Striped Bass at Native Cape Cod Seafood takes TheYearRounder's "Best Bite" Award

Native Cape Cod Seafood's simple grilled striped bass is a terrific value.

You might know I've been out nearly every night recently on my summertime search for the best striped bass in Provincetown, having had eight or nine over the past week or so, each at a different restaurant. The price has ranged from under $20 to well over $30, with the size of the bass portions also varying from smaller to larger servings, but not necessarily correlating with the cost of the dinner. More ingredients in a recipe does not always result in a better dish, just as a more renowned restaurant does not always turn out a better meal.
A higher price has sometimes brought a more complex preparation, or more elaborate side dishes, but perhaps a smaller serving of bass, and each of these dishes has also achieved a certain level of success on the proverbial scale from 1 to 10. This summer I've not been served a single plate of bass that was hugely disappointing, as has sometimes been the case in the past, and often with a $36 price tag for a hapless bass that was tragically overcooked, or for one that had been unmercifully sauced beyond the point where the taste of the fish could still be recognized. On the contrary, the stripers I've found this summer have all been well prepared, with only a couple of them leaning just slightly toward the frufru of over-complicated preparations.
My striped bass at Native Cape Cod Seafood was grilled perfectly with a little lemon, salt and pepper, served on a paper plate with a sort of rice pilaf and fresh zucchini brushed with a tiny bit of oil and a dash of sea salt and grilled until just tender. This uncomplicated plate of simple flavors let the taste of the bass shine through, and I ate it sitting in the open air of the Aquarium Marketplace deck, looking out over magnificent Provincetown Harbor. It was among the best of all the stripers I'd had during the week, the ambience was stellar, and the price of just $18.95 pushed this dish all the way to the top of the list, earning it a Best Bite award. That's two now for Andrew and the crew at Native Cape Cod Seafood. See my August 22nd post of 2012 about their fabulous Lobster Scampi, which won them TheYearRounder's Best Bite award last summer for one of PTown's greatest seafood dishes.
When the striper runs out for the season, Andrew will continue to bring in the best fish available every day, serving it blackened and a little spicy or simply grilled, along with fish pockets (kind of like a deluxe fish taco,) shrimp, fried clams, oysters, many others and, of course, the scampi. Andrew raises his own shellfish, trades throughout each week in the Boston area both buying and selling while he's delivering shellfish there, and has solid connections for the freshest and best seafood in New England, most of it from Cape Cod waters. When there is no more striped bass available, which may be any day now, I may suffer withdrawal symptoms, so I asked Andrew if he could cook me up a 4 or 5-pound lobster for my dinner one night next week and he said no problem, and I know the price will be fair as well. I can't wait.
If you've never visited Native Cape Cod Seafood, you owe yourself this treat. It's worth the effort to find this little counter service joint tucked away in the Aquarium Marketplace at 205-209 Commercial Street, in the old aquarium building. It sits kitty-corner across Commercial Street from the corner of Carver Street, at the back of the food court at the edge of the outdoor patio and the waterfront deck, where they also run the raw bar. Give them a try. The food is delicious, top quality and one of the best values in PTown.

TheYearRounder is Back, and on a Quest for Provincetown's Best Striped Bass

This is my favorite time of day on the water's edge, as the sunset starts its warmup with the first round of brilliant
colors dancing on the harbor, the pinks and purples and golden colors just beginning to make their appearance.

Greetings, dear readers. I've missed you. Technical difficulties kept me from writing my blog for what seemed like a very long time... After a ten-day struggle with corporate America, and serious phone help from at least 8 technicians, TheYearRounder's Guide to Provincetown is now back on the Internet. Thank you for your patience, and your persistence in trying to find this page. And my thanks to those who sent e-mails wondering if everything was OK.
The beach scene above was shot from my table at the Mews the other night. I've been on my annual quest for the best striped bass in Provincetown, and the Mews always ranks high on the list of contenders. It's been really frustrating to have so many great meals (bass number 6 tonight at Jimmy's Hideaway) and not be able to tell you about them. So I suppose I'll write a single post to give a brief description of several great striped bass dishes I've consumed over the last week or so. Give me a day or two to sort through my notes and photographs so I can "show & tell" you about my whirlwind tour through some of PTown's great restaurants as I gobble up as much as I can of the noble "striper" while it's running.
There's likely not much time left to get out and enjoy this delectable fish, since the commercial fishermen have a strict limit on the amount of it they can take from local waters. So enjoy it while it's here. You've likely got a few more days to work in a couple of plates of striped bass before it disappears for the season. Last year I found the last bass in town being served by a restaurant whose chef had managed to procure one more striper by ducking over the border to Rhode Island to get one to serve one last time as the season ended. Let me know where you've found your favorites this summer, and I'll tell you about mine in my next post.

TheYearRounder's "PTown Quest for the Best" Leads to the Mews for Striped Bass

Chef Laurence deFreitas' pan seared Striped Bass over a summer slaw

During the brief season for Striped Bass every summer,
I will eat out every night, ordering this wonderful fish in every restaurant where I can find it.
The commercial fishermen are very limited in the amount of Striped Bass they can land during the summer, so this beautiful, meaty, juicy white fish is found on Provincetown menus for only a short time, maybe for just 3 weeks or so every summer. So each night when the stripers are running, I go from one restaurant to the next, as long as they have the bass on the menu, and order it wherever I can find it, regardless of what other delectables might be listed as entrees that night.
On this particular night I had returned to The Mews Restaurant and Cafe, where I had found a delightful bass the week before, and I knew I would find a different preparation, equally as creative as the previous one. On this night this noble fish was pan seared and finished in the oven, served on a bed of summer slaw made from shredded red and Chinese cabbages, fennel, heirloom tomatoes and pineapple, dressed in rice wine vinegar. The slight crunchiness of the cabbage and the fennel was perfect with the fork-tender fish and its crispy skin, and that bit of sweet flavor from the pineapple balanced out the slight acidity of the tomatoes. The modest sweetness of this mild vinegar dressing pulled all these flavors together while still letting each one be distinguished, and the fish was cooked perfectly, making this a faultless dish, and a Best Bite. Chef Laurence deFreitas has the inborn ability, and a natural talent, for combining ingredients and flavors, often with a bit of an Asian influence in his dishes.
The Mews is a ten-minute walk from the center of Provincetown, in the Gallery District in the East End, at 429 Commercial Street. You'll find two waterfront dining rooms, a very welcoming, professional staff, and a wonderful bar with a collection of more than 280 vodkas from around the world. I had the delightful Pomegranate Martini this evening. Parking is sparse but occasionally possible, along Commercial Street. In the summertime you can also take the Provincetown/North Truro shuttle bus along Bradford Street and
get off the bus at Bangs Street, which will lead you south, toward the harbor and the Provincetown Art Association and Museum at the corner of Commercial Street. Spend some time there before or after your dinner at The Mews and enjoy the wonderful Motherwell exhibit, which runs through September 30th. From there you'll walk less than a block to the west, along Commercial Street, to The Mews. You'll find a bike rack there as well. In fact, chef Laurence deFreitas bikes to work. Ya gotta love a town like this.
The Mews is open yearround, with reservations recommended even in the off-season. Phone them at 508 487-1500.
Watch for another post soon about the best striper dinners I've found in PTown restaurants over the past couple of weeks.