Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1104799
NORTHSHOREMAG.COM 24 APRIL 2019 PHOTOGRAPHS BY ADAM PERRI Alexis Harwood of Market Restaurant shares her favorite spring wines. BY PAIGE FARRELL THE POETRY OF WINE hall in Gloucester. Within moments, and in seamless transition, the last of the now magenta skyline slips beyond the horizon and the sky is awash in a lazurite hue. e evening sky somehow appears to be cascading. It is easy to understand why so many artists call Cape Ann home. Artist and Market Restaurant beverage di- rector Alexis Harwood came to Cape Ann from New York in search of beauty, and she found it in the light, the people, and particularly the seasons. "I love winter," she says. "It's a period of reflection and comfort. I find Cape Ann to be one of the most inspirational areas in which to live; the history of artists who have been drawn here, the textures, the granite, the transition of seasons, the salinity in the air." Situated overlooking Lobster Cove in Annisquam, one of Gloucester's beloved neighborhoods, Market Restaurant is owned and operated by Nico and Amelia Monday. Coming upon its 10th season, it offers locally sourced farm-to-table cuisine and a delightful wine list, along with cordials and beer, all assembled with innovation and loving care. Here, comfort meets understated elegance in a beautiful setting bathed in transformative light. Harwood, who also maintains the wine list at Market's sister restaurant Short and Main on Gloucester's Main Street, approaches wine with a quiet, beautiful grace, a steady gaze, and welcoming warmth. "I consider wine a form of art, whether the making of wine or in putting together a wine list," she says. "My approach is to honor the people behind the wine, and I am motivated by how their story resonates for me, and I ask myself how I can be truthful to that as I share it with staff and guests alike. It is a process I find immensely rewarding." As April arrives, Harwood is at work on the wine list, always a work in progress, an evolution that ebbs and flows, honoring the seasonal shifts. "I am very grateful because I am trusted to experiment with my selections," she shares. "Each season gives me the space to write a new story. I think of how to repre- sent wines from all over the world, sourcing new finds while also staying loyal to trusted producers. I consider wines that will please a more reticent wine drinker as well as engage E AT + D R I N K Alexis Harwood of the Market Restaurant A morning arrives toward the tail end of winter that brings with it a welcome whisper of warm sun—a day when winter releases its grip and offers us a portal into spring. Later, as the afternoon wanes, the sky is a silver fox gray and gives way to several shades of rose as the sun begins to diminish and make way for the moon. A copper glow turns to salmon pink as the sun slinks behind the rooftops with their old New England charm, momentarily illuminating the town