I have a confession to make. Despite the fact that my husband, Clif, and I recently made the decision to be “mostly vegetarian,” we have discovered a shop in downtown Winthrop—Pete’s Roast Beef—that has such incredible roast beef sandwiches that we are often sorely tempted to stray from our mostly vegetarian path. All I can say is I am glad we added the word mostly to vegetarian, thus giving ourselves some wiggle room. On the other hand, if we had decided to be true vegetarians, we never would have gone into Pete’s Roast Beef to try their sandwiches, and we would have thus avoided temptation. But then we never would have had one of those sandwiches with beef that that is sliced thin, a little rare, moist, tender, flavorful, and roasted right there in the shop. As if all this weren’t enough, the prices are as incredible as the taste—$6 will get you a good-sized sandwich.

I love the sandwiches so much that I am constantly scheming to find an excuse to eat at Pete’s. The only way I can really justify it to myself is if I meet friends there for lunch or a light supper. Last week, we met Joel Johnson on Saturday. His wife, Alice, was singing in a concert at the Winthrop Performing Arts Center. Unfortunately, she couldn’t join us, but Joel, Clif, and I had a tasty roast beef supper before the concert. Alice instructed Joel to bring her a sandwich for after the concert, which he did.

Yesterday, I met Claire Hersom. We were supposed to go to the Congregational Church for their fish chowder, but Claire was busy until after the luncheon ended.

“Why not meet at Pete’s Roast Beef?” I asked.

“Why not?” she agreed.

We not only got roast beef sandwiches, but we also shared a small order of French fries. While the fries are not hand cut—they are frozen—they are of higher quality than average and taste very good hot from the fryer.

My next plans? As a thank you for all their hard work, I have offered to buy lunch for Richard and Shane, two of the town’s  librarians. And where have I offered to take them? Guess.

Looking ahead…our daughter Shannon is keen on trying the roast beef sandwiches, and the next time she and her husband come for a visit, we will no doubt hit Pete’s. Then, when my friend Sybil comes back from England in a couple of weeks, she will want to tell me all about her trip. What better place than Pete’s?

So opportunities do present themselves, and if they should somehow run out, well, I guess Clif and I will just have to go on our own for our weekend treat. (We more or less follow a regime of six days of healthy, vegetarian cooking and one day of fried food or meat.)  Suddenly, the Red Barn (great fried chicken) and Bolley’s (great fish and chips) just got some serious competition for our weekend treat.