Lunch at Cafe Chew March 2, 2010

Today we saw the big yellow thing in the sky surrounded in blue and white puffy clouds.  Wow, what a needed relief from the dreariness that has become the Cape.

I had a busy day today and was happy that I was  traveling from one end of the Cape to nearly the other and then back again.  It was nice to be in the sunshine!  So, in the midst of all the driving,  I decided to take a break and treat myself to lunch a Cafe Chew.

I have only had their food at Chamber events and always found it to be wonderful.  They have only been in Merchant Square, Sandwich less than a year and there definitely  is a buzz around the eatery.

When I arrived the place was hopping with many people ordering their lunch.  There were plenty of staff to handle the crowds and the wait for my sandwich was pretty brief . While I waited, one can not help but look at the many wonderful pastries and baked goods they have, and will- power was in high gear for me!

Baked goods at Cafe Chew

After having a real hard time deciding on what lunch specialty to have, there were many creative and tempting options to pick,  I choose The Forager: Goat cheese and roasted portabella mushrooms with fire-roasted red pepper puree, tomato, baby spinach and balsamic vinaigrette on a caramelized onion-focaccia roll.  I ordered it to go and proceeded to the Sandwich Marina to take in the nice weather.

My lunch came in a cute take out box which inside contained the sandwich, Cape Cod Potato chips and a pickle.

Take out box

Goodies in the box

Sandwich Marina was picturesque with a few early boats or year-round vessels in their slips.  It was the perfect place for a quiet lunch.  The sandwich was overall wonderful.  There was a nice balance of flavors with the tangy goat cheese, the  sweet roasted  pepper puree and balsamic vinegar and the meaty texture of the mushrooms.  The only thing that I didn’t love,  love was the roll.  I thought it was a bit too dense and thick and seemed to overpowered the other textures.  I think that maybe I may ask for a different bread selection if  I get this sandwich next time as I loved everything else about it!

I look forward to many more wonderful lunches at Cafe Chew, I think I will use it more for a special occasion place as the sandwiches run a bit more than I am accustomed to paying for lunch.  This sandwich and bottle water was $11.50.  But, a quiet, yummy lunch, in the sunshine, on Cape Cod- really is priceless!

Sandwich Marina

I hope you go and tell me what you think!

Their website is: http://www.cafechew.com/lunch

And you can fine them at Café Chew, 4 Merchant’s Road, Sandwich, MA 02563 • 508 888-7717

Boosters $4 pizzas February 27, 2010

Can I tell you how much we love Boosters $4 cheese pizzas? They are truly the best deal in town. I really love the crust at Boosters. It is chewy and crunchy at the same time. There is a heavy helping of cheese without it being too much. The sauce is of a thinner consistency and not too sweet, a combination that I tend like.
The $4 cheese is available for dine- in or take out. I have a creative neighbor who will order a few of these cheese lovelies and put out bowls of onions, bacon, pepperoni, mushrooms, or any other favorite topping so everyone can make their own personal pizza. Great idea!
We can’t wait to grab a few of these deals this Summer and have an instant sunset beach dinner! The best!
Boosters is located at 79 Rte 130 in Forestdale (Sandwich)

Amari Consistently means “LOVE” January 26, 2010

Ahhhh, Amari!  I love when I get the opportunity to dine at this Route 6A gem!  Tonite, I organized a group for women to meet and have dinner here.  They gave us a table that was out of the way and private.  Now, I also had to photograph the Sandwich Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours event earlier that evening  and that too was catered (by the wonderful Casual Gourmet and don’t get me started on how wonderful they are…).   So, I wasn’t sure if I would be hungry for a meal in Amari.  Yikes!  The best case/worst case scenario!

Well, everything worked out perfect and I ordered a couple of things that I hadn’t tried in past visits.  I started off  sharing their seasonal salad with a gal in the group.  It was a wonderful salad with beets, goat cheese,  pine nuts and spinach.  All my favorites!  And even sharing the salad, there was plenty to take home for the next day!

For my meal, I ordered the vegetarian mushroom risotto. Now, I learned how to make Risotto from an old Italian woman in Italy and let me tell you -this Risotto was perfect!  Creamy, lots of veggies like asparagus, red peppers and a variety of mushrooms.  The rice was nicely cooked and not mushy at all.  The waiter added fresh grated Parmesan cheese that made it complete.  The portion on this plate was immense as well and half of the portion was put in a box to go.

So happy that I get to have this meal again tomorrow!

When you are looking for a nice place to meet friends or take your sweetie, Try Amari, you won’t be disappointed!

Amari is located at

674 Route 6A
East Sandwich, MA 02537
(508) 375-0011

http://www.amarirestaurant.com/

Great Greek Food on Cape Cod? January 25, 2010

My husband took me to lunch today! He recently tried and fell in love with a semi- new local restaurant here in Sandwich at Heritage Park called The Mediterranean Grill. Traditionally, one had to wait for the Annual Greek Festival in Hyannis for a good of Greek food fix. Now, we can get it fresh, fast and year-round right here on the upper cape!

Located in Heritage Park, the restaurant has seating for about 20 and all items are available for take out. The atmosphere is of a typical diner or pizza parlor with scenes of Greece lining the walls. It was very clean and the owners/cooks were very nice.

My husband has the gyro sandwich which was made on homemade pita bread, had super tender gyro meat and just enough tzatziki sauce and onions to compliment. I had a “lighter plate” as they called it but it wasn’t light in portions at all! My plate had a generous portion of Spanakopita (spinach pie) and a tasty Greek salad. The salad dressing wasn’t heavy and over bearing and it had the right mix of veggies!

This place is great and they give a discount if you are a member of the military, police or fire department. Check them out next time you are in the area!

The Mediterranean Grill is located at 280 Route 130, Forestdale, MA 02644(508) 833-1448‎