A monthly newsletter dedicated to Island events and eats by Jenna Sylvia with culinary contributions by Marnely Murray.
Three Questions with Jessica Shai
For those working in the Vineyard’s event world, summer is a season of beautiful celebrations, complicated logistics, long days, and a whole lot of behind-the-scenes magic. And Jessica Shai, founder of GATHER Event Company, is no stranger to that rhythm. Shai’s career began right here on Martha’s Vineyard before taking…
The Last Supper of Summer
Figuring out what to title the articles I write is always the hardest part –writing 1500 words is easy. It’s…
The Island after August
September is here, and you may have had that moment when you realize the summer rush is slowing. It isn’t…
Behind the Season
Sometimes I feel like everyone treats summer like it owes you happiness. The air is…
A pastry chef’s guide to ice cream on Martha’s Vineyard
Few foods capture the feeling of summer on Martha’s Vineyard quite like going out for…
Three Questions with Darya Shelby
Originally from Belarus, Darya H. Shelby found her way to Martha’s Vineyard after studying journalism and graphic design in Europe.…
Salt Air and Good Food: The Ultimate Guide to Eating Outside on Martha’s Vineyard
There is a specific kind of happiness that only reveals itself when you are sitting on a sun-warmed beach blanket…
Three Questions with Zach Sylvia
At Coastal Events MV, successful events are built on two equally important foundations: thoughtful coordination and dependable infrastructure. While one…
Summer at last
It was a February morning in 2026. I peaked my head over a thick blanket to see heavy snowfall outside…
What We Cook When We Celebrate
Be a Proud Ally Promise me this: You won’t celebrate Pride by just trying to make rainbow-shaped and colored foods.…
Sign-up for The Grapevine
A monthly newsletter dedicated to Island events and eats
Jenna Sylvia
Jenna Sylvia is an Island native with a deep love and appreciation for the place she now calls home again. Sylvia grew up working in restaurants and events on Martha’s Vineyard. She then studied journalism at Keene State College in New Hampshire and went on to work in hospitality and events in Boston, before moving back to the Vineyard to work at the Martha’s Vineyard Times. She went on to found an event production company serving the Massachusetts Cape and Islanders – Coastal Events MV. She believes in the beauty of bringing people together, but also the fundamental importance of local journalism.
Marnely Murray
Marnely Murray returns to the MV Times food pages ten years after first writing for us, bringing back her deep love of local kitchens, farms, and the back of the house people that make things delicious on this island. She is a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in New York, who then moved to Martha’s Vineyard for a restaurant job where she met her husband and settled down into the rhythm of seasonal cooking on Martha’s Vineyard. She was the pastry chef at a private golf course in Edgartown for 12 years, while also writing a food blog called Cooking with Books on and off for over a decade working with national brands such as Cabot Cheese, King Arthur Flour, and Sabra Hummus, among others. She dines out at least 2-3 times a week, when supporting local restaurants becomes not her job, but her way of life. Originally from another island, the Dominican Republic, she brings her knowledge, hunger for good food, and thirst for culinary knowledge to us by way of The Grapevine. In 2026 and beyond, she’ll partner with Jenna Sylvia to help guide the newsletter into food-forward waters, celebrating how Martha’s Vineyard eats year-round.