Martha’s Vineyard bakery Rickard’s opens second store in Edgartown

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For a small space, Rickard's in Edgartown offers a lot: breads, sandwiches, salads, desserts, coffee, espresso, and more, even the aprons as seen on employee Julie Cartwright. — Photo by Susan Safford

Since I’ve stopped writing the Good Taste column a year ago, I haven’t been keeping up with the Island food scene as much. When my friend mentioned she had a great lunch from the new Rickard’s in Edgartown, and asked why hadn’t we written about it yet, I knew where I was going one recent Friday for lunch.

The space is great: a copper espresso machine from Italy, sitting behind a marble countertop, greets you on one side, and on the other, a wall of freshly baked bread and a case of desserts.

There’s baguettes; loaves of 16-Grain Hearth, Roasted Onion Asiago Miche, Kalamata Olive, and Sourdough; rolls, sandwich bread, even chocolate croissants. Prices range from a $2.99 baguette to the $6.99 raisin-walnut and cinnamon-raisin. Kate Rickard, co-owner of both Rickard’s (the other in Vineyard Haven) with her husband Gates, explains the more expensive breads are made with more costly ingredients.

The sandwiches for sale are pre-made that day in the Vineyard Haven location. Not a fan of pre-made sandwiches but willing to try, I tried the House-Roasted Beef with arugula, cheddar cheese, tomato, and red onion on ciabatta ($7.50), and it tasted like it was made right then and there. The bread was still fresh and separate from the meat, and since butter is the only condiment in the sandwich, it wasn’t soggy.

Other sandwiches on the board that day were Sorrano Ham and Comte Cheese on a baguette with butter ($8.50); Honey-Roasted Turkey with avocado, cheddar, and tomato on a pretzel roll ($7); and Housemade Hummus, alfalfa sprouts, and cucumber on a 16-grain roll ($6).

There’s always a soup of the day, and their goal is to have one meat and one vegetarian soup to pick from, says Ms. Rickard. Past soups include minestrone, chicken noodle, corn chowder, lentil, chicken dumpling, clam chowder, and black bean. Soups are $4 for a small, $7 for a large.

Coffee and sweets

Rickard’s uses beans from three different coffee companies: a custom-blended Martha’s Vineyard Coffee Company roast, Johnson Brothers Coffee, and Coava Coffee.

As for choosing their coffee selection, “Gates spearheaded it,” Ms. Rickard says. “We contacted the five highest-rated coffee companies in the world, and had our own taste test.” The Rickard’s picked Johnson Brothers and Coava, but they also wanted to sell a roast from an Island company as well.

As for sweets, the bakery has a caseload to drool over as you choose your soup, salad, or sandwich. On any given day, find fruit tarts made with strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, starfruit, and passionfruit; and Frasiers: vanilla cake soaked in kirsch syrup (cherry brandy) mousseline (pastry cream-butter cream), and fresh strawberries on the inside, coated in house-made fruit glaze. Both are $6.50.

Another popular sweet is the power cookie. “We give them to our kids for breakfast, and they think they’re eating cookies,” says Mr. Rickard. Loaded with flax seed, wheat germ, oat bran, raisins, almonds, and whole wheat flour, you don’t have to feel bad eating a few.

If you want to do a little work yourself, the A-List Brownie Mix ($11) lets you make your own Rickard’s brownies by adding two sticks of butter, four eggs, and baking for 15 minutes.

Ms. Rickard was also excited to talk about their Sunday morning special: made-to-order crepes with nutella, strawberries, or plain.

Grand opening

This Friday, April 15, Rickard’s in Edgartown celebrates its grand opening (yes, it’s been open for the past few weeks but now they’re ready for everyone to know). From 8 am to 6 pm, stop by and, with any purchase, get a free coffee drink, and sample their breads and desserts.

Rickard’s in Edgartown is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 8 am to 6 pm, and Sundays 8 am to 4 pm. Close to Main Street, it’s on North Summer Street a bit north of the Second Hand Store and on the opposite side. The Vineyard Haven bakery is open Tuesday through Saturday, 8 am to 5 pm. For more information, call the Vineyard Haven store at 508-693-2955 ext. 1; Edgartown at 508-627-1008, or visit rickardsbakery.com.

Editor’s note:

Last week’s column included information about Chesca’s, the popular North Water Street, Edgartown restaurant that will reopen for the season on Thursday, April 14. The column described the addition of gluten-free items to the menu but failed to make clear that all of the traditional and popular menu items remain.

Jo Maxwell, owner with her husband and chef, David Joyce, told The Times that she recognized that a patron on a gluten-free diet who wanted bread or pasta faced a tough choice, so she added several new menu items that include a gluten-free focaccia bread and pasta. But, the traditional menu remains, and that includes ciabatta bread.

Diners who save room for desert will also be able to choose between a traditional brownie or a gluten-free brownie when ordering one of Chesca’s more popular deserts, a bitter-sweet brownie topped with capucchino ice cream, dark chocolate sauce and homemade whipped cream. For more information go to chescasmv.com or call 508-627-1234.