Pop + Dutch Earns a 'Best Bite' Award for Their Sensational Chef Salad Sandwich

TheYearRounder bestows a Best Bite award on the innovative
Chef Salad Sandwich, piled high at Pop + Dutch in PTown.

When I walked into Pop + Dutch (say Pop and Dutch) on a rare afternoon off a little while back, starving, I had no idea what I would order. Everything they offer in this eccentric little neighborhood market is top notch. with nearly everything made right there, fresh, from scratch.

They bake their own buttermilk biscuits, along with pies made from fresh, seasonal fruits, and whatever other pastry, goody or dessert that might strike them at any given moment. They roast their own veggies, turkey and beef, too, so all of this keeps the Pop + Dutch oven working at a pretty constant pace, cranking out something tasty all day long.

So they don’t bake all of their own bread, but they do make the focaccia for their Myrna Minkoff sandwich, named for an off-beat fictional character in John Kennedy Toole’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel A Confederacy of Dunces. The Agent Dale Cooper sandwich is 
house-made turkey breast, with cheddar, smashed avocado, mayo, pickled shallots, tomato and butter lettuce on 7-grain bread. It’s named after the quirky FBI agent who has a nefarious alter ego, and an inordinate fondness for cherry pie, in the outré 1989 TV series Twin Peaks. Beginning to see what I mean by “eccentric,” aren’t you? That's part of the fun of Pop + Dutch. A certain lightheartedness is likely to overtake you upon walking through the door.

Behold the radiant sandwich! (from Pop+Dutch Facebook page)

When I asked what I'd have for lunch that day, co-owner Rebecca first determined that there was, indeed, nothing I don't like. Vegan, vegetarian or whole hog, I'm in. After a moment's thought, she suggested I try the Chef Salad sandwich, and repaired to the kitchen to whip one up for me. Just like it sounds, it brings all of the elements of a chef's salad together in a sandwich.
Tender leaves of butter lettuce, slices of sweet, ripe tomato and hard-boiled egg are layered between Swiss cheese, cheddar, Black Forest ham, and turkey that tastes like Thanksgiving, because at Pop + Dutch, they roast it and carve it right in their own kitchen. Stack all of this on a big, fresh Iggy's brioche roll, add a little ranch mayo dressing, and you've got a dandy of a sandwich. A distinctive taste, along with the superb quality and the inventive use of the ingredients, earned this sandwich a Best Bite award from TheYearRounder, because it was easily the best thing I ate in PTown during that entire week.

Owners Sean and Rebecca refer lovingly to their little market as "a sandwich shop and pint-sized general store" in Provincetown's West End, at 147 Commercial Street, right at the foot of Conant Street. It's in the midst of a little cluster of charming galleries, gift shops and antiques.

As I mentioned, nearly everything in their deli section is made right in their own tiny kitchen, including an unusual, spicy pimento cheese, and jams made from whatever beautiful fresh fruits the seasons bring. Either one can go on a fresh biscuit, right out of the oven, for your breakfast. Get here early; the biscuits sell out.

Fresh produce, bread and dairy, coffee filters, specialty pastas,
olive oil, cookies, crackers, lube… All the basics are here for you.

They get beautiful produce from local farmers any time they can, and they use cage free eggs from farms where the hens are treated well. They treat their customers, and their employees, like treasured friends. In short, their ethics are intact. That's another reason why we love this little shop.
Besides their phenomenal sandwiches, salads, desserts, vegetarian and vegan choices, and gluten-free options, you'll also find basic groceries and a few sundries here as well. 
They stock a small but thoughtful assortment of fresh, seasonal fruits and veggies, treats from local farmers when available, and Iggy's Bread, in Cambridge, brings fresh breads, croissants and sticky buns daily. Milk, eggs and other staples are here, along with a few basic housewares, like retro style enamelware plates, cups and coffee pots, just in case you find your condo a little lacking. And don't forget the lube.
Whether it's a great cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich you need, or just the coffee filters, you'll find them here. Pick up the Sunday paper and some fresh strawberries, or a can of fine Italian tomatoes and a good olive oil, or an award-winning sandwich to take with you to the beach.
If you've not yet discovered this little jewel of a shop, it's worth the stroll to the West End. You'll be happy you found Pop + Dutch.

Recycle It, Right on PTown Streets!

Now we can easily recycle coffee cups and lids
as we're walking down the streets in Provincetown.

I found a stack of these flyers on the information table in the Town Hall lobby. We've been able to recycle bottles, cans and paper in these green recycling containers for a few years now. You'll find them on street corners and in many spots in Provincetown's downtown area. But now you can (and should) put your empty coffee cups and lids in these green bins, too!
It's easier than ever to recycle more and more of our trash these days. Provincetown now uses the "single stream" model of recycling our solid waste, like glass, plastic, paper, aluminum cans and other trash left behind after we've shared a bottle of wine, read the paper or polished off a soft drink.
In single stream recycling, it is no longer necessary to separate plastics, for example, into different varieties to recycle them. We no longer have to keep plastic #1 soda bottles separate from plastic #2 water jugs. Heck, we don't even have to separate the glass, cans and plastics into different loads to be hauled off to be recycled. We can toss it all together, into our blue recycling bins at home, or into these green receptacles on our streets, with just one exception: corrugated cardboard. It has to remain segregated from all the other materials, but everything else can be mixed together. Put loose papers into a paper bag or cereal box to recycle in your blue bin at home, along with clean glass bottles, aluminum or steel cans, and, finally, any kind of plastic. And when you finish reading the paper on a bench in front of Town Hall, recycle it right there, in this green bin.
Our recyclables will now be sorted at their destination rather than having to be shipped in separate trailers for each commodity. Kindly remember to put your clean paper, along with empty bottles, cans and cups, into these bins. Finish off that last sip of coffee before dropping the cup and lid into these containers. You don't want to turn the newspapers inside into a pulpy mess that can't be recycled. The last few ice cubes from your cup of soda can be poured out at the base of a tree or shrub, giving our plant life a little extra water as it melts, and making your cup ready to be recycled. And please, please... only clean paper in the bins. No greasy burger wrappers or oily pizza boxes. Those are still trash, not recyclables.
Adding coffee cups to the list of things we can now recycle right on the street will literally amount to tons of waste that will be recycled rather than trashed in Provincetown over the summer. We thank the DPW and the town recycling committee for their ongoing efforts to make recycling easy as pie.

Happy 25th Anniversary to The Coffee Pot

The Coffee Pot's ham, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich is a PTown favorite.

The Coffee Pot, at Lopes Square, opened April 1st for its 25th season in Provincetown. I was there on opening day for my first ham, egg and cheese breakfast sandwich of this chilly spring. It’s one of my very favorite quick breakfasts anywhere in PTown. I like this one served on their toasted bulky roll. Another favorite is made with sausage on a croissant fresh from The Coffee Pot ovens.

You can get just about any kind of breakfast sandwich you want, served however you’d like it. You can even get shaved steak with grilled onions and cheese served on a roll, croissant, bagel, sweet bread English muffin, or on wheat or white Bread. There’s also a breakfast burrito with eggs, cheese and salsa rolled into a tortilla, and, of course, you can add any meat, if you’d like.

Fresh pastries, brownies, cookies, bagels, croissants, muffins and countless tasty treats roll out of the oven each morning during the height of the summer season, perfect with a dark roast coffee or a vanilla chai, or hot chocolate, cappuccino or a latte. Maybe you’d rather have juice. Whatever you’d like is ready to grab and go, and if you call in your order at 508 487-2580 they can have your meal ready for you to take out. Or you can relax with your breakfast in the dining room and watch the people going by this busy little spot. I ran into a woman there early on opening day who said she wasn’t even hungry, but couldn’t help coming in for breakfast at her usual table looking out on Lopes Square, the very heart of Provincetown.

Of course, you can get lunch as well, with a variety of sandwiches available, including a big lobster roll with more morsels of lobster by weight than you’ll find anywhere else in town. And as the season picks up, there will be fruit and yogurt parfaits, and a variety of salads and daily specials for lunch or supper as their hours begin to extend into the evening once the summer crowds are here.

For now The Coffee Pot is open just for breakfast and lunch, but it gives us a sense of the season’s beginning, and a favorite spot to chat with friends as we start the day. We’re happy to see Linda and Nelson back at it, starting off the 2014 season in Provincetown, and we wish them a happy 25th anniversary.