Afterglow Festival Concierge
Provincetown In and Out  by Marthe Svenjørd and Margie Ella Jackett 

CAFE HEAVEN

Pray you get in. The one criticism we had of this restuarant was that it was too cramped and had no flow, but that’s all been changed with an newly expanded interior and the addition of a bar. It’s the in place to be and be seen, bright eyed and bushy tailed (unless you wax) first thing in the morning, especially after the early AA meeting lets out. Anonymity aside, many a well-heeled (and healing) decamped New Yorker can be seen chowing in this West End storefront, colorfully adorned with bold paintings and farmy furniture—it is the most Upstate New Yorky looking place in the whole town of P. Surely you can stomach lobster hash with poached eggs and Hollandaise or a stack of fresh blueberry pancakes. The baked goods here are truly, well, heavenly—homemade English muffins! And it’s not just for breakfast anymore. Some divine lunch and dinner creations include Tuscan cod; Portugese rack of pork with little neck clams; a killa chowdah; seared day scallops served in any number of delicious ways, depending on the day; filet mignon as salad centerpiece or served au poivre. The menu manages to be consistent while its offerings change depending on what’s fresh and what the chef is feeling du jour. Truly transcendent.
199 Commercial Street. 508 487 9639. 

THE CANTEEN

Casual chic. This place lives up to its name because many a Ptown folk considers this to be their local commissary. It’s a favorite of die-hard townies and the wash-ashore hipperati alike. And it has become quite a scene. There are no reservations taken here. You show up, you queue up, you pay and take a number, grab your utensils and await the yumminess to arrive. We never eat here without ordering the Crispy Brussel Sprouts in fish sauce. Otherwise, it could be a Kale & Quinoa salad day, or a Lobster roll lunch, or a Surf-and-Turf (grilled steak and shrimp on ciabatta) sandwich afternoon. Or perhaps Cod Banh-Mi. And tacos? How about pulled pork; or crispy cod? There’s a raw bar. And no place this side of Nantucket can you get some “Fries with Eyes”—smelts with your choice of dipping sauce. A great beer and wine list. Or “frosé—yes, you guessed it: frozen rosé. You can sit out back near the water. You can people watch inside, which is decked-out in a Bretagne-Yankee nautical theme. You’ll be back the next day, and the day after that, and so on and so on. In Winter, they host a Holiday Market with cool vendors. Loic, one of the owners and a carpenter, built the entire outré crunchy-eccentric outside space. His partner Rob is equally hands on.   You’re welcome.
225 Commercial Street. 508 487 3800. www.thecanteenptown.com

FRONT STREET

If you could turn back time. Walking into this place is taking a trip back to 1970s Provincetown. There are two menus—a traditional Italian one, to which this writer adheres; and a “continental” one from which most people order. Sorry, but we likes the carpaccio,  the pasta e fagioli, the burrata and heirloom tomatoes, the veal Maura with escarole and beans and chicken piccatta or Francese with artichokes, and or eggplant parmigiana with sides of al dente spaghetti. But you might go for the continental fare of Tuscan summer salad, herb-crusted rack of lamb, tea-smoked duck or gorgonzola-stuffed Angus beef filet mignon. Vive la difference, or whatever the Italian equivalent of that saying is. Typically, we love this place when the crowds are gone and the dark interior matches our  fall and winter mood. But we have never had a bad meal here or an inauthentic experience and, when push comes to shove, we would save this place first in the event of a tsunami.
230 Commercial Street. 508 487-9715. www.frontstreetrestaurant.com

JOON BAR & KITCHEN

In a word: Yum. This is a special place and you do well to reserve days if not weeks in advance. Its proprietor, Audrey, is an inspirational success story. She worked various places around town and developed a wine-bar concept that was installed here and there; and ultimately she realized her dream of having an exceptional eatery in Provincetown and no place is more appreciated than this. The list of small plates by Chef Paul Krikorian includes not-to-be-missed Wood Roasted Wild Mushrooms, house-made Naan bread, aged-mancheego-cheese-stuffed olives and house cut fries with smoked tomato ketchup or fois gras aioli. Follow with duck sliders, seared scallops with snow peas and cashews, or the Joon Nicoise with sushi-grade tuna; or hit the assortment of flat-breads—smoked halibut? wild mushroom? roasted artichoke—or go big with the dry-aged Angus burger or line-caught halibut. Wine is queen here. And Audrey is beyond careful about what vintages she serves by the glass and bottle. It’s all perfection. And be super nice to the wait staff because we will find out if you’re not.
133 Commercial Street. 508 413-9336. www.joonbar.com

MAC’S FISH HOUSE

Fresh and fancy-free. Unlike the other sushi restaurant in town where you might suspect the fare is overpriced for the purpose of being snorted up somebody’s nose, Mac’s is a wholesome alternative with a genuine pedigree. We live for the Crabby Crunch roll. Do we love their original Mac’s Shack in Wellfleet better? Sure. That place, with its outdoor bar, exposed white-washed ceiling beams and frenetic seaside feel—you will wait for an hour to dine at the Wellfleet spot—makes for better Instagramming as compared with the Provincetown location which makes one feel they were going for a diner look instead of a dining one. But we soon move past that when it comes to the food. The sushi here is beyond compare in Provincetown. And the local millionaires seem to have bar stools with their names engraved on them. It’s not cool, which is so cool. The Afterglow Festival drives our audience in this restuarant’s direction because it never disppoints and the fish is so fresh it practically talks back to you. That might be true, too, in regard to the staff; but it’s authentically New England (and people that work here are from here, trust!) and we’ve never been an effusive lot.
85 Shank Painter Road. 508 487-6227. www.macsseafood.com

THE MAYFLOWER

Tradition. Not a summer can go by without at least one meal here. This family run die-hard, with its original coccyx numbing wood booths and Sardi’s-like caracitures crowding every inch of wall space, takes you back to a simpler more food-processed time of Chicken Cordon Bleu, Baked Stuffed Scrod or Pork Chops or Shrimp or Filet of Sole or Manicotti. Let’s not forget the system stalling fried Seafood Platter or Clams or Clam Strips or Oysters or Scallops or Shrimp or Fish n’ Chips, nor the three different dinner choices  with the suffix: Parmagiana. There’s a pasta menu, a burger menu, a “submarine” menu, a pizza menu, a children’s menu and a cocktail menu—there are Reubens and club sandwiches and tacos and hot dogs and grilled cheese. What else? Oh, of course: “salads”—cold tuna salad plate, grilled chicken salad plate. Do not order wine. The selection makes what they serve on Jet Blue look and taste like Chateauneuf du Pape. But “milk” is an actual menu item. Though we wouldn’t be surprised to see a Sexton truck parked out front, there is simply no resisting this place, self-punishment be damned. Celebrating its 87th year in business, one wonders at the vintage of their oldest freezer item.
300 Commercial Street. 508 487-0121. mayflower-ptown.com

PROVINCETOWN BREWING CO.

Geek Chic. Since scuttlebut of breweries opening in Provincetown began in 2018, the knee-jerk response was resistant; but with the reality of the PBC, newly opened in the former 141 Bradford Natural Market space, the townspeople couldn’t be more pleased. For starters, founder Chris Hartley and partner Erik Borg kept 141’s kitchen going—same cooks and menus —ramping it up all the more with beer-friendly pairings like soft pretzels and fried pickles and artichoke cakes, preserving this address’s destination status as the “omphalos” (world-navel) center of Ptown, where folks can gather for healthy fare and, now, beer. Breakfast, from 9AM-IPM, feature sa Brewski Breakfast Sandwich (eggs, cheese, pico de gallo, chipotle aioli) and  Avacado Toast, while the overlapping all-day-and-night menu, 10AM to 9PM, boasts a plethora of shared plates—Lamb Balls and Fried Snapper Escovich among them—and a range of sandwichs and salads. The PBC tap room offers three of their homemade brews—a Bearded Mistress IPA, a Golden Hook ale, and a Crandaddy Sour. They do (and will incresingly) brew other beers, but the larger quantities are processed in Jamaica Plain. What strikes you walking into the tap room is how uncharacteristic of Ptown it is (in a very  good way) as it feels more like Brooklyn or either one of the Portlands. The vibe is urban and playful, which is not lost on the gaming minded guys at the helm. Not only do they encourage the screen-obsessed to come in and wage video competition, they also have touchy feely cards, dice, backgammon, boardgames, darts and a pool table for the less virtual crowd. And on top of all this goodness: PBC is an “activist” brewery where the select brews themselves give back to progressive, valuable PTown causes—namely The Generations Project, Summer of Sass and The Commons. Go to  ptownbrewingco.com/causes  Purposeful pleasure!

141 Bradford Street. 508 418-4419. ptownbrewingco.com

THE RED INN

Live a little. We always go to the Red Inn when we’re feeling flush and or deserving (of what is anyone’s guess). There is just something about this place that says you’re on a tony vacation, even if you live here. The waiters are properly pressed and walk up-right, smoothly operating tableside. It surely isn’t the best food in town, but it is in the good-to-excellent category, most often, though it can be hit or miss. But who cares. You’re tan and taut and tawny and you’re wearing light colors to accentuate the fact; and this place exudes an earthy elegance you can’t find anywhere in town. And there are those wide-plank wood floors and most every table has a water view; and some folk are just hanging on the deck getting a luxury buzz on. It’s the closest thing Provincetown has to dining at the club. So you linger. A long time. The duck is great every other time. 
99 Commercial Street. 508 487-1279. they don’t seem to have a website.

SAL’S PLACE

We shall see. Last we visited this so-called review, the writer of this installment had yet to eat here but this cash-only place, owned by Siobhan Carew (Pomodoro, Boston), an Irish native, has been a well touted hit with neighborhood West-End Provincetonians who found themselves invited for dinner with knocks on their doors. The estabilishment is cash-only, which always makes one suspicious; and a Google of the owners’ history in Boston doesn’t inspire a surplus of ease—and then there have been disputes with neighbors as this new incarnation of the decade’s old original Sal’s Place got underway. But here it is. And real foodies had been raving the first few years but consensus is it might have gotten slightly lazy—they do apparently have a killer eggplant parm. Still again, we shall see; and update this entry when we have sampled the goods a few more times and perhaps even addressed some of the publicized issues with its owner. (Not to be confused with the East End’s Ciro & Sal’s, which is worth a visit for the decor and would make a great spot for a kitsch party, so long as you eat very little.) Controversial
99 Commercial Street. 508 487-1279. they don’t seem to have a website.

SPINDLERS 

Seriously…Named for Amy Spindler (not the late New York Times fashion writer) but a “Rum Runner” that ran aground in 1922 during the prohibition era, this eatery is owned by Ryan Campbell and James DeRosier, the same pair that own KoHi coffee company and the Waterford Inn, where the restaurant is situated. “Spindler’s serves some of the finest food and handcrafted drinks that Cape Cod has to offer, housed in a comfortable and approachable environment.” DeRosier and Campbell have teamed with James Beard award-winning chef Barbara Lynch and her staff on the opening of Spindler’s Provincetown. Chef Lynch has developed an inspired menu of seasonal New England ingredients using classic French technique and Italian soul; while the lady calling the shots on premise is chef Raina, whom we love. The bar program has been curated by Ezra Star, general manager of Lynch’s famed cocktail bar, Drink.
386 Commercial Street. 508 487-6400. www.spindlersptown.com

STRANGERS & SAINTS

Finally! For years we’ve been casting white-witch spells in hopes of conjuring a restaurant such as this. Afterglow sponsor and famed interior designer Ken Fulk conceived of the decor of this modern-traditional eatery in what can all too often be a mediocre culinary landscape. Billed as a Mediterranean tavern, S & S boasts a comprehensive wine list, craft cocktails and numerous meat and cheese plates, a favorite of which is the Forrest & Earth, a combo-platter of venison and boar salami, Lebanon bologna and pork and pistachio paté paird with Arethusa blue and Garrotza de Cabra cheeses which suffice for sitting outside taking in the harbor at sunset. Or how about hot dog sliders or dollar oysters and shrimp at happy hour to soak up the Mayflowerian themed cocktails with names like Lady Alden and Bill Baldwin. But trust there is nothing hoaky about this real, sophisticated eatery, from its wood-oven stove pumping out 10-inch stone-hearth pizzas—little neck clam and pancetta or arugula proscuitto and mission fig, or a purist pepperoni and mozzarella, to name a few. The appetizer list is to live for: Porgtugese brandade, house-made chips a quahog clam dip, curried octopus and chickpea smash; and a trio of perfect mains—roasted cod, roasted half chicken, grilled skirt steak—super more than suffice.
404 Commercial Street. 508 487-1449. www.strangersandsaints.com

YOLQUERIA

Brekkie. As the name suggests this place is all about your morning meal, which can be had from eight in the morning until two in the afternoon. Proprietors Brandon Quesnell and Steve Katsurinis are also owners of the nearby 8 Dyer Hotel. Yolqueria bosts views from the inside dining room of the harbor and light house on the beach side and those of passersby on the street from the patio. Serving cage-free, local organic eggs, you get your classic Benedict and, a house favorite, a Fried Chicken version, with roasted potatoes or tater tots and a spicy kale crunch salad; there are folded eggs (we think they mean omelettes) with geographically close names like Californian and Mexican. You can even go bigger with chicken and waffles or Egg-toufée (omelette with crème Etoufée), or feel superiorly svelt ordering the quinoa pancakes. Though you needn’t stick to coffee—they serve bloodies, mimosa along with tequila and gin and rum concoctions and the unsubtly named Palmer’s morning wood, a hard-lemonade version of the sober classic Arnold. Breakfast has never been so intoxicating.
401 1/2 Commercial Street. 508 487-0600. www.yolkptown.com