On Cape Cod - Kathleen Pierce

On Cape Cod, an
off-season getaway
in Dennis
STEVE HAINES FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE When summer fades and the crowds
disperse, there remain temptations
that relax and entertain visitors
By Kathleen Pierce | GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
NOVEMBER 13, 2011
DENNIS - We didn’t come in search of clams, Tshirts, or sun.
As a brilliant fall afternoon blazed, we clicked off our
laptops and headed south on Route 3 for a taste of
Cape Cod in autumn. Sailing over the Sagamore
Bridge at an impressive 45 miles per hour, it was hard
not to feel elated.
Why visit New England’s summer playground when
the party’s over? This time of year the light is softer,
the air is sweeter, and it’s possible to slip into a wine
bar, catch a show, and have a gastronomic experience
without the scrum of the Cape in July. From the 15
towns dotting the peninsula from the elbow to the
extremities we settled on Dennis, a friendly village
with a vintage bohemian vibe.
The Cape is not flashy off-season, Dennis even less so.
Although Route 6A is a main thoroughfare, there is
something about this easy-to-blow-by town that
makes it feel like a discovery. You have to get out of
your vehicle and nose around. Tucked behind the Post
Office, the Harvest Gallery Wine Bar was our first
stop.
When wood smoke mixes with salt air, the desire to
hunker down with friends, a glass of wine, and live
music is strong. If the Chandler Travis Three-O is
playing at the Harvest you are in luck.
Sipping a merlot to the eclectic jug-jazz-ragtime
sound of this happy-go-lucky foursome is the most
fun one can have without hopping a jetliner and
landing in Montreal. Travis, a well-known Cape
crooner whose band The Incredible Casuals rocked
the Beachcomber in Wellfleet in the ’90s, plays here
frequently. The barefoot guitarist strums in the
middle of the gallery-turned-dining room as jack-ofall-trades Berke McKelvey strolls around the tables
playing his clarinet. It’s an authentic dose of Cape Cod
cool. The band’s Appalachian-era singalongs had the
all-ages crowd grooving in their seats.
Painter Michael Pearson is a Dennis native who has
been gradually turning this gallery into a happening
mid-Cape joint. In the seven years the Harvest has
been open, it has become as known for its musical
lineup as for its hidden stock of mind-blowing wines.
On the night we visited, a man who had just flown in
from Chicago was in awe. “It’s the coolest place
around,’’ said Paul McCarthy, who considers the
musical acts at the Harvest on par with the best clubs
of Chitown.
It’s worth hitting the Harvest on a Thursday for its
unorthodox wine tasting. For $20, a knowledgeable
distributor delivered a sequence of five 2-ounce pours
from Merriam Vineyards to our table over the course
of two hours. It was leisurely, personal, and graceful.
Served with a pitch-perfect cheese plate of brie, fontal,
and cheddar from Shelburne, Vt., and a basket of
extra crisp gourmet crackers, it was a sophisticated
start to a last-minute getaway.
Could you do this in Boston? Perhaps. But the
atmosphere is distinctly Dennis, upbeat with an offthe-mainland feel.
Behind the Harvest is the Cape Cinema, where
independent films play twice daily in a one-room
theater. Built in 1930 on a greenway anchored by the
Cape Cod Museum of Art and the Cape Playhouse, it’s
a throwback institution screening films that you might
see at the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline or
Kendall Square Cinema in Cambridge. You could hit
the 4:45 p.m. show and pop into the Harvest for the
wine tasting and have a full experience within a
pleasing, five-minute walk.
Fall is the perfect time to ramble through Dennis
Village, where an ancient cemetery gives way to a
classic white church on the town green. On the
evening we traipsed around the tombstones of seamen
and soldiers under starry skies, a woman in Colonial
dress appeared outside the Dennis Union Church. A
white-haired man in a long coat followed. Apparitions
from the grave? No, actors back stage at Eventide
Arts, an independent theater group that takes over the
Fellowship Hall in the offseason. This trusted troupe
takes summers off, allowing locals to see their
neighbors again.
The Cape is filled with thespians, artists, and writers
who give it its cultural edge. Without the competition
of the beach, the art scene becomes more cohesive and
prominent in the fall and winter. A few blocks from
the Harvest, Cape Cod Chat House is coaxing locals
out of their homes with a heady mix of coffee, art, and
community.
Owners Brett Warren and John Parke converted a
vacant 1853 Colonial into a community space six
months ago and customers have helped them cocreate what the Chat House has become. “Since we
opened, it’s been basically a love fest,’’ said Warren,
who met Parke, a Craigville native, in California,
where they lived for years. “It’s like having people in
your house every night for a party.’’
On the night we visited, local musician Alicia
Mathewson had just finished wrapping up a set of
original songs and Indigo Girls covers. A handful of
local women lounged on leopard-print chairs. The
fireplace, festooned with candles, and the colorful
canvases splashed across the walls made us feel we
had sneaked into a home concert.
Although it feels like a cafe, the Chat House keeps
patrons satisfied with ale from Mayflower Brewing Co.
and affordable wine by the glass. Fig and goat cheese
flatbreads, pumpkin muffins, and blueberry scones
round out the offerings. It’s the kind of place where
you could while away an afternoon and return for a
poetry reading, beer tasting, or to catch an edifying
talk on herbs and the Salem Witch trials.
Low-key is the name of the game in Dennis, but that
doesn’t mean you won’t eat well. The culinary caliber
is rising across the Cape, and Fin is a newcomer that’s
turning heads.
Those in the restaurant industry traverse the Cape for
chef Martha Kane’s garlic thyme marinated shrimp
and herb-roasted monkfish. Kane’s husband,
Jonathan Smith, is a fisherman who grows his own
oysters and they rule the menu. The buzzy bistro will
make you feel as though you never left the confines of
Cambridge, except you won’t have to fight a sea of
undergrads to get to the snug bar.
Another reason to visit the Cape off season is lower
rates.
We spent the night at Sesuit Harbor House and took
advantage of a last-minute $89 room. Our chamber
had two large beds and a pleasing beach motif, right
on 6A. It was dead quiet. We opened the windows and
let the sea air fill our lungs as we nodded off.
Breakfast is not included this time of year, but that
gave us an excuse to try the Underground Bakery for
egg wraps and pumpkin spice biscotti. I wouldn’t have
found this subterranean grotto if a resident hadn’t
tipped me off. It’s in a network of home-turned
businesses that you need to explore on foot to find. It
was well worth it.
There are some gift shops and galleries in town, but
don’t leave Dennis without paying homage to Scargo
Pottery and Art Gallery. Perched above its namesake
lake, this inviting space reflects the vibes of a simpler
time. The sprawling grounds built by Harry Holl,
known as the godfather of pottery on the Cape, is a
captivating ramble.
The koi pond greets you as do vibrant vases, tiles, and
fish-shaped bird feeders in the al fresco gallery. No
matter when you stop by there is almost always a
demonstration going on, pottery coming out of the
kiln, or someone working the potter’s wheel. Holl’s
daughters Tina, Kim, and Sarah Holl and Mary
Peabody have taken over the pottery design for their
father, now 89.
The gift shop sells Vance Kitira candles and stunning
flower votives in deep purple hues. From black sand
stoneware to oxblood red vases, to fashionable Saki
sets, Scargo pottery, like Dennis itself, has earthy élan.
Our last excursion before we headed home was a trek
up Scargo Tower. Gazing out over sparkling Cape Cod
Bay, it was hard to turn away.
If you go...
Where to stay
Sesuit Harbor House & Motel 1421 Main St., East
Dennis
508-385-3326
www.sesuitharborhouse.com
Comfortable inn a few miles from Dennis Center.
From $89.
Where to eat
Fin
800 Main St.
508-385-2096
www.fincapecod.com
Contemporary bistro specializing in fish and oysters,
$9-$29. Underground Bakery
780 Main St.
508-385-4700
www.theundergroundbakery.com
Panini and great biscotti, $2.50-$6.50.
What to do
Cape Cod Chat House
593 Route 6A
508-694-7187
www.capecodchathouse.com
Creative events several nights a week. Beer, coffee,
wine, flatbreads, $2-$12. Harvest Gallery Wine
Bar
776 Main St.
508-385-2444
www.harvestgallerywinebar.com
Live music, wine tastings, art gallery, and local,
organic bistro fare, $5-$15. Cape Cinema
35 Hope Lane
508-385-2503
www.capecinema.com
Scargo Pottery and Art Gallery
30 Dr. Lords Road
508-385-3894
www.scargopottery.com
Eventide Arts
Historic Dennis Union Church
713 Route 6A
www.eventidearts.org