North America Dispatch #50: Midcoast Maine in Pain (and Big Score in Damariscotta)
Lincoln County, Maine
Heading northward, I stopped at the legendary Red’s Eats (Main and Water streets, Wiscasset, Maine; 207-882-6128). They’re a landmark for lobster rolls, though opinion seems extraordinarily divided. A sizable number of Mainers seem to feel that Red’s makes an undistinguished lobster roll that’s been highly overrated by clueless tourists.
The photo below shows Red’s laughably tiny size, but also the supremacy of its location, location, location. This tiny shack occupies the central visual field of all drivers headed over the Sheepscot River bridge on Route 1 (you can just barely see the on-ramp in the photo)—which is to say: all coastal traffic headed northward.
I tried a lobster roll, and I don’t fathom the controversy. I can’t find a thing to complain about, and frankly can’t imagine any reason why anyone would ever want any other lobster roll. The Red’s lobster roll amounts to this: huge unbroken chunks of lobster meat expertly picked out of the shell, cooked to a T, sweet as can be, on carefully grilled bread. Nothing else. That’s it. If you don’t like this, you just don’t like lobster.
This is what it’s like to eat a perfect lobster (actually, it’s two lobsters’ worth of meat) whose shell has magically vanished. It is the epitome of everything crustacean:
The sole downside is that the unfamiliar ease of confronting two buck-naked lobsters tempts one into taking huge bites, which require mighty chewing. This can lead to the false impression that the lobster isn’t optimally tender. It is. You’re just wolfing down larger morsels than nature had intended.
Red’s “homemade” lemonade, however, is a sham. It tastes like lemon Tang. I don’t hear Mainers complaining about this.
Right after lunch, I had a slightly heated phone conversation with Maine native Pat Hammond over the propriety of Red’s lobster rolls. Listen in on this podcast: MP3.
A gaggle of restaurants and shops cluster around Red’s, hoping to glom tourism juju. Across the street, Sarah’s (US Route 1, Wiscasset, Maine; 207-882-7504) makes really good home-baked-tasting peanut butter cookies:
They pass the paper bag test:
+ + +
Later, I trekked way out of my way to Shaw’s Fish and Lobster Wharf (129 State Route 32, Pemaquid Peninsula, Maine; 207-677-2200), hearing there was great food and a fun bar with cool bartenders, but things were shutting down for winter, and only the dull upstairs cafeteria was open.
But I enjoyed walking around the pier and taking moody photos. While it was still quite warm, I could feel the season about to change.
I couldn’t possibly eat another lobster roll, though I’ve heard Shaw’s are good, so I opted instead for lobster stew, which was subtle and pristine.
The stew was chock full of tasty lobster chunks. But I feel spoiled by Red’s, which left me with the staunch conviction that there’s nothing one can do to lobster to make it better than just plain lobster. Hey, I sound like a New Englander!
+ + +
I was hoping to have dinner at the remote Anchor Inn (Anchor Inn Road, Round Pond, Maine; 207-529-5584)—or at least a dinnerish gesture, given that I’m extremely full, having scarfed the entire lobster roll at Red’s earlier today. I’m starting to worry about myself; I’ve been losing my food-writer discipline and consuming more than my usual mere bite or two. This has landed me near the pain point, and that’s not a good place to be.
I’d heard Anchor Inn is idyllic and serves great desserts, but they were closed for the season, so I headed to the Damariscotta River Grill (155 Main Street, Damariscotta, Maine; 207-563-2992), owned by the same people. This place is situated closer to civilization, in the charming town of Damariscotta, and it’s open year-round.
What a sweet, no-nonsense, romantic restaurant! I realize those adjectives don’t really go together, but I’ve never seen a place like this before. Well, that’s not true. Canyon Grill, from report #25, was similar. The vibe is upscale but not pretentious. You don’t feel your status buttons eagerly pushed to assure you that you’re getting value for the premium charged. Prices are justified by quality and care rather than smoke and mirrors.
And they’re not trying to offer a taste of big-city restaurant glamour to the provinces. Just as Canyon Grill is a world-class restaurant that firmly belongs on that mountain in Georgia, so does the Damariscotta River Grill fit the picture here in salty Damariscotta. But it’s really elegant and really good.
I was forced to conclude this from mere dribs and drabs. Determined to experience the restaurant without actually eating anything of substance, I ordered a half-dozen raw oysters, a glass of apple cider, and bread pudding. But I was able to coast a little, thanks to a revelational bread basket.
What on earth was that sophisticated, amazing bread basket doing out here in the boonies? It included apparently housemade breadsticks and great fluffy Italian peasant bread (some of the best I’ve ever had … soft but chewy, with beautifully crunchy crust), and came with top-drawer olive oil for dipping. I’ve rarely seen this level of quality in top Manhattan spots!
The cider wasn’t just great and fresh; it was interesting. Someone had shown artistry in blending the apple varieties.
The oysters—local Pemaquids—were sublime. Even the best oyster bars in big cities are only an echo of oysters such as these: I wanted to sing to my mollusks, pet them, thank them for what they did for me:
Bread pudding was stately and thoughtful without being presumptuous or precious. It wasn’t just slammingly delicious. It had class.
Perfect oysters, perfect dessert, perfect bread, perfect breadsticks, perfect olive oil, perfect ambiance, perfect service (friendly, genuine, professional). Oh, how I wish I could have eaten a full meal here. I’ll return first chance I get.
It was late by the time I got to Moody’s Diner (Route 1, Waldoboro, Maine; 207-832-7785), and I thought I’d down a bite or two of their famed walnut pie. I finished most of the (wondrous) slice …
... and then worked myself into a lather out in the parking lot. Brace yourself for a delirious meltdown of a podcast: MP3.
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My apologies to Red's. That most certainly is a split-top hot dog bun, instead of the slice of bread that you described to me. Looks like you had the granddaddy of all lobster ROLLS.
Pat Hammond Jan 18, 2007 11:38AM
No, it was bread!
Jim Leff Jan 18, 2007 05:05PM
That looks like a classic Pepperidge Farm split top roll to me. And those rolls look and taste just like white bread, so perhaps that's the confusion here. If it was just a folded piece of bread, A) it wouldn't sit flat, and this sits nicely flat; B) It would tend to rip at the fold- they're not going to put all that lobster in a piece of bread that will fall apart the second you try to pick it up and eat it.
Sorry Jim. But I think you're wrong.
Chris VR Jan 18, 2007 08:20PM
Jim and Pat, you two can argue over the authenticity of that puppy all you want, but from what I see in that picture, you can just ship it out here, I'll gladly eat it all and call it what ever anyone wants to.
ChinoWayne Jan 19, 2007 05:22PM
I feel the same way. It's great fresh sweet lobster. All the attention to the vehicle (either way) is unseemly (per my argument with Pat in the podcast linked above). The Buddha said that one must discard the raft once one crosses the river.
Jim Leff Jan 19, 2007 09:41PM
Jim, they are tallish, split top New England style rolls. Because of its height, it looks more like two slices of white bread rather than a squatter, hot dog bun.
You can see the end view of the roll pretty clearly in my blog: http://professorsalt.com/2005/08/10/w...
Red's was my favorite lobster roll during my own tour of Maine: plain chilled lobster meat. In my case, I drizzled it w/ a little butter and celery salt, and it was perfection on a bun. Bliss.
Professor Salt Jan 19, 2007 11:23PM
"that is an open faced...lobster...thing."
Sorry, that debate was the most exhiliratingly silly fun thing ever. And given your picture, Alpha Hound, I have to agree with the others: I think Pat's right. It looks like a roll to me.
rose water Jan 20, 2007 09:55PM
""you gotta have a roll to be a lobster roll"
That's classic. Pat, you crack me up.
Chris VR Jan 20, 2007 10:08PM
Ok, to sum up:
Maybe I was wrong re: bread/roll (a bush league food writing error, but, given the grueling extent of this tour, surely not the only one). So Pat's rant against the place may not to have been called for (and it's entirely my fault).
BUT.....
I maintain my point that it just doesn't really matter. C'mon...look at that lobster! Who cares what vestigial bread product is set beneath?
Jim Leff Jan 20, 2007 10:28PM
I've already apologized to Red's. It was fun going back and forth with you. I'll have to try Red's but I'd bring along a few people to help me eat that lobster roll.
Pat Hammond Jan 22, 2007 04:21PM
Its not about whether or not Reds serves a good Lobster Roll. Red's does not serve a Lobster Roll. Reds serves prepicked lobster sitting on a roll. A Maine lobster roll must indeed include a large ammount of impeccably fresh, perfectly cooked lobster meat, but it has to be chopped into large chuncks, lightly dressed in mayonaise, and then served on a toasted hot dog bun. If you want steamed lobster, be a man and eat it the proper way,'ie cracked yourself, unless you are not physically capable of doing so. If you want a lobster roll, eat a real lobster roll. Ideally at the Islesford Dock Restaraunt on Little Cranberry Island, Maine, near Acadia National Park. They have New Englands best Clam Chowder, and freshest Lobster.
gastrognome Jan 24, 2007 10:57AM
jim, fyi the damariscotta river grill is on main street, damariscotta; not nobleboro. glad you enjoyed your maine coast trip.
HDinCentralME Jan 26, 2007 07:57PM
I am v. confused. Is your trip in real time? I lived in Rockport. ME for some years and Red's is usually: a) closed this time of year and b)not shaded by a leafy tree (branches perhaps) in January, even such a warm one as this. Looking across the Sheepscot it looks like autumn. Perhaps I've lost MY sense of time and season here in VT. Do agree about Damariscotta River Grill - really wonderful from all perspectives
gwatts Jan 29, 2007 03:07PM
Thanks, HDinCentralME, we've corrected.
gwatts, it's not you...there's a substantial time delay!
Jim Leff Jan 31, 2007 01:37AM
"Hey, I sound like a New Englander!"
- Not in this lifetime!
Gastrognome's comments are spot-on.
What You sound like is a Nu Yawk, shallow-end-of-the-pool diver.
Harp00n Jan 31, 2007 02:02AM
I believe the phrase is actually "Nu Yawk Joo".
Jim Leff Feb 01, 2007 02:44AM
Since I don't think about ethnicity when CHing, other than in terms of cuisine, you've entered a Red Herring in to the discourse that wasn't intended.
My Nu Yawk Bronx cousins would be astonished to discover that Ireland & Italy are the long last tribes.
Harp00n Feb 01, 2007 12:05PM
Loved your description of Red's. And glad you made it to Shaw's. I used to live in Boston and frequently visited my aunt who lived on Pemaquid Point. I drove by Red's all the time, but never went there. This was in the pre-CH era for me. I would camp out in my tent on her lawn, watch the lobster boat come by in the morning. We would have a lobster bake the first night, then lobster salad rolls (with mayo, celery and salt) for the next few days. A spoilt boy was I!
billyboy Dec 07, 2007 12:51AM
That is 100% definintely a split top roll, how can you argue with a photograph?
aynne35 Jan 03, 2008 03:08PM
Easy! Eat in 11 or so restaurants and pound out essays with photos, audio, and video every day for two months straight while driving 8000 miles, tasked with finding treasure (or at least a good story) each and every day, alone on the road, usually without human companionship. You'll be arguing with fire hydrants and imaginary pixies, let alone photos!
Jim Leff Feb 04, 2008 10:48PM