In This Issue
	Features • Nantucket: for the Birds • Man Behind the Music • Banking Under the Stars • Limerick Challenge Events • Tour of Historic House • What's New & Happening Island Cooking • The Holidays Island Essay • Island in Winter Featured Restaurant Island Science

Centre Street Bistro
A Favorite in Any Season

Sharing good food with friends and family is one of the joys of the season, and at Centre Street Bistro, you can enjoy the warm and cozy ambiance of home with the pleasures of dining out.

Owned and operated for more than 10 years by Chefs Tim and Ruth Pitts, the talent and artistry of this husband-and-wife team is evident in every aspect of Centre Street Bistro. 

The ambiance is intimate and comfortable, and the atmosphere is so friendly that if you start exchanging pleasantries with the people at the next table, by dessert you will have made new friends. 

Though the restaurant is small, it’s reputation is huge.  Tim and Ruth are dedicated to serving the freshest food possible, using top-notch ingredients, all prepared daily on the premises.  They even bake their own bread, splendid crusty loaves with tender crumb.  The Pitts’ cuisine is characterized by clear, potent flavors—because they use a minimal amount of butter, cream, and eggs, all the dishes served at Centre Street Bistro sparkle with honest taste.  Because Tim and Ruth are everpresent, insuring the quality of everything that emerges from their kitchen, the food is remarkably consistent.  You can count on having a fabulous meal every time you visit.

Ask any islander:  lunch at Centre Street Bistro becomes a habit.  The hearty homemade soups and intriguing daily specials are very tempting, but once you’ve tasted their colorful (and healthy) Tofu Stir Fry, their B.L.T. (very possibly the best ever), or their Bistro Salad with tender chicken, crisp apples, creamy blue cheese, and toasty walnuts, you may find yourself ordering your favorites time and time again.

Centre Street serves lunch Wednesday through Saturday, but you have to wait till Sunday for their bountiful breakfasts that include Heuvoes Rancheros, Fried Eggs on a buttermilk biscuit, Poached Eggs with crispy cheese grits, and their Nantucket Breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, blueberry pancake, and potato pancake.  Even their coffee is superb.

Dinner during the late fall and winter season (this is one of the few restaurants on the island that stays open year-round) is served Wednesday through Sunday, with Wednesday evenings during the winter reserved for three-course prix fixe meals at just $25.

	Tim and Ruth modify their dinner menu frequently during the year, with new items often introduced on Thursdays.  But there are a couple of house specialties that their patrons insist they keep.  The Warm Goat Cheese Tart is one.  With just four ingredients, it’s simple and simply delicious!  Baked in one of Chef Ruth Pitts’ sensational flaky crusts, this savory tart has a creamy, luxurious texture, yet is surprisingly light and delicate.  Raspberry sauce and fresh berries add vibrant color and a pleasant fruity sweetness. The tart is served on mixed greens tossed with toasted walnuts and a light vinaigrette.
	Another patron favorite is The Smoked Salmon Taco.  A delicious composition, this appetizer builds on a contrast of textures and flavors:  mellow smoked salmon and salty “pops” of capers…warm and crunchy golden brown potato pancake spread with cream cheese and folded over the satiny fish with shreds of cool, crisp lettuce.  It’s lively and very good.
	One of the newer starters is a playful take on sushi minus the raw fish:  Prosciutto Inside Out Roll.  For this, the chefs wrap thin, salty slices of prosciutto around bundles of thin spears of asparagus, roasted tomato, slices of portobello mushroom, and aioli toast.  Drizzles of balsamic mimic soy, and chives and pesto the green of wasabi.  This dish is a fun one to share!
	Also new to the menu and a sure-fire hit is the Mushroom Salad.  Don’t underestimate this because of its simple name:  the blended flavors of the mix of mushrooms, strips of chorizo, and small chunks of manchego cheese all tied together with a robust garlic vinaigrette are sensational.  This could be the perfect appetizer — so good that you long for more, but light enough that it won’t overshadow what arrives next.
	As if anything could overshadow Angus Beef Tenderloin the way Chef Tim Pitts cooks it!  If you consider a good steak to be one of life’s finer pleasures, then you cannot leave the island without dining at Centre Street Bistro for this entree.  The tenderloin is buttery tender and full of big beef flavor.  A dark, rich mushroom sauce is poured overtop, and crumbles of goat cheese and chives are the perfect finishing touch.  The entree is served with polenta crostini anointed with white truffle oil and perfectly cooked snowpeas.
	Some of the Pitts’ most memorable dishes are created from a seasonal palette.  Pecan Crusted Chicken Breast is an autumnal delight.  Crushed pecans make the exterior golden brown and crunchy, while the chicken remains moist and very tender.  Spicy strips of smoky andouille sausage add a touch of heat, and a pool of deep orange butternut squash sauce mellows the flavors.
	The Seared Lamb entree on the current menu is nothing short of inspired.  The lamb is very good—moist and flavorful without being overly gamey—but it is the accompaniments that make this dish spectacular.  Oven-roasted potatoes, carrots, zucchini, asparagus, red peppers, turnips, and onions in a curry sauce that is distinct without being overbearing is the base for the lamb.  Overtop is a red wine chutney with a medley of dried cherries, cranberries, and raisins, plump and juicy from the wine.  The dish has a warm glow of flavors very satisfying for the season.
	Risotto is a common dish that is commonly botched, but if you want to taste this Italian speciality as it should be, then order the Risotto of the Evening.  It takes an experienced and talented chef to achieve the perfect balance of rich creaminess and al dente rice.  Chef Tim Pitts does it just right every time.  We enjoyed a Red Beet Risotto with Duck Breast that was as beautiful as it was delicious.  The vivid magenta risotto had a complexity that would be difficult to achieve with other vegetables.  It’s flavor was bright without any of the mustiness that beets sometimes impart.  Small chunks of red beets added texture and sweetness, and the seared duck breast, with its crisp skin and moist meat, perfectly complemented the risotto.
Don’t think, because of our sampling, that Centre Street Bistro neglects foods from the sea.  Their menu always includes at least two seafood items and one evening special is often designed around whatever has been freshly caught.  Their Salmon (sometimes Flounder) with citrus and ginger over julienne vegetables with soy vinaigrette is hauntingly good. Centre Street Bistro offers a more than respectable wine list, with selections chosen to complement their cuisine.  Most of the several dozen choices are available both by the glass and by the bottle.  And a modest yet pleasing selection of beers is also offered.
	Portions here are generous, so after the first two courses, you may find yourself full.  Sit up straight and take a deep breath because Centre Street Bistro deserves it’s reputation for fabulous desserts—you don’t want to skip the final course.  Offerings change frequently, but Chef Ruth Pitts’ Chocolate Marquis is always among the choices.  Pure indulgence, this is a flourless dessert of souffle-like chocolate wrapped in phyllo, the marquis is served warm drizzled with dark chocolate sauce with coffee ice cream, whipped cream, and raspberry pureé.
	Deliciously seasonal, we also sampled a Pumpkin Cream Cheese Tart, its creamy-smooth spiced pumpkin filling in one of Ruth’s amazing crusts, ...
	...and a not-too-sweet nicely spiced Banana Cake, that was layered with fresh fruit and liberally drizzled with dark chocolate sauce.