Many folks call Memorial Day the unofficial start of summer. On the Connecticut Shore, summer starts the first time you eat at The Place in Guilford, an outdoor restaurant specializing in wood-grilled local seafood, vegetables and more since 1971. I had my first dinner of the year at The Place on Memorial Day, so count it both ways.
Aunty and I started with 18 bbq roasted clams, the best clams I’ve ever had. These were juicy, spicy and salty, their liquor kissed by the fire’s smoke.
I don’t know if I was over tired or just really hungry but the catfish in hobo pack was the best fish I’ve had at The Place. It was well seasoned and cooked to perfect, sweet, light and flaky, in citrus and butter. I always love the bluefish cooked that way too, but that catfish was something else.
The last time I had steak at The Place it was sinewy: I think it may have been flank. Tonight my aunt ordered the ribeye: I wasn’t expecting anything special. The Place’s ribeye blew me away, perfect medium rare, tender, full of flavor. Look at the picture!
The key lime pie, forget about it. I don’t mean to drop so many superlatives in one review, but this may have been the best all time dinner at my favorite all time restaurant. To use an off color simile, maybe it’s like masturbation: the longer you wait, the better it feels! After mother nature’s brutality this past winter, I really needed The Place to turn the page to summer.