Two restaurants beyond Portland’s sturdy culinary confines are exemplary. They are 87 miles apart, the distance from Cape Elizabeth’s The Well at Jordan’s Farm to Rockport’s Nina June. They excel for one simple reason. The food at each is fabulous.
I visited Nina June in early June, and it was my first time there. I loved the place when it was the Salt Water Grill some years ago. The room was lily white then, right out of a Ralph Lauren playbook, Rockport Harbor being the perfect backdrop in this gorgeous little village as the quiet side of Camden next door. Nina June is cozier than its predecessor and more like being in a country boite rather than a “fancy” restaurant. But the food is superb under the able hands of Sara Jenkins, owner and chef. She commands her post like a general, but always calm, not rattled as every nook and cranny of her cooking talents emerge. If anyone from Maine should merit a James Beard Award, it’s Jenkins, leaving many others merely striving.
Nina June’s dining terrace overlooking Rockport harbor, photo courtesy of Nina June
Jenkins the chef hails from New York where she helmed over some very fine kitchens winning many stars and awards, most notably at Porchetta, once described in a New York Magazine review as “drop-dead delicious.” While she’s from Maine, she spent her formative years in Europe, mostly in the Mediterranean region where her cooking style was nurtured. Her father was a foreign correspondent and her mother is the renowned cookbook author, Nancy Harmon Jenkins. Both in their own times returned to Maine in the Camden area where they live and work.
The open kitchen is the core of the restaurant space
The kitchen offers a full view of the theatrics within
That’s the story and the pleasure of having Nina June in our midst. At our dinner, a party of four, enjoyed two whites from Sicily from the restaurant’s wonderful wine list to accompany the many superb plates, notably perfectly cooked local asparagus plated under a soft blanket of curly mustard greens embellished with lovage aioli. Entrees included one of the best examples of local halibut correctly prepared leaving the luscious white flesh in its natural state. Sometimes this sweet local fish is cooked too hard and too dry and tasteless, an experience that I had at another mid-coast restaurant recently where the rest of the meal was superb. Here it was just about as good as it gets, so smooth and silky, its dreamy white flesh literally melting at every bite. Jenkins paired it with a wedge of cider-brined onions under a scrim of cucumbers. What an ingenious combination. The flavors literally danced off the plate.
Nina June, dinner included, halibut, asparagus and pasta with butter and morels
Jenkins shines preparing pasta. That night we had house-made tagliatelle simply prepared with morels and butter. It doesn’t get much better. Other dishes included an ample hamburger made with local beef and served with sea-salt fries and an impressive platter of local charcuterie.
For dessert we shared a heavenly sweet honey cream pie in a graham cracker crust and sweet carrot puree.
Charcuterie platter and the excellent burger with fries
For my friends who recently moved to Rockland from Portland because I had the good sense to sell them a fantastic house on the water–and one of these days I plan to follow– they’ve been telling me about their great experiences with the mid-coast eateries in Camden, Rockland and Rockport where most dinners were nothing short of revelatory. I’ll say it now: as Portland gets more and more built up with boring boxes filled with condo units and the “new” way’s from away, places like those Midcoast towns beckon instead with their great restaurants, galleries, scenic coastal beauty and overall quality of life.
Honey cream pie in graham cracker crust with sweet carrot puree
But the Portland dining scene is not without its varied charms and none better than crossing the bridge to the idyllic confines of Cape Elizabeth, a mix of seacoast and farmland in perfect harmony. An old favorite, I visited The Well at Jordan’s Farm recently. The restaurant is unique for several reasons. It’s basically a seasonal restaurant open from late spring to the first frost and its setting is magical: right in the middle of those lush, verdant farm fields of Jordan’s Farm, which incidentally produce some of the best strawberries in Maine. The ocean is only a stone’s throw away as the crow flies, and no doubt responsible for keeping the farm’s crops in good shape and its chefs inspired.
The Well’s garden gazebos when the planting beds are in full bloom later in the season
Talk about local farm-to-table, this one does it in spades. And the chef and owner Jason Williams, who at one time was the sous chef at the renowned Back Bay Grill, plies his craft flawlessly. The kitchen was tiny in this little hut of the main building when it first opened many years ago; and now with the the expansion of gazebos that dot the property, and the kitchen itself larger (though still tight by standards) it has excelled in its output ten fold since the early days.
By mid summer the planting beds that hug these huts are in full bloom. And while the gazebos offer coverage from the elements, the shades go down over the screen windows when the unpredictability of Maine weather turns from sweaty hot to burr and wet.
I missed going last year because even I couldn’t get a reservation. Bookings start in the spring and fill up immediately. As of this writing there are openings in the fall. But we secured our table at the last minute by accepting a 5:15 dining hour.
The restaurant is as sought after as the indomitable Lost Kitchen. And since my last visit some major changes have taken place. It used to be that you could bring your own libations, a great cost-saving measure for diners since wine and liquor charges are so high at restaurants. Last year that policy changed with a full bar now available. But another change was the a la carte menu is now an $85 prix fixe for 5 to 6 courses. Add wine or liquor, and the tab with an 18% gratuity pushes the cost of dining there well over $125 per person. While we bristled at that, the food was so good that it all seemed incredibly worthwhile. This change has allowed Williams to really shine and plan and execute his menus. It was the best meal I had there.
Another big change is the little main building that houses the kitchen used to have just 4 stools at the open kitchen counter. Now there’s an actual bar at the far end and five tables for two.
The precious dining room in the kitchen building where there can be as many as 5 tables for two or other configurations as reservations merit
The procession of courses shows how Williams has progressed as a chef to deliver such wonderfully conceived dishes. Witness the compelling starter of arancini with goose-egg-espelette aioli. A perfect balance of textures and tastes as bright as a culinary beacon.
Arancini with goose egg espelette aioli
Followed by wood-grilled local asparagus, peekytoe crab, spicy greens bathed in hollandaise was an excellent first course, a playful amalgam of flavors. The third course was a perfectly composed salad course of warm bacon, king oyster mushroom, leek salad and spinach with shaved cheddar moistened by a mist of aged balsamic.
Clockwise top, salad with warm bacon, pan seared halibut with braised radish, asparagus salad with peeky toe crab
The main courses were chicken breast; pan-seared north Atlantic halibut with charred broccoli rabe and braised radish bathed in a lemon butter sauce and pan-seared duck breast in barbecue sauce. All the entrees were stunningly delightful, the chicken breast utterly moist and the halibut sheer perfection. And this rendition of duck breast hit all the right notes.
Top, clockwise pan seared chicken breast, seared local halibut with braised radish and duck breast in a light barbecue sauce
Since the chef was tipped off that it was my birthday, he prepared this wonderful dessert, his signature donut with local strawberries and ice cream.
The menu changes throughout the season depending on availability of local ingredients, but one thing is constant–the attention to detail and the wonderful setting from local sea and farm.
Nina June, 24 Central St., Rockport, ME 207-23-8880
The Well at Jordan’s Farm, 21 Wells Rd., Cape Elizabeth, ME 207-831-9350
