We're approaching 2 months living in Gloucester and working in Salem, Massachusetts. We've had enough time now to try out a few restaurants and, since we have about a month and a half to go before we hit that ol' road again, I'm relatively sure I'll add a few more to the list below.

The Rudder

Located within the Rocky Neck Artist Colony, Melanie and I had a nice meal here on a relatively quiet August Sunday evening. We chose the covered deck overlooking the cove. A very nice setting for dinner.

The restaurant's celebrated chef has a number of restaurants and has won numerous awards over the years, including being inducted into James Beard Foundation's Who's Who of Food and Beverage in America.

​That said, while our dinner was truly solid, the service and ambiance great, it wasn't what I expected given all the accolades received by Ms. Lynch.  My Steak Tartar and Mustard Tagliatelle (braised rabbit and rosemary) dish was fine, Melanie's Seared Halibut was superb. 

My problem is I've eaten Frank Stitt's rabbit dish at Highland's Bar and Grill in Birmingham, Alabama on several occasions and, honestly, I can also be a bit precious at times when it comes to dining out. 

I think most importantly our meal at The Rudder was a good value, that is, I didn't come away thinking I'd paid too much for an overhyped dining experience. Recommended.

Laughing Gull, Manchester-by-the-Sea

One of my favorite bicycle rides is from Salem Common to Magnolia, Massachusetts. 

Between the two points on my ride is Manchester-by-the-Sea and Laughing Gull, located there.

While we haven't tried many items on their menu, I do know their scones and cat head biscuits are worth darkening their door for. The locals gather to see and be seen and catch up. Recommended. 

Donna, our bartender one afternoon at 51 Rocky Neck, recommended a number of local places to eat and drink.

Blue Collar Lobster Company was one she highly touted.  She wasn't wrong.

Blue Collar served up the best Lobster Roll I've had in awhile, maybe ever.  Served hot or cold and containing 8 ounces of fresh lobster, it's more than one person should eat. But I did. Pro tip:  Two people can easily share one Lobster Roll and come away satisfied.

Not everyone had lobster, but everyone was pleased with their food.  Recommended.

We're new to the area and have had little time to check out local Cusine since our arrival on July 12th.  We're camped in West Gloucester, but Melanie works for the National Park Service in Salem.  She also is the Executive Director for a legal non-profit.

After a Zoom call with the non-profit was over and after she had worked all day for the NPS, we stopped at Sala Restobar in Beverly for dinner on the way home.

We shared a Tomato Salad, I had the Duck Mole Tacos, Melanie had the Chicken Fried Rice. Ambiance, service and the meal were all great and we're sure to dine at Sala again before we depart Massachusetts in November.

aMelanie found lunch for us at Isaac's Way on a travel day. Great lunch outside on a nice Summer day in Fredericton. 

Side Hustle was also recommended by Craving Dani a Halifax influencer. Great dinner in downtown Dartmouth.

As sometimes happens, an influencer, Craving Dani, started following our Instagram account while we were in Halifax/Dartmouth.  She recommended Bar Sofia. She wasn't wrong. Great lunch in a really funky place on the Halifax Waterfront.

And our server was a Boston native with duel citizenship attending university in Halifax. 

She liked the Dirty Blonde, me the Fathom Double IPA, regardless we had a few great evenings at Nine Locks Brewing Company. 

After walking around Halifax on a Sunday morning we needed sustenance. We found brunch at Le Bistro by Liz in Downtown Halifax.  Their great Sunday Brunch included a Bloody Mary for me and a Mimosa for her.

Our friend, Diana, who lives in Westford, Vermont took Melanie and me for lunch at Sweet Alchemy for the first time today.  It's one of her favorite places and we now understand why. 

Diana placed our order online Friday morning for lunch at noon to be eaten at Sweet Alchemy.  She and I ordered the Bountiful Bowl, Melanie ordered the Quinoa Power Bowl.  

When we arrived, we let them know we were in house and each of us then chose a desert item.  Diana chose the Whoopie Pie, Melanie and I chose the Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble Bar.  I also ordered a Merry Berry Smoothie.

Lunch was great. All of it. Highly recommended.

We've been in the Burlington area for about a month and our friend, Diana, suggested we grab an early dinner at Honey Road, a favorite restaurant of hers, this Saturday past.

The chef, Cara Tobin, has received multiple James Beard nominations and deservedly so.  She's nominated again this year.

The diverse eastern Mediterranean-focused small plates menu is wonderful. We ordered a number of offerings and shared them with each other.

Great location on Church Street, great ambiance and service. Highly recommended.

Traveling into Saint Louis to have work done on our van, Melanie found lunch. Located in the Grove section of townm, Grace + Three is not your typical meat and three, it's a step above what one might expect from these types of restaurants.

Rick Lewis, chef at Grace, was nominated for James Beard Rising Chef of the Year. 

From an interview:

What was the driving force behind Grace Meat + Three? The meat-and-three [side dishes] concept really hasn’t been done here on a big scale, and The Grove was the perfect place for it. There’s a strong, growing business district nearby; a vibrant neighborhood; and a ton of churches around. The concept also pays homage to Sweetie Pie’s, which had done well on the same corner for 10 years.
Talk about the churches. There’s a religious component to this as well. There are five churches really close and 20 nearby. At Southern, we donated a lot and to many different causes. Here, there are plenty of worthy causes right in the neighborhood. Our goal at Grace is to focus on the community and our employees.
The name Grace has a religious connotation. The original concept was a smaller fast-casual place called Freedom Chicken and Fish, which is part of our LLC—the freedom for my wife and I to do whatever kinds of restaurants we want, our creative freedom, our personal freedom…  And the meat and three idea was part of that. Most meat-and-threes are named after somebody, and Grace is my sister-in-law’s middle name. What’s the prayer you say before you eat, if you pray? Grace. We’re in the middle of 20 churches. Grace. Courteous goodwill, spiritual virtue, acts of kindness…all good connotations. It’s a substantial but gentle word. It feels timeless. So Grace it was. If we can invite anybody and everybody in to share a table—if it’s with a stranger, all the better—and feed them good food, that’s the sense of fellowship we want to create.