Wing your way in winter to The Cooked Goose

February 18, 2015 11:00 pm • Last Updated: March 23, 2015 12:10 pm

By Jill Blanchette

In Westerly, there are few outposts in the neutral zone - that geographical sweet spot where the locals meet the seasonal crowd.

In summer, these spots are dominated by beach-goers. The locals are there, for sure, but we cede our privilege in the name of hospitality and economic reality. We wait in line in a crowded restaurant lobby or a jam-packed grocery store and perhaps our eyes meet across the room. As we witness an overly tanned, elderly woman demand to see the bottom side of every pork chop in the case, perhaps we indulge in a shared eye roll, a moment of solidarity, an acknowledgement of our collective tolerance.

But in winter, when the chilly winds hustle the second-homers out of town, we reassert ourselves. We enjoy the views and the food and the overall summery atmosphere regardless of the weather outside.

One such outpost is The Cooked Goose, a charming, slightly upscale breakfast and lunch joint on Watch Hill Road. Even as the wind howls and the waters of the frigid Pawcatuck turn from slush to stone, inside the Goose, it's summer. The pale yellow walls with their creamy trim, the dark wooden floors and furniture, the beachy tchotchkes, the fireplace and the baskets of toys waiting to occupy small, impatient guests - somehow it all speaks of the warmer times ahead.

Breakfast service stretches to a civilized 11:30. The menu offers the usuals - omelets, egg sandwiches, pancakes, with sides of bacon, sausage, hash and hash browns - and a bit of the unexpected - six varieties of eggs Benedict, truffled eggs with asparagus and fontina cheese, and a bagel accompanied by smoked salmon and whitefish salad.

But it's a rare visit when I can resist the coffee - served in your very own thermos - and a pastry, an almond or chocolate croissant, a delicate, flavorful scone, a slice of coffee cake or a morning glory muffin, all freshly baked daily.

The lunch menu follows breakfast's lead. The variety of salads, soups and sandwiches is punctuated with offerings from the take-out deli case that fills one side of the restaurant. Select from the array of cold salads - such as macaroni, lobster, potato, or cold sesame noodles - to assemble a three-salad platter, $10.50. Or choose a cold sandwich - served with chips - with a local moniker like The Lynch, $8.50, tuna salad with lettuce, tomato and cheddar cheese on whole wheat bread, named for a beloved customer who once held court daily at a table by the door.

My favorite is Joyce's Egg Salad Sandwich, $8.50, with bacon, lettuce and Major Grey's Chutney on toasted pumpernickel bread. The salad is uplifted by the salty bacon, sweet and tangy chutney and that flavorful punch and crunch of pumpernickel. So good.

Or how about a slice of quiche and a side salad, $8.95? On a recent noontime visit, there were two varieties, broccoli and cheddar, or chicken, fontina and artichoke. But I opted instead for a special, chicken pot pie served with mashed potatoes, $9.95. My husband was tempted by one of his favorites, the loaded pair of foot-long hotdogs - topped with mustard, bacon, tomato, onion, relish, pickle, hot peppers, celery salt, pico de gallo, American cheese and served with fries, $8.95, but instead chose New England's Best Hot Pastrami Sandwich Platter, served on rye bread with sauerkraut and Dijon mustard, a pickle and French fries, $11.50.

The chicken pot pie was a large bowl of creamy chicken and white wine gravy loaded with cubes of white meat, mushrooms, peas, baby pearl onions and carrots, topped with a circle of golden brown, buttery, crumbly crust that was even decorated with an applique of two leaves and an acorn. It was both unexpectedly elegant and perfectly delicious. The mashed potatoes - red-skinned spuds smashed, I suspect, with buckets of butter - were gratuitous and delicious.

The pastrami platter, alas, was not New England's best. It was the right size, not piled with a crazy, touristy amount of meat, but rather just enough thinly sliced, very tender pastrami. But its overall flavor was very sharp. Maybe there was too much mustard or the sauerkraut was overly tangy, but the pastrami flavor was somehow lost. The side of French fries was a generous pile of very crispy potato wedges. They outshined the sandwich.

We didn't need it, but when cherry buckle is on the menu, it cannot be denied. The warm square of moist buckle, $4.50, was more cake than cherry, but it was topped with a magnificent dollop of lightly sweet whipped cream.

Social media loves The Cooked Goose, it seems. Of the 151 ratings on Trip Advisor, 141 are excellent or very good. Just be sure to get there before the crowds return. Enjoy your summer while you can.

One last note: The Cooked Goose will close for its annual break on March 2. It will reopen March 16 at 7 a.m.

J.BLANCHETTE@THEDAY.COM

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