Amazing dinner....

Last week, I was lucky enough to get the chance to meet some friends at the White Barn Inn in Kennebunk, ME for a fantastic dinner. If you ever get the chance to go here and you like food that takes a lot of prep and care and technique, do not miss it. This is not homey comfort food; this is not exactly molecular gastronomy, it's lots of technique, time, and consideration of ingredients.

Before dinner, I had a great cocktail. I wish I could remember what was in it. All I can remember is that it had St. Germain. It was sort of fruity but not too sweet. It was lovely. 

When it came to dinner, one of my companions and I decided to go with the tasting menu--it's hard to resist a tasting menu! Please forgive the pictures, they were taken with my phone, which is a Droid Bionic, and sucks at pictures. 

Dinner began with an amuse bouche of smoked salmon with caper jelly. Typically I hate capers but this jelly was not salty like capers can be. This bite of food was smokey, maybe a tad too dry, and fresh tasting at the same time.

 Next was a salmon carpaccio with mustard sauce and more capers. This salmon was light and fresh. The mustard was bright and brought out the salmon. I didn't eat the capers in this dish, nor did I eat the fig on top because I don't like figs and I was dining with someone who LOVES figs, so I gave it to her. There was a small fried onion on top that was very yummy.

 The next dish was a butter poached, smoked lobster. I think there was tomato and mint puree underneath. both the purees were very mild. The smoke was actually a lot more aggressive than I expected but it really made the lobster shine.The lobster was perfectly cooked, moist and lovely. In my mind though, lobster needs nothing. I usually eat it with just butter but this was nice and much better than most lobster dishes you get in restaurants because all the flavors were mild.

 This next dish was one that I was most looking forward to; maple-glazed pork belly with mushroom and cauliflower with cauliflower puree. It was good--the sauce was really delicious and complex, the puree was amazing. The pork belly was the most disappointing thing of the evening. It wasn't fatty like pork belly should be, and it was dry. How do you make pork belly, which is essentially super thick bacon, dry? I don't know but they managed to accomplish it in this dish. It had great flavor but was ultimately unsatisfying because the pork belly was so dried out.

 The next dish that was served......maybe after the biggest disappointment (that was still delicious) was the biggest happy surprise of the meal. A duo of fois gras. I know I'm not supposed to like fois gras but, friends, I love pate. I just love it. I've never had fois gras before, I may never again, but I will not forget how delicious this duo was. On the left was a bit of fois gras rolled in toasted pistachios. Such a delicious complement to one another. The right was a seared slap on a brioche toast. Oh, my oh my oh my. This was rich, flavorful, heavy, fatty, and amazing.

 The next dish was a coddled egg on top of oyster mushrooms. This dish had a very complex flavor but it was not for me. The texture was sort of foamy and the temperature was a little too cool...I'm not sure I can explain but I didn't like this dish and gave it to a friend. I just couldn't eat it.

The next course was a sherry vinegar ice cream with a fig roll. I guess I forgot to take a picture of it. It was very interesting. It had quite a strong vinegar flavor but for some reason I liked it. Maybe because it cut the fatty feeling in my mouth from the last few courses.

The main course of this meal was an absolutely amazing tenderloin with a Marsala cafe au lait sauce. It had a lot of morel mushrooms. It was perhaps one of the top 5 dishes I've ever tasted in my life. The beef was fork tender and the sauce and the meat were so rich and flavorful and delicious and wonderful and amazing. There aren't enough words. There were a few slices of roasted potato on the plate but the beef and the morels with the sauce were the highlight of this dish. So wonderful.

 Then, we had a selection of cheeses. I can't remember what we had but there was a mix of goat, sheep, and cow's milk cheeses. We had many gorgonzola varieties and one that was a very strong brie flavor. Yum.

After I didn't think I could possibly eat another bite, dessert began. First, we had an almond souffle with cherries and I think it was an almond ice cream. This was a perfect souffle--warm, light, sweet but not too sweet. Lots of vanilla. Yummy.

 Typically, when I order dessert, I order chocolate. I don't want almonds and cherries. So I was thrilled when this appeared on my table--chocolate mousse with salted caramel nut topping. Please note--it was not TOO salty. Hooray! Chocolate for dessert!

 Can you believe this meal wasn't over yet???? After we were all disgustingly (but happily) full, they brought us this tray of candies. Raspberry jellies, passion fruit truffles in white chocolate, lemon marshmallows, and dark chocolate mints. There were some salted caramels too. I didn't get to try those but all the other things were so good. Seriously, White Barn Inn should consider opening a candy shop.

This was such an amazing meal. I cannot wait to go back and I am SO glad I live only about an hour from this place. Thank you, White Barn Inn for an unforgettable meal!