Category: Restaurants

Maine Days: Reading & Viewing

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RECENT READING

The Only Woman in the Room by Marie Benedict

Author Benedict has created a niche for herself writing novels about women, notable women whose contributions to society have often been overlooked.  Previous novels focus on Albert Einstein’s wife, Andrew Carnegie’s personal maid, and Clementine Churchill.  These novels are well researched and engaging reading; I’ve read the one about Andrew Carnegie.

Hedy Lamarr (the guardian.com)

This latest novel is about Hedy Kiesler, known to most Americans of a certain age as actress Hedy Lamarr.  Austrian by birth and an aspiring stage actress in 1930’s Vienna, Hedy is romanced by entrepreneur and munitions dealer, Fritz Mandl.  She is beautiful, and his attentions are pronounced, his determination evident.  Hedy appreciates the finer things he offers.  As Austria battles to stay out of Nazi German’s arena, marriage to him is a politically wise step for herself and her Jewish parents.  What this marriage entails, how Fritz controls her activities, and what Hedy learns hosting high level business dinners becomes both valuable and dangerous.  This is a multi-faceted Hedy Lamarr who takes risks to help in the war effort.

I enjoyed this novel but found myself wishing that the author had included an epilogue about her life after World War II.

CRIME IN DENMARK

The Sommerdahl Murders (Season 2 on Acorn)

Flemming, Marianne & Dan (rotten tomatoes.com)

Dan Sommerdahl, his partner Flemming, and his wife Marianne return for a second season of crime, Danish style.  Set in the waterfront town of Elsinore, there are eight episodes, and each case is solved over the course of two episodes.  What makes this series appealing is as much the dynamics between the three principals as it is the intricacies of solving the case.  Dan and Marianne have been married for 25 years, but the marriage is on the skids, Flemming has feelings for Marianne, and Marianne feels she’s taken an unfulfilling detour in her choice of career.  Plus, she’s attracted to an old suitor. Each of them is attempting to define a satisfying personal life.

The culture of a particular country is reflected in a crime series.  The behaviors and attitudes in this one seem especially Scandinavian.  Good entertainment!

LOCAL CUISINE

The Thistle Inn

One of our favorite Boothbay Harbor restaurants of long standing, the Thistle offers comfortable dining indoors and out.  Its dark wooden booths and bar inside are especially welcoming on a cold wet night.  During the summer, dining on their porch is airy and made magical by little lights strung in the trees.

We’ve already dined outside twice this year and were pleased with old favorites and new choices on their menu.  Their crab cakes are always delicious as was the baked haddock with cherry tomatoes and sautéed greens and their New England clam chowder.  I especially enjoyed the seared diver scallops over a lemony risotto with spinach and bacon bits.

I liked their concept of shrimp scampi over pappardelle but wished that the pasta had been a little less sticky.  For dessert the other evening, we shared the special pistachio crème brulee, a different twist. A very popular place making reservations essential!

Note: Header photo is a view of Little Christmas Cove ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Maine Moments: First Days

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MAINE IN 2021

On Saturday, we traded hot Florida sun and humidity for cool gray Maine.  Due to airline schedules and a cancelled flight to Portland on Friday, we flew into Boston’s Logan Airport.  Waiting for our bags and then dealing with the scrum of people all pressed together waiting for the bus to the rental car center was one task. Getting ourselves and all our many bags onto the crowded bus was another!  Thanks to a mother with a young child on her hip, we and our bags made it on board.

Masks were required in the airport and on the airport buses.  Once in the rental car garage, few masks were in evidence; those that were, were mostly on young kids.  Social distancing is still encouraged and urged, and you are advised to wear a mask entering any business or store if you have not been vaccinated.  This means we’ll be able to freely socialize with our friends, inside each other’s homes and without masks.  

The bigger issue is the hit that restaurants and other businesses have taken due to the Covid epidemic.  Many restaurants are unable to find and hire enough staff to cover all the hours they wish to be open.  Add to this missing, delayed, or shortchanged food deliveries given staffing shortages at the large distribution warehouses, and you have another reason for their shorter hours.  Several local restaurants are closed a weekday or two, and some didn’t open at all this season.  But there are more tourists here than last year and so the demand for tables makes reservations essential!  Even the general store on this island is now closed all day Sunday and only open until 4 pm the rest of the week.  

Our first full day here, it teemed rain on and off all day, and the high only reached 64.  Despite that, it’s good to be back!

MONDAY FORAY TO PORTLAND

It’s a complicated story, but we had to drive down to Portland to deal with paperwork related to our rental car.  That errand was blessedly quick and gave us the excuse to go to downtown Portland and spend a bit of time in the Old Port area.  I was able to replenish my supply of note and greeting cards at Sherman’s.  We then made our annual visit to Le Roux Kitchen, a longtime favorite, where we picked up several thematic Maine mugs (simple white with blue and gray whales), paring knives and a grater, and several styles of cocktail napkins.  

Alfresco dining at Duckfat

The high point of this expedition, however, was an indulgent lunch at Duckfat, a casual eatery on Middle Street specializing in Belgian fries and local charcuterie.  We ate a wonderful lunch here two years ago and the return visit was also special.  All seating this year is outdoors under a robust wooden structure outfitted with picnic tables.  We ordered the fries, of course, a glass each of Albarino, the blistered shishito peppers, and the charcuterie board of ham, duck, and smoked salmon with appropriate garnishes.  

Very tasty!  When asked if we’d like doughnut holes for dessert, we couldn’t resist!  A small metal cone of six holes arrived along with a caramel dipping sauce with overtones of maple.  The holes had been rolled in cinnamon sugar and the interior was accented with citrus.  Yum!  Even better than churros and chocolate!

Doughnut holes!

Note: All photos ©JWFarrington (some rights reserved).

Manhattan: Art, Food & More

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STUNNING ART EXHIBIT—People Come First

I feel as if I should have heard about the American artist Alice Neel long before this.  She lived from 1900 to 1984 and was active on the political scene in Manhattan.  The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a retrospective of her work on display until August 1, and it’s stunning.  Her paintings are largely people, one or two women or men and some of her children and grandchildren.  

Sam

She was one of the first women to paint male as well as female nudes, and they are not prettified at all, but real and frank in their sexuality.  The exhibit indicates that perhaps she didn’t become as well known in her prime since the art world had turned more toward abstraction and away from representational works.  In addition to the paintings of humans, she did some still lifes, which I also liked. 

Elizabeth in a Red Hat (1984)
Light (1980) painted in Spring Lake, New Jersey

NEW NOVEL—Missing Girls

When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain

Paula McLain is known for her historical novels, particularly the one about Hemingway’s first wife, Hadley.  This novel is a departure as it’s something of a suspense novel about a homicide detective who specializes in locating missing children.  Anna Hart has suffered recent tragedy in her personal life and is hiding away from her family in Mendocino where she grew up.  There she becomes obsessed with a missing teenage girl.  This disappearance is reminiscent of an unsolved case from her childhood and consumes her.  Anna offers her assistance to the local police detective.  They do not know if they will find a body or a girl still alive.  McLain details the acute tension of the search along with Anna’s internal struggles and her identification with certain aspects of the missing girl’s life.  

The arc of the narrative is shallow which means there is much debate and discussion, but not lots of action.  It feels like a very personal story, and to a great extent it is.  McLain herself spent much of her childhood in foster care and is a sexual abuse survivor.  I found the novel engaging, but not gripping, but appreciated why, especially after the author’s endnotes she was compelled to write it.

DINING DELIGHTS

Petite Boucherie

For lunch in the West Village, Petite Boucherie perfectly fit the bill.  Mourning the demise of A.O.C., we tried this little bistro and were delighted.  Excellent merguez sausages, delicious salmon over white beans, a pot of mussels, and delicate greens with warm chevre toast satisfied four discriminating diners.  

Eat Here Now remains the Chief Penguin’s favorite diner on the Upper East Side, and they didn’t disappoint.  He always orders a grilled bacon and cheese sandwich with a side of cole slaw.  I had tuna salad in a pita which was also good.  For a more upscale lunch, but still casual, Three Guys on Madison near Frick Madison is another good bet.  The food is even better, but the vibe is shinier and less atmospheric.

Via Quadronno is well located for a simple lunch before or after visiting Frick Madison.  They don’t take reservations, so we went early and were able to snag a corner table for four inside in the window.  While their specialty is panini and other types of Italian sandwiches, they also serve pasta and salads.  We enjoyed the lasagna Bolognese, the lasagna of the day (spinach), a lovely mixed greens salad with tuna, and asparagus with vinaigrette.  Service was relaxed and unhurried.  We were surprised when we left at the length of the line waiting to be seated.  More outside seating than inside and they don’t take reservations.  

For tasty Lebanese fare, we had dinner at Naya on Second Avenue. The wait staff were all very welcoming, took our temperatures, and asked for contact info. We had grilled halloumi followed by the kafta kebab (nicely spiced ground lamb) served alongside grilled onions and sweet pepper and a mound of rice with vermicelli strands.  We also shared the chicken shish taouk, cubes of grilled chicken with the same veggies and rice.  And we tried their baklava.  Worth a return visit!

With a hankering for some good Indian food, we ventured to Chola on E. 58 St for dinner.  Years ago, we enjoyed their sumptuous lunch buffet.  No buffet this year.   The tables were very widely spaced, and our temperatures checked upon entry.  The menu was so tempting we over ordered to try more dishes and had some to take home.  The chili shrimp in red sauce were very hot and the Chief Penguin was delighted.  Pickled tandoor chicken was appropriately piquant and sharp, while the samosas were a tad disappointing.  I found the ratio of dough to filling to be out of balance.  For an entrée, we sampled the lamb rogan josh with some buttered naan.  A very satisfying meal!

Note: All photos by JWFarrington.

Tidy Tidbits: Recent Films & Food

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Happy Egg Day! Happy Easter! Couldn’t resist including this basket of dyed eggs as the header photo, courtesy of pennlive.com

OSCAR NOMINEES, A WANNABE, AND A CLASSIC

LOVE UNDER STRESS

Supernova (Amazon Prime $)

Tucci & Firth (reddit.com)

I feel like I’ve been living with Stanley Tucci the past two weeks, what with watching his entire Searching for Italy series and now experiencing him and Colin Firth in Supernova.  It’s an intensely moving and sensitively drawn story of a gay couple dealing with dementia.  Sam is an English pianist and Tusker is an American novelist. Tusker is in the later stages of Alzheimer’s, and they have embarked on a road trip through the English Lake District.  Tusker is losing his ability to recall words and to perform certain tasks and has become more dependent on Sam.  

They are a very loving couple who also tease and bicker with each other.   Neither really wants to let go or to be alone.  But Tusker feels he’s losing control of his life and that brings him and them to a punctuation point.  The dialogue between them rings true to life, and the interactions with Sam’s sister Lily, her family, and friends are believable and not over played.  

Tucci and Firth, longtime friends in real life, are both superb.  Together, they render an emotionally powerful experience.  The soundtrack, ranging from popular songs from the 70’s to a range of classical music, adds additional depth.  The film begins with a slow arc, setting the scene with stunning landscape and showing Sam and Tusker’s daily life.  Simply excellent and should have been nominated for an Oscar!

WHEN CHILD BECOMES THE PARENT

The Father (Amazon Prime $)

Colman & Hopkins (flickeringmyth.com)

This is one of the Oscar nominees for Best Picture and deservedly so.  Based on a play, it focuses mainly on Anthony Hopkins, the father, and Olivia Colman as his daughter Anne.  The character, also Anthony, is 80 and suffering from Alzheimer’s.  He’s canny and sometimes funny, but also defiantly definite about wanting to live on his own.  Simultaneously, he sometimes acknowledges that he’s confused, and he begins not to recognize Anne.  She tries to offer assistance but realizes she can’t give him all that he needs. Time shifts in the film, and you feel you are seeing the same scene played several ways depending on whose reality it is—yours or Anthony’s.  A touching film that has painful moments.  Hopkins and Colman are excellent, and Rufus Sewell plays Anne’s mostly patient spouse Paul.  

MEDICAL CORRUPTION

Collective (Amazon Prime $)

Female reporter with Tolontan (rogersmovienation.com)

This documentary, which grew out of a disastrous 2015 fire at a club in Bucharest called Collectiv, is a heavy-hitting study of malfeasance and corruption.  When experts and others began to wonder why so many young burn survivors died in the hospital, a sports tabloid set out to investigate.  Reporter and editor Catalin Tolontan delved deeply into the tragedy and uncovered tainted disinfectants.  They were just the first evidence of systemic problems in hospitals across Romania.  

Tolontan and his team are heroes and so became Vlad Voiculescu, the newly appointed minister of health.  It’s a devasting story and a compelling one which ends with hints of hope for the future.  It’s a nominee for Best Documentary feature film.    Highly recommended!

A HEPBURN CLASSIC

Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Amazon Prime)

(bookriot.com)

Somehow over the years I missed seeing this classic 1961 film starring Audrey Hepburn.  I’ve watched part of a recent documentary about Hepburn entitled Audrey, and this prompted me to see Breakfast at Tiffany’s.  Hepburn is elegant and beautiful in timeless dresses and gowns by Givenchy.  As high-class call girl Holly Golighty, she alternates sophistication with the innocence of an ingenue.  

The movie is dated, and the casting of Mickey Rooney as a bumbling Japanese man is particularly offensive.  Allowing for that, it’s still an award-winning movie with performances by George Peppard as writer Paul Varjak (who resembles Holly’s brother Fred), Paul’s patron Patricia Neal, and a handsome young Buddy Ebsen.  

CULINARY CORNER

Chateau 13 in downtown Bradenton offers some of the most sophisticated and creative food in the region.  We had dined here once before the pandemic and were delighted that it survived.  As is our wont these days, we had a table with friends outside on the sidewalk.  The street was mostly quiet, so we weren’t bothered by traffic.

The menu consists of cheese and charcuterie sharing plates, small appetizer bites, fries with a range of toppings, several salads, and entrees.  We sampled several cheeses and also frites with black truffles and Parmesan.  For the main event, we ordered the bechamel filled croquettes, shrimp Pernod, braised octopus, coq au vin, and the robust Catalan seafood stew.  Other entrees include mussels several ways, duck breast, salmon, and a chef’s prix fixe menu.  My only quibble was with the crushed croutons on the French Caesar salad. I would have them preferred them whole, but that’s minor for a delicious and different meal!