Opening Day for the Penobscot Narrows Bridge !

While you're touring up Rte. 1 this early May 2008, please visit us at the Edge for a comfortable nights'
stay and amazing evening meal courtesy of Chef, Bryan Dame

After you leave, and head north, you may want to visit the
Penobscot Narrows Bridge Observatory, majestically looking up and
down the Penobscot River, outside of Bucksport, Maine

The Observatory is the tallest glass panoramic view off a bridge in the US.  Only two others in the world.  420' above the river and a full 360 degree view.  The visitor center for tickets and information is located at the base in
Fort Knox Park, in Prospect.

(image courtesy Kevin Bennett Bangor Daily News)

Swamp Stomp! Fiddle Head'n!

 

It is Finally Spring in Maine! And the fiddle head’s are up!

Chef and I forage a few on Monday’s dreary afternoon up at Casa Dame. Not much was to be had after such a dry April. I knew yesterday as the rain poured down that my short window to forage for this northern delicacy was near.

Fiddle head’s for those who have never had the joy, are the head of the ostrich fern before they unfurl their Q like heads. Fiddle heads grow wild and are not commercially grown making them even more special. In the rough they are covered in a fuzzy skin that is easily removed. You want to pick them at about 4 inches high and while the head is still tight.

With a flavor similar to asparagus, you treat them the same way. Clean, blanch in boiling water and eat. I personally enjoy them simply dressed in butter but, other will tell you they are best in garlic, vinegar, or chilled with fresh aioli.

When I woke this morning, the sun was shining and I knew the brook that runs through The Inn at Ocean’s Edge would be flowing hard. I pulled on my Bean boots, grabbed the shears, a plastic bag ready from the recycle bin and allowed myself the extra time before work to hit the grounds.

What beautiful morning to be out doors, I could hear the waves break, Eider ducks bobbing on the shore and the power of the brook running full with yesterdays rain fall from the hills to the bay.As I made my way along the brook, Snip, Stomp, Snip, Splash, Snip the bounty of spring was right in front me, stretching across the forest floor from the top of the pathway to the Edge all the way past the Poolhouse, fiddle heads abound. Before long that bounty was bagged up and I had procured about 3 pounds of fresh, foraged fiddle head’s, enough to share but not really enough to meet the demand the restaurant.So I shared my excitement and today’s harvest with Jesse and Paul, I will take the rest home for a  BBQ with The Edge crew this afternoon.

It is a really special feeling to find food in the wild.

I hope you can get your hands on some fiddle head’s this spring, if not just give us a ring at The Edge, Bryan usually puts up a couple of pounds of pickles each spring.

Cheers, Natasha!

The Edge is ready for you ......

We report to you from the crisp, clean shores of Penobscot Bay ....

The Inn and the Edge and the Edge Restaurant is available for you and your guests,
as they plan for this season's adventure.  If you want to check out our facilities, enjoy a cocktail on our deck, please call or just stop by.  The pool and hot tub are yours...

 

                                                   We've had a great opening here at the Edge with a busy night of celebration with Gina Stipo and the wonderful tastes of Italy, right here in Maine.

Thanks go to Bryan Dame, the Edge's amazing chef for making the menu so special.  Also, thanks to all of you who came up Rte 1, just a bit north of Camden....

Here's a look .......

 

A Special Tuscan Night at the EDGE!!!

Saturday April 26th, The Edge at The Inn at Ocean’s Edge
in Lincolnville will host a very special wine dinner featuring a
Tuscan menu and wines from this region of Italy, via downeast Maine !!!
Yes, you've heard about it here, Village Soup Dining article
and you can have Gina sign her wonderful book, Ecco la Cucina
(order here, Ecco laCucina, by Gina Stipo)

Chefs Stipo and Dame have collaborated on a spring inspired, Tuscan themed menu featuring recipes from Chef Stipo’s new cook book. Chef Stipo will present this special four course dinner paired with a flight of four Tuscan wines from Vias Imports.

The Tuscan wine dinner is $80 per person plus tax and gratuity.
The evening will start with a meet and greet reception at 7pm followed by dinner.
Reservations are required; Few Seats Still Available Please call 236-0945

Don't forget, PIZZA Night is back on Sunday's $18 per person
for a full evening of fun conversation and comfort food....

We are Open!!

We opened the Inn this weekend, and the weather, wow! what a weekend, very mild, nary a cloud in the sky!  We had to get extra chaise lounges out of winter storage as guests were enjoying the sun and the sparkling views of the Bay!
The hot tub is bubbling away, the sauna and great room and treatment rooms are open and are already being used by happy guests, and the pool is being filled up to the top as we speak!
The restaurant saw many familar faces of patrons excited that one of their favorite restaurants was open again, and just seeing all of the path lights twinkling into the night remided us of the season ahead!
There are so many exciting things happening in the Camden, Lincolnville, and Midcoast area this spring! For one please take a look at our special packages, and please take a close look at our Explore Maine package.  This is a great package which allows guests to explore Maine and stay at our sister property the Black Point Inn. 
There are also many exciting events happening in our area as well.  Did you know that there is a wonderful winery just up the road from us?  The Cellar Door vineyard in Lincolnville is gearing up for their growing season ahead and they are organizing some very exciting events, which can be easily enjoyed by guests staying here with us.
We look forward to seeing you all this season and we wish you the happiest of Springs!!!

Three wineries in three days, Italy!

Speaking of Italy and wine, I should share a little about the three fantastic wineries that we visited while in Italy.

Lets start by thanking Michael Burke and his team at  Vias Imports.  They arranged for us to visit three very exciting wineries while we were in Tuscany. We were scheduled to visit each Vineyard on three consecutive days.  Our first visit was to be the estate of Argiano where we would meet Emiline Trouillot.  The Argiano estate is  just outside of the Hill town of Montalcino right in the heart of Brunello land. We met Emiline and were given a wonderful tour around the vineyards and then into the wine making operation including a peak down below in the wine caves which were filled with the barrique or barrels of aging wine. For miles and miles around as far as the eye could see were neat rows of vineyards, I can only imagine how green this would all look in the depth of summer.  Most of the workers were out in the vineyards trimming the vines of last years growth.  We noticed that the vines were heavily trimmed so the amount they must grow each year must be incredible.  Back in the tasting room we were treated to tastes of the full Argiano line up along with snack (or spuntino) of a rich local cheese and a salumi made of the local wild boar or cinghiale.  Bellisimo!

The following day we drove straight into the heart of the Chianti region which is directly North of Siena. We were headed to Castello di Meleto a vineyard and winery surrounding an impressive and ancient Castle with two imposing and iconic towers built into the walls.  We were met by Roberto who is fairly new to the winery but has been working in the Chianti wine business for many years.  Inside the castle covering the wall of one of the rooms was a fresco of an original map of "Chianti".  This charted the exact boundaries of the original area dating from the 1700's in which wine produced could be called "Chianti".  Owing to the huge success of Chianti as it was exported around the world, the area of Chianti has effectively changed.  First in the 1930's, and then again in the 1960's it has increased in size due to higher production demands.  This map on the wall records the original area which was first formalized in the early 1700's.  It was very interesting to see that rich piece of wine history!

Our final winery visit brought us back down through Brunello country to the Mediterranean Sea!  Just out of sight of the sea we found the very new and uber-sheik vineyards and winery of Rocca di Frassinello. Rocca di Frassinello is a new partnership between Paolo Panerai, owner of Domini Castellare di Castellina , and Baron Eric de Rothschild of Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite). It is the first joint venture between an Italian and French producer and the wines are produced in a region called the Maremma, former marshlands along the Tuscan Mediterranean coast.  We met the young and smiling Massimo Casagrande up on the roof.  Yes the roof!  The winery, less than a year old, was designed by Renzo Piano, the architect who among other things designed the recently built New York Times Building in New York and the famous and quirky Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.  So there we were on the roof, with Massimo explaining to us that Renzo Piano had wanted to build a winery that used gravity as much as possible.  He went on to point out where the trucks would arrive with grapes during the harvest and pointed to the doors through which the grapes would drop into the containers in the winery below. On the way off the roof we passed through the tasting room,  which had walls completely made of glass.  The views from the tasting room encompassed the entire vineyards, the perfect place to taste and talk about the grapes, vineyards and the wine itself.  Coming down off the roof, Massimo led us into the winery and straight into the most amazing barrel cellar I have ever been in or ever will be in.  This cave looked more like a subterranean amphitheater than a barrel room.  Massimo explained that it could hold 2500 barrels and was designed to be lit from sun reflected off mirrors positioned on the tower on the roof above.  The sun light would filter down through a square hole in the center of the barrel room ceiling.  Wow!  In the winery itself we learned that the vineyards had been planted in 2000, and that the first production year was 2004.  Most of the wine produced is a combination of the local grape varietal of sangioveto (a version of the sangiovese grape which is the standard grape for Chianti) and the classic Bordeaux blends of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon.  These wines are known as Super Tuscans and boy are they ever! In an even more uber-sheik tasting room, sitting at a tasting table made of glass with special drawers at each seat for spitting the wine (these drawers when opened rinsed themselves out with jets of water!), we were treated to a full lunch!  We tasted through the entire lineup of wines as Massimo took great care and time to describe each one too us.

As we drove away down the road from the vineyard we stopped the car and got out to look back and see how completely this brand new uber-sheik winery fit seamlessly into its surroundings among the vineyards. 

We have to thank the good folks at Vias Wines and Michael Burke for arranging our tasting and tours, and we would also like to thank Emiline at Argiano, Roberto at Castello di Meleto, and finally Massimo and the great cooks at Rocca di Frassinello.
We also should point out that Argiano and Castello di Meleto each have luxury accommodations available at their wineries which can be booked in conjunction with wine tours and tastings at the wineries.

Actually we are presently working on a special Tuscan wine dinner at the Edge planned for April 26.  Our chef Bryan Dame will work with Gina Stipo who will be in Maine from Tuscany launching a new cookbook.  Gina runs a cooking school in Tuscany called Eccolacucina.  During the dinner we have decided to feature exclusively the wines from the three wineries above.  Michael Burke will be on hand to talk with Bryan and Gina about the wines and the pairings that they will create.  Look back here for more info, or contact the Edge directly!

Ciao!!

Jesse

Italy and the way of life!

Wow!

Yes indeed!  What a trip and thanks to Barganews and their witty and astute editors, they picked up on me stumbling around wondering about the possibility of a hair cut.  The rest is old news , but there is a little bit of the haircut left. 

So our time was mostly spent in a little town called Barga, deep in the Serchio valley between the Apuane and Apennines mountains.  So snow covered mountains to the North and the mountains that the famous Carrera marble comes from with the Med sea on the other side to the South. Barga is a walled town, of the type you read and dream about.  Narrow stone streets, with even narrower streets with steps leading away up and down, a castle really with the cathedral (duomo) at the highest point dating to the year 1000.  So we settled into this little town with a bang and immediately found the town coming into, out of, or passing by the little bar called Da Aristo's where the wine came in over-sized shot glasses at a cost of .60 Euro, which translated to just about 90 cents.  So at this little bar the town of Barga and its beautiful community of hard working locals, full of life and music and stories, mixed every day and night with folks from away like ourselves or folks from away who had fallen in love with the town and decided to move there for good.  Many of these folks had led exciting and interesting lives away from Barga and brought this all with them when they moved. There were many extremely talented artists living and practicing their art.  And also many wonderful musicians who would be quick to pick up one of the many instruments hanging along the back wall of the bar and break spontaneously into song with all joining in.

For us, Aristo's became a daily affair, and we noticed that for many it was the same.  The bar really was, for many, an extension of their living room.  This was a place to entertain with friends.  It is quite unheard of to entertain ones friends at home for dinners or visits.  This is all done in restaurants and bars such as Aristo's.  This way, the feeling is, you could concentrate on your friends and not on entertaining itself.  We saw this often in many of the wonderful restaurants in and around the town at which we ate regularly.  Families would be out in force at great long tables, enjoying the simple but fantastic food yes, but mostly enjoying the time and energy they could share with their families and friends without having to worry about cooking, and cleanup!

Which is a wonderful idea really!  Gathering at a favorite restaurant or bar with friends and family to enjoy stories, songs, food and drink!

And so we too are getting excited about opening the Edge and the Inn for another season, only one month away!  Take care and see you soon.

Jess

Is It April Yet?

Greetings Friends, Guests, and Staff,

It’s a winter wonderland in Maine and it has been cold, thoughts of spring fill the air and warm our hearts here at The Inn and The Edge as we ready to welcome our 2008 season.

We had a fantastic New Years Eve, six courses, bubbly, reviling and many familiar faces joined us again for dinner and New Years Day breakfast at The Inn. 

While on winter break much has been happing besides snow removal. Paul is on double duty here and in town at The Inn at Camden Place creating and booking some amazing getaway packages for the upcoming season (check those out!).

Each season we see more and more companies working and playing in the Mid Coast, they know the best spot to retreat. We are looking forward to hosting many returning groups for retreats. It feels like every week Jed has been contracting a new group to stay, work, dine and play at The Inn at Ocean’s Edge.

Jesse has just left for brief but well deserved Holiday and we can not wait to hear about how much fun, good food, good wine he had upon his return.

Mark and Bryan have been giving many of the rooms a refreshing lift with new paint and decor by design of Joan.

We are all so excited for and pleased to announce that Chef Bryan Dame has been accepted to Staigier at Chicago’s acclaimed Alinea Restaurant with Chef Grant Achutz  www.alinea-restaurant.com in March. While Bryan is in Chicago , I will be off to visit family and enjoy the flavors Philadelphia.

I have spent much of the winter planning parties and events, the Mid Coast is such a special, beautiful place and The Edge is the destination of choice for many brides, grooms, families and businesses to host gatherings.

Bryan brought home The Edge sourdough starter on New Years Day to care for and feed so to ensure that the restaurant will have its wonderful, brick oven sourdough flat bread when The Edge opens on April 17^th. Somewhere during the coldness of the season,caught the baking bug! With much support from Bryan I have set aside my fear of flour and gained the patience to let good bread rise.

Thinking of spring we have started in on the plans for this year’s expanded vegetable and herb garden to include more lettuces for the simple green salad, hearty greens for fall and the addition of a variety of peas & beans after a disappointing crop of squash and pumpkin last year.   

We are all looking forward to The Inn and The Edge hosting the first guests of 2008 season April 17th.The Inn will be fabulous in spring bloom, new menu items to be reviled, some refreshing cocktails will be added to the list and many of our team members will be back on board!

Well back to the snow I go, Is it April yet?

Stay warm, think spring, visit often, laugh a lot and eat local

Cheers from The Edge!

Natasha Dame

Blogs blogging and the bloggers

Whew!

I have just read Rich Brooks Blog about our new website and blog. Reminding me of course of a promise that I made several years ago when Rich was here consulting with us about how to post updates on our blog.  It seems to me that our blog is only going to be interesting for guests if we (innkeepers) make sure that we add as much as we can as often as possible on our blog.  The problem of course is that we innkeepers are always so busy making sure that our guests are taken care of, happy, and enjoying their stay with us!  So it is hard to keep up with it all.  However, -here I go again-, a promise is a promise. 
So what news and doings at the inn over the last weeks?  Lots of course.  June is here and wizzing by and what a month, the weather has been perfect, very little rain, and lots of sun.  The boats are sailing by us on the bay more and more each day, hmmmm I wish I was out there!  Oh Well! 

Photo Shoots!

Over the last two weeks we have had Maine Home Design Magazine here on the property taking photographs of the new rooms in the Poolhouse.  The guest rooms and the great room.  We had to scramble to get the rooms ready with furniture for the shoot, but we did and that helped us move the whole project along so that we can all soon start using the Poolhouse.
I must say the rooms look great when we got them all set up.  Our now very close friends Brett Johnson and Mary Louise Norton from Windemere Studios were here working their magic setting up the rooms that they have planned with us for so long.  This shoot was very exciting because it will be great to have a mention in such a great magazine and also it means that the Poolhouse is almost ready to go!

Dragon Flies!

What a week we had for Dragon Flies! Whirling and twirling beautiful all over the property, mostly in the gardens.  What does this mean?  Good weather ahead? Long cold winter?  Happy Guests?  Lets wait and see.

New Website! Our new site

So after months of hard work our new website is up and running we hope you all enjoy it.  We know that we need to add some new pictures which we are working on and also a photo gallery which will come along with the new pictures.  Your comments and suggestions are welcome.

Thats the news from here at the moment, come and visit us soon.

Jesse

The Impact of Technology on People

The Inn at Ocean’s Edge is excited to host speakers of this year’s Pop! Tech Conference. Pop!Tech is a one-of-a-kind conference, a community of remarkable people, and an ongoing conversation about science, technology and the future of ideas. It is a place where ideas are exchanged, relationships are forged, and visions are explored and challenged.  The inn is filled with writers, filmmakers, biologists, inventors, activists, and entrepreneurs all enjoying the sophisticated accomodations, outstanding service, and of course beauty of the location. It is a treat for us to have them and to participate in their experience at this wonderful program.