Restaurant Week / Thursday / Academe Brasserie & The Good Table

Hey, it's Thursday already and today I'm taking the show on the road.  Lunch is at The Academe Brasserie & Tavern at the Kennebunk Inn.  This evening I'm going to the Good Table in Cape Elizabeth.  It's not quite the same as traveling across the US or Europe in search of fabulous food treasures, but it's a start and I'll be in Europe next month anyway ( and hopefully blogging).

"The Kennebunk Inn was built as a private residence by Phineas Cole in 1799 and and later converted into a tavern. Since 2003  Brian and Shanna O'Hea have run for the day-to- day operations of The Inn as the Innkeeper ~ Chefs.  Meeting first as students at the Culinary Institute of America, they have finely honed their  professional skills through assignments in Boston, Connecticut, Florida, London and New York before returning to Maine." 

I arrive early and Brian was still out shopping so I peaked into the kitchen and was immediately attracted to two large pots full of bits and pieces of vegetable and plant matter simmering away on the back of the stove. Turns out they are the trimmings from what ever is needed for different meals and are used this way in making chicken stock. A very good and simple idea for your own kitchen at home, I usually just put mine into the compost. The Brasserie is doing both lunch and supper during Restaurant Week and I am including only one lunch image: the Roasted Vegetable Quesadilla with tomato, eggplant, yellow squash, zucchini, sauteed onions,and goat cheese.

 

I became totally enthralled watching Brian prepare the special for tonight's regular menu.

Coulotte Steak: mozzarella, grilled portobello mushroom, roasted red peppers, salt, pepper,basil & oregano. These steaks are rolled and tied before Brian smokes them four 3-4 minutes, again a simple trick you can do at home, two pans and an open rack, some wood chips and a little moisture. They are then covered in plastic  wrap and put into the cooler. When ordered they are quickly pan seared and then finished in the oven.

I thought I'd get this up before heading out to Cape Elizabeth.  If you're in the mood and the area,  try one of these Coulotte Steaks and leave a note in the comment section.
I'll finish the 2nd half of todays post later tonight  (after midnight). 

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Alright I'm back from the Good Table, a restaurant that has been around for a long time on Route 77 near the turnoff for Two Lights.  There is a warm glow to this dining room, what with the low light, flowers on the tables and chinese lanterns on the enclosed back porch. They tend toward an early rush and it was quite full when I arrived at 5:30 and stayed busy until I left just before eight o'clock.

The Good Table's website proudly proclaims "good honest food" they should add tasty as well! Everything but the beef came from the Restaurant Week menu which had a different steak. I only included one dessert, the panna cotta,  but all three looked looked extremely tempting.  


As I was finished shooting before eight I called Toby hoping to actually eat some restaurant week food, but alas their was no answer. I headed to the Old Port stopping in at Cinque Terre to talk with Chris about the upcoming Whole Hog Dinner, later this month. I'm going to be taking pictures of the work that goes into making this meal from the time the butchered pigs arrive at the restaurant until they arrive at your table! 

Tomorrow I'll be in the kitchen at The Back Bay Grill and may hit a few Congress Street kitchens during the First Friday Art Walk.