Cava photographs by Jack Bingham Studio
Bedford Village Inn and Pier 77 photographs by Tony Scarpetta Photography.
Henrietta’s Table photographs by Heath Robbins, Courtesy of Three Bean Press
As our Culinary Editor Paula Sullivan pointed out in the last issue of Taste, there are fewer and fewer chefs that would lay claim to a “signature dish”, that is to say a time-honored, unchanged menu item that patrons will not allow the chef to remove from the menu. More and more, as chefs turn to local and seasonal ingredients, it’s likely that you’ll find an ingredient that is always on the menu in one form or another, but it may be sauced, garnished, or somehow presented differently, depending on the season.
I asked the chefs at the restaurants I visited for this story to let me taste their classic dishes with the understanding that when you go, you may find slight changes in the menu reflecting the best and freshest produce, meat or fish available that season—or even that week. With the ability to print out a new menu every day, chefs are no longer bound by an old fashioned printed menu. So think of the dishes I describe below as a sampling of the wonderful creations you can look forward to at these great regional venues. And if there’s something you have your heart set on, just call ahead.
My “research” took me not only to some of the best restaurants around—I stayed over at two lovely hotels as well. The spectacular Bedford Village Inn had a luxurious suite prepared for us; and the chic, urban Charles Hotel in Cambridge invited us for the night as well, so we could not only enjoy their lovely hotel, but could sample Chef Peter Davis’ breakfast menu, which alone would have been worth the trip.
We started our tasting journey in Portsmouth, New Hampshire at Cava, a new jewel in Portsmouth’s culinary crown. Cava, (as you might imagine) specializes in cava, the wonderful Spanish equivalent to prosecco and champagne. But their wine list is both extensive and international. General Manager and co-owner John Akar is an ace at pairing wines with their tapas and small plates. Part of their signature style is special attention to updating their wine list weekly and helping their customers with perfect wine and food pairings. Executive Chef Gregg Sessler is Akar’s long-time friend and business partner.
Cava features two wine bars, table seating, outdoor tables in summer, and a special Chef’s bar where you can watch Sessler at work. And watching him work, you realize he’s a man who loves his work. “It’s really fun, just turning up the heat and pushing the envelope, trying to do something a little different.” Although he’s originally from New Hampshire, Sessler had worked in the San Francisco area and in New Orleans, where he says, “I worked with some great Spanish chefs, and that’s when I fell in love with the Spanish and Mediterranean style of eating, with small plates that are meant to be shared with friends.”
I asked Chef Gregg whether he changes the menu regularly. “It’s mostly on imagination and whim. If I get bored, I do something different.” But as he says, certain dishes have been on the menu since they opened and are likely to stay.
When I ate at Cava, we started our meal with a “Bocadillo” of dark chocolate, sea salt and pistachio oil served on a rustic crostini. Being a sea salt fanatic, I absolutely loved this unusual balance of flavors. John paired this with Urban Riesling, a gently fruity white with a nice dry finish.
Our next course—and I, too, love this style of eating—was ham wrapped roasted mejool dates stuffed with manchego, a delicious updated version of a classic Spanish tapas dish. This was accompanied by an excellent Australian viognier.
From the Small Plates menu, we sampled the Paella de Cava, a perfect mixture of chicken, house-made chorizo, and saffron rice, paired with a Chilean cab/camenere/syrah blend: a perfect partner. Currently, Sessler is serving a rabbit and morel paella, but he likes to work with whatever is fresh and seasonal.
Lamb in some form is nearly always on the menu. When we visited, it was a scrumptious Oregon spring lamb loin, served with hummus and a garbanzo bean and lemon salad with yogurt. Somewhere in the mix we also tasted an excellent tempranillo and a terrific French chardonnay. (Thank goodness for friends who are willing to help out with the grueling work of tasting and sipping!)
Not that I had room for dessert, but I ate it anyway. (What can I say? It’s my job.) This was a plate of churros served with “Hot Chocolate” a sinful dipping sauce and followed by a late bottle vintage port.
Our tasting travels then took us west to the spectacular Bedford Village Inn, in Bedford, New Hampshire. There, owner Jack Carnevale made us very welcome, and after a scrumptious meal, we got to lay our heads in a seriously luxurious suite. (Again, we got to stay for breakfast!) One of the things that struck me about the Inn was that for such a large operation, the various dining venues all have an intimate feel. There is of course, a large ballroom for functions, and beautifully landscaped grounds, but the Dining Room, the Tavern, and Corks, their newly debuted wine and small plates/tapas bar, are all invitingly small scale. (Look for more on Corks in a future issue of Taste.)
Located on the site of a renovated 1810 farmhouse, the Inn has garnered numerous awards and great reviews, including seventeen consecutive AAA four diamond awards. They were also voted one of the ten best inns in the country.
Executive Chef Peter Agostinelli earned a degree in Culinary Arts from Newbury College, although he had been working in restaurants from the tender age of 13. He has worked in some of the finest restaurants in the northeast, including Todd English’s Figs. When I asked about his philosophy of cooking, he said, “I have a lot of friends in the culinary field, and food tends to be trendy. I don’t really do that. I just like to find great, simple ingredients and find great ways to showcase their flavors.”
After an amuse bouche of a dumpling filled with ramps, mascarpone, and crabmeat with a yuzu marmalade sauce, we were treated to their renowned Maine Jonah Crab Cakes, served with a romesco sauce, olive tapenade, and pickled fennel—a perfect mingling of tastes. The crab cakes were just about pure crabmeat, perfectly browned and served with just a hint of coarse Maine sea salt.
Like most top chefs, Agostinelli is sourcing as many ingredients as possible from local suppliers. Once again, there are a number of dishes that will always appear on the menu, but Chef Peter may work in seasonal accompaniments.
This was followed by a block of incredibly rich and perfectly seared Hudson Valley foie gras; just slightly pink inside, served with a truffled potato rosti cake, a poached local duck egg, and sautéed spring mushrooms. At this point, I had to ask our server to request smaller portions for us to share, as I knew we had to go the distance. Chef Peter appeared tableside, chuckling and agreed to pare down the portions. A rugged guy who stands six foot three, we were no match for him in the appetite department. “Yeah”, he says, “I kind of have a reputation for that!”
Our entrée was a Roasted Gloucester Monkfish, with an artichoke risotto, pea tendrils and a blood orange vinaigrette, another perfect melding of flavors. Although I would have loved to try their Banana Bread Pudding with Chocolate Ice Cream, the Vanilla Bean Crème Brûlée or other mouth watering selections, we opted for their trio of house made sorbets: Lemon thyme, almond and grapefruit, served with a tuille cookie from their in-house pastry kitchen.
In addition to great seafood, poultry, pork, and a few great vegetarian dishes, there are the “BVI Cuts”, usually a center cut eight ounce filet, a 16-ounce sirloin and a 20-ounce rib eye; served with a choice of a black pepper gastrique, a red-wine demi-glace, horseradish cream, blue cheese butter, or the BVI’s own steak sauce.
Once again, we were guided by our charming and professional server to perfect wine pairings from the Inn’s extensive wine cellars. Jon Carnavalle, the restaurant’s General Manager, is the only certified Sommelier in New Hampshire and one of the few in New England. Their award-winning wine list offers more than 700 selections from all over the world from their cellar of over 9500 bottles. The Carnevale family recently announced that The Bedford Village Inn is one of only two restaurants in the country for whom the pres-tigious Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars will be producing two private label vintages, the first a 2001 Cabernet sauvignon and the other a 2002 chardonnay. Since 1991, Wine Spectator has awarded the Inn their Best of Award of Excellence.
Considering how close we are to Boston, I really should make the short trip south more often because it’s always worth it. But with so many great restaurants north of Boston it’s sometimes hard to fit everything in. (So many restaurants, so little time.) There is a vibrant culinary scene, of which the two restaurants at the Charles Hotel in Cambridge are a part. There is Rialto, headed up by James Beard award-winning chef Jody Adams, and then there is Henrietta’s Table. Their motto? Fresh and honest, which is also the title of Chef Peter Davis’ cookbook. Henrietta’s Table is the more casual of the hotel’s venues—an affordable, family-friendly place that serves three meals a day: Breakfast, Lunch and Supper. Families are welcome, but from the cocktail list to the menu, it’s an establishment designed to make grown-ups happy, including yours truly.
Davis is a native of Nahant, Massachusetts, and grew up fishing, lobstering, raising chickens and tending the family vegetable garden, so it’s no surprise that he has a sort of reverence for local and seasonal ingredients. But he also spent time in Asia, cooking at Hyatt Hotels in Bali, Singapore and Hong Kong. Davis modestly describes his establishment as “a glorified diner”. True, you can watch the chefs at work in their open kitchen with line chefs plating in full view: a full-disclosure kind of place. But I haven’t been to a diner recently that sources sustainable, locally grown ingredients from a lineup of nearly a dozen local farmers, artisanal cheese makers, and fishermen.
When we were there, side dishes included native beets, roasted potatoes, and spring-dug parsnips and carrots. And while Yankee Pot Roast with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy may be standard diner comfort food, it’s unlikely that the same dish on a standard diner menu would be slowly braised Wolfe’s Neck Farm naturally-raised beef, simmering in house-made veal or oxtail stock and good red wine finished with a lush demi-glace. The care with which simple dishes like this are made is Henrietta’s Table’s signature style. Pork chops, another dish you might find on a standard diner menu, translates to a Niman Ranch Grilled Smoked Pork Chop, with spiced roasted native apples and an apple brandy reduction.
We started with the Maine Rock Crab and Corn Chowder with Smoked Bacon, a wonderful savory combo with a velvety consistency. Other starters arrived: A gorgeous spinach salad with strawberries and Westfield Farm Chevre lightly dressed with
a Spicy Maple Pecan Vinaigrette. House-smoked pastrami salmon was served with field greens, chive oil, a crisp potato wafer and lemony Vermont crème fraiche that beautifully enhanced the fish.
While Davis generally has salmon on the Henrietta’s Classic’s menu, in this case, the preparation was strictly seasonal: a grilled ramp buerre blanc and spring peas. The House Smoked and Grilled Free Range Duck Breast, with a confit duck leg, brandied apricot preserves, and a port reduction was beautifully prepared.
There are daily specials as well as special seasonal cocktails and a featured “Wine of the Week” which was a Longmeadow Ranch Sauvignon Blanc from Rutherford, California. Henrietta’s Table in a nutshell? It’s fun, it’s friendly, it’s bustling and the food is really, really good.
Last, but by no means least, we made our way up the coast to the spectacularly situated Pier 77 in Kennebunk, Maine. With stunning views of Cape Porpoise Harbor, there’s not a bad seat in the house. Pier 77 is owned and run by CIA-trained chef Peter Morency and his wife, Kate, who handles the front of the house as well as their superb wine list. Located on the lower floor of the building is their casual Ramp Bar and Grill, serving lobster rolls, fried clams and the like. Pier 77 has live music seven days a week in the high season, and on weekends during the quieter months.
Before we even got to the wine list, I had to try their Straight “8” Cucumber Martini, made with Hendrick’s Gin, Cucumber and St. Germain Elderflower Liquor. I wasn’t planning a cocktail pairing with the salad course—it just happened. A spinach salad with warm, perfectly roasted beets, candied pecans and chevre was perfect with my martini.
Next up, we turned to locally sourced shellfish. Peter offers three preparations of either clams or mussels: their Classic included beer, garlic, thyme and oregano; The Portuguese—which we had—with chorizo, garlic, tomatoes and red chili flakes; or Provençal, with white wine, onions, fennel, garlic and tomatoes. We dug in to a large bowl which was served with rustic bread and an herb aioli. The smells wafting up from the bowl were mouth watering and the bread perfect for sopping up the juices. Having spent some time cooking and eating in Portugal, I can attest to the authenticity of this dish.
The next course was lamb, which is almost always on the menu in some form or another. That night Peter had made Lamb Three Ways: a braised shank, a perfectly medium rare roasted sirloin and a Merguez sausage. With this, we sipped a glass of Fess Parker 2005 Epiphany.
Now you might think that was enough of a meal for anybody—and you would be right—but the dishes kept coming. We sampled their gorgeous pan-seared scallops with mild but complex wasabi mashed potatoes and soy-glazed baby bok choy. Next up? A signature Seafood Mixed Grill, salmon, shrimp and Jonah crab, served with black rice, julienned asparagus with a saffron tomato vinaigrette. This was an eye-poppingly gorgeous dish and it tasted as good as it looked. You might imagine that this kind of quality would be priced accordingly, but the prices are surprisingly reasonable. Peter and Kate have made it a kind of mission to offer great food and great value. These days especially, that’s a commendable effort.
These recipes are from Peter Davis’ cookbook Fresh and Honest: Food from the Farms of New England and the Kitchen of Henrietta’s Table (Three Bean Press, 2008).
Pot Roast Serves 6
1 4-pound piece of chuck
Salt and pepper
4 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic
2 carrots, roughly chopped
3 celery sticks, roughly chopped
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1 cup red wine
3 cups veal or oxtail stock
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Season the chuck with salt and pepper.
2. Place a heavy-bottomed pot on the stove over medium heat. Add the oil and brown the chuck on all sides. Remove the chuck from the pot and set aside. Add garlic, carrot, celery, and onion and brown well.
3. Pour the red wine into the pot and reduce by half.
4. Add the meat, stock, bay leaves, and thyme, and bring to a boil. Place the uncovered pot into the oven for 2 1⁄2 hours, turning every half hour. If the sauce reduces too much and becomes too thick, add 1 cup water.
5. Remove the pot roast from the oven when it is fork-tender. Remove the meat from the pot and set aside.
6. Skim the fat off the top of the sauce. Puree the sauce and season with salt and pepper. Slice the meat across the grain, top with sauce, and serve.
Roasted Corn and Crab Chowder
Serves 8
4 ears corn, unhusked
1/2 gallon chicken stock
2 strips bacon, diced
1/2 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup celery, diced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 medium-sized new potatoes, cut into bite-sized cubes
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 pound rock crabmeat
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Bake the corn in their husks for 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.
2. Husk the corn and remove the kernels with a knife. Set aside.
3. Take 1⁄2 cup of the stock and bring to a boil in a saucepan. Add three-quarters of the corn kernels and cook on medium heat for 20 minutes. Puree the mixture in a blender or food processor.
4. In a large pot, sauté the bacon until lightly browned. Add the onion and celery and cook until transparent. Add the flour and cook over low heat for 20 minutes, stirring to keep from burning.
5. Gradually add the potatoes and remaining stock. Cover and cook until the potatoes are soft. Add the corn puree, reserved kernels, turmeric, and crabmeat. Cook on medium heat for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve.
Spinach Salad with Goat Cheese and Spicy Pecans with Maple Pecan Vinaigrette
Serves 6
For the spicy pecans:
2 1⁄8 ounces pecan halves, toasted
2 teaspoons cumin
1⁄4 teaspoon chili powder
1⁄4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
1⁄4 teaspoon cardamom
1⁄4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 teaspoons paprika
1⁄4 teaspoon salt
1⁄2 ounce butter
2 teaspoons maple syrup
For the salad:
12 ounces fresh spinach
2 cups Maple-Pecan Vinaigrette (see recipe below)
2 ounces goat cheese
1⁄2 pint fresh berries
To make the spicy pecans:
1. Toast pecans until golden brown.
2. Mix dry ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl.
3. Melt the butter in a pan and add maple syrup, bring to a boil and remove from heat. Pour butter mixture over pecans and toss.
4. Sprinkle entire spice mixture over pecans and toss until well coated. Set aside to dry for 1 hour or up to 2 days.
To make the salad:
1. Wash the spinach and dry in a salad spinner.
2. Toss with the dressing and the spicy pecans, goat cheese, and berries. Serve immediately.
For the Maple Pecan Vinaigrette:
3⁄4 cup pecans
1⁄3 cup rice wine vinegar
5 tablespoons maple syrup
1 1⁄2 cups safflower oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven or toaster oven to 350 degrees. Spread pecans on an oiled cookie sheet and toast evenly for approximately 10 minutes. Combine all ingredients. Keep chilled until ready to use.
Restaurants 
As our Culinary Editor Paula Sullivan pointed out in the last issue of Taste, there are fewer and fewer chefs that would lay claim to a “signature dish”, that is to say a time-honored, unchanged menu item that patrons will not allow the chef to remove from the menu. More and more, as chefs turn to local and seasonal ingredients, it’s likely that you’ll find an ingredient that is always on the menu in one form or another, but it may be sauced, garnished, or somehow presented differently, depending on the season. 
From the Small Plates menu, we sampled the Paella de Cava, a perfect mixture of chicken, house-made chorizo, and saffron rice, paired with a Chilean cab/camenere/syrah blend: a perfect partner. Currently, Sessler is serving a rabbit and morel paella, but he likes to work with whatever is fresh and seasonal. 
Our entrée was a Roasted Gloucester Monkfish, with an artichoke risotto, pea tendrils and a blood orange vinaigrette, another perfect melding of flavors. Although I would have loved to try their Banana Bread Pudding with Chocolate Ice Cream, the Vanilla Bean Crème Brûlée or other mouth watering selections, we opted for their trio of house made sorbets: Lemon thyme, almond and grapefruit, served with a tuille cookie from their in-house pastry kitchen.
We started with the Maine Rock Crab and Corn Chowder with Smoked Bacon, a wonderful savory combo with a velvety consistency. Other starters arrived: A gorgeous spinach salad with strawberries and Westfield Farm Chevre lightly dressed with 
Next up, we turned to locally sourced shellfish. Peter offers three preparations of either clams or mussels: their Classic included beer, garlic, thyme and oregano; The Portuguese—which we had—with chorizo, garlic, tomatoes and red chili flakes; or Provençal, with white wine, onions, fennel, garlic and tomatoes. We dug in to a large bowl which was served with rustic bread and an herb aioli. The smells wafting up from the bowl were mouth watering and the bread perfect for sopping up the juices. Having spent some time cooking and eating in Portugal, I can attest to the authenticity of this dish.
