New England’s Best Food Towns

by Hannah Palmer Egan

When people think about food in New England, they inevitably conjure rolling fields, farm-to-table restaurants, and seaside shellfish shacks. Of course, you will find those here, sprinkled throughout the Northeast’s gentle mountains and rugged coastlines. And the region’s small cities — Providence, Portland, Cambridge, and Burlington, among others — are well known for their vibrant dining scenes. But sometimes a visitor stumbles into a two-horse town that holds culinary charms beyond what one might expect. This list highlights those places where small communities parlay local talent into dining scenes that seem better suited to a larger city, or where something — in the water, the soil, or the character of the people — has fostered a culture of excellence among farmers and other food and beverage producers.

VERMONT

Greensboro

Every Wednesday through Saturday, beer pilgrims trek over the frost-heaved road to Hill Farmstead Brewery to sample Shaun Hill’s varied but always-brilliant beers. Nearby — also on land long stewarded by the Hill family — Andy and Mateo Kehler of Jasper Hill Farm harden milk from their 45-cow Ayrshire herd into Bayley Hazen Blue, Harbison, and other world-class cheeses. In their cellars, time and enzymes transform curds produced elsewhere into prizewinning blocks such as Cabot’s clothbound cheddar. While the cellars aren’t open to the public, they play host to educational programming including four-day cheese camps and cheesemaking coursework through Sterling College’s School of the New American Farmstead.

Although Greensboro is something of a producer’s hub, a restaurant destination it is not. However, you can grab (excellent) sandwiches from Willey’s Store or well-crafted soups, salads, and comfort foods at the Highland Center for the Arts’ Hardwick Street Café. Perhaps the most complete meal can be found — on Friday and Saturday nights only — at the Highland Lodge, where locals and “summer people” gather for classed-up bar snacks (cheese fondue, burgers, brisket), along with Hill’s beers, Vermont ciders, and classic cocktails spiked with booze made nearby at Caledonia Spirits.

Waterbury

Nowhere in Vermont is pub culture more entrenched than in Waterbury, where burgers and beer have helped fuel the town’s transformation from a services hub tucked between ski towns to a bona fide beer destination. And while the original up-and-comer brewpub, the Alchemist, was blown away by Hurricane Irene in 2011, that brewery still produces its coveted cans of Heady Topper elsewhere in town. Visitors can snag four-packs at the Alchemist’s snazzy new brewery and visitor center just over the town line, in Stowe. Replacing the Alchemist at 23 Main Street is Prohibition Pig, where the wafting scent of fat-laced smoke draws visitors for meaty fare and proper libations nightly. At the brewery out back, guests tuck into bowls of pozole and smoked turkey tacos, along with pints of Downtown Piggy Brown ale. Also worth visiting: the Waterbury Reservoir, Blackback Pub, and Zenbarn, where the draft lists are long, the cocktails strong, the burgers local, and the bartenders friendly. Seeking something a little more high-end? Hit up Hen of the Wood, where, in the bowels of a restored grist mill, chef Eric Warnstedt elevates farm-fresh produce and meats into edible art. Need something sweet to top it all off? Head to Ben & Jerry’s for a cone of Cherry Garcia.

NEW HAMPSHIRE

Portsmouth

You could begin a daylong food tour of Portsmouth with Turkish coffee at Caffe Kilim, or Viennese strudel at Kaffee Vonsolln, or perhaps ice cream macarons at La Maison Navarre…. When it comes to morning sweets, this Seacoast city offers an embarrassment of riches. Then again, it goes on like that all day. For dinner, hit up Moxy, where Matt Loui unites seemingly disparate flavors in tantalizing tapas (think: bluefin tuna with autumn husk cherries, daikon, and rosemary). At Black Trumpet, chef Evan Mallett builds his larder around the changing ingredients available over eight hyperlocal “microseasons.” Both Moxy and Black Trumpet have received numerous James Beard nominations for their ambitious yet understated plates. For fish, check out Jumpin’ Jay’s Fish Café or the raw bar at the Franklin, or hit up Surf Restaurant for chowder, baked haddock, sushi, or shrimp ramen. To drink? Beer. Sip aromatic ales in the mod-cool but friendly digs at Great Rhythm Brewing Co., or sessionable suds inside the quirky tasting room at Liar’s Bench Beer. There’s also Smuttynose sibling Portsmouth Brewery, and Beara Irish Brewing Co…. Is your head spinning yet? Yes? We’ll end here, but list could go on.

MAINE

Kennebunkport

For most visitors, vacations in Maine involve a holy trinity of North Atlantic eats: lobsters, fried clams, ice cream. In Kennebunkport, you could score all of these — while listening to the music of swooping seagulls and the water lapping the pilings below your feet — seated in an Adirondack chair at Arundel Wharf Restaurant. If you’re prone to specializing, you could trek from the Clam Shack to Rococo Artisan Ice Cream to Nunan’s Lobster Hut in quaint Cape Porpoise. After that, head toward the water for drinks at Pete Morency’s old-school sporty Ramp Bar & Grill — and maybe stick around for Jonah crab cakes and mussels with chorizo at adjacent sister restaurant Pier 77. For a more landlocked experience, head to Earth at Hidden Pond for gorgeous farm-to-table meals, or indulge in romance at the White Barn Restaurant. Fancy dinner on a boat? Get your oyster on beneath the soaring masts of the S.S. Spirit of Massachusetts. And if you’re looking for something to while away the hours between meals, there are beaches, too.

Rockland/Camden/Rockport

The local chamber of commerce claims that, taken together, the towns of Rockland, Camden, and Rockport have more restaurants per capita — over 90, at last count — than anywhere else in America. Each summer, tourists crowd the streets for waterfront lobster rolls, clams, and beer; at night, they find comfort in Melissa Kelly’s classed-up Italian plates at Primo, or in Maine shrimp dumplings and bomber maki and sashimi at Suzuki’s. The feeding frenzy reaches a fever pitch during Rockland’s Maine Lobster Festival (August 1–5 this year), where the diversions range from subdued tastings and live jazz to cooking (and eating!) competitions, lobster crate races, and a midway filled with rides, fried delicacies, and as many crustaceans as you dare eat. But the beat goes on even after Labor Day. In winter, cozy up to a hefty imperial stout at Rock Harbor Brewing Co.’s Main Street brewpub; or with pizza, pasta, and panzanella from Eataly alum Siddharta Rumma at Ada’s Kitchen.

MASSACHUSETTS

Great Barrington

In southwestern Massachusetts, Great Barrington balances the character of a longtime elite vacation hub with a back-to-the-land ethos that creates a food culture that’s at once cosmopolitan and homespun. In 1981, the Berkshire Co-op opened as a grassroots effort with 160 families; today it’s a well-funded, full-service locavore grocery stocking everything from lamb to red-hot kimchi. The homegrown bounty is also available in full color on Railroad Street, known locally as “Restaurant Row.” Sit for a Kyoto-style kaiseki dinner served on handcrafted stoneware at Bizen or sup on confit potatoes and caviar or braised beef shank at Allium. Savor the solar-powered blond, brown, or pale ales at Barrington Brewery & Restaurant, or head down Main Street for broiled oysters or brick chicken at the Prairie Whale.

Provincetown

If you’re looking to partake in baskets of just-dug steamer clams, rinsed in salty brine (with or without garlic and herbs) and awash in butter, there’s no place quite like Cape Cod. When the tide is low, dig these yourself — with a permit from Town Hall — on the tidal flats at the end of the land … or find them at pretty much any restaurant in town. And there’s more to P-town than just clams: There’s pillowy fried dough at Provincetown Portuguese Bakery; crustaceans and codfish au gratin on the high deck at the Lobster Pot; backyard banh mi served with ocean views at the Canteen; oysters with caviar amid a clutter of stained glass, carousel horses, and hanging plants at Napi’s. What’s more, if you time it right (specifically, during mid-August’s annual Carnival), you can take it all in with catcalls from stiletto-stomping drag queens, too.

CONNECTICUT

Litchfield

Historic charm and picturesque rolling hills have made Litchfield a regular escape for New York literary types for the past 50-odd years. On a warm summer’s eve, you might mingle with famous people over cocktails and cauliflower tempura on the veranda at West Street Grill, or while sinking a spoon into a bowl of handmade toasted-almond ice cream at Peaches n’ Cream. But the most compelling gastronomic lure around here is Arethusa Farm, where a thriving food business grew largely by happenstance. In 1999, Manolo Blahnik execs George Malkemus and Anthony Yurgaitis purchased the old Webster farm across from their home in Bantam to keep it from being developed. One thing led to another: Two years later they reintroduced cows to the land, then in 2009 they started bottling the milk — and making award-winning ice cream, cheese, yogurt, and butter. By 2014, the operation included a retail shop in town; a café, Arethusa a Mano; and the restaurant Arethusa al Tavolo, where chef Dan Magill’s chicken liver dumplings, butter-poached monkfish, and crisped lamb spare ribs have put Bantam on the map as a dining destination for locals and well-heeled visitors alike.

RHODE ISLAND

Newport

Visiting Rhode Island’s glittering one-percenter playground — where peak-season hotel stays ring in at $250 per night or better — can be spendy. But throw down some cash, and you’re in for a storied mix of culture and cuisine. The local fare takes center stage with lots of Gilded Age razzle-dazzle at the Newport Mansions Wine and Food Festival each fall. Rub elbows with winemakers and tastemakers at a grand tasting on the cliffs above Sheep Point Cove, or take in a gala feast at the historic Rosecliff manse. Those seeking something more plebian could spend days eating their way through Newport’s cobblestone streets. Spend a languid afternoon pairing old-world vintages with elegant snacks on the harbor at wine bar Fluke. On Thames Street, hit up Midtown Oyster Bar for just-caught New England shellfish, or gather friends for scallop ceviche, grilled shrimp, and other Spanish-style tapas at La Vasca in Washington Square. Thirsty? Head to Newport Distilling to sample its sought-after Thomas Tew rums and Sea Fog whiskey.

Little Compton

Across the Sakonnet River from Newport, Little Compton is a portrait of waterfront New England idyll: waves crashing into rocky shorelines, interrupted by brief stretches of sandy beach; kids splashing in the cold spray to utter exhaustion. The food is as timeless, from fried clam baskets at Evelyn’s Drive-In to scoops of frozen black-raspberry bliss at Gray’s Ice Cream in nearby Tiverton; for home cooks, dinner comes from Sakonnet Lobster Co. But this coastal getaway is also a rich agricultural microregion spread across two states. The mild climate is similar to that of central France and just as friendly to viticulture: Quietly, a fledgling winemaking tradition has taken root in the sandy soil. Find ripe, round reds at Carolyn’s Sakonnet Vineyard in Little Compton, or head north toWestport Rivers Winery in Westport, Massachusetts, for food-friendly sparkling chardonnays. Bop down any of the winding back roads for apples, berries, or fresh cheeses at dozens of farm stands. Or, for an inexpensive international adventure, day-trip to New Bedford for a Portuguese feast. There, you’ll find littlenecks in delicate, savory broth; rotisserie chicken; stewed conch; and grilled octopus — all served over paper placemats printed with ads for wreckers and rug steamers — in the raucous open dining rooms at Alianca, Antonio’s, or Churrascaria Novo Mundo, among others.