Winter Colonies

For day-trips along the coast, magic places warm the heart in maine’s…Winter Colonies Winter Colonies

by Molly M ac leod

Where to hang out when the summer colonies roll up their sidewalks? Maybe the question should be, where do we start?

BAR HARBOR–Heather Walls, 23, loves to ground herself at Reel Pizza Cinerama in downtown Bar Harbor because “it’s nice to come here in the winter, watch a movie, and have a beer and good pizza [try the ‘Godzilla’ and the ‘Casino Royale’].” Beyond the great films they play, there’s a sense that you can get your bearings here. “They have special events, like Oscars night, where you get all dressed up and watch the Oscars on the big screen. Otherwise, Bar Harbor is just a dead zone.” Then there’s the funky decor that provides the kind of relaxed ambience that Starbucks tries to copy. “The couches are flowered, dingy, like something you’d see in your Nana’s house,” says a former Acadia National Park ranger familiar with the matter. “Sitting down, you feel you’re traveling back in time. So get there early.”

Owner Chris Vincenty says, “You can spot the first-timers because they get this deer-in-the-headlights thing, and you have to sort of lead them in by the hand. They’re thinking, ‘It’s not a movie theater, it’s not a pizza joint, what is it? Some time ago a woman came in, and I helped her through all the steps of getting her ticket and ordering her pizza, and then she was like, ‘Now what?’ So I told her, ‘Now, you take the pizza and you stick it in your mouth and you eat it.’” Like many Maine winter attractions, the attitude here comes free. reelpizza.net

EASTPORT–The Pickled Herring, barely open for a year, “has very quickly come to feel irreplaceable” in this town “two hours from Bangor and light years from anywhere else,” says novelist Sarah Graves. “You can come here for a special dinner or a romantic date, or if you’re just hungry for some good food. They have a snazzy atmosphere and a wood-fired grill you can smell down the street.”

Dan Harden of Coffin’s True Value Hardware praises the signature steaks and local microbrews, while Graves raves about the “baked fish with spinach and lemon sauce, fresh salads, and pizzas with toppings like walnut-gorgonzola or lobster.” Look for fresh local ingredients such as organic chicken and beef from Tide Mill Farm.

The dreamy atmosphere here is scuffed with the reality

Shipyard Brewery’s Federal Jack’s Brew Pub in Kennebunk is a hot spot on a cold night to wrap yourself around a pint of Winter Prelude Ale. Its commanding view of the Kennebunk River and weekly karaoke add to its “relaxing yet bustling wintertime vibe,” says Linsey Bernard, 31.

of having once been the first floor of Eastport’s old Masonic Hall, which owner Gary Craig “gutted like a herring” during restoration. “We’re all so glad it’s here–we’re really out in the wilderness. As far as something that gives you hope right through the winter, this is it,” says Graves. Harden agrees. “It’s a diamond in the rough.” thepickledherring.com

BUCKSPORT–MacLeod’s Restaurant and Pub “is just a cozy little spot to go so you don’t have to eat at home. And it’s beautiful, really warm–you get that casual and intimate sort of deal,” says regular Brigid Wentworth of this comfort food mecca on Main Street. “You can always count on it.”

This is no idle boast. Owner George MacLeod has kept this point of light open in the direst of circumstances since 1980, driving his truck around the front of the building to shine the headlights in the dining room during a power outage, or delivering hot soup to Central Maine Power workers repairing power lines during the ice storm of 1998.

His rough-and-tumble spirit seems to have rubbed off on his customers. “One winter, the pipes froze and burst in one of our third-floor apartments, but nobody noticed until the middle of dinner, when a cascade of water came streaming out the middle of the ceiling into the dining room,” MacLeod says. “People just moved their tables and kept eating, nonplussed, like it was a water fountain in a Las Vegas showroom.” Located in the 170-year-old Bradley Block on Main Street, this landmark is guaranteed to sign your reality check. As for his lack of a web site, “It’s a Hobson’s choice. But we’d rather have people take the place on its own terms. I think the trick is to exceed expectations and have people find you, and there isn’t a lot of hoop-dedah about it.” 469-3963

ROCKLAND–Conte’s 1894 has “waitresses with brass balls and Italian food that’ll knock your socks off, if you’re wearing any,” says Mark Boshko of Ellsworth, who drives an hour and a half to decompress here on stately, historic Commercial Street “just to get away on a winter Saturday. “They bring you a Buick-sized loaf of bread; a huge, fresh romaine salad

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with their own dressing; and a huge bowl of pasta. You order a scallop, and you get a pound of scallops, served on top of pasta with a light olive oil and garlic sauce.”

On the other hand, Conte’s isn’t for everyone: “There’s no phone, it’s kinda grungy, and when the owner doesn’t feel like cooking, or if he runs out of food, he shuts down, bit I think it’s just the best. It’s not for the fruity, Grey Goose Cosmo types.” Insider’s secret: “When they play opera music, you know it’s going to be a good night.”

BATH–“We make everything ourselves–onion rings, salad dressin’s, pies,” says J.R. Maxwell & Co. owner Ed Rogers, “and we haven’t changed the menu in 30 years.” The interior here is a classic slice of old Bath–Commercial Street meets nautical museum. “Friday and Saturday nights we have a prime-rib special. A lot of people say it’s the best they’ve ever had–I got the recipe from a lumberjack in Eustis, an old Frenchman who could hardly speak English.”

While they may never be featured by Forbes Magazine, “January kind of holds on here,” in part because all of the summer restaurants are closed, but mostly because “We’re a regular restaurant, catering to regular people.” Maybe Maine’s greasy spoons really are the most sensitive ‘instruments of community understanding.’ jrmaxwells.com

BRUNSWICK–The Broadway Deli “was my first waitressing job,” says Marielle Vander Schaaf, 31. “Fifteen years later, I still go back and see the same customers, who order the same food they always did.” Open for 22 years, the deli is memorable “for its spinach salad, a side of local sausage patties, and coffee that is always hot.”

“Everything’s made from scratch. Nothing Sysco,” says owner Nancy Bigelow, who’s employed all six of her children here over the years.

“We welcome everyone from local families with nursing mothers [there’s a rocking chair just for them] to old-timers [the deli plays old, folky music on the AM stations] to celebrities from Angus King to Sam Hayward to Drew Barrymore. I swear, my sons wouldn’t let me wash her plate for months.”

When you come right down to it, “It’s more than just cooking. I think I fulfill a need here. And I like what I do. Did I say it’s not about the money? Because believe me, it isn’t.” 729-7781

OLD ORCHARD BEACH–There’s just something about beach pizza, and it seems to get even better when the sidewalks are rolled up during the winter, according to town clerk Kim McLaughlin of Jimmy the Greek’s. “I love the Tuscan veggie pizza from the brick oven and the seafood pie, but everything is good no matter what you end up getting.” In the quiet months, McLaughlin says, “it’s quieter, but it’s not dead by any means.”

Employee Monica Shaw says, “On ladies’ night, Tuesdays, we have $5 martinis and free manicures. We also have a mechanical bull on Saturdays, a “tailgate brunch” on Sundays,” and, when the occasion requires it, a gripping bratwurst-eating contest.

“We stay busy all winter,” says Shaw, “because once the tourists leave, all the locals come out. You should see the New Year’s party, with local bands like Eric Bettencourt and Giraffe Attack. Last year, on Valentine’s Day, our owner renewed people’s vows. It’s always alive here.” If this is a winter ghost town, it’s the kind of place you want to haunt. jimmygreeks.com

OGUNQUIT–“There’s just always singing,” says novelist, playwright, and screenwriter Michael Kimball of The Front Porch, a restaurant and bar on Shore Road. “There’s a traditional piano bar upstairs, and the best way I can describe the people there is a happy mixture of gays and straights. They just sing, sing, sing all night long. There’s this great pianist from Boston, Michelle Currie, who comes up, and whenever I go in I ask her to sing ‘At Last.’ She just kills it.” When the piano bar is open on Friday and Saturday nights, says Kimball, “it’s loud and raucous–standing room only.” He also adds that Khris Francis, who performs ‘extreme adult musical comedy’ has “quite the following.”According to The Front Porch’s website, he’s been dubbed the “Don Rickles of gay comedy.” Kimball likes to go in just to watch people and have a drink or a margherita flatbread from the late-night menu. Even in the dead of winter, “The atmosphere is like you’re on vacation. You walk in and just feel like it’s summer, but it could be minus ten outside. You don’t see a lot of frowns.” thefrontporch.net n

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