Clean Slate Eatery
702 MA-28, West Dennis, MA
cleanslateeatery.com
The restaurant is virtually invisible, tucked inside an unmarked little roadside cottage. We entered and were lucky enough to sit at the bar, where we had a front-row view of the staff as they prepared each dish for all the guests at once.
Notice on the Beer menu the highlighting of Miller High Life as being the "Champagne of beers" - classic!
Devil's Purse Skywave Saison
My parents and I ordered the wine pairing, though this was still before Leah drank much wine - she opted instead for this great Belgian Saison from Devil's Purse Brewing.
Local Oyster
Lemon-Horseradish Ice
Incredible. So many times, prepared oyster toppings obscure the flavor. This was the most harmonious prepared oyster dish I'd ever had. Even Leah, who hadn't yet opened her heart to these wonderful bivalves, liked it!
Sweet Roll
Whipped Sorghum Butter
This plump, delicious little piece of bread was like an upscale King's Hawaiian Roll.
Day Boat Scallop
Pan Seared, Purple Cherokee Tomato & Applewood Smoked Bacon Ragout, Curried Cavatelli, Whipped Molasses
An explosion of flavor, and a pleasantly rich surprise right out of the gate. Great lighting coming in from the beautiful sunset outside around this time.
Baby Beets
Honey-Roasted, Basil, Balsamic Gel, Burrata Purée
I think it completely defeats the purpose of burrata to purée it, but otherwise this salad was light and refreshing.
Plaice
Caraway Seed-Dusted, Chilled Buttermilk & Cucumber Soup, Fennel, Dill, Summer Flowers, Rye Breadcrumbs
I found this to be a wonderful contrast of temperature and texture. My mother thought the plaice was mushy, but I thought the delicate texture allowed it to meld into the soup as a cohesive dish, rather than the soup being a "sauce" for the fish, which was not the intent.
Spherized Vodka
Lime, Cranberry
This intermezzo took the form of a fun little single-bite "cocktail". The staff entertained us with the extremely technical explanation of how one spherizes vodka, though damned if I can remember any of it now. I know it involved a mold and a bath in sodium alginate...
Tri-Tip Sirloin
24-hour Sous Vide, Pimento Cheese Grits, Sweet Corn Velouté, Ritz Cracker Crumbs, Pickled Bell Pepper
My god, this was amazing. I feel like steak entrées are usually not that interesting, but this was just incredible. So rich, well-composed, and satisfying.
Mad River Blue Cheese
Celery Leaf Pesto, "Buffalo" Cracker
It was buffalo wings, blue cheese, and celery in the form of an upscale cheese course. Super-fun and creative - the cracker was made with Frank's Red Hot!
Sheet Cake
Buttercream, Sugared Blueberries, Toasted Cocoa-Strawberry Ice Cream
This seemingly simple dessert was in fact very flavorful. The combination of chocolate and strawberry in the ice cream was spectacular.
Pour-Over Coffee
Irish Cream
We ordered a hipster coffee - in lieu of sugar or milk, we paired it with a shot of their homemade Irish cream, which really hit the spot.
