Well, it has finally happened – I have fallen in love with Maine. Specifically, the restaurant Primo in Rockland, Maine. If you watch No Reservations on the Travel Channel, you may remember it from Anthony Bourdain’s trip to Maine (my boyfriend being a born and bred Mainer, we still have it saved on out DVR). I fell in love with the concept of this restaurant when I saw it on TV and have been dying to try it since. The restaurant is in an old Victorian house that just screams “New England charm” and sits on almost 3 acres of land filled with green houses and hugely impressive vegetable gardens, as well as a pig pen and chicken coop. All of the food is either grown on the land or bought from local farmers and fisherman.
The pumpkin patch
James Beard award winning chef and co-owner, Melissa Kelly, only cooks on Monday nights so my boyfriend, Ryan, and I made sure to make reservations for Monday night well in advance. Gourmet food made from a huge, on-site veggie garden? Sign me up!
I had high expectations and it did not disappoint. I ordered a salad to start, made from all fresh greens picked that morning and homemade dressing. It is amazing how much of a difference fresh veggies really make. It was crisp and delicious. Ryan had frito misto and while I am normally not a seafood eater, even I tried a bite of his appetizer and liked it. Additionally, they brought out a sample of the lobster bisque and a corn fritter “courtesy of the chef” before we received our food.
My adorable dinner
For dinner, I ordered homemade pasta with hot Italian sausage (made on site from the farm’s pigs) covered in a spicy tomato sauce with basil and goat cheese. It was just incredible. The pasta was cooked perfectly and the spices all blended together wonderfully. Spicy and fabulous. I felt a little bad when I met the pigs a few days later, but it was so delicious, I didn’t even care.
Ryan ordered a New York strip that was cooked so perfectly that I swear he actually stared in disbelief at each bite he cut. For dessert, we split a summer pudding filled with fresh blueberries and raspberries from the garden and a blueberry and plum cobbler. The pudding was fresh and sweet but the cobbler was to die for. Ryan ordered a coffee and our server, who was fantastic on his own, brought me a french press with tea leaves that tasted like licorice because, he said, “I could grow the leaves in my own garden and should try them.” Our server was extremely impressive and added so much to the experience. I talked to him about my own garden and he recommended a few books about urban gardening (all of which I forgot to write down and now cannot remember). All in all, the experience was amazing and I highly recommend the restaurant. The same chef has two other restaurants of the same name – one in Orlando and another in Phoenix – so if you are in those areas, I highly recommend checking it out.
The greenhouse
A few days after our amazing dinner – on my birthday – we went back during the day so that I could explore the garden (and meet the pigs). I think the thing that impressed me most was the greenhouse full of tomatoes and peppers that were growing upward attached to string. I would love to try to work out some sort of system like that for my garden next year. They also had three bee hives and the garden was buzzing with bees and butterflies. The veggies were well organized based on size and water/sun requirements. It was really cool to see all of the rows and rows of beautiful veggies. I loved it!
Other than just Primo, Rockland is a great town. We came across a used bookstore that sold amazing coffee and another store that sold some of the best olive oils I have tried. Most flavored olive oils are infused, but the store, Fiore, hand presses the olives with the additives. We bought a chipotle olive oil that I think Ryan has seriously added it to everything we have eaten this week. All in all, it was an excellent week, a great vacation and a fabulous dinner!
