Dining
Paul O’Connell is tuckered out. In his first full summer on the Vineyard, the Chilmark Tavern’s head chef has written and rewritten the restaurant menu, negotiated the price of a Menemsha-raked oyster from $1.20 to 80 cents, neglected a cable bill charged to his apartment in Cambridge and soaked up a tan, but only on the appendages that extend outside of his T-shirt and shorts line.
When Islanders think of Vineyard ice cream, most immediately envision the long lines and generic selections of the more commercial Mad Martha’s or Scoops. But one entrepreneurial Islander is well on her way to changing this mindset since she began selling her own homemade, all-natural and organic ice cream this summer.
Challah Baking Class
Joan Nathan, renowned cookbook author and prize-winning culinary expert, will hold a challah baking class on Friday, August 21, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the West Tisbury kitchen of Judith Birsh. It’s hands-on for all 10 participants, to raise money for the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center.
Slow Fish — the pleasures of eating seafood harvested in a sustainable manner — is the topic of a Menemsha Fisheries Development Fund lecture on Wednesday, August 12 at 5:30 p.m. at the Chilmark Public Library.
Development fund president Warren Doty will talk about the growing slow fish movement, an offshoot of the international Slow Food organization that originated in Italy. Like it’s counterpart, the pleasures of eating well are at the core of slow fish and it’s stated mission to educate, promote and protect.
A four-day festival of wine, food and sisterhood on the Vineyard is under way. Called Divas Uncork the Cure, it brings together renowned wine experts, celebrity chefs and wine enthusiasts to promote breast health awareness, education and screening in Massachusetts.
On a foggy and windy Sunday in Aquinnah, 14-year-old Islander Luc Woodard stands at the order window of the Cliffs’ newest establishment, Faith’s Seafood Shack and Sushi Bar, faithfully serving out the responsibilities of his first job. He shirks a calculator, practicing his addition while making out a receipt for a lunch of varied seafood dishes. This is the tail end of an unexpected late afternoon rush, and yet, Luc, ever enlivened by the customer interactions, continues affably.