Roadfood_ Revised Edition - Jane Stern [25]
The restaurant is small enough that early in the morning, before the crowds arrive, conversations tend to include diners at the counter and tables and the staff behind the pass-through window to the kitchen. By midmorning, Flav’s is so crowded that you might have a hard time hearing your tablemate talk.
The most interesting regional item on Flav’s menu is anadama bread, which was supposedly invented in Rockport, when a fisherman grew so angry at his lazy wife, Anna, that he baked his own loaf of bread from wheat flour, cornmeal, and molasses…all the while muttering, “Anna, damn her.” Whatever its origins, Flav’s makes a dark, sweet, and highly flavored anadama loaf that tastes just great when toasted and buttered. (Whole loaves are available to take home.) The unique bread is used to make interesting French toast, available plain or topped with strawberries, but in truth, we like simple toasted anadama bread better. The egg dip, frying, and strawberry topping tend to detract from the solid Yankee character of the bread itself. Other good breakfasts include elegant, plate-wide pancakes (buttermilk, blueberry, or chocolate chip) and a warm pecan roll that is served adrip with caramel frosting.
Four Seas
360 S. Main St.
508–775–1394
Centerville, MA
LD (summer only) | $
Long inventories on the inside and outside walls enumerate which of several dozen flavors are available that day: vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, of course; maple walnut, black raspberry, and other fairly familiar names; plus such curious house specialties as penuche pecan and frozen pudding; and, on occasion, fresh cantaloupe. Likewise, the list of sundae sauces ranges from the familiar—hot milk chocolate (aka hot fudge) and hot butterscotch—to such soda-fountain Victoriana as claret, wild cherry, and soft walnuts in maple syrup. Frappes and milk shake flavors are also itemized—all are available plain, minted, or malted—and if you’re not from around here, you need to know that a milk shake means nothing but a flavored syrup and milk; a frappe is what most of the rest of us know as a milkshake: flavoring, milk, and ice cream blended together.
Sundaes are a delight; claret sauce on chocolate ice cream is our undoing. Frappes are expertly blended. But the pride of Four Seas are the cones: small (one generous globe), large (one extra-big triangle-shaped scoop), or double (two globes); the last is the maximum amount of ice cream any ordinary-size cone can bear. It is a pleasure to watch the boys and girls behind the counter construct the cones. They have perfected the correct circular scooping motion to retrieve just the right amount from the bucket, packed tight and even, and they know exactly how to use the scoop to force it onto the cone for maximum adherence and minimum drippage.
Kelly’s Roast Beef
410 Revere Beach Blvd.
781–284–9129
Revere, MA
LD | $
There are a couple of other Kelly’s branches, but there is no comparison to the charm of the Kelly’s at Revere Beach, especially on a warm spring weekend when gulls screech overhead and occasionally panhandle from the sky over diners who don’t closely guard their meals. The salty air of the ocean wafts in to add ineffable savor to the roast beef sandwiches, and the sun shines down, making the roast beef’s special sauce glisten. While there is no indoor dining at Kelly’s, the pavilions at the broad beach across the street are one of the nicest dining areas a Roadfood devotee could hope for.
The beef sandwich is one of the North