The Harpswells

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The Harpswells

Another day of sleeping in a bit. Tarragon enjoyed the extra attention as we lounged in bed. He has gotten in the habit that once we get up, he hides under the bed, afraid he is about to be put in the travel case.

We purposely did not have anything else but coffee for breakfast as we know lunch was going to be quite filling. Our first stop of the day was Portland Architectural Salvage. A four-story building full of eclectic items ranging from antique furniture to hard-to-find hardware pieces. We were primarily here to see if we could find an entry way piece for our apartment. We did not have any luck so it was on to lunch.

While we were looking for parking for the salvage store, we happened upon the relocated Two Fat Cat’s Bakery. It used to be over by Duck Fat on the east end of the port area. It is now in the back bay section. The bakery primarily specialties in pies all kinds of pies. There are some other assorted goodies as well. We picked up a blue berry muffin and blue berry buckle for breakfast tomorrow. I also could not resist a peanut butter cookie. I have not had a decent one since the last batch my mom made, this was good, but mom’s is still the best. We also got a lemon bar, one of Jerry’s favorite sweets.

Lunch was at Slab. Some of the best pizza you are going to find on the East Coast. The do have thin crust made to order pizza, but the star is the Slab Sicilian Crust Pizza, five different types, no alterations allowed. They also have a couple of salads, sandwiches, etc. The slab is a pound of mouthwatering pizza. To justify the carb delight we split a wedge salad, bacon, tomato gorgonzola and blue cheese dressing over iceberg wedges. So healthy. Jerry’s slab was a standard pepperoni, I went for the spicy meat (red pepper sauce, pepperoni, pepperoncini, mozzarella, provolone and a blue cheese dipping sauce. Very tasty and filling.

The rest of the day was devoted to driving around the Harpswells. This area is really around 40 Islands that make up the town of Harpswell. It is just south of Bath off highway 24 and 123. We took highway 24 to the verry end. Driving through Orr’s Island and ending on Bailey’s Island. There was a very traditional lobster cove with all the boats in the harbor. They must have been done with the catch for the day.

We also drove down highway 123 to the end of that as well. Not as quaint as Bailey’s Island, more vacation homes and residential. That was pretty much the day. Just a relaxing drive around some of the Islands of Maine.

Tonight, is our final dinner and it will be French.

A bit of France in Maine

Dinner was at Petite Jacqueline a French Bistro just outside the main port area so as to attract let’s say more seasoned connoisseur of dinning out while on vacation. The interiors are classic French Bistro with an American flare. The food was not exactly what you would find at a Bistro in Paris, but they did the classics; steak frites and boeuf bourguignon. Our server, Jake was very friendly and presented the menu nicely. The most interesting thing on the menu was a dish you had to give 24 hours’ notice if you were going to order, a Raclette. Raclette is not really a dish it is a cheese, but here it is served as a meal. The cheese is on a contraption that heats the cheese and it then melts down on to your plates where you dip your bread, apples, fingerling potatoes into it. One table ordered it but I didn’t really get a good look at it.

We started with a standard glass of Champagne, and it was the real thing this time. We did a simple four course meal. Started with the Charcuterie platter consisting of house made duck pâté, and three other cured meats, only one of which was French, the others were Italian and Spanish. There were two cheeses, a double cream brie and a manchego (again Spanish not French.) The pâté was the best thing on the board, and they were very chintzy with it barely enough for a bite a piece. The baguette on the other hand was very good, not quite Paris, but very good. The interesting thing about the Charcutier was that it was all from Olympic Provisions, a Portland, Oregon based company.

The next course was a simple green salad, with a really good Red Wine Vinaigrette. Jerry had no trouble choosing the Boeuf Bourguignon for his entrée, I was skeptical and was leaning towards the Steak Frites, but decided I had had enough fries for the trip and I also when with the Bourguignon. With the entrées we had a very nice bottle of Chateau de Pez, from St. Emillion. The Bourguignon was prepared in a very different style than what I make or what we have had in Paris. It was more of a beef stew as opposed to a classic Bourguignon. The sauce was light and broth like, instead of deep rich and thick. It was good, but just not up to my standards for a Boeuf Bourguignon. The sauce was tasty just really needed about 2 more hours of cooking so the flavors were allowed to develop further.

Dessert we both choose something different. Jerry had a very traditional brown butter cinnamon crepe with fruit (should have left the California strawberries off) and a scoop of local French Vanilla ice cream. I had the chocolate profiteroles. The crepe was good. We finished off with two snifters of cognac, harking back to our night at the cognac bar in Cognac, where we choose our beverage by smelling each bottle until we found the one we wanted. That didn’t happen here, but the memory was.

That pretty much wraps up this trip. Tomorrow we head home with a quick stop in Portsmouth, NH to have brunch and stop in at the Tea & Spice shop, the only place you seem to be able to buy course ground pepper.

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Photos

Door Knobs
Portland Architectural Salvage

Best Pizza on the East Coast
Dish of the Day

Charcuterie Platter
More Oregon than French