Grove
PORTLAND, MAINE | JUNE 2024
Since moving to Maine, we’ve hosted events in beautiful barns and tented shelters, driven inside by the Northeast’s famously mercurial weather. We planned to set the dinner table inside the historic barn for our early summer supper at The Barn on Walnut Hill due to forecasted early summer rainstorms (again) but we were delighted to watch the day clear, giving us a surprise chance to set up outside — for our first ever outdoor dinner in Maine! We could not have asked for a more special place to host our celebration; the sunlight played among the ferns lining the twisting boardwalk into a hidden grove while woolly clouds drifted overhead like distant sheep grazing on green summer grasses. Chefs Matt Ginn and Colin Wyatt of Portland’s Evo and Twelve wowed us with a parade of locally sourced and foraged ingredients, each plate perfectly paired with wines from Rodney Strong Vineyards.
WELCOME
Guests were treated to lobster rolls and potato crisps topped with lonza ham at check-in, where they were given a choice — head straight to the patio outside the picturesque barn for a Raspberry Aperol Spritz, or venture across the lawn and into the woods for Chalk Hill Chardonnay from Rodney Strong Vineyards.
Brave foragers were rewarded for their efforts when they found a table against the treeline laden with caviar tins, each filled with caramelized onion dip topped with trout roe, ready to be dolloped onto house-made potato chips.
A bit of whimsy, a taste of luxury, all rooted in a celebration of the bounty of Maine, it set the tone for a decidedly memorable evening.
A MENU BY MATT GINN AND COLIN WYATT
Chefs Matt Ginn and Colin Wyatt of Portland’s Prentice Hospitality Group are equally dedicated to celebrating Maine’s natural bounty on the plate. Alongside their hardworking teams from Evo and Twelve, they put together a poetically designed twelve-course meal of mixed family-style and individually plated dishes that highlighted the diversity and beauty of Maine, from the best of the seashore to the season’s freshest strawberries.
MENU
WELCOME
Potato Crisp lonza ham, paprika
Crudité skordalia, smoked crab
Lobster Roll brown butter mayo, chives
Chips and Dip caramelized onion, trout roe
Cocktail: Raspberry Aperol Spritz
Zero-Proof: Raspberry Lemon Balm Spritz
Wine: 2021 Rodney Strong Vineyards Chalk Hill Chardonnay
TO START
Tuna Crudo coriander, green garlic, shiso
Oysters cucumber & mint mignonette
Wine: 2023 Rodney Strong Vineyards Rose of Pinot Noir
FROM THE FARM
Asparagus Tart puff pastry, farmers cheese, spring onion
Pea Soup sugar snap peas, buttermilk
Wine: 2022 Rodney Strong Vineyards Charlotte’s Home Sauvignon Blanc
FROM THE SEA
Clams potato, celery
Halibut whey butter, trout roe
Wine: 2021 Rodney Strong Vineyards Reserve Chardonnay
FROM THE FIELD
NY Strip garlic scapes, au poivre sauce
Lions Maine Mushrooms green garlic pesto
Wine: 2021 Rodney Strong Reserve Pinot Noir
TO FINISH
Pavlova strawberry, whipped cream, mint
Cheese nuts, fruit, bread
Wine: 2023 Rodney Strong Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc
WINE PAIRINGS
Wines from our perennial friends at Rodney Strong Vineyards offered a lovely compliment to the refined cuisine served all evening, especially the 2023 Alexander Valley Sauvignon Blanc, an unreleased vintage we were honored to be the first to pour for the public.
NIGHTCAP
As the darkening evening elongated the shadows of the trees overhead, conversations continued over lanternlight. Long after the final bites of strawberry pavlova were cleaned from their bowls, guests shuffled through the Lumitory conversation decks that had been handed out with the final course, learning more about their new friends made over the meal.
Eventually, everyone followed the boardwalk out of the grove and into the gauzy starlight of the overcast night, the chandeliers inside the barn glowing through the open doors across the lawn.
SECRET LOCATION: THE BARN ON WALNUT HILL
Mike and Essie are consummate hosts. They invited us to the Barn on Walnut Hill this summer after our winter dinner at their sister property, Falagan Farms, last winter. They bought these two historic properties in 2020 and have been meticulously restoring them since, pouring their hearts — and their good taste — into every detail. This secret grove has only ever been used as a wedding ceremony site, so transforming it into a kitchen and dining room was as exciting for them as it was for us. They even brought Mike’s parents to dinner to help celebrate their 25th anniversary!
