Maine

Newagen Inn in Southport, Maine, inspires asparagus soup

Newagen Inn in Southport, Maine, inspires asparagus soup

Posted on by Pat and David
When we spent the better part of a week in Maine recently, we spent a day exploring some of the touchstone haunts of the modern-day patron saint of the environmental movement, Rachel Carson. She was the epitome of scientific and literary rigor—the long-time chief editor of U.S. Bureau of Fish and Wildlife publications and the impassioned popular science writer whom some credit for saving whole swathes of the avian world from extinction. Between tidepools and typewriter, though, she knew how to relax and enjoy herself. She often treated herself to the restaurant at the Newagen Inn (60 Newagen Colony Road, Southport, Maine; 207-633-5242, newagenseasideinn.com). So we did the same. The photo at the top of this post shows the view from the restaurant's outdoor porch...Read More
Perfect BLT substitutes lobster for lettuce

Perfect BLT substitutes lobster for lettuce

Posted on by Pat and David
We just returned from a Maine sojourn, where we observed first-hand two of the most-talked-about phenomena of this summer. National park mania was on full display at Acadia National Park. The massive parking lot at Hulls Cove Visitors Center was jammed. Island Explorer buses whisked in and out of the lot every few minutes, carrying tourists to spots throughout the park and into downtown Bar Harbor. It was a model of efficient crowd management. It was also good to see the National Park system collecting much-needed fees. Wherever we went in Maine, we also observed rampant lobster roll fever. We're finally into the season when freshly caught lobster is abundant. Most Gulf of Maine lobsters haven't molted yet, so the meat remains firm and sweet....Read More
When the world reopens with a lobster roll

When the world reopens with a lobster roll

Posted on by Pat and David
It was a glorious June day with bright sunshine, surf crashing on the ledges, roses blooming profusely on the shore, and the iconic Cape Elizabeth Light (aka Two Lights) winking over our shoulders as we sat down to our first Maine lobster roll of the year. Make that our first since 2019. Since we live in Massachusetts, Maine barred us from crossing the border until recently. But we were chasing a story that took us to the slate shoreline at the southern entrance to Casco Bay. When lunchtime rolled around, the Lobster Shack at Two Lights (lobstershacktwolights.com) was right there. The lobster roll was ‶market price,″ which translated to roughly $20. No matter, we were in heaven. A brief rant interrupts this idyll As we're...Read More
World on a Plate: lobster and lighthouses

World on a Plate: lobster and lighthouses

Posted on by Pat and David
We spent the last week researching and writing a story about lighthouses that will appear sometime soon in the Boston Globe (bostonglobe.com). We, of course, have been visiting them from land and during the day, but David has enduring and fond memories of lighthouses in Maine's Penobscot Bay. In the pre-GPS days, when he worked on an old salt's small trawler, he can recall navigating at night by distant lights winking at each other across the bay. His heart would leap when he rounded Sears Island and suddenly saw the pint-sized light of Belfast harbor flashing in the distance. Coming home for a late dinner. In summertime, that usually meant lobster. These days, when we want lobster, we're more likely to stop at the Clam...Read More
Summer on a roll at Bob’s Clam Hut in Kittery

Summer on a roll at Bob’s Clam Hut in Kittery

Posted on by Pat and David
Today is the first day of astronomical summer, but one of our favorite roadside eateries has been rushing the season for weeks. Bob's Clam Hut (315 US Route 1, Kittery, Maine; 207-439-4233, www.bobsclamhut.com) is known, of course, for fried clams. Or, more specifically, for fried clams two ways. “Bob's traditional” fried clams are dredged in flour. “Lillian's clams,” an homage to long-time employee Lillian Mangos, are dipped in an egg wash before they're dredged in flour. The second method imparts a slightly tangy, almost sourdough flavor to the breading. The price is the same, but you have to specify which you want when you order. Bob's is much, much more than clams, of course. The fried local haddock is always a treat, and this year...Read More

Natalie’s winning Butter-Poached Lobster recipe

Posted on by Pat and David
Prepared with grilled maitake and oyster mushrooms along with a corn-parsnip ragout, this is the recipe that won Chris Long plaudits as the 2013 Maine Lobster Chef of the Year. The recipe below and photo above are adapted with permission from Natalie’s Restaurant (nataliesrestaurant.com) at the Camden Harbour Inn (camdenharbourinn.com). (The corn stock directions are ours, so don't blame Chris and Shelby.) Ingredients 1 Maine lobster 1 pound butter at room temperature 2 ounces fresh thyme 1 shallot, minced 1 cup corn stock * 1 cup corn kernels 1/2 cup chopped parsnips 1 lemon salt and pepper to taste 2 ounces wild mushrooms parsnip chips micro arugula basil flowers Directions Boil lobster in salted water, 7 minutes for claws and 3 minutes for tail. Shock-chill...Read More

Natalie’s celebrates lobster on its home waters

Posted on by Pat and David
Natalie's co-chef Shelby Stevens is a Mainer, but she's not from lobster country. She grew up in Farmington, an inland town where mountain timber meets upcountry lakes. But perched on the hillside over picturesque Camden harbor, Natalie's occupies a prominent spot on the Times Square of Lobster Land. Roughly half of the state's annual lobster catch—130 million pounds in 2016—is landed at Penobscot Bay ports. Stevens and her husband, co-chef Chris Long (pictured above in their official portrait), naturally developed an extensive repertoire of lobster fine-dining dishes to wow the guests at the tony Camden Harbour Inn (camdenharbourinn.com). When the crustacean is in season, Natalie's offers a five-course tasting menu of four lobster dishes and a dessert as one of its menu options. When we...Read More

Popping into Portland’s Danforth for Natalie’s popup

Posted on by Pat and David
With nine handsome rooms in an 1823 Federal mansion, Portland's Danforth Inn (danforthinn.com) is a nifty hideaway in Maine's biggest city. That's what hoteliers Raymond Brunyanszki and Oscar Verest, owners of the Camden Harbour Inn (camdenharbourinn.com), had in mind when they purchased the Danforth in 2014. Their extensive upgrades included creating Tempo Dulu (tempodulu.restaurant), a fine-dining restaurant focused on Southeast Asian, Indonesian, and Malaysian cuisines. Chef Michael McDonnell recently got a few days off from riffing on rijsttafel. At the end of March, Tempo Dulu hosted a popup of Natalie's (nataliesrestaurant.com), the Camden Harbour Inn's gastronomic showcase. It was a homecoming of sorts. Natalie's co-chefs Shelby Stevens and Chris Long were married at the Danforth last year. (That's a picture of the dining room below.)...Read More