My Place By The Sea

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to Food for Thought with Billy and Jenny,
brought to you by the Box Center.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
For more than fifteen.

Speaker 1 (00:05):
Years, this dining duo has been eating their way through
New England, mixing it up with top chefs, jumping behind
the line of the hottest restaurants, and giving you the
inside scoop on where to whine, dine and spend your time.
So get ready, it's Food for Thought giving you something
to chew on.

Speaker 3 (00:21):
Hey, everybody, welcome into Food for Thought.

Speaker 4 (00:23):
Billy Costa here, and what do you know, my partner
Jenny Johnson is sitting right next to me in the
damn studio or together.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
I love it so much fun.

Speaker 3 (00:33):
This is going to be fun.

Speaker 4 (00:34):
We're going to start the show because well you know,
as you know, Jenny and I not only do Food
for Thought on WBZ News Radio lead into sixty Minutes
by the way, but we've got a couple of TV shows,
a Dining Playbook and Meat Boston, and we're constantly traveling
the city and traveling New England, and we're constantly running
into and experiencing the hottest new restaurants. So Jenny Johnson,

(00:58):
I need you for all the listeners to give them
a list.

Speaker 5 (01:01):
Okay, all right, but there's a lot of great ones
to check out. Some are newer than others, but you know,
these are within the past year that we think are
worth checking out. One that we did on Dining Playbook
very recently, actually maybe, And also meet Boston is Capri
all so that one is so hot and so impossible
to get a reservation out, so you probably need to
find our cell phone numbers on how to get in there.

Speaker 2 (01:20):
I'm just getting the same.

Speaker 5 (01:23):
Day.

Speaker 3 (01:25):
That's parts.

Speaker 5 (01:25):
When they're like, I need a table for eight on
Friday at six pm, You're like, what right?

Speaker 3 (01:34):
And I can't believe it. Yeah, Billy, do you have
any connections at Capri?

Speaker 5 (01:38):
I mean, of course we do, But like, can't you
just go put yourself on a reservation a couple.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
Of weeks down the road?

Speaker 3 (01:43):
I can't favorite then you become annoying.

Speaker 5 (01:46):
You're the annoying person, right, So but anyway, that place
is awesome and it's Eric Allenbach, who was with Patrick
Lyons for a number of years, branched out and started
his own restaurant group. And that restaurant group started in Southee,
where your sons used to spend a lot of time
at Coppo. Oh yeah, and Lincoln and Fat Baby, and
you know they since have had so many other ones,

(02:07):
but this is the newest edition.

Speaker 2 (02:09):
They have a bunch in Charlestown as well. Have you
gone to those? Oh like Waverly and Prima Waverly.

Speaker 4 (02:15):
We've done the TV show as well, but we go
there a lot, Great breakfast, great brun show over the weekends.

Speaker 3 (02:20):
Great overall Waverley, Yeah.

Speaker 6 (02:22):
Uh and Prema Uh, Prima Pretty Prima is yeah, the
same owners and Prima is a beautiful restaurant. I get
calls for that too, and I have to call my
buddy Andrew.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
Well, he has a really great recipe.

Speaker 5 (02:36):
He's created something very special and very different for our city. Anyway,
that's a new one that's checking out. Prima and the
block we just went to on the show the other day,
which is the sister restaurant to Woodshill Pier for our
dear friend kristin Canty. We've had on all of our
shows many times. She also has restaurants and conquered, but
this one is adjacent to woods Hill Pier for right
there in the beautiful seaport.

Speaker 4 (02:57):
The block, which is the new part of Woodshill Pier
four is unlike any other place.

Speaker 3 (03:01):
You will ever go.

Speaker 4 (03:03):
The space, the food, the menu, the market, the architecture,
the artwork of my lying.

Speaker 5 (03:10):
Oh, you're not lying, And I would say the reason
why it's unlike any other and we you know you
and I speak in hyperbolic phrases often. This one is
not hyperbolic because this one is very unique in that
she's getting her produce. She's getting her meat from her farm,
which she also does it with seale pair for. But
a big differentiator is she has no seed oils present

(03:32):
in her food, which is something really unique and something
that for better or for worse, people listening, we're gonna
hear a lot more about Okay.

Speaker 4 (03:38):
Pump the brakes on this, because you explain this to
me the other day. By the way, have you noticed
how fast Jenny and I are talking. It's because we
haven't been in the studio together. I feel like we
have so much we need to get in. Okay, seed oil, Yes, tell.

Speaker 3 (03:53):
Me about the dangers of seed oil.

Speaker 5 (03:55):
Okay, So this is I don't know that it's necessarily
a recent development, but what happened in our culture is
there's a lot more processed foods, and one of the
ways to keep foods stable for longer is to use
different kinds of oils. Right when you grew up, it
was like just all of oil. I'm guessing right, Like
that was the oil that you used, right, So now

(04:15):
there's grease, your grease. I know, you probably weren't getting
the fine oil. Actually you'll probably well. Prior to that,
we were using high quality oils. What happens when you cook,
which is what restaurants do, at a high heat, which
is what restaurants do. There are certain oils that are
seed oils that spoil, and then when you eat them,

(04:38):
your body doesn't know how to process them. So when
something becomes spoiled, it's like your body doesn't know what
to do with it.

Speaker 2 (04:44):
It's like a food dye.

Speaker 5 (04:45):
It's like, you know, various things that we put in
our bodies that our bodies weren't meant to digest, so
you eat them and then it turns into things like
leaky gat or you can you get That's why we
have so many on one of the reasons we have
so many autoimmune.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
Disorders out there because our bodies aren't able to digest
a lot of the food. Now it's not the restaurant's faults.

Speaker 5 (05:03):
It's because things are really expensive, and because to cook
with seed oils is less expensive and it's easier. But
the problem is it's hurting our bodies and it's why
oftentimes people are feeling sick after.

Speaker 2 (05:15):
They're eating at certain restaurants.

Speaker 5 (05:16):
Now, there's plenty of restaurants that don't do that, and
plenty of those restaurants we cover, but Kristen has taken
a stance and has said we are cooking this entire
restaurant with no seed oils, which is no small feat,
and I have a very strong feeling we're going to
see more and more of this as the time goes on.

Speaker 4 (05:32):
We question on the seed oils where I feel like
I'm getting such an education, But I have to follow
up here. When does one our listeners included, when do
we know when we're consuming seed oils?

Speaker 5 (05:44):
I mean to make it, I'm going to be honest,
Mostly you are if you're getting a processed food, there
is more than likely a seed oil in there that
has been cooked at a very high temperature. If you're
going to a restaurant, the majority of restaurants are cooking
your dish and physically, a combination of cet oil.

Speaker 3 (06:01):
Physically, how does it manifest itself?

Speaker 2 (06:04):
Like what happens to the actual oil or what happens
to your body?

Speaker 3 (06:07):
To me? To you?

Speaker 5 (06:08):
You eat it and your digestive system is like and
your immune system.

Speaker 2 (06:11):
Is like, what is this thing?

Speaker 5 (06:13):
And so then like you have a histamine reaction, your
body has to really like go invade and be like
it's okay, it's okay, don't worry about this thing that's
in your body. So it just causes a reaction in
your body that's not necessary and something that we don't want,
and ultimately leads to long term discomfort, long term digestive disorders,
all that.

Speaker 3 (06:31):
Kind of stuff.

Speaker 4 (06:31):
See, I just learned something else. You said the word histamine.
I only knew of the anti histamine that you take
over the counter. So the anti histamine fights the histamine.

Speaker 2 (06:41):
Well, see, I just on the version.

Speaker 4 (06:42):
It seems simple to you, But I'm saying, oh how
about that?

Speaker 5 (06:46):
Well listen, I mean, this is just something that's really
unique and definitely unique for Kristin here in Boston. You'll
see it, like I said, you're going to see it
more and more. But it's something great that she's doing
the block. I think I should tell you about more
new ones, but we have to take a break because
we have an awesome guestaiting for us.

Speaker 2 (07:00):
Oh yeah, in the waiting room.

Speaker 3 (07:01):
This is such a cool story.

Speaker 4 (07:03):
Kathy Milbury and Barbara her partner, have My Place by
the Sea and exquisite restaurant in Rockport, one of the
best views of the water you'll see anywhere in New England.
And they have a new book out. I'm holding it
right now, and they're going to join us in studio
and we're going to share a lot of incredible stories.
And by the way, Lisa's Jenny's family has a connection

(07:26):
to the book.

Speaker 5 (07:27):
Yes, we'll be back with more Food for Thought in
just a minute.

Speaker 1 (07:30):
You're listening to Food for Thought, brought to you by
the Box Center and Salem Waterfront Hotel in.

Speaker 4 (07:35):
Sweets Hey, everybody, welcome back to Food for Thought. If
you just tuned in. Jenny Johnson and I are in
studio together for the.

Speaker 3 (07:44):
First time in a while.

Speaker 4 (07:45):
I think what it is is Jenny gets sick of
seeing me with TV and then says, Okay, you.

Speaker 3 (07:49):
Know, we'll do the radio show.

Speaker 2 (07:50):
It's a lot, you know, there's only so much we
can do.

Speaker 5 (07:53):
But when you get a special guest, yep, you get
I'll get together.

Speaker 3 (07:57):
This is a great story.

Speaker 4 (07:58):
Jenny and I for the longest time have been a
fan of this exquisite, charming restaurant on Bearskin Neck in Rockport, Massachusetts.
The name of the restaurant is My Place by the
Sea in Kathy Milbury is the owner.

Speaker 3 (08:13):
Operator and she's in studio. Good to see you again, Kathy.

Speaker 7 (08:15):
Thanks Billy. It's great to be here. It's been a
long time.

Speaker 5 (08:18):
It is one of the most magical places you will
ever be and one of the most delicious.

Speaker 3 (08:23):
Yeah, and I don't know.

Speaker 4 (08:24):
You decided to write a book, and Jenny and I
have a book.

Speaker 3 (08:27):
See, yes, a process. Jenny kind of lets me slide
on a lot of.

Speaker 2 (08:35):
Well, tell us about the background. Why was this something
that you decided to do and do it now?

Speaker 7 (08:39):
Well, for some reason, My Place by the Sea has
been a haven for people that are either dealing with
life issues or work in the medical field. And somehow
we've developed this following from people in Cambridge. All the
proceeds of this book goes to the Dana Farber and

(09:00):
we just decided that we would do something and donate
all of the proceeds to the Dana Faber Especially at
this time where everything is being cut and in My
Place there's no other restaurant we would have landed for
thirty years. There's something very special, and we wanted to
get the ethos of the restaurant. So we decided we'd
write a book that was a third photographs to capture

(09:23):
the the you know, the ambiance and the heavenly fail there,
and then we'd add in some of our recipes and
then we sort of give tribute to the people that
have worked for us for many years. And so we
came up with this cookbook and it seems to be,

(09:43):
you know, taking on a good following, so we're pretty excited.

Speaker 4 (09:47):
Well, it's called a Slice of Heaven. In My Place
by the Sea is in fact the Slice of Heaven.
But there's a connection to Jenny Johnson's family, right.

Speaker 7 (09:54):
Yes, So Judy Rotenberg, it's her artwork that is on
the cover of the book, which I've gotten just amazing
compliments on. But when I spoke with Judy, Barbara and
I sat down with her and I said, Judy, I
want a painting that's going to capture the soul of
the restaurant. This is not it's not a cookbook, bersee,
it's more of a book. There's fun stories, there's you know,

(10:17):
funny stories in there. And I wanted something that would
capture the soul of a restaurant, not just another cookbook.
And that painting does it as well as another painting inside.

Speaker 2 (10:28):
Oh, it's so beautiful.

Speaker 5 (10:29):
Well, Judy's a very very talented artist. She's I think
a contemporary American artist. And her father was also a
very well known international impressionist artist.

Speaker 2 (10:41):
And so I love this connection so much.

Speaker 5 (10:43):
So Rockport, much like some of these smaller towns in
our area, you all know each other, you know.

Speaker 2 (10:48):
You know, Judy has been in Rockport for decades.

Speaker 5 (10:51):
At one point she had an art gallery there, and
so it is the kind of place where you really
know your neighbors in a real way.

Speaker 2 (10:58):
Is that right?

Speaker 3 (10:58):
Oh?

Speaker 7 (10:59):
Absolutely mean, it's a very tight knit community. It's uh,
you know, it's a bit like sleepy Hollow, you know,
it's not it's you know, it doesn't ever seem to
get too crazy there. Although we started something called hump
Day on Wednesday night, so Humpy.

Speaker 2 (11:19):
For a while, because we were together.

Speaker 7 (11:22):
We were talking Hodayday, but we have on Wednesdays during
the summer. We have a plane that flies over that says,
guess what day it is, and we have a DJ
and uh and we have we just it's just a
silly good time for no apparent reason other than to
celebrate summer. We all get together and you know, customers,

(11:43):
I do a pub style menu, and uh, somebody will
do a walk on song. So somebody will pick a
song and we'll put on these light up classes and
these lays in our shoes, which we've you know, got
a reputation for the light up shoes. Somebody leads us
out right at sunset to a lower deck that you're
underneath the stars. She's just dancing, and uh, they pick

(12:04):
a song and we all follow them out. So the
whole kitchen staff, all of the waiters, the servers all
go out onto the lower deck and we had we
started dance park.

Speaker 4 (12:13):
I remember several years ago when Jenny and I were
coming into my place by the sea, and I think
you were just starting the Wednesday soires.

Speaker 3 (12:20):
We were just so they're still going on this.

Speaker 7 (12:29):
I think she walks by.

Speaker 5 (12:31):
She well, I want to talk about that connection because
Judy has a big connection to Dana Farber, and there
is a big connection to Dana Farber with this book.

Speaker 7 (12:40):
Right, So, somebody in my family is actually dealing with
a very rare blood disease. It's called diamond black fan
and emia. Uh. And it's a condition that there's no
cure for and uh. And what really motivated us as
we were, you know, navigating donating to the Dana Farber uh,
was when you talk to the Dana Farber, they ask

(13:02):
if you want the money to be in one particular area.
And so we went with the black fan diamond because
the research is being cut right now, and there's no
cure for it, and it affects you know, kids when
they're born. It's just a genetic thing. So yeah, so
we decided that, you know, no matter how hard it

(13:24):
was to write a book, no matter you know, the
grueling process of writing recipes in running a restaurant at
the same time. You know, in the forward we said
nothing could tire us because we knew we were giving
all back to the data. Farber.

Speaker 2 (13:38):
I love it so much. Yeah, Judy was very involved.

Speaker 5 (13:41):
Judy's daughter had brain cancer when brain timmor when she
was young and and so they were always very involved
in them as well.

Speaker 7 (13:51):
And yeah, yeah, I mean there's so many people that
have come into the restaurant that are being treated. I've
had people say, you know, thank you guys for being here.
My sister's being treated at the Dana Farber and we
rented a house down the street and part of her
treatment plan is coming to my place by the sea.
I had somebody last year come in and it was

(14:13):
a busy night, and Barbera kept saying, this woman wants
to meet you, this woman wants to meet you, and
I said, I'm busy, I'm busy, I can't get out. Finally,
she said, you know, she's leaving. She came here, she'd
really like to meet you. And I said okay, and
I went out front and I met her and her
name was Suzanne, and she said, thank you so much
for taking the time to meet me. It's an honor
to meet you. And she said it's been on my

(14:34):
bucket list and I don't have much time. And that
just stopped me dead in my tracks. But it made
me realize just what a special place my place is,
you know it is. There's something etherol about being there
under the stars. At sunset and you feel.

Speaker 3 (14:48):
It when you walk in. And I'm still to this
day several.

Speaker 4 (14:51):
Years later, remember walking and saying, Wow, this is special.
And then you go out back and it's got one
of the most magnificent views in New England.

Speaker 2 (14:58):
Well, it's like everything stops.

Speaker 5 (15:00):
Any of your worries, any of your challenges, any of
your trials. You go there and you get to kind
of leave it at the door and go in and
have a really really memorable dining experience.

Speaker 7 (15:08):
Well and not only that, it's uh, it's not uh,
the technology is not this, So it's really an escape,
you know. I went my brother Mike, who played for
the Bruins, wants to talk about but I went to
a thing at the at the Garden for him. He
was inducted into the Hall of Fame Finess and and uh,

(15:32):
oh you know there and I you know, coming off
the island in Rockport, I was just overwhelmed by all
the televisions on the wall. And my my niece who
came from Vermont who's an environmental attorney there she was like,
Oh my god, I'm on overload. I mean, so it's
just the opposite you know where we are. We almost
built a excuse me, almost built a bar right before COVID,

(15:56):
and then when COVID hit, we stopped that. And now
we have no design do that. We have a full
liquor license, we have great drinks, we have a great
drink list, we have a great wineless. You see the
Souvier from the River Cafe and the book. Roger Daglan
is a dear friend of ours. So yeah, so we
just we take it from there.

Speaker 4 (16:15):
And we're going to talk more about the restaurant. I know,
the main reason you wanted to come in was the book.
I think it's kind of funny that your partner, Barbara
came in with you and she's sitting outside the studio
because she didn't want to come on the air.

Speaker 3 (16:26):
She wants to hear it for the first time on
the air.

Speaker 7 (16:29):
Yeah, yeah, and she doesn't want she said, you know,
she doesn't want to, you know, infringe on me because
sometimes I'm a little loud and she's like, you know,
and we are like opposite. So, you know, thirty years
and if you read in the beginning of the book,
it says we started this book. Someone did a blog.
Amy Allen, who's one of the authors of the book,

(16:50):
and she does a blog palette to palette, so she
interviews people in the food industry as well as artists.
And so she asked Barbara during that interview, you know,
in three words, describe your years at my Place. And
in three words, just like that, Barbers said, quite the challenge,
and it really is on all levels, it's quite the challenge.

Speaker 4 (17:17):
All right, we're talking with Kathy Milbury, owner operator of
My Place by the Sea in Rockport. We're going to
talk a lot more about the restaurant, a lot more
about the book, because the book does have some incredible stories.
You brought it up your brother Mike Millberry, who coached
the Bruins for a long time. He's an NHL legend.
And we've got some hockey stories related to the restaurant too.
We'll do that when we come back. It's Billy and Jenny.

(17:41):
I almost said Lisa again because I have Lisa, and
well whatever, Billy and Jenny are live in the studio
and again, and we'll take a break and we'll be back.

Speaker 1 (17:50):
You're listening to Food for Thought, brought to you by
the Box Center and Salem Waterfront Hotel in Swedees.

Speaker 5 (17:56):
Welcome back to Food for Thought, brought to you by
the Box Center. So excited to have Kathy in studio
right now. My place by the sea is one of
Billy and my favorite places to go.

Speaker 2 (18:06):
So we're looking at this cookbook.

Speaker 5 (18:07):
We're going to dig more into the details of some
of the recipes people can experience when they get it.
But you reference something about the title of each of
the chapters.

Speaker 2 (18:17):
Tell us about that.

Speaker 7 (18:19):
So when we decided to write a cookbook or write
a book, I really hesitate to call it a cookbook
because again, it's there's a lot more to it. We
wanted to do something different, I mean cookbooks a cookbook,
but we wanted to try to think of something and
we sort of have gotten this reputation for our hump

(18:39):
Day event. So we decided we would name the chapters
after song. So you know, with the first one.

Speaker 5 (18:48):
Uh, let's get it started, I can you know whatever
best say?

Speaker 7 (18:53):
Ever, that was my walk on song to get everybody dancing.
And so I would come out of the kitchen with
my life clashes, my light up shoes and let's get
it started. And I can see it like I feel
like I could jump up and do it right. And
at the same time, there's a plane going over the

(19:13):
that says, you know, guess what day it is. So
that was the first. That's a vibe, and then this
is how we do it. Of course, these are all
hump day songs.

Speaker 8 (19:21):
This yeah, I germs Ountain Higher.

Speaker 2 (19:27):
I love that song so so much. But it's so
great how it's broken up.

Speaker 5 (19:31):
And we really appreciate a cookbook quote unquote that's not
really a cookbook, because that's the way that Billy and
are I did ours as well, because it's so much
nicer to get the flavor behind the recipes, so to speak,
no pun intended, but just a little bit more of
your story. And it's so nice that that comes out here. Okay,
give us one more song before we have to take
another break.

Speaker 7 (19:50):
That's in here. Let's see how sweet it is to
be loved by you for the dessert.

Speaker 8 (19:59):
Oh yeah, and through the years, yeah Kenny Rogers, yes,
you know, I was never a big Kenny Rodgers fan,
but Barbara, you know, put it on the CD, and
it's so perfect.

Speaker 7 (20:15):
For our restaurant, you know, through the years, and that
whole CD it just really rocks. We have, you know,
all these different you know, genres of music, but that
really kind of captures.

Speaker 4 (20:27):
Do you have a Spotify list that constantly plays in
the restaurant of all the songs that represent the chapters?

Speaker 7 (20:31):
Yeah, yeah, no, but I'm going to put that together.

Speaker 2 (20:34):
Yeah, you definitely need the launch.

Speaker 9 (20:36):
Well.

Speaker 5 (20:36):
I love it so much because creative people, as you
both clearly are to have such a successful relationship for
so long, are creative in multiple ways, and so the
fact that music is a big part of it for
you makes total sense.

Speaker 2 (20:47):
We're going to take a break and we'll be back
with more Food for Thought in just a minute.

Speaker 1 (20:50):
You're listening to Food for Thought, brought to you by
the Box Center and Sale and Waterfront Hotel and Sweets.

Speaker 4 (20:57):
Hey, guys, welcome back to Food for Thought. Billy and
Jenny in studio with Kathy Milbury from My Place by
the Sea and Rockport. We're checking out her new book,
My Place by the Sea A Slice of Heaven, and
you've been.

Speaker 3 (21:09):
Telling me some stories from inside the book.

Speaker 4 (21:11):
Kathy, and we mentioned briefly earlier your brother Mike Milbury,
really really cool guy, longtime Bruins player, ultimately was the
general manager of the Islanders, right, so he went to
the enemy camp.

Speaker 7 (21:25):
He did, he did. Yeah, he was with the Islanders
for five years. He's got some colorful stories to tell
us about that experience as well.

Speaker 4 (21:32):
Well, you talk about hockey team dinners, what's that all about.

Speaker 7 (21:36):
Well, Barbara and I supported the local hockey team, both
the Rockport High oh yeah, and the Gloucester High School team.
So we have some funny stories where Barbara and I
were instrumental to getting a coaching change for the Rockport
High School team and spoke to the there was a
little bit of nepotism going on.

Speaker 3 (21:57):
Was wrong with the coach? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 7 (22:00):
And so you know, the Rockport team consists of four
towns and it seemed like just one town was being
represented anyway, so they changed coaches. In that first year
they changed coaches, they went to the state championship for
the first time in ten years.

Speaker 3 (22:17):
And the coach that you helped to put in place
brought them.

Speaker 7 (22:21):
Right to the championship. Yeah, to the first round. I
think they know hoey there. Well, you do have five brothers,
so it was a little competitive yeah, yeah, girl. Yeah.
And anyway, so we won, or we won a ticket

(22:43):
to get to the championship, I should say. And in
the book and The story is Barbara calls a local
restaurant and Peter and Sammy from a tract rear in Gloucester.
We called them at like three o'clock on a Sunday
afternoon and Barbara says, you know, Peter, it's Barbara.

Speaker 3 (23:00):
We won.

Speaker 7 (23:01):
Oh that's great. We'd like to, you know, come in
for dinner. And he goes, okay, how many and we
go like fifty or sixteen, about fifteen minutes and he's like,
you you know, I.

Speaker 3 (23:12):
Want to celebrate. Yeah. In the book, there's a picture
of you wearing the Stanley cup ring.

Speaker 2 (23:17):
Did you get to keep people?

Speaker 3 (23:19):
Yeah?

Speaker 7 (23:19):
Yeah, Well what happened was Mike got a Stanley cup
ring because he was working for Nessen as a broadcast
in twenty eleven. So he had the Stanley cup ring
and he, you know, he didn't really it was kind
of casual about the ring because he wasn't a player
and he wasn't a coach, so it was a different

(23:40):
aspect of having a ring. So he was sort of
casual about it. And he came to Rockport to celebrate
his sixtieth birthday, and this is how Mike celebrates his
sixtieth birthday. He has somebody play a bagpipe a bear
skin neck and leads he and his six children and
wife up bearskin neck to my place, bike god stand,

(24:04):
and then it clates. It culminates where he goes to
the upstairs deck and he's on the deck and the
bagpipe is off to the right on the rocks playing
ave Maria.

Speaker 3 (24:16):
Oh but yeah, yeah, what a sight. Yeah is wondering
if you and I were there that night.

Speaker 2 (24:24):
I feel like we've heard this story.

Speaker 3 (24:26):
I think I was.

Speaker 2 (24:29):
Such a great visual. You can just pay for it.

Speaker 7 (24:31):
Get a little tipsy that night, yeah, oh yeah, past
the yeah.

Speaker 2 (24:38):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (24:40):
So there were two occasions when he came. That was
one of them, and he left the ring at a
house where he was spending the weekend with his family.
And when he got in, I said, oh, Mike, you know,
happy birthday. Great to see you. But where's the ring
And he said, oh, I forgot it. It's on the
mantle at the house. So he said, send the boss
a over to get it. So we send this post

(25:02):
whose nickname was slick Rick okay, and he goes he
was fourteen years old at the time, and he says,
I have my skateboard. I'll go get it. And so
he went and got it, and what should have taken
like five ten minutes took about an hour because he
stopped every person along the way to show him the
Stanley Cup.

Speaker 5 (25:19):
Rag.

Speaker 7 (25:19):
Oh my. So then when he came back somehow the
Rockport police said they wanted to see the ring, and
Mike just gave it to him and said, I just
drop it off with the girls when you're done with it.
So we ended up having the ring for about two
weeks and we just took it all over Cape ann
and we have a collage of pictures and there everybody
got to you know, it's one thing to see the
Stanley Cup, but to put a ring on it.

Speaker 2 (25:43):
Oh yeah.

Speaker 7 (25:44):
So there were a lot of people that were just
thrilled that they got to wear the ring.

Speaker 3 (25:48):
Did Mike win a Cup of the Islanders? No, no, no.

Speaker 7 (25:51):
Nope No. Then he spent fifteen years with NBC, so
he went in a different yeardcast both. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (26:00):
I just can't believe he had six kids. It's a
lot of kids.

Speaker 7 (26:04):
Yeah. Yeah, so he.

Speaker 3 (26:06):
You should give a shout out to Mike. He's on
the Cape right.

Speaker 7 (26:08):
Yes, he is, My Mike. We're planning a book launch
hopefully on November twenty ninth, and I'm hoping that he'll
come and bring the ring with him, so nice.

Speaker 2 (26:20):
Just don't let him leave it somewhere on the mantle.

Speaker 4 (26:21):
Yeah yeah, yeah or yeah. We're going to break down
more of the chapters, but Jenny and I also want
to get back into the restaurant, the dishes, the favorites,
the biggest sellers, you know, things that people just fall
in love with.

Speaker 3 (26:41):
My place by the seat.

Speaker 5 (26:42):
And there's a lot of those that you can't take
off the menu. I can imagine there's certain things that
you've probably tried to evolve and people are like, what
happened to the Those are the things we want to
know about.

Speaker 3 (26:51):
I'm sure there's at least one that's there from the beginning.

Speaker 7 (26:53):
Oh yeah, absolutely that the lobster taco, which is a
fan favorite and always on his oohs and ours as
it comes out of the dime.

Speaker 2 (27:02):
How many years is it exactly what.

Speaker 7 (27:04):
We've been at the restaurant. We're going on twenty nine years,
ninety nine years. Crazy.

Speaker 3 (27:10):
I have socks that old.

Speaker 2 (27:12):
Yeah, you don't even wear socks to yah. I don't know, God,
you sent me on that long unful time. Right, We're
gonna take a break. We'll be back with more. Kathy.

Speaker 1 (27:21):
You're listening to Food for Thought, brought to you by
the Box Center and Salem Waterfront Hotel in swedes Hey.

Speaker 4 (27:27):
Everybody, welcome back to Food for Thought. Billy Costa here,
Jenny Johnson here. We are both in studio on a
Sunday night, excited to have Kathy Milbury here from my
place by the sea talking about their book. The restaurant
is sensational. It's in Rockport, Massachusetts, on bear skin Neck. Gorgeous,
charming neighborhood. Another chapter I wanted to ask about it

(27:50):
says Hollywood. When Hollywood came, What does that mean?

Speaker 7 (27:54):
Uh well, years ago they would film The Love Letter
in Key Capshore.

Speaker 5 (27:59):
I was in it.

Speaker 7 (28:00):
Ellen DeGeneres was in it. Tom Sellek I think was
in it. Uh so, And this was this was a
while ago. So the paparazzi there was incredible when they came.
And there was just one story that you know that
I captured in the book that we talked about, and
that it was Ellen DeGeneres was with Anne Hash at

(28:21):
the time and she called while they were all in time.
I mean they spent a long time in town. So
they all had rent homes and stuff, and and she
called ahead of time and she said, you know, listen, uh,
it's Ellen DeGeneres, and I'm coming to dinner with you know,
my girlfriend Ann Hash And you know, sometimes when we
go to places you would cause a commotion, and you know,

(28:43):
we really don't, you know, we'd like to get a
quiet table. Can you you know, accommodate And so of
course we said, yeah, sure, you know, we can accommodate that.
And so in the meantime, we had another reservation for
a party of eight right as you walk in the door,
right in the public, not the you know, most desirable seats,

(29:05):
you know, away from the water. But it was a
party of eight. And it happened to be Steven Spielberg.

Speaker 3 (29:11):
Oh no, was his movie. It was his movie.

Speaker 7 (29:15):
Kay Capshaw was in it, his life. So she was
a big fan of the lobster tacos. And so they
had people visiting from California. And so when they called
me the reservation, whoever took the reservation just wrote Spielberg eight.
And so I wanted to buy the book, and I said,
you know, is this Steven Spielberg and the girl said,

(29:37):
I don't know, I'm oldy here. So in walks Ellen
DeGeneres after she's made this announcement that she you know,
causes a commotion, and there Steven Spielberg and Kate Capshaw,
her boss, you know, right there having dinner casual as ever.
And I just thought that was pretty humorous.

Speaker 3 (29:56):
They remember what Spielberg.

Speaker 2 (29:58):
Ate, h he loved the lobster they did.

Speaker 7 (30:02):
They had their sons, Theo's tenth birthday. I don't know
how old he is now, but on our upstairs deck,
and I know they ordered lobster tacos and so yeah,
that he was definitely a fan of that. And I
think he ate the Portuguese fisherman stew that's in the book.

Speaker 5 (30:17):
Well, let's talk a little bit more about the menus.
The lobster tacos. They always have to stay on the menu.
What are some other things and how do you describe
it for folks who haven't been.

Speaker 7 (30:27):
Okay, so we we we're right on the ocean, so
the seafood comes right there. I mean it's and you know,
after years of being in this business, you know, my
food gets more and more simple. I'd rather have clean flavors.
And you know, I don't need to impress anybody. I
don't need to. You know, every chef goes through that

(30:49):
curve where you want to put so many different things
on and what's the hottest item and where did it
come from with this? But you know, I just my
my clientele believes in me and that I will give
them the best product that I can possibly have, and
then I'm always there. So you know, Barber is always
in the front. I'm always in the back, and so
you're gonna get the best that we can have to offer.

(31:12):
And so the food stays simple. But one of the
reasons for this cookbook is my Herb Bread, and that
is a bread that I created sort of a spin
off from Nantucket when I lived above the restaurant where
I worked and I would come downstairs and my boss,
Jim Pearlman, who is now the sheriff of Nantucket. So
if anybody has a problemic Sheriff Jim pearl Man, I

(31:41):
got it.

Speaker 3 (31:44):
Jenny still spends a lot of time. Hi, Jim. I'm
a good friend of Kathy Milbury. She told me to
give you a call.

Speaker 7 (31:54):
Yeah, I think I had your herb bread Jim, I
got that's so cool. But I used to live above
the restaurant and I'd come down and he'd be making
the air bread. So you know, i'd chat with him
while he was making the air bread, and occasionally I'd
probably be a little bit blurry eyed after the night
when he was making it.

Speaker 2 (32:12):
Naturally.

Speaker 7 (32:14):
So when I got to Rockport, I wanted to do
something a little bit different than the facaca that everybody
was doing, and so I just by recall of my memory,
I just started making the bread that I thought was
similar to the bread that he made, and it developed
such a following that it's got a cult following. Like

(32:34):
I mean, people before when we were our dry town,
people would bring their wine and the little wine bags.
They'd forget the bag and I'd find pieces of bread
and it was insane. I mean, people just go crazy
for this bread. And I often bake it like and
give it out when people are going to tough times.
At one point, we would make forty loaves of bread

(32:55):
a day. Oh my god, yeah, I mean times have
changed since then.

Speaker 4 (32:59):
Do you have a dish that was on the menu
day one that's still on the menu today?

Speaker 8 (33:04):
Oh?

Speaker 7 (33:04):
Yeah, The Portuguese fisherman stew Is, Oh, my gosh, Well,
we want to talk about the fact that this book
was a labor of love, and having done one, I
can attest to the fact that, oh, yes it is,
and so I know you Kathy and Barbara were obviously
a huge part of it, but Nick, who's in studio
with us now, was also a big part of it.

Speaker 5 (33:22):
So tell us a little bit about how good it
feels to have this thing finally done and.

Speaker 2 (33:26):
What it was like to be a part of it.

Speaker 10 (33:28):
I mean, it's really amazing, you know, thinking back to
I guess it was probably March when we started in February, sorry,
thinking about when we just started and we were just
kind of in the kitchen trying to figure out how
to even make a recipe, you know, and then the
pictures and just kind of how we we started on

(33:48):
where we are now. And I remember probably June when
we started picking up. We were upstairs going over some
stuff and I said to Kathy, I'm like, this is
going to be so amazing. We finally have it.

Speaker 2 (34:01):
So many details.

Speaker 5 (34:03):
Well, this is really cool story because you have been
with Barbara and cath since you were how old fourteen.

Speaker 3 (34:09):
Oh boy, you've got to be very thix again.

Speaker 4 (34:15):
I'm just saying, you got Mike Roman around throwing and stuff.
I almost said there, But it's been a great experience.

Speaker 10 (34:25):
It has. I mean, I wouldn't change it for the world.
It's really given me kind of a a different perspective,
you know, And it's just taught me such a lot
of ins and outs of the restaurant and people and
just working with others.

Speaker 7 (34:41):
You know.

Speaker 2 (34:42):
I love that so much.

Speaker 3 (34:43):
Now, do you get calls from family and friends, you have.

Speaker 2 (34:46):
To get.

Speaker 3 (34:53):
Way.

Speaker 2 (34:53):
I know that is what it is.

Speaker 3 (34:57):
God once in the summer, well, you know he's gonna
call you.

Speaker 2 (35:00):
Yeah about it. Hey, we can't find the girl's neck.
I don't know. Can you get us in?

Speaker 5 (35:06):
They said no, but we're thinking maybe you can figure
it out.

Speaker 4 (35:09):
Do you have an absolute fondest memory of your time
since you were fourteen years old? There?

Speaker 10 (35:16):
Jeez, the cookbook is probably up there. I wouldn't call
it a fond memory, but one of the kind of
the memories I remember. It's probably COVID times. He's kind
of navigating that with everybody knows signs and takeouts and
all that kind of stuff. I kind of always reminisce
about that.

Speaker 3 (35:36):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (35:36):
Now, Nick, I know you're mentioned on the cover of
the book. So when you're traveling around and going to parties,
do you tell people you're an author?

Speaker 9 (35:45):
No?

Speaker 5 (35:46):
Well, because let me tell you he has like a
hundred Emmy Awards, he has like thousands of television shows,
and he loves to walk in and be like, I don't.

Speaker 9 (35:55):
Know if you know I'm an Also let me just
move though. Yes, Oh my gosh, wow, Well come back in, Kathy.

Speaker 2 (36:06):
I mean, it is so great to be with you
and so great to hear.

Speaker 5 (36:10):
These stories because you are a legend in this very
special part of the world.

Speaker 2 (36:14):
Billy just asked Nick what his most fondest memory is.

Speaker 5 (36:16):
Clearly it's impossible after twenty nine years, but tell us
something that you didn't share with us already. That is
one of those things that you can either experience in
the book or otherwise about this legendary place that you
have created.

Speaker 7 (36:29):
Well, I think that we say in the book that
the most memorable day ever was not the day that
we bought the restaurant. One of them was the day
we got the liquor, but it was my niece Madows
birthday party. We had a tea party and we created
a magical situation, and Nick and Barbara spent hours putting

(36:53):
together a Disney playlist, and then we had a cosmetic
table with you know, hats, blue lips, d jewelry. We
had unicorns on backpacks, and we had painters easels in
karaoke machine, and we did a fashion show where the
girls put on ballet slippers and all their stuff, and

(37:14):
that's in the book. And that actually, I think got
three pages worth of pictures because it's just priceless to
see these children just having a great time. And it
was just, you know again, this book is to capture
the soul of a restaurant, not to have any ego
in it. So it's you know it is. It's just
a fun, feel good book. That's all it's meant to be.

Speaker 2 (37:36):
God, it is all right.

Speaker 5 (37:37):
We're going to take a break and we're going to
make sure that people know where they can get the
book and where they can visit you.

Speaker 1 (37:41):
In just a minute, you're listening to Food for Thought,
brought to you by the Box Center and Salem Waterfront
Hotel and sweets.

Speaker 4 (37:48):
Hey, guys, welcome back to Food for Thought.

Speaker 3 (37:50):
Just a few minutes left to the show again.

Speaker 4 (37:52):
Billy here with Jenny and we're joined by Kathy Milbury
and her folks from my Place by the Sea in Rockport.

Speaker 3 (38:00):
Just a few minutes left.

Speaker 4 (38:00):
Kathy, we're looking forward now to the Well, we're in
the fall and looking forward to the winter. What can
we expect you have any new things happening there?

Speaker 7 (38:09):
Well, the cookbook is just coming out. So we expect
the cookbook to be out mid November, and people interested
in getting the cookbook can go to We have a
five oh one C three because all of this is
going to charity, so it is my Place by the
Seed dot org, Foundation dot org, My Place by the

(38:29):
Sea dot org and you can pre order those as
of November fifteenth. And I think that's going to keep
us busy for a while. Yeah, we may add some
you know, event dinners to raise funds for it. The
great thing about our five oh one C three is
that it's sort of an umbrella, so we can raise

(38:49):
funds for anything. At this point. It's a charity that
we can raise funds. But more importantly this this the
proceeds of this cookbook are going to the Diamond Black
Fan an Emi and they didn't have anything at the
Dana Fiber that specifically studied this research. It sort of
went under an umbrella, and we have now got our

(39:13):
own foundation at the Dana Fiber just specifically for the
funds to be used to research diamond black fan anemia.
And just to give you an idea, it affects seven
to one million people, so it's a very rare disease.

Speaker 4 (39:28):
And just to give you an idea as to how
scarce this book is, because it's not officially out yet.
Kathy was talking to me in and out on the
phone saying, well, we only have one copy of the book.
Can I mel it to you overnight? And I've got
it in my hands right now. Do we get to
keep this one copy?

Speaker 3 (39:48):
This is the first Prince.

Speaker 5 (39:51):
So amazing and to be able to get so much
of your life story and so many of these cherished recipes.

Speaker 2 (39:58):
And know that the money that you're using to buy
it can go to such a special place is pretty awesome.

Speaker 7 (40:03):
Yeah, we're thrilled. It was a lot of work, but again,
you know, whenever we were feeling tired in the middle
of the summer and we're trying to take pictures and
you're trying to take a picture of Grenita before it
melts out on the rocks, and you're running around and
you know, you're trying to negotiate the reservations and this,
that and the other thing. Again, nothing could could tire
us because we knew we were doing this for the

(40:24):
data Fober and what people go through, the medical fields,
you know, all of the they come for respite there.
It's it's just a great spot to come and just chill.

Speaker 3 (40:35):
Wild guests. The hump days don't go on in the
cold weather.

Speaker 2 (40:38):
No, they can't be humping in the in the middle
somewhere outside.

Speaker 9 (40:44):
Yeah yeah, yeah, there's no.

Speaker 5 (40:50):
Home.

Speaker 3 (40:50):
You just can't stay here. So when do they resume?

Speaker 7 (40:54):
They resumed?

Speaker 2 (40:55):
Billie wants for Wednesday one.

Speaker 7 (40:57):
Yeah, you really need to. I mean, I can't even
express to you. You know those chapters with the dance.
As soon as I say this is how we do it,
I feel like I've got my date, my light up shoes,
and I'm dancing down on the deck under the stars
as the sun is setting. It's just it's spectacular. But
it starts generally in June, okay, weather permitting.

Speaker 3 (41:18):
Right now, in June, you got to put together that Spotify.

Speaker 2 (41:21):
Yeah you know, oh yeah, yeah, oh yeah, I'm going
for my birthday. Here we go.

Speaker 5 (41:24):
Yeah, we're doing some day in June at my place
by the safety. Well, if you guys haven't been to Rockport,
you have to get there. And if you haven't been
to my place by the sea, you must get there.
In the meantime, help support this cookbook, knowing that the
funds are going somewhere very special. Kathy Nick, it was
so great to be with you guys today.

Speaker 3 (41:41):
And tell Barbara the show is done and now she
can go listen to the podcast and listen to it
and over again.

Speaker 7 (41:48):
Well, thank you for having us. It's great to see
you guys, been way too long.

Speaker 5 (41:52):
You guys are the very best. Okay, that's it for
food for that. Nice to be with you in studio, buddy.
We will see you next week and now it's time
for sixty minutes.

Speaker 2 (41:59):
But thank you was always to the Box Center for
keeping us going.