Story and Photography By Terry Pommett

During this time when Nantucket Arts Council showcases the island’s arts through its 15th annual Nantucket Arts Festival, we asked nine local artists—each well known to regular patrons of Nantucket’s more than 100 art galleries—to share how they work and to tell us what inspires them.

Within this group, artistic styles range from formal portraiture to highly abstract imagery, created in many different media. Through the lenses of Nantucket photographer Terry Pommett, we offer a look inside the working studios where these artists create works that eventually make their way onto gallery walls here and elsewhere. The breadth and depth of their work, in our opinion, well represents the great variety of the serious artists and their work to be found on Nantucket today.

Gail Sharretts, Painter
I am largely inspired by landscapes I love to travel to new places to discover challenges [as an artist]… the Mediterranean blues in southern France, the melancholy of Ireland or all the beautiful colors of India. This direct experience with the landscape influences and informs all of my abstract painting.

Turning inward, an internal dialog can begin where intellect and emotion meet. My inspiration is not limited to the landscape, however. I will paint almost anything that catches my interest—vintage cameras, typewriters, fruit, flowers and the occasional portrait commission.

Some pieces will be finished within three to ten sessions; abstract paintings can sometimes take up to two years.

I often have to just revisit a painting over and over again to fully understand what it is trying to say to me. … My first true love was sculpture. I work in clay and then cast in plaster, which then will be cast in bronze. I am experimenting with casting methods such as cement or self-hardening clays so that I can preserve the immediacy and movement in the clay, resulting in a more abstract and less figurative end product.

Call 508-228- 9843 to visit her gallery or see her work at gailsharretts.com.

Sara Boyce, Gallery Owner
The true mark of a gifted portrait artist is their ability to capture and portray personality in a two-dimensional painting, mixed media work or a three-dimensional statue.

Does the glint in the eye come out; can you tell whether they are serious, lighthearted or passionate? There are special challenges in being a portrait artist.

Each artist works differently, some in the traditional manner from life, and some work with a combination of sittings and photographs. We act as a broker between the client and the artist, so the artist can focus on creating and the client can focus on the end result: the anticipated portrait. We work with the client to choose an artist who will create a portrait in the style and medium they like. We arrange the details all the way through to working with the client to select the appropriate frame for their new portrait. The real treasure in portraiture is that portraits last… and become an instant heirloom that usually follows the subject through their life and then lives on with a relative.

Visit Brigham Galleries at 54 Centre Street or see brighamgalleries.com.

Alison Hall Cooley, Painter
I am a total two-timer. This year in particular, I have been working equally in mixed media on paper and oil on canvas. I always have multiple pieces in the works.I just paint, rotate, paint, let it breathe, paint, and then finally something comes to a close.

My non-representational work really began with large-scale landscape drawing as a student at Sarah Lawrence College. That naturally morphed into pen and ink with watercolor, then I just kept adding things like pastel, gesso, gouache and pencil.

I like the immediacy of building layers in mixed media and the ability to roll, tear, and move the paper. Oil painting is a goopier, glossier, slower process.I am most satisfied when I am completely absorbed in my work and I find a new mark, new shape, or new color—small things that point you to the next step. My methods require music, music and music. I paint sitting on the floor with my stuff all around me. I am very messy. My inspiration comes from nature that I see everyday: poetry, melodies, old buildings, worn-out surfaces, feathers, satin shoes, cake frosting … the usual stuff.

See her work at alisonhallcooley.com or at Old Spouter Gallery, 118 Orange Street.

Joanna Kane, Painter
Drawing became a serious habit during junior high and high school. It was my way of paying attention while not paying attention. I usually work with “Court TV” on, which I think duplicates to some extent the conditions in high school, where I was in a concentrated state of listening to someone talk while creating at the same time. Now it really doesn’t matter whether I am paying attention. I create a certain level of order in my studio that slowly gives way to chaos. My work is an arrangement of color, shape, line and texture, which hopefully all look like they are somewhat surprised to be next to each other.

I primarily work with milk paint, which is a combination of natural pigment, lime and milk powder. It has to be hand mixed with water and then strained. My paintings can vary in work from three hours to 20 hours. Inspiration comes directly from the painting I am working on. The paintings and I are in a serious conversation and often a duel. We are trying to outdo the other. Hopefully, I can keep blowing my own mind and land somewhere new on a consistent basis.

See her work at Old Spouter Gallery, 118 Orange Street.

Reggie Levine, Mixed Media
Before starting a painting, I usually will make a series of rough sketches in order to get some idea of how to proceed. Generally I rough out the composition, covering the entire surface with thin, watery pigment. I try to be as free as possible with no attempt at finish. The hope is to keep the original spontaneity and not lose that freshness and immediacy developing the painting.

For the past five years or so, I have concentrated on collage, which involves mixed media. Last year I began a series of assemblages, which were featured at my solo exhibition at the Graficas gallery. These pieces were my first serious attempt at three dimensionality even though they are dependent and are an extension of my two-dimensional work. Inspiration is to be found almost anywhere at any time. In my case, other art is a major catalyst. Images to be found in magazines, newspapers or TV can start the process.

My garden in particular and the island in general has inspired and given me the ingredients to develop and incorporate into my work. Music has taught me a great deal, particularly Bach, about structure and the richness of texture.

See his work at Graficus Gallery, 1 Old South Wharf.

Michael Rich, Painter
At the Rhode Island School of Design in the late ‘80s we were taken to the museum to look at the drawing collection. Master drawings by Degas and Van Gogh were passed around the room, without glass or framing, almost like playing cards.

In awe, I began at that moment what has become a long exploration of the language of drawing and painting. Today, I have two bodies of work, which are in constant dialogue with one another. The first are the canvases, painted in oil and wax. The second consists of mixed-media “drawings” in a variety of water-based materials.

In both media, I begin first with drawing, making marks in an automatic fashion, without preconception or expectations. Colors are mixed in large puddles or bowls then splashed and poured in the early layers. From there, I begin a long process of adding color and marks, bits of drawing, scraping away or sanding—or in the case of the paper works—editing the initial layers by painting over the less satisfactory parts with gesso. The paintings that result are not abstract scenes but simply shapes and marks, which might suggest a landscape and a human connection to space and place.

See his work at SouthWharf Gallery, 3 India Street, or visit michael-rich.com.

Pamela Pindell, Painter
I had a very unusual and terrific high school teacher who brought in people and sat them on a table, [then] we drew and painted watercolor from life.

I remember a middle aged man and an old woman in a head wrap in particular, and I got a good likeness with both. I guess that did it for me: the surprise and intrigue.

I am attracted to many kinds of people. I don’t think I would be able to say why, except that I usually find them beautiful. Everyone is difficult. I set something or someone up in my studio and just start painting. I used to draw first, but haven’t done that for some time.

Sometimes I’ll sit in my garden and paint for the brief time that the light comes from the same direction. The best subjects for me to paint were my daughters. I started painting them when they were 4 and 6 years old, bribing them, then gifting at the end of a picture. I have gotten so I can get a likeness in one or two sittings, and have many, many paintings of them. This past winter I began painting my grandchildren.

See her work at The Gallery at Four India Street or visit galleryatfourindia.com.

Christine Sanford, Painter

I started painting about seven years ago. I am mainly self-taught, but I have taken many painting, drawing and critique workshops and classes at the Artists, Association of Nantucket.

My commitment to trying to establish a painting language of my own has been exciting. I would describe my paintings as color meditations. Above all, I value my personal experience in the studio. I find inspiration from nature—flora and fauna, antique woven textiles and quilts and looking at other paintings.

Presently I am most interested in painting with oils on canvas or board. Occasionally I will paint with watercolor. I begin with an undercoat of acrylic paint,dividing the canvas into three general areas. Then I begin the long process of building up the surface with oil paint mixed with wax, various mediums and turpentine. I would describe my style as pentimento—the technique of layering color. I use lots of mark-making tools besides regular painting brushes.

These days I have been using mini brooms for their stiff bristles and wide covering capabilities. Having them in my studio makes me laugh because at one time I started collecting brooms, never imaging that someday I would be painting with them!

See her work at South Wharf Gallery, 3 India Street, or visit southwharfgallery.com.

Diane Dicker, Painter
I always loved painting and drawing but it didn’t occur to me that I could do this as a profession until I went to Australia 22 years ago on a year’s “working holiday.” There, I sold or bartered murals and paintings to fund my travels.

Three years later, I was living in Paris, where I stayed for the next 10 years. For the first two years, I studied painting in a private ‘Atelier,’ learning 15th and 16th century, ‘old master’ techniques in oil and fresco. I also studied morphology [anatomy] and sculpture. I work mainly in oil for my portraits, but also watercolor, fresco and dry-point etching, which I find is a great forum for pure drawing. Each brings a totally different quality to a subject.

The realm of portraiture is inherently charged with the human condition. I think portraiture takes the painter to a level of intimacy with the client that most painters are either not interested in or don’t want to deal with. When you’re painting a portrait, that person becomes a part of your life for the duration of the painting, and sometimes beyond. This doesn’t appeal to everyone, but I like it.

See her work at dianedicker.com or call her at 508-325-7098.

By Lyndon Dupuis
Photography By Nathan Coe

In 1929, two artistic and intriguing young ladies arrived from Philadelphia to summer on Nantucket. Immediately drawn to the island as being a superb place to paint, sisters Hanna and Gertrude Monahgan took a studio on Commercial Wharf and became active members of the summer Nantucket Art Colony, exhibiting at the Candle Street Studio and Easy Street Gallery.

Several years later, the “strangers”—as all off-islanders were called then—unwittingly created a commotion such as the island had never seen. Nantucket at that time was still a bastion of the religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, whose members took pride in their tolerance, which was one of the sect’s guiding principles. Greater Light

But Nantucket was also an isolated small town, still firmly entrenched in the Victorian era and not partial to change. The cause of the ruckus? One summer’s day, while following a young cow herder who was prodding his charges up Main Street, the sisters stumbled upon the dilapidated barn that was home to the cows. It was also a delight to their eyes. Immediately, they envisioned a glorious, European-style summer villa within the framework of the old building and persuaded its reluctant owner, a Main Street grocer named William Holland, to sell the barn to them.

It may be that “Greater Light,” the house Hanna and Gertrude designed and set about to build within the barn, was considered by the natives to be Nantucket’s first “trophy house.” And neither it nor the sisters were much appreciated in their day. Many grand houses, built mostly by ships’ captains during the prosperous whaling era, already graced the streets of Nantucket. Those, however, were built according to the architectural norms on the island: restrained colonial, Georgian, Federal or neo-classical styles. Greater Light

Even though those homes might have been lovingly filled with Chinese and other Asian objets d’art, their owners for the most part shunned fanciful ornamentation as excessive and as an obstacle to one’s spiritual health. progressive and enlightened mother encouraged them to pursue their intellectual and artistic leanings while being guided by their “Inner Light,” or the presence of God within the individual mind and heart.

That was a fundamental distinction of their faith, as described by the 17th century founder of Quakerism, Englishman George Fox. In her autobiographical book “Greater Light on Nantucket Island,” Hanna wrote, “In the town where we lived [as youth], the social world and the size of the pocketbook became the paramount issues. Mother said that her little family should not grow up with such notions.”

The notions they grew up with included equality between men and women, a lack of snobbery, the pursuit of truth and the belief that the Holy Spirit mediated Jesus Christ and guided them in their ways. The sisters’ love of art did tend to alienate them from their Quaker community, which stressed plain dress and décor, but they remained undeterred in their passions. Their Inner Light guided the fortunate sisters to The Philadelphia School of Design for Women and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and to a residency at the prestigious MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire.

They enjoyed traveling abroad with their parents while in their teens, and later their talents earned them educational traveling fellowships. Their exposure to foreign arts and architecture endowed them with a great wellspring of beauty and design from which to draw.

Immediately, they envisioned a glorious, European-style summer villa within the framework of the old building and persuaded its reluctant owner, a Main Street grocer named William Holland, to sell the barn to them. It may be that “Greater Light,” the house Hanna and Gertrude designed and set about to build within the barn, was considered by the natives to be Nantucket’s first “trophy house.”

And neither it nor the sisters were much appreciated in their day. Many grand houses, built mostly by ships’ captains during the prosperous whaling era, already graced the streets of Nantucket. Those, however, were built according to the architectural norms on the island: restrained colonial, Georgian, Federal or neo-classical styles. Even though those homes might have been lovingly filled with Chinese and other Asian objets d’art, their owners for the most part shunned fanciful ornamentation as excessive and as an obstacle to one’s spiritual health.

But the Monaghans’ house was destined to be something entirely different.When onlookers saw extraordinary materials such as elaborate, gold polychrome Venetian columns and stained glass windows being carted in, they were aghast. Observers’ biggest source of consternation seemed to be that what they were building—or to be more exact, remodeling so lavishly—was a cow and pig barn. “Unheard of! Once a pig barn,always a pig barn,” declared one of theisland’s architectural gurus.

Guided by the light

Hanna and Gertrude had grown up comfortably in a devout and educated Pennsylvania Quaker family. Their progressive and enlightened mother encouraged them to pursue their intellectual and artistic leanings while being guided by their “Inner Light,” or the presence of God within the individual mind and heart.

That was a fundamental distinction of their faith, as described by the 17th–century founder of Quakerism, Englishman George Fox. In her autobiographical book “Greater Light on Nantucket Island,” Hanna wrote, “In the town where we lived [as youth], the social world and the size of the pocketbook became the paramount issues. Mother said that her little family should not grow up with such notions.

”The notions they grew up with included equality between men and women, a lack of snobbery, the pursuit of truth and the belief that the Holy Spirit mediated Jesus Christ and guided them in their ways. The sisters’ love of art did tend to alienate them from their Quaker community, which stressed plain dress and décor, but they remained undeterred in their passions. Their Inner Light guided the fortunate sisters to The Philadelphia School of Design for Women and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and to a residency at the prestigious MacDowell Colony in New Hampshire. They enjoyed traveling abroad with their parents while in their teens, and later their talents earned them educational traveling fellowships. Their exposure to foreign arts and architecture endowed them with a great wellspring of beauty and design from which to draw.

Island-wide ‘drift’

After persuading the grocer Holland to sell to them, the sisters hired a Greek builder named Mack Paradis and began to plan their dream house. Hanna casually assured the builder, “No one will notice us.”

She could not have been more wrong. As they proceeded, the project naturally aroused great curiosity among their neighbors, but it hardly ended there. Daily, the winds of “the drift,” as news and gossip were called then, bore ever more disparaging criticism of the Monaghans and their house. Some sneaked onto the property to spy. “Peepers” watched the Monaghans through the cracks in their garden fence.

An enterprising fellow with a tall surrey drove other curious townsfolk by so they could get a really good look, a practice that he continued for years after the Monaghans settled in. The sisters sometimes heard insults hurled from strollers on the street. A neighbor who barely deigned to speak to them continued to beat a path across their land, usually leaving their gate open and freeing their curious greyhound, which caused them great difficulty. Through it all, the “girls,” as they were called, never lost faith in their vision and in their Inner Light, which they believed to continually inform the creation of their home. They devoutly believed that the Creator of all the beauty in the universe loved art and was present in all acts of creativity.

Indeed, many of the exquisite architectural features they incorporated appeared serendipitously. A few weeks before their first visit to the island, Hanna had impulsively bought and stored two 12-foot-tall ornate gates with no place to use them. They eventually embraced the patio. Other items appeared regularly when needed. As Hanna recounted in her book, just as she and Gertrude realized their desire for a 16-foot-long iron railing, without the slightest idea how to acquire it, the phone rang “like a clap of thunder.” The owner of a demolition company was calling to ask if they wanted a 16-foot iron balcony rail complete with its stair railing—exactly what they needed to complete the balcony and staircase from the patio to the house.

Their gold Venetian columns, accidentally discovered on one of their junkyard forays, became the pillars that anchored the handsome living room fireplace. Two smaller ones serve the same function around the patio-level fireplace. Stained glass windows, exquisite tiles, old brick and other features tended to show up in unexpected ways, verifying their certainty that a “Divine Mind” was guiding it all. Through it all, Paradis and his excellent team of craftsman did what the sisters directed. An elderly and renowned “lady gardener” defied local scoffers to design and install the lovely gardens, which are kept up today.

Exuberant style

In her excellent article about Greater Light, published in the summer of 1991 in Historic Nantucket, writer Gayle Michael described the finished product:“The design elements are reminiscent of the philosophy of the Arts and Crafts movement of the early 20th century. Three parallel elements of this period are preoccupation with light, the notion of indoor-outdoor living spaces, and the use and development of gardens. The types of fenestration used illuminate the sisters’ need to create the play of light and shadow and the play of colors on surfaces, in addition to physically interpreting the connotations of the Greater Light.” Angela Mazaris, in the same publication dated 2001, said “Greater Light can be understood as a physical embodiment of a spiritual vision.”

The house was conceived as the forwardthinking Monaghans’ personal refuge, but also as a stage for parties and performances. Both the two-story great hall with its large beams and interior balconies, and the generous patio with its iron balcony, served the sisters well for many decades. These two free-spirited Quakers and their friends acted, read poetry, played music, sang, danced and celebrated art. Many gala events enlivened their enchanting retreat, including teas, garden parties and candlelit concerts held to benefit the Nantucket Historical Association, which had been founded four decades earlier.

The Monaghans bequeathed Greater Light to the Nantucket Historical Association after Gertrude’s death in 1962 and Hanna’s in 1972. Filled with original furnishings, the house was open to the public from 1974 to 1994, when it was closed for major structural repairs and restoration. It is now scheduled for its first major renovation and will be used “in all ways possible to benefit the public,” as Hanna requested. Hanna Monaghan’s “Greater Light on Nantucket,” about their lengthy Nantucket adventure, is dedicated to her sister Gertrude with the words: “As together we created the house from ‘such stuff as dreams are made of.’”

By William Ferrall
Photography By Larry Cronin

For Nantucket homeowners Beverly Hall and Sascha Ilich, the three fresh water gardens created on their property by Nantucket photographer and designer Larry Cronin “represent the trinity of love, life and beyond,” Hall told the Boston Globe last year.

Cronin appreciated that particular portrayal of his work. After 35 years with a camera in his hands and with 25 years spent shaping watery oases, Cronin said he still marvels at “nature’s majesty through the lens.

“I feel a connection to the pulse of life through nature, in all seasons, with my camera or while creating water gardens,” he wrote about his water garden designs. Cronin creates balanced mini-ecosystems that incorporate aquatic and wetland plants, koi fish and amphibian life, stonework or architectural elements and still or moving water.

As one who keeps an “active curiosity” in maritime,Nantucket and Native American history, Cronin assured that his designs often reflect those cultures, and they integrate his concerns as a naturalist.

His accomplishments in creating lush, liquid pools of flora and fauna have achieved their own splendor. Cronin shares that with enthusiasts at least twice annually through island-wide tours of his water gardens, under the auspices of Nantucket Island School of the Arts & Design.

At each stop of the tour, Cronin provides listeners with that location’s place in Nantucket history,noting native wildlife to be found in the area and elements of the surrounding environment. During the Nantucket Arts Festival, on Thursday, October 4, Cronin reprises his “Lotus, Koi & Sounds of Water” tour to benefit NISDA, its studio facilities and its scholarships for children. Suggested donation for the tours is $50, which is tax-deductible. Call 508-325-6659 for more information.

By Marli Guzetta, with Jeannette Garneau
Photography By Laurie Richards

A Buffalo Bills flag marks the Epsten residence in Dionis, representing both the football team and the Nantucket outdoor family summers cherished by Buffalo native, Sue McCollum.

“Growing up in Buffalo, like here, we spent much of our summers outside,” said McCollum, who gathered together her family and friends for a drink outdoors on Nantucket to begin the family’s celebration of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanah —a time to look back and a time to look forward.

“It is different than the end-of-year, December 31, New Year’s celebrations we all know,” said McCollum, an Irish Catholic who married into the Jewish family of her husband Todd Epsten. “It is more about reflection than celebration. We take time to consider our last year: what we would do the same; what we might do differently. It’s a happy, yet serious holiday, and a holiday about sharing a meal with those important to us.”

On the Jewish holiday, Nantucket was the perfect place for the Epsten family members to commune with each other and friends including Becky Becker, Todd’s parents Bobby and Jackee Epsten, Todd’s sister and her husband Judy and Bill McLoughlin, and their sons Michael and Brian Epsten.

“Here, we can relax and spend uninterrupted time with extended family and friends,” McCollum said. “I also like the simplicity and quality of life Nantucket offers. Nothing compares to a run through Sanford farm or simply down Eel Point Road, or riding your bike through foggy bike paths. Nantucket is a special place to us.

” As the sun set, with a fall chill sneaking into the late summer sky, the company moved in from the patio and to a table set with beautiful, fresh flowers from Flowers on Chestnut and a warm loaf of challah bread, customarily broken during Jewish holidays and on the Sabbath. McCollum prepared a main dish of chicken Marbella with classic Mediterranean ingredients including garlic, green olives, capers, prunes and oregano. “The recipe came from my children’s dentist,” McCollum said. “It has some sweetness to it.”

Because the holiday occurred while the family was on island this summer, McCollum relied on local vendors for some of the other foods she’d traditionally prepare for the Jewish holidays while at home in St. Louis. From Taste of Nantucket, she procured brisket, salmon with chopped eggs, roasted red potatoes and apple and walnut salad. “She called me with loose suggestions,” said Kimberly Reed, owner of Taste of Nantucket. “I did some research on my end for some suitable dishes that would work for the evening she was planning.”

The carrot cake and the challah bread came fresh from Something Natural. But the honey cake McCollum saved for herself. “Honey cake is made for Rosh Hashanah to ensure a sweet New Year, but also prepared for special occasions,” said McCollum, who identified Rosh Hashanah as her favorite Jewish holiday.

“In the end we recognize and offergratitude for our many blessings, which include family, friends and, of course, our time on Nantucket,” she said. “We wish we could spend Rosh Hashanah on Nantucket every year.”

By Panos Kakaviatos
Photography By Laurie Richards

“Sumptuous” might best describe the food at American Seasons, the gourmet dining establishment near downtown Nantucket. “Highly sought out” might be the best description of the restaurant’s growing reputation for consistent superiority among the island’s many fine restaurants. American Seasons’meticulously prepared food and seasonally changing menu is matched only in quality by its over 500 carefully chosen all-American wines.Encased by two colorful murals depicting a just-finished wine harvest and food bounty, the cozy dining area holds candlelit tables that provide an ideal setting for co-owner Michael LaScola’s culinary creativity.

The Massachusetts native and Culinary Institute of America graduate had worked at the restaurant as a 19-yearold line cook back in 1992, before climbing his way to head chef and co-owner some four years ago with his wife Orla Murphy LaScola.

A native of Ireland, Murphy met LaScola while working as a waitress at American Seasons during their early years there. Their approach to food—distinguished by manageable portions made from succulent, fine and eclectic ingredients—takes its cue from principles of the “slow food” movement to which the LaScolas adhere. Ingredients are chosen to ensure clean and healthy eating and are often organic, “sustainable” and from local sources. “We seek lighter preparations, not over saucing,” Orla

Murphy LaScola noted. “We want you to be satiated, not stuffed.” American Season’s user-friendly menu divides its offerings up into American regions of “Down South,” “New England,” “Pacific Coast” and “Wild West.” Each category highlights regional foods, tastefully embellished with complementary and sometimes surprising elements. LaScola’s sous chef Shaun Hussey and first cook Ethan Hensley constantly bounce new ideas off each other to incorporate food styles from the four regions, including the international culinary influences in those areas. For example, a New England summer entrée of pan-seared Nantucket summer flounder arrives with crushed peas, ricotta and herb ravioli that reflect the Italian influences particularly felt in the Northeastern U.S. The Pacific Coast’s cumin-rubbed, rare yellow fin tuna and sesame potato gyoza—a kind of Japanese wonton—with snap pea and shitake mushroom salad showcase Asian influences.

“We break the menu into four main regions, but we do whatever we want, as American cuisine is a melting pot of so many cultures,” Michael LaScola explained. “One of the hardest things to do is to evolve. Food can become dated, so you have to go with what people are into without simply following trends.” Trendy diners, though, are often among American Seasons’ customers. Loyal fans Murphy LaScola, who described her multifaceted role as “sommelier, ‘busser,’ runner and waiter,” has served celebrity diners including actors Robert Redford, Jim Carrey and Harrison Ford.

In their first year, the LaScolas welcomed then presidential candidate John Kerry two nights in a row. “We made sandwiches for the secret service agents,” she recalled.

“Some people want sameness,” noted Murphy LaScola. “Fog in the morning, sunshine in the afternoons.” But the restaurant relies heavily on loyal customers including prominent island homeowners John and Theresa Heinz Kerry, Trudy and Meryl Cohen, Lyle and Jack Manning, and Arie and Coco Kopelman to open their hearts and palates to some variety. “We appreciate a strong customer base trusting our innovation and [we] could not survive without it.”American Seasons

After visiting the restaurant recently for a dinner party with his business colleagues, Washington D.C.-based music producer Ed Romanoff compared American Seasons to music: “A good restaurant and music are similar in that both are about coordinating different ingredients and bringing them together in a beautiful way.” Romanoff, who has launched an effort to bring budding singer-songwriters to Nantucket, counts American Seasons among his favorite local eateries. Both LaScolas commended their restaurant staff. Bartenders Carla Nordby and Alyssa Billings are part of a “very efficient” group of servers including the “phenomenal” Heather Williams, affirmed Murphy LaScola, who went on to say that input from both Hussey and Hensley are also essential assets to creativity from their kitchen. The excellence of the American Seasons staff extends to their after dinner offerings as well. This year, pastry chef Natasha Misanko won the pastry chef award for New England from New England Travel and Leisure Magazine. Indeed, dessert can be among the most exciting and innovative menu items here, with concoctions ranging from tarts and crème brule to a fig and blue cheese brioche bread pudding topped with home-made strawberry ice cream—a dish enjoyed recently by this writer.

With some 525 wines stored in the restaurant—the wine list is currently limited to 450 choices, because some need to age in the cellar before being sold—Murphy LaScola is as passionate a wine enthusiast as her husband is a chef. The two regularly visit U.S. wineries to obtain the best choices for their food. “We have been known to stalk winemakers,” Murphy LaScola said coyly. Many wines that are not normally sold on the East Coast find their way onto Nantucket at American Seasons because of the couple’s regular visits to California and elsewhere. The couple also stressed that their success would not have been possible without the continued administrative and business assistance of former American Seasons owner and longtime Nantucket restaurateur Bruce Miller. “He is really our business mentor. He keeps us in check,” she declared.

American Seasons
80 Centre Street
508-228-7111
americanseasons.com