Edible Vineyard 2023 - Early season

SOUTH ROAD, CHILMARK

Authentic and lovely Vineyard homestead on over 6 acres with hedgerow borders and stone walls, this is a special and storied piece of island history. The sweeping views over farm fields are stunning, filling the windows with light and the beauty of this natural rural landscape as it has been for hundreds of years. The 1700s post and beam home was originally a “high double house” and became a three-quarter house with an ell in the 1800s. It retains some original features like wainscoting and ancient wide plank floors. The sturdy barn, which was moved to the property in the early 1900s, is ready for its next chapter as a work barn again, rec space, studio or entertaining spot. This antique Chilmark home awaits its rejuvenation. The property can support an additional house. Exclusively offered for $2,395,000.

508.645.2628 Chilmark

508.696.9999 West Tisbury

PUBLISHERS

Peter and Barbara Oberfest EDITORS

Tina Miller and Connie Berry tina@mvtimes.com • connie@mvtimes.com

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Kristófer Rabasca

PRODUCTION/DESIGN MANAGER

Dave Plath

DESIGN

Nicole Jackson

PROOFREADER

Barbara Dudley Davis • Irene Ziebarth

AD SALES

Jenna Lambert • jenna@mvtimes.com

Sharisse Scott-Rawlins • sharisse@mvtimes.com

EDIBLE VINEYARD MAGAZINE is published by The Martha’s Vineyard Times, publishers of The Martha’s Vineyard Times weekly newspaper, Vineyard Visitor, Martha’s Vineyard Arts & Ideas Magazine, The Minute daily newsletter, and the websites MVTimes.com, VineyardVisitor.com, and MVArtsandIdeas.com.

You can see the digital version of this magazine at ediblevineyard.com. EV is available at newsstands and select retail locations, free of charge. Find Edible Vineyard on Instagram and Facebook @ediblevineyard

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THE MARTHA’S VINEYARD TIMES

P.O. Box 518, 30 Beach Rd. Vineyard Haven, MA 02568 508-693-6100

DISHING

7 Out & About

Fresh culinary news from around the Island.

By Maddy Alley

FEATURES

10

He althy food for all Making sure everyone has a full plate with IGI.

By Mollie Doyle

18

The f owl game The cost behind dining on local chickens.

By Amelia Smith

34 A s weet team

Erin and Hal Ryerson are a match made in restaurant heaven.

By Lucas Thors

ESSAY

18

R emembering Sumner Silverman

Longtime Slow Food lover brought his zest for life to the table.

By Catherine Walthers

ON THE FARM

2 4 A simpl e salad

What’s really inside that simple bag of greens?

By Kate Woods

IN SEASON

28 Hidden g em

We keep our secret watercress spots to ourselves.

By Tina Miller

DRINKS

30 Tale of two restaurants At the bar at 19 Raw and 19 Prime.

WORTH THE DRIVE

28 The Might y Italian A tasting trip around the Island to find some of the best.

FARM AND SEA

42 Oy ster Shucking 101 Let us show you how it’s done.

DONE!

48 P aying it forward Paul Jackson leaves his sweet farm to the Ag Society.

Every spring the Island reinvents itself with reopenings, new businesses, new chefs, rotating chefs, and farms bustling getting ready for the biggest harvest of the year. Fishermen and oyster farmers are gearing up for the huge demand as the Island fills up with seasonal residents and guests.

Our new contributor — but old, young friend — Island native Maddy Alley heads Out & About to see what is new and upcoming this season on Martha’s Vineyard. She found some updates like how Morning Glory‘s Food Wagon found its stride and is open daily and on weekends with themed pop-ups that showcase fresh veggies, meats, and delicious bakery items.

Vineyard Haven has taken the last step in letting restaurants serve drinks without requiring a food minimum. Massachusetts’ old blue laws seem archaic at this point. We lost thousands of restaurants in the U.S. forever during the COVID pandemic. In a good year on the Vineyard, a restaurant has a solid 90 days of profit, provided there are no hurricanes or pandemics. Then they need to hope the shoulder months are busy with beautiful spring and fall weather on weekends. It’s a fragile economy.

Restaurants have to pay bills year-round and only make money for a small portion of the year. This is mind-boggling, yet those in the industry are passionate about their art and serving the public and stick it out. At this point, the least the Island could do is support them by letting all restaurants compete at the same level.

This brings us to Chilmark, the last “dry” town that has decided

to shelve its motion to bring beer and wine to four restaurants for this year. Let’s be clear, “dry town” does not mean there is no drinking. Imagine bringing food to a restaurant and only ordering a cup of soup. When people bring their own booze, it’s the same effect. And BYOB certainly does not mean drinking less. The wine you bought was much cheaper to purchase at a liquor store than the markup a restaurant has. A table of four would probably not drink three bottles of wine if they ordered off the wine list, however, if they brought their own they certainly could polish off three bottles. There is also the cost of glassware, paying a dishwasher to wash it, and the cost to recycle the bottles. So why are we making it so hard?

Speaking of the costs of business on the Island, ever wonder why local chicken is expensive, but oh-so-delicious? Amelia Smith breaks it down by speaking with two chicken producers — North Tabor Farm and Morning Glory — about what it takes.

This is just a snippet of our first issue of the year. We are so happy to be back for our fifth season at Edible Vineyard at the Martha’s Vineyard Times. As always, you can find us everywhere on our website, ediblevineyard.com, though we know you love the feel and look of our colorful pages, perfect for collecting and displaying on your coffee table. We appreciate that!

About Out &

Catboat Coffee

Catboat Coffee Co., a new coffee, cheesery, and Middle Eastern cuisine shop has sailed into the Tisbury Marketplace. The unique food menu includes hot and cold Lebanese meals, cut-to-order artisanal cheeses, and pre-made grazing boards. The coffee shop also offers specialty drinks enhanced with rose syrup, including rose latte and rose lemonade, as well as teas, kombuchas, pastries, and breakfast sandwiches.

Circuit Ave.

The two restaurants at 6 Circuit Ave. have seemingly played musical chairs. The Oyster Bar has been shucked and The Red Cat has crawled across the street and moved upstairs. The Cardboard Box has packed up, and Vineyard Haven’s Mikado crew has opened a barbecue-themed spot downstairs, Mikado Hawaiian BBQ and Sushi. The new spot will serve dinner, feature music, and hopefully fill the empty box.

Martha’s Vineyard Museum

Martha’s Vineyard is an Island of many colors and flavors: from the clay cliffs to the ice cream options, our food and nature span the rainbow. Growing up on the Island, I experienced a cruel shock when I moved away and found out people buy fish from the supermarket. It had never crossed my mind to buy fish from anywhere but the fish markets, or meat from anywhere but Island farms. This June, the M.V. Museum is holding a food history symposium highlighting the special, fresh, and delicious food culture that exists on the island. Everyone, regardless of attendance, should take this as a reminder to respect, appreciate, and enjoy our Island food.

WORDS Maddy Alley

From new restaurants to an Island-centric food symposium, we’ve found some culinary news to share with you.

Catboat Cafe salad bowl.

Maddy Alley

MV Barkery

We humans aren’t the only ones who deserve to eat well this summer. MV Barkery is baking up homemade dog treats in flavors including Squibnocket Sockets, Peanut Butter Cowboys, and Pumpkin Passions. The treats are made from nutritious people-friendly ingredients and can be shared between owners and their pets. MV Barkery started as a family business to provide meaningful employment to a child with autism. As MV Barkery grows, they hope to employ other-abled adults. You can buy MV Barkery biscuits at Mocha Mott’s or order through their website, mvbarkery. com. For our larger four-legged friends, Smax Snax is selling custom-made horse and dog treats in cute and creative designs. Elyce Retmier, the Edgartown library’s children’s librarian, is combining two of her passions — horses and cakes. Made from tasty human-safe ingredients and decorated with colorful icing, it will be hard to resist not eating these treats yourself. Smax Snax can be ordered through their Instagram account and shipped anywhere in the country.

Cocktails at Bombay MV

Bombay Indian Cuisine is in full bloom following its move to Oak Bluffs and opening of its new bar, Blossom. Complimenting Bombay’s spicy and colorful cuisine, Blossom will serve drinks infused with spices not found anywhere else on Island, including Indian craft beers and cocktails, in a quiet and relaxed atmosphere. Bombay is now open for dine-in and take-out to be enjoyed by anyone who can handle the spice — and feared by those who cannot.

Booze in Vineyard Haven

Tisbury has wet its whistle. For the first time, adults can order alcoholic drinks without food in Vineyard Haven restaurants. Tisbury businesses expect to see more people gathering, especially before boats, during happy hours, and for after-dinner drinks. This is welcome news to three new restaurants opening on Main Street this summer: The Attic, Taqueria, and La Strada. With outdoor seating and ocean views, and new restaurants, this summer will bring tequila sunrises and tipsy sunsets to Main Street.

Courtesy Bombay Indian Cuisine

Courtesy Edie Prescott

An MV Barkery Sampler Box that contains the three varieties of dog treats.

Grab a cocktail when you head to Bombay Indian Cuisine.

Lilikoi Café

Lilikoi is the Hawaiian word for passionfruit, and that is exactly what’s being served up at the new namesake café in Edgartown. Two fitness, food, and Hawaii lovers have opened a tropical healthy oasis at the Edgartown Triangle. Serving açaí and poke bowls, breakfast toasts, kombuchas, coffees, and juices, Lilikoi Café hopes to provide a healthy option for sitting in, taking out, and detoxing last night’s fried oysters.

Aquila MV

Aquila had a little too much fun in Aquinnah and is hitting the gym at their new location in the YMCA. Don’t worry though, you don’t have to commit to a gym membership to enjoy the food. Just a few steps inside the Y, Aquila is serving smoothies, coffees, and healthy food on the go. Anyone avoiding downtown traffic, finishing a workout, or just looking for a healthy snack can stop in. Aquila is still open in Aquinnah, too, for those of us who really can’t face the gym.

Morning Glory Food Wagon

Morning Glory Farm is hitting the road this summer in their food wagon, which is driving all the way to their parking lot.

Located just outside the farm stand, the wagon will serve breakfast and lunch, including sandwiches and baked goods. On weekends, themed pop-ups include food from around the world. In May, expect to see Return of the Wings (May 21), and Pulled Pork (May 28). In June, Dan’s Vegan BBQ (June 11) and Mexican Taco Night (June 25). In July, All-American Hamburgers and Hot Dogs (July 2), Souvlaki Spectacular (July 16), and Tandoori Night (July 30).

Back Door Donuts

An Island icon, Back Door Donuts, has made it to the big leagues and opened a pop-up location in Fenway. Serving their classic apple fritters and donuts after dark, follow the sweet smell to 1 Lansdowne Street in Boston from 7 pm to 2 am every night, all summer long. At their original Oak Bluffs location, Back Door Donuts (and the front door bakery) is now open seven days a week.

The party donut.

Gabrielle Mannino

The food wagon serves up good, fresh food daily, with pop-ups on the weekend.

Tina Miller

Nicole Jackson

General Manager of Lilikoi, Andrea de Lanero.

Healthy Food For All

Island Grown Initiative grows, prepares, and delivers food to help ensure everyone in the community has access to nutritious meals.

WORDS Mollie Doyle IMAGES Randi Baird

Special projects manager Sadie Dix and food equity director Merrick Carreiro.

Food equity is a global issue. It is also a local one.

In 2022, approximately one in five people in Island Grown Initiative’s estimated Martha’s Vineyard yearround population of 24,000 turned to the Island Food Pantry for food support. This number has doubled since 2019, when only one in 10 used the Food Pantry. In January 2023, Island Grown served 1,892 unique individuals, an 86 percent increase from the number of unique individuals it served in January 2022. And since the start of 2023, IGI is registering approximately 14 new households per week on average at its pantry. Note that the Food Pantry has a “no barriers to entry” policy. People simply fill out a very basic application form, with no proof of residency required. This card is then swiped when the clients come to shop for food. The number of swipes on each card is how IGI tracks and calculates their numbers.

Since 2006, Island Grown Initiative has been rethinking, innovating, and collaborating to solve and create better food systems for the Island.

Edible Vineyard sat down with three of the many people at Island Grown working on this cause to hear about their efforts. Food equity director Merrick Carreiro, special projects manager Sadie Dix, and senior director of programs Noli Taylor spent several hours with us, delving into the need, the challenges ahead, and their plan for ensuring that all Islanders have access to nourishing, healthy food.

“We know that to thrive, people need adequate housing, good healthcare, education, and food,” Noli says. “We are trying to thoroughly address one of those four areas.”

“Yes, we can’t control some of the costs of living — increasing gas, utilities, or healthcare — but we can grow and make food. And so we’re growing, making, and delivering food in ways that we hope will make real, lasting change for our community,” Merrick adds.

Merrick is the newest member of IGI’s team. “It took me a year to feel like I can own the title of food equity director,” she confesses. Before joining IGI in October 2021, Merrick spent the previous 10 years as co-owner of Tisbury’s Little House Cafe. “It was a labor of love — never about the bottom line. We tried to make it the go-to place for year-round residents. This feels, in some way, like the natural next step.”

Sadie, who recently graduated from the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, earning a master’s degree in nutrition communications, interventions, and behavior change, brings data science and the power of numbers to the team.

“She is our data girl,” Noli says.

“I do love numbers,” Sadie agrees. Sadie grew up on Chilmark’s North

At first, she was hired to be a maternity cover for one of Island Grown’s teachers, but then when COVID arrived, IGI moved all Island Grown Schools’ teachers to the farm. “I started helping out on the IGI farm, doing whatever needed to be done — building beds, expanding gardens,” Sadie remembers.

“In March 2020, we realized we needed to grow more food. Sadie was part of the team who pivoted and helped double our acreage,” Noli adds.

“In summer of 2020, I also worked with Katie Ruppell on the community lunch program, making meals in the MVRHS big kitchen, and then we would use the culinary kitchen to organize and distribute the food. And I also worked with Ali Fish and the Mobile Market,” Sadie says.

Tabor Farm, and first approached IGI in the fall of 2019 to ask if they would sponsor her for a Vision Fellowship to help her pay for her graduate studies. “It was pretty amazing. When I sat down with Noli, we realized that what I wanted to study was an extension and related to the work IGI is doing. They supported me,” she explains. And so in March 2020, Sadie began working for IGI: “I knew I wanted to work with them before going to graduate school in the fall.”

“Sadie was busy,” Noli says, laughing. When schools started back up in the fall of 2020, Sadie learned that her whole first year was virtual. “So I could continue to help out in the fall,” Sadie says. Due to studies ramping up, she had to pause her work for IGI in the spring of 2021, but was back to do an internship and support the summer lunch program again in 2021. When she graduated in June 2022, Sadie returned to IGI to serve as the special projects manager, working exclusively with Merrick on food equity. “When I first applied for my master of science in nutrition science, communication, and behavior change, I envisioned myself using behavioral science research to change how people thought about and approached dietary change,” Sadie says. “However, this changed when I learned to apply data to create efficient, equitable systems. I quickly realized what I was most passionate about was using research to increase the accessibility of nutritious food on a community level. I feel fortunate to have found my place at Island Grown Initiative, working to create equitable systems in the community I was raised in."

Noli joined IGI in 2006. Her activism,

Shopping at the food pantry.

and outreach in our community and in commwunities around the country, helps her wear the title of special projects director. When it comes to food equity, Noli is thinking on the macro level: how to expand the definition of food equity and build regenerative land care and food systems that consider climate change and Island food access in future big weather events. She is networking with Cape towns and New England farms so that they can shorten the food supply chain and move resources where they are needed most: “COVID taught us all about the supply chain. And how, when the food system is interrupted, we don’t always have food access.” She mentions the idea that if the ferries shut down or we lose our ports, markets will only have a few days of food on hand. Indeed, when Edible calls Andrea

Donnelly, the new owner of Cronig’s Market, she estimates that they have about five days of food on hand. And that is it.

“We have to think about food security in a long-term way. How are we growing our food? Is it regenerative? Climate-supportive?” Noli says. She points out that IGI’s farm team, led by Tim Connelly and Andrew Woodruff, is so important. The farm

serves as a kind of lab for IGI to work out better land management and food-growing systems. “We need to grow food in a way that is resilient, local, and stable,” Noli says. “We are identifying local farmers in New England, local producers, to create a system that will support and feed people — particularly those who are most vulnerable. Local is important, because it is going to be harder and harder to get the food from far away.” Noli smiles, “I know. It’s stressful when you start to think about all this. But so is food insecurity. We want to take the stress away.”

“And the stigma,” Merrick adds. “There is no shame in needing help. Everyone needs some kind of help at one point or another.”

As Edible talks with these three, we become convinced that IGI’s

food equity effort will succeed for a few reasons.

First, the IGI organization knows it cannot take on food equity in a silo, and so it is constantly forging partnerships with other Island and off-Island organizations working on the same issue. “There are so many organizations doing incredible work,” Sadie says. “Our partnerships are what make us strong.”

In fact, to date, IGI has 25 partner organizations, including the Councils on Aging, Kinship Heals, faithbased community suppers, Serving Hands, Community Services, healthcare providers, and schools. Merrick says, “It is an incredible community effort. And then there are our volunteers.” Three hundred and eightyone people volunteered with IGI in 2022 — 195 folks at the Food Pantry, 70 people helping to process food, and 116 gleaners.

The second reason why IGI will succeed is that they know that while equity may be one problem, it takes many programs and approaches to address the need, and ensure that all Islanders have access to healthy food.

In 2007, IGI, under the leadership of IGI founder Ali Berlow, began its Island Grown Schools program, engaging with

local farms, teaching children how food is grown, and talking about making healthy choices.

“This work creates a new generation of children with a whole new relationship with food,” IGI executive director Rebecca Haag says.

“Having quality school meals is such a fundamental part of food equity,” Noli adds. “Then all kids have access to one or two good-quality meals every day of the school year.”

Since 2009, IGI has spearheaded an Islandwide gleaning program, working with Island farms and volunteers to harvest surplus crops or receive food grown specifically for donation. In 2022, IGI gleaned 48,092 pounds of local food. This amounts to 356,290 servings of fresh fruits, vegetables,

Continued on page 44

Unique Individuals Served at the Island Food Pantry

Preparing for community lunches.

Spectacular ViewS, contemporary american cuiSine, coaStal chic Vibe

Overlooking Edgartown Harbor with a delectable, island-sourced menu and top-tier service, Bettini is an island hot spot.

the wine room at bettini

The elegant Wine Room at Bettini offers an exquisite collection of world-class wines, curated by owner, Bernard Chiu, in collboration with experienced sommeliers and wine distributors.

Impish. Free-spirited. Rebel. Arty. Healer. Open-minded. Those are some of the ways Vineyarders remember Dr. Sumner Silverman, a psychologist and artist who passed away in December two days after his 80th birthday.

But many of us in the food community fondly remember Sumner for his service of more than 10 years on the board of Slow Food Martha’s Vineyard, an organization that supported local farms, fishermen, and the culture of food traditions here on the Island. A short, affable, friendly soul — he literally stood at only 5’ 2” or 5' 3” — Sumner’s life centered around food, as far as we could see.

Sumner’s close friend and longtime Slow Food board member Roxanne Kapitan recalls meeting him for the first time on the Island one evening at an Aquinnah potluck before Slow Food was founded. She had brought a quail dish from birds she had raised with then-partner Jason BenDavid. Upon telling the gatherers they had raised, slaughtered, and roasted these birds, she vividly recalls one woman at the potluck responding rather loudly, “Murderer, murderer!” A few moments later, she said, Sumner came into the kitchen, leaned into her shoulder and asked, “Are those roasted quail? Oh, I love you.”

"It was slow food right from the start," Roxanne says.

The Slow Food MV chapter was started in 2005-06 by Rick Karney who had represented the MV Shellfish Group at a worldwide Slow Food gathering in Italy; Slow Food had been founded to counter the spread of McDonald’s in that country. A core group of 12 to 14 of us started meeting here to organize the chapter, and Sumner, brought on by Roxanne, signed on from the start to serve on the board.

We planned to meet at each other’s homes to plan our many public events, and sometimes we did, but we inevitably ended up meeting nearly exclusively at Sumner’s Tisbury home on Peacegate Road, where he lived with his wife Sally Pierce.

“They had that fabulous kitchen,” recalls board member Hara Dretaki. “It was a kitchen we all fit in," noted Oak Bluffs resident Nancy Weaver, one of the many Slow Food regulars. “It was built for entertaining."

Board members (and friends) always arrived with food they had raised, foraged, or gathered from local waters such as clams, oysters, or bay scallops, depending on the season. Everyone in Slow Food shared a passion for food. One dish seemed better than the next. And there was usually bread Sumner had made, recalls Jean-Marc Dupon, who grew up cooking with his father at Le Grenier. Jean-Marc is the husband of former board member Suzan Bellincampi. Suzan said she would sometimes ask Sumner for a recipe but never knew exactly how to handle the recipe afterward because Sumner would say “I changed this and this and that.”

There were always tours around Sumner and Sally’s custom home each time new people came to our meetings. The home was built by Don Keller, who worked for DECCA Construction and who became Sumner’s caretaker and good friend. We marveled at the hidden meditation room on the second floor behind a bookshelf, his extensive jewelry workshop in the basement, the gardens, and even the kitchen pantry.

"The pantry was floor-to-ceiling jars and canned goods," describes Jan Buhrman, who served on the board with Sumner and who recently retired from running Kitchen Porch catering. “He had everything from wine to beer to figs. Sumner probably never had a problem during COVID."

"There were so many aspects to him," says Hara. He discussed philosophy and religion, and he reveled in his 13 trips to Burning Man, a free-wheeling, nine-day art and counterculture festival in Black Rock Desert, Nev., she says. “He saw life as something to be joyous about. He was always so lighthearted and jovial, but also so caring.” Hara described Sumner as devoted to his wife Sally. When Sally fell mysteriously ill and ended up in a

Longtime Slow Food lover and board member brought his zest for life to the table.

WORDS Catherine Walthers Courtesy Don Keller

memory care facility, where she lives today near her family, Hara noted Sumner’s health seemed to deteriorate quickly.

From Sumner and Sally’s kitchen and living room, our Slow Food MV chapter planned many community events over those years and Sumner volunteered at nearly each and every one. There were monthly potlucks open to the public at the Agricultural Hall in West Tisbury and the annual summer potluck with speakers like Michael Pollen, Dr. Jessica Harris, and Judith Jones, Julia Child’s longtime editor. For many of the smaller events, Sumner set the tone from the beginning and said each event needed to include food of some sort, and it did. We invited beekeepers to share their craft and offered a honey-filled brunch. Wampanoag tribe members talked to us about food traditions

Sumner also loved cultivating many different types of fruit trees, and had a large garden with his prized asparagus bed. “His yard was an extension of his kitchen," says former board member Fala Freeman, a local real estate agent. When Sumner and Sally’s house came on the market, Fala showed it to a prospective client and took one last walk through the home, which was typically ringing with laughter and filled with good food. “It was so bittersweet to go through the house, every piece of them gone, and to see that gorgeous empty shell that had been their world."

There were pear trees, mulberry bushes, gooseberries, blackberries, and of course his famous, famous fig trees. Many people on the Island now grow figs, thanks to Sumner’s encouragement and his ready bucket of fig cuttings to give away. West Tisbury resident and Slow Foodie Gail Tipton didn’t get figs but Solomon’s seal instead, which is edible and still grows in her yard — along with a dinner from Sumner after one of her hip surgeries.

and we shared a feast together featuring their native dishes — the original slow food of the Island, when there were literally no stores and everything came from the land or sea. We held farmer's nights where we met local food producers, permaculture education, oyster festivals, kale festivals, wild foods walks, and on and on. I remember one meeting where we were discussing possibilities for the next community event, and distinctly remember Sumner saying he didn’t really care what we did, as long as there was food. I laughed; typical Sumner.

"I have many fond memories of Slow Food feasts at Sumner and Sally’s house," says Rebecca Gilbert of Native Earth Farm in Chilmark, where a number of Slow Food events took place over the years. "After one of the feasts, he brought out a bucket of fig cuttings from his tree and handed them out, telling us how to start them and saying ‘take a few more, take a few more.’ This was the beginning of my fig growing passion. He did not remember the variety unfortunately, but last year we were deluged with fresh figs off the bushes we grew from those cuttings. We planted one outside and it grows up large and vigorously every summer, but we never get figs because it freezes too hard in the winter. We have a couple more in large pots in the unheated but covered hoop house where it dips below freezing sometimes, but it is protected, and those are the ones that give us figs. Thank you, Sumner.”

The Slow Food MV chapter, which started in 2005-2006, the same year Island Grown Initiative was born, ended its service to the Island in 2017. Many chapters around the country and world continue their

“The pantry was floor-to-ceiling jars and canned goods. He had everything from wine to beer to figs. Sumner probably never had a problem during COVID.”

–JAN BUHRMAN

Remembering Sumner Silverman ESSAY COURTESY DON KELLER

FOWL GAME

The cost of dining on local chickens comes down to what’s under all those feathers.

WORDS Amelia Smith IMAGES Sadie Dix

Baby chicks at North Tabor Farm.

What’s the difference between a $5 chicken, a $25 chicken, and a $45 chicken? Some might say that all chicken is basically the same, but if you look into the process that brings them to your store's refrigerated section, you’ll find that they can be quite different. The cost of a chicken depends on the cost to produce it at every stage. I spoke with Matthew Dix of North Tabor Farm and Jim Athearn of Morning Glory Farm, both of whom raise about a thousand broiler chickens each year. There are many similarities between what happens on each farm, but there are two key differences — breed and feed.

The most common breed of broiler is the Cornish Cross, and that’s what you’ll find on supermarket shelves. This chicken is overwhelmingly popular for its fast growth and efficient conversion of feed into meat. In industrial farming, the Cornish Cross is pretty much the only game in town, but what we have on the Vineyard is not industrial farming. For those who want a chicken that’s more flavorful, and one that’s enjoyed a longer life, there are several heritage breeds. Dual purpose breeds, like the New Hampshire Red, are used for both eggs and meat, and can take four months or more to reach full weight. That makes them impractical as commercially raised meat birds.

North Tabor Farm raises Imperial Broilers, a bird that grows faster than a dual-purpose chicken, but is heartier and slower-growing than the Cornish Cross. It also has a narrower breast, bigger legs and more dark meat, which makes for a better texture and more flavor, according to the experts. Although the breed has lower mortality as chicks and on the range, raising them is still fraught with uncertainty. Day-old chicks come to the Island from the hatchery through the U.S. mail. When chicks hatch they’re able to safely go 24 hours without eating, so most arrive alive and well — although a few don’t. Matthew orders them in weekly batches of about 40, whereas the broilers at Morning Glory, which are Cornish Crosses, arrive at the farm in batches of 85 every two weeks. Of these, Matthew expects about 90 percent to survive, whereas Jim figures on about 75 of the original 85 reaching the market. The every-two-weeks delivery and processing cuts down on costs, but it means that some weeks Morning Glory only has frozen chickens for sale. The Imperial Broiler chicks also cost more, even though Matthew chooses the most economical option for them — a straight run that mixes male and female chicks.

Matthew keeps the chicks in his brooder, a rat-proof old horse trailer, for four weeks before moving them out to pasture for another five to six weeks. Rats can be a major problem. Jim Athearn says that he once lost an entire batch of chicks: they were wiped out by rats in one night, killed but not eaten. On the pasture at Morning Glory, the growing broilers live in a “tractor,” a square

Ruby Dix and Matthew Dix with chicks.

or rectangular frame with solid sides and a roof on one end, and covered with chicken wire mesh on the other side. It’s open to the air and set on the grass. Every day, the farmer brings food and water and moves the tractor to a fresh patch of pasture, where the chickens can graze on bugs and grass. As they go, they fertilize the soil. And with the daily move, sometimes a chicken will slip out. “If chicks get out of the tractor, if you don’t find them the hawks will,” Jim says.

“Raccoons don’t dig, but are troublesome for chickens if you don’t have a good fence,” Matthew says. Jim says that skunks will tunnel under the sides to get to the grain, and if the chicks look susceptible, they’ll get eaten too. Coyotes could become a problem here, but so far they haven’t been. The North Tabor chicks are pastured on Land Bank property near the farm, and on another nearby horse pasture. Jim keeps his chicken tractors on the hillside behind his house, land that’s too sloped for vegetable growing. “When you build a henhouse, you build it next to your house so you can get out and shoot the raccoons when they come in the middle of the night,” he says.

Throughout this time, the birds have to eat. According to one hatchery, it takes less than two pounds of feed to produce one pound of dressed (plucked and gutted) Cornish Cross chicken. In contrast, the Imperial Broiler needs 2.3 to 3 pounds of grain per pound of dressed weight to get up to full size. This makes a significant difference in cost, but the cost of organic versus conventional feed is a

bigger factor. Morning Glory gets their chicken feed from a granary in Taunton, whereas North Tabor Farm sources their organic feed from a granary in upstate New York. Between slower growth, transportation costs, and the additional cost of organic feed, the Imperial Broilers at North Tabor Farm have a diet that’s about twice as expensive as that of the Cornish Cross broilers at Morning Glory.

After the chickens have eaten their fill, it’s time for processing. If you’ve ever tried to process a chicken yourself, you’ll appreciate the effort that it takes for an amateur to turn an extra rooster or an old hen into stew meat. Having tried it a few times myself, I know that I’m never going to make it a regular part of my life. The last time I plucked and gutted an old rooster, it took about an hour. A cold, frustrating hour. The Athearns also have hens for eggs, and tried to see if some meat could be gotten out of them. “We tried spent hens but they yielded so little meat,” Jim says. “My sons and I did it, it came to about two pounds of meat per bird when it was pulled off the bone and it just took us hours. We probably made about $6 on it.” While they might have made good broth, it was far too much effort. “Processing old laying hens is nasty,” Matthew says, “and there’s not much meat. Meat birds have bigger cavities and aren’t as sharp inside as laying hens.”

Until 2010, no one on the Vineyard was raising chickens commercially for meat. Island Grown Initiative’s mobile processing unit made raising broilers a viable possibility. The project, spearheaded by Jefferson Munroe and Richard Andre, brought in about $12-$14,000

Processing old laying hens is nasty, and there’s not much meat. Meat birds have bigger cavities and aren’t as sharp inside as laying hens.

– MATTHEW DIX

Growing chicks soaking up the sun.

North Tabor farm manager Ruby Dix.

worth of equipment that would have been out of reach for individual Island farms. The trained people who come with it are also essential. Matthew Dix ran the mobile processing unit for years, and he does a lot of the work when he brings it to North Tabor Farm to process his chickens. As of the summer of 2022, Marc Piland was managing the unit. “Marc is very fast with the evisceration,” Matt says. “There’s a bit of muscle memory involved — you need to be very good at it and most people don’t want to do it. The summer interns get good after a few weeks. It’s not a full-time job, not that you would want it to be a full-time job.” Morning Glory Farm also relies on the mobile unit, and others who want to raise chickens for meat have to make sure that their processing dates line up with when the unit is available.

The Imperial Broilers reach about four to five pounds in about nine to ten weeks, while the Cornish Cross broilers are about 5 ½ pounds at seven to eight weeks old. The tricky thing is that the Cornish Cross birds can’t live much longer than that — they keep growing and don’t stay healthy, so the timing of the processing has to be precise. The Imperial Broilers have more flexibility. Matthew doesn’t take all of them to process at once, but chooses the biggest 30 or 40 from the lot each time the processing unit comes. Although processing is a lot of work, it can be done quickly by experienced people using specialized equipment. “When you’re done, it’s only two to three hours of work for 30 or 40 birds,” Matthew says, “plus the work of setup and cleanup of the equipment.” Take all that into account, and it’s a pretty long half-day of work.

Finally, they go to the market, or in this case, the farmstand. North Tabor Farm’s farmstand is quite small, and focuses on all-organic foods. The chickens sell for $10 per pound, a price that’s gone up recently due to the increased cost of labor. “We try to create a little full service farmstand here. You never make a lot of money on any one thing — I like to do a bit of everything.” Matthew tries to have fresh chickens all through the season, which means weekly processing from May into December. Morning Glory’s farmstand is bigger, but the fundamental philosophy is similar. “We like to provide any food we can in the Island diet,” Jim says. He doesn’t count his own labor into the cost of the chickens, but he does have employees, as well as the cost of processing. Taking all of that into consideration, Morning Glory priced the broilers at $5.45 per pound last year.

The price of a frugally but locally raised chicken doesn’t come close to comparing to the ones in big discount stores off-Island, which sell for about $1.30 per pound as of this writing. However, the conditions those chickens live in are a far cry from grazing on pastureland on the Vineyard, and the farmers who grow them on behalf of large corporations often don’t fare so well either. Although all of these chickens are part of the same species, the breed, the process, and the farms where they are raised can be very different indeed. The chicken we roast, boil, or broil has a history that impacts both the world around it and its taste, and it might be worth trying something new, even if it does cost more.

Jim Athearn raises egg-laying hens as well.

When you build a henhouse, you build it next to your house so you can get out and shoot the raccoons when they come in the middle of the night.

- JIM ATHEARN

Berry Crostata

Rustic and juicy, fresh and local berries make this crostata

shine.

This is a magical time of year when fresh berries are grown not only in the U.S., but also regionally and locally. Cronig’s Markets are bursting with fresh sweet berries, and the possibilities for desserts are endless, from crumbles to shortcakes to pies. If you really want a dessert with berries as the star, consider a simple crostata — a rustic, beautiful open-face tart. This Berry Crostata recipe focuses on naturally sweet fruit adding very little sugar. Feel free to add more if you crave more, but if you really want to taste the berries of the season, trust this recipe.

Sponsored by Cronig’s Markets and Healthy Additions

Berry Crostata

The Crust

1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

(King Arthur preferred)

2 Tbsp. sugar

¼-½ tsp. kosher salt.

(Use ¼ if using salted butter, ½ if using unsalted)

1 stick of very chilled butter, cut into slices

2-3 Tbsp. ice water

Preheat the oven to 425°. For the crostata crust, add the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor fitted with a steel or dough blade. Pulse to combine. Add the cold butter slices, a few at a time, and pulse until butter and flour combine; it should be consistent but chunky. With the machine running, add the ice water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together as a clump. Turn out onto a floured surface and gently form into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for an hour or freezer for 30 minutes.

The Filling

¼ cup sugar

Grated rind of 1 lemon

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

4 cups fresh blueberries

1 cup fresh raspberries

1 egg, beaten with a splash of water

Combine the first four filling ingredients. Fold in 4 cups fresh blueberries, 1 cup raspberries. Beat the egg with a splash of water to use for brushing on the crostata dough.

Remove the cool disk of dough, tossing out the plastic wrap. Add t o a piece of l ightly floured parchment paper on a flat surface. With a flour-dusted rolling pin, carefully roll the dough out into a 9-11 inch circle. Carefully add rolled dough to a sheet pan. Add berry mixture to the center, moving towards the outside leaving a 2-inch border. Do not overfill; you may have some leftover, it can vary depending on berry size. Fold the 2-inch border edges of the dough up to tuck the berries in, pinching them together. If there are splits or cracks, you can dip your finger in water to seal them up. Take the beaten egg wash and paint the edges with a pastry brush. Transfer the crostata to a baking sheet pan lined with parchment paper, or foil. The crostata will spill over. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the crostata crust is golden brown. Let cool for at least 20 minutes. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

This story and recipe was brought to you by:

WORDS AND IMAGES

Kate Woods

Semi-dried pea pods saved for seed.

A simple salad is really not so simple.

It’s noon on a Tuesday in early April. Ripped open seed packets of all different varieties splay across the propagation table, each promising their own unique traits begging to be chosen this season. We emerge from the greenhouse having spent the morning sowing thousands of these seeds into cell trays — from peas to celery, chicories to spinach. This is the time of the season with more anticipation and excitement than any other. A new season, a new opportunity to grow just about anything we can think of. Of all the diverse categories of crops seeded on this morning though, nothing quite compares to my obsession for lettuce.

I snag a bag of that lettuce from the cooler on the way back to our cottage and start to daydream of that first sip of seltzer I get to swig once home. I walk in, quench my thirst and begin to fill my favorite wooden bowl with the bag of greens. I eat these greens every single day, but today after a long morning of handling all of those tiny seeds full of potential I look at my lunch a bit differently. I take a moment to appreciate the diverse range of colors, textures, leaf shapes and sizes. In each of these carefully selected varieties, I visualize the many hands (and minds) that worked so passionately to get those very characteristics within each plant. I think of the many professional and amateur plant breeders, working behind the scenes, stewarding and innovating the varied genetic lines that make the content of my salad bowl possible. I see the work of Frank Morton, plant breeder and founder of Wild Garden Seeds, in the intense speckled oakheart leaves. I see the manifested work of the devoted team at Johnny’s Selected Seeds as I spy the consistently perfect green butter lettuce cups staring back at me. I see the professors and students of the University of Rutgers that are so expertly selecting for the downy mildew resistant and resilient basil strains. All in a simple salad, and I think… as if.

Traditional plant breeders hold a special place in my heart. In an age when chefs are getting so much attention that there’s an entire Netflix category devoted to films portraying their craft, I often wonder how plant breeders are still absent from most of the conversation around food. These folk are, after all, the true masterminds shaping the trajectory of raw ingredients and therefore cuisine. But I didn’t even truly appreciate plant breeder’s work or pivotal role in shaping the food system until I had the opportunity to work with Michael Mazourek — a vegetable breeder and professor of plant genetics at Cornell University.

I had the deep pleasure of working with this mad genius for a year up in Ithaca. That year, though brief, was enough to solidify my deep belief in the weight of this work. He’s most widely known for the creation of the Honeynut squash, but also the Koginut, the Habanada pepper, the 7082 cucumber, the Beauregarde pea and others. He has been featured in The New York Times, Bon Appetit, Forbes, Patagonia Provisions and more. His seed company, Row 7, has made him somewhat of a celebrity in the niche seed-breeding world. And yet, still, I feel that the breadth of his work, and the work of others like him, is often overshadowed and undervalued.

The science and art of plant breeding that Michael, and other traditional plant breeders like him, engage in is a true practice of delayed gratification. For context, it can take upwards of seven plant generations (many years) to stabilize a single variety from its first cross to its ultimate destination, a seed packet. This long and tedious selection process is absolutely essential in ensuring that the resulting cultivar is commercially viable for farmers like us.

I’ve used the phrase “traditional plant breeding” a few times now, and the distinction is important. As opposed to genetic engineering — a process in which the genetics and biology of a plant species are artificially manipulated in a laboratory in order to optimize the characteristics of a species, traditionally bred crops rely on physical crosses by human hands (usually in a greenhouse or in the fields) through the exchange of pollen between plants. This is the same process, more or less, that occurs in nature by chance. But why then the need for humans’

A simple salad is really not so simple ON THE FARM

Summer squash anatomy.

Female summer squash flower.

ON THE FARM A simple salad is really not so simple

role as plant breeders in the first place if plants are more than capable (and probably better suited) of doing it themselves? The answer: the demands of modern agriculture. The way humans grow crops is a manipulation of ecosystems which would not occur naturally without our intensive input. Certain farms get closer than others in trying to mimic the way plants and nutrient cycles operate in our wild ecosystems (as we try to do here at Beetlebung Farm), but it still seeks to maximize and prioritize what we humans want out of it, which is mainly food — nutrient dense, great tasting food and most often, large quantities of it.

When crops are forced to grow in these “unnatural” environments — in the most extreme case, as a monoculture with poor natural defenses to pest and disease pressure — they are pushed to their limit. No matter how strong those genetics are, when planted into a system of overwhelming pressure, through lack of diversity and poor soil, their ability to defend themselves is drastically weakened. Even with all of the pesticides they have access to, the pests and diseases they’re fighting also evolve and eventually render that variety inadequate in a large-scale, industrial, monoculture system. Believe it or not, this has a tremendous ripple effect, and will likely end our own ability as a small-scale, highly diverse, regenerative farm on an island in New England to grow certain beloved varieties we depend on each season. The purchasing power of huge farms drastically affects what seed companies choose to sell in their catalogs. It is then, once again, the plant breeders role to either work to evolve those varieties to modern needs or retire them all together and move on.

We as farmers spend the better half of our winters pawing through seed catalog after seed catalog, each filled with so much diversity it would blow your mind — each individual variety with a different origin story, a different brilliant mind and dedicated team to get it from figment of the imagination to a pocketful of seeds. Plants are bred for many reasons — to solve a problem (pest or disease vulnerability), to fill a niche in the market (think pumpkins for pie filling), or in the more rare case — to spark joy, wonder, or pleasure in a community of growers and consumers through taste and flavor.

As a small farm with healthy living soil, a diverse and resilient crop plan, and a supportive local community of consumers, we get to celebrate the breeders doing the latter. We get to grow the Badger Flame beets that Irwin Golman of WU-M bred to be eaten raw, we get to grow Tom Wagner’s Green Zebra tomato bred for its flattering green and yellow stripes, and we get to grow Michael Mazourek’s Habanada peppers bred to highlight the fruity flavor of a habanero minus the heat. The plant breeder’s role is to unlock the toolkit of genetics that already exists within the brilliance of our natural world. The farmer is here to select and successfully grow what varieties work best in their systems, their climate and for their community. And the cook — whether that’s me in my kitchen prepping a salad for lunch or it’s the chef in a neighborhood restaurant serving hundreds of people a night — has the responsibility to acknowledge and appreciate all of the work done before them, enhance it (hopefully minimally), and essentially not screw it up.

We take eating for granted constantly. We’ve outsourced nearly every part of it. Few people grow their own vegetables, fruit, or grains, even fewer save their own seeds, a lot of us don’t even take part in the cooking of our meals. It’s easy to forget all the people who have dedicated their entire lives to making that “simple” salad in front of you possible, but I bet you, you’ll enjoy it more if you do.

Far and away the best compliment I’ve ever received about the produce we’ve grown at Beetlebung Farm is when someone says the greens mix was so good they ate half the bag on the way home in the car, undressed, as a snack. But it’s not because I feel particularly responsible for their enjoyment of each of those beautifully bred greens, but because we as farmers have succeeded in allowing others to experience the signature and brilliance of what exceptional plant breeders can do.

Male summer squash anatomy.

Pea plant flower ready for pollination.

In an age when chefs are getting so much attention that there’s an entire Netflix category devoted to films portraying their craft, I often wonder how plant breeders are still absent from most of the conversation around food.

Anatomy of summer squash.

Early season watercress. Spring up.

Watercress Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette

WORDS AND IMAGES Tina Miller

We had a mild winter here on the Island, with plenty of rain and a tad of snow.

Spring came earlier, with daffodils starting their bloom by the third week of March. Even though the air was still biting, peepers had started their spring chorus and I figured I should check to see if the wild watercress was coming in. The March sunlight was bright and strong and spring was pushing ahead. My hunch was right and the gorgeous emerald green and rust-tinged leaves were cranking away over the chilly babbling stream.

Many know about the watercress spots on the Island, but we do not advertise such knowledge; it’s the unspoken code to preserve the magic.

Watercress is a species of aquatic flowering plant in the cabbage family “Brassicaceae.” It is one of the oldest known leaf vegetables consumed by humans. The leaves are a deep emerald green, clean since they are growing in water, and have thick branch-like bunches.Watercress is very rich in vitamin C, and potent antioxidants.

I love the crunchy texture and the spicy, peppery, green flavor. Back in the early 1980s, I was cooking at the original Vineyard Ocean Club restaurant at Five Corners in Vineyard Haven. Watercress was put on plates under grilled meats with some lemon and salt. It held up well, keeping its crunchy texture.

At the end of that decade when I was chef/owner of the Roadhouse Restaurant in West Tisbury, I had a very popular salad on the menu — watercress salad with baked goat cheese, delicious!

Watercress is a hearty, versatile green that can be the star of any salad, or even gently sautéed with eggs or as a side vegetable. Though a seasonal treat, watercress is available year-round at markets.

This watercress salad is filled with flavor; feel free to add some grilled fiwsh or meat to make it a full meal.

Watercress Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette, Toasted Pine Nuts, and Shaved Parmigiano Reggiano

2 bunches of watercress, washed and spun dry.

1/3 cup pine nuts, lightly baked. (Pine nuts are not cheap, but worth it. They bake very fast, so watch them in the oven so they do not burn.)

½ cup shaved Parmigiano Reggiano

Lemon Basil Vinaigrette

2 garlic cloves, peeled 1 shallot, small size, peeled and halved

½ tsp. salt

Black pepper

1 cup basil leaves

2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1 Tbsp. cider vinegar

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

I n a food processor, chop the garlic and shallot together. Add salt and pepper, and be sure to scrape the sides so everything is evenly chopped. Add basil leaves, chop. Leaving the machine on, add lemon juice and vinegar and slowly drizzle olive oil in. Stop and scrape the sides again. Turn the processor back on until completely combined as a liquid puree.

In a salad bowl, gently toss the watercress with basil vinaigrette.

To serve, top with pine nuts and plenty of shaved Parmigiano Reggiano.

Fresh spring watercress salad.

Washed and spun dry watercress.

Back in the summer of 2017, a new restaurant called 19 Raw slipped in on a side street in downtown Edgartown. Chef Joe Monteiro and partner/beverage director John Clift opened in the middle of summer and created an instant favorite.

Chef Joe and John already had great chemistry as partners with a few others in Wash Ashore Beer Company. John, a sommelier, also owns Vintage MV Wine & Spirits on Winter Street in Edgartown.

The menu at 19 Raw has a serious focus on the incredible seafood we have on the Island, with a selection of oysters, crudo, ceviche, and small bites. The restaurant has a tasting menu that perfectly complements thoughtful, unique, and approachable wines, as well as incredible specialty cocktails

that are gorgeous and well-crafted.

In 2020 the restaurant space attached to 19 Raw became available and 19 Prime, an authentic steakhouse — something Chef Joe always wanted to open — was born. Though they were two separate restaurants in the beginning, the challenges of COVID and the chronic staffing issues that now riddle the Island brought the two restaurants together and they’re now combined into one.

“We decided to combine forces,” according to Emily Monteiro, Chef Joe’s wife, who is also marketing and events manager. “It ended up being a match made in heaven to offer the best of both land and sea on one menu, in one cohesive space, and one kitchen. It felt hard to go back to the idea of separate restaurants thereafter — because now, everybody wins! So we continued to go with it intentionally, and it just makes sense. As we like to say, it was a ‘meating rawmance.’”

RADLER

This is a version of an Aperol spritz, but better. An Aperol spritz is a Venetian wine-based cocktail from Northeast Italy. It consists of Aperol, prosecco, digestive bitters, and soda water. It has become very popular — and with that comes great creativity and many versions. This is topped with Nature’s Revenge Pet Nat Rose instead of Prosecco. Pet Nat, or Pétillant-Naturel, Natural Sparkling is a more rustic, sparkling wine that is bottled before secondary fermentation without additional sugars or yeast. The Radler is refreshing and complex. Perfect on a warm summer day.

1.5 oz Highclere gin

0.25 oz Aperol

0.5 oz ginger simple syrup

1.5 ounces pink grapefruit juice strained 4 oz soda water

Garnish grapefruit slice and a r osemary sprig

Fill a highball glass with ice. Add ingredients, stir vigorously.

Garnish with grapefruit slice and a rosemary sprig.

Top with a splash of Pet Nat Rose.

WORDS AND IMAGES Tina Miller

Misha Jones creating cocktails at 19 Raw.

WHISKEY SOUR

This is not your grandfather’s whisky sour. First, it starts with Michter’s Small Batch Bourbon, which is very smooth with no bite or fiery finish. And instead of the raw egg white foam, they use just a drop or two of vegan Fee Brothers. Also, the hint of ginger adds a lovely complexity and creates a very drinkable Whisky Sour that will soothe your soul.

2.5 oz Michter’s bourbon

0.5 oz Canton Ginger Liqueur

0.5 oz simple syrup

1 oz of fresh lemon juice

Drop or two of Fee Foam

Garnish with an orange twist or wheel and Luxardo cherry.

Combine ingredients in a cocktail shaker.

Fill the shaker with ice, cover, and shake vigorously for about 30 seconds.

Strain the cocktail through a cocktail strainer or a slotted spoon into an old-fashioned or rocks glass filled with ice. Garnish with orange twist or wheel and Luxardo cherry.

The perfect Whisky Sour.

The Sweet Life Cafe on Circuit Avenue in Oak Bluffs has been a Martha’s Vineyard mainstay for decades, and the husband and wife team that owns the restaurant now have worked hard to maintain its tradition and character, while putting their own unique spin on things.

SWEET TEAM

In 2008, the stars began to align for Erin and Hal Ryerson. That year, Erin and Hal met while working at the Outermost Inn in Aquinnah — Erin was serving, and Hal was working in the kitchen. They immediately hit it off, and in short order began on their path to becoming partners in all aspects of life and business.

“I started coming here in the summers when I was in college in 2000. My best friend from high school’s grandparents had a house on East Chop,” Erin said. “We would come and live in their garden shed and work.” Erin’s connection to the Island grew quickly,

and in 2006 she moved here to live and work year-round. Hal spent summers at his family house in Chilmark and already loved the Island. Erin, who said she was Initially drawn to the Vineyard by the intense and exciting summers, met Hal, and the two left the Outermost Inn to work at Detente in 2010.

Over the years working at Detente, the pair became good friends with Kevin and Suzanna Crowell, then owners of the Edgartown restaurant. The Crowells eventually saw that the Sweet Life Cafe was on the market, and decided to purchase the establishment and take over. While the Crowells were getting the ball rolling over at Sweet Life, Hal took over the kitchen at Detente, and Erin managed the front of the house.

A year or two later, the couple moved to New York so Erin could attend graduate school at New York University to study journalism. “Hal was cooking in New York, which I feel is kind of

Erin and Hal Ryerson of the Sweet Life Cafe are a match made in restaurant heaven.

WORDS Lucas Thors IMAGES Randi Baird

Chef/co-owner Hal Ryerson in the kitchen.

Seared day-boat scallops, kohlrabi fondant, pea-dill puree, and spring onion oil.

early season 2023 35

Proteins, produce, herbs and things — I’ve had a really good and long-standing relationship with a lot of the fishermen and farmers out here.

–HAL RYERSON

a rite of passage for serious chefs,” Erin laughed. Their future together was solidified in 2014 when they got married, then moved to Cambridge and had their daughter, Loretta.

When Loretta was a baby, Erin and Hal would visit the Island and stay with Kevin and Suzy, who still owned Detente and the Sweet Life Cafe. “We were staying with [Kevin and Suzy] for the weekend, and Kevin mentioned to Hal that they were going to be selling Sweet Life,” Erin said. “Hal and I just locked eyes. A lot went into the decision, of course, but like three months later we bought the restaurant and made plans to move back to the Vineyard.”

Right away, the restaurateurs knew they wanted to retain the character and warmth Sweet Life has always been known for. “At first, we felt like we were captains of this ship, but the ship and the way the ship operated stayed the same,” Erin explained. “When we built the bar and renovated the dining room, we were forced to use our own sense of style, so things like the tile, the bar, and the wallpaper are our own little flavor.”

Although the menu at Sweet Life was always varied and focused on locally sourced ingredients, Hal wanted to make the food offer-

I wanted to be creative, and I knew I wanted to focus on utilizing the community for a lot of my ingredients,” Hal said. “Proteins, produce, herbs and things — I’ve had a really good and long-standing relationship with a lot of the fishermen and farmers out here.” Hal revamped the menu with a handmade pasta section, some unique seafood offerings, dishes made with foraged ingredients, and began to envision a constantly rotating nightly tasting menu that would inform the regular menu.

The Sweet Life menu is reprinted every day to update dishes, swap in new creations, and accommodate the seasonality of their food providers here on the Island and nearby. “We do a six-course tasting menu every night that is ever-evolving, and if something from that is a real hit, we will replace something on the regular menu that’s not doing as well,” Hal explained.

For Hal, new ideas for menu items come from inspiration of all kinds. Sometimes an exciting new flavor will come to him in a dream, in which case he writes it down as soon as possible. Other times he will be driving, and will jot down concepts for a fresh dish on a notepad he keeps in his truck. “I’m constantly reading cook-

Obviously there is very little separation between work and home. We will be talking about our kids in the kitchen and talking about the restaurant at home, but it always seems to work.

–ERIN RYERSON

Radicchio salad, pickled shallots, Marcona almonds, beets, and charred allium.

Co-owner Erin Ryerson at the bar at Sweet Life Cafe.

books, getting inspiration from other chefs I’ve worked with in the past, and it’s always a team effort. Everyone here gets to have a say in what goes on the menu — it’s one big collaboration,” Hal said.

One thing Hal takes pride in is the way he works with underutilized seafood. While you can go to Sweet Life and get a delicious serving of striped bass, Hal likes to take different kinds of seafood that is plentiful but often overlooked and incorporate it into his menu. “Right now I have a really great skate wing on the menu. It’s in the ray family, and has a sweet flavor profile similar to scallops,” Hal said. “I have hake on the menu. It’s very similar to cod, but it’s much more sustainable. Both of those fish are coming out of Provincetown right now — we always try to keep it as close to home as possible.”

Heading into the winter, it can be slim pickin’s for what’s caught right here on the Island. But Sweet Life has a number of community partners that provide fresh food whenever they have it: fish from the Net Result, scallops from the Martha Rose, and produce and protein from North Tabor Farm, Allen Farm, Grey Barn Farm, Morning Glory Farm, Beetlebung Farm, the Garden Farm, Milkweed Farm, Ghost Island Farm, and Slip Away Farm, just to name a few. Hal and Erin even grow their own microgreens, herbs, and edible flowers to use when concocting creative dishes. “I also really love going to the Farmers Market and stopping at each place to pick out little things here and there,” Hal said.

Over the past few years, Sweet Life has gained a new following in the community — jazz lovers. Erin said it’s all thanks to Island musician Rose Guerin, who has been instrumental in bringing new and distinctive opportunities to witness great live

music to Oak Bluffs. “Rose had a vision for music at Sweet Life since we bought it in 2017. She knew it had to be jazz, and we knew it had to be outside. It took us a few years to get the patio set up and make it all happen, but we’ve had jazz on Thursday nights in the offseason for a few years now. Rose and Jeremy [Berlin] love that patio space, and the community clearly loves it,” Erin said. “We’ve got the lights, the outdoor bar, the vibes, it just feels right for jazz.”

When asked about the work-life dynamic Erin shares with her husband, she said that, although she is obviously biased, she thinks they couldn’t be a better team. “We really don’t know another version of this life — we met each other when we were both working in food service roles, so it’s like a built-in part of our relationship,” Erin laughed. “Obviously there is very little separation between work and home. We will be talking about our kids in the kitchen and talking about the restaurant at home, but it always seems to work.”

According to Erin, the reason she and Hal work so well together is because their ultimate vision for Sweet Life, and a sweet life as a family on Martha’s Vineyard, are perfectly aligned. “We love this place, and we care so much about the quality of food and the service we put out,” Erin said. “We have disagreements, but it’s all part of this amazing process where we are both looking to refine the way we do things to meet that shared vision.”

The Sweet Life Cafe, 63 Circuit Ave., Oak Bluffs. Visit sweetlifemv.com for operating hours, menus, information on special events, and more.

early season 2023 37

Hal Reyerson, chef/coowner, in the kitchen at Sweet Life Cafe.

Mo’s Italian is made with housemade sesame seed rolls and very fresh meats sliced throughout the day.

Mighty The Italian

Searching for the ultimate two-handed lunch.

ast fall when we arrived in Sicily, practically the first thing we did was eat cured Italian meats and cheeses and we pretty much never stopped the whole trip. Incredible quality and not expensive, there was always variety; so much to choose from.

We traveled with these meats in the car, so we could throw together a sandwich while we were exploring. We started every dinner with wine, meats and cheeses, and locally cured sausages.

The Americanized versions of the Italian sub, hero, grinder, sandwich — call it what you will — seem to have endless versions of this classic, loaded with a combination of cured meats like capicola, prosciutto, soppressata, salami, pepperoni, ham, mortadella, provolone, oil and vinegar, dried oregano, hot pepper flakes for hots, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions. You name it, and it could be in The Mighty Italian.

Driving around the Island, we checked out a few options. There are many more scattered about so get out there and find your own favorite Mighty Italian; it’s worth the drive.

IMAGES Tina Miller

The Italian from Edgartown Meat and Fish is made with only Italian meats and served on a Ciabatta.

Grab and Go, the Italian with all the fixings at Cronig’s Market.

Italian with a view from Winston’s in Oak Bluffs.

The mighty Italian WORTH THE DRIVE

The mighty Italian

Experts in construction, renovations and restoration of high quality homes on Martha’s Vineyard since 1990.

How do oyster shuckers make it look so easy? They delicately pry open the tightly locked bivalve mollusks with the skill of a surgeon. You want to learn, but it is pretty intimidating. Besides, those shuckers do it so well, why bother? We’ve got the best reason — because there is nothing better than an ice cold, briney fresh-shucked Island oyster. After all, the Vineyard has some of the best oysters anywhere!

Edible Vineyard met up with Greg Martino of Cottage City Oysters, created and operated by brothers Greg and Dan Martino. Together these farmers don’t stop. They run a full-service oyster farm providing oysters Islandwide, a raw bar service for events, oyster farm tours where you can “learn to shuck,” and beginning this year you’ll find Cottage City Oysters Raw Bar at Beach Road restaurant.

Greg showed up with a dozen pristine Cottage City Oysters and one of their own branded oyster knives, which are quite versatile and can also be used for clams or scallops.

LET THE LESSON BEGIN

Greg prefers using a glove and shucking in his hands, rather than a hard service like a countertop. The glove keeps him safe from gouges.

A perfect oyster for shucking will be a teardrop shape with a deep cup, which

means it will have deep fat meat, great eating.

First, know your way around. There is a bill and a hinge. The hinge is at the narrow end, where you can see the top and bottom meet and where you will start.

1. Starting at the hinge, insert the oyster knife flat side up into the hinge. Press down, and use the leverage on your holding hand to pop the oyster. Grab the knife down low, leaning back using your other hand as leverage

2. Using slow, consistent leverage with your knife in the hinge, you may hear a pop, and liquid will flow out. Keep the knife at a 90-degree angle, carefully working towards the bill, being careful not to break the shell, just opening the seal. When unsealed, cut the upper abductor muscle to free it up, nice and clean to keep the oyster whole. Remove the cap. Wipe your knife to remove any shell fragments.

3. Slice underneath to cut the under abductor. Drain a bit of the liquid, to remove any shell fragments. Don’t worry about losing that bit of liquid, the oyster will release more filtered liquid, also called liquor, almost immediately.

PRO TIPS:

Never rinse oysters. The liquid, or liquor, is pure gold and helps deliver that delicious, juicy oyster into your mouth. Ice oysters thoroughly. Oysters will take on a more metallic flavor as the temperature rises. When they are nice and cold, they are beautiful and briney.

Oysters should be wet and glistening. Dry oysters are usually old. And lastly, shucking is not about strength. In fact, if you use too much muscle, you are more likely to slip and stab yourself.

Cottage City oysters.

Perfect oyster with the hinge in view.

Continued from page 13

and proteins. Approximately 27,000 pounds of that was grown on Island Grown Initiative’s farm. IGI distributes gleaned food to schools, senior centers, the Island Food Pantry, Serving Hands, the Wampanoag Safe Harbors Program, Kinship Heals, and IGI's prepared meals program.

In 2012, IGI received the gift of Thimble Farm. As we have already said, this is a hub for learning. Beyond serving as a lab, it hosts a community garden, and is where IGI began to really address the idea of food access, growing food for the community.

In 2017, IGI launched its Mobile Food Market, which brings fresh produce to West Tisbury’s Howes House on Tuesdays from 3 to 5 pm, and St. Augustine’s Church on Thursdays from 3 to 5 pm in July, August, and September. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits can be used at the Mobile Food Market truck. Healthy Incentive Program (HIP) dollars are redeemed when individuals spend SNAP money on local fruits and vegetables through prepared vendors.

Depending on family size, beneficiaries can redeem up to $80 of SNAP back onto their cards through HIP redemption, which is pretty cool. In 2022, the Mobile Market ran from June 10 to Oct. 20, with a total of 1,058 transactions. Regarding assistance program sales, $1,019 HIP dollars and $432.50 of Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program coupons were redeemed. The total assistance program usage was 10.5 percent of all sales. This year, the Mobile Market is scheduled to run July through September. The schedule will be posted on IGI’s website and social media pages as soon as details are finalized.

IGI also started its community lunch program in 2017, offering free lunches to children under 18 in July and August. Now these lunches are available to families at all the libraries across the Island, Monday through Friday during the summer months. Last year, the program ran for six weeks and provided 10,200 lunches. This is approximately 340 every day, Monday through Friday. In 2021, the program ran for seven weeks, and provided 11,760 lunches, and in 2020, the program ran for six weeks and

We have to think about food security in a long-term way. How are we growing our food? Is it regenerative?

Climate-supportive?

–NOLI TAYLOR

provided 7,142 lunches. Because the distribution of these lunches is unmonitored, and some individuals did not take advantage of these lunches every day, IGI says it can conservatively estimate it served approximately 500 unique individuals in the summer of 2022. It also estimates that approximately

The greenhouses are full.

Gleaned carrots.

90 percent of the individuals eating these lunches are children, meaning the community lunch program serves approximately one in five of the schoolchildren on the Island. Island children and families can access these meals through the Boys and Girls Club, YMCA summer programs, M.V. Community Services, the Family Center, MVCS daycare programs, summer school programs, and individual family pickups. Lunches are also provided via Island Elderly Housing, the West Tisbury library, the Oak Bluffs Council on Aging, and more. For the summer of 2023, IGI plans to offer the community lunch program for eight weeks, July 3 through August 18. Lunch will be distributed across the Island at the Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Vineyard Haven, West Tisbury, and Aquinnah libraries.

In 2021, IGI joined efforts with the Island Food Pantry, expanding on the idea of offering fresh, prepared, and shelf-stable foods for all. Now that IGI has recent-

ly purchased Jan Burhman’s Kitchen Porch, a commercial kitchen, it can make even more meals. In 2022, Island Grown prepared and distributed just over 40,000 meals. Sixty-three percent went to the Island Food Pantry, with the remaining 37 percent being distributed through partner locations like Hospice, M.V. Community Services, Island Health Care, the Councils on Aging, the West Tisbury library, Island Elderly Housing, Havenside, and more. And in 2023, IGI plans to prepare 60,000 meals. These meals will feature local produce and meat from IGI’s farm and gleaning program, and generous donations from partner farms, including Slough Farm and Wise Owl Farm. As it is operating out of the new, year-round kitchen, it is able to increase the types, sizes, and nutritional value of the meals offered to better meet the needs and preferences of clients.

But as IGI ramped up food production with the purchase of the commercial kitchen, it ran into a new issue: where to store all the prepared food? To solve this, IGI has just purchased a building in Oak Bluffs that can hold larger quantities of refrigerated and frozen food, as well as more dry goods. This means more gleaned food can last longer as well.

“We’re trying to do this better and better,” Noli laughs. “I used to feel so good about giving seniors a whole fresh butternut squash, but then I learned that a whole squash was too much food for one. And, if you have arthritis, they can be hard to peel and chop.”

“Wait, they’re hard for me to chop too,” Merrick laughs, adding, “It’s about ease and accessibility.”

Noli continues, “Yes. Now we can offer portions of frozen, chopped-up squash, a squash soup, or even baby food. And we’ve gotten feedback from some of our families that they want rice and beans and more meat incorporated into our prepared meals. So we’ve added that. I had some the other day for lunch. It was so good.”

“The work also feels good,” Sadie says. Noli and Merrick nod in agreement. A few hours later Noli sends us IGI’s Food Security Google Sheet document. She writes, “There's a lot to it, and a lot of partners at the helm here. It might warrant a whole separate story, but I wanted you to get a sense of the scope of work ahead of us to help safeguard future food security, especially for those most vulnerable, in our changing climate.”

It’s true, there is a lot to the plan — pages and pages of issues that need to be

addressed, actions to take, partners it is working and will work with, networking strategies, mentorship opportunities, training, and infrastructure necessities. It demonstrates deep, connective thinking. And it is clear that the organization is trying to be regenerative, so it can keep refining as it expands.

“My greatest hope for the future is that we are able to establish a secure, consistent, resilient food system. For everyone, but especially for those most vulnerable people. Climate change impacts are going to hit them first. We need the help of everyone else — volunteering, donations, buying from the mobile market. We are not afraid of tackling big-picture problems. This is why we are instrumental. We have the capacity to handle big-picture issues,” Noli says, and then sighs: “It’s so exciting, and I believe we can do it.” So do we.

FOOD PANTRY HOURS

Monday, 2-4 pm

Wednesday, 1-6 pm

Friday, 12-2 pm, for seniors

Saturday, 10-1 pm

Note: On Tuesdays the pantry receives food and bags it. On Thursday the pantry delivers food to about 50 people a week.

HOW TO HELP

• Donate. Go to igimv.org.

• Help make meals.

• Glean. Spend time outside with friends picking vegetables.

• Volunteer at the Food Pantry,

• Work at a community lunch.

FIND A COMMUNITY LUNCH

Community lunches will be available at these libraries

Monday through Friday in July and August.

West Tisbury

Vineyard Haven

Oak Bluffs

Edgartown

The Aquinnah library will serve community lunches on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

We can’t control some of the costs of living — increasing gas, utilities, or healthcare — but we can grow and make food. And so we’re growing, making, and delivering food in ways that we hope will make real, lasting change for our community.

–MERRICK CARREIRO

DONE!

Paying the farm forward

One of the most anticipated summer events on the Island is the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society’s annual fair in August. On opening day, the Grand Hall is filled with homemade baked goods, crafts, art, quilts, jams, jellies, flower arrangements, and gorgeous locally grown vegetables from farms around the Island. As you look around, it is hard to miss some of the most gorgeous healthy, often oversized, vegetables flanked in blue ribbons. Flipping the tag, more often than not you would see that the farmer’s name was Paul Jackson.

Jackson was a backyard farmer who created an oasis on his property in the Boulevard area of Edgartown. He knew it was all about the soil, and spent years amending his soil with such things as scallop water, which resulted in growing

some of the most incredible vegetables and fruit anywhere. To say he was a gifted farmer is an understatement; he was an Island icon.

Paul Jackson passed away a year ago in April and he left a surprising legacy. To be sure his property remained a farm property, he willed his one-acre farm to the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Society with the intent that it would be used for farming.

“The MVAS is so honored and touched by Mr. Jackson’s gift. He is an Island legend and his farming practices have inspired many a backyard farmer. This gift not only supports our agricultural mission but enables us to provide housing for our local farmers. It is the gift that keeps on giving,” says Lauren Lynch, executive director of the M.V. Agricultural Society.

Eli Dagostino

Master gardener Paul Jackson.

Vineyard Haven 508-693-4457 • West Tisbury 508-693-2234

Vineyard Haven 508-693-7097