Ресторан Topper's в отеле The Wauwinet на Нантукете предлагает гостям винный опыт, сочетающий историческую элегантность с современной гастрономией

(Aug. 27, 2026) In 1875, Alexander Graham Bell was on the verge of inventing the telephone, the first Kentucky Derby was run, Tchaikovsky gave the first performance of his Piano Concerto No. 1 in Boston and, 30 miles out to sea, a small inn opened on a remote point of Nantucket Island overlooking the inner harbor. Today, that inn is The Wauwinet, and 150 years later, the property still embodies the elegance and charm of a bygone era. At Topper’s, the restaurant tucked inside the historic hotel, that sense of old-world luxury extends from the cream linens and polished silverware to the food on the plate and, perhaps most notably, the wine in the glass. It is the kind of place where dinner feels less like a meal and more like an occasion. For executive chef Kyle Zachary, that is precisely the point. “I didn’t want it to just be about food, I wanted it to be an experience,” said Zachary, who first came to The Wauwinet in 2006 as a sous chef, staying for two seasons before leaving Nantucket to work in Europe. He returned in 2010 as executive chef and has been at the property ever since. After spending years in professional kitchens, he said it was ultimately the people – and the opportunity to work creatively with Nantucket’s ingredients – that brought him back. “The passion of the team, for a seasonal location, some of them have been working here for 30-plus years, which is pretty impressive,” Zachary said. “I think what brought me back is the people.” That sense of place is reflected in the way he cooks. Zachary describes his style as that of an American chef influenced by his travels and French culinary training, but his starting point is often much simpler: What do the island’s farmers have? “I try to focus on produce first,” he said. “I try to speak with our farmers, see what they have available and try to build dishes around that.” The philosophy was evident from the first bites of dinner. A series of amuse-bouches – chilled lobster with basil aioli and chili salt, tomato gazpacho and tuna tartare with a light touch of wasabi on a crisp wonton – were refined without feeling overly complicated. Each one let its primary ingredient take center stage. That same philosophy carried through to the first course, where enormous dayboat scallops were pan-seared and served with English peas, Dutch Baerii caviar and a smoked scallop dashi. The scallop was rich and almost creamy, with the peas bringing a bright, summery freshness. The dashi, made from smoked scallops, added a subtle savory depth, while the caviar brought a delicate saltiness. Zachary said the dish is a good example of what he likes to do in the kitchen. “It’s obviously very luxurious. It’s topped with caviar, but it’s the sauce, the broth dashi that we make from smoked scallops that we finish the dish with,” he said. “That I think is really kind of like the star.” For Zachary, luxury does not have to mean excess. His approach is to determine which ingredient deserves the starring role and then find the preparation that best brings out its character, whether that means grilling, poaching or pan-searing it, or preparing a vegetable several different ways to showcase its textures and flavors. That approach was especially apparent in the Iberico pork entrée, served roasted and confit with variations of carrots, fennel and honey from Nantucket’s own Out on a Limb. The roasted pork was lean and meaty, while the confit preparation added richness. Carrots appeared as roasted vegetables, purée and part of a jus made from the pork bones, each bringing a slightly different texture and expression of the same ingredient. The fennel added a sharp, almost licorice-like counterpoint to the sweet pork, while the local honey tied everything together. “There’s a lot of local in that dish, you know, which I’m really happy about,” Zachary said. But for the chef going on 16 years at The Wauwinet, his main goal is always to bring happiness to people through food and the dining experience. “I like when we can make them happier than when they came in,” Zachary said of his guests. “So to be able to turn that around is pretty cool and start off their vacation the right way.” At Topper’s, that vacation-starting experience extends well beyond the kitchen. The Wauwinet’s beverage program is a destination in its own right, with more than 2,000 wine labels represented on the list and more than 15,000 bottles in the cellar. The restaurant has received Wine Spectator’s Grand Award for 30 consecutive years, a distinction reserved for the world’s most exceptional restaurant wine programs. For beverage director Dennis Conger, who oversees the wine, spirits and cocktail programs, the collection is both a responsibility and a playground. “I can get pretty nerdy with it,” he said. Originally from Madrid, Spain, Conger grew up around hospitality and initially trained on the culinary side before moving into hotel management and eventually discovering wine. What hooked him was not simply the wine itself, but the connection between food and beverage. “I fell in love with the interaction,” he said. “You have to know about food, sauces, spices, wine. So that just triggered me to go further down the rabbit hole.” Learning about wine is more than just taste. It’s about history, geography, culture, tradition and even science. That rabbit hole is particularly deep at The Wauwinet. The cellar is heavily weighted toward Burgundy – roughly 70 percent of the collection – a reflection of both the region’s status among wine collectors and Nantucket’s longstanding wine culture. But Conger and his team are constantly looking beyond the familiar, adding wines from new regions and seeking bottles that guests might not encounter elsewhere. During our dinner, that meant moving far beyond a single style of wine. We began with Laurent-Perrier Champagne, crisp and light, before moving to a 2017 Dom Pérignon with the amuse-bouches. The Dom Pérignon was deeper and more rounded, a fitting progression into the meal. With the scallops and morels came a 2012 Peter Michael Chardonnay, one of my favorite wines of the evening, alongside a 2020 Symington Estates Taifa blend from Portugal. The Taifa was particularly memorable because of how unusual it was. Symington only produces the blend in exceptionally strong growing years, and 2020 remains its most recent vintage. It was a small reminder that the value of a wine program like Topper’s is not simply having expensive bottles on a list, but having access to wines that tell a story. The main courses – Iberico pork and prime beef filet – were paired with a 2018 red Burgundy from Domaine de la Pousse d’Or. Lighter and more nuanced than the bold reds many diners might instinctively reach for with beef, it carried earthy spice and dark-fruit flavors that worked equally well with the red meats. And then came dessert, where the wine became the star. The cheesecake, delicate beneath a shell of St-Germain-infused white chocolate and topped with whipped cream, pickled gooseberry and almond pepper sable, was paired with a 2014 Château d’Yquem. The wine was sweet but not cloying, with honeyed and apricot-like flavors that echoed the fruit while balancing the tartness of the gooseberry. It was one of the most beautiful wines I’ve ever tasted. My dining companion and I saved the final sip for the last minutes of our meal. With the cassis dessert – pistachio frangipane, whipped ganache, black currant and currant sorbet – came an Alvear Solera 1927 Pedro Ximénez, a dramatically richer wine with the viscosity of syrup and deep notes of fig and chocolate. It was decadent enough to feel almost like dessert itself. For diners intimidated by a wine list of this magnitude, Conger has simple advice: ask questions. The Wauwinet has five sommeliers on its wine team, and their job is not simply to point guests toward the most expensive or exclusive bottle. It is to help them find something they will enjoy, whether they know exactly what they want or have no idea where to begin. “Wine is all about having fun, sitting down with friends and family, and enjoying a good meal with a great wine,” Conger said. “Have human interaction, ask questions and have a great time. That’s the most important thing.” That philosophy feels fitting for a property that has spent 150 years cultivating a particular kind of experience. The Wauwinet may look much different than it did in 1875, but the appeal of escaping to a beautiful place, sitting down to an extraordinary meal and lingering over something special in your glass feels almost timeless. At Topper’s, the food, wine and service are all working toward the same goal: to make an evening feel like something worth remembering. And after 150 years, that may be The Wauwinet’s greatest luxury of all. Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request.