Noshing around Nantucket for Taste & Travel Magazine

The world’s islands, maybe more than any other feature of our geography, are defined by the rhythms around them.  For most of them fishing sets the beat. And maybe nowhere was the sea catch more vital than on Nantucket. Whaling was the monstrous industry that dominated this ‘spit of sand’ for over a century.

Today’s Catch? Well, it’s more diminutive: the Leviathans of the deep have been replaced by the small, sweet molluscs that grow in the eelgrassed shallows of Nantucket’s bays. One of the last of the Northern Bay Scallop fisheries in the country is still here, so you can sample the island’s bays or sea scallops, and enjoy Nantucket lobster at a number of excellent restaurants.

At the pearl, Seth and Angela Raynor present modern coastal cuisine with Asian twists. Head straight for the tuna martini or the lobster takoyaki.

At American Seasons, Chef Michael LaScola brings farm (and sea) to table with flavours and techniques that have secured this restaurant international accolades.

Head to the venerable Sayle’s Seafood for a beach picnic. Try the crunchy-fried bay scallops and chips, with cole slaw and fish chowder.

If you can, try to plan a spring visit around The Nantucket Wine Festival. For the past 16 years, for four days in May, the Festival draws star winemakers from across the country and the world, and pairs them with local food, tosses in endless tastings, winery dinners, long and liquid lunches and yacht club galas with vinous and culinary treats that go on and on. Not to be missed!

Had some gorgeous sushi at the very hip bar at Lola 41, which boasts a well crafted wine list to match the imaginative, uber fresh treats.

If you can afford it, Deborah and Ken Withrow’s Union Street Inn is a relaxed pleasure. Be sure to follow their self-guided walking tour – it will help work off the ample breakfast.

Don’t miss The Nantucket Whaling Museum. You’ll walk out of it with a deeper understanding of how the deep defined Nantucket, of how the immense profits from whaling put the little island on the global map, and built the formidable mansions and stately buildings that still line its pretty cobbled streets.