Lewis sends out cuisine that is simultaneously familiar and surprising. The flavors of a sweet pea pancake topped with cured salmon and crème fraiche match the setting. But rather than a mush, the peas pop with farm-fresh verve and a salty roe is dolloped on top for zing and crunch. The mussels tangine, a Maine version of a Moroccan stew, offered flavors of just-burnt tomato, oregano, and garlic that reminded us of classic American takes on Italian gravy. A country pate seemed proud of its eccentricities like mild yellow spots of brandied apricot and a stark white border of fat. Sherry braised pork meatballs were tender and sweet. Overall the ingredients seemed fresher and the preparation showed more expertise than one expects to find in resort restaurants, but the approach is traditional enough to suit the setting.
When the porch darkened and the bugs intensified, the staff quickly relocated us inside to the comfortable Chart Room for a chocolate Savannah cake to end the meal. There amid the maps, leather, and wood, stabbing our spoons into a white tower of cream spotted with cocoa chunks of brandied cake, we finally decided that what the scene reminded us of most was an Agatha Christie novel. It was all so pleasant we half hoped a body would turn up, so that Marple or Poirot might appear and inform us that we would have to stay.
Email the author
Brian Duff: bduff@une.edu.
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