The New England Menu

Portland, Maine

Sweet, knuckle-and-claw lobster meat tossed in warm butter or light mayo, piled into a toasted split-top bun. Maine does it best because the lobster comes off the boat that morning. Every shack along the coast has a version — the debate is butter vs. mayo.

Boston

Thick, creamy soup loaded with tender clams, diced potatoes, salt pork, and onions. The Boston version is the gold standard — rich but never gluey, served in a bread bowl at waterfront restaurants from the Seaport to the North End.

Essex, Massachusetts

Whole-belly Ipswich clams dipped in evaporated-milk batter and fried until golden. Legend says the fried clam was invented at Woodman's of Essex in 1916. Order the bellies, not the strips — the briny pop is the whole point.

Wellfleet, Massachusetts

Briny, cold-water oysters served on the half shell with mignonette and lemon. Wellfleet oysters from Cape Cod are prized for their clean finish and balanced salinity. The annual Wellfleet OysterFest every October is a pilgrimage for shellfish lovers.

Bar Harbor, Maine

Creamy baked macaroni and cheese studded with chunks of fresh lobster meat and topped with buttered breadcrumbs. Bar Harbor restaurants near Acadia National Park serve some of the best — comfort food elevated by the sweetest crustacean in the Atlantic.

Mystic, Connecticut

Beer-battered cod or haddock fried crisp and served with hand-cut fries, coleslaw, and tartar sauce. Mystic's maritime heritage and working waterfront make it a natural home for this classic — best eaten dockside with a view of the drawbridge.

Ipswich, Massachusetts

Soft-shell clams steamed open and served with cups of broth and drawn butter. Pull the clam from the shell, peel the dark membrane off the neck, swish in broth to rinse sand, dip in butter, eat. Ipswich clam flats produce some of the best in New England.

Kennebunkport, Maine

Velvety, sherry-spiked soup made from lobster stock, cream, and tender lobster pieces. Kennebunkport's upscale waterfront restaurants serve some of the richest versions in New England — a bowl of this on a foggy Maine evening is hard to beat.

Narragansett, Rhode Island

A hard-shell quahog clam stuffed with seasoned breadcrumb filling mixed with chopped clam, onion, celery, and sometimes chourico. Rhode Island's signature appetizer — sold at every clam shack and seafood market along the coast. Called "stuffies" by locals.

Stowe, Vermont

Vermont's answer to soft-serve ice cream — made with real maple syrup instead of artificial flavoring, giving it a denser texture and deep amber sweetness. Roadside stands across Stowe serve them from spring through fall. Get it in a waffle cone.

Woodstock, Vermont

Cake donuts made with fresh apple cider, dusted in cinnamon sugar, and best eaten warm from a farm stand on a crisp October morning. Woodstock's orchards fry them fresh all autumn long — the line is worth the wait.

Burlington, Vermont

Hot maple syrup poured over packed snow, where it hardens into chewy, taffy-like candy. A sugarhouse tradition during March and April sugaring season, served with sour pickles and plain donuts to cut the sweetness. Pure Vermont.

Plymouth, Vermont

Sharp, crumbly aged cheddar from Vermont's small dairy farms, served with water crackers and local apple slices. The Plymouth Cheese Factory, founded by Calvin Coolidge's father, has been making granular curd cheddar since 1890.

The Berkshires, Massachusetts

Multi-course meals built entirely from local farms — heritage pork, heirloom tomatoes, artisan cheese, and foraged mushrooms. The Berkshires pioneered New England's farm-to-table movement, and restaurants here change their menus with the seasons.

Blue Hill, Maine

Wild Maine blueberries — smaller, more intense, and sweeter than cultivated varieties — baked into a flaky double-crust pie. Blue Hill sits in the heart of blueberry country, and the pies from local bakeries are the taste of a Maine summer.

Boston

Navy beans slow-baked with molasses, salt pork, and mustard in a ceramic bean pot — the dish that earned Boston the nickname "Beantown." The best versions cook for eight hours or more, developing a deep, sweet-savory crust on top. A Saturday night tradition since colonial times.

Boston

Dense, dark bread made from rye flour, cornmeal, and molasses, traditionally steamed in a coffee can. The classic companion to baked beans — sliced into rounds and served with butter. Durgin-Park made it famous before closing, but old-school restaurants still carry the torch.

Narragansett, Rhode Island

Thin cornmeal pancakes made from stone-ground flint corn, cooked on a griddle until crispy on the outside and creamy inside. A Narragansett Native American tradition that predates European settlement — still served at diners across Rhode Island with butter and maple syrup.

New Haven, Connecticut

Thin, charred, coal-fired pizza with a blistered crust that snaps when you bite it. Frank Pepe's has been serving their famous white clam pie since 1925 — fresh littleneck clams, garlic, olive oil, no mozzarella. New Haven argues it invented American pizza, and the evidence is convincing.

Cambridge, Massachusetts

Peanut butter and Marshmallow Fluff on white bread — a Massachusetts invention so beloved that legislators tried to make it the official state sandwich. Fluff was invented in Somerville in 1917, and the annual What the Fluff Festival celebrates this sticky, sweet, deeply nostalgic staple.

Concord, Massachusetts

Warm, spiced cornmeal pudding slow-baked with molasses, ginger, and cinnamon, served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. One of the oldest American desserts, dating to the 1600s — "Indian" refers to the cornmeal that colonists adopted from Native Americans. Rich, dense, and deeply comforting.