I’ve heard it from a variety of people. It was unusually clear and sunny to be having for Deer Isle, the craggy and granitic island linked by a suspension bridge to Maine’s mid-coast’s Blue Hill Peninsula.
On Labor Day Weekend, my husband, two children, and I drove towards Aragosta in Goose Cove, the 21-acre, 9-cottage, three-suite estate situated on Deer Isle known for its owner-chef Devin Finigan; there was no trace of traditional Maine fog visible. Instead, clear and bright weather welcomed us, as did spindly spruce trees and wide granite boulders, as well as a stunning glimpse at Barred Island, which guests are able to walk around during low tide.
“Deer Isle is unique,” Finigan declares. “It’s an island comprised of artists, fishermen and summertime residents. The most significant draw for me, on it is its ocean as well as the community. It doesn’t matter if are a fisherman, chef or carpenter anyone living on this island feels a an innate sense of community.”
As dusk set the night, we fell from our home, Thistle, and into the Restaurant. We received a culinary specialty of Aragosta, an all-course dinner at a local restaurant situated in the middle of what appears to be nowhere. However, Aragosta is actually located somewhere, and the feeling of being in a location – ocean, bramble, and rock – is evident throughout each tumbling course. First, local lobster is covered in a smoked egg emulsion and is served alongside a nori-doused scripter. Then, a plethora of other dishes were noted for their sense of terroir as well as appearance.
In the sea rock bed and moss, oysters served with a smear of curry orange and a little dangling carrot; scallops that have pink shells, some lardo, and a second one with a quenelle of oysters. An intermezzo symphony called “ode to summer,” focuses on the produce of farms such as Four Season Farm in Cape Rosier. Hon shimeji mushrooms with a sweet saltiness A salad of mildly bitter greens, ripe tomatoes under crisp breadcrumbs, a few pieces of bread, and butter whipped with caramelized onions in flakes.
The lobster agnolotti, which is topped with a sliver of truffle and small claw, is Finigan’s signature dish; however, my personal favorite was Finigan’s Love Letters to Summer Barbecue: a rare piece of steak served with a drizzle of chimichurri. The word was served over an heirloom tomato in yellow and with a spoonful of cooked corn. Can summer be a saga? It was as if it.
Aragosta might be a benchmark eating experience for Deer Isle and, indeed, in the Peninsula, but it’s not the only place you can find an unforgettable dinner. Actually, Blue Hill Peninsula is in the midst of a major transformation. Blue Hill Peninsula, generally, is having an upswing, though famous writer E.B. White, who lived in Brooklin, Maine, likely could have predicted the region’s direction.
The fair, where Templeton the Rat from “Charlotte’s Web” fame enjoys the tasty treats of many humans, is held every Labor Day Weekend right in Blue Hill, and it was an essential element of our trip to the area.
Visitors to the area during the fall months might miss it; they must not be missing an event that’s been running for 47 years, the Blue Hill Farmers Market that is held every Saturday from September to October and in which children get five tickets for free worth $1 each to spend on fruit and other vegetables. (You do not have to reside within the area to enjoy this offer.) My children picked stunning tomatoes from the heirloom variety and enjoyed them while shopping. Every week, a rotating lineup of food trucks and performers are on display. When we visited, Wild Blueberry Hill Farm and Catering’s truck was selling wild blueberry pie, beef potstickers, pork dumplings, dan Dan noodles Chao So, as well as steamed pork buns available for sale.
The Blue Hill Wine Shop situated just two minutes away from the fairgrounds, I found a carefully curated selection of cheese and picked up only enough Dutch sheep’s milk gouda and French triple-creme delight to quell our cravings. The store also offers olives, cured meats, and pates, as well as a plethora of beers, wine, and bread from the famous Brooksville bakery Tinder Hearth, which is where sourdough and pizza are popular (reservations are essential).
In the war of pizzas, who is the winner? At Fin and Fern, located in Stonington, an enchanting and mostly seasonal enclave right next to Deer Isle, the 12-inch pizzas are a hit. Those who are unable to make reservations at the small Restaurant can choose to order six different varieties of pizza to take home instead. (Worth being aware, I discovered a fantastic lobster roll available in Stonington on Stonington Ice Cream Company. Stonington Ice Cream Company for only $25.)
Stonington is also the home of the 44 North Coffee (another outpost with fewer hours is located in Deer Isle), which offers high-end coffee as well as baked products produced by Milkweed and Monarch Baking Company and biscuits from Tinder Hearth and Tinder Hearth – but before it’s sold out. It was nine a.m. on Sunday morning, and the line had already been formed on the sidewalk. However,r my determined husband waited in line for his coffee, which is made in the cafe on Deer Isle. He declared it was worth the wait, and my children and I were delighted to stroll across the road to Stonington’s model village, which is a recreation of the town that was built under shaded trees.
After that, while strolling through Sedgwick and Sedgwick, we came across Sedgwick’s Makers’ Market, an unusual location for those looking for something tasty to eat. Actually, I visited to search for something else, something to bring home to remind me of the place I was. There was also and a peridot necklace, my birthstone, an ideal souvenir from my weekend. However, the Market has a room devoted to the food created by Maine locals, such as burritos made by El Frijoles located next to the entrance, pizzas cooked with wood from Abraham’s Goat Farm and Creamery as well as the Pugnuts gelato.
The night we left, we drove back to Blue Hill to the Barncastle Hotel + Restaurant, which is a five-guest dining room and one-suite building constructed in 1884 and was recently purchased through Lizzie Szczepaniak and Owen Royce-Nagel. They know several of the nation’s most well-established restaurants (Royce-Nagel worked for Boston’s Jamie Bissonette, and both Royce-Nagel and Szczepaniak have worked for Chicago’s Paul Kahan and Paul Kahan, among other places).
The menu has been updated recently and includes notable dishes like bone marrow topped with beef tongue lardons and tears of crispy Tinder Hearth bread, chicken liver mousse encased in gelatinous riesling, and soft dumplings that blur the lines between bao and gnocchi. They are served in sherry ponzu, topped with spiced peanuts and crispy ginger.
I pictured myself returning to Barncastle on a stormy cool evening, with the old-fashioned fireplaces glowing with hope (“We hope to have one of them operational before winter arrives,” Szczepaniak says of the hotel’s sets). The fog eventually washed over the Peninsula. It’s not on the outskirts of town. The sliver of Maine is a place that is worth a drive to on a stomach full of food.
