a regular waitstaff could bring larger profits. “The customers like
it this way,” Todd says, “and so do we.”
One of the secrets to the restaurant’s longevity is Moby’s Cargo, the
gift shop the family added next to the restaurant. A tasteful selection
of crafts, sea-themed home décor, signed books by local authors, and
a large toy and book section for kids entice customers to linger and
spend a few more dollars. Barry has diversified further, partnering with
his sister, Tracey, and her husband, Philip Hunt, in a new venture: Last
year they fully gutted and renovated a historic house in the village
of Wellfleet and opened a fine-dining restaurant called Winslow’s Tavern.
Tasting Notes: Moby Dick’s, 508-349-9795. Route 6, across from Gull Pond Road, Wellfleet. mobydicksrestaurant.com. |
A history graduate of Franklin & Marshall College, Todd
Barry ’88G also studied at East Anglia University in England and later
enrolled at UMass Amherst for his graduate degree in hospitality |
Hearth ’n Kettle
Hyannis
Vincent “VJ” Catania founded Hearth ’n Kettle in Falmouth in 1973.
Now three of his six children own and manage the chain: Bill Catania
’82 serves as president, with vice-presidents Steven and Debra also
at the helm. Bill’s son, Jason, works summers at the family properties;
he will finish up his senior year at UMass Amherst’s Isenberg School
of Management in 2009.
“Cape Cod fresh” is more than a slogan for the Catanias. Since VJ opened
the first store, the family has watched seafood costs creep up, and
suppliers come and go. Yet they have managed to keep their prices affordable
for families.
“Day-boat fishermen are in short supply these days,” says Bill. “They
were once numerous and, for a long time, our main fish suppliers.”
H ’n K buys only fresh fish and never freezes it. Bill adds, “We’re
also starting to offer organically grown salmon, which is one of the
most popular items on the menu.”
Since 1973, the Catanias have expanded their business into a hospitality
empire, employing 800 people at seven Hearth ‘n Kettles (three off-Cape)
that serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner; dozens of full-service function
rooms; and three family resorts, complete with luxury spa services
and wave pools.
Bill Catania first started working at the family restaurant when his
dad bought it; he was about 12 years old. Back then, it was known as
a great place for breakfast. And they still serve it every day, starting
at 7 a.m., in addition to lunch and dinner.
Their ample portions, moderate prices, and tasty menu make these year-round
restaurants a popular rendezvous for both permanent residents and summer
visitors.
Tasting notes Hearth ’n Kettle 1225 Route 132, Hyannis 508-771-3000. |
Bill Catania ’82 is currently overseeing a $20 million expansion at the Catania’s Hyannis Cape Codder Resort, which includes the Cape’s first fractional ownership condos, replete with marble kitchen countertops, concierge staff, and a 30,000 square foot indoor water park. |
