Chefs are generally very passionate human beings, and as someone who interviews chefs on a weekly basis, it’s become my second nature to sense that passion. It’s like my very own sixth sense, but instead of ghosts, I see pure, innate passion and creativity. My senses instantly perked up when I met Richard Doucette, the new chef of the Harbor View Hotel. A native of Redding, Chef Doucette has spent the past 10 years developing his craft in Boston, working under some of the best chefs in the industry at Taj Boston, Mandarin Oriental, and most recently, L’Espalier. Chef Doucette has been cooking since he was about 15 years old, learning the craft as he came up through the trenches.
Those trenches taught him discipline, and he is just as precise with his words and actions as I imagine he is in the kitchen. Chef Doucette arrived at the Harbor View Hotel in the spring of 2016 as a sous-chef and quickly moved up the ladder. He left Boston for a change of scenery, and this new position gives him just that. While an executive chef position is filled with responsibilities, Chef Doucette finds the time on a daily basis to walk down to the lighthouse and fish. Yes, you read that correctly. He takes time to stop and take a breather, which is incredibly important not only in a chef’s life, but as a human being in search of a work/life balance.
You can taste that cultivated sense of balance in Chef Doucette’s new fall menu items at Henry’s. Some notable dishes that I urge you to taste either at lunch or dinner:
- Fall Greens ($12) is packed with breakfast radishes, blueberries, red onion, croutons, feta, and verjus. A sweet, salty combination makes for the ideal way to start a meal.
- Porchetta Cuban ($17) might just have become my favorite sandwich in Edgartown. Chef Doucette makes his own porchetta, which in and of itself is a labor of love. Add to that melted Swiss, pickles, and a slathering of mustard pressed into a crunchy baguette, and you have quite a spectacle.
- Roasted ½ Chicken ($28). If you can’t wait for Thanksgiving dinner, head to Henry’s
right now and get the chicken. You can tell quite a lot about a chef from the way he cooks and presents his chicken dish. When eating the acorn squash purée, local cranberries, watercress, and Macomber turnips, you’ll understand the care he puts into this dish. The chicken is compressed and cooked sous vide, making for a moist bird; the cranberry sauce isn’t your mom’s sauce since he infuses it with lemongrass, ginger, and orange blossom, which elevates the dish, and the local Massachusetts turnips, roasted to perfection, bring it all together. Honestly, you can have Thanksgiving dinner every night with this entrée.
- BBQ short rib ($29) is for those of us that miss good, fall-off-the-bone BBQ, and this dish delivers with a seasonal twist. Ancho chile sauce drenched short rib is set atop mashed sweet potato and paired with charred broccoli rabe. The char balances the natural sweetness of the sweet potato and the BBQ sauce, made in house by the chef.
The menu will keep evolving, focusing on local and farm goods. That’s the style of Chef Doucette’s cooking, which pairs well with the entire Harbor View philosophy. Stay tuned for off-season food specials. I think I speak for everyone when I say that Thursdays are the happiest of days, with the $12 fried chicken special. Other specials include Monday $12 Bolognese with housemade ricotta gnocchi; Tuesday $12 taco; Wednesday burgers are buy one, get one free; Friday $12 chicken pot pie; Saturday $18 lobster mac & cheese; and Sunday $16 chef-Inspired supper roast. Mark your calendars, it’s going to be a tasty season!