The Kobe Beef Burger at Vorelli's Earns TheYearRounder's 'Best Bite' Award

Vorelli's burgers may be the best in PTown, totally deserving Best Bite recognition.

Not long ago I had the Kobe Beef burger at Vorelli’s, at 226 Commercial Street, and it was the best thing I ate in that entire week, which earns them TheYearRounder’s Best Bite award for exceptional value on this excellent meal. 

This mammoth hamburger starts with a half-pound of Kobe beef, an exclusive grade of meat that’s famous for its juicy tenderness and remarkable flavor. It’s served with leafy lettuce on a bun that’s been toasted on the grill, with a mound of wedge-cut steak fries, and dill pickle chips on the side,

The Kobe burger sells for $14.95, which Is a great PTown bargain for a burger of this size and quality. For an extra 50¢ each I added cheddar cheese, a big slice of onion, and a thick slice of beefsteak tomato. Bacon was just $1.25. At Vorelli’s, they go out of their way to offer a good value for your money.

I could barely hang onto this huge burger with one hand while I shot this picture.

I spread on a little Dijon mustard and just a touch of mayo and I was in business, although it was really pretty difficult to hold onto this huge, towering burger with one hand while I took its photo with the other hand. This was definitely a two-fisted meal.

Vorelli’s is widely known for its aged, Black Angus steaks, and a couple of my favorite seafood dishes are there as well. A few pastas and Italian favorites round out the menu, along with some great lunch and dinner specials and a terrific lobster roll, again, at a great price.

Service at Vorelli’s is friendly and thoughtful, and the staff makes you feel at home in this charming old building that was once the old Five & Ten Cents Store. Much of the artwork on the walls depicts this gracious building through the eyes of a variety of artists over the years,

Lovely panels of stained glass adorn each end of the comfy bar where you’ll find Connie most nights, one of the towns most affable bartenders, who makes the infused vodkas for a couple of their unique, specialty cocktails. A selection of great desserts and after-dinner drinks finishes a memorable meal.

There are plenty of great reasons to visit Vorelli’s, and we congratulate them on garnering Best Bite recognition.

Jimmy's HideAway Brings Winter Tavern Menu to PTown

Jimmy's HideAway is worth looking for.

Jimmy's HideAway begins offering their winter tavern menu this week, available Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays through February 18th. They're shifting to seasonal hours, taking Mondays and Tuesdays off.
The tavern menu features casual favorites at a good price, like the HideAway Burger (Angus beef) with hand cut fries, for $12.95. There's also a Pale Ale Battered Haddock, with cole slaw and fries.
The Shrimp Florentine combines baby spinach, capers, garlic, lemon and white wine, all tossed with linguine. The Spicy BBQ Ribs are roasted long and slow, served with cole slaw and your choice of French fries or Jimmy's amazing Smoked Gouda Corn Bread Pudding, my personal favorite. If you find yourself really ravenous, order the fries with your ribs, and a side of that corn bread pudding.
It's always tough to choose what to order at Jimmy's. I try to eat something different wherever I go, so I can tell you about more great dishes, but it's so hard not to order, for example, the mini Beef Wellingtons, every time I'm there, because that's one of the really great appetizers of Provincetown, served in portions that are meant to be shared. There are ten more salads and appetizers.
Among Jimmy's selection of entrées, ranging from $22 to $38, you'll find French Citrus Bouillabaisse, Grilled Fillet Mignon Au Poivre, Portuguese Cod, and a half-dozen others, including another favorite of mine: Pork Tenderloin is roasted with onion, mushroom, white wine, lemon and rosemary, all of which make for a delightful, savory pan gravy ladled over mashed potatoes, served with sautéed vegetables.
Find Jimmy's HideAway at 179 Commercial Street in Provincetown, tucked away down a charming little brick path, then down a few stairs, to this cozy, garden level restaurant, with a view of the harbor through the tall seagrass surrounding the back dining room. Call 508•487•1011 for reservations (recommended,) though seating is sometimes available at the bar, where Jimmy himself will pour you a beer or whip you up a delightful cocktail.

What's New in PTown? Devon's Food Bar

The Pig's Ears at Devon's Food Bar may just be
my favorite new Provincetown bar food this year.

Devon's Bradford Street location, at the corner of Pleasant Street, is shape-shifting this summer. Its focus has turned to global bar foods, with flavors and influences from around the world in snacks, bites, small plates and bowls, ranging from $2 to $12, no kidding, and perfectly suited for sharing and tasting.
There's a new bar, too, called On The Rocks, made from an old dory that Devon has spruced up, turning it into a sleek, comfortable bar featuring more than 30 thoughtfully selected wines from around the world (11 of them by the glass,) a variety of unique cocktails and half-a-dozen good New England beers.
I'm working my way around the menu. On my last visit I had to try the Julienned Fried Pig's Ears, a delicacy I had never had before that day, but I've had this perfect bar food on my mind ever since. These thinly sliced strips are deep fried, so they're crispy, yet somehow still tender, dashed with a bit of chipotle lime salt and served with a spicy pique puree dipping sauce: a just-right blend of chilies, pineapple, a little vinegar and a bit of garlic.

The fried chickpeas are light, a little crunchy, with a great
blend of middle eastern spices - again, a perfect bar snack.

I couldn't stop munching on them, washing 'em down with a cold New England beer. I tried a good IPA White, still nice and hoppy but with a little lighter body than the darker IPA. I tried them both, and each also went well with the Fried Chickpeas with their Zatar Spice. That's a middle eastern blend of sesame, dried mint, oregano and sumac, sprinkled on chickpeas that have been fried up light and a little crispy. These make a great bar snack to munch on with a beer or a cocktail.
The new bar is beautiful, by the way. A lot of Townies dropped in to try it out while I was there that evening.

Stewed linguica is a great dish with a Portuguese influence.

Chefs Melissa Ettinger and Lourdes "Uyi" Ortiz  cook with ingredients from around the world, and take their inspiration from the cuisines of many regions. Asian specialties include real ramen noodles, made fresh, in-house. Bacalaítos are salt cod fritters that originated in Puerto Rico, now popular in the Dominican Republic and in other countries.
Mexican street tacos are on the menu, one with meat and another is vegan, each wrapped in a fresh, house made corn tortilla shell. A new favorite dish of mine is stewed linguica with melted onions and figs, served with grilled peasant bread.

Right now Devon's Food Bar is open Friday through Sunday for dinner, from 5:30 to 10 PM, at 31 Bradford Street. They have a random selection of 3 or 4 of their snacks and bites at half price during happy hour, currently Saturdays and Sundays from 4 to 6 PM, and they offer a great breakfast Friday through Monday from 8 AM to 1 PM. Those hours will change on June 15th, when breakfast and dinner will both be served daily, except Thursdays, when they'll be closed. Parking is available, too.

Try this new bar, and a few items from Devon's new menu of global bar foods, and you'll be back for more of these wonderful flavors, and another trip around the world.

Get Thee to The Crown for Their Last BBQ Night of the Season

The Central House is open Thursdays through Saturdays, with Steve SanSoucie at the Piano on Saturday nights.

The Central House at The Crown & Anchor is offering their fantastic Thursday night hickory pit smoked BBQ one last time before the season changes, so get there tonight for the Smoked Berkshire Pulled Pork Shoulder, their Spice Rubbed Hickory Smoked Beef Brisket, those smoky Texas Hot Link Sausages, or the Carolina Style Smoked Black Angus Beef Rib. It's your choice of any of these entrées, each served with a buttermilk biscuit and your choice of two side dishes, ranging from contemporary offerings like the roasted Brussels sprouts, or various comfort foods like mac & cheese, to southern influenced favorites like hush puppies, sautéed greens or sweet potato pie.
Fish and chips, fried chicken or their 10 ounce grass fed burger are also available, along with salads and appetizers, but you owe it to yourself to enjoy the BBQ one last time before the seasons shift. A couple of southern influenced cocktails are offered as well. There's the Makers Mint Sour, made with house made sour mix and mint infused triple sec, or the Hot Buttered Bourbon, with brown sugar, cinnamon, clove and vanilla; just the thing to conquer that little chill that's still hanging on in Provincetown. There's a full bar, of course, and Sommelier Peter Miscikoski has assembled a wine list that's recognized as one of the best on Cape Cod. See you tonight at The Central House, at The Crown & Anchor, at 247 Commercial Street, for one last BBQ Night.

El Mundo's Chicken Fajita Platter Makes TheYearRounder's "Best Bite" List

Fresh ingredients shine in El Mundo's chicken fajitas; a Best Bite.

My quest to traverse the entire menu at El Mundo led me one day last week to their fajita al mojo de ajo, which means "with garlic," with each of your filling choices smothered in slow-roasted garlic. Choose from a coffee & chili-rubbed flat iron steak, Mexican BBQ shrimp, or chicken breast, each grilled to perfection. You have to be hungry to order this dish, though, because it comes as a huge platter of fixings for you to assemble into three fajitas, however you like 'em.
Here's what's on the platter, starting at 6 o'clock, at the bottom edge of the plate: First, I unfolded a warm, soft, flour tortilla to begin making my first fajita. Clockwise from there I found beautiful, fresh field greens, then a mound of Monteray Jack cheese, followed by
El Mundo's chunky salsa fresca. At the top of the platter, at 12 o'clock, there was lovely, fresh guacamole. Next was a scoop of mildly seasoned black beans (El Mundo makes a spicy black bean and chipotle dip, too,) followed by a mound of Mexican style rice. In the center of the plate was the star of the dish, a generous portion of nicely seasoned, grilled chicken breast, with a wonderful flavor from that slow-roased garlic, sliced and ready to pile into my tortilla. I ate the beans and rice on the side, between munching down my fajitas, but I think next time I might slip a few beans into a fajita or two as well.
This dish has a lot of flavor, and it's a decent value at $16.95. This was the best meal I'd eaten all week long, a real stand-out among the various foods and treats I had tasted all around Provincetown that week, and that's what makes it a Best Bite.
Find El Mundo right across the street from Town Hall, at 269 Commercial Street, with a lively bar serving a dozen different margaritas, Mexican beers and a number of specialty cocktails, along with two dining rooms, a nice water view, and outdoor seating looking out over the beach and the harbor.

What's New? - All Kinds of Flavors at the Food Court in the Aquarium Marketplace

This spring there are so many new things to taste in Provincetown. You could spend an entire day trying new flavors in the Food Court at the Aquarium Marketplace, at 209 Commercial Street. In fact, you could easily spend your whole day at Uma Loucura, the new Brazilian restaurant there, tasting dishes and flavors you've never had before, but will be sure to go back for again. Let's start there...

Some of Brazil's favorite breakfast
and snack foods from Uma Loucura.

Uma Loucura offers a wonderful variety of meals, made from scratch from authentic Brazilian ingredients you have likely never tasted. They offer a great menu and daily specials, but for today, let's start with a few very popular Brazilian snack foods, clockwise from the bottom left corner:
Coxinha is the favorite of all snacks in Brazil, a sort of chicken croquette, if you will. This is a light teardrop shaped ball of soft dough stuffed with shredded chicken.
Esfirra is a tiny, triangular pastry stuffed with ground beef and Brazillian seasonings, heralding from the Middle East.

Pao De Queijo, a little ball of cheese bread made from cassava flour (from the ground roots of the manioc plant) will soon be offered in daily choices like jalapeño, bacon and other flavorss. This is a very popular snack and breakfast food in Brazil.
Empadinha, in the bottom right corner, is a mild, bite sized pie made with shredded chicken baked into a pastry crust, with a great texture and flavor.

Get a plate of any or all of these to carry out onto the Aquarium's waterfront deck to enjoy with a cocktail, a glass of wine or a cold beer at the Aqua Bar, along with that amazing view of Provincetown Harbor.

About 2 dozen great flavors at a time
are n the case at I Dream of Gelato.

It is impossible to walk into I Dream of Gelato and not find something new. Michelle simply can't help herself. She gets an idea for a new flavor and can't seem to rest until she has perfected it. It'll take you a couple of years to taste them all, with somewhere around 200 brilliant flavors of gelato and sorbetto rotating through the freezer case as they are made fresh daily. Yesterday I tasted the amazing banana fig, and the award-winning Holy Canolli. It was the caramel salt pretzel, though, that sent me off looking for Michelle to find out how in the world she comes up with these sublime combinations of flavors and then actually puts those flavors into these extraordinary confections. Short of grinding up actual pretzels into the mix, how does she achieve that flavor? Turns out she does use pretzels, but that still doesn't explain how she makes this perfectly smooth, and perfectly flavored, fine Italian ice cream. 

The famous Mississippi Mud Cake
from Connie's Bakery is legendary.

So much is new at Connie's Bakery this year that I'll have to write a whole page about it very soon. So let me just mention that Shane has taken over upon Connie's retirement, after her many years of turning out some of Provincetown's favorite baked goods. Don't worry, all your favorites are still here. The store has been carefully remodeled, making it much easier to shop for savory treats like their beautiful quiche, or sweets like the endless array of cookies, cakes, pies, muffins, and brownies that made Connie's famous.

Shane has some new things in store for us as well. Recently inspired by the birthday of a friend, Shane made a tiny tweak to a favorite recipe from Connie's vast collection, and made the Mississippi Mud Cake what many now claim to be the best chocolate cake ever created. I was certainly hooked upon tasting this rich, dense Bundt cake, a bit like a pudding cake but somehow lighter, with a bit of coffee to give it a little mocha flavor, and drizzled with a chocolate ganache. Stop in and give it a taste.

All these things and more are found in the Aquarium, with seven unique restaurants, and seating indoors or out, on the patio or the waterfront deck. Everything here is available for takeout, too. Next week we'll try more of the new dishes Provincetown has to offer this summer. They are found all along Commercial Street. Let me know if you find something I need to taste.

Sal's Place Opening Party - What a Spread!

Nate and Anthony offer us a traditional sweet Italian sausage in a homemade
tomato sauce, and crostini featuring tender beef on crispy, toasted bread. 

Sal's Place, on the edge of the Harbor at 99 Commercial Street, held their annual party for the official opening of the 2013 summer season last week. The entire town is always invited to enjoy this lovely waterfront deck looking out over the absolute majesty of Provincetown Harbor while the waitstaff circulates through the crowd offering tastes from Sal's menu.
At the same time, guests make their way around a huge banquet table of crusty breads, cheeses, cold cuts, exotic tomato varieties, smoked salmon and all kinds of delectables.

Folks served themselves from the bountiful buffet of hot foods. 

Still more food was found in a buffet of hot dishes that included the vibrant colors of fresh green beans and peppers, followed by several delicious pasta dishes, mussels simmered in wine and herbs, and a stuffed flounder that people are still talking about. Mushroom caps stuffed with a mixture of parmigiana cheese, breadcrumbs and herbs were also a big hit with the crowd.
A number of revelers made themselves comfortable in Sal's Tuscany Wine Room, a cozy space dedicated to the celebration of wines, with some two-dozen choices to be sampled by the glass. Beer and cocktails are served as well. There's also a special menu of lighter fare available, and wine bar manager John Foley will be happy to suggest wines to pair with different dishes. This is also a great spot to sit and enjoy an espresso with friends, although you may not be able to resist the lure of the fresh cannoli with your coffee, nor Lora's legendary chocolate mousse pie, made with a Callebaut chocolate cookie crust and filled with what might well be the best chocolate mousse you'll ever taste. Other sweet treats are served at Sal's as well. Outside of the imported Italian gelato and sorbettto., just about everything else you'll find here is made from scratch, right on the premises.

Trampolina was on hand to welcome Townies to the celebration.

This year marks the 51st anniversary of this wonderful waterfront restaurant, now owned by Lora and Alexander Papetsas, with Alexander running the kitchen, and Lora ready to welcome you on arrival. General Manager Tony Zampella is on hand as well to help keep things running smoothly in this very popular restaurant in PTown's quiet West End. The wine bar and espresso lounge open at 4:30 PM, and dinner is served from 5:30 till 10 PM nightly. Reserve a table by visiting Sal's Place online 24 hours in advance, or phone them at 508 487-1279. We welcome back this wonderful neighborhood restaurant for the 2013 summer season in Provincetown.