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Down East, Maine/ Rossmount Inn Fine dining was the hallmark of the original Rossmount, and the tradition has been enhanced under chef-owner Chris Aerni and his wife Graziella, who have turned this outlying inn into a world-class dining destination for gourmands from far and wide. The Swiss-born chef, who had 25 years’ experience working for others in Toronto and Australia, found his niche here. He changes his contemporary menu daily to feature seafood he hand-picks from the fishmonger in Saint John and seasonal produce from local purveyors, along with chanterelles he forages from the inn’s property beneath Chamcook Mountain. Dinner might begin with his signature cappuccino of lobster bisque with brandy, cayenne peppers and chives, smoked salmon with potato blinis and horseradish mousseline, or a fabulous salmon and avocado tartare flavored with chives and coriander. Among main courses, the sautéed chicken breast with a two-mushroom sauce was one of the best poultry dishes we have had. Also superior was the fillet of haddock on old-fashioned potatoes with wilted greens and pickled fiddleheads. Other favorites are white wine risotto with bay scallops and chanterelles, prosciutto-wrapped pork tenderloin with polenta, and a stellar rack of lamb, the presentation changing nightly. The chef returns to his roots for desserts such as Swiss chocolate truffle cake with strawberry coulis, mixed berry crêpe and a traditional meringue glacé with chocolate sauce. We go for the walnut butter cake with homemade maple ice cream and Chamcook Mountain maple brandy syrup. All this is served up in a pleasant, understated dining room with well-spaced tables and changing art on the walls. We'd go so far as to say this is the best restaurant in New Brunswick. (506) 529-3351. Entrées, $15.50 to $24.80.
Dinner nightly, 6 to 9:30, Wednesday-Sunday in off-season.
Showy flowers and hanging baskets grace the alpine-looking facade of this rustic low white and brown structure one of us remembers fondly as the local dance hall in her teen years. It’s been a restaurant since 1984, but never better than under young owner Markus Ritter, a master chef from Bavaria. Markus, who had trained for fourteen years in Germany and on cruise ships, came upon St. Andrews in the usual serendipitous manner, arriving one Canada Day and putting down a deposit on the empty L’Europe building. Meanwhile, he met his bride-to-be when their paths crossed in the night while both worked in different departments in a German hotel. He and Simone moved to St. Andrews, renovated the restaurant and were married on the St. Andrews Wharf as L’Europe reopened in 2000. They lightened up the interior, giving it a more modern look in white and pale blue. Starched white napkins stand in cylinders at each table setting and halogen lights cast a soft glow in two small dining rooms and a bar seating up to 60. Markus offers superb contemporary continental menu from his renovated kitchen. The escargots bourguignonne and scallops mornay are good appetizers, and the composed salad is fresh as can be. Haddock fillets with tiger shrimp in a creamy champagne sauce, scallops provençal and mixed seafood are menu standbys, supplemented by nightly specials. But the emphasis is on meat dishes: chicken oriental, wiener schnitzel, and venison with red currant sauce and homemade spaetzle. The rack of lamb and filet mignon with béarnaise sauce are terrific. Most desserts feature ice creams and fresh fruits. We usually opt for the “dessert variation à L’Europe, an excursion of our specialties” – a decadent finale to a superior meal. Upstairs in the European style are four queensize bedrooms and three efficiency suites for overnight guests, renting for $75 to $145 nightly. (506) 529-3818. www.leurope.ca. Entrées, $17.90
to $29.70, Dinner nightly, 5:30 to 11. Closed midweek in off-season and
month of November.
If we could have only one lunch in St. Andrews, it would be here. Actually, we’ve had many, and they’ve always turned out to be exceptional. On a crystal-clear day, there’s no more idyllic setting than the leafy terrace outside the gallery dining room. You relax under a “weeping” apple tree canopy, with a postcard view of sloping lawns, floral borders, a couple of sculptures, an enormous Adirondack chair art piece that people keep climbing onto for photo ops, and a panoramic view of Passamaquoddy Bay beyond. The kitchen produces an interesting menu ranging from sandwiches to light entrées and pasta dishes. The elegant seafood chowder is among the best we’ve had, and the ploughman’s lunch is a satisfying platter of breads, cheese, pickles and pâtés. The day’s cheese and mushroom quiche is light and ethereal, teamed with a mesclun salad. The dessert tray harbors about eight delectable-looking goodies (all different sizes, all the same price – $4.95). The cheesecake with blackberry topping, light as a soufflé, was a triumph. The only frustration is that you can’t get into the café without paying the garden admission fee, but the gardens are a must-see anyway. (506) 529-4016. Prices, $3.50 to $12.95. Open
daily, 10 to 6, mid-May to mid-October.
A recent adjunct to the Tin Fish gift shop, this little winner offers a limited menu and inspired fare in tight, convivial surroundings – so convivial that the slow-as-molasses service can be forgiven. The talkative server likely will talk you into foregoing the basic lunch and dinner menu of seafood sandwiches, sushi rolls, curries and our favorite steamed mussels. Instead he’ll tout the blackboard specials, one night’s choice including crab cakes with salad, salmon fillet, rack of lamb and filet mignon. We were impressed with the curried chicken and vegetables and the chicken in puff pastry as well as the beer and wine selection. Homemade pies are the desserts of choice. The artistry in the kitchen extends to the decor of the tiny enclosed porch seating sixteen diners amid white lights twinkling in the windows. Elaine Wilson’s artworks share top billing with those of her husband, artist Ted Michener. Next door for casual food is Mitch’s Takeout, run by Ted, who also owns the popular Gables waterfront restaurant. (506) 529-4496. Entrées, $14.95 to $28.95. Open daily except Tuesday, noon to 9.
The Gables Lobster buoys and traps and seaside flowers line the alleyway to the side entrance at this popular restaurant, the best in town for a casual meal beside the water. A pleasant, three-level deck shaded by a huge chestnut tree at water’s edge is its most appealing feature and far preferable to the inside dining room and bar. Owner Ted Michener is an artist and cartoonist, whose works grace the walls and the menu. The all-day roster offers first-rate burgers, deep-fried veggies, soups, salads and sandwiches, plus a few specials ranging from souvlaki to a Mideastern platter. Friends say the lobster is tops, but we usually go for a casual waterside supper of spanakopita and a Greek salad for one, bruschetta and a large bowl of steamed mussels for the other. Grand marnier cheesecake and chocolate torte are the desserts of choice. (506) 529-3440. Entrées, $9 to $19.95. Lunch
daily, 11 to 5. Dinner, 5 to 10:30.
Schooner Dining Room The Wa-Co Diner in front has been an institution at Bank Square since 1924, but recently gained a waterfront deck at the rear and a handsome dining room in between. Returning to her hometown after 35 years away, chef-owner Nancy Bishop reopened the diner, which had closed in 1997. She upgraded the fare, and her husband built the expansive, two-level deck beside the rocky shore. The nautical dining room, with vinyl cloths and oil lamps on the tables, has big windows onto the water on two sides. The Schooner menu is an extensive collection of Maine seafood and old continental favorites. Typical are charbroiled salmon with dill-cream sauce, baked stuffed haddock with lobster sauce, chicken marsala, rack of lamb and filet mignon oscar. Coconut popcorn shrimp, bacon-wrapped scallops and broccoli cheese bites are among the appetizers. Blackboard desserts could be raspberry-cheese pie, chocolate decadence or fried apples with butterscotch sauce. For lunch recently on the breezy waterside deck, we enjoyed a fine lobster club sandwich and one of the best crab rolls ever. (207) 853-4046. Entrées, $6.95 to $12.95. Open
daily in summer, 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; winter, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. La Sardina Loca Housed in the former A&P store where Eleanor Roosevelt shopped for groceries while summering on Campobello, this is billed as the easternmost Mexican restaurant in the United States. "The crazy sardine" name was chosen to give the sardine back to the community after many packing plants had closed, according to owner Chuck Maggiani. His son Lenny, the chef, married a woman from Mexico, which accounts for the theme. Wait until you see the place – a double storefront with big round tables, plastic patio chairs, a Christmas tree hanging upside down from the ceiling, posters, sign boards and a dark cantina bar hidden in back. It's crazy and colorful, to say the least. Blackboard specials at the entry proclaimed lobster and steak dinners for $11.95 at a recent visit. The regular menu might offer rancho grande bifstek with salad, baked potato and corn on the cob and a Rosarita beach lobster dinner, Mexican style, with salad, rice, beans and tortillas. Of course, you can order chicken fajitas, burritos, enchiladas, tostadas, nachos and even pizzas. Start, if you dare, with La Sardina Loca, billed as herring steaks with hot chiles on a bed of lettuce with crackers, onions and sour cream. Dessert could be strawberry delight, kahlua parfait or caffe loca with tequila and kahlua. (207) 853-2739. Entrées, $4.95 to $12.95. Dinner nightly except Tuesday, 4 to 10. Material updated from Inn Spots & Special Places in New England, by Nancy and Richard Woodworth. Copyright 2004. Wood Pond Press E-mail feedback to: Home
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