Today’s post is a bit of a departure from the norm…last week, while on vacation in Maine, my husband and I experienced something so extraordinary, I just had to share it with you…
Formerly Maggie’s restaurant of 6 Summer Street in downtown Bar Harbor, Fathom opened its doors on Memorial Day weekend of 2011…updated with a fresh palette, the interiors were simple yet romantic, a perfect counterpoint to the innovative and colorful cuisine we were about to experience…the tables were adorned with immaculate white linens, fresh flowers, candlelight and a petite glass filled with sea salt and a slender silver spoon…our waitress Augusta, a life long Bar Harbor resident, greeted us with a brilliant smile and sweet voice…her personality and meticulous attention to detail played a large part in the overall success of our evening…we started our gastronomic adventure with some specialty cocktails…my choice, the PPPhizzl (pictured above) was a combination of prosecco, peach puree, pomegranate juice and lime juice…what I loved about this drink was that it was not too sweet, in fact it tasted more like a pink champagne! Refreshing, healthy, and festive!
The mouth watering menu made our decision making process difficult but we decided to share three courses starting with the zucchini blossoms stuffed with herbed ricotta ~ tempura fried and served with a cucumber scallion coulis, they were light and full of flavor…this awakened our taste buds and assured us that we were in excellent hands…our next course was chef Joshua Heikkinen’s signature drunken shrimp ~ gulf shrimp drowned in a spicy tequila cream sauce…I have no words to describe the heavenly combination of flavors and textures in this dish…served with bread to dip into the cream sauce, (which was insane!), we savored every drop…on to the main course, the house made zucchini gnocchi pan-fried with 1 3/4 pounds Maine lobster meat, tomatoes and sliced zucchini in a parsley brown butter sauce…this dish was absolutely life changing…we concluded, “this is the only way to experience lobster” ~ coated in butter and served with clouds of gnocchi and paper thin ribbons of zucchini…perfection!
Congratulations to owner’s Tracy Hallett and Joshua Heikkinen…may they enjoy many years of success and happiness! To learn more about Fathom and to see a sample menu, click here
danielleboudrot
Fathom-A1
I have a formal/Informal restaurant rating system that I use A1 is reserved for top level restaurants…the categories are….
A-Is reserved for the best of the best in service, food, atmosphere and energy
1-Meets and exceeds expectations
2-Is trying to be and “A” Class but some aspect is lacking service for example
3-Does not meet an “A” class in multiple dimensions
There is a “B” and “C” class as well…..B is a mid-tier restaurant and C is a fast food restaurant basically same kind of rules apply.
I’m hungry now!!