Mark P.
Yelp
Six of us savored a fabulous holiday meal last night (Friday) at the Water Street Kitchen (56 Water Street, Woods Hole)--their "Feast of Seven Fishes" dinner. While some in our party had dined at The Fishmonger, the prior incarnation of this charming venue right at the bridge, none of us had dined at Water Street Kitchen before. We were all extremely impressed with the warmth and comfort of the restaurant itself, the attentiveness of the staff, and the high quality of the creative dishes presented by the chef for our dining pleasure.
Seated promptly at 5:30, we were greeted by Trisha, our main server for the evening. Trisha was energetic, knowledgeable about the dishes and wine, friendly, and totally unfrazzled by the dining room brimming with guests. She was a delight, as were the staff who assisted with the presention of the six dishes. Dinner was briefly explained, water brought, and the first round of drinks quickly presented. Quite a few drinks were ordered at different times last night and Trisha handled that with ease--even suggesting a lovely sparkling wine to accompany the final savory course for three in our party.
There were indeed seven fishes presented over five savory courses, each dish appetizingly explained by Trisha as they arrived. We started with tuna (1) and salmon (2) crudo with grilled pineaapple and yuzu salt (some in our group found the salt component of the dish overpowered the delicacy of the fresh fish, but everyone agreed that the pineapple and thai basil oil went extremely well with this opening). This was followed by lightly fried oysters (3) and fresh anchovies (4) over braised celery, rye croutons, and a light Caesar salad sauce for dipping presented in an oyster shell. Just enough to savor the slightly briny taste of the oyster which contrasted well with the rich, almost meatly flavor of the fresh anchovy. Next was a simply amazing soup--characterized as a "wedding" soup, the broth was flavored with fennel (but delicately) and prosciutto. The soup itself contained delicately poached rock shrimp (5), lacinato kale, and was topped with a generous helping of thin slivers of fried parsnip--adding a subtle element of sweetness to each bite. The soup was followed by a single u-10 scallop (6) encased in a freshly made ravioli, nestled in a parsley, garlic butter sauce containing roasted pine nuts, crisp shallots, and romanesco. Fantastic. Some in the group complained that there wasn't any bread to soak up the delicious sauce, a problem quickly solved by a consensus decision that we should all just delicately drink the sauce--which many did to obvious delight. The final savory course was a piece of cod (7) fried in tempura batter infused with squid ink accompanied bysliced fingerling potatoes, a tomato-olive conserva, all resting on top of a preserved lemon aioli for dipping. While the squid ink didn't really add anything beyong color to the tempura batter, the cod itself was fried perfectly--crisp of the outside, lusciously soft on the inside--and was totally without a trace of grease. The final course, which alas, did not contain any fish, was a light and fluffy ricotta donut filled with fig jam over a zabaione sauce infused with crispy rosemary. A surprisingly light and not overly-sweet end to a memorable meal.
The three nights of the "Feast of Seven Fishes" was sold out weeks ago and for reasons we well understand after last evening's gala of tastes. Water Street Kitchen will be hosting a party on NYE and then they will close for the season. We will certainly return when they reopen to sample more of their chef's creative fare. This is my inaugural effort to take and attempt to post a few photos with my review, please be kind in your appraisal. Thanks again to the chef, Trisha, and the staff at Water Street Kitchen for kicking off our holiday weekend is such grand and tasty style.