Tag Archives: maine restaurants

Maine Cubed: Rockland- The Pearl with The Next Food Network Star Contestant Chef Michele Ragussis

28 Jun

We had read about Michele Ragussis, a contestant on the Next Food Network Star’s current season, was spending her summer as the chef of The Pearl in Rockland, ME. (Randomly, we wound up here for a beer before our dinner at Primo 2 years ago).

I think they updated it since then, but it is still a very picturesque location out on the water. No matter what angle, every photo of it looks like a postcard.

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We started with our customary raw oysters. These were great and nice and fresh. (And you can’t beat $1 oysters!)

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Mike then tried the Lobster with Lemon Cream over linguini. I was worried this would be too lemony or too creamy, but instead it was a perfect balance of both.  Very nice dish.

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I got the special fish of the day, which was a red snapper with a peach saffron sauce and a potato cake.  The fish had a slight crisp and the sauce was sweet and a perfect compliment. The potato cake was like a giant, gourmet tater tot with perfect seasoning.  Comfort food but more refined.  And that sauce… oh that sauce. I asked the waitress to explain the sauce to me, and she said that she could just go get the chef… Well ALRIGHT! 

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Chef Ragussis came by a bit later and was more than happy to talk to us.  She was beyond welcoming, friendly, and genuinely excited to be there.  She told me that the sauce was actually made with peaches that she just received from Martie Duncan, another contestant on the show.  And let me tell you, they were special peaches!

We talked to Chef Ragussis about the show and why she decided to go to Maine. Turns out she knew the owner from a previous job and was excited to spend a summer in Maine before the results of the show.  The restaurant gave her the flexibility to return to the show when she’s needed. This season has a twist, where audience vote will decide the winner for the first time.  

As we were leaving, Chef invited us back the following night when they would be screening the show live and doing a tasting.  We were planning on heading out of town directly after a sunset schooner cruise that night from Camden, but we had to pass Rockland anyway, so we said “what the hell!” How often do you get the chance to watch a show with a contestant and sample their food?

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The secret ingredient on the show that night was chicken liver, so we got a chance to sample the version she made on crostini.

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And eat her clam chowder.  This clam chowder was quintessentially New England. Big chunks of clam and great flavor and texture.

We then had the Pearl Stuffies which were clamsstuffed with Michele’s private recipe. I talked with Chef Michele for a bit about whether they had peppers, and she said they did but just a little bit. I asked her if they were worth having an itchy mouth for, and she said yes, they were. So I tried it. It was very good but my mouth was VERY itchy.

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We ended with a brownie that had homemade whipped cream and butterscotch sauce on top. Turns out, Michele only made the cream and sauce, which is funny since I liked both of those but didn’t think the brownie was anything special.

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We had a lot of fun talking with Chef Ragussis and then watching the show. The food was really great, and that peach sauce will be a thing of my dreams for years to come.  The bites during the screening weren’t as good as the meal the night before, but it was fun to be able to sample what was being cooked on the screen. I know I have thought to myself about a million times that I wish we had taste-o-vision. Well this was as close as you can get!

I was entirely impressed with how much she interacted with the customers, answered questions, and was generally just a cool person to hang around with.

She has my vote!

As does The Pearl.

Total Nom Points: 7.5 out of 10

Total Nom Points: Total Nom Points: 7.5 out of 10

Maine Cubed: Portland- Pomegranate Inn

26 Jun

 When we were in Portland, we decided to stay at a quaint, quirky Bed & Breakfast called the Pomegranate Inn.  The Inn itself was like being in a very eclectic museum.  Our room was the “small” room but it was plenty large enough, with a beautiful design, super comfy bed, and lovely bath. Perhaps it’s because we’re New Yorkers who are used to small size, but I was surprised that this room would ever be considered small. We loved it! Here are some pictures of the inn itself.

In the morning, we went downstairs for breakfast in the lovely dining room.  Our hosts greeted us and we grabbed some coffee and checked out the menu for the morning while our food was prepared.

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The port wine poached pear was awesome. And the blue cheese could not have gone better with it.

But then the cheese blintz souffle came out… HOLY COW.  This was as delicious as it was beautiful, if not more so.  The bacon was crisp (the way I like it) and it had absolutely delicious peaches.  The souffle itself was a cross between a fluffy pancake in texture and a blintz in flavor.  Sensational.

This dish was so inspired that I actually wound up buying the innkeepers cookbook, The Art of Breakfast. If you love beautiful works of art for breakfast, this cookbook is great.


We absolutely loved our stay and wished we could have stayed longer.  I highly recommend this B&B to anyone staying in Portland, ME.

Maine Cubed: Portland- Petite Jacqueline, Beal’s Ice Cream, and Shipyard Brewery

26 Jun

Mike and I embarked on a long weekend to Maine just this past weekend. It wound up being the most perfect trip, made even more perfect by the fact that we got engaged!  I am on my way to being Mrs. Nom Nom.

This is now the third trip I have blogged about on NYCNomNom, including Mike and my first trip together 2 years ago, and my family trip that took place 2 years ago but just made it to the blog recently.

I found an amazing JetBlue deal of $75 off our tickets (thanks to a post from DealsWeLike), which brought our round-trip tickets to less than $70 each. SCORE! It meant planning an extra trip in a time of year FILLED with trips (I just got back from LA, we will be going to Ithaca next week for a cousin’s Bar Mitzvah, and then we’re embarking on a huge trip for 2 weeks to Italy, Switzerland, and France next month). We flew into Portland, where we spent a day, before going to Midcoast Maine and then spent 2 days in the Boothbay Harbor area.

One thing I love about Portland, Maine is that you can land and be in town in less than 30 minutes. So even though we landed at 6:45, we had time to check-in, walk around town, and spend a half hour during free Fridays at the Portland Museum of Art, before our 8:30 reservation at  Petite Jacqueline.  I had read about Petite Jacqueline because it was a semifinalist for the James Beard award in 2012 for Best New Restaurant.

Inside it is a cute bistro style restaurant and there is some outdoor seating in a patio.

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They also have a bar.

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And a direct view into the kitchen.

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We started with oysters.  These were good, but I wouldn’t say they were outstanding.

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But then we had the foie gras. This had candied hazelnuts and a chestnut puree.  HELLO!  It was probably the best foie I’ve had. Perfectly seared, fatty but without being greasy, and all the right flavors to go along with it.

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Mike chose to go with the daily special (it was Friday): Choucroute Garnie.  This was a french sauerkraut with a pork sausage and a crispy porky potatoey thing (perhaps a croquette?) Whatever it was, it was all very good.  It came with mustard in many ways, but even I, a mustard hater, enjoyed the dish very much.

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I got the Boeuf Bourguignon (which will always remind me of Julia Child). I’m a big fan of any slow cooked pot roast style meat, so this was right up my alley. The meat was cooked perfectly, the sauce was great, and the potatoes tasted so damn potatoey that I squealed.

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Overall, I understand why this restaurant got a James Beard nod.  Their food is very French without being the slightest bit pretentious. We really enjoyed our meal here.

Total Nom Points: 7.5 out of 10

Total Nom Points: 7.5 out of 10

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It was a tough call to not have dessert at Petite Jacqueline, but we knew this was our only night in Portland, so we made a beeline back to our favorite ice cream parlor: Beals. We literally made it just as they were locking the door. Phew!

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They have a large selection of flavors.

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Mike went with Rum Raisin and Moose Trail.

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I chose Moose Trail and something with chocolate covered pretzels and caramel.

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We enjoyed it as much as the first time!

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The next day we walked around Portland and then went to Shipyard Brewery for their video tour and tasting.  They only do full brewery tours on Tuesdays, but every other day they have a video tour where they tell you about the history of the brewery as well as their part in bottling and distributing of many other local brews.  They have all the beers they have manufactured on a wall beside the viewing room.  The video was interesting and short (which was good, we’ve done a lot of brewery tours and they start to feel very similar after a while). The best part of this tour was the tasting. We got to taste about 10 beers and had our choice of a few to taste, so Mike and I would choose different ones and try each others. We probably sampled about 15 brews by the end.  And let me tell you, they make some GOOD BEER. But we fell in love with the Applehead Ale, which tasted like apple pie. Trust me on this one. I just hope they start distributing it down here in NYC!

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Gosh I love Portland.