LUNE is brought to you by Chef Mick Formichella and his wife Charlotte who moved back to Cape Cod from Portland, OR where they both worked in various restaurants.  She runs the front of house including the wine program and he does the kitchen.  Starting as a pop-up in an art gallery, they moved to a permanent location in mid-May last year.   They chose an old garage building that adds an interesting interior to the place.  About 6 seats are at the end of the long counter surrounding the open kitchen and the rest are small tables, most with bench seating backing up to the walls.  Art and wine bottles provide many of the decorations  as well as the large black and white tile floor.  The restaurant was a semi-finalist for the  2025 James Beard Best New Restaurant Award but then were removed from the competition as they were closed in Feb and March when judges visit the nominated restaurants.  That was to the benefit of the remaining contenders as this small gem would have been formidable competition.  They book up quickly for the tasting menu that is offered in 2 seatings on Thurs, Friday and Sat.  On Wed and Sun they serve an a la carte menu.  We were lucky to enjoy one the tasting menus with Charlotte’s selected wine pairings.  It was a terrific evening filled with great food and friendly staff and one I highly recommend you try when in the area.

Set-up

Food

To prepare your palate they started with a cup of porcini and wild onion consommé.  It was warm and deeply flavored.

 

A Beausoleil oyster was topped with fennel sabayon and a jalapeño slice.  This lovely oyster was a clean bite with a nice bit of spice from the pepper and tons of accenting flavor from the sabayon.  It was totally yummy.

 

Tuna crudo was surrounded by spring onion agro-dolce, snap peas and Thai basil.  The yellowfin tuna was thickly sliced and paired perfectly with the thinly sliced peas and red onions.  The sweet and sour sauce was spiced up nicely to go with the mild fish.

 

Foie gras tarte was topped with rhubarb geleé and plated with red endive, radish and hazelnuts.  The smooth foie gras filling was delicious and sparked to greatness by the crisp toasted hazelnuts and vegetables.  A great balance along with flavor here.

 

Local asparagus were around a soft poached egg and topped with nettle hollandaise and wild fennel.   A few toasted bread crumbs were in the mix to add texture and more buttery goodness.  The runny egg added to the richness of the sauce and the tender asparagus were sliced into disks.  Another delicious combination.

 

House sourdough and cultured butter with a dusting of salt came out next.  The thick slices of sourdough had tons of airholes in the doughy interior with a crisp perfect crust.  The butter had good flavor but was a little too whippy for me.  One more note is that I’d wish the bread would come out earlier so you would have to use on the previous wonderful sauces.

 

Roasted duck breast was alongside sausage stuffed morel mushrooms and peas with an armagnac demi glaze.  The duck skin was glazed with honey and dusted with cracked pepper that gave it a good kick.  The fat underneath had mostly been rendered on the medium rare duck.  Some of the meat was a tad chewy but overall it was quite good.  The sausage stuffed morels were excellent and the greens added another level of peppery flavor.

 

A palate transition was bergamot and spruce sorbet topped with olive oil.  It had nice flavor and texture.

 

Dessert was camomille bavarois with mint granita, almond sable and compressed rhubarb all topped with a violet from the chef’s mother’s garden.   The tart and cold accompaniments paired well with the smooth cream and the buttery biscuit pieces.   It was a tasty combination of flavors and textures that satisfied your need for a sweet ending.

 

Final treats were an apricot jelly and madeleine dusted with powdered sugar.  Both were fine.