| An Edible Trail in Hyannis
When I first meet Grace Horton at Jack's, the Hyannis pizza place on West Main Street that she has managed for the past 20 years, she takes me down to the cellar to show me some ghosts. From a drawer in her office, she pulls a T-shirt with logos of Cape Cod restaurants from about 10 years ago. She shakes her head in disbelief that Jack's is one of the few restaurants on the shirt still open. Horton knows her competition, mostly because she patronizes other eateries frequently. On a tour of downtown Hyannis, she points out where the extinct restaurants were, and we stop at several new ones. The street is buzzing with seasonal preparation not unlike Christmastime. The sound of a roofer's hammer bounces off the patio of Schooners (372 Main Street, 508-778-7588), where Horton goes with her sister for fried calamari. The seafood restaurant is flooded with nautical knickknacks, like brass frames shaped like portholes, but is not tacky. We turn down Ocean Street, where Island Merchant (10 Ocean Street, 508-771-1337) recently opened. Located where another local fave, The Prodigal Son, once operated, the Merchant will continue the Prodigal's tradition of original live music and expand its menu to include such Caribbean highlights as Island Salad, made of pulled pork and mangoes. The next stop is Brazilian Grill (680 Main Street, 508-771-1090), a churrascaria, or Brazilian steakhouse. Horton's eyes roll back as she tries to describe the menu. "The food is unbelievable," she says. "If you ever come here, don't eat for like a day before, because you get so much food!" We enter through the kitchen door and see meat turning on a rotisserie; waiters in gaucho garb deliver the finished product to the table on a swordlike skewer. It becomes clear what Horton means by so much food. Collucci Bros. Diner (50 Sea Street, 508-771-6896) is another restaurant that doles out portions so big they demand exclamation points. Horton boasts that her 10-year-old son was recently able to finish the plate-covering stack of pancakes that are a Collucci specialty.
Patrick Gerard Healy Back |
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