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Camden
Atlantica The food is innovative, the surroundings convivial and the contemporary ambiance nautical at this appealing restaurant on the Camden waterfront. Dining is on two floors, including a much-coveted upstairs turret with a single table for five, as well as outdoors on an upper deck beside the harbor and a covered terrace beneath. It’s wildly popular, so much so that we couldn’t even get in at our first summer visit but did manage to snag a table near a window on a subsequent visit in the off-season, although the night was so foggy we were unable to see much of anything. Chef-owner Ken Paquin’s seafood-oriented menu might feature pan-seared yellowfin tuna with black bean-cumin vinaigrette, sautéed scallops with ginger and plum wine sauce and warm lobster-pineapple salsa, herb-rubbed hanger steak with English Stilton pan sauce, and honey-herbed lamb rack with sweet garlic lamb jus. One of us made a most satisfying dinner of two appetizers: spicy Maine mahogany clams steamed with oriental black beans and cilantro, and crispy spring rolls filled with Maine shrimp and served with a zippy sweet Thai chile dipping sauce. The other enjoyed the caesar salad that came with the seafood pasta entrée. One of the best pasta dishes we’ve had, it was brimming with lobster, scallops, whitefish and shrimp in a pineapple-ginger sauce with basil and roasted macadamia nuts. Unusually good hot rolls and a Gieson sauvignon blanc from New Zealand accompanied. Typical desserts are orange crème brûlée and decadent chocolate cake with a hollow center filled with ganache. (207) 236-6011 or (888) 507-8514. Entrées, $18
to $28. Lunch seasonally, Tuesday-Sunday 11:30 to 2:30. Dinner,
Tuesday-Sunday 5:30 to 9:30, Thursday-Monday 5 to 8 in winter. Closed in
November. Hartstone Inn Their work in gourmet restaurants for Hyatt and Sonesta hotels paid off for Michael and Mary Jo Salmon, who took over the small Hartstone Inn in 1998. They prettied up the dining room in beige and white, added an enclosed porch along the side and seat twenty people for prix-fixe dinners of distinction. Michael, named the Caribbean’s top chef in 1996 when he was at a Sonesta Beach resort on Aruba, buys his food fresh daily for his changing five-course menus and teaches occasional cooking classes at the inn in winter. His cuisine is contemporary and his presentations artistic – enough to attract the attention of Bon Appetit magazine, which featured the Hartstone in 2003 as one of five inns for holiday destinations across the country. One night’s dinner began with a mosaic of Maine seafood, followed by chilled gazpacho with herbed cream. Peach sorbet refreshed the palate for potato-crusted filet mignon with portobello-merlot butter. Dessert was raspberry-praline crème brûlée. Individual warm soufflés are usually the dessert, variously featuring blueberry-hazelnut, chocolate, chambord and macadamia nut flavors. Typical main courses are Maine lobster with angel-hair pasta and asparagus, veal saltimbocca with mushroom-thyme couscous, and pistachio-crusted rack and loin of lamb with anna potatoes. The feast can be accompanied by a selection from Michael’s choice and growing wine cellar. (207) 236-4259 or (800) 788-4823. Prix-fixe,
$42.50. Dinner by reservation, Wednesday-Sunday at 7, June-October;
Thursday-Sunday, rest of year. Francine
Bistro Hidden on a side street, this newcomer serves some of the most innovative food in town, although the choices are severely limited, changing nightly, and the setting is funky, to say the least. Chef Brian Hill of New York took over in 2004 from the original owners, also from New York. They had converted a former bicycle shop into a casual, L-shaped, European-style bistro that’s deliberately shabby chic with church pews for benches, chocolate brown walls and a linoleum floor, four stools at the bar and a covered sidewalk patio. At lunch, they had run out of many of the offerings, so we settled for an oyster po-boy sandwich and a goat cheese salad with fried almonds and pears. Great warm French bread with sweet butter preceded and was reordered because of desultory service and small portions, said salad amounting to little more than a mound of goat cheese, four almonds and about a quarter of a pear. Locals advise the dining experience is at its best at night, which may explain why lunch service has been discontinued. The evening menu might offer spinach soup with foraged mushrooms, a crispy duck confit salad with pistachio vinaigrette, and a “BLT” of heirloom tomatoes, prosciutto, olives and shallot marmalade. A new chef who worked with Todd English in Boston offers a handful of changing entrées. The four choices for main dishes at our latest visit were seared sea scallops with bordelaise sauce, grilled swordfish with corn relish, wood-roasted chicken with a chèvre fondue and that bistro staple, steak frites with provencal herb frites. The bistro has a beer and wine license, but is no
longer a daytime hangout for coffee and espresso. (207) 230-0083. Entrées, $20 to $26. Lunch,
Tuesday-Saturday noon to 3. Dinner, Monday-Saturday 5:30 to 10. Closed
mid-February through March.
Rebuilt following a damaging fire, this popular restaurant is notable for its large outdoor deck shaded by a striking white canopy resembling a boat's sails, right beside the windjammers on picturesque Camden Harbor, and for its affordable, seafood-oriented international menu. Some say the location surpasses the food, though we've been well satisfied each time we've eaten here. It's a great spot for lunch, when seven delectable salads in glass bowls are dressed with outstanding dressings, among them sweet-and-sour bacon, lemon-parmesan, dijon vinaigrette and blue cheese. The dinner offerings turn more eclectic, although the luncheon salads are still available. Among appetizers are calamari and shrimp, mussels marinière, clam fritters and soups, perhaps chilled raspberry accented with grand marnier. The superlative smoked seafood sampler was our choice for sharing. We've enjoyed the Maine crab cakes with creamy mustard sauce, an assertive linguini with salmon and sundried tomatoes, shrimp with oriental black beans over angel-hair pasta and a special of swordfish grilled over applewood with rosemary, which was juicy and succulent. Chef Charles Butler, named “Maine Lobster Chef of the Year” in 2002, has added four lobster entrées to the menu, including the unusual lazy man’s lobster and mussel thermidor. Lemon and chive-glazed chicken, grilled “baseball cut” sirloin steak and prosciutto-wrapped rack of lamb were the only meat offerings at a recent visit. Mint chocolate-chip pie with hot fudge sauce and whipped cream is the ultimate dessert. All sorts of shellfish and light fare from burgers to lobster rolls are available at the oyster bar and outdoor grill. (207) 236-3747. Entrées, $14.95 to $24.95. Lunch
daily, 11:30 to 2:30. Dinner, 5 to 10. Raw bar, 2 to 11. The
Gallery Cafe “Art of food” is the theme of
this café at the new Prism Glass Studio & Gallery. Patrons enjoy
watching resident glass blower/owner Patti Kissinger at work in the
adjacent barn before dining in the house containing the café and Lisa
Sojka’s Glass Gallery shop. Sip a glass of wine as you view the work
of more than 100 glass artists, then settle down for a meal. Chef Tim
Pierre Labonte’s dinner menu might start with lobster velouté topped
with crème frâiche, five-spiced quail with lemon-dressed orzo or a
dish called “3X Duck,” chilled roulade of mallard duck breast
stuffed with duck confit and foie gras. “Maine courses” range from
swordfish pomodoro and grilled free-range chicken with poblano cream to
“beef in a blanket,” filet layered with roasted corn-golden raisin
duxelles baked in puff pastry. Sweet endings include frozen lemon
parfait, macadamia-key lime pie and vanilla malt crème brûlée. The
duck croque madame is a hit at Sunday brunch. (207) 230-0061. www.prismglassgallery.com. Entrées, $19 to $33. Lunch, Wednesday-Saturday 11 to 3. Dinner, Wednesday-Saturday 5 to 9.
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