This Week on Nantucket, July 3-10

This Week on

Nantucket July 3 - July 10

Published by

The Inquirer and Mirror

– In This Issue – • Complete Island Calendar • Let’s Eat! Sister Ship • MusACK: Jammy Buffett • Walk with Neil: Windswept Bog

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The Inquirer and Mirror, Nantucket, Mass.

Thursday, July 3, 2025

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Island Calendar Thursday, July 3 Dance Party in the Garden

9:45 a.m. Atheneum Garden, 1 India St. Cory Morgan leads an energetic, joyfilled dance time for babies and children with songs, silly dance moves and fun challenges like Freeze Dance and the Cha-Cha Slide. Bring a blanket. Canceled in the event of inclement weather.

Behind the Seams

10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, Nantucket Whaling Museum, 13 Broad St. Organized by the Nantucket Historical Association, “Behind the Seams: Clothing and Textiles on Nantucket” presents more than 150 objects from the NHA’s costume and textile collections to tell stories of making, meaning and island identity from across Nantucket history. Free with museum admission.

Book-Signing: Nancy Thayer

10:30 a.m. Mitchell’s Book Corner, 54 Main St. Best-selling island author Nancy Thayer will sign copies of her new novel, “Summer Light on Nantucket.”

COVER PHOTO BY MICHAEL TORRISI

Historic Downtown Walking Tour

10:45 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday, Nantucket Whaling Museum, 13 Broad St. Walk through historic downtown Nantucket with a museum guide and discover the unique history of the island.

The tour transports visitors on a journey through Nantucket’s past and tells the story of the rise and fall of the whaling industry, the rise of tourism and the impacts the island’s economy had on social and racial development on Nantucket.

Live Music: Nikki & The Barn Boys

Noon-3 p.m. Cisco Brewers, 5 Bartlett Farm Road. Massachusetts-based indie rock group Nikki & The Barn Boys will perform.

Sconset Walking Tour

3 p.m. 1 New St., Sconset. Join Nantucket Preservation Trust executive director Mary Bergman as she shares her knowledge of this unique fishing settlement at the eastern edge of the island.

Tickets at nantucketpreservation.org

THURSDAY, PAGE 14

File photo

Kids sign a copy of the Declaration of Independence Fourth of July morning at the Unitarian Meeting House.

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Guiding Lights Marcia & Stephen Anderson Susan O’Malley Ivy & Fran Scricco Kay Sheehan Botticelli & Pohl Fisher Real Estate Nantucket Bank (A Division of Rockland Trust) Nantucket County Sheriff Dept.

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The Inquirer and Mirror, Nantucket, Mass.

Thursday, July 3, 2025

At Sister Ship, you’re part of the family

By Francesca Giangiulio fgiangiulio@inkym.com Nathan Parsons, executive chef at Sister Ship, recently became a dad.

He celebrated his first Father’s Day this year, and though Parsons says it hasn’t changed his cooking that much, the new responsibility has changed how he approaches his role as a chef and “captain” of Sister Ship.

“It hasn’t changed my cooking yet – I’m very tired now – but it makes me want to find the best way to have more work-life balance. I’m a first-time dad, he’s young. I don’t want to miss out,” Parsons said.

This is Parsons’ fourth season at Sister Ship, which opened in 2021 at the Faraway Hotel on Centre Street.

Parsons may be a first-time father, but he’s no stranger to being a caregiver. The vegetables and herbs on the island have been like children to him the past four years.

“We take very good care of the products we have,” he said. “If we can get anything and everything local that’s what we strive for.”

With the help of Moors End Farm, a garden was built at Sister Ship that provides the restaurant with edible flowers and herbs picked fresh every night for service.

“It’s a labor of love. Some think it’s a chore, but I think it’s fun to make your garde manger or your salad cook take 10 minutes, go out to the garden and just see what’s going on,” Parsons said. “It’s

Let’s Eat! always different, some plants are doing great, some aren’t. I show them exactly how to pick the herbs so it keeps growing.”

He also views his role as executive chef in a very fatherly way.

“It’s a lot about mentoring and motivating. It’s challenging, especially in the off-season when you’re working with a skeleton crew. I feel like I’m much more hands-on than the typical executive chef,” he said.

Parsons has to wear a lot of hats in the kitchen. Sometimes he’s the line cook, sometimes he’s the manager, other times he says he’s more like a camp counselor or therapist.

“You want to check in on your staff and make sure they’re good,” he said. “You want to make sure they realize how much you appreciate them, because without them you can’t do any of this.”

Originally from Kansas, Parsons had no plans to become a chef. While in community college, he was interested in electrical engineering and just worked in restaurants on the side.

“At one point, I said to myself, ‘I don’t think I’m going to be very good at this,’ and I was working in restaurants and was like ‘I think this is something, if I practice at it enough, I could be decent,” Parsons said.

Photo by Francesca Giangiulio

Sister Ship has become known for its innovative cocktails, like the Unruly Seas Spritz and Final Destination.

EAT, PAGE 22

Photo by Francesca Giangiulio Photo by Francesca Giangiulio

The Chicken Tagine is a fragrant blend of grilled chicken thighs, local carrots, olives and scallions, preserved lemon and herbs.

The Italian Chicories Salad is a bed of biting greens topped with fermented green strawberries, local shaved rhubarb, Marcona almonds, Montealva cheese and Moscatel vinaigrette.

The Inquirer and Mirror, Nantucket, Mass.

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JULY 4TH TOWN OF NANTUCKET ACTIVITIES Three Great Locations on One Great Day!

On Friday, July 4th, the Town of Nantucket will offer activities to celebrate the nation’s Independence Day. Locations include the Main Street area, Children’s Beach, and Jetties Beach.

MAIN ST. AREA

CHILDREN’S BEACH

JETTIES BEACH

8:30am - 12:30pm, Sustainable Nantucket’s Farmer’s Market, Cambridge Street between Federal and South Water Streets.

8:30am-12:30pm, Food trucks will be located on Federal Street between Main and India Streets.

9:00am, 26th Anniversary Reading of the Declaration of Independence at Unitarian Universalist Church, 11 Orange St. 10:00am-12:30pm, DJ Scott Capizzo on Federal Street.

Please note that due to the drought restrictions, the water fight on Main Street between the Town of Nantucket and Boynton Lane Reserves has been cancelled.

10:00am - 10:20am, P.J. Moody sings the National Anthem and other patriotic music, Children’s Beach bandstand.

10:00am-Noon, Matt Fee Tea Toss, lawn in front of bandstand.

Cornhole Tournament, lawn in front of bandstand.

Face Painting, corner lawn near boat ramp and corner near playground.

10:30am – 11:00am, Nanpuppets puppet show on the bandstand.

11:15am – 11:45am, Magic Mark on the bandstand.

11:55am, Bike parade around the park.

Noon – 12:30pm, P.J. Moody returns to sing on the bandstand.

9:00pm, Fireworks. The show lasts approximately 25-27 minutes and is shot from a barge just offshore.

Public Transportation to Jetties Beach Starting at 6:00 PM, NRTA Wave buses will depart every 10–15 minutes from in front of Town Hall at 16 Broad Street and will return from Jetties Beach after the fireworks until 10:30 PM. Attendees are strongly encouraged to use alternative modes of transportation, such as the free NRTA bus service, as parking in the Jetties Beach area is extremely limited.

For more information, visit Nantucket-ma.gov/july4

NOTICE: Activities, locations and times may be subject to change or cancel at the last minute.

The Inquirer and Mirror, Nantucket, Mass.

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Thursday, July 3, 2025

The resurrection of Windswept Cranberry Bog

Photo by Neil Foley

Restoration of the Windswept Cranberry Bog to its natural state began in 2024.

By Neil Foley I&M Columnist

Walk with Neil

July flourishes and shines, leaving June-uary in the dust and carrying the island into the prime time of the summer season.

While the beaches fill with activity and the sunsets last long into the evening, the island changes with each passing day.

Some standards, like the architecture downtown, stay locked in time, but life in the natural world must revolve around a beautiful and stochastic dance of change.

Blooming and resting, ebbing and flowing. With that in mind, take a journey down Polpis Road to Windswept Bog, a property changed significantly from this same time last year.

Phase two of the freshwater wetland restoration at Windswept is complete, resetting the water and vegetative control of an agricultural system back to the natural wetland balance that existed there before.

Among the restored wetlands, ferns, water willow and an array of other wet-

land plants are steadily coming back thanks to the dormant seeds left in the soil and excavated peat.

Bogs restored in the first couple months of 2024 look almost unrecognizable now.

The old bog number nine by the parking lot at 301 Polpis Road is now a pond ringed by hummocks of juncus rushes and marsh grass.

It looks as if it was meant to be there and has been there all along, trapped underneath a human desire to grow a certain crop.

Walk across the low-profile boardwalks and over the rippling stream connections into the center of the property.

The compacted sand cap was removed from the surface of each bog and used to fill in all ditches, change the bog edges to a more natural slope and build up some strategic deposition areas (or DAs).

Some DAs last winter were covered in organic soil and have sprung forth into

Photo by Neil Foley

The Calopogon orchid, a beautiful and specialized flower.

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Quick and Convenient Medical Care on Nantucket

Photo by Neil Foley

Inside a tree swallow nest box. beautiful and lush vegetation, a great success in replacing what was a barren sandpit with upland habitat.

This past winter, the decision was made to cover a few DAs with a majority of sand to smother invasive Japanese black pine and allow for the establishment of sandplain grasslands.

You can clearly see these sandy deposits marked with white flags where locally-raised seedlings have been planted to jump start the colonization process.

The heat of early July is a boon to orchids like Calopogon (aka grass-pink) and rose pogonia, which can be seen growing in the wetland soil on the east side of the property.

These native species bloom in elaborate and colorful styles that are highly specialized in their pollination scheme.

Between the beautiful magenta petals of the Calopogon orchid, a top lip of false flower parts is displayed with yellow and white coloration to trick bees to land on it in their search for sweet nectar.

If the bees are too heavy, the weak base of the decoy flower bends back, clamping the bee against the real reproductive parts of the orchid found on the lower column.

It is a dastardly and specialized ruse for ensuring pollination by the right type of bee developed over thousands of years of co-evolution with insects.

I would expect nothing less from the ornate shapes and features of the orchid

family.

Along the old impoundment roads, newly installed tree swallow nest boxes are already occupied by adorable little families.

These agile aerial insectivores zoom speedily over the landscape, turning quickly on pointed wings and maneuvering like tiny little fighter pilots.

The quickly developing chicks back in the nest box make slight chirps and noises when their parents return with a crop full of flying insects.

The diverse structures of the restored wetlands allow many types of flying insects to thrive and reproduce in varying depths and sizes of water, but the homegrown insect control by tree swallows and other nesting birds is a fantastic service to human visitors.

The restoration of natural order at Windswept Bog is still fresh.

This property has a long process of revegetation and succession ahead of it.

The signs of nature flourishing here can be experienced in the abundant nesting turtles, the active songs of resident birds and the awakening diversity of plants kept dormant under a now-defunct monoculture.

It is waiting for you to venture out and appreciate it for yourself.

Neil Foley is the interpretive education coordinator and ecologist at the Nantucket Conservation Foundation.

Brittany Packard, Lead LPN, Jayne Culkins, PA-C, and Steven Kohler, MD

Urgent Access at Nantucket Cottage Hospital provides walk-in medical care for non-lifethreatening conditions.

Urgent Access is located in the Anderson Building on the hospital campus at 57 Prospect Street, and is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Visit nantuckethospital.org/urgentaccess for more information.

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The Inquirer and Mirror, Nantucket, Mass.

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Thursday, July 3, 2025

An Italian vineyard with a spiritual connection

Courtesy of Peter McEachern

A panoramic view of the vineyards of the abbey of Novacella.

By Peter McEachern I&M Columnist As an altar boy in my youth, I was captivated by the solemn ritual that unfolded during each mass.

Among the many sacred moments, one gesture in particular held me spellbound: the commingling of water and wine in the chalice.

The priest would tilt the crystal cruet, allowing just a few drops of water to join the crimson wine, whispering a prayer about the mingling of Christ’s divinity and humanity.

This simple yet profound act – where the water seemed to vanish completely into the wine yet fundamentally transformed its nature – became my first understanding of symbolism.

It kindled within me a lifelong fascination with wine not merely as a beverage but as a vessel of meaning that has flowed through religious traditions, cul-

Wine Cellar tural celebrations and human connection since time immemorial.

It was this early reverence for wine’s sacred character that drew me, decades later, to the pristine valleys of South Tyrol and the storied halls of Abbazia di Novacella.

The very name encapsulates centuries of sacred tradition: “Abbazia,” from the Latin abbatia, means abbey, a complex of buildings housing a community of monks led by an abbot, whose title derives from abba, the Aramaic word for father.

“Novacella,” meanwhile, translates to new cell or new monastery (Neustift in German), referring to the small monastic dwelling established as a new religious community in 1142.

Nestled at the foot of the majestic Dolomites, this ancient Augustinian abbey

CELLAR, PAGE 20

Courtesy of Peter McEachern

Apple fields near Chiusa in the province of Bolzano, Trentino Alto Adige, Italy.

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The Inquirer and Mirror, Nantucket, Mass.

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Thursday, July 3, 2025

Jammy Buffet: Parrothead spirit, jam band energy

Courtesy of Jammy Buffett

Jammy Buffet plays tribute to the iconic music of Jimmy Buffett, with laid-back, spontaneous riffs and expansive solos in the finest jam-band tradition.

By Kendall Graham kgraham@inkym.com Singer-songwriter Bob Barrick grew up as an unabashed Parrothead.

The moniker refers to the fandom of legendary musician and cultural icon Jimmy Buffett, whose timeless tunes and laid-back sound have shaped multiple generations of musicians.

Barrick is the lead singer of Jammy Buffet, a jam-band tribute to Buffett and his extensive repertoire.

“I’m such a mega-fan that I could sing every song by heart,” said Barrick, who grew up in Indiana and made a tradition of seeing Buffett every year at the former Deer Creek Music Center in Noblesville, now called Ruoff Music Center.

But Jammy Buffet isn’t just a nostalgia machine.

They play several of Buffett’s hit songs, because, as a tribute band, how could you not, but are especially fond of diving into his 1970s country-rock era, and they stretch and reshape the songs in real

MusACK time into something slightly more contemporary.

They will bring their twist on the tropical troubadour’s music to The Chicken Box for two nights Tuesday, July 8 and Wednesday, July 9.

Being such a big fan of Buffett could make putting together the band’s set list difficult, but Barrick makes sure to scale himself back by incorporating his bandmates’ feedback into the process.

“The way that I do it is that I hand it over to members of the band who are less familiar with his discography and I say, ‘Hey, what do you guys think of this tune or that tune’?” Barrick said.

“I want to hear from a neutral perspective what we should attack.”

The band infuses Buffett’s laid-back Gulf Coast sound with the freewheeling spirit of a jam band, weaving lengthy solos, tempo shifts and spontaneous riffs Pinto classics like “Cheeseburger in Par-

Photo by Bridget Dorr

Jammy Buffet will play The Chicken Box Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Inquirer and Mirror, Nantucket, Mass.

www.ack.net adise” and “Son of a Son of a Sailor.”

The project began last year as a oneoff tribute called “Living and Dying in 3/4 Time,” a nod to Buffett’s 1974 album of the same name.

But something clicked, and the group has evolved into a full-f ledged touring act. And as a five-piece band, which sometimes includes guest musicians like members of Buffett’s own Coral Reefer Band, they bring his legacy to a new generation of fans.

Brendan Mayer, the band’s lead guitarist, brings his own Buffett bona fides. He is the son of Peter Mayer, who played with the Coral Reefers for over 30 years. The younger Mayer, now based in Nashville, adds depth and legitimacy to the band’s connection to Buffett’s world.

Underlying it all is the band’s respect for what Buffett represented: not just easy-listening beach escapism, but a fiercely regional artist rooted in place and story.

This regionality is something Barrick says he believes is missing in a lot of contemporary American music.

He points to examples like Buffett’s pioneering Gulf Coast surf-rock sound, and musical subgenres like Southern rock and New York punk, where the music and the geographical location from which it comes are intrinsically linked.

“Jimmy was an incredibly regional artist,” said Barrick. “(In the music), you

Courtesy of Jammy Buffett

Jammy Buffet lead guitarist Brendan Mayer is the son of long-time Coral Reefer Band member Peter Mayer, who played with Jimmy Buffett for 30 years. could hear where he was from, and he spoke about where he was from. All of his songs took place in a very particular region.”

Barrick is also enthusiastic about the connection to the past in much of Buffett’s music, exemplified in songs like “A Pirate Looks at Forty” and “The Captain and the Kid.” “When he was in his 20s and 30s, he was singing stories about folks who were well on in their years, you know?” Barrick said.

“So, there’s a thread that runs from the folks that he interacted with to him and to us today. That really speaks to me. He’s

OPENING NIGHT

July 10 DREAMLAND THEATER at 7:00PM

FRIDAY NIGHT

July 11 DREAMLAND THEATER at 6:00PM

like the poet laureate of the Gulf Coast.”

Barrick lives in Boulder, Colo. where the majority of the band, which includes bassist Andrew Cooney, drummer Tyler Gwynn and keyboardist Paul Copoulos, is based, and where he’s been a part of the singer-songwriter scene for about eight years. Mayer is based in Nashville.

“The guys in the rhythm section are deep in the jam band world,” Barrick said.

“Similarly, there’s a regionality to the kind of jamming that these particular dudes do, the Rocky Mountain, Colorado jam band scene.”

The band is, according to Barrick,

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bringing that twist to Buffett’s music that opens up the sound to a whole new audience and provides a new sense of what the party can be.

“When I was a kid, it was a total Boomer thing, you know. You go to the Jimmy Buffett shows, people are dressed up ridiculously, highly escapist, whatever.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with that,” Barrick said.

“But I think younger folks are just kind of turned off by things that their parents may have done. So, we’re doing it our way.

The jam band thing seems to be what my generation is doing in terms of partying around music. It’s taken off everywhere.

So it’s the obvious, natural progression.”

And that approach seems to be working. With their mix of reverence and reinvention, Jammy Buffet is drawing in both diehard Buffett devotees and a younger, more jam-inclined audience.

Whether you’re a Parrothead, a jam band junkie or just in it for the vibes, Jammy Buffet’s got your ticket to paradise, no passport required.

Jammy Buffet performs Tuesday, July 8 and Wednesday, July 9 at The Chicken Box, 6 Dave St., with doors open at 9 p.m. Presale tickets are $44.30 online at thechickenbox.com, with general admission tickets available on the day of show.

21 and over.

FRIDAY NIGHT

July 11 NPAC at 4:00PM

SATURDAY NIGHT

July 12 DREAMLAND THEATER at 7:00PM

GET YOUR TICKETS AT NANTUCKETCOMEDY.COM

The Inquirer and Mirror, Nantucket, Mass.

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Thursday, July 3, 2025

“The God of the Woods” a beach read with substance

By Clara Kempf Contributing Writer A confession: I find myself a bit stumped whenever asked by a patron at work to recommend a beach read.

What constitutes a beach read? Summery themes? A sand-resistant cover? A readability that keeps one flipping pages quickly enough to pass for fan ventilation in these heat-wave days?

I’m not sure if I can really answer these questions. I typically continue whatever book I was reading to begin with when at the beach, or look out at the ocean instead.

But thinking about it a bit more, and going to the ocean plenty of times to test, I think I know what I would choose to read on a hot day myself, had I the option to forget all about it and experience it all over again.

Liz Moore’s “The God of the Woods” opens in the early morning of a new day over Camp Emerson, the summer of 1975. One of the campers has vanished without a trace, and the counselors are moving out into the forest in droves to find any trace of the lost girl.

To make things worse, this camper is Barbara van Laar, the wayward punk daughter of the family who owns the very camp that lost her, and 14 years earlier, the same thing happened to her older brother Bear.

Investigations begin, revealing buried secrets not only about the mysterious Van Laars, but also about Camp Emerson and those who work and live there.

Like any good summer read, the plot is refreshing and compelling enough to keep one reading even when the heat reduces one’s mental capacities to sticky snow-cone mush.

Almost every named character is given a chance in the spotlight of perspective in a way that both keeps the mystery tantalizingly out of answering distance without seeming frustrating or contrived, and also offers an uncharacteristically empathy-driven twist on the mystery genre, which allows the girl’s disappearance to have complex emotional and social aftershocks in her community.

The plot is an intelligent and twisty one which jumps forward and back through time, dancing seamlessly between Barbara’s disappearance and Bear’s.

Every chapter switches perspective, allowing us to see from the viewpoint of pretty much everyone involved in the tale at least once, including the jail-escapee serial killer who becomes a cornerstone of summer camp child lore) but ultimately focusing on the women.

It does a great job at building suspense, and is ultimately a very empathetic book

Photo by Laura Stevens

Liz Moore

Good Reads that gives almost every character a voice and their own humanity.

Every suspect, every witness, every investigator has a profoundly unique sense of interiority, complicating the story into a tale of humans and the webs they weave rather than the simplistic duality of guilt and innocence.

After all, I’d like to push back the idea that beach reads should be simply fluff.

Having fun doesn’t mean I don’t want to be challenged.

Of course, the setting pulls a lot of weight as well. There is something inherently magnetic about the idea of summer camp. It’s nostalgic, of course.

Many of us have ourselves made memories in such camps, making s’mores and hiking and engaging in various summer-defining juvenile dramas between cabins.

Reading some of the camper perspectives, especially the at times silly, at times concerningly real camp folklore, had me fondly recalling my brief stint as a Girl Scout, something I hadn’t thought about in years.

The nature that surrounds Camp Emerson is of course also lush and gorgeous, especially as illustrated on the book’s cover, where it is marred only for a sneakily foreshadowing drip of pink paint.

You’ll know exactly what it means by the time you finish the book, of course.

I found myself recognizing snippets of nature survival skills I was taught in my own childhood, and even learning new

ones, in the actions of our more wilderness-savvy characters, which was also an absolute treat.

I would even recommend “The God of the Woods” to those who usually dislike mystery novels.

While disappearances form the scaffolding around which the entire plot is intricately woven, it is ultimately a story about people and relationships, especially familial and nigh-familial ones.

Things are not violent, nor gory, and at no point in the story is shock factor invoked. The mystery is always presented sensitively and complexity, and when the answer is revealed . . . I will not spoil anything, but I put down the book feeling genuinely good and hopeful about these characters I had grown to know and love

for their quirks and idiosyncrasies.

I think that is a large part of why I am so eager to encourage you all to pick up “The God of the Woods.”

Despite even the sadder and more complicated bits, it is a book that not only made me think, but left me optimistic and content, and feeling perhaps a little as if I had just lived many, many lives.

Good fiction can make you more empathetic by encouraging you to understand the interiorities of people different from you and from each other, and I came away from “The God of the Woods” with at least some affection for all of the perspectives due to Moore’s uniquely voiced and deeply human writing.

Clara Kempf is a library associate at the Nantucket Atheneum.

The Inquirer and Mirror, Nantucket, Mass.

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The Inquirer and Mirror is proud to support our community with media sponsorships and contributions to many island institutions and events. Over the last year we have provided more than $100,000 of media sponsorships to include:

NANTUCKET SAVES Support Nantucket Saves, a fiscally sponsored project of the Community Foundation for Nantucket

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This Saturday, May 24th @ ’Sconset Casino, get tickets!

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The Inquirer and Mirror, Nantucket, Mass.

Thursday, July 3, 2025

Island Calendar (Thursday, continued from page 3)

“What the Constitution Means to Me”

7:30 p.m. Nantucket Performing Arts Center, 5 North Water St. ACK Theatre Company presents Heidi Schreck’s “What the Constitution Means to Me,” starring Nina Hellman and Jeremy Shamos. Through July 17. Visit www.nantucketperformingarts.org for tickets and additional times.

House Party: The Knocks

8 p.m. Dreamland Theater, 17 South Water St. Get the party started with DJ Decimel, followed by The Knocks, a DJ and production duo known for their blend of electronic music, pop and disco. 21 and over. Cash bar. Tickets at www.nantucketdreamland.org

Owl Prowl

File photo

Best-selling island author Nancy Thayer will sign copies of her books Thursday, July 3 at Nantucket Bookworks.

8 p.m. Maria Mitchell Association, 4 Vestal St. Join MMA field ornithologist and I&M columnist Ginger Andrews to listen for the calls of nocturnal animals and birds and watch for owls as they begin their nightly activity. Tickets on calendar page of www.mariamitchell.org

Live Music: 7 Day Weekend

10 p.m. The Chicken Box, 6 Dave St. Massachusetts-based 7 Day Weekend will perform. 21 and over. Additional shows Friday and Saturday.

Live Music: Local Notes

10 p.m. The Rose & Crown, 23 South Water St. Nantucket’s own rock and roll band Local Notes will perform.

Live Music: Nikki & The Barn Boys

10 p.m. Gaslight Nantucket, 3 North Union St. Massachusetts-based indie rock group Nikki & The Barn Boys will perform.

Friday, July 4 Independence Day Fourth of July Food Trucks

8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Federal Street between Main and India. A variety of food trucks will offer breakfast and lunch items.

Declaration of Independence Reading

9 a.m. Unitarian Meeting House, 11 Orange St. Community leaders and others will read the Declaration of Independence for the 26th year. Free.

Nantucket Musical Arts Society BALOURDET STRING QUARTET with pianist Byeol Kim

Tuesday, July 8 at 7 pm St. Paul’s Church, 20 Fair St.

Tickets $30, at the door • Doors open at 6:30pm Tickets Available Online and at Antiques Depot and American Seasons. 774-236-9298

Children under 18 free, + all students with a current ID “MEET THE ARTISTS” - FREE, FUN & INFORMATIVE Monday, July 7 at 5:30 p.m. at Atheneum, Great Hall

508-228-1287 | nantucketmusicalartssociety.org

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Live Music: DJ Scott Capizzo

10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Federal Street. DJ Scott Capizzo will man the turntables.

Live Music: PJ Moody

10 a.m. Children’s Beach bandstand, Harborview Way. P.J. Moody will sing the national Anthem and other patriotic music.

Lawn Games

10 a.m.-noon, Children’s Beach, Harborview Way. Matt Fee Tea Toss, cornhole, face-painting and more.

Spotlight on Democracy

10:15 a.m. Dreamland Theater, 17 South Water St. The Inquirer and Mirror and Indivisible Nantucket present Chris Matthews, Susan Glasser and Peter Baker in conversation with Peter Panchy.

Sold out. Visit www.nantucketdreamland.org for the waiting list.

NanPuppets

10:30 a.m. Children’s Beach bandstand, Harborview Way. Lizza Obremski and her puppet friends will perform.

The Inquirer and Mirror, Nantucket, Mass.

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Island Calendar Water Competition

10:30 a.m. Main Street. The Nantucket Fire Department will battle the Boynton Lane Fire Reserves to fill 55-gallon drums with water. The public should expect to get wet and is asked to refrain from bringing water balloons and super-soakers.

Magic Mark

11:15 a.m. Children’s Beach Bandstand, Harborview Way. Magician Mark Carapezza will perform.

Bike Parade

11:55 a.m. Children’s Beach, Harborview Way. Festively-decorated bicycles, tricycles, wagons and other self-propelled vehicles will parade on the path around Children’s Beach park.

Live Music: CC & the Boys

Noon-3 p.m. Cisco Brewers 5 Bartlett Farm Road. New York City-based country party band CC & the Boys will perform.

Live Music: PJ Moody

Noon-12:30 p.m. Children’s Beach bandstand, Harborview Way. Island musician PJ Moody will perform.

Live Music: Live Music: Jeff Tuohy

4-7 p.m. Cisco Brewers, 5 Bartlett Farm Road. Nationally-touring singer-songwriter Jeff Tuohy will perform.

Additional shows Saturday and Sunday.

Cocktails on the Harborview Deck

6:30 p.m. Dreamland Theater, 17 South Water St. Avoid the crowds and enjoy refreshments (cash bar) and nibbles on the Harborview Deck of the Dreamland Theater while catching distant views of the Jetties Beach fireworks display. Tickets at www.nantucketdreamland.org

Live Music: Sean Lee

8-10 p.m. Rose & Crown, 23 South Water St. Nantucket singer-songwriter Sean Lee will perform. Second show Saturday.

Fireworks Show

9 p.m. Jetties Beach, end of Bathing Beach Road. Fireworks will be launched from a barge offshore. Attendees are strongly encouraged to take public transportation to the beach. NRTA buses will leave every 10-15 minutes from town hall on Broad Street starting at 6 p.m. and return from Jetties Beach until 10:30 p.m.

Live Music: DJ Pete Ahern

10 p.m. Gaslight Nantucket, 3 North Union St. Nantucket DJ Pete Ahern will man the turntables.

Saturday, July 5 Nantucket Clean Team

8 a.m. Handlebar Café, 15 Washington St., and Nobadeer Beach parking lot, 67 Nobadeer Ave. The Nantucket Clean Team meets weekly from spring through fall to clean up trash around the island.

Bags and pickers provided.

Farmers & Artisans Market

8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Cambridge Street, between Federal and South Water. Sustainable Nantucket hosts a market of fresh local produce, island cottage-industry artisans and food. Weather permitting.

Sidewalk Art Show

9 a.m.-2 p.m., Atheneum Garden, 1 India St. The Atheneum hosts its sidewalk art show, the oldest continuously operating outdoor art exhibition in the country.

SATURDAY, PAGE 16

Page 16

The Inquirer and Mirror, Nantucket, Mass.

Thursday, July 3, 2025

Island Calendar (Saturday, continued from page 15)

NanPuppets

9:30 a.m. Moors End Farm, 40 Polpis Road. Join Lizza Obremski and her puppet friends for a morning of educational entertainment for all ages. $10. Bring a blanket.

um, 13 Broad St. Strap on your helmet to explore historic locations on the periphery of town you may have missed, all while escaping the hustle and bustle of downtown Nantucket. Led by a Nantucket Historical Association guide. Approximately two hours. Tickets on calendar page of www.nha.org

Online Auction

9:30 a.m. Online at www.rafaelosonaauction.com. An auction of furnishings and more from several notable Nantucket estates, including those of Carolyn and Roger Horchow, Carolyn Wells and Frank White, Joly Walton Stewart, Grace Tuttle Noyes and the Susan Akers collection removed from 7 Pleasant St. Live previews Thursday and Friday at Legion Hall, 21 Washington St.

The Firecracker 5K will be held at Jetties Beach Fourth of July morning.

Dreamland Conversations: Elin Hilderbrand

Book-signing: Nathaniel Philbrick

6 p.m. Dreamland Theater, 17 South Water St. CNN’s Kaitlan Collins interviews best-selling Nantucket author Elin Hilderbrand, “Queen of the Beach Reads,” about her writing process, Nantucket and her work being picked up for television.

Tickets at www.nantucketdreamland.org

Historic Bike Tour

10 p.m. Gaslight Nantucket, 3 North Union St. Nantucket’s own alt-country band Buckle & Shake will perform.

10:30 a.m. Mitchell’s Book Corner, 54 Main St. National Book Award-winning island author Nathaniel Philbrick will sign copies of his books, including “Travels with George” and “In the Heart of the Sea.” File photo

NanPuppets

11 a.m. Children’s Beach, Harborview Way. Join Lizza Obremski and her puppet friends for a morning of educational entertainment for all ages. Free, but donations welcome.

10:30 a.m. Nantucket Whaling Muse-

Live Music: Buckle & Shake

MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET

the musical about the jam session that rocked the world the music of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins

July 9 to August 23 theatrenantucket.org

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Page 17

Island Calendar Sunday, July 6 Bird Walk

7:45-10 a.m. Maria Mitchell Association, 33 Washington St. Explore Nantucket’s avian landscapes and hidden nooks with local bird guide and Inquirer and Mirror columnist Ginger Andrews. Register on calendar page of www.mariamitchell.org

Book Signing: Claire Hoffman

Creature, Kin: What We Learn From Nature’s Mothers in a Time of Unraveling.”

Comedy Show: Jeremy Piven

6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. Dreamland Theater, 17 South Water St. Actor and comedian Jeremy Piven (“Entourage,” “Grosse Pointe Blank” will perform two sets of stand-up comedy. Tickets at www.nantucketdreamland.org

Live Music: Jamie McLean

10:30 a.m.-noon, Mitchell’s Book Corner, 54 Main St. Claire Hoffman will sign copies of her book, “Sister, Sinner:” The Miraculous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Aimee Semple McPherson.”

10 p.m. Gaslight Nantucket, 3 North Union St. The Jamie McLean Band, which combines New Orleans soul, middle Americana roots, Delta blues and New York City swagger, will perform.

Sconset Trust Annual Meeting

Monday, July 7

5 p.m. Sconset Casino, 10 New St. The Sconset Trust will hold its 41st annual meeting. For more information, e-mail info@sconsettrust.org

Author Talk: Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder

5:30 p.m. Atheneum Great Hall, 1 India St. Author Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder and journalist Justine Paradis will discuss Steinauer-Scudder’s new book, “Mother,

Hands on History

10:15 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday through Aug. 28. Nantucket Whaling Museum, 13 Broad St. A short presentation with visual and tactile elements connecting to Nantucket history, followed by craft-making connected to that day’s talk.

Free with museum admission.

Art

Summer

MONDAY, PAGE 18

2025

Open House Celebration + Registration Sunday July 6 from 1pm to 7pm At NISDA! Clay • Textiles • Painting • Sculpture • Ideas & Lectures Island Tunes • Fete Night • Kinder • Youth Teen & Generations!

Registration! July 6, from 1 to 7 pm nisda.org , by phone or in person NISDA Seaview Farm, 23 Wauwinet Road 508.228.9248 • Nisdaartsnantucket@nisda.org

File photo

Island alt-country band Buckle & Shake will play The Gaslight Saturday and Cisco Brewers Wednesday.

Page 18

The Inquirer and Mirror, Nantucket, Mass.

Thursday, July 3, 2025

Island Calendar (Monday, continued from page 17)

Book-Signing: Jeff Verney

10:30 a.m.-noon, Mitchell’s Book Corner, 54 Main St. Jeff Verney will sign copies of his children’s book “Bunnies to the Rescue, a Nantucket Tail.”

Live Music: Alec MacGillivray

4-7 p.m. Cisco Brewers, 5 Bartlett Farm Road. Nashville-based country artist Alec MacGillivray will perform. Second show Tuesday.

Meet the Artists: Balourdet String Quartet

5:30 p.m. Atheneum Great Hall, 1 India St. A free and informal meet and greet with the Balourdet String Quartet and pianist Byeol Kim before their Nantucket Musical Arts Society concert Tuesday.

Free.

Dreamland Concert Series: Cleto Cordero and Kaitlin Butts

8 p.m. Dreamland Theater, 27 South Water St. Texas music luminaries Cleto Cordero and of Flatland Cavalry and Kaitlin Butts will perform a strippeddown set. Tickets at www.nantucketdreamland.org

Stargazing at the Observatory

9:30 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Loines Observatory, 59 Milk St. Join professional astronomers from the Maria Mitchell Association for a guided tour of the night sky, including the moon, planets, star clusters, nebulae and more. Register on calendar page of www. mariamitchell.org

Live Music: DJ Lay-Z-Boy

10 p.m. The Chicken Box, 6 Dave St. Boston’s DJ Lay-Z-Boy will man the turntables. 21 and over. No cover.

Live Music: Morrissey BLVD

10 p.m. Gaslight Nantucket, 3 North Union St. South Coast rock band Morrissey BLVD will perform. 21 and over.

Tuesday, July 8 Nantucket Dance Festival

Through Saturday, various locations around town. The Nantucket Dance Festival is a week-long celebration of dance and fundraising events that bring renowned dance and musical artists from around the country to the island. Tickets and full schedule at nantucketdancefestival.org

Nantucket Garden Festival

Through Thursday, various locations around town. The Nantucket Garden Festival highlights the unique and beautiful garden ecosystems on Nantucket and focuses on the importance of sustainability, conservation and gardening ethics for the long-term health of the island through lectures and workshops, garden tours and children’s activities. Tickets and the full schedule at www.ackgardenfestival.org

Music in the Morning

9:45 a.m. Atheneum garden, 1 India St. Led by local musician and teacher Cory Morgan, this fun-filled 45-minute session invites kids to explore rhythm, sound and song through clapping, instrument play.

Bring a blanket. Canceled in the event of inclement weather.

Nanpuppets

11:30 a.m. Cisco Brewers, 5 Bartlett Farm Road. Join Lizza Obremski and her puppet friends for a morning of educational entertainment for all ages.

A Walk Down Main Street

3 p.m. 11 Centre St. An overview of Nantucket in its heyday focusing on the

portion of Main Street between the Pacific National Bank and the Civil War monument. Learn about the street’s development and the area’s early residents and architectural styles, as well as how the houses have come to symbolize the island’s whaling era. Tickets at nantucketpreservation.org.

Book Talk: “The Dog Will Change Your Life”

4 p.m. Nantucket Hotel, 77 Easton St. Tim Ehrenberg and New York Times best-selling author and “The Dogist” Elias Weiss Friedman will discuss dogs, why we love them, their evolution and the role they play in enhancing the human experience. Tickets at www.opentable. com

Friends Fete

5:30 p.m. Almanac Arts Colony, 25 Almanack Pond Road. Join the Nantucket Land & Water Council and Almanack Arts Colony in celebrating the inspiring beauty of Nantucket’s preserved and open spaces. Food by Nantucket Catering Co., Yoho Raw Bar and delicious libations by Donelan Family Wines and Cisco Brewers, and dancing. Tickets at almanackartscolony.org.

The Inquirer and Mirror, Nantucket, Mass.

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Page 19

Island Calendar

Classical Music: Balourdet String Quartet

7 p.m. St. Paul’s Church, 20 Fair St. The Nantucket Musical Arts Society presents the Balourdet String Quartet and pianist Byeol Kim in the first installment of its summer concert series. Tickets $30 at the door.

Live Music: Jammy Buffet

10 p.m. The Chicken Box, 6 Dave St. Jimmy Buffet tribute jam band Jammy Buffet will perform. 21 and over. Second show Wednesday.

Wednesday, July 9 Historic Sites Adventure Day

Book-Signing: Elin Hilderbrand and Chris Whitaker

11 a.m. Mitchell ’s Book Corner, 54 Main St. Bestselling island author Elin Hilderbrand will sign copies of her books, and will be joined by “All the Colors of the Dark” author Chris Whitaker. Limited to first 115 in line.

Live Music: Buckle & Shake

4-7 p.m. Cisco Brewers, 5 Bartlett Farm Road. Nantucket’s own alt-country band, Buckle & Shake, will perform.

Author Talk: Chris Whitaker

10 a.m.-1 p.m. Enjoy a family-friendly day getting to know some of the Nantucket Historical Association’s historic sites.

Travel through town to the Friends Meeting House, 7 Fair St.; Old Jail, 15R Vestal St.; Greater Light, 8 Howard St. and Hadwen House, 96 Main St., meet their inhabitants and check off the visit on your very own Historic Sites Adventure passport. Each site will feature a handson activity, tours of the property and the chance to meet a special guest. Visits the site in any order. Free.

5:30 p.m. Dreamland Theater, 17 South Water St. Best-selling author Chris Whitaker (“All the Colours of the Dark”) will talk with Nantucket Book Foundation president Tim Ehrenberg. Tickets at www.nantucketdreamland.org

Film for Thought

7 p.m. Dreamland Theater, 17 South Water St. The Inquirer and Mirror and Dreamland present “Misericordia,” starring Félix Kysyl and Catherine Frot. Free for members. Tickets at www.nantucketdreamland.org

All Villanova alumni, parents, students, families and friends are invited to a summer social with the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, OSA, University President.

Thursday, July 31, 2025 | 3:30–5:30 p.m.

Millie’s

“Million Dollar Quartet”

7 p.m. Bennett Hall, 62 Centre St. Theatre Workshop of Nantucket presents “Million Dollar Quartet,” a fictional adaptation of the night in 1956 when music legends Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley came together for a once-in-a-lifetime jam session at Sun Records. Through Aug. 23.

Visit www.theatrenantucket.org for tickets, additional times.

Women’s Support Group

7:30 p.m. Atheneum Learning Lab, 1 India St. A space for women to come together in support, strength and self-discovery. Connect with a community of individuals, uplift one another and embrace your worth with confidence. Facilitated by Lisa Lothian, LCSW. Free.

A Night for Swifties

8 p.m. Nantucket Performing Arts Center, 5 North Water St. An unforgettable evening featuring talent assembled by music director and producer Drew Wutke, with a lineup of powerhouse singers and musicians including local Nantucket special guests, all coming together to

bring Taylor Swift’s iconic tunes to life.

Additional shows Thursday and Friday.

Visit www.nantucketperformingarts.org for tickets, additional times.

Live Music: Jameson Tank

10 p.m. Gaslight Nantucket, 3 North Union St. Jameson Tank, a high-energy rock band from Athens, Ga., will perform.

Second show Thursday. 21 and over.

Thursday, July 10 Live Music: Autumn Drive

4 p.m. Cisco Brewers, 5 Bartlett Farm Road. New Bedford-based indie rock band Autumn Drive will perform. Second show Friday.

Safe Place Summer Soirée

5:30 p.m. Great Harbor Yacht Club, 96 Washington St. Cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, auctions and more to benefit A Safe Place, Nantucket’s domestic violence and sexual assault prevention and advocacy organization. Tickets at asafeplacenantucket. org

THURSDAY, PAGE 21

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Page 20

Thursday, July 3, 2025

Cellar: An Italian Vineyard with a spiritual connection (Continued from page 8)

has produced exceptional wines since its founding, making it one of the world’s oldest continuously operating wineries.

My relationship with this breathtaking region began as a passionate mountaineer scaling the iconic limestone peaks in summer, traversing hidden trails in autumn and carving through powdery slopes in winter.

The Dolomites became my sanctuary, a place where the physical exertion of climbing a via ferrata or skiing a challenging run would be rewarded with vistas of unimaginable beauty.

But it was during a chance rest stop at Novacella’s sun-drenched vineyards, my muscles still warm from a morning hike, I discovered how the monks’ viticultural traditions perfectly embodied that same sacred union of elements I had once witnessed as an altar boy.

What fascinated me most was learning how the dolomitic rock of these mountains played a crucial role in crafting the region’s distinctive wines.

Dolomite, named after the 18th-century French geologist Déodat de Dolomieu, is a calcium-magnesium carbonate that works as agricultural alchemy in these

vineyards.

Unlike the acidic soils often associated with pine forests, where many believe the fallen needles create acidity (largely a gardening myth), dolomitic limestone is a natural buffer in highly acidic soils.

The rock gradually dissolves, releasing calcium and magnesium that neutralize excess acidity while providing essential nutrients to the vines.

This creates a delicate balance – much like that drop of water in sacramental wine – where the harsh Alpine environment is tempered just enough to allow grape varieties like Sylvaner, Kerner and Gewürztraminer to develop their complex character.

Rather than acidifying the soil as folklore might suggest, the surrounding pine forests contribute to the unique microclimate that protects these high-elevation vineyards, creating pockets of Mediterranean warmth amid the Alpine chill.

The abbey’s most celebrated wines come from their premium Praepositus line, named after the Latin term for a provost or prior, a fitting tribute to the monastic hierarchy guiding this winemaking tradition for nearly a millennium.

The Praepositus Kerner is their crown jewel, regularly earning Italy’s highest

wine accolades from Gambero Rosso.

With its vibrant acidity and notes of stone fruit, citrus and alpine herbs, this golden elixir expresses the essence of its high-altitude terroir with remarkable clarity.

The Praepositus Sylvaner follows closely in renown, transforming what is often considered an ordinary grape into something transcendent through the abbey’s careful stewardship and the region’s unique growing conditions.

Unlike in Germany or Alsace, where Sylvaner typically produces straightforward wines, here in the Valle Isarco, the grape achieves a nuanced complexity and structural elegance that has earned international recognition.

These whites embody the best of Alpine winemaking: crisp, mineral-driven and profoundly expressive of place.

Meanwhile, the abbey’s red wines, particularly their Lagrein from vineyards near Bolzano and their Pinot Nero (which some critics consider among Italy’s finest), demonstrate that their winemaking mastery extends well beyond the whites for which they are most famous.

While viticulture remains the abbey’s most renowned agricultural pursuit, the Augustinian canons have maintained a

holistic approach to land stewardship that honors the Benedictine principle of ora et labora: prayer and work.

Beyond the terraced vineyards that climb the surrounding slopes, the monastery tends to a spectacular historic garden that was meticulously restored and reopened to the public in 2004.

This verdant sanctuary showcases the monks’ deep botanical knowledge, harboring nearly a hundred varieties of herbs used both for culinary purposes and traditional medicinal remedies.

The garden is anchored by awe-inspiring ancient trees: A towering sequoia stands sentinel at one end, while centuries-old ginkgo trees with fan-shaped leaves provide living links to the abbey’s distant past.

Between these arboreal elders stretches a formal Baroque garden with geometric flower beds, fragrant medicinal plants and a serene central fountain.

Apple orchards and vegetable plots complement the grounds, continuing a self-sustaining tradition that has helped support the community for centuries.

True to their commitment to practical education, the Canons also operate a

CELLAR, NEXT PAGE

508-228-7426 508-228-7426 siamtogonantucket.com

5siamtogonantucket.com Amelia Drive 1 Backus Lane

Phone

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508-228-7426

Meals Meals Served Served

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Food Food Type Type

Thai Snack BarBar ThaiCuisine Cuisine& & Snack

Specialties Specialties

Curry,Pad PadThai Thai Curry, GeneralTso’s Tso’s Chicken General Chicken

Accepted Payment Payment Accepted Amex, Discover, Visa, MC Amex, Discover, Visa, MC

Children’s Menu

Monday- Saturday - Friday Monday Lunch 11am - 2pm 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm Dinner 3pm - 7pm

Children’s Menu Yes Yes

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Island Calendar (Continued from page 19)

Women’s Night of Comedy

7 p.m. Dreamland Theater, 17 South Water St. The Nantucket Comedy Festival opens with its Women’s Night of Comedy. Tickets at www.nantucketdreamland.org

Owl Prowl

8 p.m. Maria Mitchell Association, 4 Vestal St. Join MMA field ornithologist and I&M columnist Ginger Andrews to listen for the calls of nocturnal animals and birds and watch for owls as they begin their nightly activity. Tickets on calendar page of www.mariamitchell.org

Full Moon Nature Walk

9 p.m. Location provided upon registration. Maria Mitchell Association ex(Cellar, continued from page 20)

small school primarily devoted to viticultural studies, where future generations learn the delicate art of winemaking within this perfect synthesis of Alpine nature and human cultivation.

Through this diverse agricultural mosaic, the abbey not only sustains itself materially but also preserves ancient

ecutive director Joanna Roche leads a peaceful one-hour walk up to two miles on uneven terrain under the light of the full Moon. Discover the legends and narratives of the past and present. Enjoy the tranquility of the quiet night sky and learn about our moon’s current themes and its symbolism. Register on calendar page of www.mariamitchell.org

Live Music: Beach Nights

10 p.m. The Chicken Box, 6 Dave St. Boston party band and DJ Beach Nights will perform. 21 and over. Additional shows Friday and Saturday.

Live Music: Foggy Roots

10 p.m. Gaslight Nantucket, 3 North Union St. Foggy Roots, Nantucket’s only roots reggae band, will perform. 21 and over. knowledge of the land’s gifts, each plant, whether grapevine or medicinal herb, cultivated with the same reverent attention I once observed in that sacred mingling of water and wine.

Peter McEachern is the general manager of the Nantucket Yacht Club. He has been buying wine, creating wine lists and running wine tastings since 1983. He can be reached at peter@nantucketyachtclub.org

This Week on Nantucket Your Go-to Guide for Island Events and Activities Submit calendar items and photos to newsroom@inkym.com

Page 21

The Inquirer and Mirror, Nantucket, Mass.

Page 22

Thursday, July 3, 2025

Eat: At Sister Ship on Centre Street, you’re part of the family (Continued from page 4)

Parsons was drawn to the fast-paced energy of working in a kitchen.

“Being able to see super-interesting personalities and just be myself at work was really nice,” he said.

He eventually earned a culinary arts degree from Johnson & Wales University and has spent the last 17 years as a chef in Boston, Providence, Brooklyn, North Carolina and now, Nantucket.

The first time he and his wife came to Nantucket they fell in love with the island and knew it was their home. He has spent his tenure at Sister Ship working to develop and build relationships with the community, especially the local farms.

“We’ve gained a lot of traction with the locals. When I got here it was a very new restaurant, so I’ve kind of watched it evolve and turn into this kind of the place to be in the summer,” Parsons said. “The cooking that we’re doing now just feels much more genuine, it’s simpler. We’ve really kind of locked in as a brand, as a Mediterranean restaurant.”

The outside patio feels very Nantucket, but inside the restaurant is a completely different world. It’s dark, mysterious and cozy with big plush chairs in shades of pink, red and green.

Photo by Francesca Giangiulio

The Taggiasca Olive Oil Cake is topped with pistachios and pistachio buttercream.

It’s eclectic and homey – like you’re in someone’s living room – with slight nods to nautical vibes like oil paintings of whaling ships and a female bust covered

in seashells. Parsons said the team calls her “Shelly.”

It’s different from most restaurants on-island, and it’s refreshing.

The beauty of Mediterranean cooking is that you’re not confined to one country, Parsons said. He described the menu as “coastal Mediterranean” with an emphasis on seafood and coastal vegetables: “simple cooking with a little bit of heat, a lot of acid.”

Parsons and his team love to cook dishes from Portugal, Spain, Southern France, Southern Italy, North Africa and more.

Sister Ship sources its vegetables from local Fogtown Farm and Washashore Farm. The menu is dictated by what’s growing well, and if a crop comes in bad or late, the kitchen pivots, Parsons said.

“We’re adaptable, and I think that’s what people enjoy. We’re always doing new things with the products we have,” he said.

When he was younger, he said he was “manic” with his menu changes. Now, he limits himself to one, maybe two, changes a week.

“The easy thing to do would be to just have a rotating menu with the same dishes every season, but to me it’s not exciting, it’s not challenging yourself,” he said.

Menu building is a collaborative process at Sister Ship. Parsons said the whole team will brainstorm ideas based on the produce coming in and work

Introducing our Dining Out Newsletter featuring the best places to eat on Nantucket The Inquirer and Mirror Newsletters are FREE and published six times a week with breaking news and sports content from Nantucket’s only team of professionally-trained journalists, delivering the news you need and a fresh perspective on island life.

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www.ack.net together to build dishes that fit the Sister Ship brand.

“Sometimes one person is really motivated to do a dish and we just let them run with it. Sometimes it’s me, sometimes it’s the executive sous chef, sometimes it’s the junior sous chef. We’re all very collaborative, and I like to challenge our chefs to create,” Parsons said.

Last week I started my meal with two dishes Parsons recommended that highlight local produce: Grilled Island Beets and Italian Chicories Salad.

The beets are heavily grilled and served over a Romesco sauce with whipped goat cheese and black currant vinaigrette.

“I hate beets,” Parsons said. “I always have, so it was my mission to make beets not taste like beets.”

He describes the dish as more savory and a little spicy with the charcoal flavor, not like the regular candied pecans kind of beets.

I can confirm I have never had beets like this before. They were smoky and sharp. I wouldn’t have thought to pair Romesco with beets, but it was a perfect balance of smooth and crisp. The goat cheese adds a beautiful bite of sweetness and the black currant adds a wonderful touch of sharpness.

Not to be dramatic, but the Italian Chicories Salad was one of the best salads I’ve ever had. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since my meal last week.

It’s a bed of bitter leaves – chicories – topped with fermented green strawberries, local shaved rhubarb, Marcona almonds, Montealva cheese and Moscatel vinaigrette.

I don’t think I’ve ever had green strawberries before, and now I’m going to actively seek them out.

The slight tang from the fermentation with the bitterness of the lettuce and nuttiness of the almonds makes for a complex, flavorful bite.

I love dishes that surprise me with new, interesting flavors and this definitely hit the target. The combination of flavors and textures was the perfect way to start the meal.

For entrées, we ordered the chicken tagine and the skillet striped bass.

The chicken was presented beautifully in a clay Moroccan tagine pot. The smell alone was hypnotizing. You could tell immediately that a lot of thought and effort went into this dish.

Each bite and flavor was more complex as you tasted the different spices.

“I learned how to make this recipe from an old Moroccan lady from Casablanca,” Parsons said. “It was adapted from a lamb recipe, but the flavors work well with chicken.”

The grilled chicken thighs are served with local carrots, olives, scallions preserved lemon on the bottom, and finished

The Inquirer and Mirror, Nantucket, Mass. with herbs. It is also served with a side of Moroccan couscous.

The chicken was tender and flavorful.

The salt from the olives added a twist to the familiar flavors of harissa, which was perfectly balanced, just enough spice to heat my lips but still keep me coming back for more.

The local carrots were tender and added a slight sweetness to the dish. The crispy onions on the couscous added a nice layer of texture.

The striped bass was the image of summer: bright, light and clean. The bass was perfectly cooked. It melted in your mouth.

Accompanied by snap peas and the slight kick of nduja oil, the dish felt crisp and full of life.

For dessert, we had the taggiasca olive oil cake. Yes, pistachio is having a cultural moment, but this cake takes it to the next level.

The cake had a nice level of moisture and richness without being dense and heavy. The salt from the pistachio in combination with the citrusy sweet of the blood orange syrup was wonderful.

The pistachio buttercream added another layer of smooth texture and decadence. I told my dining partner that this could be my wedding cake.

Sister Ship has become somewhat known for its innovative and interesting cocktail menu. The drinks are labeled by taste and flavor profile, so even if you don’t recognize all the ingredients, you can save yourself a Google search and still choose something you’ll confidently like.

We ordered the Unruly Seas Spritz and Final Destination. The spritz is an elevated twist on the classic Aperol spritz.

The lychee and elderflower added an herbal sweetness to the drink, very summery. Great for happy hour on the patio.

The Final Destination is a pisco-based drink with grapefruit, lime and agave.

It was sharp and citrusy, exactly what I want in a summer drink.

Parsons says he wants to keep surprising people with the work he does at Sister Ship. He doesn’t like to sit still and wants to continue innovating and exploring what he can do at the restaurant.

“I want guests to feel fulfilled and like what we’ve created for them has value,” he said. “I want them to feel like they had a quality experience and that it was special.”

Sister Ship is different from any restaurant I’ve been to before on-island.

It’s extremely evident that everything about it from decor to drinks to service to food is handled with great care. You’re part of their family.

Sister Ship, 29 Centre St. Open 5-10 p.m. daily. Reservations available online at www.sevenrooms.com. (508) 257-1318.

Page 23

$85 Prix-Fixe Dining Room Menu Seperate Bar Grill Menu Bar open till 1 am Six Harbor Square

508-228-4499

straightwharfrestaurant.com

DINING OVERLOOKING NANTUCKET SOUND. Enjoy fine dining in our intimate dining room or a relaxed experience on our deck. In summer months, cruise to lunch or dinner aboard the Wauwinet Lady.

Nantucket’s only AAA 5-Diamond restaurant.

Reserve on RESY.com or call 508-228-8768.

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The Inquirer and Mirror, Nantucket, Mass.

Thursday, July 3, 2025