After sailing to Buck Island on Mary Ann’s boat (well, the other three did - I rode both ways on Origami), we had a drink at the Yacht Club bar, then reconvened at Café Kaleidoscope. It’s on the corner of routes 62 and 624, just northwest of the Great Pond (oh, and 1/4 mile due west of our house ).

We had a great day out on the water and, once again, Pat and Sasha were there to nourish us after our adventures. I must say that one of the best days of my life took us to Kaleidoscope last year, where Pat’s coquilles St. Jacques delighted my palate after we’d swum with a dozen dolphins as we kayaked out to Buck Island the long way.

A couple of my favorite things about Kaleidoscope are the peaceful south shore location. In contrast to many other, air conditioned places, you can feel the breezes and inhale the fresh warm south shore air. You can look up at the unspoiled hillsides just west of the restaurant and know that soon, this land will be national park land. You can look to the southeast and see the lush mangroves surrounding and part of the Great Pond, which will also, with luck, soon be national park land, never to be violated by development.

In addition to the clean, comfortable feel of this place, the food quality is unsurpassed. Pat is an accomplished chef, and her dishes reflect the varied flavors of the different ethnic cuisines she has studied. Besides my favorite, the coquilles St. Jacques, she offers Italian delights such as eggplant rollatini (have I mentioned recently that I love eggplant), and sometimes tiramisu. She often serves a fabulous Asian-style salmon with with wasabi mashed potatoes, and there are always tempura veggies as an appetizer. Soup of the day was French onion, but I love her creamy roasted pepper soup when she has it. The mandarin salad is always fresh and delicious. Michael and I shared a seafood delight plate with mussels, scallops and flounder. It was wonderful! Finish your meal, as we did, with Pat’s home-made key lime pie. Another perfect ending to a perfect day in paradise.

Their menu is not extensive, nor is it expensive. Very reasonable prices make Café Kaleidoscope most inviting.

Call 773-1062 for reservations. Hours are Thursday thru Sunday 6-9pm.

After our day at Great Pond Bay, we decided to eat at home. There were some nice scallops in the freezer, some Southgate Farm organic salad greens, baby heirloom tomatoes and basil, fresh mozzarella, and a bottle of Crossing Vineyards Sparkling Blanc de Blancs in the fridge. We could really do something with all that.

So we (I mean I) did. Well, Michael opened the bottle. He did a good job, too. It was VERY fizzy and squirted out all over the place. And it was lovely. Crisp and dry, just the way I like it. We have been fortunate enough, this year, to have met Tom and Chris Carroll who own the Crossing Vineyards and Winery in Pennsylvania. And they gave us a bottle of their fabulous sparkling wine. Tom’s words as we left were, “Don’t save it for a special occasion, just drink it”. So we did. And it was sort of a special occasion. It was Sunday and we had a day off.

I assembled a salad with the greens, mozzarella, basil and tomatoes, and whipped up a Coquilles St. Jacques over brown rice pilaf. Goliath shared a bit of it with us and gave it two paws up!

Friday night we dined at Cafe Kaleidoscope with our friends Jim and Marg from NJ. We brought our wine, as the selection there has historically been quite limited. Michael and I shared the cream of mushroom soup and house mandarin salad as our starters. Our friends shared an appetizer of crab cakes. Yummy! Michael chose the coquilles St. Jacques for his entree (my usual favorite) and I had the flounder meuniere. Jim opted for the chicken dijonnaise and Marg the Asian style salmon (Michael’s usual favorite). All plates went back empty. Goliath had a bit of my fish and rice with some bread and butter. Sasha, the bartender/host got him his own chair, too.

We enjoyed lively conversation about the goings on in the neighborhood. And we had dessert, too!
The tiramisu is awesome. Pat (the chef) makes a great one. This one was purchased but still delicious. Jim had cheesecake and Marg the home-made key lime pie. More empty plates went back. It was a fun night combining great food and excellent company.