I recently hit the lottery. The postcard I had sent to The Lost Kitchen restaurant was picked! If you know, you know. For anyone else, let me explain. The Lost Kitchen is a farm/sea-to-table restaurant run by Erin French in a restored mill in the tiny town of Freedom, Maine. To request a reservation, one must mail in a postcard with contact details. Cards are randomly picked from the tens of thousands that arrive. Dinner is currently held on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, from May through October. If there is a cancellation, another card is picked, which is how I got lucky. After contacting friends who had also sent in postcards, we confirmed a table for five.
Our email reservation confirmation contained some text that is also repeated on the website: “Dinner at TLK is so much more than a meal. It’s a special evening with friends, an adventure, and a unique moment to be remembered. A night with us lasts over five hours and consists of many, many, many courses. We strive to not only fill your bellies but your hearts as well.”
The Lost Kitchen delivered on the above and then some. Yes, it was a pricey evening ($295 per person, excluding tax, service, and alcohol). Also yes, in our view, it was worth every penny.
The evening started outside the refurbished mill, in a garden where French’s old Airstream sits, along with a cheery fire pit. Servers circulated with trays of rhubarb-apple cider shrub. After snapping some photos, we headed for the wine cellar to select some wine, then upstairs to the mill’s main room. The place was magical: gorgeous wood everywhere, soft lighting with lots of candles, huge and creative floral arrangements. And there was Erin French herself … serving tables!
We got settled and were quickly served the first course, a “nibble board” with blue and goat cheese, sliced prosciutto, delectable olives, and super fresh snap peas with a light dressing, all served with some fluffy focaccia. Everything was delicious—dinner was off to a very good start.
Next up, a gorgeous, deep wooden bowl filled with moss-topped ice and holding sumptuous oysters pre-dressed with a light rhubarb-apple cider mignonette. This was quickly followed by a raw sea scallop, sliced crosswise and covered with a light strawberry vinaigrette. Silky goodness. One of the hallmarks of The Lost Kitchen is to use fresh in-season ingredients. Our visit was near the end of June, when rhubarb and strawberries are fresh in Maine, hence their emphasis.
So far, the meal felt quite delicate, so I was a bit surprised when a bowl of fried chicken and a platter of biscuits appeared. It seemed a departure, but what a delicious departure! The chicken had been brined with juniper berries (among other things), and the flavor of those berries shone through. The crunch of the cornflake coating was very satisfying, and the biscuits were beyond good.
After a quick sorbet palate cleanser, French dinged her glass for attention and welcomed us all to the 11th year of The Lost Kitchen. She noted that 12 years ago, she had no idea of the success that lay ahead, and she commented that some of the evening’s diners had waited seven years to have their postcards pulled!
French also explained the courses to come, starting with a carrot and coriander soup, which was individually poured over a dollop of bone marrow and chive-blossom butter. Olive oil toasts came alongside. Delicious, though a couple of us thought the toast was a bit greasy— our only nitpick of the night. Next up was a refreshing salad of little gem lettuce with fennel, radish, pecorino, and violets. Somehow, everything had been placed in the bowl to make it look as if the head of lettuce was intact—a gorgeous presentation.
Then, at last, the main course, halibut roasted in brown butter with olives, capers, and herbs, perfectly cooked and seasoned. Polenta and crunchy matchsticks of kohlrabi and hakurei turnip completed this amazing course.
We were looking forward to the candied ginger shortcake with strawberries, rhubarb, whipped cream, and vanilla bean custard to cap off the meal, and we assumed that was coming after the coffee was served. As we plunged the French press, we noticed more moss-topped bowls circulating, this time holding small ice cream cones. As she served us, French explained it was a butter brickle ice cream. Of course, we dug in and enjoyed the goodness. Then, the shortcake arrived in all its summer dessert perfection.
At this point, we assumed the feast was over, so we joined the group to get a photo with French. We were going to depart when we noticed a third dessert course being served! Mini chocolate chip cookies and house-made chocolate. Somehow, we managed, then floated out of the idyllic setting.
If our experience sounds appealing to you, check out the The Lost Kitchen website for details on submitting your postcard. Hopefully you, too, will be lucky enough one day to enjoy this truly magical and memorable experience.
Alice Bartram leaves much of the cooking to her husband, though she has many Instagram-saved recipes that she’ll get to one day as, really, she finds eating out more fun than cooking.
