Maine, the way life should be.

This post is long overdue! We visited Maine during Labor Day weekend - and realized what those signs on the highway saying "Maine, the way life should be" are talking about. It was a great weekend on so many levels. So, let's talk about the food (that's why you're reading, right?!)
As it is a Top-40 restaurant according to Gayot, and it is nearby (relatively, compared to the rest of the list), I requested that one of our next Fancy Fridays be a trip to Arrows Restaurant in Ogunquit, ME. This turned into a whole weekend of gastronomic success!

First, we ventured North late Friday afternoon and checked into B&B number 1 in Ogunquit, the Gazebo Inn, which, as it turned out was the friendliest, nicest, coziest, and most fabulous place to stay! More on our Ogunquit B&B experience after the food...

Dinner at Arrows - We headed up the street to Arrows, which is about a mile outside the heart of Ogunquit. In fact, you sort of feel like you are going into the middle of nowhere when you are driving there, because it's in a very residential and quiet area. The restaurant itself is in an old farmhouse and has a very substantial garden in the back. If you get to dinner early, you can grab a glass of whatever and wander through! We did not know this in advance, so we arrived right on time for our reservation.

We were greeted outside the restaurant on the path way to the door by a white-clad chef, who left her outdoor wood-fired grill to offer us an amuse bouche (a fresh vegetable spring roll) before we even reached the door. It turns out that Arrows is big on fresh vegetables, and they grow up to 90% of the produce they use right there on the premesis!

Inside, we were greeted and seated by one of the owners (but, sorry to say, we did not realize this at the time). The atmosphere was truly unique. The farmhouse retains its farmhouse feel with its wood-plank floors, but there are "Asian" touches, with a Buddha statue and big trees with branches overhead dotted with candle lanterns. Surprisingly, this combination really seemed to work nicely. There is a large dining room with tons of windows overlooking the garden, which, after dark, has some pretty lighting. Had I known, I would have asked for a table near the window when making the reservation. We sat in a smaller dining room, at a table that was just a bit too big for a romantic dinner for two and lit by candlelight that made it a bit too dark as well (a woman next to us even needed a flashlight to read her menu!)

I must first comment on the strange service we received. First, the wait staff was just a bit odd. They were not unfriendly, but nobody seemed really excited to be there. At times, I wasn't sure that they were 100% on the up-and-up with respect to the menu. They didn't do much to describe the dish as they placed it in front of us, and at times seemed to mutter (I couldn't make out what they were saying at times). Also, as they "cleaned" the table after each course, they often missed big pieces of food on the table - making it more of a silly and awkward formality. The wait staff's outfits were a strange shade of grey-green with some rainbow striping, and they looked like some sort of Eastern traditional garment (maybe Japanese?).

The first thing we were offered was water service -- it was almost laughable when they offered us two different local bottled waters. The waiter could not articulate any good reason we should choose any of them, never mind one over the other. We opted for tap, with ice. The next "interesting" service option was the "butter service," during which we were offered our choice of at least 3 different butters (from France, from Vermont, and probably from Maine, from this cow or that cow). Whatever -- I guess I'm not a connoisseur of butters because I could have cared less. We declined the butter service.

We each began our meal with six lightly smoked Pemaquit Point oysters in lettuce "cups" (meant to be eaten by hand) with a garlic chive relish, jicama and lime. I was not impressed by the oysters, but the garnish was delicious. I guess I am a purist when it comes to my oysters, and I'd rather have them raw.

The next course made it worth the drive to Maine. The salad! This was no ordinary salad (again M and I ordered alike). The menu described this course as "First of the season orchard apple and garden lettuce roll salad with creamy Lady apple dressing, garden radish and turnip salad and house made tofu with apple ponzu." Wow. It was more a piece of art than it was a salad. I have not seen or tasted a more spectacular combination of vegetables, fruits and sauces. I would return to Arrows for just a salad. The apple was actually wrapped up in fresh lettuce (the type I am not sure of, but it was really super tasty!) The tofu was a wonderful texture and I could have drank gallons of these sauces. Everything worked so well together. I cannot say enough about this salad. . .

For the main course, M ordered the Surf and Turf - grilled noisettes of beef tenderloin with a ragout of lobster and (yuck) crispy sweetbreads, puff pastry and a gremolata sauce. I ordered the roasted king salmon with creamed summer squash and a house made pancetta vinaigrette and barbecued king salmon with pickled watermelon chutney and a potato-bacon hash cake. We were surprised at the size of the entrees, expecting "fancy restaurant" portions, but were instead confronted by double the expected portion. In fact, each plate was divided into two regions-- it was like two separate meals. I cannot say that this pleased me, as I would have been happier to be served half, in particular, I would have rather only had the barbecued salmon. Having both on my plate just confused me and my pallate, and the two different preparations did not seem to mesh into one coherent meal. While the summer squash was good (I'd not describe it as creamed, but instead as thinly sliced, buttery layers of yellow squash and green zucchini), I could have done without it and without that extra portion of salmon. The second portion was really wonderful. The barbecue sauce made the edges of the salmon deliciously crispy and tangy and the pickled watermelon was out-of-this-world yummy! Overall, in both portions, the fish was cooked to perfection-- just rare enough to be moist and soft, but cooked enough to flake properly. I left that part of the meal very happy, but a bit over-stuffed because I felt obligated to eat a good share of both salmon portions.

M's surf and turf was not as much of a success, but was still good. It was just not very interesting... we were expecting more out of a Top-40 restaurant, I suppose. The steak was cooked nicely, but we were constantly avoiding the sweetbreads with our bites (as neither of us can really get over what that actually is!) The pastry was an unnecessary addition to the dish, making it far more heavy than necessary. The dish was almost like an inside-out Beef Wellington. This was just a mistake in ordering, we both agree.

For dessert, our cappuccinos were delivered to the wrong table, and had to be re-made. We ordered a trifecta dessert, which had a donut-like fritter (too heavy for my liking, but M loved it), a tiny chocolate milkshake (YUMMM-- we fought over the last sip), and tiny blueberry pancakes (unimpressive, but we are spoiled by Cappa's (which someday deserves its own post)).

After dinner, we had a conversation with one of the chef-owners-- but did not realize until 2/3 of the way through this chat that this was who we were speaking with. We left bemused by the giant portions, but in complete agreement that the salad was so interesting and delicious, that we would some day come back for another go-around. Perhaps we would try the tasting menu next time.

The Gazebo Inn - This place is heaven on earth! The bed was super-comfortable and the room was spacious, yet cozy. We had our own giant Whirlpool tub and steam-room shower, though we declined to fill the tub feeling it was just too wasteful. They do have two hot-tubs as well on the premises, but we were too tired to partake. Instead, we watched a DVD from the awesome collection from the comfy bed and rested up for our trip the next day up to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor, ME. The proprietors of the Gazebo Inn (Scott and Bruce) are truly personable and welcoming. One of the best parts of this weekend, and a surprise gastronomic success, was breakfast at the Inn. I woke up sniffing the scent of freshly baking blueberry scones (don't I wish I could wake up like that every day!) And the breakfast did NOT disappoint! It was an amazing spread of brioche french toast and Maine maple syrup, Maine blueberry scones, raspberry scones, fruit, yogurts, home fries, hard-boiled eggs, bacon, and a few different coffee selections! Wow.

On Saturday morning, we headed out just after breakfast for an Acadia National Park adventure. We arrived around lunchtime and headed down the west side of the park to Bass Harbor, where we found Thurston's Lobster Pound!! What a great find (M deserves the credit for this, and for the whole awesome weekend, really). We had GIANT soft-shelled lobsters, which, I was surprised I had never heard of despite my New England upbringing. These are apparently bigger and sweater, but there is less meat-per-pound. Add to that deliciousness a blueberry beer, buttered corn on the cob, and some cole slaw and you have yet another gastronomic success. We ate all of this right over the water and watched the boats in the harbor while we ate.

For dinner on Saturday, we ended up at another really great restaurant. In Bar Harbor we ate at Cafe This Way. It was a casual environment, but a great deal and great food. More on that later - but it deserves a shout-out here.