Havana, Fit For A 1st Meal

When I made plans to take the Canon In The Parks Video Workshop, in Bar Harbor this past weekend, I put in a call to Michael Boland, co-owner of Havana, to see if I could shoot in his kitchen, on Sunday night. He said, "Great, come on in!" When I arrived about 6:15 the place was starting to fill up.

When I entered the kitchen Executive Chef Jason Casey was preparing a paella on the 10 burner gas range. The same entree he had served the president a couple of weeks before.

 

The secret service had picked out a nice quit table in the back dining room for the first couple, who started out with the Farm Salad and World Mixed Grill ( complete menu descriptions and 75 photos on Flickr)

This has been an especially busy year for the restaurant that many think is Bar Harbors finest with many night seeing well over 200 diners served by it's wait staff from the very efficient kitchen.

About a half hour before the 1st couple arrived the street was blocked off a few blocks to either side and by prior arrangement only reservations were accepted that evening. With restaurant stay at the secret service checkpoints to greet the surprise diners and a quick pass of the "wand" they were allowed to enter and find their tables. Once the President and Mrs Obama arrived no other reservations were accepted. The first lady decided on the Latin Lobster Thermidor for her entree.

The well stocked wine cellar is affixed to the side of the back dining room and has a large window between them.
After I finished, having taken roughly 450 images of the kitchen, dining and exterior of Havana, Michael graciously offered me a meal when I mentioned I had eaten an apple tart from the bakery in Southwest harbor that morning and little else since. After much debate as I had seen all the wonderful food coming beforehand, I choose a House Salad, the Annatto Filet Mignon to go with a glass of Malbec. Flan and a coffee was it for the night and I left after the last people came thru the door and the kitchen was closed.

All in all a good weekend with two fun classes and a good hall of images, both at H avana and in the Arcadia National Park itself. One of my favorite was a shot of two pieces of tuna just before they went on the grill.

Then to watch as it was transformed in color as it cooked.
If you missed it above I put 75 images up on my flickr site, look for the Havana "set' on the right side of the page.

Havana

318 Main Street, Bar Harbor, Maine

207-288-CUBA

www.HavanaMaine.com

&

if you can't get from wherever you are, remember 

right here in Portland

same website.

207-772-9988

Happenings #1

One festival I didn't have complete info on the other day is this Satuarday's Whoopie Pie Festival in Dover-Foxcroft. Portland's own Cranberry Island Kitchen will be there for the 2nd edition of this culinary decadence.

info here

Havana South is now open for diner. It opened in  shakedown mode in the last week while construction continues around the edges.

Mura, the companion bistro next door to Shima has been open for a few weeks with a similar menu and a different feel to the insides. Toby and I haven't made time to get down there yet, but a good friend is very high on Shima.

Not Quite Havana (South)

A lot of you have probably heard that the very popular Bar Harbor Restaurant,  Havana South is opening a 2nd spot on Wharf Street, in Portland.  The restaurant will take over the entirety of the large (7000sf) building at the end of Wharf Street at Union. Construction has progressed of the interior space for several months now and it is hoped that a soft opening will happen toward the end of June. Whenever that happens I'll be there! A look at their website, www.havanamaine.com finds this statement

LATIN FLAIR ||||

Havana is American fine dining with a Latin flair, great atmosphere, extensive wine list, knowledgeable staff and sophisticated menu. Seafood, vegetarian and meat dishes are flavored with intelligence and respect and change weekly, sometimes daily.

From the looks of their operation in Bar Harbor and if the food tastes as good as it looks on the website, given the sheer size of this space Havana South could create quite a splash in Portland food scene.

This looks to the main dining area from the main entry with the large bar at the far end of the building.

The main dining area will run across the middle of the space. The bar is to the right.

The far side of the dining area looking toward the kitchen

This space is directly ahead of the door and will be two smaller function rooms and overflow dining.

This space on the Union Street side of the building will be the last to open. Plans are for a retail meat locker/specialty store. It can be seen under the awnings at the right of the picture below.

EMPLOYMENT: Hiring for bar, servers, hosts etc. Now acception applications. ClickHERE for application - Please email resume to: info@havanamaine.com
SALES/ADVERTISING INQUIRIES: Email inquiries - we welcome them, but prefer email. 

Havana South

http://www.havanamaine.com