Natalies

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER: THE DANFORTH FÊTES Lifeflight with Fabulous Dinner prepared by Chefs Chris Long and Shelby Stevens

May 6, 2016 / / Uncategorized

The evening was another Danforth Inn gala.  And the food was nothing short of revelatory at the LifeFlight dinner held at Tempo Dulu, a performance orchestrated by chefs Shelby Stevens and Chris long, whose regular beat is at the Danforth’s sister establishments, the Camden Harbour Inn and Natalie’s Restaurant.

life wine

The reason for this celebration was to thank LifeFlight, a nonprofit organization that takes to the air to transport patients in need of critical care. Hoteliers Oscar Verest and Raymond Brunyanszki were thanking them for taking care of their chef Chris Long when he had an accident last year that was life threatening and needed to be transported to Maine Medical from Camden for immediate care.

Fine wines served at the dinner in one of three dining rooms at Tempo Dulu at the Danforth

Fine wines served at the dinner in one of three dining rooms at Tempo Dulu at the Danforth

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Tempo Dulu Celebrates the Centennial of the Singapore Sling with unabashed style and elegance–and a fabulous dinner prepared by a visiting chef from Singapore

December 11, 2015 / / Restaurants

Portland’s   formidable charms don’t otherwise   compel restaurateurs to bring luxe into our dining world. Instead we have some of the most well-designed but down-to-earth restaurants in the country, the kind that earn James Beard awards and accolades in the national media regularly. They are the kind that highlight our prowess as practitioners of the much vaunted vanities of  farm-to-table.

That all changes, however,  when you enter the überstylish digs of the Danforth Inn and have reserved to dine at its restaurant, Tempo Dulu.  And of all the times I’ve been to this marvelous retreat to relish the haute cuisine of Southeast Asia that’s prepared by executive chef Lawrence Klang, his team pulled out all the stops for the special Singapore Sling dinner that occurred last Friday and Saturday nights.

Clockwise: guest convene in the main salon; advertising honcho, Brenda Garrand; at the bar; the gracious gallery and part of the trio in charge (l. to r.) Trevin Hutchins, Raymond Brunyanszki and Alfie Mossadeg

Clockwise: guest convene in the main salon; advertising honcho, Brenda Garrand; diners at the bar; the gracious gallery and part of the trio in charge (r.to l.) Alfie Mossadeg, Raymond Brunyanszki and Trevin Hutchins

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The shop on Maine Street: Bleecker and Flamm, a delicious display of local eats, Rockport

October 28, 2015 / / Discoveries, Mains, Recipes, Travel

When Maine Street Meats, Bleecker and Flamm (the names of the co-owners) made some news recently on a local food site–their desultory mention was buried in a story about sandwiches.  Maine Street Meats has an exemplary one, a Vietnamese bahn mi offered on Tuesdays.  But this exquisite delicacy shop also has steamed pork buns on Thursdays as well as thin-crust pizzas daily and stuffed savory breads and double chocolate chip cookies that are popular with the lunch crowd every day.

Maine Street Meats offers gourmet packaged goods, local meats, cheese, breads and house-made charcuterie

Maine Street Meats offers gourmet packaged goods, local meats, cheese, house-baked breads and house-made charcuterie

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24 Hours in the Mid-Coast for great dining and foraging

October 12, 2015 / / Discoveries, Restaurants, Travel

Since opening in 2013, Salt Warm Farm Restaurant has offered the magic of dining in the heart of picture-perfect-Rockport Harbor to savor the wonderfully creative cooking from the restaurant’s head chef, Sam Richman.  However, the establishment closed abruptly a few weeks ago on the heels of Richman’s departure from the kitchen. One can’t help but to read between the lines for the real story.  According to a recent Eater Maine post, owner Annemarie Ahearn is quoted as saying “We are in discussions with a very exciting and accomplished chef…for next season.” Why when there already was one?

Almost immediately Richman started a series of popups called Salty Soup Kitchen (see various Facebook posts); the first was held two Saturdays ago and the second this past weekend.  When I heard about it I went up to Rockport for one of the events, which featured  Mexican Night held in a stunning red barn on Mill Street in the West Rockport neighborhood where sprawling country estates grace the landscape.

Mexican Night menu and chef Sam Richman

Mexican Night menu and chef Sam Richman

I trekked up on Saturday afternoon, slogging through a 45 minute crawl through Wiscasset during the Columbus Day weekend rush that typified the town’s classic summertime  bottleneck.  Why they voted down the opportunity to create a bypass several years ago remains a big mistake.

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Central Provisions: Still just about being the best restaurant in Maine

August 28, 2015 / / Restaurants

Deep down in its warped well of vocabulary wisdom the Urban Dictionary defines foodie as “a douchebag who likes food.”  If that’s the case then Portland’s streets are teeming with them, and the general wisdom is for us locals to stay away from our most formidable dining haunts until the turistas all leave in the next 30 to 60 days.  In fact, one local savant confided that he won’t step foot into a place like the revered Central Provisions until the masses go home. Indeed, it may be that of all the new restaurants in our dining world, the one that lives up so supremely to its accolades is the venerable Central Provisions.

The serious look of diners at Central Provisions seated at the dining bar facing the open kitchen; lower right, chef Chris Gould

   The serious look of diners at Central Provisions seated at the dining bar facing the open kitchen; lower right, chef                                                                                                                        Chris Gould

I wasn’t planning to visit there until the fall, but destiny prevailed as a parking spot opened up a few doors away while cruising down Fore Street during the lunch hour earlier this week. I took this as my cue to enter this bastion of gastronomy for a bite of lunch.

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The infinite pleasures of Francine Bistro in picture-perfect Camden, one of Maine’s prettiest seaside villages

July 31, 2015 / / Restaurants, Travel

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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This time the Pig and Poet dazzles with a riveting menu of creative local fare

July 24, 2015 / / Restaurants, Travel

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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Lodging and Dining: The razzzle dazzle of the new Whitehall and its restaurant, Pig and Poet, Camden

June 12, 2015 / / Restaurants, Travel

whitehall front

As though out of a film set for Wuthering Heights, the old Whitehall Inn in Camden was a mainstay of civility for well over a century, a place where vichyssoise and gossip lingered in the squeaky comforts of this seaside inn. It charmingly creaked and groaned with pokey rooms and the typical splash of faded chintz and wicker in its principal public spaces.  Its restaurant was unremarkable and not one frequented by the general tourist brigade that piles into Camden in the summer.

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