Virtuoso Life - July/August 2018 - 62

On the Table
writer Anestes Fotiades of Portland's vibrant restaurant community. "But on a
more practical level, the bounty of the
ocean and Maine's farms are right there."
Couple that with the generational impact
of the mid-twentieth-century back-to-theland movement and the more recent migration of chefs from other big cities, and you've
got a recipe for regional culinary excellence.
If you plan just one dinner in Portland,
you can't go wrong with the daily specials
at Drifters Wife, a restaurant and naturalwine bar run by Brooklyn transplants, or
with the aromatic chicken pho and toasted
pandan pound cake at Cong Tu Bot. Otherwise, kick off the day with a cup of campfire-y wood-roasted coffee from Speckled
Ax and hit the road.
YOUR FIRST STOP IS ABOUT HALF AN

hour north, at the Purple House, a woodfired bakery in the quiet village of North
Yarmouth. Krista Kern Desjarlais, a chef
well known to Mainers from her former
restaurant, Bresca, is the queen of this

berry-colored cottage. Her brick oven turns
out superior za'atar and maple-sugared
Montréal-style bagels. Bathed in sunlight,
the communal dining table begs you to
stay for a strawberry tart, but the longest
uninterrupted stretch of road lies ahead -
75 miles. Destination: lobster.
The route to McLoons Lobster Shack
leads through towns such as Bath and
Damariscotta and across no less than ten
bridges - some, long concrete straightaways like the one skimming the cobalt
surface of the Sheepscot River; others, tiny
storybook things you'd expect trolls to live
under. Everywhere, you get the sense that
this place was reclaimed from water. You'll
find McLoons on Spruce Head Island: "a
true lobstering island," says Bree Douty,
whose family owns the shack and the wharf
that supplies it with sweet cold-water crustaceans. "Many of the island's houses are
home to people who live here year-round,
including lobstermen."
The Doutys' cherry-red shack with a walkup window sits right beside the water, and

QUINTESSENTIALLY MAINE
Four great Maine resorts within easy
striking distance of Midcoast.

Originally opened by a sea captain's
savvy wife in 1872, the 226-room
Cliff House Maine, true to its name,
overlooks the ocean on a sheer bluff
just south of Ogunquit. Age aside, the
resort is full of modern touches, from
Tesla charging stations to the nitrogen
tap system for never-ending cold brew
at the recently opened café. Doubles
from $509, including breakfast daily
and a $100 resort credit.
A Kennebunk legend, Relais & Châteaux's 26-room Grace White Barn
Inn & Spa has attracted locals and
visitors for more than 150 years. Accommodations in the garden-fringed
estate range from cozy rooms in the
original farmhouse to freestanding
cottages equipped with wood-burning fireplaces. Doubles from $410,
including breakfast daily and a $100
resort credit.
Tucked away in a birch and pine forest
about two miles inland from Goose
Rocks Beach, Hidden Pond is the
summer camp of adult dreams, with
watercolor painting classes, s'mores
bonfires, a working farm, a tree-house
spa, and 36 meticulously designed
cottages linked by wooded paths.
Doubles from $999, including breakfast daily and a $100 resort credit.

Clockwise from bottom left: Drifters Wife's
interior and its hake with lentils, littleneck
clams, and agretti; Cong Tu Bot chef Vien
Dobui and his chicken pho; and Owls Head
Lighthouse - assisting mariners since 1852.

V I RT U O S O L I F E

Just south of Portland on Cape
Elizabeth, the Inn by the Sea counts
Crescent Beach State Park and Kettle
Cove as its backyard, making it a
family favorite. And family includes
four-legged members: The 61-room
resort welcomes pets with dog-bed
turndown service and canine massages. Human massages, meanwhile,
take place at the inn's marine-productfocused spa. Doubles from $559,
including breakfast daily and a $100
spa credit.

Virtuoso Life - July/August 2018

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