Our Kind of October in Salem

There are plenty of ways to spend an October day in Salem.

Our version starts with coffee at Konna Cafe, just beyond the busiest streets, a sandwich from A&J King, a few hours wandering the Peabody Essex Museum, and a stop at Oak + Moss before settling in for dinner. October may be Salem’s liveliest month, but some of our favorite parts of the city are the places that invite you to slow down.

At Settler, fall is also one of our favorite seasons to cook. This is when the farms around us begin sending in the ingredients we wait for all year: honey nut and acorn squash, bitter chicories, swiss chard, broccoli rabe, brussels sprouts, tuscan kale, and locally foraged mushrooms.

In the kitchen, those ingredients become dishes like honey nut squash baba ghanoush; pumpkin-ricotta gnocchi with sage, brown butter, kale, amaretto, and pecorino; and handmade casarecce with Berkshire fennel sausage, gigante beans, and tuscan kale. Serrano ham is paired with burrata, roasted acorn squash, hazelnuts, and watercress. It’s the kind of food we want to eat when the evenings turn cool: warm, generous, layered, and made almost entirely here.

For the month of October, dinner at Settler is offered as a three-course prix fixe menu. Each table begins with a selection of meze chosen by our kitchen to share. From there, each guest chooses their own starter and entrée from four or five seasonal options. Vegetarian and gluten-free choices are always available, with desserts offered separately. The menu is $78 per person and changes throughout the month as ingredients arrive from our local farm partners.

If your October plans bring you to Salem, make time for the places that feel like Salem all year long. And when you’re ready to step away from the crowds, we’ll be here.

Reservations are available through OpenTable.