July 2015

The Zeitgeist of farm-to-table American cuisine at Francine Bistro prevailed long before the term was tossed around everywhere.  In fact, it’s virtually second nature to chef and proprietor Brian Hill whose Camden bistro remains a dining destination since 2003. He employs not just the familiar fusing of farm-to-fork but, rather, each dish is a study in simplicity, of copacetic flavors that spring from his magical well of culinary methodology. In a word the food is delicious!

Francine Bistro at night

Francine Bistro at night

It’s also one of the most popular restaurants in this tony coastal village, which now boasts other hot spots such as the superb Natalie’s up the street at the Camden Harbour  Inn (see next week’s review), Pig and Poet at the Whitehall (see July 24 review) or at neighboring Rockport and Rockland, particularly Hill’s other restaurant, Shepherd’s Pie.When I was there earlier this week (my second visit in two weeks) I ordered the pan roasted chicken, a pretty basic dish—but not here.  To me if the basics of roast chicken do not come off well in a restaurant then everything else served tends to follow suit.

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In other, warmer parts of the country peaches are a harbinger of summer when harvests are ready by mid-July.  In Maine, however, we’re a month behind, with only a few growers in the southern half of the state even growing the fruit. But our peaches can be nearly as good as the famed Georgia peach: sweet-tart, beautifully colored fruit that finds its way into pies, cakes, ice cream, cobblers and jams.

Peaches will be in markets soon

Peaches will be in markets soon

Kelly Orchards in Acton is highly revered for their peaches and one of the largest growers in the state. Foxes Ridge Farm is another peach orchard, also in Acton.   You’ll regularly find them starting in mid-August at the North Berwick, Kennebunk, Springvale and Sanford farmers’ markets.  (Note Foxes Ridge only attends the Kennebunk market). In Portland some vendors carry Kelly peaches such as Snell Family Farms and Uncle’s Farm Stand at the Wednesday and Saturday markets.

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By now the world knows (even the seagulls steer clear) not to mess with Darla Neugebauer–aka Marcy’s Diner—the empress of the hash-house hootenanny starring an old toughie at the flat top, a crying baby and an oblivious millennial mommy, who collectively trounced the newswires and social media pages like a hailstorm of pebbles across the globe (well, maybe not mainland China).  The event has even inspired several new dishes on the menu like 3 Screaming Baby Pancakes and Liberal Parent Omelet (or Entitled Eggs Benedict?).

darla darla at the grill Darla clipping2

And, for better or worse, it’s made the diner and its proprietress instant stars (mom didn’t make the grade, coming off too arrogantly namby-pamby). Nearby Becky’s Diner may have been feeling the pinch, however, as tourists and uninitiated locals camped in front of the Oak Street digs instead for a look see.

Lovable greasy spoon diner is all the rage in Portland at Marcy's

Lovable greasy spoon diner is all the rage in Portland at Marcy’s

And for pure ridiculousness, offers have been pouring in for Neugebauer, from a TV cooking show to a reality sit-com.

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What a difference a day makes—in this case about 45 of them in which the Pig and Poet at the Whitehall has emerged as a seriously fine place to dine in the tourist-heavy coastal town of Camden. I went when it first opened in early June (see June 12 write-up) to experience the new iteration of this inn and its restaurant. Dinner was good enough but basically uninspiring. But I vowed to return to give it a second chance later in the season.

A commanding presence on Route 1, the Whitehall and Pig and Poet are thoroughly inviting

A commanding presence on Route 1, the Whitehall and Pig and Poet are thoroughly inviting

And I did earlier this week to savor a superb meal in what is now the jewel in the crown of the stunningly refurbished Whitehall (formerly Whitehall inn).  By Camden standards it’s not as luxe and lavish as the nearby Camden Harbour Inn, a Relais & Chateaux lodging facility. But Pig and Poet’s chef, Sam Talbot, lives up to his exalted reputation in the dishes that he prepared that evening.  His resume includes stints on the TV series, Top Chef, and pegs in some  of New York’s trendy hot–spots including the founding chef of the Surf Lodge in the Hamptons’ billionaire paradise of Montauk, New York.

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Now’s the time to put all those summer berries and fruits into flaky pie doughs and luscious cobblers and crisps.  But one fruit is the prize of the season: the elusive sour cherry.  Their season is short and they’re in the markets now at about $6 per pint. A few vendors at the Portland farmer’s market sell them, notably Uncle’s Farm from Hollis.

Sour cherries

Sour cherries

The best is sour cherry pie, a treasure of sweet and tart.  The pie is easy to make, but pitting the cherries is a chore.  I have two cherry pitters, in which each pits four cherries at a time. So I can get 8 cherries done in about 30 seconds.  You’ll need two to three pints, or 4 cups whole cherries.  If you go to the Bed Bath & Beyond website (follow link for page) and search for cherry pitters, they offer several that pit multiple cherries at a time.  Leroux Kitchen in Portland generally carries pitters, too.

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The finest culinary minds take the art of cooking to new levels even when the dialectic of simple versus grand is a basic conundrum.   But consider another possibility in our flavor domain: weird—or deliciously weird. It’s one thing to spiral high over an incredibly flavorful dish when the sum of its ingredients are unique. But then there’s the far-out mother of invention taking hold and you, as a diner, encounter something so completely different. These revelations don’t often occur at brunch, the superciliousness of a meal that occurs mostly on Sundays.  The progression of mimosas and bloody’s, all kinds of eggs Benedict and omelets,  pancakes and French toast or just plain old bagels and “lox” (as it’s still known in Manhattan circles) are often mundane and predictable even if comfort-food good.

An old favorite, The Hot Brown

An old Caiola’s favorite, The Hot Brown

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Like the citadel on the mount, the Black Point Inn enjoys a seaside perch so elegantly and serenely in Prouts Neck that it also enjoins this point of land as both an exclusive summer colony as it was the inspiration for some of Winslow Homer’s greatest paintings.

The gracious dining porch overlooks gardens and the ocean beyond

The gracious dining porch overlooks gardens and the ocean beyond

The seasonal inn opens from May to October and has always had a restaurant, which, for the most part, has never been its best feature. But since the Prouts Neck Association members bought the inn some years ago, paying over $20 million for the building and waterfront land, the entire property and set up is pristine.  Originally the 1878 inn offered 85 rooms and was scaled back to a manageable 25.  The various iterations of its dining facilities, from its dour formal dining room to equally indeterminate luncheon fare—though the former oceanfront pool setting for lunch was very popular–has also seen big improvement.

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I wouldn’t heave Mickey D’s lobster roll out the car window.  I mean, at first bite, it wasn’t as bad as expected. Don’t’ get me wrong.  It’s nothing more than an unremarkable sandwich.

In all its glory, the McDonald's lobster roll

In all its glory, the McDonald’s lobster roll

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Maine’s coveted crop of wild blueberries are trickling into the markets now.  On my way home from North Haven to Portland I stopped at my favorite farm store, Beth’s Farm Market on Western Road in Warren. She’s generally the first with many crops, her indefatigable green thumb giving a magical boost to most everything she grows.  There, in the front of the store, were boxes of Beth’s wild blueberries.  The accompanying sign said that they were early berries and needed to be picked over carefully to remove any green or unripe berries.

blueberries in strainer

With my early crop of berries in hand and my recent stay on North Haven I turned to my file folder of pie recipes to make a recipe called North Haven Blueberry Pie.  It was contained in an articled in the New York Times by Camden based cookbook author and food writer, Nancy Harmon Jenkins, and published in August of 2008.

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Specialty food retailers have not made a big push into Portland since Whole Foods entered town followed several years later by Trader Joe’s.  The latter remains my least favorite place to shop, though it certainly has its fans who swarm the frozen aisle cases for esoteric Asian entrees and small bites or coffees, teas, wine and the like.  I do admit to going there for several TJ brand items:  Dijon mustard,  packaged nuts , bags of hardwood briquettes and occasionally bottles of Gerolsteiner sparkling  mineral water because it’s 20 cents cheaper than at  Whole Foods and much less than at other retailers who carry it, such as The Portland Food Co-op who charges $1.69 per bottle.

From left to right clockwise: Whole Foods, Lois', Rosemont, The Farm Stand

From left to right clockwise: Whole Foods, Lois’, Rosemont, The Farm Stand

Whole Foods, though,  is my default store. But they’re no Eataly, Zabar’s or Dean and DeLuca whose international displays of foods are phenomenal.

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