Forget turf fields or canceled ferries, if you want to spark an inspired debate among Islanders, ask them about pizza. Never are Vineyard residents so passionate, so intensely opinionated, as when discussing their personal preferences for the traditional bread, sauce, and cheese combo.
Eighteen red stools, a 30-foot counter, menu items written on construction paper hanging on the walls, two pots of hot coffee always humming, one ancient register, cash only — the Dock Street Diner is a place where time has stood still. This is a good thing. It’s like stopping for a bite in your own kitchen, but way better. You don’t have to cook or clean up, and the food is home cooked the way grandma did, fast, no fuss, and with just the right amount of tough love.
February can be bleak and so when pink and red hearts start appearing in storefronts, I appreciate the splash of color. I like Valentine’s Day and its over-the-top gaudiness: stuffed animals clutching red satin hearts with “I love you” written in script; cheap chocolates, red wine, those gross, powdery heart candies. I think it’s a little easy to dismiss it as a Hallmark holiday- even if it largely is one.
If there was one word to describe the change of seasons, as we leave the long days of summer behind and settle into the darker days of fall, it might be “warmth.” Thick sweaters, blazing fires and turning back the clocks go hand in hand with all things cozy . . . including cocktails.
Down a long, bumpy, Chilmark road Truman French and Tucker Pforzheimer are at work on a small-scale, massively ambitious venture to cultivate, harvest, sell and promote one of the world’s healthiest foods.
