Nutritionists tell us breakfast is the most important meal of the day. All food groups should be represented in that first meal, and it should be the largest of our sittings each day. I like the breakfast meal, and I’d never argue with a nutritionist. When I was cooking professionally, the breakfast/brunch buffets always were my favorite meals to serve . . . omelet stations with the usual vegetable and cheese additions, but also the smoked salmon and caviar choices, too; the peppercorn crusted roast tenderloin carving stations; the raw bar; and, so many other features.

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    It's been one year since the first restaurant review appeared on these pages. During that time, more than 90 columns have been posted, a lot of food has been eaten, visitorship has risen from 600 in that first month to more than 5,000 last month, and the subscription list continues to grow.

    I've enjoyed some truly memorable dishes in the last twelve months, and I thought I'd refresh recollections and mention one more time some of the best before moving into our second year of dining out on Cape Cod. For starters, two in particular come to mind. The butternut squash soup at The Brazilian Grill in Hyannis made the trip worthwhile unto itself. The Chef was kind enough to provide the recipe for the soup, and allowed me to publish it for him on our site. The Brazilian Grille review (click here) and the recipe (click here) remain on our site, and you might want to take another look.

    The lobster salad at RooBar in Chatham was among my most favorite dishes of the year. The chilled lobster tail was accompanied by shaved fennel, water cress, radish and orange flesh, and the orange and poppy seed dressing was sublime. I also enjoyed the scallops and macaroni and cheese dish there, too. Chef Webb is a talented fellow and turns out a great meal. The RooBar review can be found here.

    The duck confit at The Arbor, in Orleans, also comes to mind. It was a terrific offering, an entire leg, served well and very artistically, and is worth a mention here. The grilled pork medallions are also a fond memory of the excellent meals enjoyed at The Arbor. That review can be found here.

     Lobster cakes with a pear and mango slaw at The Artful Table made it a memorable evening for me, as did the company of my daughters.  You can read all about our night together in the review here.

    The barbecued brisket at Oinky & Moo's, well, actually everything at Oinky & Moo's comes to mind, too, as I look back. Stan's work is top shelf, and I can feel even now the impact of those smells the first time I got out of my car in his parking lot. Truly great food here, too.

    The cheesecake at Villa Roma . . . . aaahhhh, now that is a memory. My visit couldn't have been timed better to enjoy a very generous wedge still warm from the oven. That cheesecake brought me back to Villa Roma several times after my review visits, it was that good.

    A year end review of reviews, though, calls for some big finish, the payoff ranking of the best, that place I would recommend you visit if you had only one meal left to enjoy. It's a difficult task to name that place, assign it the label of “the best” restaurant on Cape Cod. With hundreds of places to grab a bite on this island, it's impossible to have visited each one in only a single year. It's a purely subjective opinion, too . . . . so many different types of restaurants and so many of them very good at what they are but not lending themselves to fair comparisons, apples to apples. A shack on the beach at Wellfleet Harbor (Mac's Seafood) vs. an upscale Italian spot in Orleans (Nauset Beach Club)? How do you fairly compare places like that?

    I decided, then, to report my favorite dining out meal, rather than “the best.” I revisited Gracie's Table, in Dennis, last night, and am confident in recommending it to you once again. On the first time around, I gave it our highest rating, Four Cods, and after its first full year of operation I found it hasn't lost a step. Read my first review here, and then come on back for the rest of the story.

    There are 22 items on the Tapas menu, and I've sampled more than half of them. Every one is a worthy entry, well turned out, beautifully served, and representative of the authentic cuisine, or should I say cocina. The chicken with pistachios and pine nuts, a classic Moorish dish, was a boneless leg stuffed with the nuts and prunes, pan roasted with onion and garlic, finished with blackberry sauce and served with mashed potato. The fish preparation of the day was pan-roasted haddock served in a roasted pumpkin wedge along with roasted brussel sprouts, corn, onions and carrots, with fresh rosemary, and topped with a cranberry pecan butter. Both of these dishes were works of culinary art presented almost too wonderfully to disturb by eating, but eat them we did. I wasn't sure there was room for dessert until I tasted the maple crème brulee, and sure enough, there was just enough room for every single spoonful of it.

    Gracie's Table gets the nod as my favorite dining out place from the past year. The room, the service, the attention to detail, the music, the ambiance, the friendly and cordial greeting at the door - - - Gracie's Table simply does everything right.  This web site maintains a very extensive statistics package that keeps track of how many visits it has each day, and the most frequently read columns. Over the past year, of the restaurant reviews posted, Gracie's Table has been read more than any other. I'm going to guess a goodly number of those readers have found at Gracie's Table what I have found - - - a really, really good dining out experience, the one I rate above all others in the last year.

    There you have it, then, the first year in review. In case you were wondering, I still weigh 172 lbs, just as I did when the year began. I've enjoyed the many guests who've joined me on my tour of the Cape dining scene, and with hundreds of places still to visit, I'm anxious to begin year number two. Cape Cod has many wonderful places worthy of your attention . . . make sure you get out once in a while. If you have any question about where you should go, come on back to Cape Dining Out, the Cape Cod word on where to eat.

    It's Cape Cod in the summer time.  Every place is open, and every taste in food is available, from family-friendly to high end cuisine, fast food to ethnic to seafood and steaks, and everything in between.  It's been pretty hot and humid lately, and I've heard so many people note that they prefer a casual, laid back spot for a cold drink and an easy meal in this weather, so I thought I'd spend a few days on the outer Cape making random stops for a bite to eat and some quick notes to share with you.  These aren't so much reviews as they are observations, and I made a point to seek out family-friendly spots.  A friend of mine recently suggested I write a column on good spots for grandparents to bring their wards, places where children were welcomed and Grandpa's budget wouldn't take a beating.  
    I started in Wellfleet because the traffic was just too much to make it any further north into Provincetown.  In a future column I will get there . . . it just didn't work out during the past week.  Moby Dick's, on Route 6, is a busy spot.  Casual in the extreme, and very well organized and managed by the experienced and business-smart Barry family, this is a fun spot with a United Nations floor staff (from all over Europe, as well as locals).  Lobster rolls with generous portions of fresh lobster meat; fried scallop rolls; crabcake sandwiches; individual clam bakes with lobster, steamers, corn on the cob; and plenty for the kids to eat, too.  It's clean, relaxed, and just what you would expect in a summer on Cape Cod joint, and reasonably priced for the quality of the food.  I enjoyed very much a cup of seafood gumbo and a crabcake sandwich, washed down with a root beer.  So far, off to a good start.
    On the harbor in Wellfleet, you'll find one of my favorite outer Cape places, Mac's Seafood.  Originally just a little shack on the beach, it's grown leaps and bounds, and now includes a fish market, and an ice cream window.  It's self-serve at the window, and the picnic tables are on the sand, and bathing suit is the appropriate fashion.  Fried seafoods, of course, abound on the menu.  Sushi, both maki and nagiri, is a big seller, too, though.  Many of the offerings are somewhat unique to Mac's, and have originated from the snacks the staff would prepare for themselves to get through the day.  From my experience in professional kitchens, a lot of terrific food ideas come about in the very same way.  A  spicy tuna roll (maki sushi) was a terrific starter, and I followed that with a grilled scallop burrito that was about the best seafood "thing" of any kind I've had so far this season.  If you go to Mac's, and you should, make sure you try this one.  Obviously, on the beach with tables in the sand is just the place to take the kids and grand kids, so keep Mac's on your list.  Finish your meal off with some ice cream and you will come to learn what eating on Cape Cod in the summer time is supposed to be.
    Onward, then, toward the lower Cape, and I find myself in Orleans.  I'm driving down Route 28, also known as South Orleans Road, that will take you into Chatham, but I'm hungry again and can't wait that long.  I look to my right and see a sign atop The Yardarm that announces the Local Home of the Boston Red Sox.  I happen to have my Red Sox cap on, a recent purchase on Yawkey Way while attending a ballgame with my daughter, and so it's a natural for a stop.  I have to be honest with you, though, and tell you that I eat at The Yardarm all the time.  John and Jane Sully, the owners, are friends, and terrific people, and they run a good show there.  The Yardarm, also, is casual in the extreme, and because it's summer on Cape Cod, it is rockin' every night there.  On this occasion, I am having a struggle choosing between the fish 'n chips and the cheeseburger.  The portions are overly generous and one leaves The Yardarm hungry only by choice.  I could go with the fish, fried scrod perfectly steamed inside the batter coating, that comes with cole slaw and french fries; or the half-pound cheeseburger, the best on the outer Cape, with fries, or maybe they would substitute the wonderful onion strings for the fries.  Either way, I can't lose.  I go with the fish 'n chips, but start off with a cup of the very good, very thick seafood chowder.  I'm sated, well satisfied, and well served by an always friendly floor staff.  The Yardarm is also kid and grand kid friendly, and both for the quality and quantity of the food, it's as good a bargain as you will find on the lower Cape.
    I can't eat any more at the moment, so we'll end here for now.  My hunt for kid and grand kid friendly spots, casual and relaxed dining venues that epitomize summer on Cape Cod dining, will continue, so please return for the next leg of the trip as I work my way around the elbow of Chatham and head west.  I've no formal ratings this time around, but I nonetheless recommend these three spots heartily to you.  Take pictures while you're at each one, too, for that dead of winter night when you want to remember all the good times you had during your summer on Cape Cod.