WEDNESDAY, JULY 31, 2019 The Boston Globe G3
By Sheryl Julian
GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
It takes guts for a restaurant
to offer only three entrees, two
of which are whole fish; the
third is a whole Jonah Crab.
None of this is for the faint of
heart. You do your own boning
and picking.
At Short & Main, a four-
year-old spot in the center of
Gloucester with 61 seats, the
two whole fish are hyperlocal.
One night recently you could
order sea bream (called porgy
northern scup in the trade) or
black sea bass. Both were
caught off our shores. If you ha-
ven’t heard of them or ever
tried them, that’s part of the
mission here, says manager
and partner Matt Cawley. They
want to teach you about foods
you may not already know.
The presentation is fabu-
lous. You get the entire fish on
a platter, head and tail intact,
its skin crisp from the wood-
fired oven (everything on the
menu, including an array of
pizzas, is cooked in this oven).
The fish is surrounded by rotat-
ing garnishes. I had it with cut-
up pieces of corn on the cob,
big red potatoes, Napa cabbage,
and herb salad. The staff will
not fillet the fish for you, as
some restaurants do. “We have
high-level food,” says Cawley,
“but the service is not too for-
mal.” Wait staff will explain
how to do it, give you a large
spoon and blunt knife, and
you’re on your own.
Fish this fresh, cooked this
well, is an admirable endeavor.
The flesh is firm and juicy, the
skin delectable, the flavor briny.
It goes into the back of the wood
oven, says chef Josh Smith,
where the temperature can
reach 850 degrees; a 1½-pound
fish takes only seven minutes.
He lets it sit out for another
three or four minutes to rest.
Short & Main is a sister es-
tablishment of The Market on
Lobster Cove in Annisquam, a
charming restaurant that juts
out into the water. Nico and
Amelia Monday, who met at
Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif.,
when both were working there,
co-own that restaurant and this
one.
Whole fish is just one of the
things Short & Main excels at.
Smith is also cooking slender
leeks on a rack over embers un-
til they turn buttery tender. He
prepares them a number of
ways. I had them on a bed ofcream blended with pecorino
and colatura, which is an Ital-
ian fish sauce made with an-
chovies, straight-up umami that
is added to a dish by the drop.
Smith cooks shaved zucchi-
ni salad to order. Slices of raw
young zucchini are tossed with
olive oil, and layered with chile
pepper, shaved Parmesan, pine
nuts, and mint. First Light
Farm in Hamilton, which sends
zucchini and many other vege-
tables to the restaurant, “cures”
the zucchini first in the field,explains Smith. Growers pick
young zucchini and let it sit in
the shade of the plant for a cou-
ple of days to lose some of its
moisture. When Smith gets it,
he slices the zucchini when an
order comes in and coats it
with olive oil to protect the
moisture that’s left in the vege-
table. You eat it and shake your
head. How can raw zucchini
taste this good?
Local bluefin tuna is
chopped into a tartare with av-
ocado, fennel, beets, and straw-berry vinegar, which sounds
like too much is going on in the
dish, but tastes divine.
The pizzas have a thin crust
with chewy sides made from a
fine dough. A toddler at the ta-
ble beside ours — the chef’s
son, our waitress tells me later
when I ask — sits up at atten-
tion when the pizza is set downin front of him. He has a big
smile. His mother cuts a piece
and puts it on his plate; he
studies the slice thoughtfully as
if he is some sort of pizza au-
thority. Then he eats it with
such gusto and polish that a
film crew should have been
there to shoot it.
Wait till he learns to fillet a
whole fish. He’ll dazzle the oth-
er first-graders.36 Main St.,
Gloucester, 978-281-0044,
http://www.shortandmain.com. Anti-
pasti and salads $6-$13; main
courses $29-$33.Sheryl Julian can be reached at
[email protected].
Follow her on Twitter
@sheryljulian.By Ellen Bhang
GLOBE CORRESPONDENT
When it comes to warm
weather libations, it’s hard to
resist a chilly tumbler of fizz.
Three winemakers — one from
France and two from the Unit-
ed States — produce meticu-
lously crafted bubblies that
take a lighthearted approach
to summer refreshment.
Vincent Alexis of Château
Barouillet has ample tradition
from which to draw — think
eight generations’ worth. The
winemaker, who works with
his father and grandfather on
family properties near the
town of Bergerac in southwest-
ern France, makes a pétillant
naturel (“pét-nat”) called
“Splash!” Juice from organic
semillon grapes ferments at
cold temperatures for a month,
then is bottled before the yeast
has completed its work. As fer-
mentation finishes in bottle,
CO2 is trapped under a crown
cap. Because sediment is not
disgorged, the wine is slightly
cloudy. The bottle’s front label,
done in the style of a vintage
comic book, might lead you to
wonder if the wine is all froth
and no substance; but rest as-
sured that its light-touch pack-
aging houses a skillfully craft-
ed pour.
Andrew Jones crafts a spar-
kler that stands out in a crowd.
The founder and winemaker of
Field Recordings — located in
the urban collective Plough
Wine Group in Paso Robles,
Calif. — makes a pét-nat out of
chardonnay and (surprise!)
Mosaic hops, best known in
the beer world for lending
complex, tropical aromatics.
Other winemakers have used
hops this way, and Jones felt
compelled to run his own ex-
periment. If you think hops-
enhanced wine is just a gim-
mick, know that this efferves-
cent sipper is beguilingly
delicious.
Drew Baker, Lisa Hinton,
and Ashli Johnson — respec-
tively, the farmer, winemaker,
and general manager at Old
Westminster Winery — have
put northern Maryland on the
vinous map once again. The
siblings are making piquette, a
spritzy wine beverage whose
heritage reaches back centu-
ries. Water is added to pomace
(grapes that have already been
pressed once) and fermenta-
tion commences. What results
is a low-alcohol quaff that’s
tart, bubbly, and packaged in a
convenient can. Made primari-
ly from pinot gris and vidal
blanc, with effervescence creat-
ed in tank, it’s easily found on
shop shelves — just in time for
the dog days of August.Field Recordings Dry Hop Pét-
Nat 2018With a frothy head of
mousse, this sparkler offers as-
sertive aromas of tinned ly-
chee, leading to a tart and dry
palate of lemon, crunchy
peach, and subtle notes of
tropical fruit. 10.7 percent al-cohol by volume (ABV).
Around $22. At Porter Square
Wine & Spirits, Cambridge,
617-547-3110; The Wine Press,
Brookline, 617-277-7020.Château Barouillet “Splash!”
2018 Attractively yeasty aro-
mas combine with white pet-
als, yellow tree fruit, and ap-
pealing minerality on the nose.
This confidently effervescent
sipper offers a lovely mouthful
of peach, Meyer lemon, and
sea-spray saltiness. 9.5 percent
ABV.Around $20. At The Wine
Press, Fenway, 857-233-4872;
Blanchards Wines & Spirits,
Jamaica Plain, 617-522-9300.Old Westminster Winery, Skin
Contact Piquette Spritzer
Scents of candied peach, pear
and raspberry lead to a thirst-
quenching palate that’s fizzy
and tart. Chill these cans in an
ice chest and enjoy. 6 percent
ABV.Around $6 per 12-ounce
can. At Porter Square Wine &
Spirits; Dave’s Fresh Pasta,
Somerville, 617-623-0867.Ellen Bhang can be reached at
[email protected].BY THE GLASS
WINES WORTH A POUR BETWEEN $12 AND $30Fizzy summer wines offer
lighthearted refreshment
ELLEN BHANG FOR THE BOSTON GLOBEAt Gloucester’s Short & Main,
it’s the whole fish experience
PHOTOS BY JIM DAVIS/GLOBE STAFFWHAT SHE’S HAVING
Clockwise (from left): Chef
Josh Smith and manager
and partner Matt Cawley;
whole roasted porgy;
margherita pizza; and
shaved zucchini salad.VACATION IN
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JULY17 - AUGUST21, 2019