From Farm to Table

The Blue Hill peninsula has been needing a Table. Rich and Cary Hanson’s wildly successful first restaurant Cleonice is extraordinarily good, but its location in Ellsworth makes it something of a trek from any of the seven towns south and west of Blue Hill. When the wonderful old space that was originally a forge (and subsequently several restaurants) became available in downtown Blue Hill last spring, Rich, Cary, and a third partner Kate Holden, found the opportunity to create Table, a farmhouse bistro, irresistible. “I love bistro-style food,” says Rich, “and here I’m interested in finding the nexus between available ingredients, old-style Maine food, and country French dishes.”
 
Hanson articulates the broader philosophy behind the restaurant. “Communities in Maine, including Blue Hill, are not alienated from the source of their food, and that provides a rich vein of mutual sustenance. Neighbors, fishermen, farmers, and appreciative consumers walk together in these towns, working side by side and eating together. I think of food as the underpinning of the community.” A permanent fireside table for twelve is the centerpiece of the restaurant’s lower level and the custom-made granite slab has a potent symbolic quality, inviting anyone who wishes to sit down and share with others in the community.
 
Hanson, twice nominated by the James Beard Foundation for Best Chef in the Northeast, is executive chef, and Jeff Kelly is the chef de cuisine. As at Cleonice, Table strongly supports Maine fishermen, organic growers, farmers, and food producers, “not just because it helps sustain community,” says Rich, “but because the food tastes better.” The Hansons’ Bucksport farm, Artisana, supplies charcuterie from their own pigs and heirloom vegetables such as shell beans and specialty greens, but they also gather products from all over the state, including much from the Crown O’ Maine Organic Cooperative.
 
Table has two separate but overlapping menus. Upstairs in the lounge and cocktail bar, the menu lists lighter, more casual bistro fare. A Maine cheddar imparts its pleasantly sharp edge to Aroostook County Buggywhip Cheddar Cheese Puffs, the sweet flavor of Gulf of Maine haddock infuses a light and creamy (if somewhat erratically seasoned) Maine fish chowder, and a tangy house-made dressing on their farmhouse salad is based on buttermilk from the Smith Family Farm on Mount Desert Island. Every day the kitchen creates a different pâté, terrine, or galantine that is accompanied by homemade crackers and house-pickled vegetables. Two examples include the wonderful salty and peppery smoked mackerel pâté and a divinely unctuous and earthy terrine of chicken livers with capers. One especially delectable entrée is Table’s fish and chips, an “inside out” version in which strips of local haddock are dipped first in light beer batter and then in crumbs and fried to an unusually crispy crust. This plate arrives with hand-cut fries, house-made tartar sauce, and cider vinegar. Other bistro main courses include a grilled flat-iron steak with Longfellow Farm “camdenzola” cheese and sautéed greens, and Table’s extravagantly rich signature baked macaroni and cheese, served plain or with the meat of a whole lobster.

 
Downstairs the dinner menu comprises more ambitious dishes. An Acadian jambalaya is a deconstructed version of the classic Cajun rice dish, replete with Artisana’s smoked pork tenderloin and the farm’s own peppery Tasso ham, finished with three raw local Salt Pond oysters. Blue Hill’s Old Ackley Farm supplies chickens for stuffing and ducks that get seared, glazed with a reduction of local mead, and served with confit and potatoes roasted in the duck fat. For a Maine cassoulet, Aroostook County dried beans are simmered with fresh and smoked meats and garlic, and the dish is presented under a mantle of herb breadcrumbs. Sweet Blue Hill Bay mussels are steamed Belgian-style in Bartlett’s Coastal White wine with leeks, Raye’s Dijon
mustard, and a touch of cream.
 
Desserts, too, follow the seasons, and in fall and winter feature late peaches, apples, and cranberries baked into buttery tarts, crumbles, and crisps. Real old-fashioned Indian pudding made with local cornmeal and sweetened with maple and molasses harkens back to our shared New England past, and a sweet yolk-rich crème brûlée uses Artisana’s own eggs. Something chocolately, such as a flourless chocolate cake, is almost always on the dessert card, along with Table’s stellar fruit-topped cheesecake, the filling a perfectly balanced concoction of sweet, creamy, light, rich, and tart.
 
The wine list includes a good selection of (somewhat pricey) labels but there is always a reasonably priced featured wine available by the glass or bottle.
 
The venue for the Hansons’ popular wine dinners featuring five food courses paired with carefully chosen wines will change from Cleonice to Table this fall and winter. These dinners will no doubt prove an irresistible draw, and I’m picturing lots of convivial gatherings around the tables at Table.
 
Table, a Farmhouse Bistro, 66 Main Street, Blue Hill. 207-374-5677. www.farmkitchentable.com [3]. Open every day except Monday for lunch and dinner. Main courses $24–$36, appetizers $6–$12, small plates $6–$20.