Budget Eating on Martha's Vineyard

by Vera Thornton

Congratulations to the fine and inexpensive Martha’s Vineyard eating establishments who were featured in the New York Times Travel Section on Friday, June 13th! Journalist David Allen featured the Slice of Life in Oak Bluffs, and in Edgartown: Among the Flowers, the Newes Pub and the Morning Glory Farm Stand.

The Slice of Life in Oak Bluffs is a popular local spot with creative and delicious gourmet food, beautifully presented in a casual atmosphere looking out onto Circuit Avenue. The waitresses are cute, savvy and efficient, and will catch you up on the local behind the scenes news if you’re lucky. David and his wife dined on the Portobello sandwich and the fried green tomato BLT, clam chowder, butterscotch pudding, and chased it all down with a Wachusett IPA. Lunch for two = $33.50.

In Edgartown they discovered the Newes From America Pub, and enjoyed a snack of spicy fries, served as always in a greasy paper bag. These are unquestionably the best fries on the island, I can attest. Drinks consisted of Capt’n Eli’s draft root beer and Sea Dog Blue Paw wheat ale with real blueberries floating in the foam. Snack = $14.25.

Lunch was a chunky lobster roll at Among the Flowers Café for $14.95. While not cheap, this is less than the going rate, even off-island, and you get to enjoy your lunch (breakfast and dinner, too) outdoors on the patio, which offers cool breezes and fabulous people-watching under the blue and white awning, with the harbor in the background.

The following day found David and wife at the Morning Glory Farm Stand just one mile from the center of Edgartown. There they discovered the islanders’ secret: healthy and delicious local food for less than you pay in a restaurant. For around $15 they feasted on a salad for two, red lentil soup, drinks, and dessert – freshly baked strawberry-rhubarb cobbler. The farm stand has a shaded porch with rocking chairs, and plenty of space under the sun on the grass for your picnic. And their fresh bread and pies are so yummy that people wait in line for the baker to bring out her wares.

Photo credits:
Photo #1 - Courtesy of Slice of Life
Photo #2 - Courtesy of Among the Flowers Cafe
Photo #3 - Courtesy of Morning Glory Farm Stand

by Vera Thornton

Gourmet Stroll
When: Thursday, June 12, 2008 at 6:30 p.m.

Where: Old Whaling Church Lawn, Main Street, Edgartown

This is the place to see and be seen on the Vineyard, and marks the official start of the prepsters social season. In its 23rd year, it has become a must-do for the A-listers of the Island, and tickets go quickly. Under tents on the grassy lawn between the Doctor Daniel Fisher House and the Whaling Church, there is food, drink, music, and dancing. Restaurants and caterers donate their signature dishes - the food is abundant, varied, and delicious. Beverage purveyors are pouring generously, everything from hand-crafted beers to fine champagne and designer waters. No one leaves hungry or thirsty! When you’re sufficiently relaxed and in the dancing mood, Jerry Bennett and the Sultans of Swing provide the hottest music around, and the party kicks into high gear. For amusing lasting memories of the evening, photographer Joe Mikos takes pictures on his velvet couch and puts them on-line for sale the next day. (My advice: get your picture taken early in the evening rather that later…). This event was originally held on a Saturday, but the restaurants were all empty that night because the whole town was at the Taste, so the sponsors agreed to move it to Thursday!

Tickets: $125 per person 
For information or to purchase tickets please call: 508-627-4440

The event is a benefit for the Martha’s Vineyard Preservation

 Trust.

Photo credits:

All photos courtesy of Joe Mikos Photography.

Patrons’ Dinner and Gala Auction
When: Saturday, June 14, 2008 at 6:00 p.m.

Where: Dr. Fisher House Lawn, Main Street, Edgartown


There had to be something on Saturday night, right? This is Part II of the Prese

rvation Trust’s big annual fundraising event, and it’s as much fun as the stroll, withou

t the dancing! There are two auctions, live and silent, and plenty of outstanding food and drink. Cocktail hour is followed by a fabulous seated dinner from the caterer to the stars V. Jaime Hamlin and Sons, and then the fun begins. The

inimitable Clarence “Trip”Barnes, famous Island 

character and legend in his own time, takes over the show as the auctioneer. Trip has been doing this for years, and he is ooops!, politically incorrect, irreverent, and thoroughly enjoyable.  Auction items are one-of-a-kind Vineyard items like last year’s original Margot Datz painting – mermaids, of course, that was the cover of the Auction invitation. Some of the items being put up for bid this year will include private fireworks, a Ray Ellis original, a cocktail party at the Field Gallery, a Nantucket excursion, and likely the most coveted of all: a downtown Edgartown parking space in the gated Winter Street lot!

Tickets: $150 per person
Purchase tickets on-line: http://www.mvpreservation.org/calendar.php
For information call: 508-627-4440
The event is a benefit for the Martha’s Vineyard Preservation Trust

Photo credit:  Courtesy of the Martha's Vineyard Times