Crispy Fried Oysters with Bibb Lettuce and Radish Rémoulade
Lobster Salad with Grapefruit, Avocado, and Quinoa
Black Bass Crudo with Green Tomato and Lemon Verbena Salsa
Every spring, as the weather warms, the island begins to hum. Farm stands come to life with vibrant color, hotels bustle with guests arriving from around the world, and hundreds of sail and motor yachts come and go from their moorings in the harbor. The roses are coming into bloom: fragrant Rosa rugosa grow wild along the beach roads and dunes, and it seems a picture-postcard variety of climbing, rambling, and shrub roses are cultivated in every yard. The storefronts downtown beckon with gorgeous clothing, jewelry, home décor items, and more—much of it unique to these shops—offering a world-class experience for the sophisticated shopper.
Adding to the excitement is an annual three-day weekend of sailboat racing at the end of May that kicks off the summer season on Nantucket. It’s called the Figawi Race Weekend, known internationally as a premier sail-racing event. More than two hundred sailboats and their crews participate, while thousands of avid sailors and spectators from the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean arrive to celebrate the sport.
The sailors head out from Hyannis, on Cape Cod, racing around courses across Nantucket Sound and finishing at the entrance to Nantucket Harbor. From late morning until early afternoon, the waters off Brant Point sparkle with sleek hulls and massive sails, moving fast and impossibly close. The race ends with a colorful, friendly, champagne-popping parade of the boats into Nantucket Boat Basin.
CRU’s chic dining rooms, back bar, and waterfront lounge are the place to take in the action over lunch with friends after a morning of shopping in the trendy boutiques downtown. As colorful racing flags snap in the breeze and the boats make their way into the harbor, our guests raise a toast. No matter who won the race, wine flows and Nantucket’s esprit de corps rules the day.
The recipes selected for this chapter showcase the best of the season on Nantucket. In late spring, the waters around the island are still cold but have warmed up enough for the oysters to grow plump and full of flavor; lobsters are sweet and tender; and local fishermen are bringing in fresh fluke and black bass daily. The farmers’ markets are bursting with early produce, particularly radishes in a rainbow of colors. And that brief but magical season when the native strawberries are ripe is just beginning.
With the sublime recipes in this chapter and a good bottle of Chablis, you can revisit the first race weekend of the season and your waterfront lunch at CRU with friends. The scents from your kitchen will transport you to that late-spring day when you basked in the sunshine, sipping a perfectly chilled wine as gorgeous boats glided into Nantucket Harbor, their decks filled with cheering crews.