Flav’s Red Skiff

Flav’s is a tiny eatery with cute pastel-checked cloth covered tables and simple décor that consists of old magazine advertisements, a glowing review or two, and the paper napkin Tom Selleck signed for former proprietor Victoria Flavin the day he stopped in for breakfast while filming a movie on the streets of Rockport. We like arriving before seven in the morning when there always is an available seat and the handful of other customers are locals who carry on conversations from the short, six-stool counter through the pass-through to the kitchen.

Counter or table is a fine place to enjoy plate-wide pancakes (buttermilk, blueberry, or chocolate chip), a warm pecan roll dripping with caramel frosting, or eggs served with toast made from the New England specialty, anadama bread. It is said that Rockport is where anadama bread was created, when a fisherman grew so angry at his lazy wife Anna that he baked his own loaf of bread from wheat flour, cornmeal, and molasses … all the while muttering, “Anna, damn her.” Whatever its origins, Flav’s makes a dark, sweet, and high-flavored anadama loaf that tastes just great when toasted and buttered.

You can also get strawberry French toast made with thick slices of anadama bread, but it is our opinion that the egg dip and frying detract from the solid Yankee character of the bread itself.

And then there’s lunch: good New England chowder, fried clams, shrimp and scallops.