|
|
|
|||||||
|
Salem The Grapevine Salem's most exciting culinary action emanates from this restaurant in a former garage across from Pickering Wharf. Walk past the sleek bar, where there are a few tables and an espresso machine, to the rear dining room with a soaring ceiling, striking rows of bare light bulbs on the beams and sturdy wood chairs at tables dressed in paisley prints. Beyond is a lovely garden courtyard for outdoor dining. For starters, consider the half avocado stuffed with shrimp and goat cheese, the grilled calamari with arugula, olives and feta cheese or the crispy beef and Thai basil spring rolls with pickled ginger dipping sauce. There are some heavenly light pastas, perhaps the penne with smoked salmon, radicchio and vodka cream sauce or the capellini with rock shrimp, sweet tomatoes and arugula that we so enjoyed at an early visit. But chef-owner Kate Hammond's specialties are such gutsy dinner entrées as pan-roasted cod loin with littlenecks, bacon and escarole; rabbit simmered with peppers, onions, olives and tomatoes; and veal scaloppine with melted taleggio, prosciutto and spinach. Typical desserts are chocolate truffle cake, crème caramel and poppyseed cake. (978)
745-9335. Entrées, $21 to $27. Dinner nightly, 5:30 to 10.
The latest addition to Pickering Wharf along the Salem waterfront is this two-story beauty with great views of the harbor through soaring windows and a second-floor deck. The former home of the Rockmore Drydock Restaurant (parent of the Rockmore’s floating barge restaurant in Salem Harbor), this has been extensively renovated by owners Dirk and Diana Isbrandtsen. They liken the ambiance of the wraparound upstairs dining room and the downstairs lounge to that of “a simple, elegant yacht.” As we overlooked the moored schooner Friendship, we almost felt asail on the canopied second-floor deck during a lunch shared with impertinent pigeons on a warm October day. The day’s hearty tomato and fennel soup was first-rate in tandem with a grilled crab melt panini with avocado and fries. The star of the show was a succulent grilled swordfish steak with a tangy fruit salsa. It’s a fixture on the dinner menu that ranges from the specialty charcoal grilled lobster through a variety of grilled seafood to grilled chicken and steaks. A dessert of sticky toffee pudding with figs and vanilla ice cream was upstaged by the spectacular banana three ways, caramelized bananas in a five-spice wonton with banana ice cream and banana chantilly. Upstairs or down, you also can make a meal out of interesting small plates or contemporary salads with grilled fish or meats. (978)
741-0555. Entrées, $15.95 to $28.95. Lunch daily, noon to 5. Dinner
nightly, 5 to 9:30 or 10.
Founded in 1830, the Salem Lyceum hosted some formidable Americans, and history was made here in 1877 when Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated the first telephone, talking to Thomas Watson, eighteen miles away in Boston. Former Marblehead restaurateur George Harrington took over Salem’s first fine-dining restaurant in 1989. He restored the original windows and upscaled the decor to create a soft, warm dining room, a bar with a library look and a rear enclosed patio with brick walls, large windows and skylights. His chef creates global fare, from crab cakes with ginger cream, hoisin sauce and two salsas for an appetizer to whole crispy red snapper with ginger, jade rice and a cucumber relish for the lead-off entrée. But the appetizer of choice remains the grilled portobello mushrooms with George’s famous marinade. Main courses include the legendary baked stuffed lobster as well as crispy free-range chicken with riesling wine sauce, plus what George calls “my semi-famous flank steak,” served on Portuguese bread, and grilled filet mignon with his favorite grilled portobello mushrooms. The mushrooms have been known to make up an open-face sandwich or be paired with chicken on penne pasta on the lunch menu. Among desserts are chocolate decadence cake with raspberry sauce and a trio of sorbets. (978)
745-7665. Entrées, $17.50 to $28. Lunch, Monday-Friday 11:30 to 3.
Dinner nightly, 5:30 to 10. Sunday
brunch, 11 to 3.
Almost as hip as its subtitle, “oh-so-hip-seafood,” is this seafood grill on Pickering Wharf, Salem’s paean to shopping and dining along the restored waterfront. The old Chase House restaurant building has been opened up into a large and airy expanse of glass brick and windows, with no “decor” to speak of. Windows on three sides overlook a marina and a large waterside deck is open in season. The place is crisp and contemporary and, well, hip, so much so that the young informant at the Salem Visitor Center advised it’s “the place to go to see and be seen.” We’d go for the oysters from the well-stocked raw bar – perhaps six on the half shell topped with wasabi caviar and a splash of raspberry Stoli, or a flight of eight assorted. Or we’d start with the smoked-salmon quesadilla, splashed with a caviar crème fraîche vodka sauce, or the seared rare ahi tuna, drizzled with wasabi and pickled ginger and served over green papaya and daikon radish slaw. We’d move on to jerk-rubbed Caribbean salmon with mango and pineapple salsa, spicy pecan-crusted catfish with lobster-brandy sauce, lobster ravioli, bouillabaisse or perhaps the crabmeat-enriched swordfish oscar, resting atop a mushroom-potato hash and drizzled with porcini mushroom broth. The only other options are espresso-rubbed filet mignon, ricotta-stuffed chicken breast and a vegetarian dish that changes daily. Four-berry shortcake and blood-orange tart are refreshing desserts. (978)
744-8485. Entrées, $17.95 to $24.95. Lunch daily, 11:30 to 5. Dinner, 5
to 10 or 11.
Mexican food is elevated to new heights at this sparkling eatery along bustling Derby Street near the harbor. The two owners, including chef Esther Marin, are from central Mexico and have won a loyal following. Yes, you can order the Mexican standbys, here called Cilantro “classics” – quesadilla, tamales, fajitas and such. All are enhanced by a chef who knows what they’re really about and isn’t shy about tempting adventurous palates with the likes of jalapeños rellenos or a spicy beefsteak topped with the works. True believers savor the Cilantro “specialties,” eight authentic Mexican dishes including whole red snapper sautéed in olive oil and topped with chopped garlic and herbs, and broiled filet mignon topped with chorizo sausage and melted chihuahua cheese. The namesake cilantro enhances almost every dish. Desserts include the traditional flan and homemade rice pudding. Mexican artworks are the only sign of Mexican decor. Otherwise you might think you were walking into a typical, brick-walled storefront bistro with close-together tables and a convivial bar where high tables are perched for dining alongside. (978)
745-9436. Entrées, $18 to $23.50. Lunch, Tuesday-Saturday 11:30 to 2.
Dinner nightly, 5:30 to 10 or 11, Sunday to 9.
Wood Pond Press E-mail feedback to: Home
page |
Full destination index | |
|
|||||||||||||||||||
