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By Emily, July 14, 2010 1:16 pm

It’s amazing how quickly vacation can seem like it was years ago.  We’ve been home for 10 days, but that relaxed, carefree feeling that comes from not wearing make-up or having a schedule for a week is quickly disappearing.  It’s probably just as well that it took me awhile to write Part 2 of this post, maybe I can mentally return to vacation.

If you missed Part 1 of my favorite eateries in the Boothbay Region, check it out.  Part 2 is focused more on snack and dessert establishments, but who says you can’t have ice cream for lunch?

Wannawaf (Boothbay Harbor)

Above is a picture of an amazing hot dog.  It’s called “A Dog Named Jeff” and it’s got mayonnaise, stone ground mustard, caramelized onions and fresh onions…and maybe something else.  It’s hard to remember.  Anyway, the hot dogs and their respective combination (they’ve got a dozen or so creations that I’d never think of) are awesome.  But that’s not why we go to Wannwaf.   We go to Wannawaf for the ice cream. Staying with the theme from Part 1, Wannawaf is an order at the window and eat at picnic tables establishment located on the waterfront in the Harbor.  They serve ice cream sundaes over Belgian waffles.  The combinations, once again, are incredible. This time around we tried a S’more variety: waffle, vanilla ice cream, marshmallow topping, hot fudge and walnuts.  So good.

Gelato Fiasco (Brunswick)

Image from The Gelato Fiasco website

If you leave the Boothbay penninsula and head south–to go to Brunswick, Cooks Corner, or Portland, you’ll come close to or go through Brunswick.  And when my family passes through Brunswick, we stop at Gelato Fiasco pretty much every time.  My sister once went 3 times in one weekend, it’s that good.  As I’ve mentioned before, the flavor selection is creative and delicious(banana, chocolate orange, ginger, pomegranate lime, dark chocolate caramel) and the atmosphere is inviting and relaxing.  Gelato Fiasco also supplies a number of Maine and New Hampshire restaurants and stores with their product, including a recently opened gelato stand in Boothbay Harbor.

Downeast Ice Cream Factory (Boothbay Harbor)

When I worked summers in Boothbay Harbor (every summer of my high school and college careers, plus a couple summers after), I always sent people to the Downeast Ice Cream Factory for dessert.  The servings are big, the ice cream locally made and they have tons of flavors, many Maine related (maple, blueberry, whoopie pie, etc).

Coastal Maine Popcorn (Boothbay Harbor)

image from Coastal Maine Popcorn

As I mentioned last year, Coastal Maine Popcorn is one of my favorite places to grab a snack in Boothbay Harbor.  They make 34 flavors and though I’m much more into savory popcorn (salt & vinegar, buffalo wing, wasabi soy) than sweet (marshmallow, fresh peach, root beer), I’ve never had a flavor that didn’t taste exactly like what it was supposed to.  Brian and I headed home with 3 bags this trip: Tuscan Herb, White Cheddar and Parmesan Garlic.   Of course, we’re all out again, so if anyone in Boothbay wants to send some our way, we’d be eternally grateful.

Frontier Cafe (Brunswick)

If I lived in Brunswick, I’d probably spend a lot of time at the Frontier Cafe (when I wasn’t eating gelato, of course).  I reviewed them a year ago, but I needed to share the experience with Brian. The Frontier Cafe is a combination of wonderful things: good coffee, local and organic food, art, films, beer and wine. This time around, Brian and I got the French Marketplate (Black Forest Ham, Brie, House Made Pate, Fish Bowl Farm Organic Roasted Beet, Sliced Tomato, Coquillo Olives, Cornichons, Grainy Mustard, Baguette); as you can see, it’s beautiful.  It tasted beautiful, too.

Honorable Mentions:

Sarah’s Cafe (Wiscasset) – We didn’t have time to go to Sarah’s this time around, but their diverse menu and reasonable prices helped make Sarah’s one of my family’s favorites.

Kaler’s Crab and Lobster House (Boothbay Harbor) – Another one of the places I always sent tourists to, Kaler’s is my pick for cheap, fried seafood, though they have really good salads too.

Boathouse Bistro (Boothbay Harbor) – Brian’s been bugging me to try out the Boathouse Bistro’s tapas menu for years and we finally got around to it this summer.  Everything we tried was unique and yummy, as were my parents entrees.  Besides, tapas are just fun.

What Boothbay region eating establishments did I miss?

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By Emily, July 6, 2010 12:13 pm

This is a post about being on vacation.  It’s also post about “going home”.  The Boothbay region (and its restaurants) have been a part of my life since I was about 2.  Some of these places have been favorites all my life, some of them are more recent additions.  But last week, when Brian and I headed north to see my parents and enjoy the Maine coast, we ate as much as we could, taking a vacation from our usual eating habits and going home to the way I used to eat.  We’re only going to Maine once this summer, which means we had at least a summer’s worth of tourist-y eating to make up for in a week.  Don’t judge.

For those unfamiliar, Boothbay is a small town on the Maine coast.  I lived there until last summer when I got married and moved to the Berkshires.  I love the Berkshires, but its no Boothbay.  Boothbay is extremely quiet during the winter, but its popularity with tourists means the population explodes in the summer and all sorts of delicious restaurants open.

The places below are some of my favorites in and around Boothbay.  It’s not a perfect list, I don’t think there’s a local eatery I dislike.  These are the places I had to go to, my family’s favorites and where I used to send tourists when I worked retail in the Harbor.  This is my list, but I’m sure anyone else who has been there would have their own.  Establishments with websites are linked in green.

East Boothbay General Store – East Boothbay

There’s not too much in “downtown” East Boothbay.  But that doesn’t matter, because all you need is the EBGS.  We only managed to get there for (really awesome) soft serve ice cream this trip, but they have much more than ice cream.  It’s my pick for best pizza in the region and they feature great flavors like Blueberry and Gorgonzola, Asian, and Prosciutto Mozzarella.  The General Store also provides a variety of sandwiches, salads and breakfast pastries.  Oh, and its a general store, with a great selection of staples (milk, bread, eggs) and treats (fancy cheeses and crackers, wine, candy).

McSeagulls – Boothbay Harbor

I haven’t eaten at every restaurant in the harbor, but I’m pretty sure that McSeagulls has the biggest menu, coming in at 12 pages (download it if you don’t believe me!).  If you want something, they probably serve it.   They have some creative seafood dishes, if you’re tired of basic lobster or fried fish, including “Haddock McSeagulls” (pictured).  My Haddock McSeagulls was coconut and almond encrusted haddock, topped with shrimp.  Amazing.  McSeagulls also gets extra points because they did our rehearsal dinner, but that’s another story.

Dunton’s Doghouse – Boothbay Harbor

I suspect that the above picture pretty much explains what Dunton’s is.  It’s a stand on the side of the road that serves greasy food. Delicious greasy food.  The default date spot for my first boyfriend and I (and no, our breakup didn’t have anything to do with the fact that this was considered a “date”), every person (especially men) I’ve taken since then has loved it.  I put off taking Brian for a long time, thinking it wasn’t refined enough (clearly, I did not know him well then) but even he fell in love.  They have a surprisingly large menu for a place like this, including hot dogs, burgers, chicken sandwiches, sausage, fried fish and french fries (which I highly recommend).

Bet’s Fish Fry - Boothbay

If you’re in the mood for fried food from a stand and Dunton’s doesn’t do it for you, or you don’t feel like looking for a parking space in the Harbor, or you really like really big fish sandwiches, you should go to Bet’s Fish Fry.  At Bet’s you can have fish and chips, a fish sandwich, or just the fried fish (“fish in a dish”).  That’s the menu, though there are half portions available of everything.  Why half portions?  Because this is what the sandwich looks like.  Yes, that’s three fried fish filets.  And Brian and I both put away 3/4 of a sandwich and a bunch of fries.

Beth’s Farm Market – Warren

If you manage to get inland a bit, and you need to cleanse from all that fried food, find Beth’s.  Located sort of nowhere, there are tons of signs on Route 1 to help you find it.  They grow all the produce they sell, as well as pies, donuts, jams, milk and cheese.  Farm stands just make me happy (though Beth’s is more of a store than a stand);  I stop there anytime I’ve headed north on Route 1.

Stay tuned for Part 2: Snacks, Desserts and Honorable Mentions

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By Emily, September 27, 2009 12:50 pm

According to my sister, I am now officially old.  Easy for her to say, she’s still a young and spry 21.  I, on the other hand, am officially a quarter-century old.  25.  How did that happen?!

Okay, enough whining.  I had a really awesome birthday.

Yesterday Brian took me to Harney and Sons for tea, lunch and shopping.  Even though it’s a couple hours away from where we’re living, it was totally worth the trip.  I love that place.  Lunch was, of course, delicious.  I ordered the Pan-seared Eggplant and Brian had the Turkish Kofte.  So good!

After lunch, we went to the Tea Bar and tasted some samples.  I’m still impressed by how much the staff there knows about tea.  I’m not sure my brain could hold that much information.  In the end, we bought Paris (which is one of my favorite teas ever) and Bangkok teas.

As I mentioned, my parents paid for me to buy the Relishments domain name and upgrade the blog.  I am so much happier with the new blog look, which definitely makes me want to write and cook more.  Such an awesome gift.  Thanks mom and dad!

My in-laws also got me an awesome present–a subscription to Food Network magazine!  I’m really excited for the issues to start appearing in my mailbox.  Hopefully it will provide my Food Network fix since we don’t currently have cable.

I expect the rest of my day to be pretty chill.  It’s cool and rainy here, so I plan to just hang out: finish planning meals for the week, continue updating the blog and maybe read a book and drink some tea (Harney and Sons’ Bankok?)

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By Emily, August 19, 2009 1:19 pm

Sorry that this series of blog posts is taking so long to get done.  Yes, we’ve been back from our honeymoon for 10 days…We moved into our new apartment last weekend and it’s been really busy around here. Maybe next trip won’t be “technology free” and these posts will be more timely.  Or not.

After Philly, Brian and I headed to Delaware to check out the Winterthur Museum and Country Estate, Longwood Gardens and the Brandywine River Museum.  We stopped in Wilmington with the hopes of finding something to do and somewhere to eat.  Frankly, there didn’t seem to be much going on in downtown Wilmington, but the folks at the visitors center mentioned something about a brewery.  Brian, beer lover that he is, decided that was where we should have dinner and, after getting lost driving around the city, we found Iron Hill Brewery located on the riverfront.

He hasn’t stopped talking about it since.

We started our meal with a sampler of 8 types of beer, the 6 house beers and two seasonals of our (Brian’s) choosing:

My husband, who is far more knowledgable about these things than I, thought the beer was really great. I actually liked most of them too, and only having to have a little of each was definitely the way to go for me.   Sampling all the different kinds was a lot of fun.  It’s possible I’m starting to like beer. Who woulda thought?

We also ordered an appetizer of sweet potato fries.   Sweet potato fries aren’t usually on my radar, but they might be in the future. I think the picture speaks for itself.  Amazing.  I would’ve been content to skip the main course and just eat more fries.

For our entrees, Brian had a pulled pork sandwich:

He really liked it:

I had a “healthy selection” crab cake with tomatoes, avocado, baby arugula, and roasted tomato-jalapeño vinaigrette:

You know you’d had a lifestyle change when you order things off the “healthy selections” menu not because it’s healthy but because it sounds more appetizing than the “normal selections”.

The food was really delicious, the portions sufficient and the atmosphere was fun. Brian suggested, before the meal was even over, that we forgo looking for other restaurants and just come back to Iron Hill for the remaining evenings of our trip. I declined, but it wouldn’t have been the worst thing ever. Iron Hill Brewery has several locations in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

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By Emily, August 11, 2009 10:51 am

As I mentioned on Friday, my husband and I were on vacation…our belated honeymoon, actually.  We spent the first 24 hours checking out the historic sites of Philly.  We promised each other we were going to eat well.  And take pictures of  the food, of course.  Over the next couple posts, I’ll share some of the highlights.

On Wednesday night, we were in search of a nice, reasonable sit-down restaurant so we checked out Pizzicato on Market Street.  Brian enjoyed a grilled chicken, spinach, and prosciutto pizza.  Since it had so many toppings, it had a tendency to fall apart, but otherwise it was great.  I only got a bite, but it was delicious.

I had a refreshing salad.  I don’t remember what was in the dressing, but it was lemony and light and amazing.  Plus arugula, asparagus, goat cheese and artichokes.  It was wonderful.  It was also pretty big…

It’s very possible that I consumed the entire thing.

If you ever find yourself in the historic district of Philadelphia, Pizzicato seems to be a safe, yummy choice with some healthy options.

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By Emily, July 9, 2009 11:57 am

I may have just decided where all my money is going to go.

I also just had an amazing whole wheat bagel with delicious sundried tomato cream cheese.

If my Man notices in a few weeks that we’re out of money, brewhaha, in downtown North Adams, may be to blame.  It’s adorable.  It’s delicious.  And they have vegetarian/vegan offerings!  They offer loose, organic teas!   Not to mention coffee and baked goods.

If you’re in the area and looking for breakfast or lunch, I highly recommend it.

Finally leaving the house today was so worth it.

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By Emily, May 27, 2009 9:30 pm

Posting’s been thin lately, but I have a good excuse (I think).  My sister and I were on vacation in Quebec City.

If you’ve never been (and we hadn’t), I highly suggest you go.  We had a wonderful time shopping, going to the Musée National des Beaux Arts du Québec, walking through The National Battlefields Park, and, of course, eating.

I’m sure Quebec isn’t the end all, be all of fine cusine, but I took my mini-vacation seriously and ate whatever I wanted, not necesarily in terms of quanity-we stuck to 3 meals a day, and relatively cheap ones because we’re like that- but I ordered whatever I felt like off the menu, vegetarian or not.  We were only there for 3 days and it was vacation after all.  Everything we ate was delicious (who doesn’t love crepes?), and despite our lack of ability to speak French, the waitstaff in all the restaurants we tried were accomodating and helpful.

We finished up our wonderful trip to Canada by stopping at the Empire Grill in Skowhegan, Maine on our way home.  For those unfamiliar with the novel Empire Falls by Richard Russo, the Empire Grill is the restaurant owned by the main character.  The Empire Grill in Skowhegan was used as the site for the filming of the HBO miniseries based on the book which starred Ed Harris, Helen Hunt, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Paul Newman, after which time the restaurant kept the Empire Grill name.  Empire Falls is one of my absolute favorite books of all time, so stopping at the Grill was a “must do”.  The restaurant far exceeded my expectations.  The portions were huge (I think they served my sister an entire fish with her fish and chips), the prices reasonable and the food delicious.  Even if you don’t care about Empire Falls (though you really, really should!), the Empire Grill is the perfect place to eat if you ever find yourself in Skowhegan.

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By Emily, May 13, 2009 6:04 pm

1) The Maine Brewer’s Guild  has just released a brochure about the “Maine Beer Trail” (opens PDF).   Personally, I’m not a fan of beer.  I’ve been told it’s is an acquired taste but I’ve been trying it for almost 4 years now and I still haven’t acquired it.  Nevertheless, visiting breweries can be fun and I know a lot of people who do like beer, including my wonderful Man.  So if you’re in the great state of Maine, check out some of the locations on the Maine Beer Trail (apparently Maine has the fourth most breweries per capita in the United States, one for every 42,000 residents).

2) The Portland Press Herald had a lovely story on the front of the “Food and Health” section of the paper today about Rob Evans,  the James Beard Foundation Award winner for Best Chef: Northeast.  Evan’s restaurant, Hugo’s, is in Portland.  I haven’t been there yet, but it’s definitely on my list.  Who would’ve thought a Portland chef would beat out the Boston ones?  Me, because Maine is awesome.

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By Emily, April 23, 2009 8:56 am

Fore Street Restaurant

Whole Foods Market, though completely wonderful, was just an errand on the way to the climax of my day.  I had 6 pm reservations at the Fore Street Restaurant in Portland (Maine).  Fore Street made an appearance in a recent issue of Down East Magazine in  “Where to Eat Now”, but what really got me interested in checking it out was its nomination for a 2009 James Beard Award for “Outstanding Restaurant”.  When I saw that a Portland establishment had been nominated for an award, I knew I had to go, especially since Fore Street is focused on local, fresh ingredients, which sounded right up my alley.

I don’t eat at “fancy”  restaurants much, but the meal really made me question why I don’t.  From the moment we entered the restaurant, I felt at ease.  First of all, though Fore Street is beautiful, it’s just rustic enough to feel cozy.  Our waiter, Lance, was incredibly kind and helpful.  The menu was relatively long and though I’ve never been somewhere where carpaccio or foie gras was actually being served, they apparently don’t just exist on television.  That said, there were many items on the menu that sounded delicious and I wish they didn’t change their menu daily (!!!) so I could try to experience more of the items on it.  I settled on duck, cooked in their wood-burning oven.  My Man ordered pork loin.  We split a side of delicious Maine garlic mashed potatoes.  I had never had duck before, and it was incredible.  I figure if you’re going to eat at a good place, you may as well order something different because it’ll be good.  Yay for trying new things, again.  We also had some really excellent pino grigio (I forgot how good quality wine was!)  We had a wonderful meal at Fore Street.  I would absolutely recommend it to someone looking for perfectly prepared food, though be prepared for $25-40 entrees.

Gelato Fiasco

Forgoing dessert at the Fore Street was a hard decision (though we were pretty full…)  My Man and I had other plans; on the way home we stopped at another place we adore.  The Gelato Fiasco in Brunswick is a frequent stop for my family (my sister once went 3 times in one weekend…and its a good 40 minutes from our home!).  I’m sure Brunswick isn’t the first place you’d look for good gelato, but it’s well worth it.  The gelato is created fresh from scratch right in town.  They always have at least 20 flavors available and I’ve never had a bad one.  Tuesday night’s choice for me was half strawberry (sorbetto, actually, not gelato) and half chocolate gelato; my Man had half espresso gelato and half chocolate caramel.  Delcious.  Gelato Fiasco is also very generous with samples, has games for customers to play and provides free wi-fi.  They’re open 7 days a week, 11-11.  If you’re ever in mid-coast Maine, definitely check them, or one of their partner locations, out.

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By Emily, March 15, 2009 10:21 am

So far so good, as the weekend goes.  On Friday, the family and I went to see celtic rock fusion band Enter the Haggis.   An excellent show as always (In my family, I’m the slacker with only 5 ETH concerts under my belt.  Check them out, they’re great.)  On the way to the show we stopped at Big G’s Deli in Winslow for dinner.  I have never seen more sandwich choices or bigger sandwiches in my life.  Not gourmet, but quality.

Yesterday I finally got my parents to Whole Foods (it’s over an hour away from home, so it is a bit of a feat).  Mom, once again, surprised me by being way more interested in all the store’s inventory.  Dad was surprisingly patient and may have even enjoyed the experience too.  Maybe its because our local supermarket is so…what’s the word? Limited… but Whole Foods really is an experience.  I purchased 2 tubs of Israeli (aka Middle Eastern) cous cous, which I love but have a hard time finding anywhere else.  Still trying to decide exactly what I’m going to do with it.  If I can get my act together in the future I may do more real shopping there.

This morning’s been starting out slowly, which is the way I like Sunday mornings.  Tea, hard boiled egg, toast.  I can’t remember the last time I had hard boiled egg, but I felt like making some.  Craving resolved.  Normally I’m an overachieving morning person, but sometimes its nice to just sit around and enjoy the day.  Church supper and service beginning at 4:45.  The only thing I have to accomplish between now and then is making cupcakes (possibly dyed green?) for debate club.

Finally, I loved this news story about reusable shopping bags which was on NECN this morning.  It’s wonderful to see that this is really catching on.  I’m so sick of the piles of plastic bags accumulating in my house.  Now, if only I could get in the habit of bringing my reusable bags into the store!