Detente

Always great. Exceptional food and service. Creative menu and presentation.
Nice people. The patio is the nicest area (heaters when cold). The two dining rooms are nice but not exceptional. Highly recommend.

Fantastic meal from start to finish. Unfortunately, terrible service. A waitress more interested in herself than her customers. Then, she overcharged us. Just basic math, I don’t think it was a mistake. We would still return for the food

My husband and I stopped in for a quick glass of wine the other night and loved it. Excellent offerings for wines by the glass, and the bartender was great. So great, in fact, that after he described the specials we had to order one of each! The peach salad was incredible. The staff was extremely polite from the moment we walked in. We will definitely return!

Détente is a pleasant experience, but the food on our visit fell short of expectations. The restaurant has a nice atmosphere and the wait staff was friendly. The peach salad was delicious start to the meal, but the quality wasn’t there on the main courses. The fish lacked flavor and the risotto was over salted. For the prices they charge, the quality of the meal should be more consistent. It may have just been an off night in the kitchen, and I would go back to try them again just based on the reviews from others.

Appetizers — charred octopus, braised pork belly, peach salad. All were incredible but the octopus and the pork belly were some of the best we ever had.
Dinner — ribeye steak with fois gras gravy atop a purple potato purée. Perfectly cooked and impeccably seasoned, it dint even need salt and pepper.
Dessert — panna cotta and blueberry bread pudding. Again excellent and melted in your mouth.
They also had some excellent oldies and Motown playing. So, great meal, great service, and great atmosphere.

We had an amazing night here! The service was friendly and attentive, and the food was exceptional. Its tucked away in Nevin Sq as a nice respite from the crowded streets of Edgartown with an outdoor patio and two floors of indoor dining and a bar. If you are looking to get away from the more typical seafood fare around town and have a creative culinary experience then come here. Everything we ate was mind blowing! They not only support local farmers by using island grown meats and veggies and fresh caught seafood, but they create beautifully plated dishes with a seamless blend between spanish, french and local cooking, such as their delicious lamb belly and milanese with harissa and hummus, olive oil poached squid, peach salad with baby arugula, duck with parsnip purée and Octopus confit. It was a truly wonderful evening for all the senses!

Third summer in a row frequenting Détente and their sister restaurant in Oak Bluffs. Both are inviting, welcoming and offer stellar food.
Wine selections by the glass are always excellent. Tonight’s Chardonnay is from the Russian River and exactly how I like it buttery with a tad of oak. The Pinot Noir is stellar too.
Peach salad with cheese and truffle oil is a standout. As a vegetarian you can always find something on the menu to eat. It’s all superb.
Freshly baked bread with butter is always appreciated in my book too.
A sweet locale tucked in back of a little shopping plaza. It’s a nice quiet vibe compared to many of the other in town restaurants.

One of our favorite MV restaurants remains on the top of our list. Started with their special «peach» salad and tuna tartare. The ribeye with caramelized onion was delicious and the dense chocolate cake was a great finish. We will definitely come again.

Pleasant restaurant in Edgartown. In fact, quite a gem. Tucked away from the main streets in a quiet cove.
Lovely atmosphere. Two floors of dining, cozy bar and well appointed décor.
I decided on the local catch, sea bass. My partner Jane went with the scallops, they were both delicious! Generous portion with a perfect culinary of flavors and overall presentation.
Serving staff were very professional and friendly. I’ll make sure to visit here again.

Dinner and service at the bar with Matt their bartender was 5 stars…
The food was exceptional.

To our palate cuisine is always divine — dining in September is that much better — without the crowd and long waits — reduced staff dictated multitasking for the waitstaff-​who couldn’t do enough for us. Each menu items’ mouth watering description won’t disappoint, though the use of truffle oil was a bit heavy-​handed. One of the island’s best.

The food is amazingly good! The service is top notch too. We sat at the bar for dinner and the bartender Matt was friendly, knowledgable and talented mixologist. The peach salad, rabbit empanadas and veal Milanese were all spectacular. It’s a small place and not easy to get a reservation during the summer, but we walked right in without a reservation in September.

I love this place — it’s a favorite of my mom and dad’s, so we all headed here on Monday for dinner. Since my parents are very familiar with all of the best, we let them order appetizers and make recommendations. Every appetizer we had was absolutely perfect and came out quickly (but not TOO quickly). My brother, parents, and I shared the yellowfin tartare, sea scallops, and cheese board, which was probably too much for just apps, but when on vacation, right? The tartare was my favorite — I legitimately could have licked the plate of the ginger lychee sauce (though my mom would have kicked my ass). Each appetizer is around $ 15-​$ 18, and tastes SO fresh — you could tell it was high quality seafood.
What I love about the menu was that it wasn’t overwhelming — our server explained that they use seasonal and fresh ingredients, which I’m always a fan of. I ordered the salmon entrée, which came with these delicious fingerling potatoes and was cooked perfectly. My brother and dad both had the beef duo, and my mom had the chicken, which is her standby order. I’m taking their word on the land animal dishes, but they all said everything was phenomenal.
Service was also great — I’ve read some complaints about service, but we had no issues. It was also very quiet, and the option to sit outside is always a plus.
I can see why my parents love this place so much — we will definitely continue coming back and trying the fresh, new dishes. We didn’t do it this night, but my parents said they’ve gotten the tasting menu numerous times, and it’s a fabulous way to try a ton of different dishes at a very reasonable price (I think it was $ 70 for a 7 course tasting).

BEST PLACE EVER! i just made a Unilocal account to review this, great service (VERY nice). Only 5 entrees but lots of appetizer options and sides! got the ribeye with potato roll, others got the sole and LOVED it! Would recommend EVERYTHING on the menu and definitely going back! DELICOUS FOOD, JUST THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF FOOD AND IT WAS FABULOUS, GO FOR IT. It is expensive, however the money is ABSOLUETLY worth it, fabulous restaurant and extremely pleased. KUDOS to the cook, you are a great great cook!!!

We were lucky to drop in and get two seats at the bar for dinner. It was a great location to watch the choreography of professionals in motion on a busy evening. The bartender/​waiter has been there since weeks after the opening 9 years ago and we were able to discuss how thee I has evolved.
The roasted octopus was the best — it rivals anything I have ever had on Greece. It was tender and flavorful — 2 things easy to lose with octopus. I want more. Their signature blueberry bread pudding was as good as I remembered, if not better.
Kevin and Susannah know how to create great ambience and food. I am looking forward to more.

Went here for a romantic dinner with my boyfriend and ordered the tasting menu with wine pairings. The food was delicious; we had tuna tartare, the cod, scallops, braised short ribs and blueberry bread pudding. All were amazing ! The staff was awesome too — so friendly and attentive.
Go ! & enjoy :)

My girlfriend and I spent a romantic night on Martha’s Vineyard and choose Détente for dinner based on a phone conversion about with them about their ability to accommodate our plant-​based (vegan) diet. We went there before they opened and saw that they had a «half priced bar» from 5:30 — 6PM which, as Californians we took to mean a «happy hour». It was not :). The food only was half priced during that time.
The bartender was friendly but not terribly focused, it seemed. I ordered one of their signature drinks and found out half way through that he didn’t include one of the ingredients — there were only three ingredients. He added it but didn’t bother to refill the glass for his mistake and they charged us full price regardless.
We came back later for dinner and had a wonderful meal consisting of brussels sprout and sweet potato ravioli and another that was the chefs vegan special with Swiss chard, fava beans, gnocchi and more. Both meals were fantastic! Our drinks at dinner were just so-​so again. My manhattan was mostly dry vermouth — rough go.
In summary, the food was amazing but beware of ordering mixed drinks from the bar. Maybe stick to wine.

i really love my job… it’s exposing me to places and restaurants i probably wouldn’t ever check out.
the first thing i noticed when receiving was the limited selection (5 appetizers, 5 entrees). since we had a large group, we decided to get every appetizer on the menu. i’ve been informed that the menu changes frequently, based on the season and ingredients available. the tuna tartare was one of the most amazing i’ve had… you could taste the freshness. the scallops were seared to perfection and had a nice seasoning crusted over it.
i had the bone-​in tenderloin, which came with a sweet potato ravioli. while i ordered it medium rare, as recommended by our waitress, who was very knowledgeable about the menu (i guess it’s not that hard when there’s only 10 options total). took some pork tenderloin (i believe) from a colleague, and i’m glad i choose what i did.
for dessert, we shared 4 of them: the nutella crêpe was more chocolatey (is that a word?) than hazelnutty, and came with a «pot of crème». the apple pie was literally like a mini-​apple pie. also had a bite of the carrot cake and brownie, which were both alright. i’d go with the apple pie if i were to ever go back to martha’s vineyard.
oh…and i forgot to mention their extensive wine selection (it is a winebar).

Lovely inventive appetizers – but the main menu, at least for the fall, is filled with meat/​fish from distant places. Tasmanian Salmon – here in the NE makes no sense, New Zealand lamb, etc. way too much meat, not enough seafood, and not local. Basically the same list of dishes that are on every menu in town.
We did however compose an entire meal from the appetizers, all local, primarily seafood, inventive combinations. Our server advised any one could be turned into a main, but we rather enjoyed several small dishes since so many sounded (and were) interesting and delicious.
The peach salad we thought was delicious, the soft-​shell crabs fantastic, and the artichoke soup even better. One of the four of us had the short rib appetizer which was amazing.
For dessert we shared a blueberry /​peach cake – again, local ingredients used well and devoured.
Détente has lovely food if you like the menu, lovely small atmosphere, but to me it is one of several fine choices, but nothing that drives to go back or insist we take visitors there.

Early in my stay, Jeff and his mom had asked me whether or not I would prefer to go somewhere with good food and a killer view or somewhere that had excellent food. I chose the excellent food.
We had a 7:30 reservation for a Saturday night. We were seated promptly. A young man asked us about our water choice. I’m not sure where the breakdown came, but I think he didn’t understand that we wanted tap water or maybe he wasn’t listening. We got the tap water, but no ice. Jeff’s mom ordered a drink and I asked for iced tea.
When Jeff came in from parking the car, he went straight to the bar and ordered himself a drink and joined us.
Our waiter came around and pushed the peach salad. We bit. I also ordered the endive salad. We placed our orders and he disappeared.
He did not reappear for nearly 30 minutes. In the meantime, another person brought us a small box of soft potato bread and a small flask of olive oil. The bread and oil was delicious. We polished off two boxes.
Now, about 8:15, our appetizers arrived. Since Jeff’s mom and I were sharing the peach salad, he split it for us, in the kitchen. It was nothing special. The peaches were ripe and juicy, but the sauce was bland and the greens that came on top added nothing. The melted cheese, however, was delicious. Had it been called a cheese salad with a peach garnish, I would have probably enjoyed it more.
The endive salad was much more interesting. It had razor thin slices of radishes and celeriac? with endive. They were a fascinating mixture, but the real kickers were the side sauces, the olive tapenade was amazing and the other little sauce had a lemon flavor. I could have eaten just that for dinner and been completely satisfied.
Dinner did not arrive for another 25 minutes. By the time we had our dinners, served, I was ready to eat anything. Luckily, my food was pretty good. I ordered a pan seared sea bass. It was perfectly cooked, but lacked any real flavor. (I had the same experience at Lure.) There was a zucchini blossom that was deep fried with a breading mixture. It looked like a giant butterfly shrimp. It was too crisp and had too much salt on it. The real stars of my dish were the mozzarella risotto and salsa verde. Together, they were amazing. Rich deep flavor from the risotto paired with the bright green, earthiness of the salsa verde.
Jeff ordered a pork chop. It had a potato gratin. It was nice, but a bit heavy. There was a corn and lobster relish that was tasty.
Jeff’s mom ordered the lamb duo. Bits of lamb shoulder were cooked in a vegetable, shiitake mushroom ragout. That was delicious. It was paired with roasted lamb. I thought it was a bit tough and had a slight touch of gaminess. There was a nice fennel salad on her plate, as well.
Despite my better judgment, we ordered dessert. That took another 15 minutes. Jeff ordered a cherry and peach compote, served with a spoon of vanilla ice cream. It wasn’t too sweet, which he appreciated. I thought it was passable. I had chosen the almond butter cake with rhubarb compote and tarragon sauce. What a bizarre combo. The tarragon sauce was delicious. I want it bottled and served with ice tea! The cake had a nice texture of ground nuts. There as a soft custard/​cheese on top, with a few sliced strawberries. Had that been left off, it would have been just as good.
Our waiter ASKED me if I wanted more iced tea. A big no-​no in my book. Of course I wanted more. That was it, I got no more. 2 glasses of iced tea in 2 hours? A big rip-​off.
There was a huge wait, outside, so I’m glad we had reservations. We were in a small dining room downstairs. There is only one bathroom for both men and women. The music started off at a normal level and got progressively louder through the night, hence the voices getting louder and louder to compensate. It might have just been a change in the type of music, because I didn’t even notice at first, but later, it was near deafening. However, since we were seated right under the speaker, it might have been more noticeable to our table.
The wait and the not having iced tea would have merited only 3 stars, but I bump it up for the delicious and inventiveness of the food.