If it weren’t for Skip Brack, it’s likely the rural town of Liberty, Maine, a dip off Route 3 just inland from coastal Belfast, would be bypassed by all but the handful of folks who call it home. Between 1976 and 1986, Brack purchased and restored Liberty’s downtown buildings (all three of them), and created a must-stop shop for trades-people, collectors, renovators and home hobbyists.
Liberty Tool occupies the three-story building that once housed the Liberty Village General Store, which had a rooming house on the second floor and a dance floor on the third floor. These days, tools fill every nook and cranny of the first floor and mingle with antiques, junktiques, book, and what-have-you on the upper floors. Across the street, the former Banks’ Garage, next to the museum building, has been reborn as the power-tool annex, a Craftsman extravaganza. Upstairs, in the adjacent former Masonic Hall, Brack established the Davistown Museum.
For more than 40 years, Brack’s scoured New England attics and cellars for early Native American and Colonial-era tools to buy, restore, resell or display. “My only forte is sniffing out what’s been left behind by others,” he says. The rarest and the best finds he saves for private sale or to display in his labor of love, the Davistown Museum; the rest are destined for his tool emporium.
Liberty Tool’s stock includes everyday tools as well as the hard-to-find, specialized ones desired by shipbuilders, housewrights, chairmakers and coopers as well as tools used by blacksmiths, tinsmiths, watchmakers, jewelers, weavers, tool-and-die makers and engravers. Beyond specialists, Liberty Tool lures weekend renovators and hobbyists who know they can find brand-name tools in good condition for reasonable prices.
No other shop has the quantity, quality, low prices or such persnickety organization. Every tool has been cleaned, restored and grouped by type on shelves and into drawers, bins and barrels, most labeled with the specific contents: flat files, flat bastards, round files with handles, triangular files with handles, large smoothing files without handles, small smoothing files with handles, large rasps and so on. Not only is every tool sorted, but it’s also labeled with a rock-bottom price. “No dickering,” Brack declares.
Throughout the store are grab-bag jars filled with a miscellaneous assortment of the smallest items, perhaps bolts and bits or brass fittings. You might see one item in the jar you want — a link for a chain, a wood screw, sockets for socket wrenches — but the whole shebang is yours for $1 or so.
Despite its name, Liberty Tool isn’t just about tools. When cleaning out a house, Brack finds “perhaps three to 10 tools of significance and 200 other objects that help pay the bills.” He fills the upper floors with the surplus and salvage: antique and used furniture, old books and magazines, glassware and pottery, toys and collectibles.
The “tools of significance” often end up in the Davistown Museum, where he’s soldiered together his passions for old tools, historical memorabilia, environmental activism and contemporary art. Native American, Colonial and industrial-era antique tools and artifacts share space with contemporary sculptures and paintings by members of the Maine Artists Guild, and historical artifacts and documents from Liberty and adjacent Montville, once collectively known as Davistown.
“All museums love to do exhibits on who sailed which ships where, but they don’t ask about the cargo, how it was made and the tools used to make it,” Brack says. Explaining those connections and the stories behind the artifacts and interpreting New England’s history through them is the museum’s niche. It’s a place where the subtle links between history, tools and art–the historical, the practical and the aesthetic—are, well, hammered out.
More than 20 schooners and other sailing vessels are expected to arrive in Camden this weekend (Aug. 31-Sept. 2, 2012) for the Camden Windjammer Festival, the annual maritime celebration. The jam-packed weekend includes a maritime heritage fair, talent show, fireworks, crate race, pancake breakfast, chowder challenge, demonstrations and contests, controlled boat races, art auction, boat parade, and a party honoring the schooner Mary Day, celebrating its 50th anniversary this season.
My friend Sheila Grant, author of Fifty Great New England Family Fishing Vacations, recently cruises aboard the Mary Day. Here she shares here experience.
Getting my sea legs aboard the Schooner Mary Day
by Sheila D. Grant
I have a confession to make. I am a landlubber. It’s not that I lack an adventurous spirit so much as that my unfortunate tendency toward motion sickness quashes that spirit at times. The idea of dining, much less sleeping, below deck was enough to make me queasy sitting at home in my computer chair – but when the opportunity to spend three days aboard the Mary Day came along, I couldn’t pass it up. Now that I’ve been, I would encourage anyone to give this Camden-based cruise a try. I didn’t even need the medication or ginger gum that I packed, just in case!
The Mary Day, which celebrates her 50th Anniversary this year, launched in 1962 as the first coasting schooner built specifically for the windjammer trade, and as such, offers roomier accommodations than most tall ships. A window and skylight in each provide daylight and fresh air, making the cabins feel anything but “below deck.” On each bunk is a plastic bucket that may be used to bring hot water back to the cabin. The bucket contains other necessities, including: a plastic tumbler for drinking water from the sink found in each cabin; soap dish and soap; aloe gel (in case of sunburn); and lip balm.
There are several fun items in the welcome kit, including The Schooner Mary Day Log of Discovery, a booklet providing a history of the ship, space to enter the names of all crew members, a diagram naming parts of the ship, space for notes and photos from the voyage, a quiz on nautical knowledge, how-to information on knot tying, two of the most requested recipes from the ship’s galley along with space to write down additional recipes, and space to record contact information from fellow passengers.
On that first night, and throughout the voyage, I discover that Captain Barry King is adept at finding harbors so calm that I cannot tell I’m aboard a ship as I drift off to sleep.
The ship’s cook is a magician of some sort. With no electricity, and only a woodstove to cook with, she whips up delicious breakfasts served family-style in the beautiful wood-trimmed galley, and buffet-style lunches that we take back up on deck to enjoy. Dinner the first evening is an old-fashioned lobster bake ashore at our anchorage for the night, complete with plenty of snack foods, hotdogs and burgers for those who don’t do crustaceans, and, dare I say it – all the lobster you can eat!
Dinner the final evening is also served family-style, but because it’s a special occasion, there’s candlelight and sparking juice to go with the baked ham, stuffing, mashed white and sweet potato medley, and more. For dessert, an ice cream sundae buffet up on deck with vanilla and chocolate ice cream that we’ve helped crank out ourselves on an old-fashioned ice cream maker. There’s nothing quite like watching a sunset at sea while dining on ice cream. And happily for me, because breakfast and dinner are served at anchor, and lunch is on deck, motion sickness does not dampen my appetite even a little bit.
The cruises are promoted as being “unplugged,” because Captains Barry King and Jennifer Martin believe that only by leaving cell phones, laptops, and workaday cares behind will passengers truly relax. To fill the void, passengers do what people used to do before the advent of television. We talk. We learn about the ship, about knot tying, or steering, or the history of the region. We learn about each other. We read. We rock in the big old rocking chair next to the ship’s wheel. We nap. We relax.
I had wondered how I might fill my time, since reading aboard any moving thing is out of the question. I did envy my fellow passengers who were able to devour a good novel during the trip, but I found wonderful ways to occupy myself, as well. Watching captain and crew work is pretty fascinating stuff, as is taking a turn hoisting or furling sails, or steering the ship so that her mighty sails can work with the wind. Keeping a sharp eye out for wildlife yielded many seal and porpoise sightings, as well as a few osprey. Being a bit of a shutterbug, and enamored of the ship’s sails in every sort of wind and light, I took more than 350 photographs. And best of all was the time to just…be.
NOTE: Captains King and Martin are hosting a 50th Anniversary Party for the Mary Day on Sunday, Sept. 2 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the ship’s dock in Camden. Local music and complimentary refreshments will be available, and the captains plan to unveil a surprise gift for the vessel. The event is happening in conjunction with the Camden Windjammer Festival and is open to the public.
The Kotzaschmar Organ, the first municipal organ in the country to be designated a municipal organ and one of only two still in existence (the other is in San Diego), is celebrating its 100th anniversary this month.
Named after German musician Hermann Kotzschmar, who resided in Portland from 1849 to 1908, the organ was a gift to the city from publishing magnate Cyrus H. K. Curtis. When installed in Portland City Hall in 1912, the 50-ton organ, built by the Austin Organ Company in Hartford, Conn., was the second largest in the world. Over the last 100 years, it’s survived moves, repairs, enlargements, and building renovations.
Kotzschmar Organ trivia
225,000 people attended a Kotzschmar Organ concert during its first year. The organ’s narrowest pipe is 1/8 inch, the biggest is 32 feet. The city has employed 10 municipal organists since 1912, Ray Cornils has had the title since 1990. Kotzschmar has 102 ranks, 6,862 pipes in eight divisions: Swell, Great, Solo, Orchestral, Antiphonal, Echo, Pedal, and Percussion. The Echo and Antiphonal divisions can be heard emanating from the large grid in the ceiling near the rear of Merrill Auditorium
Tour the Kotzschmar Organ
Yes, you read that right. You can walk through the Kotzschmar Organ’s windchest on a docent-led tour offered by the Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ.
With Maine lobster in the headlines, it seems an appropriate time to share The Maine Lobster Book, by Virginia M. Wright, with you. If you’re looking for the definitive quick study on all-things lobster, this is it. Wright covers everything you want, need, and don’t want to know about Maine’s famous crustacean, and does so in a witty style presented an easy-to-understand format spiked with engaging graphics, images, and interviews.
Want to know why Maine lobster catches (a.k.a. landings) have increased so dramatically—“in 2011, the catch exceeded 100 million pounds, which is five times the historical average”—Wright explains, with the help of Maine’s chief lobster biologist (Uber cool job title!). Curious about lobster sex? Yup, she explains that, too, as well as the long watery road from birth to maturity. Wondering about what to do with lobster waste? Wright offers up golf balls, dog biscuits, and flower pots. Eager to understand the whys behind a blue, purple, pink, or two-toned bug, (a.k.a. lobster)? Wright consults with the Maine State Aquarium, in Boothbay, for the answers. And that’s all in the first section of the book.
In the second chapter, Wright covers the lobster life from the human perspective, highlighting a few of Maine’s best-known lobstering villages and festivals, and explaining the daily lives of those who make their living from them. Maine food historian Sandy Oliver shares a historical view, and in Snopes-like fashion, separates truth from legend.
Wright wraps it up with eating, debating hard shell or soft and what constitutes the perfect Maine lobster roll, and providing award-winning recipes garnered from the best amateurs to seasoned professional chefs.
In short, this is an excellent resource, great souvenir, and a cookbook all rolled into one little package.
Whenever I visit Maine’s Schoodic Peninsula, home to the only mainland section of Acadia National Park, I also detour out to Corea, a lobstering village in the town of Gouldsboro. Corea tips a peninsula that, until 2002, was also home to a Navy base. But now it’s a sleepy village with dreamy views. Updated May 26, 2023
Rosemary and Garry Levin’s gallery-shop is a multi-faceted find for book and art lovers. It features Rosemary’s original hand-hooked rugs, as well as contemporary art and craft, local books, and so much more. Chapter Two is a browser’s delight, and I rarely leave without purchasing something or gaining tips for local hikes from Garry.
A dirt lane just beyond the Post Office leads to a small grouping of somewhat ramshackle fish shacks hanging over the harbor. The first of these has been spruced up to house Lunch on the Wharf, one of my favorite Maine lobster shacks. Of course, it has delicious lobster. And you can savor the food along with the views from picnic tables on the wharf overlooking the harbor. Heaven!
In 2008 Frenchman Bay Conservancy purchased 600 acres of land known as the Corea Heath, and that summer, volunteers began cutting trails. Heath is a local word for peatland or bog. And this one is a rare coastal plateau bog, distinguished because it rises above the surrounding landscape.
This is a spectacular property, with divergent ecosystems including bogs, ledges, and a mixed-wood forest. Natural features include pitcher plants, sphagnum mosses, rare vascular plants, and jack pines. It’s a fabulous place for bird-watching too. And it borders a section of the Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge.
An easy 1.25-mile trail loops down to a bog with a beaver lodge. Note: Some sections are boggy, although most of these have boardwalks. Do apply bug dope.
Although I hiked in mid-day, I imagine the wildlife watching here would be spectacular nearer to sunrise and sunset. When we visited, we were the only hikers in the preserve.
For a taste of the real, ungussied-up Maine, loop down to Jonesport and spend a day or two immersed in a real lobstering village. @Hilary Nangle
Jonesport, Maine, is a bona fide, way-way down east Maine lobstering village with a salty disposition and a stunning location. Not many tourists, other than birders and escape artists, veer off Route 1 on Route 187, which loops down 11 miles to the village, then back up another 11 miles. Ahhh, but it’s worth it if you seek an elusive vision of the real Maine. Jonesport doesn’t get much more Maine or real, as long as you’re not looking for the gentrified version.
What to see and do in Jonesport, Maine
Cross the bridge onto Beals Island to the Nature Conservancy’s magical 1,576-acre Great Wass Island Preserve, where you can hike or birdwatch. The preserve is home to rare plants and even rarer coastal peat bogs, and its varied habitat makes it rich in birdlife.
See the lobster boats up close and view sea life and islands, including Mistake Island, home to Moose Peak Light, with Coastal Cruises aboard the Aaron Thomas with Capt. Laura Fish.
Although best known for lobstering, Jonesport is also home to other aquaculture operations. Hang out down by the harbor to watch harvesters return with boats filled almost to the point of sinking with seaweed.
Arrange in advance to tour Mooseabec Mussels, which processes and distributes wild-harvested Maine mussels to stores such as Whole Foods. You can also purchase fresh mussels and quahog clams here.
The historical society museum, a work in progress in an 1896 building, has remained in the same shipping/seafaring family until donated to the Jonesport Maine Historical Society. Among the treasures are thousands upon thousands of original ledgers, day books, letters, and receipts dating back to 19th century. Volunteers are just beginning to move artifacts into the museum, but ask for a tour and get them talking, watch the taped interviews with local longtimers, and you’ll be entertained for an hour or longer.
Independent sorts can book one of Dorothy Higgins’ Cranberry Cove Cottages, two second-story apartments furnished in cottage style, each with a kitchenette; pets are welcome.
I’m traveling along the Maine Coast this summer researching a new edition of Moon Coastal Maine. I’ll be posting updates every now and then on where I’ve dined and stayed. Here are a few morsels from recent forays in Greater Portland to whet your appetite.
Local 188, Portland: Portland has so many restaurants and with new ones continually opening, it’s challenging time-wise to return to old favorites, places like Local 188. I love this comfy spot, with its eclectic and mismatched vintage furnishings, local artwork accenting the walls, open kitchen, and artsy welcoming vibe. It’s hip without being hipster.
Like most of Portland’s restaurants, farm-to-table is the mantra. The Spanish/Mediterranean-influenced menu is divided into tapas, raciones, salads, and entrees. A friend and I never got beyond the first two sections, ordering a cheese plate and a charcuterie plate, the mussels, and the gnocchi, along with plentiful wine. We chatted, nibbled, mopped up sauces, and simply relaxed, which is what Local 188 is all about.
Caiola’s, Portland: Chef/owner Abby Harmon gets everything right at this West End neighborhood restaurant. Our party of three split two appetizers. The salt cod dumplings with red pepper coulis and tartar sauce ($8.95) comprised two plump cod fritters separated by the tartar and drizzled with the sauce: crispy on the outside, delectably soft inside, simply delicious.
The grilled Mediterranean flatbread with hummus, olives, and sauteed shrimp ($9.95) came as one long piece with the toppings. Cutting it into three pieces was a bit of a challenge, and it was messy to eat—one of the olives on my piece made a run for it, rolling off the table and disappearing—but oh the flavors were spot on, with the shrimp adding a nice balance.
We chose three different entrees, and frankly, each of us enjoyed our own so much, there was no thought given to sharing. Harmon excels at elevating comfort food to culinary genius. I had the lebanese lamb meatloaf with tzatziki, lemon cucumbers, radishes, and arugula tomato salad ($21.95), which was blaze of color on the plate. The vibrant accompaniments were ultra fresh and made the meatloaf sing.
One friend had the paella, a sizzling presentation of crilled chicken, chorizo, mussels, clams, roasted red peppers, saffron rice, and peas ($23.95), served in a straight-from-the-oven pan. The other had the eggplant parmesan with homemade marinara, grilled garlic bread, spinach and red onions.
Too full for dessert, we instead walked around the West End, arriving at the Western Prom just in time to catch a fiery sunset over the distant White Mountains of New Hampshire.
Sea Glass, Inn by the Sea, Cape Elizabeth: I’ve said it before, but I think Sea Glass is one of Greater Portland’s best-kept secrets. For starters, the location on Crescent Beach provides delicious views. Sit inside or on the deck, and you’re overlooking green lawns that give way to a bunny preserve (no, really! This thatch between the inn and the beach is a destination resort for endangered New England Cottontails, and the inn is working with experts to rid it of bamboo and restore the habitat) and also a butterfly preserve (did I mention the inn is ultra eco-conscious?), and beyond that ocean. Yup, that’s Richmond Island to the right, and off to the left, those lobster boats are bobbing in Kettle Cove.
Now add Chef Mitchell Kaldrovich, the maestro in the kitchen (see my interview with him). He’s professionally trained, grounded in classic techniques but adds Argentinian flair and Maine sensibilities. Kaldrovich participates in the Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s Out of the Blue program to help promote sustainable seafood, and of course, he sources as much fare as possible locally; pretty easy in a farm-rich town like Cape Elizabeth.
You’d expect spot-on service, panoramic views, and well-prepared fare at a seaside inn to cost big buckeroos, but dinner entrees here run a very fair $22-34 (and if that’s a tad too pricey, less expensive fare is served in the lounge, which has the same views plus a fireplace). Sea Glass is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and there’s lobster on every menu. There’s even a separate vegetarian menu and vegan options. The Inn by the Sea is extremely pet friendly, and that includes dining on the deck (It’s Bernie-dog approved).
You can visit painter Winslow Homer’s studio in Prouts Neck, Maine. In September 2012, the Portland Museum of Art opened the studio where the American artist painted many of his masterpieces from 1883 until his death in 1910.
Homer painted some of his greatest works, masterpieces such as Weatherbeaten, The Fog Warning, and The Gulf Stream, at this oceanfront studio, taking inspiration from the crashing surf, craggy shores, stormy seas, and dense fog. Standing in the studio puts you right at the scene, and the docent-led tours explain the artist’s importance in American art.
Homer’s family was instrumental in establishing the summer colony on Prouts Neck. This granite-tipped thumb of land reaches into the Atlantic in Scarborough, just south of Portland.
What became Winslow Homer’s studio, was originally the carriage house for The Ark, the adjacent house owned by Homer’s brother Charles. It was moved 100 feet and converted to living quarters in 1883 by renowned Portland architect John Calvin Stevens, one of the founders of the Shingle Style. The piazza, pergola, and later the painting room were added for Homer.
The simplicity of the studio, with its beadboard wall and ceiling, tongue-and-groove floor, and brick fireplace, is pure Maine cottage. Some original furnishings and artifacts add context to understanding the artist.
These include the Snakes! Snakes! Mice! sign he painted to scare off ladies who might be inclined to visit; the window in which he etched his name; the writings on the wall, such as Oh what a friend chance can be when it chooses; and a book of family photographs.
Copies of Homer’s artwork, exhibits, and a slide show of images are displayed in the painting room or The Factory as he called it. Especially intriguing are the Civil War sketches he made for Harpers Weekly, while embedded with the Army of the Potomac.
Inspiring views
The views from the second-floor piazza are the same as when Homer lived here. Standing here gazing at the open Atlantic, listening to waves crash, gulls cry, and the wind rustling the trees, and maybe wrapped in the damp hush of fog, is perhaps the best place to begin to truly understand Homer’s inspiration.
As he wrote: “The sun will not rise or set, without my notice and thanks. The life I have chosen gives me hours of enjoyment for the balance of my life.”
After absorbing the view and walking to the oceanfront, you’ll see the Homer works at the museum with a far deeper understanding of what made this genius tick.
Homer’s ties with the Portland Museum of Art date back to his 1893 exhibition, which included Signal of Distress. On the centennial of Homer’s death, the museum opened its Charles Shipman Payson wing, honoring the man who funded it and donated 17 paintings by Homer to the museum.
The museum acquired Winslow Homer’s studio, a National Historic Landmark, in 2006, and began a six-year project to restore it to its 1910 appearance.
The 2.5-hour docent-led tours, offered April through October, are limited to 12 participants and cost $65 ($55 early spring and late fall) for the public, $40 ($30) for museum members. Minimum age is 8. Reservations are required.The schedule varies with the season.
Although the tours depart from the museum, to immerse yourself in the Homer experience, consider staying at the Black Point Inn, the only lodging on Prouts Neck.
Guests can wander a path around the tip of the point, passing Homer’s studio along the way; follow nature paths through a sanctuary, donated by Homer’s family; and see the church, also financed by the family; not to mention savor the setting, with views north to Portland and south to Old Orchard. The inn provides a charming respite, access to two beaches, golf privileges, and divine views (hint: don’t miss the cupola).
When immersed in the often jaw-dropping natural beauty of Acadia National Park, it may seem superfluous to seek out man-made gardens, but Mount Desert Island’s gardens gild this already stunning landscape. While garden mavens will treasure these sights, even those who don’t know a peony from a pansy will be tickled. (updated Jan. 2022)
Charles K. Savage, landscape designer and a former innkeeper of the Asticou Inn, created both Asticou and Thuya in 1956, when he learned that famed landscape architect Beatrix Farrand (Dumbarton Oaks, East and West White House Gardens, NY Botanical Garden rose garden) was dismantling her nearby Reef Point garden. He sought funding from John D. Rockefeller Jr. and purchased the azaleas for Asticou and other plants for Thuya.
Asticou puts on its best show in spring, when about 70 varieties of azaleas, rhododendrons, and laurels burst into bloom, but at other times, this 2.3-acre Japanese-inspired pocket garden is lovely, just not so flamboyant about its virtues. Highlights include a Japanese sand garden, stone lanterns, granite outcrops, and a tranquil pond, all connected by pink granite paths.
Thuya comprises semi-formal English border beds inspired by English designer Gertrude Jekyll as interpreted by Farrand as well as a woodland garden on a terraced hillside overlooking Northeast Harbor and the Atlantic. Also here is Thuya Lodge, with a wonderful library of botany-related titles.
The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden, created in 1921, is another Farrand legacy. Abbe and John D. Rockefeller Jr. turned to her to create a garden using treasures they’d brought back from Asia. The walled garden is a knockout, accented with secret passages, a sunken garden, English floral beds, Korean tombstone figures, a moongate, and even yellow roof tiles from Beijing. It’s only open from late July to early September, and numbers are limited. Advance reservations are required.
Renowned landscape architect Beatrix Farrand designed a number of Mount Desert Island’s gardens. Her fans will want to visit Garland Farm, her last home and garden. When Farrand dismantled her Reef Point property in 1955, she moved to the ancestral home of Lewis Garland, who managed Reef Point. Garland engaged an architect to build an addition to the original farmhouse and barn utilizing architectural elements and furnishings from Reef Point.
The property was sold a few times, and greatly reduced in size. Then the Beatrix Farrand Society, formed in 2002, purchased it in 2004. It is restoring Garland Farm to Farrand-era design and condition. The property, now listed on the National Register of Historic Places, hosts special events and programs. It’s also open to the public on a limited schedule.
These two gardens on the College of the Atlantic campus are pleasant diversions. The Beatrix Farrand Garden, designed in 1928, is located behind Kaelber Hall. In its heyday, the garden contained more than 50 varieties of roses. It was the prototype for the rose garden at Dumbarton Oaks, in Washington D.C.
The Turrets Sea Side Garden is located on the ocean side of the Turrets, the 1895 cottage that’s now an administration building. Eammon Hutton, ’05, restored it as his senior project. The central fountain, created by COA alum Dan Farrenkopf of Lunaform Pottery, was installed in 2009. No fee is charged.
Few people find this vest-pocket seaside park, donated to Southwest Harbor in 1970. Its delightful butterfly garden, established in 1998, promotes conservation education. Arrive early to snag a picnic table. Each summer, a butterfly release is scheduled. Advance reservations are required for that special family friendly program.
This small museum, adjacent to Somesville’s iconic white bridge, has two small gardens. The Heirloom Garden contains flowering plants and herbs that have flourished on the island since the late 18th century. The Louisa Conrad Garden honors its namesake, a gardener and architect who summered on the island. It features plants found in woodland gardens on the island.
Located within Acadia National Park, this 0.75-acre garden is a microcosm of more than 400 plant species native to Mount Desert Island. Each of the 12 separate display areas represents a native habitat. Plants are labeled and a brochure is available.
Held every other year, the 2012 Mount Desert Island Garden Tour takes in six private gardens: Sand Point, Rosserne, and The Ledge in Northeast Harbor and Blueberry Haven, Points of View, and Southerly in Seal Harbor. See my Garden Tours post for details.
(This post originally appeared on guidebook publisher Moon.com‘s blog, a great spot to read posts by staff and guest travel writers).
UPDATE: Chef Mitchell Kaldrovich is now at his own Maine restaurant, MK Kitchen.
I think one of Greater Portland’s best dining secrets is the Sea Glass Restaurant at the Inn by the Sea, in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. The space is casual and yet tony, with big windows framing ocean views. There’s also dining on the deck (which is dog friendly and Bernie-dog approved, by the way; there’s even a menu for dogs). Chef Mitchell Kaldrovich’s dinner menu ($22-34) is familiar and yet inspired and draws, whenever possible, from local vendors and farms. I’ve dined here a few times, and never have been disappointed in the service, the fare, or those dreamy views. (Update: Although Kaldrovich is no longer here, I still think Sea Glass is a great spot to dine).
While I’m not vegetarian, I’ve found it easy to be tempted by the offers on Sea Glass’ separate vegetarian menu (with vegan alternatives), and don’t get me started on the five-course lobster-tasting menu ($65). Sea Glass is also open to the public for breakfast ($12-18) and lunch ($12-19); menus can be found here. I can vouch for the crab cake and avocado Benedict and the pan-roasted spicy fish tacos.
I recently spent a few minutes with Chef Kaldrovich. Although born in New Jersey, he was reared in Argentina, and by age 10 was helping his grandmother prepare family meals. He later attended culinary school and cooked in top restaurants in Argentina and stateside.
How does your Argentinian background influence your cooking?
Because I’m Argentinian, I’m humble and appreciate food. I came from war, and the economy was up and down all the time. If I had $2, I saved it. I run my kitchen the same way. I peel asparagus; puree scraps. I want to help the culture of America to become healthy, to use less fat, less bacon, do less cooking out of the box. Cooking is easy and it’s important. We all should be able to cook instead of microwave. We pay the price when we’re older if we’re not cooking.
Argentina has had a lot of major influences of its food, including Gaucho and Spanish. Gaucho is very Argentinian and a very flavorful way of cooking. I’m a beef guy. I make my own steak sauce. No A-1. As a hotel, I do what the guests want.
I serve a grilled gaucho steak [herb-marinated skirt steak, roasted mushrooms, chimichurri, crispy fingerling potatoes; $27]. Chimichurri in Argentina is like salsa in Mexico; each cook has own methods or techniques. The ingredients are parsley and oregano, fresh smoked paprika, salt, garlic, vinegar. We use it as a relish, put it on chorizo, or on chicken, or on steak. It’s not like ketchup; it doesn’t go on everything. And chimichurri is one thing: it’s not mango chimichurri, not basil chimichurri, not cilantro chimichurri.
I could do more Argentinian dinners empanadas, stews, and ceviche in summer: I make South American, not Mexican ceviche. My soups are usually vegan. My vegetable soup is pure roasted vegies with white wine and stock. It’s light, colorful, and nutritious, and you can feel the flavor of the vegetables. Right now, I’m serving a gazpacho; it’s very Spanish. My version is vegan. It’s an entrée in Spain, but I make it as an appetizer. Mine has a little basil, pepper, cucumber salsa, peppers, and chives in it.
How is cooking at a hotel restaurant different than an independent one?
I was taught by French chefs, and I use French techniques to make New American cuisine. And I think about what people expect when they come here. I try to make a great clam chowder, and lobster bisque is my signature.
I want to have lobster on the menu at every meal, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Everywhere. Because only so much lobster, I need to utilize everything, lobster stock, and reduce everything. That’s why I came up with a paella dish [Gulf of Maine seafood and lobster paella: Spanish saffron rice, peas, chorizo, grilled lobster tail, clams, mussels, shrimp, calamari; $26] that uses lobster stock and seafood, and it makes people very happy.
As a hotel chef, I have to satisfy 100 percent of the hotel’s guests. Diets are crazy these days; we can’t do old school secret ingredients. We have to say what it is. We show off certain things, our great vendors, farmers, and fishermen. I try to be local, but must make exceptions, such as a shrimp cocktail and Alaskan salmon, when requested by guests.
What distinguishes your menus?
My salads are light. I make the dressings. I compose salads, and each has a purpose. I go against techniques. For example, my marinated beets salad [baby mixed greens, Pineland Farm feta, pumpkin seeds, beet vinaigrette; $9]. Most chefs bake beets; I like to poach them in water and vegetable stock until tender. The natural sugars of the beets get concentrated too strongly when baked; I prefer braising.
People are weird with textures. I do the labor for my guests. On my menus, you’re never going to find bones; you’ll never have to deal with a lobster; you’re not going to have to fight your food. Nothing should be on a plate that you shouldn’t eat, even the garnish. We play with colors and ingredients.
Fusion confusion. I’ve been in 13 countries, so I have many restaurants in my background and I try to bring the tastes back because I’ve been there, but I give it an American touch; it’s global Continental. What I’m trying to do is what’s me: comfort food from Argentina: pastas, steaks chicken.
My chicken [oven-roasted chicken under a brick: natural chicken breast, whipped potato puree, lemon-garlic wilted spinach, bacon pan sauce; $24] is some of the best around. It’s natural, free range. I take a chicken breast, cook it, flip it, and put it under a brick. It gets a crispy skin. There isn’t much fat, and it gets tossed. I make a bacon vinaigrette, but the bacon is super dry and crispy and mixed with herbs and lemon, and garlic butter as a dressing for the chicken. I’ve been making it this way for eight to ten years, and I think it’s the best way to prepare chicken.
You take part in the Gulf of Maine Research Institute’s Out of the Blue program for sustainable seafood, how does that effect the fish you serve?
Halibut is an amazing fish, great to cook, but it costs $18 a pound. I want people to appreciate pollock, hake, and redfish. Pollock takes a crust better than haddock.
The best way to prepare pollock or redfish is to pan sear it in a hot, super heavy, cast iron pan. I serve it with a lemon or citrus vinaigrette. I never use a cream sauce on fish, period; this type of fish needs acidity. I also use farm-raised salmon in order to let the wild grow.
I know what seafood I want to use, and I disregard the price, it shouldn’t be part of the talk. Fish is fish. Market price is a trick; market price is always profitable. You should be able to control your costs. Pay less, make more, pay more, make less. Bottom line is to give a good product. That’s the key to success.
Share a few of your favorite places to eat?
I wish I could get at a restaurant what I like to eat at home. Pan-seared steak or fish is hard to find. I like to go to Fore Street; it has great salads and a wood oven. I just went to Zapoteca, and I liked the food. Bar Lola has great food and value, and it’s cozy. I hate noise. I gave up on noisy bars when I was 20. I like a warm, relaxed, calm ambiance.
I also like simple food. I’ve dined at top-notch restaurants, places like French Laundry. They show off, but I like simple, there’s nothing better than home cooking, but what I do at home, you can’t do in a restaurant. It takes me two hours to make my chicken. There are no good steak houses in Maine, but then, in Maine, I want lobster and fish.
Every year on my birthday I go to Primo in Rockland. I admire her and the crew. I like the farm-to-table system; they raise the pigs and the chickens. I like the tasting menu and the charcuterie.
Chef Mitchell Kaldrovich’s Serrano-Wrapped Roasted Red Fish
1 Cup Local Shrimp, Quickly Blanched (20 sec. in Salty water then iced)
½ Cup Smoked Bay Scallops
½ Cup Celery, dice
½ Cup Carrot, dice
½ Cup Cucumber, Seedless, dice
2 Tbs. Fine Chopped Chives, Tarragon & Parsley
Juice of 2 Fresh Lemons
5 Tbs. Fruity Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Sea Salt, Pepper, Cumin Powder, Coriander
1.5 Cup Fresh Ouster Mushrooms, Clean & w. bottom removed
1 Garlic Clove
Chopped Italian Parsley
Prepping the Salpicon:
Salpicon is a Traditional South-American cold “chopped salad” usually made with leftovers such as Roasted Chicken or grilled fish. You can add any kind of vegetables as well.
Blanch, chilled and strain the shrimps. Sliced the lobster meat into little bites. Mix all seafood in a bowl. Add the raw diced vegetables, season with salt & pepper and lightly sprinkle with cumin & coriander.
Add the herbs and the lemon juice and olive oil. Keep refrigerated.
Red Fish:
Ask your fish Market to skin your red fish. Red Fish have a great taste and are fun to work with.
In a very hot cast iron skillet, add some canola oil and roast the fish wrapped in Serrano, then lower the heat to medium. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until it starts to get golden brown- then flip the brown side up and transfer the pan to a preheated oven at 350F and cook for about 8-10 more minutes. The Serrano Ham should be crispy but not burned and the fish should be just cooked thru. Reserve the fish in a warm place.
Oyster Mushrooms:
Using your finger, tear the mushrooms into smaller stripes. Make sure there is no dirt or leaves.
In another very hot sautéed pan, quickly add some olive oil or canola and cook the whole garlic clove for 10 seconds, then add the mushrooms and cook for 3-4 minutes or golden brown, season with salt, pepper and chopped parsley.
Salsa Verde:
1 Cup Cilantro Leaves / 3 tbs. Chopped Chives / ½ Cup Parsley Leaves / 4 Sprigs of fresh Tarragon
2 Tbs. of Capers
3 Tbs Champagne Vinegar
Juice of 1 Lemon
Juice and Zest of 1 Lime
½ Cup Olive Oil
Blend all ingredients into the blender until a smooth puree. Season with salt and pepper. Chill
If it weren’t for Skip Brack, it’s likely the rural town of Liberty, Maine, a dip off Route 3 just inland from coastal Belfast, would be bypassed by all but the handful of folks who call it home. Between 1976 and 1986, Brack purchased and restored Liberty’s downtown buildings (all three of them), and created a must-stop shop for trades-people, collectors, renovators and home hobbyists.
Liberty Tool’s stock includes everyday tools as well as the hard-to-find, specialized ones desired by shipbuilders, housewrights, chairmakers and coopers as well as tools used by blacksmiths, tinsmiths, watchmakers, jewelers, weavers, tool-and-die makers and engravers. Beyond specialists, Liberty Tool lures weekend renovators and hobbyists who know they can find brand-name tools in good condition for reasonable prices.
Throughout the store are grab-bag jars filled with a miscellaneous assortment of the smallest items, perhaps bolts and bits or brass fittings. You might see one item in the jar you want — a link for a chain, a wood screw, sockets for socket wrenches — but the whole shebang is yours for $1 or so.
