LTHForum Travelogue: Eight days in coastal New England

LTHForum Travelogue: Eight days in coastal New England

Among LTHForum members this may be one of the most discussed areas outside of Chicago and one of the popular culinary vacation spots, and with good reason. Partially inspired by existing threads*, petit pois and I enjoyed a slow road trip, eating our way from the central coast of Maine to Providence, RI.

The best way to start of a vacation of this type is head-first. Jump right into the lobster rolls, chowder, and fried clams. Ignore the rain.

Harraseeket Lunch & Lobster
Freeport, Maine



The first lobster roll we enjoyed turned out to be the best of the trip (along with the terrific harbor view. Sweet, tender lobster meat with just a kiss of mayo). The chowder was annoyingly clam-free, but we pressed on.


Red's Eats
Wiscasset, Maine



Red's hit a home run with their unbelieveably delicious fried clams: big plump and flavorful. I could not get enough of these. Red's lobster roll is huge and uniquely without mayo (and with a cup of drawn butter instead). This is a nice helping of good lobster meat, but I much prefer the rolls with mayo to butter.


Primo Restaurant
Rockland, Maine

Primo is the reason we came to Rockland. They are known for local, fresh, seasonal produce, much of which they cultivate themselves in their farm, pig sty, and apiary. We have no good photos of the meal. It was quite good, mainly due to their extraordinarily fresh herbs and produce. I enjoyed a roasted bone marrow appetizer with beet horseradish, gremolada, and onion jam, served atop a parsley salad. Overall I found that they suffered from portions that were too large and cumbersome on the plate. Nevertheless, it is a restaurant I would like to explore further, given the chance. I can tell that no two meals are quite the same there.

Fat Boy Drive-In
Brunswick, Maine

You've got to love the menu at this drive-in.



This visit was made soely for their famous BLT and onion rings. The BLT is served on a hamburger bun and made with Canadian bacon. It's a great sandwich served with perfect onion rings. Food like this tastes better when it's hanging from the window of your car:



Flatbread Pizza Company
Portland, Maine

petit pois was hit with an unpleasant cold upon our arrival in Portland. Most Portland restaurants seemed to be closed on a Sunday night, so we wound up at what seemed like a tourist-y pizza place. It turned out to be a halfway decent place with good pizza and a nice atmosphere. They carry a pretty strong community-centered "message" throughout the place, whcih is quite nice. Even though it's located in what seems like Portland's Navy Pier, you get the feeling that you're in a place that cares about what they're cooking and who they're cooking it for. Portlanders (is that right?) seem to appreciate them in return.

The pizzas are wood-fired in this pretty cool oven in the middle of the room. This guy was working his tail off all night:



The Lobster Shack
Cape Elizabeth, Maine

This is an ideal setting for a lobster shack, right on the water with a view of two lighthouses . I had my first fried haddock (crisp, flaky, delicious) and the most neutral lobster roll of the trip (with an odd blob of mayo on it.



Fore Street
Portland, Maine

This restaurant was the biggest motivating factor for me to visit New England. I have heard claims that Fore Street ain't what it used to be. If this is the case, I can't imagine how good it used to be, because I was blown away. I first became aware of this restaurant on Chefs a'Field when I heard the chef talk about how he personally knows every farmer that grows his produce or produces his meat.

I am a fool for not bringing my camera, because the interior of this restaurant is stunning. The kitchen exists completely within the center of the main room, taking the concept of "open kitchen" to a completely new level. The cooks are approachable, answering questions while preparing dishes. The produce storage area is visible through glass right next to the hostess stand. This place puts the focus on the ingredients and the most direct, appropriate preparation of them.

I was blown away by the local river oysters that I started with. This was one of those eye-opening moments where you thought you knew what a good example of something was, but you taste something that shows you how wrong you were. We also enjoyed a wood fired tomato tart which was excellent.

My main course was a perfect venison steak and I ended with a wonderful trio of local cheeses.

I could write a lot more about my impressions of this meal and this restaurant. I will return to Portland to eat here again. There is nothing on their menu I didn't want to taste.

Flo's Steamed Hot Dogs
Cape Neddick, Maine

Flo's is one of those tiny little shacks that does one thing well and becomes a national darling of foodie media. Saveur, The Splendid Table, Epicurious, and others have lauded Flo's hot dogs.

This is a cheap dog, served on a cheap, fluffy white bread bun. There is nothing special here. The magic is in their tangy-sweet "relish", a dark chunky sauce that's served on the dog with a little mayo.



I could take it or leave it, but I can see the appeal.

Woodman's of Essex
Essex, MA
The Clam Shack in Ipswich is closed on Tuesdays, so we wound up at our backup, Woodman's, who claims to have invented the fried clam. I'm not sure if you can claim that deep-frying an animal is an "invention", but I'll go with it. These were good clams, very flavorful, and they went well with some Sam Adams Oktoberfest beer.



Modern Pastry
Boston, MA



Much has been said about Mike's Pastry in Boston's North End. But I was drawn to Modern's delicious filled-to-order cannoli and perfect sfogliatella.



Emma's Pizza
Cambridge, MA



Emma's is a simple place near MIT that makes ultra-thin pizza in a gas oven. Their unique topping choices and the overall feel of the place made me very skeptical. There's a long wait to sit in their tiny dining room. I was given plenty of time to take a look at their ample wall of awards including many of which proclaimed them to serve the best pizza in the Boston area.

We decided to give ourselves over to Emma's menu, ordering a pizza that had an odd combination of toppings: yukon gold potatoes, bacon, cliantro, and dried cranberries. I enjoyed this pie much more than I thought I would, in spite of it's somewhat neutral crust. Emma's is a very good place and is worth a visit if you're in Cambridge, but I'd be shocked if there's not better pizza in Boston.



Toscanini's Ice Cream
Cambridge, MA



It's a short walk from Emma's to Toscanini's Ice Cream, which the NY Times labeled "the world's best ice cream", and I don't think they're that far off. It was among the best ice cream I've ever had. Our flavor chocies were prune & armangac, orange-chocolate, and butter chip. Each flavor was perfectly-balanced, especially the orange chocolate which was an excellent chocolate ice cream with a hint of bitter orange at the end. I was impressed by the flavor selection which was unique without being odd. Even flavors like prune & armangnac may sound "weird" at first, but are grounded in classic flavors (how far is it from rum raisin?). The ice cream texture is nothing short of perfect. If I lived anywhere near here, I would eat this stuff constantly.



The Daily Catch
Boston, MA

It's a tiny storefront in the North End. The kitchen takes up half of the room. The bathroom is across the street. The wine is served in plastic cups and many of the dishes are served in the skillet that they're cooked in. Also, it's one of the best meals I had on this trip. They serve a delicious fried calamari and a perfect linguine in white clam sauce. A triumph of quality ingredients and simple, careful preparation.



One last seafood shack...

Flo's Clam Shack
Middletown, RI

Another good one. No lobster this time, but some very good fried scallops (pictured below) and fried clams.



This is a pretty accurate snapshot of the culinary highlights of our trip. I hope you enjoyed it. We sure did.

Full photoset here (87 pics)

Best,
Michael

*stevez's and nr706's trips
*Seth Zurer's trip
*sdritz in Ipswitch -- Clam box was closed when we arrived.

and many, many other New England threads.

Addresses:
Harraseeket Lunch & Lobster
Freeport Wharf (Town Landing)
Freeport, ME
207-865-3535

Red's Eats
Main & Water St.
Wiscasset, Maine
207-882-6128

Primo Restaurant
2 S Main St
Rockland, ME
(207) 596-0770
http://www.primorestaurant.com/

Fat Boy Drive-In
111 Bath Rd, Brunswick, ME
(207) 729-9431
Brunswick, Maine

Flatbread Pizza Company
Multiple Locations
http://www.flatbreadcompany.com/

The Lobster Shack
225 Two Lights Rd
Cape Elizabeth, ME
(207) 799-1677
http://lobstershack-twolights.com/

Fore Street
288 Fore St
Portland, ME
(207) 775-2717
http://www.forestreet.biz

Flo's Steamed Hot Dogs
1359 Route 1
Cape Neddick, ME
http://www.floshotdogs.com/

Woodman's of Essex
121 Main St.
Essex, MA
(978) 768-6057
http://www.woodmans.com/

Modern Pastry
257 Hanover St
Boston, MA 02113
(617) 523-3783
www.modernpastry.com

Emma's Pizza
40 Hampshire St
Cambridge, MA
(617) 864-8534
www.emmaspizza.com

Toscanini's Ice Cream
Two locations in Cambridge, MA
http://www.tosci.com/

The Daily Catch
323 Hanover St
Boston, 02113
(617) 523-8567
A couple other locations too
http://www.dailycatch.com/

Flo's Clam Shack
4 Wave Ave
Middletown, RI
(401) 847-8141

What a great report! I'm sure we will hit a few of these spots on our next trip to the East Coast. Since my brother lives in Boston, we go fairly regularly.

I'm bummed that you missed out on the Clam Box of Ipswich, but delighted that you enjoyed Flo's in Rhode Island -- we went there a few times when we were in the area for my cousin's wedding in Newport about six years ago. I only had the clams, but I still remember how good they were.

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us!

Suzy

I enjoyed it very much...thanks for posting. Of all the wonderful things shown and described, I am especially struck by how fresh and delicious the cream filling for the cannoli appears.

sdritz wrote:'I'm bummed that you missed out on the Clam Box of Ipswich"

Me too. Although I think I ate about 4 pints of fried clams on this trip and I enjoyed every single one.

Aaron Deacon wrote:I enjoyed it very much...thanks for posting. Of all the wonderful things shown and described, I am especially struck by how fresh and delicious the cream filling for the cannoli appears.

That about describes it: fresh and delicious and filled to order. (That's sweetened ricotta filling. They had a cream filling too but we went with the cheese).

eatchicago wrote:Woodman's of Essex
Essex, MA

This just about brought tears to my eyes. (Good thing I'm headed that way in December, or the longing just might kill me.) Thanks for the great report.

Kristen

Thanks for a a great post Mike. Mary and I are considering a cruise out of Boston next summer. I will try to incorporate a couple of these places if at all possible into the pre or post cruise segment or a shore excursion.

Thanks for the kudos, everyone.

Be sure to look at some of the other posts I linked to as well as other discussions. We only scratched the surface.

Best,
Michael

Hey, Flatbread Pizza Co. is a lot better than "halfway pretty semi-decently acceptable" or whatever you said.

It's John Mariani's 11th best pizza in America! Seriously, despite my general distaste for hippiedom in restaurant decor, it's a very good Panissian local-produce organic bricks pizza place. Glad it was your what-the-hell-let's-go-here choice.

Mike G wrote:Hey, Flatbread Pizza Co. is a lot better than "halfway pretty semi-decently acceptable" or whatever you said.

It's John Mariani's 11th best pizza in America! Seriously, despite my general distaste for hippiedom in restaurant decor, it's a very good Panissian local-produce organic bricks pizza place. Glad it was your what-the-hell-let's-go-here choice.

For some reason, the hippiedom worked in this place. In an odd way, it seemed genuine and familial.

I've had better pizza, and I've had much, much worse. Overall, Portland didn't wow me like I expected it to, and I feel like the only reason I'd return is for another dinner or two at Fore Street.

I have major vacation envy! What a fun trip to vicariously experience.

And I have to tell you -- I can't remember the last time I had a decent fried clam and those were just the most beautiful things I've seen in a long time. My lips are just smacking to taste them.

I have got to get my self out to the east ....

Thanks for the look into your fun!

shannon

Michael! Wow! Your photoset sure brought back memories! My boyfriend and I visited coastal Maine in June 2005. It's too bad you didn't get up to Bar Harbor, where I had by far the most frightening culinary experience of my life: lobster ice cream. Think frozen chunks of buttered lobster in a buttery vanilla base. *shudder* A year and half later and it still haunts me.

But I loved your photos of Flo's! It is a favorite of mine, since it is just down the street from one of my favorite beaches in New England: Third Beach in Middletown.
This is me at Flo's as well!:


I can remember eating almost my weight in fried clams and chowder and then having to wear a bikini to sit on the beach. Eeek!

Thanks for bringing back some fond memories!

Sharona

Oh, boy. Red's is fantastic. I wish it weren't 3 hours from Boston!

Emma's--good pizza, though the place leaves me feeling a bit, well, I don't know, actually. Perhaps the hype is so out of control that I expect too much from the place.

Woodman's in Essex is certainly a classic clam shack, isn't it? I like the Lobster Pool in Gloucester a little better (they have MUCH better views and the food is at least as good), but you can't go wrong with either.

My parents live in Cape Elizabeth, site of the Lobster Shack you pictured, a stone's throw from Portland proper.
The Lobster Shack is a nice place to bike to, though eating there has always been a lesson in much patience with little reward. Always a big line, never really a true reason to wait in it.
I'm glad you enjoyed Fore Street--like many restaurants in Maine, they have a greater than expected focus on meats (probably because most of Maine is inland and has great sources of meat), all done on that lovely wood-burning spit-roast they have going on there.

If you ever do find yourself back in Portland--the by-far BEST haddock sandwich is at J's Oyster House, close to Union Pier. They lightly bread it, but then it is grilled, not fried, and it's just out of this world.

thanks for the great pics,
parker