Pentagoet Inn

Maine Environmental Research Institute – Ocean Video Series: March 5, "Tiger Shark: Predator Revealed"

Infamous for its unmistakable stripes and voracious appetite, the tiger shark is one of the most ferocious sharks in the sea. Now, get a closer-than-ever look at this fearsome, yet fascinating predator.

 

Ocean Video Night is part of MERI’s 20th anniversary celebration and its campaign to save the world’s most crucial natural resource – the living ocean – while there is still time.  Each film will run approximately one hour. Popcorn and beverages are provided.  A suggested $3 donation per person will help cover costs.  For more information, please contact MERI’s Education Department at 374-2135 or www.meriresearch.org.

 

Warm Apple Cider on a Cool Autumn Day from the Pentagoet Inn

 
On Sunday, October 18th, the Pentagoet Inn kept Blue Hill Wine and Food festival patrons warm with hot apple cider from Sewell's Organic Orchard in Lincolnville, Maine.  Rounding out the apple theme from the Pentagoet were apple-cranberry turnovers and applesauce all made with Jonagold and Priscilla apples from Sewell's Orchard.  The festival goers were treated with food from El El Frijoles, Black Dinah Chocolates, Brooklin Inn, Table, Blue Hill Hearth, and many others.  Another great event this year celebrating our local food producers.

Fall Foliage Festival October 15-18

Join the Pentagoet and the Blue Hill Chamber of Commerce for a weekend of fall foliage and great food.

Join the Blue Hill Peninsula Chamber of Commerce October 15-18, 2009 for an exciting weekend of superb food and drink and enjoy the delicious creations of the award-winning chefs and food producers for which we are famous. Experience the quality of our dynamic food culture with a four-day celebration including farmers’ markets, workshops, wine dinners, wine and cheese tastings, a sparkling wine luncheon, and much more. Wrap up your experience on Sunday, October 18th with a visit to our flagship event “A Taste of the Peninsula”, a showcase tasting event featuring over 40 food vendors, wine purveyors, live music, and local artists. This festival is staged on the scenically spectacular Blue Hill Peninsula located in the heart of Downeast Maine. Spend a restful weekend traveling the lovely country roads. Feed your soul with the sights of crisp fall foliage in its prime and your body with the culinary creations. Cheers!

First Edible Island Conference and Fundraising Dinner Columbus Day Weekend

ICEC  (Island Culinary and Ecological Center) is a non-profit organization dedicated to teaching people the joys and benefits of healthy eating and cooking utilizing regional products while supporting a sustainable environment.  Visit the website for more details.

Conference
October 10th at the Reach
Columbus Day weekend, come be a part of the first EDIBLE ISLAND conference. Listen to leaders in the local food movement, join us in excursions to local producers for demonstrations of cheese, jam, and cider, Eddie's Underwater Theater and photo exhibits by Barbara Southworth and Linda Stratton.

A soup and salad farm lunch made with all local produce will be available by reservation

Conference speakers at the Reach will include Barbara Damrosch and Eliot Coleman on year round gardening in Maine, Ingrid Bengis on Tales of a Fishmonger, Aaron Dority and Ginny Olsen on Sustainability Strategies for Island Seafood and Terry-Anya Hayes on the Edible Landscape.

Fundraising Dinner
October 9th at a private Deer Isle home
Join us for a sumptuous five course dinner with wine pairings on Oct 9th cooked by world renowned chefs Jean Georges Vongerichten, Melissa Kelly and Michael Leviton. Suggested donation will be $250 much of which will be tax deductible, and will include predinner champagne and hors d'oeuvres. Meet and talk with the chefs after dinner and participate in an unique auction; items will include a reservation and special treatment at the French Laundry in Yountville, California and Jean Georges Restaurant in New York as well as other surprises. Dinner will be limited to 75 guests.

All proceeds to benefit the fall programs of the Island Culinary and Ecological Center which include an Heirloom Apples class at DISES, an after school cooking club, community dinners and adult education cooking classes for beginners and advanced enthusiasts using the best of local produce and seafood.

Common Ground Country Fair September 25-27, 2009

Celebrate Rural Living at the Maine Organic Farmer and Gardner's annual Common Ground Country Fair. 

Located in Unity, Maine the Common Ground Fair is celebrating its 33rd annual Country Fair.  The fair is huge in scale and includes vendors from all over the state selling fruits, vegetables, art, clothing, metalwork, leather goods, baked goods, woodwork and much more. 

There is live music, agricultural demonstrations, Folk art, draft horse shows, compost and recycling, fiddlers' showcase, health and healing demonstrations, Harry S. Truman games, exhibition hall, Maine fiber farms, blacksmith shop and many more events. 

There is so much happening at the Common Ground Fair that we cannot list it all here.  Please visit the MOFGA   website for a full list of events, scheduled times and prices.  

Celebrate the Bounty of Maine at the Maine Fare

September 11-13, 2009

Located in Camden-Rockport, Maine, the Maine Fare showcases many events including chef demonstrations, panel discussions, workshops, food and beverage tastings, author signings, and dinners, Maine Fare investigates the history, present and future of Maine’s wonderful food, from farm to table. The goal of the event is to communicate the importance of preserving, protecting, and sharing Maine’s storied culinary history and its rich and developing resources. Maine Fare honors every aspect of our state’s gastronomic profile.

2009 is the fourth annual Maine Fare celebration. In just four years, many thousands of people have experienced and benefited from Maine Fare. Attendees meet farmers, artisans, chefs, food writers, and culinary experts and enthusiasts. They leave with an enlightened perspective of the breadth of our state's culinary resources and a clearer understanding of how they can contribute to our state’s long term economic development.

Visit the Maine Fare website for indepth details about the times and events.

2009 Foliage, Food and Wine Festival

October 15-18 2009 marks the 4th annual Foliage, Food and Wine Festival held in Blue Hill, Maine.  

Thursday, October 15th at the Halcyon Grange in North Blue Hill the Blue Hill Historical Society and the Blue Hill Heritage Trust will be presenting "Passing It On: The Future of Farming on the Blue Hill Peninsula".

Friday, October 16th features  The Blue Hill Inn and El El Frijoles as they present a wine dinner with Latin Flair at the inn.

Saturday, October 17th is full of activities including the Bue Hill Farmers' Market at the First Congregational Church of Blue Hill, "Beer and Prok, a Knife and Fork" at TABLE A Farmhouse Bistro, Flower Arranging with Fruits and Vegetables workshop at Fairwinds Florist, Artisan Chocolate Making at the Blue Hill Inn led by Black Dinah Chocolates, Wine tasting at The Blue Hill Wine Shop, lobster bake at Barncastle, and a Wine Dinner at Arborvine.

Sunday, October 18th culminates the weekend with a Community Cider Pressing at 5 Star Nursery & Orchard and the flagship event "A Taste of the Peninsula" showcasing over 40 food vendors, wine purveyors, live music and local artists and authors.

Please visit Blue Hill Peninsula Website for complete details and times.

Castine Maine - Dali Lama Impersonator Returns to Pentagoet Inn for Local Farm to Table Experience!

You bet ya, the same fellow as last year but with a better disposition til his dinner arrived. When the little fellow cut the Stonington day boat cod filet with his own razor sharp gurkha knife he screamed at the Fiddleheads in a high pitched “Enter the Dragon” squeal the likes never heard before on this cuddly peninsula of ours. The couple behind had a Benihana flashback and luckily the person seated next to the “Imelda” portrait in the pub was a violin virtuoso from Tsiang Tao here for a concert at the Kneissel Music Hall in neighboring Blue Hill and she identified the language as Cantonese in her statement to our local deputy Don Knotts saying he screamed “holy eggroll, those green grubs just moved!”  In disbelief at the time we sounded the “grump alarm” in the kitchen for a possible citizens arrest which discharged a swat team of overly polite waiters groomed in public relations terminology who descended on the supposed Lama and deftly dealt with the disturbance by employing a common strategy known in diplomatic circles as ignoring.

 

We should have known better but here at the Pentagoet we try hard to let the inner eccentric bloom, not kaboom! He signed in as the Dali Lama and though he came alone it was implied the entourage would be along shortly. Later he would make scurrilous comments concerning the Baron’s courtship of Chief Madockawando’s daughter, then went on to ridicule the drummer boy’s petticoats and finally launch into a verbal ground assault of the Castine Historical Society. This offended a large group of angry patrons, some in their early seventies who later beat the fraudster within seven eight’s of an inch of his miserable life. As Confucius say, “Free Tibet!”

 

 

 

 

Castine Maine - Daily Dayboat Halibut Delivery for the Pentagoet Inn, (Objects May Appear Larger on the Blog)

 

Castine Maine - Pentagoet Inn, Castine Dayboat Halibut, Don't be a fool, get in here!

Castine Maine - The Pentagoet Inn, Summer Supper Special "Herb Crusted Halibut with Black Olives Tapenade and Local Farm Vegetables"

Castine Maine - Pentagoet Inn, Summer Supper Special "Pan Roasted Scottish Salmon with Parsnips and Local Farm Cabbage"

Castine Maine - Local Fishermen dropping off Hook & Line Yellowfin Tuna for Pentagoet Inn Restaurant Summer Supper Special, Eat Here Soon!

 

Castine Maine - Pentagoet Inn Summer Supper Special - Seared Hook & Line Yellowfin Tuna!

Castine Maine - Novelist & Oral Historian Lee Smith will speak on "Stepping into History" Today at 7:30 PM

 

Castine Maine - Pentagoet Inn Restaraunt

 Our Watermelon Gazpacho was such a hit at the Celebrate Castine Festival we have brought it back on the menu. Come on in and give it a try!  According to the May issue of Maine Boats & Harbor we offer “World Class Dining.” See our dining page at www.pentagoet.com.

 

Castine Maine - Pentagoet Inn, Back by popular demand! "Watermelon Gazpacho"

 Our Watermelon Gazpacho was such a hit at the Celebrate Castine Festival we have brought it back on the menu. Come on in and give it a try, according to the May issue of Maine Boats & Harbor we offer “World Class Dining.” See our dining page at www.pentagoet.com.

Castine Maine - Come to our Local Harvest Supper Saturday July 11

 As part of Celebrate Castine Weekend the Pentagoet Inn is sponsoring a Harvest Supper for the local producers of the Blue Hill Peninsula. Please stop by Castine and join the festivities. Call us at 207-326-8616 or check us out on the web at www.pentagoet.com.

Castine Maine - Let's Join the Brooklin Inn in Support of Sustainable Harvest International

 

Please Join The Brooklin Inn on Thursday July 9 for a Summer Dinner of Belizean Food & Fun, the proceeds are to benefit Sustainable Harvest International. Come meet SHI Founder & President Flo Reed and enjoy a delicious 4-course meal prepared by chef Justin Cherry and local cookbook author, Kate Gooding.  Please call the Brooklin Inn at 207-359-2777 for reservations or check out their website at www.brooklininn.com.

Castine Maine - Subculture Climate Evident throughout Blue Hill Peninsula, Castine Especially Sunny

 

It makes no sense at all to listen to the Weather Channel but lets be thankful they don’t run the country, imagine their economic predictions, gloom tomorrow followed by a period of darkness and then more gloom . Think about it, the weather channel is ruled by a group of hard core number crunchers who never found any fun as a kid stomping their shoes in a puddle. They are so afraid of liability they pasteurize the weather to pacify the insurance giants and those prissy masses fond of saying "you'll never make it". They hedge their bets by homogenizing the country’s weather.

 

It maybe raining outside the Blue Hill peninsula but inside the Pentagoet Inn in Castine Maine it’s a Luau every night and you don’t have to wear a pith helmet or a short sleeve tropical outfit to prove you're having fun and we can do all those funny boat drinks but you may have to bring your own paper parasols, they are on back-order. Rain or Shine our staff will bring you the sunny side up, everyday all day, no “weather permitting” excuses here like the babies at the Weather Channel. My staff is equipped with a frown proof attitude that breathes of sun bursts and futures so bright you will have to wear welding glasses. Try us! www.pentagoet.com., 1-207-326-8616, 26 Main St. Castine, Maine.

Celebrate Castine - Saturday July 11, Local Harvest Supper @ The Pentagoet Inn

Please join us on Saturday July 11 for a special Local Harvest Supper showcasing our local food producers from the Blue Hill Peninsula as part of the “Celebrate Castine” Festival.

 

These are some of the folks we will be honoring, Black Dinah Chocolates, Bagaduce Farm, Carding Brook Farm, Blue-Zee Farm, Four Seasons Farm, Hackmatack Farm, Horsepower Farm, Island Acres Sausage, Mainstay Pasta, Nervous Nellie’s Jams & Jellies, Sow’s Ear Winery, Stonington Sea Products and Sunset Acres Farm.

 

For reservations and more information please call the Pentagoet at 207-326-8616 or check out our dining page and press reviews at www.pentagoet.com, or e-mail us at stay@pentagoet.com.

 

 

Castine Prison Break - Lobster at Large

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For the second time in a week our small town silence was shattered by the escape of Levi, that’s short for Leviathan, our towns needy mascot and continued pride and joy.  Luckily lobsters are like fugitives, they seek out sympathetic neighbors which happened to be a neighboring bait cart. You see we tether our fresh supply of local lobster in a water borne crate at a nearby dock. However, in the middle of the night as the townspeople slumbered there was a prison break without any of the whooping alarms, barking bloodhounds or piercing searchlights you might find in a common Hollywood blockbuster. Have you ever stopped to think how many lobster have sacrificed themselves for Bouillabaisse? Please take a moment of silence or better yet call us for a dinner reservation at 1-207-326-8616 or check us out on the web at www.pentagoet.com.

Castine Bear Sightings, Again

 

Residents throughout Castine and Hancock County have been reporting bear sightings near their precious homes this week. Just imagine you are a bear waking up famished after a long winters nap and you find no snacks in sight. For bears with the munchies it’s enough to drive them to your backyard trash, the wifes home-cooking, a neighbors compost bin, barbecue or perhaps the bird feeder.

 

For this time of year it is a common occurrence according to Flynn McDonnell, a federal wildlife neuro-masseuse and co-founder of BWB, Bears Without Borders. “Bears like fruits, berries, chuckles and nuts, none of which are yet available on nature’s menu so they are forced to get creative. Its not unlike a bear to eat a souvlaki or Chinese takeout as they enjoy MSG so beware of erratic behavior. The best way to deter a bear nuisance is to take in your bird feeders, avoid “Pu Pu Platter” like roadside Chinese take-outs and keep tempting trash and well behaved children inside” says McDonell, the author of “Bear in the City” and “Bear Chase: How To Anger A Bear To Chase You,” the definitive how to guide for those who relish the thrill of bears chasing them.

 

“Remember bears are more afraid of you than you of them, they don’t want a big breasted blonde in a tightfitting cocktail mini skirt and high heels laying on them as a living room rug or a snarly mouthed wall mount in the kids play room” says McDonnell.  But try and tell it to those poor fellows who were guests at the Pentagoet Inn in this undated photo taken in Castine as they were surprised by a bear drawn to their camp smelling lobster bouillabaise on a "Blazing Saddles" campfire. It was a lucky break for the Mahoney brothers and in keeping with this present danger until the bear sightings subside we have removed all elderly guests from the porch and replaced them with disobedient children.

Taste of Home

 

“Castine Variety Dishes up Family Dinners”

By Cindi Wood, The Ellsworth American 2/26/09

 

Castine – After graduating from Maine Maritime Academy with a masters in international business, Elizabeth Mabie decided to set up shop down the road.

She purchased the Castine Variety from previous owners Ray Nualla and Lynn Evans in July 2008.

 

“The more I put into it the more I get out of it,” Mabie said of the experience. The Variety is open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch, dinner and pizza. In addition to grabbing a meal at the counter or at one of the few tables, customers can pick up takeout, candy, the newspaper and lottery tickets.

 

Mabie said she would like to add a few more non-restaurant items. “I want to get more variety back in the Variety,” she said. But the food is the main attraction. Regular Pat Payson said the Variety’s lobster roll is “to die for,” and is a fan of just about everything else – from the Reubens to the pizza.

 

She and her two sisters attend Wednesday Family Dinner Night every week. On Wednesdays, the diner serves up a special meal for a crowd that has topped 30 people. Not bad for a small eatery in a small town in the middle of winter.

 

“This way we get to have dinner together, and its an excellent, excellent dinner, and we don’t have to do the dishes,” Payson noted. Each week features a different special. Previous Wednesday specials have included pot roast and New England boiled dinner.

 

Payson spent part of her childhood in Castine and remembers sitting at the Variety counter with an ice cream as a child. She said she was devastated when the former owners shut the business down last February. It was the first time it had been closed in the 66 year-old’s lifetime. Payson said she was thrilled when Mabie took over and started serving up hot, fresh food in heaping helpings.

 

Mabie, a New Jersey native, first came to Castine to earn a bachelors degree in marine transportation at MMA. She fell in love with the town. The Variety was a way to stay in the coastal community after completing her second degree. Her business is popular with locals and Academy students.

 

There is almost always a customer inside the Variety anytime of the week. In the summer the place is packed. The Castine Variety is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 326-0690.

3rd Annual Foliage, Food & Wine Festival

On October 16-19 the 3rd annual foliage food and wine festival will offer patrons a scenic view of the crisp fall foliage and the opportunity to taste culinary creations from area chefs and food producers.  Superb food and drink are an excellent way to enjoy the colorful fall season on the Blue Hill Peninsula.

Events will include local wine dinners, a foliage, food and flower treasure hunt, discounts at local stores, cheese and wine tasting, farmer's market, and a lobster bake.

The festival will culminate with "A Taste of the Peninsula" on Sunday, October 19th.  This event will showcase area chefs and local food producers from 11-3pm on the grounds of the Arborvine on Main St. in Blue Hill.

Visit the Blue Hill peninsula website for a full schedule.

Where Blueberry Salsa and Brooklyn imports Flourish

"...much of this harbor-lined and farm-dotted peninsula has become an unlikely destination for connoisseurs of locally grown food.  Bread bakers, winemakers, forest foragers, a raucous country fair, and a thick web of small organic farms keep the community flush with everything from pasture-raised pigs to raw Jersey cow milk."

The Boston Globe travel section Sunday, August 24th published a wonderful article of the Blue Hill Peninsula.  They featured some of our favorite businesses and local suppliers: El El Frijoles, The Blue Hill Wine Shop, Blue Hill Co-op Community Market, Four Seasons Farm.  Following is a link to the whole article in the Boston Globe.  Full Article

Castine's Passports Pub featured in Bangor Daily News

Welcome to Libationland: Seven Drinks to Check out this Summer

By Emily Burnham  Saturday, July 12th 2008 -Bangor Daily News

How to make a great bar: Take one part devoted clientele, one part friendly bartender, and one part comfortable, cool-looking digs. Shake well. Add liberal dash of local flavor. Pour into glass; garnish with good food, good music and maybe a pool table or two. Enjoy.

It seems as simple as the syrup, and yet, a great watering hole is a concoction that’s not always easy to make. But we’ve made it easy for you: After weeks of exhaustive research (toughest assignment ever!), we’ve narrowed down eastern Maine’s pubs, taverns, bars and lounges to a select seven. The best of the best — where you don’t even necessarily have to have a drink in your hand to have fun, because it’s such a great place to hang out.

This summer, give one of these fine establishments a whirl. Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name. And sometimes they don’t have to know your name — but they’re still glad you came.

Where: Passports Pub, Pentagoet Inn, Castine

What’ll it be? The Ambassador, a cocktail that combines Bombay Sapphire gin, ginger lemonade, lime juice and mint garnish

What’s so special about it? Passports Pub bar staff Emily Slocum developed this tasty summer drink, combining the oh-so-British libation of gin with spicy homemade ginger lemonade. Think of it as a nod to both Castine’s Colonial heritage and to the Victorian-era Explorer’s Club aesthetic in the pub

Why you’ll be having another: Stepping into this cozy bar makes you feel like some intrepid adventurer, fresh off a jaunt through the Great Rift Valley, or the wilds of Borneo. You’re surrounded by loads of travel memorabilia, amassed by owners Jack Burke and Julie van de Graaf during their journeys around the globe. Queen Victoria presides over one corner, while a three-foot oil painting of Vladimir Lenin looks on as you quaff your cocktail, sitting in the Malaysian rattan chairs. Who knew that a bar straight out of Indiana Jones was in Castine, Maine?

Elm Tree Benefit Dinner 2008

Elm Tree Dinner Press Release

On Tuesday, June 24^th at 5:30 p.m., the Pentagoet Inn will host the 5^th annual benefit dinner to support the preservation of Castine’s historic elm trees and for replanting where appropriate.

The theme for this year’s dinner will be Caribbean, and a full-house crowd is anticipated.  The event will begin with cocktails on the porch followed by a four-course dinner.  The cost for the event is $58 per person. 

This last year has been devastating to Castine trees in general as a result of four major storms, including the September microburst.  Castine lost 14 elm trees during the microburst and two others due to dutch elm disease.  An inventory of on-neck elm trees will be undertaken in the next few weeks, which will result in a full report as to condition and maintenance requirements of our elm trees.

El El Frijoles (Maine translation: LL Beans)

Deere Isle - Michael Rossney and Michele Levesque opened El El Frijoles in May of 2007 and were an instant hit via the jungle telegraph! Burritos and tacos were a regular staple for Levesque and husband Rossney in California where they lived before they moved to Maine. At the time Michael worked as a freelance journalist and Michele as an art teacher at a girls school. Art and cooking came together in Levesque's work when she was a graduate student at the University of California - Berkeley. Diners can view examples of Levesque's artwork at the "Coast to Coast Fine Arts Gallery" next to the restaraunt. The gallery puts on a different art show every two weeks during the summer.

El El Frijoles offers an assortment of specials such as artichoke hearts and cream cheese empanadas, spicy lobster burritos brimming with Maine lobster, butter, garlic and a blend of Mexican spices called achiote paste and homegrown variations of traditional Guadalajaran fare. All the ingredients are from their garden, local farms, outdoor markets and bakeries. There is alot of love in every bite. This is a fun place with warm energy and a generous spirit.

El El Frijoles is a short drive from Castine and highly recommended. There are of course stops along the way to fill the curious. We can plan your day's adventure from the Pentagoet Inn in Castine.

Maine Food & Lifestyle

Our chef Gina Melita has recently been featured in Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.  Her recipe for grilled lobster was selected to be part of an article about lobster preparation in Maine restaurants.  Gina was one of only three chefs chosen for this unique honor.  It's hard to imagine grilled lobster while eighteen inches of snow cover the grounds around the inn, but summer is on the way.  Follow this link to our website to view the article and recipe.  Visit Maine Food & Lifestyle's website.